Light as Air

by Mari Carr

  Rosalia didn’t want to admit, even to herself, that those two weeks spent on the road without him weren’t nearly as much fun. The past few years, traveling with this team, had been some of the best times of her life, and Doug, the charming comedian, was typically at the center of it all.

  She’d had a brief moment of panic a few hours ago when she got an email from him that simply said “Change of plans” in the subject heading. She’d opened the email fearing he had quit as well. Losing him as a cameraman would be tough…but not having him around for all the reasons that had nothing to do with science would be much worse. She always joked, calling him her work husband, but that wasn’t too far from the truth.

  She could confide in him when the research stalled or the data didn’t make sense. Rosalia knew he probably didn’t understand a tenth of the stuff she was talking about, but he was an amazing listener, and even without the scientific knowledge, he had a strong sense of logic combined with common sense. Which, in a lot of ways, made him way smarter than her, and she wasn’t too proud to admit it. He was the perfect counterbalance to her bookishness.

  Doug reminded her of her brothers, though she suspected he wouldn’t enjoy that comparison. He’d made a comment once about her hastiness in friend-zoning him three minutes after they’d met. She had done that, but not for the reasons he might think.

  She’d grown up in Philly with her large Italian family—she was the only daughter amongst six brothers—working part-time in her parents’ restaurant during summer breaks, holidays and weekends. She’d started hostessing, bussing tables, and serving in high school, and had returned to do the same throughout college as well.

  There were some deep fundamental similarities between her boisterous, overprotective brothers and Doug. She’d always seen the caring, attentive way her brothers looked at their girlfriends, and she wanted that same thing in her own future relationships. Wanted to be adored and—even though it wasn’t the most feminist of feelings—coddled and protected.

  Doug Compton was sex-on-a-stick hot, with an easygoing country-boy charm that was pretty hard to resist. And she suspected—because of her all work, no play policy—he restrained himself when it came to hovering, fighting the instincts that told him to get her out of the storm paths.

  Rosalia wondered what would happen if she let him off his leash and gave him the green light on a more intimate relationship.

  So far, she’d managed to keep him tethered—for a couple of pretty simple reasons. One, they worked together, and she had always felt this ingrained need to maintain a high level of professionalism. Secondly, she was contrary, and something told her Doug was used to women falling madly in love with him at one glance. She refused to succumb…easily.

  She shook that thought away.

  She wasn’t succumbing to anything.

  At all.

  But just in case, she closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer for strength. June had been a tough month for her, and she was still feeling off-balance, vulnerable, sad.

  Her doctor had found a large cyst in one of her ovaries; actually, it was a huge cyst. The solution had been an oophorectomy, where the surgeon removed the affected ovary using a laparoscope. The surgery had been a success, and for a few days, her mother had bundled her up under cozy blankets and waited on her hand and foot. That part had been sort of wonderful.

  The problem was the weeks and months since. She was a creature of habit and a workaholic. Those two attributes had determined her lifestyle for as long as she could remember. The cancer scare frightened that out of her, and she’d spent too much time lately focusing on regrets. As it turned out, she had a ton of them…and the main one involved her foolish decision to put Doug in the friend zone.

  Rosalia shut the bad feelings away. She had promised herself that she’d lock up those emotions when she hit the road again. She was back in her environment and ready to start the research, to reunite with her team…with Doug.

  Mercifully, Doug’s email about changing his plans had been good news. He was returning today with another cameraman in tow. Someone named JT or JR or some combination of letters. She’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to find a second cameraman since Rex quit on her. After all, it wasn’t like she had a ton of money to offer anyone, and the work wasn’t for the weak-willed. While they always kept a safe distance from the storms and took precautions, there weren’t a lot of people who wanted to be out in the elements while a tornado raged close by.

  The sound of a vehicle approaching caught her attention and she smiled, waving when Justin and Eric came into view, towing their pop-up camper behind them. They parked beside her, and the next hour passed in a whirlwind as she helped them set up their camper. Like her, they were science majors in the same field. While she’d already earned her doctorate, Justin and Eric were using this field research as part of their graduate studies.

