A/N and Disclaimer: I own nothing from Glee, Carr's story, or any other copyrighted material. I hope you enjoy it. Please as always forgive all of my mistakes. Thanks for continuing to read and support this story. You all are simply the best.

Chapter 5

Mercy parked her car next to the ball field and was surprised when she saw Tina pulled up next to her in the parking lot.

As, soon as she cut off the engine, JJ was out of the car in a flash with his glove already on his hand. "Can I please go now?"

"Yes, you may," Mercy said, knowing he still didn't know when to say may or can when asking permission, but coaching him on grammar when he was excited about tee ball practice would be a waste time. Plus, there was no way she'd be able to keep up with him. He'd called his grandpa and talked about it nonstop. Her son had been on pins and needles all week, waiting for tee-ball to begin.

He ran across the grass to where a group of young boys were already gathered.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Tina when she emerged from her car. Her question was answered when Tina's niece, Sierra, hopped out.

"My brother and my sister-in-law both had to work late, so I volunteered to bring the munchkin to practice."

Sierra wasn't much more patient than JJ. "Aunt Tina," she urged.

"Go ahead," Tina encouraged her. "We're right behind you."

Mercy was really glad Tina was here. The idea of watching five and six-year-olds attempt to catch, hit, and throw thrilled her about as much as having a root canal. At least today she'd have someone she knew and liked to talk to.

Even with this surprising turn of events, her resting bitch face was still firmly in place.

"You're in a mood," Tina said.

Mercy tried for a smile but failed. "I'm at tee-ball practice, for God's sake. Couple that with the fact I keep trying to get laid and failing miserably, there's just not a lot to smile about."

"You still can't manage to knock boots with Sam, the hot and available fireman, huh?"

"No," she replied grumpily. "And the happy effects of that one orgasm that he gave me have worn off." She'd told Tina all about dinner with Sam, from the lasagna and the fact she'd drunk too much wine, right down to where he rocked her world with just his fingers. That man's hands sure be registered as certifiable weapons of pleasure.

Tina was surprised she and Sam hadn't done the deed, even though she'd explained JJ was in the house. Her reaction led Mercy to believe he wasn't the type to hold back from sex for any reason. Especially not when he had a half-naked woman lying next to him. Which had her questioning his desire for her…again.

"Well, I hope you achieve this hookup sooner rather than later. You're starting to obsess over the guy. I'm worried you might end up getting hurt."

Tina was a good friend, and while Mercy could tell Tina genuinely liked Sam as a person, she insisted he wasn't a good bet for the long term. According to her, he'd never—not once in the time she'd known him—spent more than a month with the same woman since his high school girlfriends left him. Mercy appreciated her warnings and reassured her friend that her only goal when it came to Sam was one night in paradise—er, his bed. After that, she promised to return to the land of responsible adults, to resist all future hook-ups, and to set her mind to the task of finding JJ a good dad and a good man for herself.

She and Tina headed for the field, and Mercy did a double take when she realized Sam was kneeling down in the midst of all the kids.

"What's he doing here?" she murmured.

"Didn't he tell you? Sam is the coach," Tina answered.

And just like that, tee-ball went from the last thing on earth Mercy wanted to do to something she would live for each and every day. She suddenly found her smile.

Tina groaned. "Oh hell. It's already too late. You're a goner."

She wasn't. Or…at least she hoped she wasn't.

All she wanted was sex with Sam, just to get her pesky hormones under control. Then she could begin seriously dating someone who would be a good father to JJ.

She and Sam hadn't managed to seal the deal yet because life kept getting in the way. For two days after what she was referring to as one of the best nights of her adult life, Sam was part of the team that volunteered to help Canada with their wildfires. On Friday, JJ came down with a nasty stomach virus that kept both of them home from school. Then, sadly, it had been Sam's weekend to be on call at the fire station, so here they were, a week away from that orgasm and seeing each other for the first time.

She was nervous, excited and—dammit—still horny as hell.

"Hey, Mercy," Sam said when she and Tina walked over to him.

"Coach, huh?" she asked with a grin.

He winked at her. "I wanted to surprise you."

"It worked."

