by Kate Kisset
“Other than the hospital, my only recollection is standing at the Snack Shack line.” She raised her chin, refusing to be intimidated by the intensity of his stare. “I’m sorry I don’t remember all the dirty details.”
Looking up at the sky, Danny ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He zeroed in on her again and moved so close his breath touched her forehead. Danica inched away.
“Please stop playing with me,” he pleaded. Reaching out to her face, he caressed her cheek gently with the palm of his hand. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. Weeks ticked by as she tried to recall some unknown memory. His eyes begged for a response. "You know who I am.”
Breaking his gaze, Danica shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Um…" She frowned. “I wish I kn—”
“Danica,” he whispered, reaching with his other hand, and cradling her face. His earlier bravado was gone, and he seemed vulnerable, and still a tiny bit familiar. “It’s me.” He stroked under her chin with his thumbs.
Sticky sweat collected at the back of her neck, and she shifted uncomfortably. She wanted to tell him what he so desperately wanted to hear but couldn’t. Does he want me to lie? What am I supposed to say? Why am I not pulling away from him? Instead of being worried or afraid, she felt shockingly safe. He was so sweet in the hospital.
Anguish filled his eyes and reached through her jumbling thoughts to her heart. The party chatter stopped. She couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t move, and didn’t want to. She had a feeling she’d need to find another source for the baseball story…
Locked in his gaze, she allowed him to guide her mouth to his lips. His hands trembled against her hot skin as he brought her closer. Smoked cedar and forest scents enveloped her, and she closed her eyes, cautiously tasting his lips.
His mouth descended on hers in a warm kiss, sending shudders from the nape of her neck and down her spine to her heels. The unexpected rush and unbelievable high of his full lips and delicious taste made her reach around his neck.
Feeling the thick tangles of his hair against his warm skin, she tugged him closer, but he pulled back. She leaned in for another kiss that didn’t come and opened her eyes. “What?”
His mouth was a straight line. “You don’t remember.” She couldn’t tell if there was contempt or hurt in his eyes.
Struggling to catch a breath, she asked, “Maybe if you k-kissed me again, I would?”
Danny shook his head and looked away. "No thanks. Never mind.” She clasped his arm, but he shrugged it off turning his back on her. Ambling to the buffet table, he paused, and turned. "Unbelievable.”
What did I do wrong?
She watched him pick up his plate and stride toward the bar area. What the hell was that? That kiss?!
Shaking, and not wanting to make eye contact with anyone, she cut through the lawn and trudged back to the buffet, demoralized. What is wrong with me? And note to self. No more Santino parties. Danica grabbed the plate she’d left on the table and flung it into a trash bin. She turned, almost bumping into a server with a full tray of wine glasses.
“Excuse me. I’m so sorry.”
“Not a problem.” The lanky man steadied the tray in front of her. Danica grabbed a glass and gulped. “Thank you. Just what I needed.”
“I’ve got more.” He grinned and strolled off.
The apple-crisp chardonnay cooled her throat and alleviated some of her confusion, but not much. She combed through the crowd in search of bench, and spotted Michael a few yards away, leaning in close, talking animatedly and obviously enthralled with Germaine Panteen. She felt like a frayed, worn-out tennis ball being smacked back and forth across a court. Why had she agreed to come to this stupid party?
“My favorite sister is here!” Her younger brother Jess’s gigantic smile blocked her sight line.
Not thinking about her wine, she threw her arms around him. “Thank God you’re here.” Danica latched on to his shoulders and sighed.
“Hey, you okay?” Jess shrugged out of the hug. “Let me look at you. Are you dizzy?”
Well, yes, actually, I am a little woozy, thank you for asking. “No, I’m fine.” I think.
He took her glass and placed it on a wine barrel table. Jess’s brown eyes were rimmed with green in the sun. His eyebrows lowered, and he studied her again.
“Really, it’s no biggie.” She poked him the stomach. “I wish everyone would stop asking me if I’m all right.”
“Sorry I didn’t get to visit you at the hospital,” he said, grasping her hands.
