by Reina Torres
His look was telling, even in the near dark of the early evening. “So you just want my picnic basket?”
She leaned forward and poked him in the chest, pulling back her finger with a hissed, “Ow! That’s like a brick wall.” She put her fingertip in her mouth and tried to sooth the pain. “I want the whole thing,” she winked, “but I want to start with the basket. I’ve worked hard all day and I’ve worked up a big appetite.”
He reached for the basket and pulled out the next box and put it in her hands. “Then let’s get you fed first.”
Once the basket and the crumbs had been packed away in the cab of the truck, Kyle climbed back up into the bed and stretched out beside Stella. When he was settled in, his head pillowed next to hers, he reached over and took her hand, her gaze still searching through the heavens. “Careful now,” she warned him.
“About what?”
“You might get close to me.” She nudged his leg with her bare toes. “You said you didn’t like to get close to people.”
“I don’t know why I said that,” he grumbled.
“Warning me off, I guess,” she laughed and the sound of her voice fell around him like moonlight. “But if you ask me, it’s a whole lot of B.S.”
“How so?”
“Earlier, you said that you weren’t close to a lot of people. I know you’re good friends with the Baudouin boys.”
He heard the question in her voice. “Sure. I grew up with them and the DeLucas. We play ball. We go running together,” he tried not to laugh when she made a light gagging sound, “but we’re not really a tight-knit group. Or, at least I’m not part of it.”
“Why not?”
“Being away in the service meant that I lost track of them over the years. I didn’t mind too much. My unit hung together while we were in the service, but once I came back to St. Helena, I manage to keep connected, but I put most of that behind me.” He knew that he was being vague, but she didn’t push. Instead, she smoothed her thumb over the back of his hand. “What about Stan? He’s a big part of your life.”
He felt her fingers lace through his. “Well, Stan’s just a special case.” Kyle lifted their joined hands and turned his head so he could brush his lips over her knuckles. “He’s too stubborn.”
“The family resemblance is rather spot on.” Stella’s soft laughter blended with the breeze that whispered through the cypress trees. “And what about the ladies?” She squirmed a little and he felt her head lean against his shoulder. “I’d think you’d be beating them off with a stick.”
He let out a sigh and watched the stars overhead twinkle against the inky black sky. “I’ve had better things to do with my time.”
“Well, at least silver-tongued devil will never be on your resume.”
Kyle’s silent chuckle shook the air-mattress a little underneath them. “I guess I deserved that.”
“What you deserve,” she lifted her head to look at him, and he missed the warmth of her cheek against his shoulder, “is to be happy, Kyle, we all do.” With a soft sigh, she leaned back against the pillow, her eyes full of the heavens.
Turning on his side, Kyle watched her expression change as the night sky slowly moved across the sky. When she settled into the bedding, her face relaxed into a gentle smile. “What about you, Stella?” He tucked their joined hands against his chest and felt his heart kick against his ribs. “Are you happy?”
He saw the smile as it played across her lips and heard the soft sigh fall from her lips.
“Ecstatic.”
“That’s good. That’s why I wanted to make tonight special for you.”
Stella turned on her side and slipped her fingers through the hair at his temple, pulling him closer to her until their hands were almost crushed between them. “Then let me return the favor.” She brushed her lips against his as she rolled him onto his back and made good on her promise.
Chapter 14
Over the next week, Kyle was more than grateful for the house key she’d given him. He spent quite a bit of time with Nico while the worst of the construction was happening outside his office. Thanks to a meeting orchestrated by Mrs. Darby and Stella, and attended by a somber Alan, they’d coordinated their schedules to make sure that Kyle’s in office patients had the quiet they needed, but the remaining construction could go on.
Because of the altered construction schedule he hadn’t seen much of Stella, and that was a problem for a number of reasons. This ‘thing’ between them wasn’t supposed to be a thing at all. And in a town like St. Helena, a secret didn’t stay a secret long, but he was willing to take his chances. Having her key meant he could head over in the evenings after she was finally done at the build site. He came with dinner in hand and ended up with hands all over her as well.
Still, he was beginning to wonder when they’d get to have some time to spend together, in public. Yes, Kyle O’Malley was actually thinking of turning the town on its ear by taking a woman out to dinner. Fancy clothes, fancy dinner, fancy that! The problem was to get the girl to sit still long enough to ask her out, when she wasn’t running herself ragged between her father, the grove, and her Bed and Breakfast.
The door to his office swung open and almost bounced off of the wall before Stella caught it in her hand. “Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, babe,” he couldn’t help but smile at the greeting, “you busy?”
She shook her head. “Isn’t that ‘my line’ since I’m the one that stopped in to see you. I have a grand total of a half an hour before I go back outside and start to pack up.”
“Pack up?” He moved around his desk and sat on the edge, smiling when she stepped up close and into his easy embrace. “Why are you doing that?”
Stella smoothed her hands over his hair. Sighing, she edged closer between his legs. “Because I just got the final clearance from the County Inspector, the plumbing issues are all done and re-checked. And it’s safe to put the last car on the site.”
