Missionary Daddy by Linda Goodnight Page A

house. Security lights had taken the place of the sun, and the trees cast shadows across the lawn. The cleanup crews would need several days to put the plantation back to its usual manicured perfection.
    “Sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.”
    “You got one anyway. You’d look good no matter what.” He grinned and flexed his shoulders. “Like me. We just can’t help ourselves.”
    She laughed and shook her head. “When we first started this project, I thought the two of us would never laugh together. But we’ve done plenty of that today.”
    They deposited the cash box and signed out with the other volunteers before heading toward the parking area. The teenagers had long since abandoned ship. Other volunteers still milled the grounds or the parking lot, but most were also gone.
    “When we started this project, I was a jerk,” Eric admitted. “I owe you an apology.” She didn’t press him for details and he was glad. “Forgive me?”
    “I’m just glad we’re friends again.”
    Yeah, friends. He could do that. He could be friends with Samantha until she went back to Chicago and her own kind of people.
    When they reached her car, he opened the door for her. She didn’t get in. Instead, she stood in the opening, facing him.
    Eric rested a forearm on the top edge of the car door. “I could pick you up tomorrow for church,” he said. “Afterwards, we could have lunch.”
    Sam smoothed the hair back from her forehead. “I’d like that.”
    She didn’t get inside her sports car and Eric was glad. He was equally reluctant to end their day. Not since Africa had he felt this content or had this much fun.
    That night outside the orphanage, he’d almost kissed her, but he hadn’t known then that hers was one of the best known faces in the country. He was probably crazy for even thinking such a thing, but he wanted to kiss her now even more. Not because she was Samantha Harcourt, the successful model, but because she was Sam, the awesome woman.
    He moved in, felt the warmth of her breath against his cheek, saw her lips part the tiniest bit.
    Then someone called his name.

Chapter Eight

    A week later the memory of that near-kiss still lingered in Eric’s mind. He’d wanted to be irked at Scott Crosby for the interruption, but the new assistant pastor couldn’t help it if his tire was flat and he didn’t have a jack. So, like a Good Samaritan, Eric had waved goodbye to Sam when he’d really wanted to kiss her, and then gone to help Scott with his car.
    Unfortunately, the moment was lost and in the week since the picnic no other opportunity had come his way. He was pretty disappointed about that, though he knew better than to get too involved with a woman of Sam’s caliber. Even though he now knew her to be a terrific person, she was still far out of his league. He didn’t even know where she stood on the crucial issue of adoption.
    Yet, Gina’s problem had thrown them together once again, and this morning he was glad to have Sam by his side at church.
    He glanced at her, sitting in the corner of his Sunday school classroom, hands gripped tightly in her lap. He’d known she was nervous as she’d spoken with his students, but the teenagers hadn’t appeared to notice. Some of the kids hadn’t met her before and they’d been awed to have a successful model as their key speaker. Even now, after he’d taken over, the class was quieter and listening with more intensity than usual. Sam’s talk about eating disorders and peer pressure had gotten to them.
    “Being a teenager today is tough,” he said to the rows of faces. “Other than the pressure for girls to be thin and guys to be buff, where do you personally feel pressured?”
    “Making good grades,” someone said.
    “Being cool. In the right crowd at school,” said another. “Sometimes other kids think I’m a dweeb because I don’t party.”
    “Yeah, but they respect you, too,” Nikki said. “You can be cool and be a