by Shirley Jump
That he was a man who could be trusted. Who'd stay true to the words that came out of his mouth and not undermine them behind her back.
Crazy thoughts. She'd been down that road once before with a man who had pled a damned good case, then perjured himself at the same place setting where she'd served him gnocchi.
She reached forward, setting her wineglass on the counter. "Listen, about what happened earlier..." she began.
"Don't tell me you're already regretting that kiss?" His voice was deep and teasing.
"Well... yes."
"Why?"
She sighed. "Because you're the kind of man my mother likes. Not the kind I like."
He seemed surprised. "Just because I ate her soup?"
"No. Because you're responsible. And nice. And mature. And Italian."
He shook his head. "And that makes me a bad man... why?"
"Because you're the kind of guy a woman falls in love with. She gets all wrapped up in him. Her every thought centers around what he's doing. Where he is. Who he's with."
"Yeah? So?"
"And then it turns out to be a big, fat, one-sided lie."
"Whoa!" He put a hand up. "Am I sensing some leftover baggage you're dumping off at Dante National Airport?"
"It's not baggage. It's reality." She leaned forward, into his space, connecting her gaze with his, telling him in no uncertain words she was looking for truth. "Do you want to get married right now?"
"Are you asking me? Or just talking hypothetically?"
"I don't have a white gown in my closet. Nor do I have any kind of urge to hitch myself to someone who's going to tell me when to be home and how much to spend at the Stop & Shop. So, no, I'm not asking. It's entirely hypothetical."
His gaze traveled up and down her frame. A flush ran through her body that had nothing to do with the alcohol. "You'd look good in white."
"That's not what we're talking about."
"Why not? That could be my new favorite subject. Maybe even make it a category on Jeopardy. Ways to Describe Maria Dressed and Naked."
"I bet you'd knock yourself out on the video clues."
Once again, his gaze slid over every inch of her like a heated visual caress. Damn. It had suddenly become August in her apartment. "I might need CPR from Alex Trebek," he said.
"Now that would be something I'd watch."
"Gee, glad to know my getting mouth-to-mouth from a game show host would interest you." He leaned toward her. "A guy's gotta take some pretty desperate measures to get your attention, I take it?"
"No. Not at all. He just has to be the opposite of Mamma's Dream Date."
"Well, for your information, I don't want to get married this minute."
"Well, good."
"But I do someday," he said, moving closer, his words soft, as if he were sharing a secret. "I want a house and a bunch of kids and a wife who smiles when I walk through the door."
"One of those traditional lives, huh?"
"What's wrong with that?"
She looked away. "Everything."
A woman lost her identity, her self in that kind of life. She'd seen it in generation after generation of Pagliano women. That particular buck stopped here. With her.
"You seem scared of marriage, which surprises me," he said.
"Surprises you?"
"You stood up to George Whitman and his lawyer. Not many men would do that, never mind women. And yet, the mere mention of a little gold ring has you running for the Berkshires."
She took a sip from her glass. "I'm not scared of anything."
His gaze sought hers, probing. "Now who's bullshitting who?"
She drank again, giving him a noncommittal shrug.
Dante smiled and drank from his own glass, then turned a slow circle around her apartment. She could see he knew he was right but wasn't going to rub it in.
"Hey, what's that?" He crossed past her and into the living room.
She pivoted, following his line of sight. "A chess set. Gathering dust."
"Do you play?"
"I play all kinds of games."
He turned, smiled at her. Something went liquid in her gut. "I bet you do."
She grabbed up the wine and took a gulp.
"So you do play chess?" he asked again.
"I used to."
"And why not anymore?"
She laughed. "The men I date don't come over to play games involving my brains."
Dante considered her for a long, heated second that seemed to last forever. "They don't know what they're missing."
"They don't care is more like it." She gestured to her breasts. "Most men never see past these. I could have a bobblehead for all they know."
"Well, I—"
She put up a hand, cutting off the sentence before he could finish. "Oh, no. Don't even try it. When we met, your eyes couldn't have been more glued to my chest if you'd slapped them on there yourself with some Elmer's."
"You're a voluptuous woman. You can't blame a man for looking."
"Oh, please. I have two large pieces of my anatomy that serve very little purpose in life except to drive men crazy. That's not attractive. That's a generosity of skin. And men stop right here." She pressed on her chest.
Dante's gaze stayed with hers. "Then you're dating the wrong kind of man."
"Well, I guess that leaves only gay men in my dating pool."
"No, I think you just need to pull from the deep end." He crossed to her, took her glass from her hand, then took her other hand and led her to the chess table. "Have a seat."
She arched a brow at him. "You want to play chess with me?"
"I do, indeed." He pulled out her chair at the small gateleg table against the living room wall.
"Being all chivalrous now, are you?"
"I figure I might as well be nice before I whup you on your own chess board." He watched her sit and marveled again at how different Maria was from anyone he knew. A woman who was smart, sexy and played chess? Dante had definitely died and gone to Man Heaven. He took the seat opposite her and ran a hand along the crackled surface of the table. "Nice piece of wood."
