The Bar!

"What… so you do this with all your guests?" Mercedes asked, watching him unpack the tray of food and place it on the table.

"No, but with a guest as beautiful as you, I gotta at least show my face, make small talk…kiss you again." He smirked.

Mercedes scuffed and shook her head. "You will not be kissing me again and this little display isn't going to sway me into wanting you to do it either, so you might as well pack it up now." She replied, walking over to the door and opening it.

"Your lips say no, but your eyes are begging for it." He teased.

Mercedes pressed her lips together and sighed. "You are seeing what you want to see but I assure you my eyes and lips aren't begging for anything except for you to leave."

Sam laughed. "You are so adorable when you are annoyed. Really I just wanna get to know you better." He lifts both his hands. "Scouts honor."

Mercedes cut her eyes at him. "I don't believe you."

"Eh good call, I wasn't a boy scout. But I was named cowboy of the year for like three years in a row so that's like being gentleman of the year around here."

Mercedes narrowed her eyes at him. "You sure you didn't give that title to yourself?" She asked.

"If I did trust me, I would have made it for more than three years…plus…" He pulled out his phone and showed her last year's photo. "My brother sent it to me…he won this year only because I took myself out of the running, but you do for family…won't make that mistake next year, he's so damn cocky now."

"Ha! Must run in your family then. You're as cocky as they come… no pun intended." She said, trying to hide her smile. She hated to admit it but he was charming.

"Oh trust me if you knew what I got…well you would see I have every reason to be cocky." Winking at her he moved closer. "But I am gonna be good…for now."

Mercedes took a step back but he grabbed her by the waist. "Good means no touching." She managed to get out as she tried to hide how good it felt having his hands on her.

"With you beautiful, me not straddling you on that bed right now, is me being good." He said, swallowing, as he leaned in closer to her.

Mercedes bit her bottom lip and shifted under his gaze. "That's… not being good." She breathed out.

"Then I guess I should let you go." Sam said moving away from her with an internal smirk as he fell backwards and pulled her with him. "Oh my God I am so sorry." He said unable to hide his smirk as his hands gripped her hips.

Mercedes gasped before blushing. "I… I hope this doesn't count as riding a horse." She said before hitting her forehead with her palm. "I mean… mounting…one?"

Sam moved her hair out of her eyes and behind her ear staring up at her. "Beautiful, this is called saving a horse and if you want." He thrusted up. "You can ride a cowboy, but if not, I can let you up."

She let out a soft moan before clearing her throat. "I, umm would like to sit up please." She answered shyly.

Sam nodded. "Of course." Sam sat up with her still on his lap, letting her still straddle him. "Better?"

She let out an embarrassed laugh. "You weren't actually going to let me up did you?" She asked, looking down at him and studying his face.

Sam shrugged. "You didn't want me to, did you?"

"I… I do… the food's getting cold." She stammered. "That was the reason you came here, right?"

Sam cupped her face, leaning forward but not kissing her. "Yeah that's why I came here…I know I should let you up, but I can't lie, you are so damn sexy I just want to look at you for a bit."

Mercedes blushed. "Umm, thank you." She said. "How about we eat and talk?"

Sam nodded. "Okay." Smiling, he let go of her hips. "You would have to be the one to get off of me."

Mercedes slowly slid off his lap, pulling her robe down because up until then she remembered she was naked underneath and embarrassment started to set in when she felt that she was slightly aroused.

Sam smirked. "So city girl, tell me about yourself." He said as they both moved over to the table and looked over the current spread of food.

"What do you want to know?" She asked, grabbing a fry and eating it.

He shot her a look before roving his eyes over her body before locking his eyes with hers. "Tell me about your family."

Mercedes was caught off guard by his topic of choice but she would obliged him. "Well I'm a middle child of four, two older brothers and a younger sister… my parents are still happily married, yours?"

"Oldest of three, parents are currently rv-ing the country and my younger sister is somewhere making our father cry tears with some idiot she claims to love. What do you do for a living?"

Mercedes hesitated. "I'm a writer…" She answered and he just nodded.

"Anything I might've read?" He asked, eating a few chips.

"Depends, do you read romance novels?"

"Nah but I might have to start, favorite movie?"

"I never liked that question, asking me my favorite movie is like asking a parent who their favorite child is." She said, sipping her drink.

"Fine, what's your favorite thing about yourself?" He countered looking down at her lips. "I know mine."

She chewed her bottom lip thinking about his question. "It took some time for me to become comfortable with myself so even if it sounds superficial I have to say my body. I love my curves, my imperfections, because it makes me, me." She glanced at him. "What about you?"