  The three of them had just gotten a blaze going in the fire pit and settled in their chairs with beers in hand, when an old truck rumbled down the lane past all the lots in the fairly empty campsite. It was a weekday, and schools were back in session after the summer break. The only fellow campers in this section of the campground were a retired couple in a swanky RV quite a few sites away. The main reason Rosalia had picked this site was because it was secluded.

  Doug and Justin were both fun guys who could get a little loud as they tried to one-up each other on tall tales. The last thing she wanted was to have someone complain about them…again. It had happened too many times in the past, so she’d wised up. Learned to find them the most private spots she could manage. She was actually starting to fear their pictures were hanging up in state park checkin stations around the country. Justin lost all control of the volume after a few PBRs.

  Rosalia recognized the truck and smiled as she stood up, trying to calm the sudden racing of her heart when she caught sight of Doug’s face behind the wheel. He was wearing the cowboy hat that never seemed to leave his head, and she braced herself to look into those chocolate-colored eyes after so many months apart.

  Doug parked the truck and stepped out. Rosalia wasn’t sure what it was about a man in well-worn, faded blue jeans, work boots and a tight T-shirt that got her all hot and bothered, but whatever the appeal, Doug had it in spades.

  She wasn’t surprised when he walked right over to her, picked her up and swung her around. He tended to touch her whenever he had the opportunity, putting his arm around her when they hiked over rocky terrain, or taking her hand if they found themselves walking after dark.

  Then he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “There’s my best girl.”

  She narrowed her eyes, pretending to be annoyed so she didn’t have to acknowledge the effect his sexy voice had on her best girl parts. Her nipples were budding, and it sure as hell wasn’t because it was cold outside. “Let’s revise to make that statement accurate. I’m not yours and I’m not a girl.”

  Doug didn’t bother to pretend he was sorry. Instead, he let his gaze drop lower to her breasts in a playful ogle. She resisted the urge to cross her arms, afraid he’d see his effect on her firsthand. “You’re right about the girl thing. You’re all woman.”

  She smacked him on the shoulder. “I thought absence was supposed to make the heart grow fonder.” She glanced over at Justin with a wink. “I feel absolutely nothing.”

  Justin and Eric laughed as Justin muttered, “Here we go again. It’s time for the Rosie and Doug Show.”

  Rosalia noticed Doug’s friend for the first time—and just barely restrained her groan.

  Fuck.

  There were two of them.

  The new man was six-foot-something of pure muscle, dirty-blond hair, with a chiseled jaw and rugged face that should be on billboards.

  He wore sunglasses, which left her longing to drag them off him so she could see if his eyes were as amazing as the rest of him. After all, it wasn’t like he needed them for shade. The sun had set and dusk fallen. She was a sucker for eyes, proclaiming s
he could learn so much about a person simply by looking into them.

  Doug’s eyes practically twinkled with humor and kindness. The second she’d seen him, and looked into those brown eyes, she’d known he was going to become someone very important in her life. And she hadn’t been wrong. If she sat down to create a list of the best friends she’d ever had in her lifetime, Doug would be in the top five. Hell, he’d be top three.

  “Rosie, this is my friend, TJ Nicholas. The new cameraman I found us. TJ, this is Rosalia Salvatore, prettiest scientist in the country. No,” he corrected. “The world.”

  TJ stepped closer, tugging off his sunglasses as he reached out to shake her hand. She slid her hand in his, then gasped softly at her first up-close look of his face.

  He was sporting a black eye—but it wasn’t the dark bruise that caused her reaction. His eyes were pale blue, stormy, distant.

  Her grandmother had always told her that eyes were the mirror to the soul, and Rosalia was a firm believer. TJ’s called out to her on an almost primal level. She saw a lonely, scared boy, and it took everything she had not to turn the handshake into a hug, to pull him toward her, to comfort him.

  TJ gave her a crooked grin and made a joke about the black eye, promising he wasn’t the brawling type. She’d half expected him to use the old “I walked into a door” line, but Doug saved him from having to lie.

