One Night With a Santini

by Melissa Schroeder

  Brando turned off the main highway and onto the gravel path that led to the ranch. The sun was just setting over the horizon, sending spikes of red and orange through the Arizona sky. He could never live in this part of the country, but when he saw it at dusk, he could understand the pull his twin had for it.

  A beat up pickup truck came in the opposite direction. Dust billowed out from the tires as it rumbled down the road toward him. It slowed until it came to a stop beside his car. A pretty auburn haired woman sat in the driver’s seat. She was wearing a straw cowboy hat. She had a sheen of gold to her skin that came from working outdoors. He wound down his window.

  “Are you lost?” she asked. There was a hint of an accent similar to his mother’s in her voice.

  “No, I’m here to visit my brother, Carlos.”

  Her gaze moved over him, then she smiled. “Ah, yes, now I recognize you from the pictures. My name is Tia.”

  The smile made her dark eyes sparkle and two dimples appeared in her cheeks. She was a doll. He was pretty sure she didn’t have a stitch of makeup on and she was stunning. If it hadn’t been for Kaitlin, he would definitely be interested.

  “Your brother is up at the house. He’s kind of in a mood.”

  He frowned. “A mood?”

  She sighed. “Your brother has issues with control.”

  He tried his best not to smile but failed. “Is that a fact?”

  She nodded. “He didn’t say anything about you stopping by.”

  “I’m a couple days early.”

  And why was he telling this stranger his business? He had never heard of her before this moment and here he was spilling his guts.

  “You have a good visit. If you’re around tomorrow, I’ll see ya.”

  “Nice to meet you, Tia.”

  She nodded then rolled up her window. He watched her drive off in his rear view mirror. Once she was out of view, he started back on his way to his brother’s ranch. It was interesting that Carlos had never mentioned her. Not once in all the time he was talking about his rehabilitation ranch—and he did it almost non-stop at times—had her name came up. That was deliberate.

  Carlos had never really kept any secrets from Brando, but lately he knew there were things that Carlos was keeping to himself. He had been worried that his brother had been sinking into depression. But, now that there was a woman in the mix, it put a different spin on the secrecy.

  As Brando parked in the circle drive in front of the house, his brother was coming out the front door. He was still wearing jeans and boots, so he had either been working or just knocked off.

  When Brando got out of the car, he felt better about stopping by. Something told him he needed to stop, to check in and catch up. They had caught up some, but with family around. They had always needed their alone time as twins. They were individuals—their mother had made sure of that, but they did have shared experiences only twins could understand. Not a lot of people pegged them as twins. He had light hair, Carlos had dark. Brando knew people described him as a linebacker, but his brother had long lean muscles he had built through swimming.

  “Hey, Brando, what the hell are you doing here?” he asked as he gave Brando a hug.

  “I thought I would stop by on my way out to the East coast.”

  “When Tia called to say you were on your way in, I thought she was screwing with me.”

  “Yeah, about Tia…”

  “What about her?”

  “Is there a reason you never said anything about her?”

  “No.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “I don’t even want to talk about her. Get your gear and let’s go inside. I was just going to throw some steaks on the grill.”

  His stomach rumbled and he realized it had been a long time since he had stopped to eat and that had been a small hamburger he ate on the road. He smiled.

  “Hot damn. My timing is fantastic again.”

  Carlos shook his head. “One of these days, you are going to get stuck cooking for all of us.”

  * * * *

  After dinner, they sat out back on the deck. He was pretty damned proud of the work his brother was doing there. Carlos had taken a set of run down houses and transformed them into a special place for therapy. They were just starting out, but Brando was sure it would be a huge success.

  He moved closer to the grill, which still had a fire going. The sun was fully set now and there was a nip in the air.

  “So, you want to tell me what you stopped by to talk about? I mean, other than the fact you’re checking up on me,” Carlos said.

  Brando glanced at his brother, then back at the dark landscape as he took a swig of beer.

  “First, I am not here to check on you. You are doing okay. Truth is, we haven’t spent much time alone, together.”

  “I’ll accept that. Every time we have gotten together in the last year, we’ve been with the family. But there is something else.”

