What the fuck?
He pulled back. “Stace?”
She smiled. Sort of. “I want to take it slow, Luke. Savor the moment.”
Aw hell. Frustration razored along his back and lodged in his balls. He wasn’t getting any, dammit.
Surprisingly, his interest in her picked up a notch. Not that he hadn’t had anyone play hard to get before, but there was something about the way she’d said it… the way she’d behaved this evening.
“Yeah, sure, Stace. That’s fine with me. I’m not a Neanderthal, you know.”
Now her smile turned genuine. Real. And, shit, it socked him in the gut more than that creep Mackenzie’s tackle that’d broken his hip and put him out of commission for good.
He just hoped that analogy wasn’t at work here. The last thing he needed was another woman grabbing some real estate in his life.
A couple next to them briefly bumped them. A chorus of “sorry”s followed, but Staci wasn’t sorry. She was enjoying this moment. Sure, Luke felt good against her—there was not denying that body—but he’d gone with her moving his hand away. Hadn’t gotten all pissy like she’d thought he might. Which just proved that he wasn’t some player. Wasn’t after only one thing.
Mother was right. Who knew?
Except she wouldn’t know that Staci was using her newfound look on Luke. Reese didn’t want her, and, frankly, Staci didn’t want him and Mother would just have to deal.
She wanted Luke. For a lot longer than a couple of hours. Which meant that she had to play her cards right.
Well, she’d take a page out of Bella’s book and try the classy act—not that her stepsister had any clue how close Reese was to drooling over her. Poor guy; all through dinner he’d been like a deer in the headlights while Bella had been oblivious. Heh, maybe there was something Staci could teach her when this was all said and done.
But like Bella, she wasn’t going home with anyone tonight. She was done being an easy lay. If Luke wanted her—and that bulge pressed against her abdomen said he did—he was going to have to work for her. No matter how much it hurt both of them in the interim.
The band segued to the next slow song and Staci was all for enjoying Luke pressing against her a little longer.
Their thighs brushed as the soft strains of Spandau Ballet’s “True” wove around them. True. Ha. She’d had a lot of trues tossed her way lately, the biggest being that her mother was an overbearing tyrant. Staci was ashamed that she’d fallen in line with Mother’s plans so easily.
But no more. Mother wasn’t going to run her life or ruin Sophia’s; Staci was taking charge of it all as of now.
Luke’s hand moved lower.
Okay, so maybe she wasn’t going to take charge of anything right now. Once this song was over would be soon enough. Luke’s arms around her felt good. And she liked allowing him to lead—the guy not only knew his way around women, he knew his way around the dance floor and it’d been a long time—try never—that she’d been with someone who had his flair.
Something flared all right—right in the middle of her stomach when his fingers made little circles on her back, warming her flesh as heat seeped through her shirt and traveled south. It was going to be tough to stick to her decision if he kept doing that.
“Any chance you want to get out of here, Staci?” Luke whispered in her ear, sending shivers all over her body.
Yes.
No.
Hell.
Damn her conscience and re-awakened common sense anyhow…
“Yeah, let’s go.”
***
Reese followed Bella, needing to apologize for overreacting. It wasn’t her fault he was a jealous ass. But there was only so much he could handle, and having Vincent Casteleoni on the agenda was his breaking point. He had to be civil to the guy, he had to keep his hands off his wife, but he did not have to do anything more than that.
And what about the kids who would benefit from the auction? Weren’t they important enough to set his ego aside and suck it up?
Hell, yes, they were. And not having Vincent on the agenda wouldn’t change the fact that the guy still went home to Bella every night.
He caught up with her by her car. “Bella, wait.”
She slowed, and looked at him warily. “Yes?”
“I’m sorry if I was a little sharp back there.”
“Sharp? Try deadly.” Her tone stung and wouldn’t let him off the hook. Not that he deserved to be.
“I know. And I really don’t have an excuse except that I—” What? Was a jealous ass? A stupid, horny bastard? A lowlife scum lusting after another man’s wife? What? What could he say to salvage this?