"Thanks. I salvaged it myself last year. Had a hell of a time getting the old finish off but I think it looks a lot better now than it did painted pink with flowers."
"You did this?" She could use power tools, too? This wasn't just heaven, it was Utopia in female form. He fingered the edge again. "Great job."
"Thanks." Maria opened the drawer on her side of the table and pulled out the chess pieces. "It was part of a... refinishing frenzy I had for a while."
"Had?"
"Yeah."
"What happened? You run out of furniture?"
"No. Another woman imprinted her ass on my dining room table."
"Oh." He considered that piece of information for a moment. "That would do it."
"Yeah." She brought out the last of the pieces. "Black or white?"
"Black. For the bad guy. I can't have you keeping me on a pedestal forever." He grinned.
"I don't have you on a pedestal."
He reached over and started taking his pieces and placing them on the corresponding squares on the board. "Oh, yes, you do. You think I'm some kind of choirboy destined to become every mamma's dream son-in-law."
"Not every mamma's." She set her bishops in place. "Just mine."
"A match made in heaven," he said.
"Or hell. Since your name does mean 'devil' in Italian."
He smirked. "Think of me as a study in contrasts."
"If I think of you at all," she said blithely, sliding a pawn forward. "Your move."
He took a sip of wine, considering the board.
"It's just a pawn," she said. "Not a lifetime commitment."
Dante met her gaze. "What if we raised the stakes a little?"
"Meaning?"
"Loser gives the winner a massage."
She cocked her head. "Uh-huh. Typical male thinking. And of what body part?"
He grinned. "I'l
l be fair. Make it loser's choice."
She wagged a finger at him. "You'd probably lose on purpose."
"I never lose on purpose. My male pride couldn't take the hit."
Maria sipped at her wine and met his teasing gaze. "Nope. This is my apartment. My chess board. Thus, my rules." She gestured toward him with her goblet. "You lose, I choose the part of my body you massage. I lose and I still choose the part of your body to massage."
Even as the words left her lips, though, Maria wasn't so sure it wasn't a losing proposition either way. The word "massage," combined with Dante's hands on her skin, well...
That wasn't losing, was it?
Nor was it staying away from him. Uninvolved. If anything, it was ratcheting up the connection, ten notches at once.
Dante grinned. "Doesn't sound like I really win either way."
"Exactly." She smiled, took a sip of wine. "Your move."
He slid a pawn forward two spaces.
Maria leaped her knight over its pawns.
"Gutsy move," Dante said. "For a girl."
"You ain't seen nothing yet, buddy."
He advanced a second pawn. She countered with one of her own. "Where'd you learn how to play?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I screwed the chess team in high school."
He hesitated, his fingertips on a pawn, his dark brown eyes studying hers. "I don't believe you for a second."
She drew herself up a little, blinking in surprise. "Really?"
"Well, hell, yes, you're a beautiful woman but not a stupid one." He drew out his bishop and aimed it toward her knight. "Or a loose one. You have more character than that."
Maria didn't say anything for a long moment. She didn't move any pieces, didn't sip her wine. When was the last time a man had observed anything about her besides her looks? Particularly something about her character?
"My grandfather. Not Sal, but my mother's father, who died when I was fifteen." She said it softly, with a shrug, pretending the answer was no big deal. "He liked chess. I was the only one who could beat him once in a while. And who didn't mind when he left his teeth on the table."
Dante almost felt bad taking advantage of her reminiscent state. Almost. But this was chess, after all, and, outside of the restaurant he took few things in life as seriously as he did chess. He slid his bishop forward and scooped up her knight.
She cursed under her breath. "That won't happen twice." She slid her own bishop out to take his.
Damn. She'd thought three steps ahead of him. Clearly, he'd met someone who took the game even more seriously than he did. "You-you—"
"What?"
"You took my bishop."
She grinned. "That's the objective, Dante."
He paused, his hand halfway to a piece on his side of the board. "Say that again."
"That's the objective? What, do you want me to rub it in?"
"No. Say my name."
"Why?" She smiled. "Did you forget it?"
He rested his arms on the table, his attention now off the game and on her mouth, wanting to see the little slip of her tongue when it formed the vowels in his name, the slight opening of her parted lips. "I like the way it sounds when you say it."
"Your move," she reminded him.
She hadn't said his name. With a twinge of disappointment, he reached forward and started to slide a pawn up two spaces.
"Dante, "she said, her voice deep and throaty, a caress that tingled through him with the force of a tidal wave.
The pawn tumbled to the board, teetering on its side.
"Oh, am I distracting you, Dante?" She gave him a look of wide-eyed innocence.
He smirked. "You don't play fair."
She gave him an answering grin. "I hate to lose."
"A woman after my own heart."
"Not your heart," she said, moving her rook forward two spaces, "just your king."