Sam took in everything she said before nodding. "My body… not in the way you think. I have body dysmorphia, so it's hard at times but I do love how I look and for what it's worth, you're stunning." He answered honestly.

Mercedes chewed her bottom lip blushing at his compliment. "You didn't have to explain your reasoning though. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. I bet you had everyone believing you were proud of how you looked, even if you didn't feel it."

"You get it… I don't think I've ever told anyone that before. It's those honest eyes of yours, they say everything even when you try to hide it."

"Well I am glad you told me. Growing up was hard. My younger sister took after my mom who was this gorgeous 5'7 bombshell and I took after my dad and brothers. Oh my gosh my mom would dress me up in tights and bows and I would come home a total mess…" She stopped realizing what he said. "Wait…you think you can tell what I'm thinking?"

Sam smiled. "You're slightly embarrassed you just told me all of that and somewhat shocked that I'm not the least bit phased by it." He answered.

She eyed him. "Really now?" She straightened up, leaning in and looked at him. "What do they say now?"

Sam leaned in and studied her eyes before smirking. "Nice try, you can try to mask it but I'm getting too close and it's scaring you because being this open with a stranger is new but exciting and you want me to kiss you again." He replied.

She stared at him, mouth opened, damn he knew her better than her ex and she dated that ass for three years.

"Now, tell me why you're really here." He said lightly tapping her chin to close her mouth. "What are you running from?"

"My life." She said before thinking.

Sam sat back and nodded. "Hmm, have you ever done anything you weren't supposed to do?"

She looked at him. "I'm here…"

"This can't be the thing that jump starts your rebellion." Sam said, shaking his head.

Mercedes looked at him. "So… my life is just moving so fast. I am in a rut with my books and you would think it's because my life sucked but my family is so supportive and my ex asked me to marry him. Someone wants one of my series to be turned into a Movie and I just froze. I am staring my future in the face and I realized that I have never toed the line. I write about adventures in love and in life and I never take them." She looked away from him.

Sam turned her face so that she was looking at him. "It's never too late to leap."

Mercedes stared at him for a moment and nodded. "Maybe you are right…just leap?" She sat up in her chair leaning closer to him and brushed past his lips and kissed his cheek.

He turned his head and captured her lips with his own, kissing her deeply before pulling away. "Leap." He said before kissing her again.

Sam kissed her and her eyes shut leaning into him. Maybe she shouldn't take the leap, but she did. Kissing him was everything, no one in her life had ever made her feel a fraction of what he did. After a moment she pulled away from him. Pulling back from him she stared into his eyes unsure what to say. She chewed the inside of her cheek sitting back in her chair. Baby steps…she said to herself, though if Sam kept staring at her she would be taking big steps.

"You must kiss a lot of girl's cause that was…wow."

"Do you not kiss a lot of men?" He asked, amused by her innocence.

She shook her head no. "No, not really."

"Come here." He said.

"Come where?" She asked coyly.

"Here." He answered, pointing directly in front of him.

She swallowed hard, at least he didn't say his lap. She stood pulling down her robe which seemed to just keep getting shorter. Standing in front of him she exhaled. "Now what?"

He stood up and entered her personal space but left enough room between them to keep her comfortable. "Kiss me."

"Kiss you?" She repeated, staring at his lips, then his eyes.

"Kiss me like you have the women do in your novels." He elaborated.

She licked her lips, hesitating for the moment before moving towards him and placing her hand on his chest. She stands on her tippy toes and kisses him softly at first before leaning in and kissing him deeper.

Sam kissed her back, letting her control the pace, and when she ended it and pulled away he smiled. "That was bold. Are all your characters that way?"

She nodded. "Most of them." She said softly.

"Who is your boldest character?" Sam asked.

"Ummmm Bailey…why?"

Sam lifted her chin to his. "Tell me one of her bold scenes."

"What?"

"Tell me something sexy and bold that she did or that happened to her."

Mercedes blushed. "Umm okay, She and her boyfriend Jason, they were in her living room and he kissed her against the table, kinda like this, then he flipped her around, and um pulled her to him."

"And then what?" He asked.

She placed her hair behind her ears, "He felt up her body while kissing her, then took her to bed and told her to take off her robe."

Sam smirked. "Oh okay…kinda like this?" He turned her around and pulled her body against his. Moving her hair to the side, he kissed and nipped at her neck as his hands ran up her sides, and over her body.

"Oh my go-oh…" She moaned, even writing it she never thought it could feel this amazing.

Sam nipped her ear before whispering. "Take off your robe."