Danica held back a smile. She could never be really mad at Jess. Only sixteen months apart, they’d been inseparable as kids. Still, she enjoyed listening to him grovel a little.
“By the time the game was over, the nurses wouldn’t let me into your room.” He squeezed her hands. “I knew Mom, Dad, Matt, and Bran were there, so you weren’t alone the whole time.”
She let go of his hands. “You were at the game?”
His puppy dog eyes got big. “I honestly didn’t know you were the one Luca hit with the ball, or I would’ve left the game.” Groveling, making a steeple with his hands, like he was praying, he explained. “By the time I figured out what had happened, visiting hours were over, I swear.”
“Danny Deep’s ball hit me, for your information.”
Jess cocked his head but didn’t say anything. He squinted, examining her like a doctor ready to admit a patient to an asylum. “Jeez, you can be clueless sometimes. Danny Deep is Luca Santino." He rolled his eyes. "I just saw you two talking.”
Danica put her hands on her hips. “What is that supposed to mean?” Jess could be such a clown sometimes.
“My best friend in high school? He was at our house practically every day during the summer…” He threw his hands up, obviously exasperated.
Danica crossed her arms and waited for her brother to start making sense.
“Dan-ny Deep is the name Lu-ca San-tin-o uses for baseball.” Jess tapped his skull with his finger, demanding she use her brain. “Luca needed a cool handle, like Catfish Hunter or Coco Crisp. He didn’t want the Santino name giving him extra help, so he came up with Danny Deep.”
Danica’s head pounded under the hot sun as the information began to register. She turned, making a full circle, scanning the area for the sexy baseball player who had just blown her mind with a kiss.
“That guy?” Her jaw nearly hit the ground. “The one you just saw me with, is Luca?” She put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes, remembering how they sneaked into her bedroom for the first time one steamy summer night. “No way. Not a chance. Although… Luca was crazy about baseball back then… And he did call Michael during my interview to check up on me…”
Jess threw his hands up. “Now you remember?”
Danica folded her arms across her stomach casting her eyes down. She nodded at the ground. “Oh, my God…Luca.”
“Bingo.”
“And I didn’t even recognize him.” She sighed. “Shit.”
“You know I love you, sis, but you really are dense sometimes.” His expression softened. “How many times have you broken his heart?”
“Never! He was too young to have his heart broken.” She buried her face in her hands pressing her cheeks. “Crap, we were too young to even know what we were doing.”
“Settle down.” Jess pulled her hands away from her face. “Although it is kind of funny that after all those years of you messing with him, he beaned you on the head. Karma…man, it can hurt.”
“Jess! Good to see you!”
Danica’s body shuddered at the sound of Michael Santino's unmistakable voice approaching from behind. How much more of this little shindig full of surprises could she take? She chewed on her lower lip, watching Jess and Michael go from hand shake to shoulder-slapping man hug.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to appear normal, and not like the crazed tart she’d apparently become. As of to
day, she’d officially kissed two Santino Brothers in the span of a week, a quantum leap in kissing action, considering she hadn’t had a boyfriend in more than a year.
Danica concentrated on lowering her pitch so she wouldn’t come off like a screeching banshee. “Hey, Michael.”
“Just wanted to make sure we’re caught up with the article, Danica.” He sipped his wine.
“We’re all set, Mr. Santino,” Danica replied primly, using her best professional tone. “Article should be out this week or next, depending on what my editor decides.”
We are not mentioning that little kiss I planted on you in your office. Please forget it ever happened. From this day forward, I am off kissing. She did it with carbs. She could do it with lips.
“Gotta jam, babe. My two o’clock.” Jess gestured to a nearby bombshell in cutoffs and took off. “Catch up later, ’gator.”
Michael waved and turned back to Danica. “I’m leaving for Italy for a few weeks, and might be difficult to get ahold of.” He paused for a moment, smiling, probably dreaming of Italian women. “If you have any technical questions, Jayne will be able to help. If there’s an emergency, although I can’t imagine there would be, she’ll be able to reach me.”