Dante's Hot-and-Spicy Rigatoni-to-Remember
1/2 pound pancetta, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 cups canned Italian plum tomatoes, strained
4 cloves garlic
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt
1/2 pound rigatoni, cooked al dente
8 to 10 basil leaves
3 sprigs parsley
2/3 cup Pecorino cheese, grated
Sauté the pancetta over a medium flame, keeping the heat up in your own kitchen, too. Don't back down now, she's beginning to cave. Add the oil, the onion and the pepper, sautéing until onion is translucent. Now add tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt.
Set things to simmering—in the pan and with the woman. You've got a good half hour to get her temperature up, but be careful not to let anything boil over.
Pour sauce over cooked rigatoni. Sprinkle with basil, parsley and grated Pecorino. Serve immediately. It'll be sure to add a little bite to things.
Chapter Twelve
One hour and the entire bottle of Chianti later, Maria had Dante against the wall. "Checkmate," she said.
"I refuse to give up that easily." He bent over the board, looking one way, then the other, studying every angle like a mouse hoping to find a cranny to escape past the cat.
"Besides your king, you have three pieces left on the board," Maria said. "Or should I call them eunuchs?"
"Hey, pawns can be very effective warriors."
"Face it. You lost. To a girl."
He studied the board a moment longer, then tipped his king in defeat. "You're good."
"No, I'm very good."
Dante leaned forward, his gaze locking with hers. The wine had softened everything between them and when she looked at him now, a slow, burning want churned in her gut. The kind of comfortable sexy feeling that grew after years together. Not hours.
"At everything?" he asked.
What was it about this man that made her want to settle down and play house? Or at the very least, play bedroom and skip all the boring parts?
"You'll never know." She arched a brow and leaned back, determined to break the connection, yet not doing a very good job of it.
"Wanna bet?"
She laughed. "You've already lost to me once. You went down in flames that would embarrass Napoleon. And now you're challenging me again?"
The smile that curved across his face melted her resolve like butter on angel-hair pasta. "I'm a glutton for punishment."
No. She wouldn't do this. He was all wrong for her. Already he had her thinking about white picket fences and comparing him to illegal foods. Next she'd be kissing him between bites of three-cheese lasagna. And Mamma would be getting the calla lilies in order like soldiers going to war.
Antonio was the man she wanted. A man who didn't require a commitment, a key to her apartment, or one to her heart.
"You're a man who has kept me up past my bedtime." She faked a yawn, got to her feet and pushed her chair back under the table.
Dante rose, came around to her side and took the wineglass from her hands, laying it beside her victorious queen. She could feel the tension building between them and knew what came next would undo her resolve as quickly as a whiff of Guido's manicotti.
But try as she might she couldn't step away. Couldn't back up. Could barely remember to breathe. Dante was in control of her emotions, her actions.
Everything.
She watched, mesmerized, as his hand came back up to her chin. He trailed a finger along her jaw in a touch so gentle it could have been a whisper. Everything within her, kept on a tight rottweiler-worthy leash during the game, erupted in pandemonium like zoo animals suddenly freed.
"You don't look sleepy," he said.
"I'm exhausted."
"You may be good at chess," Dante said, his finger now toying with her bottom lip, "but you really stink at lying."
She opened her mouth to his touch, wanting more, wanting to take that finger in and taste him, to consume him like all t
he foods she'd denied herself these last few days.
He was watching her with those hypnotic chocolate eyes, that dimple beside his smile, all saying he knew the effect he had on her and he was enjoying having the upper hand.
Damn him. That was why she stuck to men like Antonio, who filled her bed for a few hours and nothing else.
Because she had the upper hand then. She was the one who teased and tempted. And who said it was over when it was obvious the relationship had become more drain than fun. When she, in short, had had enough.
But this time, she couldn't get enough. Heck, she couldn't even begin to get a taste.
His finger slipped into her mouth, just a fraction of an inch, tipping at her teeth, and she couldn't hold back anymore.
Her tongue zipped forward to taste the tip of his finger, her teeth holding it lightly there, a hostage in her mouth. He tasted of salt and warmth and—
"Dante," she groaned, her mouth parted now, asking for more than a finger to satiate the appetite within her.
"Maria," he said, his voice just as husky and full of want. He leaned forward and for one brief, frustrating second, kissed her. Then he pulled back and broke the contact between them. "Do you regret that kiss?"
"Oh... no," she breathed.
"Then we have a problem."
"A problem?"
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Yeah. You're falling for me, like it or not." He kissed her again, hot, sweet and short—much, much too short. "And that means your Mamma might just be right about me."
Then he was gone, leaving her with a fire in her belly and an unasked question still on her lips.
Thank God the lone leftover Guido's manicotti was still in her fridge. She needed that and a damned good vibrator if she was ever going to get to sleep tonight.
Papa's Simple-Answers Cookies and Beer
1 six-pack Samuel Adams beer
1 package biscotti
Open the beer. Take a drink, then flip channels until you find the Celts, the Knicks or two men beating the hell out of each other. Take another drink, then switch the channel because there's another goddamned commercial for Depends on.
Call for your wife to bring biscotti. Eat between sips and flips.
