by Kate Kisset
The problem was, if he could call it a problem, he’d always think about Danica and protecting her. No other woman had the ability to wrap around his heart the way she did. No matter how much he tried, he’d always think about her, just like he always had, whether they were together or not. And deep in his heart, he knew she felt the same way. We’re still us.
Weaving down the corridor, Danica led him to the outer perimeter of the building. She stopped abruptly, but her pony tail kept moving.
“Wait a sec. You sure this is your room?”
Instead of answering she banged on the door. “Juuliette, oh Saraaah, look what I found!” She thumped her fist on the door again.
He scanned the area, hoping no one would storm out of their room and tell them to shut up.
“Come on!” She shouted again, “Open up.”
A metal chain rattled and a loud click sounded from inside the room. The knob wiggled and then the door opened.
“You don’t have to ye—” Juliet scanned Danica. Then she spied him, and her eyes turned to saucers. Her mouth stayed open.
Sarah peeked over Juliet’s shoulder. “Wha—” She waited a heartbeat and stared him down before pulling Juliet away from the door. “Come on in, you guys”
Juliet beelined to a bed and, after shoving a pile of electronics out of the way, fluffed up the pillows and straightened the bedspread.
He entered the room. “Hey, you don’t have to do that.” With Danica glued to his side, he closed the door and locked it. “Come on, sweetheart.” He grasped her hand, sidestepped the suitcases on the floor, and escorted her to the empty bed.
Her chocolate brown eyes studied him while he placed his hands on her shoulders and helped her sit down. It had been so long since he touched her. Reading his mind, Danica reached up for a kiss, and he brushed his lips against her forehead. If he started kissing her on the mouth, even a tiny peck, there would be no stopping him.
“You should probably stay inside for the night,” he told her quietly. Then, peeling his eyes away from Danica, he addressed Sarah and Juliet, who still looked dumbfounded. “I think she belongs with you.”
Juliet’s Shut up and Play T-shirt was half tucked in and half hanging out of her shorts. “No. That is incorrect, Luca.” She put her hands on her hips and shot Sarah a look.
“Juliet’s right.” Sarah crossed her arms and threw her nose up in the air. “Danica belongs with you.”
“Are you staying?” Danica clasped his hand and squeezed.
Luca volleyed the glances from all the women while he tried to sort out what was best for Danica.
Juliet’s face relaxed. “Sarah and I could get another room, if you two…” She flashed on Danica. “If you two, um, want to talk…”
“No, don’t do that, Juliet. I won’t stay long.”
“No.” Danica tugged his arm. “Don’t say that.”
“Hmm.” Two empty wine bottles lay on the floor near a pile of empty wrappers on the floor next to the trash bin. “Quite a party, huh?”
“After I saw you with those toowoo girls, I didn know what to do…” Danica let go of his hand and leaned back on her pillow.
“We should really get out of here.” Sarah made a move for a duffel bag.
“Don’t.” He hesitated, looking down at the linoleum floor. “Look. You two obviously know parts of the story. You might as well hear the whole thing from me.”
Sarah shot her hand up. “We don’t have to get into it tonight, Luca—”
“Don’t let him leave, Sarah.” Danica sat up on the bed and scooted over, making room for him. She patted the mattress next to her. “Rrriiiight here. Sit down.”
He tugged at his throat and drew a deep breath. The room consisted of two double beds facing a flat-screen. There wasn’t a graceful exit, and he didn’t want to leave Danica’s side. This is a put up or shut up situation. Just like a tie game going into overtime.
Relaxing at the thought, he almost laughed. This wasn’t a game. And if he was going to spend his future with Danica, Juliet would be a part of his life, and Sarah was already like a sister.
After kicking off his flip-flops, Luca slid onto the bed and settled next to Danica. He wrapped an arm around her, and she cuddled into his shoulder.
“Move that junk, I’m bunking with you,” Sarah said, crawling onto Juliet’s bed.
He caught a whiff of Danica’s apple-scented hair and melted. She reached around his waist, snuggling closer, and he closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of her arms around him again.
“Have you seen The Holiday, Luca?” Juliet turned off the light next to her.
“Wait.” Danica wiggled next to him, squirming and digging into her pockets. She tossed a bag of Oreo cookies and one of M&Ms on Sarah and Juliet’s bed, and then propped up a pillow under his arm.
She held her package of Pop-Tarts like a prize, and carefully tore it open. The strawberry and vanilla aroma sent him back to junior high days, and after-school time at Danica’s house. Playfully, she rustled the package under his nose, offering him one.
