A sob caught in her throat and she turned quickly, but not quite fast enough for Roark to miss the way her lovely face crumpled into tears.
Keeping her back straight, she marched out of his office and out of his life.
And though Roark told himself it was good riddance, he couldn’t help feeling a stabbing pain in the region of his heart when the door slammed shut behind her.
Thirty-Eight
Blinded by tears, Sammi hardly knew where she was going. She only had one destination in mind—away.
By the time she finally looked up, she saw that she had wandered all the way to the Docking Bay. She started to turn around and leave but then a tall Blood Kindred pilot said to her,
“Excuse me, Miss. Are you looking for a ride down to Earth? I’m about to go in ten minutes.”
“You are?” Sammi swiped at her eyes.
“Yes. Are you wanting to go down and visit your family?” he asked, giving her a look of concern.
“Family…yes.” An idea began to form in Sammi’s mind. “Yes, I need my family around me now.”
She would go to her Aunt Vicky’s house. It was noisy and crowded since Vicky had four kids, but they would put her up somewhere until she could find a new place. She’d be safe there, too—her Uncle Steve had been a linebacker in college and he was almost as big as a Kindred. Nobody would dare to bother her there—not even Roark.
Not that he would want to. He’d made it perfectly clear how he really felt about her.
The thought nearly made her break into fresh tears and she had to take a deep, gulping breath to push them back.
Her distress must have showed on her face because the Blood Kindred pilot looked more concerned than ever.
“Would you like to sit down, Miss?” he asked. “My ship is just over here?” He nodded at a sleek silver shuttle just inside the Docking Bay.
“Yes, thank you,” Sammi managed to say.
“All right then.” He escorted her to the shuttle and stowed her safely in the back seat.
Sammi sank into the plush cushions gratefully and closed her eyes. Everything was too much right now—she just needed to get away and be with her family. Later she could figure out what to do and how she was supposed to raise two babies on her own. But for now, she just wanted to turn her brain off.
Thirty-Nine
The trip down to Earth didn’t take long. Before she knew it, Sammi was standing outside the Human/Kindred Relations building in downtown Tampa, watching the traffic whiz by.
After living in the temperature and humidity-controlled Mother Ship for so long, the muggy Florida heat felt like a punishment. Her blouse was already sticking to her skin and everything felt clammy. Ugh, she needed to get out of here!
Sammi reached for her phone and realized that she had come down to Earth with absolutely nothing on her—her purse with her money and cell phone and wallet—everything was back aboard the Mother Ship. She had been so upset at Roark’s reaction to her pregnancy, she had left without even taking the basic necessities with her.
She didn’t have a ride either. Sammi groaned inwardly. What had she been thinking? Now she would either have to go all the way back to the Mother Ship to get her things, or call her Aunt Vicky and ask her to come give her a lift. Or maybe one of the Kindred warriors would drive her?
She turned hesitantly back towards the plate glass doors of the building. She could see several on-duty warriors standing around, waiting to greet people. Surely one of them might be willing to drive her? She really didn’t want to have to go back up to the Mother Ship and risk running into Roark again…
“Professor Grey?”
The voice was vaguely familiar and when Sammi turned around, she saw a vaguely familiar face to go with it. But the name escaped her.
“Oh, um…” She stalled for time. The young man who was standing there was so nondescript it was almost impossible to place him. He had brownish hair and brownish eyes and he was around 5’9 and seemed to be average weight—not scrawny and not fat. Who in the world was he?
“It’s me—Bernard Chelising? From your Biology class at USF?” he asked, smiling hopefully.
“Oh, uh…right—of course!” Sammi smiled at him. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it has. What happened to you? They said you were taking a leave of absence.” He gave her a concerned look.
“Oh, well…” Sammi cleared her throat. She had left the class in the middle of the semester but she’d gotten a replacement professor to teach in her place and the USF management had been very understanding.
“I mean, the new professor is okay but he’s not nearly as good as you,” Bernard continued.