Love and Marriage

Chapter Seventy-Three

"Martin." She half-whispered his name, still not fully believing that he was there. It wasn't until he flashed her his infamous dimpled smile that she was made into a believer. She wasted no more time, practically running into his arms and giving him a big hug.

Feeling his strong arms holding her, she buried her head in the crook between his neck and shoulders. She immediately closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent that was distinctly his. She savored the moment, happy to be this close to him again.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, relishing the moment and the physical contact with her. It had been exactly two weeks since he'd last seen her. Two weeks since he'd last felt her embrace. Two weeks since their last kiss.

"A-hem." Olivia coughed, getting up from the table and walking over to them. "I don't think we've been properly introduced."

"Sorry." Sam apologized. She had been so flustered by Martin's sudden appearance that she forgot that Olivia and Joshua were even in the room.

"I'm Olivia." She smiled at Martin.

"And I'm Joshua." Joshua smiled.

"I'm Martin Fitzgerald." Martin smiled back at them.

"It's very nice to meet you." Olivia smiled. "Samantha's told me a lot about you."

"She's told me nothing about you." Joshua joked around, earning a punch in the stomach from Samantha. "Sorry. Bad joke I guess."

"We work on the same team as Samantha." Olivia explained.

"Trevor, our other team member, is somewhere around here." Sam told him.

"I know." Martin nodded. "I met him earlier while I was looking for you."

"Oh. Great." Sam replied, unable to take her eyes off of him.

Olivia could tell that Samantha wanted some time alone with her husband and couldn't blame her. She looked over at Joshua. "C'mon. Let's give these two some privacy." She gave Sam a small smile before dragging Joshua out of the break room.

Sam walked over to the door and closed it, locking it before leaning against it. Since there were no windows in the room that people in the hallway could look through and see them, and she had just locked the only door, it was safe to assume that they were completely alone in a private setting. "We probably have about five minutes until someone will want to get in here for more coffee or something. Maybe ten if we're lucky."

"So then let's make the most of this time alone." He suggested.

"How do you suppose we do that?" She asked curiously. Until she saw him in the doorway earlier she hadn't realized just how much she missed him.

He walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." She whispered back, looking up at him.

He brought his free hand up to her cheek, softly caressing her warm skin. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. He gave into his temptations and leaned in to place a kiss on her lips. Although it started as a gentle kiss, it soon erupted into a passionate kiss full of intensity and need.

Sam wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling herself as close to him as she could. She couldn't remember the last time he kissed her like this with so much passion and zeal. These were the kind of kisses that usually happened at the end of cheesy romantic comedy movies when the couple in question finally hooked up. These were the kind of kisses that she dreamed about. These were the kind of kisses that they used to share all the time before.

Eventually Martin realized that he needed oxygen and reluctantly pulled away from the kiss, placing one last kiss on her nose but still holding her close.

"Wow." That was all she could say as she tried to regulate her breathing again. "Where did that come from?"

"Couldn't help it." He grinned devilishly. "Hope you don't mind."

"Mind?" She looked at him incredulously. "I definitely don't mind. Feel free to do that more often."

"I will." He promised. It felt great to be with her again, holding her and being able to talk to her without hundreds of miles separating them. He looked her up and down. "You look great."

"So do you." She replied with a sly smile.

"And you look happy." He added. Judging by the way she was acting when he got here, she was adjusting to Houston pretty well and without much trouble. She seemed to feel comfortable here.

"I am happy with this place." She replied, gesturing to the building. "My co-workers are great, Olivia especially. She's really helped make me feel like a part of the team."

"I'm glad for you." He wasn't lying either. He was very happy that she was doing so well. He just wished that he was doing well too, but he wasn't. He was floundering, drowning in his own pool of misery.

She finally worked up enough courage to ask the question that had been burning in her mind since she saw him. "So don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow." She asked, still clinging on to him.

"Jack gave me today off so I decided to surprise you." Martin replied, slightly nervous that she would be mad at him for not letting her know he was coming in advance.

"Well you definitely surprised me." She laughed, cocking her head to the side and giving him a huge smile. Seeing him here at the office was the last thing she expected, but she was happy to see him. Even though she had been worrying about how to tell him about the baby she still was excited about his visit and getting to see him. "So…"

"So…" He repeated. "You aren't mad that I came early, are you? I just couldn't wait."

"I'm not mad." She shook her head. She was surprised and thrown for a loop, but not mad.

"I'm glad." He smiled. "I have to admit that I was worried you wouldn't appreciate me showing up."

"Why?" She asked, not understanding why he would feel that way.

He decided to be honest with her. "Well it's just that I didn't know what you were doing today and the last thing I wanted to intrude on your life…" He really didn't know what she was doing or if she would like him to come by earlier.

"Martin." She felt the need to stop him right there before he said anything else because she was fairly certain where this was going to lead to. "You're not intruding on my life."

"It feels like I am." He admitted softly. "You seem to have this full, rich, perfect life here. You have a job you love, co-workers who care about you, and friends."

"My life here isn't perfect." She reminded him. "It can't be perfect, and you know why not?"

"Because nothing in life can ever be perfect?" He asked, injecting his own brand of humor into the situation.

"Well, there's that reason." She admitted. "But there's one more reason why my life isn't perfect. There's one thing missing." She grabbed a hold of one of his hands and linked her fingers with his. "This."

He leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips. It wasn't the same kind of kiss as before. This one was more tender and gentle, serving as a way to reassure each other of their love.

"Why don't we go down to the day care center and see Claire?" Sam suggested. "Then maybe you two could go spend the afternoon together."

"Any chance that you could join us?" He asked. He would absolutely love to spend some time with Claire, but would also like it if Sam was able to come too.

"I don't think I can. I have a bunch of work that I still have to do." She shook her head. "But we'll have all weekend to spend time together."

"Yeah." He agreed, still feeling slightly disappointed. But at least he was going to be able to spend the afternoon with his daughter.

"As much as I'd like to stay in here with you, I do have to get back to work at some point." She reluctantly told him.

"I understand." He told her. "But can we stay here for just a few moments more?"

She smiled and gave him a quick kiss before snuggling up to him. "I guess a few more moments wouldn't hurt."