“No, there’s nothing to worry about Michael.” Except for the fact that your baby brother just laid an earth-shattering kiss on me, and I was totally wrong about you. “Relax and have a good time.” Danica moved to kiss him on the cheek, but quickly changed her mind, because out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Luca Santino, aka Danny Deep watching.
Danica followed Sarah to the front of the house and she took off with a mass of partiers leaving for the Napa riverfront. Luckily, there seemed to be plenty of designated drivers around. After several glasses of wine, Danica wasn’t about to get behind the wheel.
Cringing at the thought of running into Luca, she kept her head down and found Juliet.
“Ladies!” Jamie sounded frantic, marching across the parking lot toward her and Juliet, seemingly on a mission. “Sarah wanted me to check on you and make sure you have a ride.”
“I think we’ll be okay, Jamie.” Juliet pulled a jacket from her bag. “But thanks for asking.”
“I’m riding with Uncle Leo and Lulu in his car.” Jamie scanned the area. “Michael is driving Germaine in my two- seater.” He brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled.
Danica caught sight of Luca, and switched her attention to a patch of weeds at her feet, hoping he didn’t see her.
Jamie called out. “Take Danica and Juliet in your truck.”
The blood raced to her cheeks. Jamie’s back was turned, and he was facing Luca, waiting for an answer. She tapped his shoulder, hoping to shut down his plan.
Jamie swiveled back to her. “What’s up?”
“We really don’t need a ride. It’s okay.” Danica gulped a breath. “Luca doesn’t have to drive us.” She pointed to a beige SUV and a Chevy parked side by side. “See? Plenty of cars. We’re fine. Let him get going.”
Luca whistled from across the lot and waved them over.
Shit.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jamie placed a hand on her back and, although she wanted to dig her heels in and not budge an inch, she let him usher her and Juliet over to a fire engine red truck. “Luca doesn’t mind,” Jamie smiled. “Honestly, Danica, he doesn’t.”
She contemplated faking a head-injury relapse, but didn’t want to leave Juliet hanging, explain anything to Jamie, or act like a numbskull. Clenching her hands, she approached Luca’s truck, doing everything she could to appear un-rattled. Just another day of kissing supermodel baseball players I don’t recognize from my past.
“They’re all yours, baby bro,” Jamie said, darting off. “See you guys at the river.”
“I think it’ll be okay to ride with him.” Juliet draped an arm around her shoulder. “Besides, you can’t beat a vintage Ford truck. Look at that thing.”
“Look at what thing?!”
Scrunching her forehead, Juliet stared her down. “The truck, Danica. Look at the truck. It’s a beauty. Jeez, you’re touchy.”
“Sorry.” Danica sneaked a peek at Luca, who was helping two brunettes her age into the truck’s cab. She recognized them from the party. One wore a sexy halter dress, and the other cutoff blue jeans shorts and cowboy boots. Luca suddenly looked up and locked on her eyes. She could feel his heat from ten feet away and had to turn away. “Gawd,” she muttered.
“What?” Juliet turned scrunching her eyes. “Haven’t you ridden in the back of truck before? It’s no biggie. C’mon.” They filed in behind the group waiting for a lift. Juliet slipped into her jacket. “Did you leave yours in the car? I’ll save your spot. Go get it.” She zipped the coat to her neck.
“Forgot to bring one.” Danica rubbed her goose-bumpy arms. It served her right to be stuck riding with him. No matter how uncomfortable she felt, she had to apologize to Luca for not recognizing him. She wanted to shrink into the dirt.
It didn’t help matters that she had to clear the air earlier with Michael. But it was incomprehensible that she hurt Luca. This was foreign ground. She wasn’t a big dater, because work kept her so busy, and she hadn’t had a steady boyfriend for a while, but she made it a point to be on good terms with everyone she’d dated. This was the most god-awful, ridiculous situation she’d ever been in.
If she had recognized Luca, she would have been thrilled to see him again, and he should have already known that. Why would he test her with a random, name-those-lips quiz?
After all these years, how was she supposed to recognize him?
And why did he let the nurse introduce him with his fake baseball name at the hospital?