She could feel herself acting like a schoolgirl with a crush, something she was certain was driving Tina crazy and proving her point that Mercy was in over her head. Mercifully, Sam didn't have time to notice as another kid approached.

"There's my boy." Sam reached down to playfully tug the boy's cap over his eyes.

"Stop it, Sam." the boy said, swatting Sam's hand away and laughing.

Mercy recognized Silas Evans. He was a first grader at North Lima Elementary.

Evans.

Sam's last name was Evans, and she suddenly put something together she hadn't before.

"Steady, girl," Tina said, when she noticed Mercy's face. "You got it all wrong."

Mercy glanced at her. "What?"

"Silas isn't Sam's son. He's his little brother."

"Oh. That's a huge age difference."

"You're not kidding. Get Sam to tell you about his family some time. Come on. Let's grab a bleacher. It looks like they're getting ready to start."

She and Tina sat with a few other parents, everyone chatting sociably and laughing at the shit show on the field. The kids were running in a million different directions, chasing after the missed pitches, and the actual tee took way more hits than the ball. Mercy watched as Sam patiently put it back on time after time, demonstrating how the kids should hold the bat and swing.

It took JJ three times before he connected with the ball, sending it just past the pitcher's mound. Mercy cheered loudly as Tina rolled her eyes. "You're going to be one of those moms, aren't you? The one who believes her kid is destined for the Major Leagues."

Mercy shrugged, grinning at her joke. "All I'm saying is JJ hit it in three tries. Sierra took at least a dozen swings before hitting a foul ball."

"Heifer," Tina muttered with a laugh.

Mercy was surprised when Sam called the players together to offer some last-minute instruction before reminding them that their next practice was Thursday. The hour she had expected to be a long, hard slog had flown by.

She walked over to JJ, who was talking excitedly to Silas. When he saw her, he grabbed her hand. "Mommy, Sam and Silas are going to the arcade and having pizza for dinner. Can we go too?"

"JJ…" She was about to explain to her son that it wasn't polite to invite yourself to someone else's plans when they were interrupted.

"I asked JJ if the two of you could come along," Sam said as he walked up. Then he pointed to Silas. "Have you met this imp at school yet?"

"I think we've passed each other in the hall a few times. Hello, Silas."

"Hi, Ms. Jones. Can you all come with us? I want to show JJ the Skee-Ball machine."

"Well." She glanced at Sam. "If you're sure we're not imposing."

Sam stepped closer, too close, and she looked around. Most of the others had already left, Tina included, but there were still a couple families nearby.

"How are your Skee-Ball skills, Mrs. Jones?" he asked, placing a kiss on her cheek.

JJ and Silas both giggled as she narrowed her eyes in warning. Mercy hadn't dated anyone since JJ was born, so she wasn't entirely sure how to handle Sam's display of affection. They both knew this was going to be a casual fling, so the last thing she wanted was for JJ to get the wrong idea. The kid was already too infatuated with Sam.

So was she, for that matter.

"Behave," she murmured. "And my Skee-Ball skills are stellar."

Sam tossed an equipment bag over his shoulder. "I'll be the judge of that. You know where the arcade is or do you want to follow us?"

"I probably better follow." Lima wasn't a huge place, but there were more than a few streets she'd never driven down. Until this moment, she hadn't even known there was an arcade in town, and she was definitely sorry that JJ suddenly knew about it. She had a feeling he was going to start begging to go there a lot from now on.

They walked to the parking lot together, then she pulled out behind Sam, after he'd stowed the equipment in the back of the truck. It was a ten-minute drive from the field to the arcade and JJ talked the entire time, asking if she'd seen him catch the ball or sharing some advice Sam had given him.

JJ had been harboring a fair amount of hero worship for Sam since he'd joined them for dinner, mentioning his name countless times in the past week. Now that Sam had moved from Mommy's friend to Coach, JJ's fascination with the man was off the charts. Mercy made a mental note to ask Sam not to kiss her or try to hold her hand in front of JJ. It would confuse her little boy too much.

Once they arrived, they parked next to each other in the lot, and Sam and Silas waited for them on the curb as they got out.

Just as she feared, Sam reached for her hand. She shook her head subtly, watching as he gave her a confused look. The boys raced ahead of them, waiting at the door.