  “You should see the other guy.”

  Rosalia knew there was a story behind the shiner. She also knew neither man was going to tell it to her.

  “It’s nice to meet you, TJ. I can’t tell you how happy I am you could join the team. We were starting to get a bit desperate. While Doug’s more than capable, he just can’t capture all the footage we need on his own, both for the research and the show.”

  “Happy to help out. Though I’ll warn you, my skills are a bit rusty.”

  TJ had a deep-voiced, slow country drawl that had Rosalia’s pussy clenching. Her hormones were so out of whack right now. That had to be the reason for her wet-panty reaction to these two.

  Right?

  Then she glanced at Justin and Eric, and realized the two nerdy scientists did absolutely zilch for her. So…she didn’t know what to blame her over-the-top arousal on.

  “I hope it doesn’t uproot your everyday life too much. I realize being gone until mid-December can be an imposition. Are you a rancher like Doug?”

  TJ glanced at Doug, and she sensed an air of surprise. “Mid-December, huh?”

  Doug shrugged, obviously caught in some untruth, and Rosalia sighed. Doug had lied about the length of the gig. She didn’t want to have to find another cameraman at this late date, but more than that, she really didn’t want TJ to leave. She’d never felt such an intense pull toward a man she’d just met. It was slightly unnerving.

  Finally, TJ looked her way again. “I’m not a rancher, Rosalia. I didn’t leave anything behind that won’t be there when I get back.”

  She would have sighed with relief if all the breath hadn’t vanished from her lungs at the sound of her name rolling off his lips in that delicious tone. Everyone else on the team called her Rosie, the nickname that she’d carried since the cradle. Very few people called her Rosalia. Actually, just one. Her grandmother.

  And now, TJ.

  The sky rumbled and she glanced up. Storm clouds had formed. Not that she was surprised by that. After a long drought this summer, the weather had finally broken, giving the scorched earth a big drink of water. It had been raining off and on for days. Tonight promised to offer up a fairly decent downpour.

  “Looks like we’re going to get wet,” TJ muttered. “We better set up the tent. Hope you’ve got a good tarp, Doug.”

  TJ and Doug started studying the trees, looking for a spot that would provide the most cover from the rain.

  “Tell you what,” Rosalia said, her words flying out without consulting her brain. “Why don’t you keep your gear packed up tonight. It’s already getting dark. The dining booth in my RV doubles as a bed. I’ll push the seats down and sleep there, and you two can sack out in my bed tonight. Nothing worse than starting a trip with a wet tent and sleeping bags. The sun’s not expected to make an appearance again for a few days, so your stuff will be damp until the weekend without some heat to dry it out.”

  TJ and Doug both started to shake their heads, but she didn’t give them a chance to reject the idea.

  “Great,” she said, “So it’s settled.”

  “Rosie,” Doug started.

  She shot him a look, then a smile. “I’m the boss, Doug. Remember?”

  He rolled his eyes. “That didn’t take long. Justin and I didn’t even have time to make up the pool or place bets on when you’d pull the boss card.”

  “Told you we should have set it up through email,” Justin said, slapping Doug on the shoulder as he shook his head regretfully over the missed opportunity to wager.

  She laughed. “Grab your bags. I’ll start moving the stuff inside that we don’t want getting wet.”

  Justin walked over to put out the bonfire. “So much for dinner. Me and Eric might run out for a while, see if we can find a fast-food joint nearby. I’d kill for a Whopper with cheese and some fries right now. You all want anything?”

  Rosalia—the boss—answered for them. “No thanks. I’ve got two-thirds of a pan of lasagna my mother packed up for me when I got on the road a couple days ago. Plenty for the three of us if you guys want to share.”

  Doug rubbed his hands together in excited anticipation. “Your mom’s lasagna? I’m in.”

  TJ nodded. “Nice of you to share your supper, Rosalia.”

  The wind was picking up, and while she knew there was a sudden chill in the air, it wasn’t touching her overheated state. She felt downright feverish.