Hell, he didn’t need Luke to screw up the catering part of this business for him; he was doing a damn good job all by himself.
“You’re what?”
“I… I’m sorry.”
“That’s it? Sorry for embarrassing me? Sorry for humiliating me? Sorry for insulting me? Which one, Reese, are you sorry for?”
That he hadn’t met her before Vincent.
Yeah, he was a horny, lowlife scum bastard to lust after her this way. “All of the above? Forgive me? Please? And you can ask Vincent. We’ll make room for him.”
He held his breath as she looked at him, hoping he hadn’t screwed up everything.
“I guess I have to forgive you since you owned up to all of it.”
She gave him that same smile that Sophia had, blinking those big blue windows into her psyche and Reese blew out a breath. At least he was still a good judge of character—if not of marital status.
If he were Vincent Casteleoni, he’d make damn sure she wore thick, horn-rimmed glasses tinted a nice shade of gray to hide the impact of those eyes because they could turn a rational man’s thoughts to mush. And another part of his anatomy to stone.
He took a huge breath and willed himself to take a step back. He did not hit on someone else’s wife. “So, um, we’re okay then? No hard feelings?”
She shook her head, the ends of her hair swishing across the bit of cleavage above her neckline and Reese wanted to follow its path with his tongue.
Jesus.
He grabbed her driver side door handle and yanked it open, being sure to stand behind it as she climbed in, away from any part of her that he could inadvertently touch, or stroke, or… lick. He motioned for her to get in.
Of course, she stopped before she did so. And of course she put her fingers on his arm.
“Oh, I wanted to ask you…” She nibbled her lip and Reese was so freaking glad there was a big piece of steel between them. “Is there, that is, do you have an extra pair of tickets to the auction? I’d pay for them of course.”
Two tickets. Sophia and Vincent. It only made sense.
“Sure, Bella, no problem. And don’t worry about paying for them. They’re on the house.”
And then he sent her back to her house. The one where Vincent waited.
Chapter Twenty-One
Reese’s bad mood carried over to the next morning. Given that he’d left the parking lot in one after Bella had driven away to come home to an empty house, that shouldn’t be a surprise.
What had been was that his house which, until that moment, hadn’t seemed particularly empty, suddenly had. He’d stared at the four walls that made up his living room, and later those of his bedroom, and acknowledged that he needed more in his life than what he’d been living with. The looks Luke and Staci had been giving each other, not to mention the sexual awareness he’d almost been able to touch, had grabbed him by the throat, and Bella looking stunning in the glow of the candles, her eyes sparkling, the breeze brushing her hair across her skin, her soft laughter wrapping around him like a caress hadn’t helped matters.
Sending her home to The Husband had only made things go downhill.
He wanted to punch something just for the sheer frustration of not being able to have her.
Luke strolled up his front walk just then, his usual morning-after swagger
making Reese want to punch him.
He yanked open the door before Luke had the chance to knock. “What do you want?”
Luke, damn him, smiled. “Sleep well?”
Reese swiped a hand over his chin, then raked it through his hair. “Is there something you need or are you purposely trying to sabotage your chances of getting back in my good graces?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Luke looked at his fingernails, the pompous prick. “I thought I was doing you a service last night by trading my signature to a lucky couple for their table so Bella wouldn’t leave.”
Reese checked the fist he wanted to swing. Luke had one warped sense of humor. “Remind me to thank you sometime.”
“I’ll take it now, but do we have to have this conversation on your front porch? How ‘bout a cup of coffee?”
Sadistic bastard. But Reese let him in anyway. Luke wanted to brag. He always did. Staci was just one more in a long line of notches on a bed post.
“Going somewhere?” Luke’s toed the suitcases stacked in the foyer.
“A conference. Is there something you need, Luke?”
“I came by to drop off your change.”
“You could have kept it.”
“And give you reason to distrust me more than you do now?” Luke dumped the cash on the end table. “No way. I told you I’d be on the job and I plan to prove it.” He tapped his shoe. “Uh, any chance of that coffee? From the looks of it, you could use some, too.”