Danica rubbed her forehead with her thumb and pointer finger, remembering the hurt in his eyes after he kissed her. She felt like a reject sparkler. There’s always one in a box. Light the fuse and nothing happens.
“Step back, let me help you.” Luca unhitched the tailgate. The metal door clunked and came down.
Keeping her eyes hidden behind her hair, she looked at Luca from the corner of her eye, trying not to be obvious. Danica still couldn’t see any resemblance between the boy she knew then and the self-confident man in front of her. How could he have changed so much?
Sure, he had a little swagger years ago, and was much sexier than other boys his age, or she wouldn’t have been attracted to him. But now, towering over six feet, he was striking and powerful. Luca tossed his head back and laughed in response to something she couldn’t hear. She flashed on his beautiful smile.
Luca heaved himself up onto the bed of the truck and, with his biceps practically popping out of his shirt, reached down to help an older woman up onto his truck.
When it was her turn, she avoided his eyes, careful to not draw any unnecessary attention from him. She felt bad enough. Danica stepped to the front of the line. He didn’t make eye contact, but bent down and offered his hand. Her hand connected with his strong grip and electricity shrieked through her. In a swooping second, she was on the truck.
This could be her only chance to apologize. She didn’t know if they’d sit near each other at the park, or which car she’d be herded into after the fireworks. Danica gently nudged his arm. “Hey, Luca, I’m so sorry I—”
He didn’t acknowledge her, other than to say, “We’re cool. It’s already forgotten.” Turning his back, he stooped down to assist Juliet.
Any relief she hoped to after apologizing didn’t happen. She couldn’t blame him for being miffed, but it didn’t stop her from feeling a little crumpled inside. She and Juliet navigated to the front, near the cab’s back window. Blankets, pillows, and a stack of folded sweatshirts emblazoned with the Crushers’ logo sat next to a large cooler.
The tailgate slammed shut with metal bang, and Luca rested his arms on the closed tailgate. “I’ll take the back roads. It’s not very far, but don’t stand up back here. Okay?”
The assemb
ly nodded in agreement.
The cold metal bed numbed Danica’s butt while she shivered next to Juliet. They bounced in unison over what seemed like fifty potholes until Luca parked in a crowded lot near the river, about a half mile away from Napa Veteran’s Park. The chilly air carried the sulfur smell of spent firecrackers and garlic from a nearby tailgate party. Hordes carrying coolers, chairs, and sleeping bags paraded out of the lot towards the park. Danica snuggled next to Juliet and waited for the other passengers to get off the truck before standing up.
Freezing now she was away from Juliet’s warm body, Danica snatched a Crushers’ sweatshirt from the top of the heap next to her. A cherry bomb burst in the distance. Leaning over the tailgate with his arms folded, Luca eyeballed her hand and raised his brows.
She sheepishly waved the shirt. “You don’t mind if I borrow this, do you?”
Luca backed off the tailgate and stroked his chin, hesitating. Her knees knocked, and she shifted her weight, suddenly feeling like a felon. It wasn’t a difficult question. She’d return the shirt. “I’ll buy it from you?”
She then looked away, focusing on a man selling glow-sticks. “You know what? Never mind.” Danica tucked the sweatshirt under her chin and began to fold it back up.
“No.” Luca’s deep voice rolled over her. His gaze slowly moved from her toes, inching up to her legs, and over her tummy. He lingered on her breasts for a moment, then focused on her eyes, locking on and throwing her a half grin. “Go ahead.” His smile got wider. “Keep it.”
Although her body temperature had ramped up at least eighty degrees under the heat of his perusal, she quickly wriggled into the sweatshirt. “Thanks.” After rolling up an extra foot of fabric at the sleeves, Danica made her way toward him.
From his position on the ground, Luca extended his hands to help her off the truck, but she turned her back on him. Not about to ask him for anything else, including his assistance, she crouched down and attempted a graceful shimmy off the icy tailgate by herself.
Luca gripped her waist, and she stopped breathing. In his arms, she caught a whiff of the spicy wood scent she remembered from their kiss.