  TJ and Doug continued securing the campsite after Justin and Eric left, while Rosalia went into the RV to start heating up their dinner. Once everything was under cover or tucked away inside the vehicles, the guys joined her.

  She pointed to the wine on the counter. “Grab that bottle of red, Doug, and pour us all a glass.”

  The RV was on loan from her oldest brother. When it was just her, the vehicle felt almost too big. The same didn’t hold true when TJ and Doug came inside. They were large, well-built men, both a few inches over six feet, with broad shoulders and muscular arms that screamed of hard work. She laughed when they tried to push themselves into the booth in the dining area, their knees knocking against each other under the table as they clamored for space.

  “Might be easier for you two if you turned the driver and passenger seats around and ate with your plates on your laps.”

  While TJ seemed to think that was a good idea, Doug looked scandalized. “Not eat at the table?” He shook his head. “Dinnertime is sacred in my house. We all sit at the table, with no technology, and we talk…like civilized human beings.”

  “Jesus,” TJ muttered. “You sounded exactly like your dad there. Never thought I’d hear you channeling Seth Compton.”

  Rosalia laughed as she tried to imagine her large family making that same dining-room-table attempt night after night. Actually, it was rare for her entire family to be home for dinner. They owned a restaurant, which meant that was rush hour. Most of her meals growing up had been consumed in the restaurant’s kitchen, standing at the counter during her break, shoveling in whatever that night’s special was.

  “I like that tradition. Sounds nice,” Rosalia said.

  TJ chuckled. “Yeah. It is, actually. I enjoy eating dinner with your parents, Doug. Your mom always has crescent rolls with real butter on the table. Damn, I love those things.”

  “Your family’s not big on the dinnertime traditions, TJ?” Rosalia asked, very curious about the man Doug called his best friend. Based on her first impression, she’d say the two of them were as different as night and day. Doug was an open book with a personality as big and bright as the sun. TJ seemed quieter, the type to play his cards close to his chest.<
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  “No. It’s just me and my dad. Thorn’s culinary talents begin and end with Hungry Man microwave dinners. Think the directions on the box say you’re supposed to eat them in front of the TV. Might even be the law.”

  Doug laughed, but she crinkled her nose. “You poor thing. Those meals are terrible.”

  TJ lifted one shoulder. “They’re not that bad. Food is really just fuel anyway.”

  Rosalia was horrified. “Just fuel?”

  Doug shook his head. “Oh man. Now you’ve done it.”

  “Done what?” TJ’s forehead creased in concern.

  Rosalia was Italian, and she’d been raised right. “Food is magic. Food is life. Food is…everything.”

  TJ’s expression still didn’t clear, so she continued to explain.

  “Let me put it this way. Never—ever—spout that craziness in front of an Italian, and definitely no one in my family. It just makes it clear you’ve never had good food. But,” she said, dipping out a large helping of her mother’s homemade lasagna, “tasting is believing.” She sliced a piece of garlic bread as well, recalling TJ’s confession about loving the crescent rolls, and added it to the plate.

  “Voila,” she said, placing it on the table in front of TJ and handing him a fork.

  Then she did the same for Doug, dipping out her own plate last, before scooching into the booth next him.

  She picked up her fork, but didn’t scoop up a bite of food. Her gaze was firmly glued to TJ’s face as he put the first forkful into his mouth.

  Rosalia didn’t bother to hide her gloat when his eyes closed in absolute ecstasy.

  “Holy sh…” he murmured, quickly taking another bite. He’d consumed three more, as well as half of the buttery, crispy garlic bread, before he managed to emerge from his bliss. He looked like he was quickly drifting toward a food coma.

  He caught her watching him and grinned. There was something very sexy about TJ Nicholas’s smile.

  “Okay. I get it.”

  Doug snickered. “Not even going to put up a fight? Damn, man. Way to cave like a house of cards.”

  TJ didn’t take his eyes off her, and Rosalia tried to ignore the blush his intense gaze enflamed. “No point fighting when I’m wrong. This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”