“Gee, thanks.” Yeah, he had been up half the night—and he didn’t mean just being awake.
Shaking off the memory—and the erotic dreams he’d had once he’d finally fallen asleep—Reese headed to the kitchen. He grabbed a bag of coffee beans from the fridge, poured them into the grinder, then turned it on, the harsh whir of the motor combined with the remnants of last night’s wine and lack of sleep giving him one hell of a headache.
Luke sat at the breakfast bar and drummed his fingers on its surface. “So, how’d it go with Bella?”
Like shit, but Reese opted not to say it as he poured the grounds and water into the coffee maker and set it to perc. Luke didn’t need to know his feelings toward Bella—not that the fact that she was Vincent Casteleoni’s wife would matter to him; marriage had never stopped Luke before.
Reese grabbed two mugs from the cabinets above the breakfast bar sink and placed them on the granite countertop. “She accepted my apology. We’re good.”
“Yeah, what was with that? You sure clammed up in a hurry. I mean, hell, snagging Vincent Casteleoni for the event was a brilliant idea.”
“That, surprisingly, came from Staci.” From another cabinet, he pulled out a sugar bowl and a cardboard cylinder of non-dairy creamer, then handed them to Luke. “I don’t know how you can use that stuff.”
“Hey, a guy’s gotta have a few vices. Mine just happens to be for something sweet in the morning.”
Reese could think of something sweet he’d like to have as his vice in the morning.
“So. You and Staci.” Anything to take Bella out of the conversation.
“Hey, don’t get on my case. She’s not really working with Bella. We both know that. I’m just keeping her busy and out of the way.”
“Regardless, Luke, the problem is, you always pick the ones who think they can be the exception to your no-involvement rules.” He filled Luke’s mug.
“Yeah, but Staci’s different. I made one move, and, bam, she was out the door of my car like lightning. Shocked the shit out of me.” He took the coffee from Reese. “I think there’s more to her than she lets on. I mean, did you see what she was wearing last night? Totally unexpected.”
Unless she was trying to keep Luke off-kilter enough to intrigue him. Reese wouldn’t have thought Staci smart enough for that, but then, looks could be deceiving.
“I mean, yeah, she comes off all brassy and tacky, but once you start her talking, you see she’s a real person. Not some ditzy chick with no brains and a great body. We went to a coffee shop after The Midnight Maiden and had an interesting conversation. There’s actually depth to her.”
Surprising words coming from Luke; normally, the guy was as shallow as a puddle two days after a rainstorm. “Depth, huh?”
“Yeah. For instance—” Luke drained his mug and motioned for another. “Did you know she graduated at the top of her class in college?”
“Yet she remains unemployed.”
“She admitted that was due to not wanting to look for a job. She took some time off to enjoy life.”
“And, who, exactly, is paying for this decadent lifestyle?”
“She said her stepfather left them comfortable, so she doesn’t have to work.”
“Yet Bella is working her tail off at the restaurant.” And had a family with one very lucky SOB. “Now, why do you suppose I find Staci’s story hard to believe?” Reese shook his head. “How much longer are you going to be gullible for something in tight pants, Luke? Didn’t Tanya teach you anything?”
Luke slammed the mug down on the counter, coffee splashing over the top. The handle cracked off and he tossed it into the sink. “I don’t need a lecture from you, Reese. At least I haven’t let myself turn into some freak, with nothing else in my life but a bunch of parties I don’t get to enjoy.” He grabbed a napkin and mopped up the mess.
“You know, you used to be fun. We had some great times in our playing days. Now, you’re like the suits we used to make fun off, all tight-assed and number-crunching. Sometimes, Reese, you actually have to take a chance and go outside your safe little world.” The napkin followed the mug handle into the sink. “And, yeah, it’s not always nice out there. Tanya may have been a mistake, but having Jared never was. So, stay off my case about Staci. What I have, or don’t have, going on with her won’t affect your precious auction.”