Kyle set his hands on her hips and slid them around to the back, filling his hands and drawing her closer. “You’re not moving because of me, right?”
She leaned back and looked down at him, her concerned eyes suddenly sparked with a smile. “No! That’s not it. Seriously, we’re at the point where we can easily move stuff over and we’ll start painting the main body of the car soon and it will be easier to do it on site.” She slid closer between his legs. “But I think I know what you’re really worried about.”
“Me?” He wondered how much actually showed on his face. “What am I worried about?”
“You’re worried about what people would think if they found out we were in here together. Alone.” She added a little extra emphasis on the last word. “Or better yet, you might be worrying how sound-proof your walls are,” her fingers made quick work of the top button on his shirt.
“Why would I worry about that?” Kyle watched her nimble fingers open his second button and he had a moment of brain freeze before his hands slipped up to the waistband of her jeans and tugged at the fabric to pull her shirt free.
“Well you do tend to get a little vocal.”
“That’s more of your problem, babe,” he grinned, “you don’t even realize you’re saying things out loud.”
Stella shrugged as she looked over at the wall clock. “Mrs. Darby says you have a half an hour, but that Mrs. Winchester called to say she’s running late at the Paws and Claws Day Spa. So we have a good forty-five minutes before we have to worry.”
He looked up at her with a groan. “Do you think she knows why you were coming back here?”
Rolling her eyes, Stella made quick work of the third button on his shirt. “Did I tell her that I was coming back here to have my way with you? No.”
He relaxed a little and grabbed her waistband to pull her closer. “Maybe I should lock the door-“
“Kyle,” Stella’s tone had more than a bit of an edge to it, “come on.”
When she reached for his waist and started to pull on the
end of his belt, her stilted movements caught his attention and drew his eyes to her face. There was a tight line between her brows, and her lips were pressed into a thin line. Instead of hunger, he saw determination instead of passion. “Stella?”
She muttered a curse under her breath and managed to get the end of the belt free, but she couldn’t seem to get the prong loose. And when she turned her head just a little, he swore he could see tears gathering in her eyes.
“Hey, Stella,” she wouldn’t look at him, “stop.”
He covered her hands with his and stilled their movements. “What’s going on?”
“Ugh,” she cast a glare in his direction before she looked away again, “has anyone ever told you that you’re annoyingly noble?” He didn’t know how to answer, so he didn’t. “Why are you questioning this? Just have fun!”
She tried to tug her hands free, but Kyle wasn’t cooperating.
“Something’s not right, Stella. Just talk to me.”
“I don’t,” she huffed out a breath, “want to talk.” She lifted her chin and nailed him with a look. “I’ve been thinking about your desk-”
“Stella-”
“What?”
Kyle lifted a hand to touch her cheek, but she pulled back and he lowered his hand back down to her waist. “If I wasn’t so sure you’re about to cry, I’d be up for anything with you, but I know there’s something going on. I need to know if there’s anything I can do to help before I-”
“Before you can get down and dirty in your office?” She laughed and Kyle heard the sharp tone cutting through her normally sweet laughter. “I didn’t give up my lunch to talk about my feelings.”
Stella yanked her hands free and headed for the door. “Why don’t you call me when you remember that this is all just for fun.” She stepped out into the hall and he followed after her.
“Please, Stella. Stop.”
“You first,” she pointed back at his office, “just let it go.”
“Stella,” she was almost to the waiting room and he still followed after her, “just give me a few minutes.”
“I was going to give you a few minutes,” she tossed the words over her shoulder as she moved for the front door, “but you want to ‘talk,’”
“Don’t leave like this!” He followed her out into the sunlight, his mind struggling to understand what was happening.
“Go back inside, Kyle, and leave me alone!”
The construction work outside came to a grinding halt, or rather the grinders came to a halt as Stella quickly ran around behind the caboose. With all of its paneling in place, he couldn’t see exactly where she’d gone.
“Stella!”
“Hey,” a hand planted in the center of his chest brought him to a halt, “you can listen to the lady. And leave her alone.”
Kyle looked up from the hand that was wrinkling his shirt and straight into the eyes of Alan Morris. “You’re going to want to move that hand, Alan. This is between me and Stella.”
“No,” Alan leaned forward and Kyle rocked back with the sudden motion, “that train car is what’s between you and Miss Vincenzo.”
Kyle narrowed his gaze at the other man. “When will you learn that she doesn’t want you.”
“She’s the one running from you.” Alan’s tone was biting, but the look in his eyes was arctic cold. “Don’t push this back on me if you’ve screwed things up.”
Kyle started to move past him, but Alan pushed him back with surprising strength, his hands making a mess of Kyle’s shirt. “Go back in your cave.”
“Keep your hands off me.”
“If you keep your hands off of her,” Alan really didn’t know what he was doing. Kyle wasn’t going to explain it.
“Not damn likely-”
Later on, Kyle would realize that he’d actually let Alan take a swing at him. It wasn’t that he thought the guy couldn’t hit, he looked like he’d seen his share of working out, but maybe he’d realized he deserved it. And the men working on the construction obviously felt the same way. Curious stares watched him walk back to his office.