"I don't think we should act like a couple in front of JJ," she said.

Sam rubbed his jaw. "Would it be an act?"

She laughed. "You know it would be. I swear, you're incorrigible. Tina warned me you were a heartbreaker. I see what she means now."

Mercy meant her words to be funny, but she wasn't sure Sam took them that way. At least not at first. He gave her a look that almost had her believing she'd hurt his feelings, but then the same affable grin she was becoming too fond of returned.

"No holding hands in front of JJ. Got it. For the record, that's going to cost you when we're alone."

"Cost me?"

"If you're going to tie my hands—figuratively—in public, I'm going to tie yours—literally—in bed."

Mercy wasn't aware that her jaw had dropped until Sam closed her mouth with a finger under her chin. "Careful. You'll catch flies."

She tried to laugh, but even she could hear how breathless it was. Sam's eyes zoomed in on her mouth and she thought he might forget the deal and kiss her. And she realized she wouldn't mind if he did.

"Sam," Silas called. "Come on."

Sam and Mercy reached the front door and the boys propelled them inside, directly to the machine that gave tokens. Sam slid in a five-dollar bill for each boy, even though Mercy insisted on paying for JJ's. When he went ahead anyway, she said, "I'll pay for the pizza."

"We'll see," Sam said.

The two of them grabbed sodas from the fountain machine, placed an order for one large pepperoni pizza for the boys and one large supreme for the adults, then found a table, watching as the boys raced from machine to machine, both of them feeling rich with their pockets full of tokens.

"I'm really sorry we couldn't get together before now," Sam said.

"Me too. You have no idea how much."

Sam chuckled at the way she emphasized that fact. He leaned closer. "Sweetheart. I was the one who went home hard and hurting. I think you can trust me when I say I might be sorrier."

Mercy rested her cheek on her hand as she leaned over the table. "Hold on Mr. Big Shot. I offered." She hadn't flirted with a man since…God, since Jake Puckerman in college. It was really fun.

Sam split the distance between them again, until their faces were only a few inches apart. "You're making it very hard for me to behave myself. Keep in mind, every single time you bat those pretty eyelashes at me, bite, or lick your lips, you're adding to the tally."

Oh my, everything he said was way too hot. And then, without conscious thought, Mercy glanced at his gorgeous full lipped mouth and licked her lips.

Sam chuckled, then threw her own word back at her. "Behave Mercy please."

She took a deep breath, then looked away, glancing around the arcade until she found JJ. He and Silas were playing some Old West shooting range game that looked like a throwback from the sixties. Lima was one of those towns that didn't seem to have fully committed to the twenty-first century yet.

Silas was cheering JJ on and she realized the Evans boys were inherently kind.

"So Silas is your brother?"

"Half brother."

"Tina said you have an interesting family."

"That's one way to describe it. A nice way."

"I actually think she said I should ask you about it."

Sam took a sip of his soda. "My family is a hot mess. My mom and dad split when I was twelve after he lost his job and began to drink and we became homeless. Their divorce was finalized when I was fourteen. I was the only child from their marriage. Dad remarried a few months after the divorce was final and had another son, Stevie, with my stepmom, a wealthy widow, April who was also an alcoholic. He supposedly got sober and then he had an affair—April caught him in bed with her housekeeper several years later—and they divorced. Dad married the housekeeper, Shoshandra, who graduated from high school just two years ahead of me."

"Shoshandra, is she black?" Mercy asked. Sam suffered from a lot of trauma as a kid. She could understand why he hadn't settled down. Marriage from his experience was not a stabilizing and forever love kind of thing. Fortunately for her, she had the opposite childhood with two parents who either were still in love or too bound by religion to ever divorce.

"No, she is Filipino. She's Silas's mom. Meanwhile, my mom went through several boyfriends after leaving my dad. She finally got a job at a real estate agency as a secretary/receptionist, and she married one of the realtors. She had moved back home to Nashville after dad married April. She is originally from there, and because my dad and April didn't want to pay child support; they had a lawyer give full custody of me to them. I visited my mom after she settled down with her husband and was no longer trying to hide the fact she had an adult son. She has a daughter, named Stacee, with her husband Scott.