Even though his abdomen was tight, and he had a raging erection, because Danica’s body always had that effect on him, the rest of his tension dissipated. He felt light, almost giddy. Luca dug into the bag, grabbed a Pop Tart, and took a bite.
“We’re at the part of the movie where Jude Law gets really drunk.” Danica giggled into his shoulder.
The next morning Luca lifted his arm from underneath Danica’s head, careful not catch his hand in her tumbled tresses. He snuck another whiff of her scent by lightly nuzzling her hair, and gently shifted his body on the bed, trying not to wake her. She rustled, turned over, and settled her head on the pillow.
The light from the bathroom streamed into the room on Sarah, who was crouching over a duffel bag. She caught his eye and crept up to the bed. “Checkout’s at eleven.” Sarah whispered, glancing at Danica with a soft smile. “She’s going to be hurting today.”
“I’d like to drive her home, if that’s all right with you.”
“Sounds good. Juliet’s loading the car. See you in Sonoma?”
“Count on it.”
After waiting for Juliet and Sarah to leave, Luca snuggled up behind her, spooning her warm body while she slept. His heartbeat slowed, and he matched the gentle rhythm of her breaths. Luca closed his eyes. Does she remember the first time we slept together?
It had been raining hard, and he’d waited for it to stop before walking home. His parents still had their old house in town. He, Jess, and Danica stayed up half the night listening to the storm pound and rain splatter against the windows while working on homework projects. Danica’s folks had the fire going in the living room, making it so cozy, he couldn’t resist closing his eyes just for a minute.
They fell asleep next to each other on that enormous plaid couch. Throughout the night, they’d groggily cuddle in their sleepy state, but nothing more. That was the first time he held her all night. She stayed in his arms in the same position she was in now.
He would be perfectly contented to just lie there next to her all day, but after an hour, he tenderly stroked her forehead. “Time to wake up, sleepyhead,” he whispered, kissing the back of her neck.
She wiggled a few inches, nestling her butt into him.
“Am I dreaming, or are you really there?” Danica asked, facing away from him, still in their spooning position. “Because there is something sticking in my back that feels very familiar…” She turned to face him so they were eye to eye, gazing at each other. She fluttered her eyelashes and broke the stare.
My Danica.
He reached across and caressed the soft skin of her forehead, stroking up all the way into her silky hair. “We’re going home together, okay?”
Her eyes got big and she grinned. She brought her hand to her mouth and breathed into it. “Yes. I mean, perfect, but I think I need to brush my teeth. Hold that thought, I’ll be right back,” she s
aid scrambling to the bathroom.
When she came back, he patted the mattress, and she slid under the covers beside him again. “Last night”—she tucked her hand under her face on the pillow and stared at him intently. “You wanted to tell Sarah and Juliet our story, but you never did.” Her voice sounded like quiet velvet. “What is our story, Luca?”
The words struck his heart. “Do you really have to ask, Danny?”
She wriggled closer to him on the pillow and nodded.
“Our real story is just beginning, sweetheart.”
Her eyes welled with tears.
“I love you Danica.” His voice broke, and he blinked away the mist in his eyes. “I always have, and I always will.”
Luca stared at her mouth, waiting an eternity for her to say something.
Danica leaned closer, reaching with her soft pink lips to meet his mouth with a kiss. An intense charge of happiness, tenderness, and love took his breath away.
He moved on top of her, craving another addictive taste, and cupped her exquisite face with both hands.
“Wait.” Danica teased, raising her eyebrow with a sexy smile. “How can I be sure you’re not still mad? You’re an excellent player.”
“Maybe,” he said, adjusting his elbows on the mattress on either side of her, so she couldn’t move. “But when it comes to you, I play for keeps.”
***
Months Later:
Wearing a smile that stretched from cheek-to-cheek, Danica skipped down the slippery hall to the villa’s kitchen. It's so hard to skip wearing these clunky slippers. Danica mulled over the thought, right before she almost took header into the wall next to the china cabinet, but that didn’t stop her from smiling.
“You okay over there?” Lulu half turned from the stove, holding a fork over a black skillet.
“I'm fine” she explained, straightening, spotting Sarah at the kitchen table. “I’m out of practice skipping, and just took the corner a little too fast.”
Sizzling bacon and warm molasses smells made her stomach rumble as she surveyed the table settings. “What can I do to help, Lulu?”
“Nothing,” Lulu flipped a pancake. “We’re all set and these are ready.”
Danica slid into a chair across from Sarah. “Morning, lady.”
“Morning,” Sarah answered with a smile. “Give me your cup.” She pointed and Danica passed the mug to her and waited for Sarah as she poured coffee from the carafe and passed it back to her.