Kyle tried to look at it from their point of view. He’d followed an obviously upset Stella from his office, her clothes slightly mussed. And his own clothes, three open buttons and a half-undone belt, didn’t look good at all. He was lucky that all the men didn’t come after him for making her cry, let alone what they probably thought he’d done to her.
But that didn’t stop his jaw from aching.
There was no chance that he’d been hurt badly enough to require seeing a doctor, he’d taken enough hits over the years to know, but for now he’d take the aches as his due and hope for a chance to make it up to her soon.
Chapter 15
Mira opened the door on the first knock and pulled Stella into a tight hug. Stella tensed up for a moment before she relaxed and hugged Mira right back. “I'm sorry to bother you,” Stella managed to pull back without feeling like she'd made it awkward, “but I kind of needed to talk.”
“Talking is something I'm good at.” Mira stepped aside so Stella could head in toward the kitchen while Mira closed the door behind them. “I was so excited that you said you wanted to come over and to see me instead of Teo.”
Stella winced. “Yeah, you must wonder sometimes. I do tend to unload on him a bit.”
Mira gave Stella’s arm a gentle nudge. “Seriously? I love it. I think part of the reason he’s so amazing is his friendship with you. Not a lot of guys have good friendships with women. And you two get along so well.”
“I think it's because we’ve been more like brother and sister since we were kids.”
Mira gestured toward the kitchen table and they took their seats across from each other, with Stella’s eyes moving over the plate of scones. “Go ahead and try some, I'm thinking of having a High Tea reception for the wedding, so I'm trying out different recipes.”
Stella picked one off of the top of the pile and gave it a look. “Is that cheese?”
Mira finished pouring the tea and nodded. “It's more of a savory scone, with some prosciutto and cheese.”
“You had me at prosciutto.” Stella broke off a piece and put it in her mouth. “Mmm, that's good.”
Mira laughed as Stella chewed and swallowed the bite.
“So you're probably wondering-”
“About you and Kyle? Hello? Is the sun hot? Is the ocean blue?”
A sleek black duck waddled past their feet, his beak nipping Mira’s toes in an affectionate greeting. When he turned to move around the table, Mira used her foot to nudge him back. “Leave her alone, Mr. Peabody.”
“Ever since he saw me hug Teodoro,” Stella winced, “that duck has had it in for me.”
Mira laughed. “Yeah, he’s still a bit of a bulldog when it comes to his humans.” She sighed. “I guess it's better than when I first adopted him from Shay’s rescue. Back then I thought he and Teo would fight to the death at some point.”
“That would have given Nora something to put on her Facebook wall.”
“But we're getting off-topic.” Mira took another sip of her tea. “What's going on with you and Kyle?”
Stella looked down at the plate in front of her. In just a few short moments, she’d managed to crumble the end of the scone into bits. “I think it's what isn't happening that’s the issue.”
One look across the table told Stella that her friend was almost patiently waiting for the story. So, she explained it, keeping the intimate details to herself, and ended with. “So the other day, I had to go in for my mammogram. It's been five years since I kicked cancer in its nuts, and I guess I was feeling a little…” Stella put another bit of the scone in her mouth and munched while she struggled to the find the right word. By the time she swallowed she knew she was stumped. “Anyway, I left the imaging office and went back to the build site. And everyone had broken for lunch by then and I just didn’t want to sit there. I felt everyone was going to look at me and ‘know,’ or get worried when I didn't eat
.”
Mira nodded and set her cup down. “Guaranteed. Those guys love you like family! They’ve even started checking in on me, too.”
Stella blew out a breath that almost pushed an errant curl away from her eye. “Get used to it. It's easier that way.” They shared a laugh before Stella settled back into the story. “So I went in to see Kyle and,” she paused, biting her lip until the skin beneath her teeth turned ghostly white, “blow off a little steam, but I was so stressed out, and I guessed he knew I wasn’t really feeling it. So he stopped me. He stopped us. And I guess, I went a little nutty.”
Mira choked on her sip of tea. “Define ‘nutty.’”
“I got a little stupid and ran out of the office with him in hot pursuit.”
Her eyes widening a little, Mira set down her cup in what was probably a sound move.
“And he may have had a few shirt buttons undone and his belt half open.”
“Wow,” Mira sat back in her chair, “I should have brought out the hard cider for this one.”
Stella nodded, her brows arched in agreement. “And before I knew what was happening, Alan punched Kyle.”
Mira got up from the table and ducked into the refrigerator. She came back with two bottles. Setting one in front of Stella she took her seat and sighed. “I guess Kyle restrained himself, because I'm pretty sure Alan’s still alive and has all of his limbs.”
Stella nodded. “That's not the problem, he’s always in control. That’s why it was so easy with him at first. Kyle and I,” she picked up the bottle and took a good swig of the hard cider, “We’re not really a thing, you know? We got together because I wanted him and he wanted me, all of me, scars and all.” Another drink followed. “And somewhere along the way ‘With Benefits’ wasn’t enough. Or maybe it is and I'm just making this harder than it should be.”
Mira reached across the table and caught Stella’s hand. “Stella, what's really getting to you?”