Mercy tried to tally up the numbers in her head. "So you have three half siblings all with S names, two stepparents with S names, and you went to high school with your most recent stepmother?"

Sam laughed at her summary. "You nailed it."

"Wow. I guess I can see why you're still single." Once again, she had meant her words as a joke, but Sam didn't take it that way.

His face sobered and he nodded slowly.

His response to her observation surprised her. "Exactly, when I was in high school, my mom made me promise to not be like my dad, and it was easy to make that promise because my teenage years were really hard after being homeless and dealing with the rumors about my cheating alcoholic dad who preferred younger women. When I do get married, I'm going to make sure I'm marrying the right woman. Divorce sucks. When I am ready to settle down; I want a permanent relationship built on trust and fidelity."

All the gossip she'd heard indicated that Sam was never getting married at all.

So was he only saying that for her benefit? Saying things he thought she wanted to hear.

Mercy recalled Jake Puckerman telling her she was different from the other girls, that she'd turned his head and made him want things he'd never wanted before. It had all been bullshit, of course. Empty words used to make him more appealing to her. And it had worked because she had been too sheltered as a child.

Was Sam employing the same method as part of his seduction of her?

Mercy could have told him he didn't have to pretend to be someone he wasn't.

She wanted him. He wanted her. There were no hurdles, and he certainly didn't have to try so hard to impress her.

The pizza arrived, and they called the boys over. She'd thought two pizzas would be too many, but three hungry males proved her wrong quickly.

The boys ate at the speed of light, both chomping at the bit to spend their last few tokens, then hit the prize counter with their tickets.

Once every crust was gone, they asked to be excused and were off again.

"So…" Sam said, once they were alone, leaning closer to murmur, "What were we talking about before? Oh yeah. Me tying you up in bed."

Mercy laughed at his lousy segue. "I don't remember talking about that."

"If we weren't, we should have been. Here's how it's going to go down."

Despite her better judgment, she shifted until their faces were far too close again. She wanted to kiss him, wanted to straddle his lap and dry hump his crotch.

Right here.

In the arcade.

"Or should I say how I'm going to go down on you?" he corrected.

Panties wet. Check.

Nipples hard. Check.

Only with Sam had she ever experienced a need so powerful.

"Keep talking," she urged.

"I'm going to tie your hands behind your back, around the pole at the station. Then I'm going to tug off those jeans that hide way too much of your glorious ass and throw them away."

"They're my favorite jeans."

"I repeat, they're going in the garbage. At that point, you'll be hot for me, begging me to take you."

"I don't beg."

Please. Yes. Take me. Take me right freaking now.

"Like I said, begging. I'm going to kneel in front of you and put one of your legs over my shoulder." He glanced down, then placed his hand on her left knee. "That one. That one's going up. Then I'm going to put my lips on your—"

"Hey, Sam."

Mercy moved away from Sam quickly, her response the same as if her parents had just come home and caught her with a boy in her bedroom. Sam grinned and gave her a quick wink.

As she leaned back in her chair, she barely restrained a groan when Kitty Wilde sashayed to the table, looking like she was walking the catwalk in Paris during Fashion Week.

Mercy glanced down at her baggy jeans—Sam was right, they sucked—and her favorite faded T-shirt. Her hair was still in the braided braids she'd plaited this morning, and she hadn't bothered to put on makeup either.

Why would she?

Her original plan when she'd left the house this afternoon had been to sit like a reluctant spectator on the bleachers at tee-ball practice. If she'd known Sam was the coach, she would have tried a hell of a lot harder.

Of course, her current appearance hadn't occurred to her until she saw Kitty. Probably because Sam looked at Mercy like she was gorgeous. A girl could get used to those looks of his. Which was probably why his track record at charming women out of their pants was so great.

Kitty had touched up everything before coming out. She'd added fresh mascara and lipstick and not a single blonde hair was out of place as it hung loose and wavy over her shoulders in a sexy style that—as Mercy looked around the pizza place—was achieving Kitty's desired effect. Mercy counted at least three guys staring at the blonde, practically drooling.