He stood up and poured the contents of the mug down the drain. “I can’t believe I thought you might be interested in Bella. I can’t believe I thought you might bend your ironclad rule about fraternizing with the help to go out with her.” He set the mug on the counter. “Do you know I was almost going to volunteer to babysit today so she wouldn’t have to take her little sister Sophia out so you two could go do something? That’s how nice I was trying to be to you. I’m really glad now that I didn’t waste my time.” He shot a disgusted look at Reese. “Have a good day, Reese. A good, lonely one.”
Luke punctuated his departure by slamming the front door hard enough to knock a picture off the wall while Reese’s world shifted, turned sideways, and dumped him off the edge with it.
Little sister? Sophia was her sister?
Then who the hell was Vincent Casteleoni?
He grabbed his iPad, finally allowing himself to do the search he’d been wanting to do all week—
Her uncle. Vincent Casteleoni was her uncle.
Jesus. He was an idiot. A stupid, blind, lovesick moron.
He sat down and read the article about her parents’ accident. Saw her father’s obituary, listing Sophia as her sister.
His damn nobility had put him in hell for a week.
Well no more.
He grabbed his cell. She was taking Sophia somewhere today. He wanted—no, needed to know where.
***
Staci hung up Bella’s cell phone, a smile on her face, then brushed her hands together. There, that was her good deed for the day.
She turned around and came to an abrupt halt.
Mother stood in the doorway, her eyes narrowed.
Staci knew that look. And had recently learned to fear it.
“Why did Reese Charmant want to speak with Bella?” An icy chill followed Mother’s words.
Staci gulped and suppressed a shiver. Now that her eyes had been truly opened to Mother’s scheming, she realized she did not want to get on her bad side. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“That was your second mistake.” Mother folded her arms over her chest with military precision, her starched white collared shirt crin
kling like cellophane. With the pencil-straight charcoal skirt, her black hair sleeked back into a French twist so severe it looked as if her cheekbones were going to be pulled to the back of her head, and black pointed heels, Mother could be commanding an army. Or terrorizing a town of defenseless Munchkins.
She whipped her hands to her pointed hips so fast Staci thought the air whistled. “Honestly, Anastasia, must I think of everything?” Her mother advanced upon her with all the deadly grace of a big cat stalking its prey. “I suggest you call the man back and ask him what exactly he needs, and tell him you’ll get him the answer. There is no need to encourage a meeting between them.”
“I don’t know Bella’s pass code for her phone. And he was calling from his car and I don’t have his cell number.”
“Then I strongly urge you to march that well-wiggled derriere of yours down to the zoo and catch him before he finds her.” Mother’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have to explain any further, do I?”
Oh no. She came through loud and clear. But Staci had other plans for the day. Plans that would be futile unless she did what Mother wanted. “Fine. I’ll try to find him before he finds her and Sophia.”
She was almost past her when Mother’s hand shot out and caught her arm. “Don’t try, Anastasia. Do. Remember, Salvatore’s money only takes us so far. We cannot buy our way into the country club scene. However, if I become a member of the Board of the Arts Center, our entrée is all but guaranteed.” Her grip got tighter. “Unless you want to be second rate all your life.”
Staci yanked her arm out of the vise. “I get it, Mother. Say goodbye to Luke and play nice-nice to Reese in exchange for helping you out. Gee, I’m so glad I get something out of it. Do the words ‘world’s oldest profession’ mean anything to you?”
Fury rushed into Mother’s face. “Don’t you ever speak to me in such a manner again, Anastasia. I’ll not have it. I’ve given up the best years of my life trying to do better by you girls than that slob who sired you ever did! I put up with enough of his garbage to last me a lifetime, and then, when I was finally able to land a good prospect, I had to play second fiddle to a ghost!” She wagged a long, pointed finger in Staci’s face. “I’ve done what’s necessary to keep you in the tight clothes you so enjoy and a decent roof over your head, and this is how you repay me?”
If The Shoe Fits Page 15