“Thank you, by the way, I think Lulu has everything under control.”
“That would be correct, and it’s been under control for a very long time.” Sarah giggled staring back at Lulu, and Danica cracked up too eyeing Sarah.
“It's so weird having you home for breakfast, and I mean that in the best possible way.” Danica said, before sipping her coffee.
“I know. I’m never anywhere except the Vine before one o’clock, unless, of course, I’ve taken time off to travel with Jamie. But after I finished baking this morning, Manny practically ordered me to go home. He threw me out!”
Laughing, Sarah poured a little cream in her coffee. “I tell ya, the man runs a tight ship, and you, you my dear, haven’t stopped smiling and skipping your happy-dance since Eureka.”
“Eureka will be forever known as, ‘Eureka I Found Him,’ the most romantic city on earth,” Danica gushed.
“Yes, where you found yourself in your first foursome.” Lulu set the platter of pancakes and bacon on the table. “Whatever happened to having a standard ménage a trois?” She commented, while taking a seat at the head of the table.
“Geez,” Danica chuckled. “I’ll bet you keep Leo on his toes. It’s hard to tell when you’re joking sometimes.” She let Lulu dive into the pancakes first, and stabbed a strip of bacon with her fork and plopped it on Juliet’s plate, before taking one for herself.
“Juliet and I were in one bed, they were in the other,” Sarah explained. “There was no hanky-panky. It was actually very sweet. You should see the way Luca looks at Danica. He's crazy about her.”
Lulu patted Danica’s arm. “You know I’m happy for you Darling, even if it means, that now both you and Sarah will probably be moving out of the villa soon.” She sighed, leaning back in her chair.
Sarah shook her head. “I can't imagine not being here.”
“I know, I know.” Lulu nodded. “Yet life has a funny way of changing things. The only thing you can count on is change.”
They sat in silence for a moment. Danica and Luca hadn’t discussed the future yet in terms of a living situation.
The jangling of keys, banging against the front door interrupted her thoughts.
“Juliet?” Lulu asked, leaning toward the kitchen’s hall entrance. “It's awfully early for her to be home.”
Danica glanced at the kitchen clock. “It's not even nine yet.”
Sarah angled around Danica, narrowing her eyes toward the hall. “Her show isn't even over.”
Danica heard the thud she recognized as Juliet's purse plopping on the table by the front door, then footsteps stormed down the hall.
“Guys,” Juliet’s sniffles filled the room, coming from behind Danica.
Lulu paled and put her coffee cup down.
Sarah was slack jawed.
Danica’s chair legs screeched against the floor as she made a full turn and saw Juliet cheeks smudged with mascara. Her eyes were two swollen slits. Juliet looked like she'd been crying for weeks.
“What happened?” Danica asked, getting up to hug her.
“My life is over,” Juliet’s voice cracked. “I just got fired from the morning show.”
***
Juliet’s life is about to get much better! Stay in wine country for Juliet and Gabe’s, sexy, small town, single father romance, Click here for And I Love You.
Also by Kate Kisset
Love in the Vineyards Series:
Love at Last- Love in the Vineyards #1
Love’s Home Run- Love in the Vineyards #2
Kissing Luca- Mini Prequel- Love’s Home Run
And I Love You- Love in the Vineyards #3
Love is a Wildfire- Love in the Vineyards #4
Love in the Vineyards (Companion Books)
One Wish
Two to Tango
Kissing Mr. Mistletoe - Christmas in Napa
Lonesome Cowboy Series:
Heartbreaker
Love Maker
Dream Maker
Get exclusive, bonus material and stay up to date with Kate Kisset’s latest releases by joining her Newsletter.
About Kate Kisset
USA Today bestselling author Kate Kisset is a former San Francisco disc jockey. She’s always been passionate about telling great stories. After playing thousands of Pop, Country, Rock and Oldies tunes, for her primarily female fan base, she changed her tune and became an author.
A girl’s girl herself, Kate’s heroines are smart and feisty and her heroes are drool-worthy book boyfriends, who’ll do anything for the women they love.
When she's not writing, Kate's favorite job is being "The Mommy." She enjoys reading, binge watching Netflix and the Hallmark Channel, wine tasting, cooking, listening to music, and hiking with her loyal companion Luciana Parmigiana, her rescue-dog-editor.
Find Kate Kisset on the Web:
Kate Kisset Website
Kate Kisset BookBub
Kate Kisset Newsletter
Kate Kisset Facebook
Kate Kisset Private Facebook Group
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Kate Kisset Goodreads
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