Kitty had changed out of what she sneeringly referred to as her school uniform—which was basically appropriate shirts and dress pants. Apparently, her idea of pizza and arcade attire was a miniskirt and a low-cut shirt with no less than a dozen bangle bracelets on each wrist.

Kitty narrowed her eyes when she saw Mercy, then smirked at her outfit. "Oh. Hi, Mercy. I didn't see you there. Taking a quick break from housecleaning to pick up a pizza?"

Before Mercy could come up with a suitable retort, Sam took over the conversation. "Mercy and I grabbed some food with the boys after tee-ball practice."

Kitty glanced around and saw Silas. She called out his name and he waved. "Hey, Aunt Kitty."

Aunt Kitty? Was Kitty part of Sam's twisted family tree?

"Honorary name," she said to Mercy. "I'm really close with Sam…and his family."

Mercy didn't imagine the pause the other woman had inserted. Kitty was making sure it sounded like she was close to Sam's family because of him.

"Shoshandra and Kitty were best friends in high school," Sam explained.

"Gotcha," Mercy said, grateful that he'd taken the time to clarify.

Kitty dismissed her presence at the table, all her attention focused on Sam. "I'm picking up a pizza to take back to Shoshandra's place. We're doing a little girls' night with margaritas."

"On a school night?" Mercy wanted to kick her own ass the second the question flew out because it only solidified Kitty's impression of her as the world's most boring "good girl."

She rolled her eyes for Sam's benefit. "That's our Mercy. Ever the rule follower." Kitty glanced at her phone. "It's nearly six. I'm surprised you're out so late. Aren't you worried about missing curfew, Mercy?"

Kitty followed her words with a playful laugh, her way of making everything she said sound like a joke instead of the insult she'd definitely intended.

"Are you bringing Silas home, Sam?" Kitty made it sound like they all lived together.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. We're leaving in a few minutes."

"Cool. We'll make an extra margarita for you."

Sam shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm not interested in crashing girls' night."

"Don't be silly." Kitty put her hand on Sam's shoulder, leaning forward slightly in a way that put his eyes right at cleavage level. "Girls' night is always more fun with you there."

Mercy's hands curled into fists. She wasn't a violent person by nature. Actually, she'd never hit another living soul in her life, but damn if she wasn't sitting there imagining herself ripping out big chunks of Kitty's bleached blonde hair.

Kitty straightened when the girl behind the counter called out her name. "There's my pizza. Be sure not to keep Mercy out too late, Sam. I'll see you later."

"See you," he said, waving as she left.

It was irrational to be upset that Sam was going to see Kitty later. He wasn't her boyfriend, and it wasn't like she didn't know he got around.

But there was something about the idea that he'd actually done a girls' night with Kitty that got under her skin. Kitty was a nasty heifer and anyone with half a brain could see that. The fact that Sam was just like every other man in the arcade—seeing nothing more than the surface when it came to Kitty—made Mercy wonder if she should let things go any farther than they already had.

Then she had another disquieting thought.

Had Kitty and Sam slept together?

Because that would be a deal breaker for her.

For a split second, she considered asking. But she didn't.

She couldn't.

Knowing Sam had been with Kitty would keep Mercy away. She knew that. Knew it so well that she decided she didn't want to know.

Because she didn't want to stay away from him.

"Where were we?" Sam said, ready to pick up where they'd left off in their previous conversation.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say her knee was over his shoulder and his mouth was on her, but the moment had passed.

Tina had commented that Mercy was losing perspective when it came to Sam and what she would get from him. Her sudden jealousy had her thinking her friend was right.

"I'm afraid I should get home. I have lesson plans to write and JJ needs a bath."

"Yeah. I promised to have Silas home early, too."

Mercy pretended it didn't bother her that he suddenly seemed to be in a hurry to leave.

Had he just gotten a better offer for the night?

From Kitty?

"Friday night," he said as they stood up.

"What?"

"Get a sitter for Friday night."

If she'd had a brain in her head, she would have said no.

Sadly…her skull was currently vacant.

"Okay."

"It's my turn to cook for you. Come to my place. Six o'clock."

"Your apartment above the fire station?"

He nodded. "And, Mercy."

"Yeah?"

"Bring your new vibrator. I'm going to teach you how to use it."