  He couldn’t fight the smile that curved his lips. They always knew when something was going on with the other one. Carlos just had more patience to wait until after dinner to start bugging him. If Anthony had been there, their oldest brother would have already demanded answers to his question. Hell, the moment he stepped out of the car, Anthony would have refused to let him eat until Brando had told him everything.

  “You remember that girl in college…my study partner?”

  Carlos frowned then took a sip of beer. “Hmm, the blonde I met once? The one you were mooning over?”

  “I was not mooning over her.” He was, but he would be damned to admit it, even to Carlos.

  “What about her?”

  “I ran into her in New Orleans.”

  Carlos had been lifting the beer to his mouth and paused. “You did? Didn’t she get married, or was married, or something?”

  “She’d been engaged while we were in college. She never got married.”

  Carlos cocked his head to the side. “You slept with her.”

  “I’m going to marry her.”

  Carlos shook his head. “Oh, God, not another one. You already asked her?”

  He shook his head. “Of course not. I haven’t seen her in a little over a decade. She would think I was insane if I did that. But, now I know she is the one for me.”

  Carlos sighed. “We’re dropping like flies.”

  “I don’t care. Until I saw her again, I didn’t know if I ever wanted to marry. Now I know why I had such an aversion to it. And, best, she still lives in College Park.”

  “Did you talk about this with her? Please don’t tell me you told her you wanted to marry her to get her into bed?”

  He frowned. “What kind of a bastard do you think I am? I would never do that to a woman. She wanted to just keep calling it a one-night stand, but I let her know that I wanted more. I’ve been talking to her via text and phone calls since that night.”

  Carlos rolled his eyes. “And another one bites the dust.”

  Irritated with the comment, Brando narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, so why did you never mention Tia to me or anyone else in the family?”

  His brother did not answer right away, which meant he was trying to calculate just how to respond.

  “She works for me.”

  “She’s hot and I hate to mention this, but just your type.”

  “Oh, so you think I like women who are a pain in the ass?”

  His brows rose at that. None of them talked about women that way, especially when it wasn’t a joke. There were some deep-seated feelings there.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “She wants everything her way, which she assures me is the right way.”

  He had to swallow a laugh. Growing up as his twin, Brando had learned that Carlos always thought he was right. Worse, he was a lot of the time. Now, though, dealing with a woman who wasn’t going to back down, things could get really interesting around the ranch in the coming months.<
br />
  “Why did you hire her?”

  He sighed. “She is considered one of the best in the business, and she has worked with PTSD survivors. Her brother was one of those people. She has a lot of experience with equine therapy, not just for PTSD, but also autistic children.”

  After being shot when serving in Iraq, Carlos had decided to get out of the military. He had opened his ranch just about six months earlier, catering to PTSD sufferers. He used horses as therapy. Then the words he had used hit Brando.

  “Was?”

  He nodded. “He was killed in a hit and run. They are assuming the other driver was drunk.”

  “Ah.”

  Carlos cleared his throat and took a swig of beer. “Still doesn’t mean that she should be telling me what to do.”

  Brando smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. “Sometimes it’s fun to let them tell you what to do.”

  Carlos shook his head. “Get your head out of the gutter. Besides, you said you were getting married.”

  “Yeah, and about that. Wanna be my best man?”

  He smiled. “Of course.”

  “And I’ll return the favor for you. When are you going to propose.”

  “Get bent, Brand.”

  He chuckled and sat back to enjoy the show of stars sparkling in the sky. He had a lot of plans to make, but the most important one was convincing Kaitlin they were made for each other. One failed engagement was probably going to cause problems. She and that Glen had been together a long time, so something must have happened.

  He didn’t know what kind of road he had ahead of him, but he knew one thing: getting Kaitlin to commit was more important than anything he’d ever wanted to do before.

  He just hoped he didn’t screw it up.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Kaitlin tried to keep herself from biting her nails. Her nerves were frayed around the edges, and she hadn’t had enough sleep. From the moment Brando had called the night before to tell her he would arrive tonight, she’d been so excited she could not seem to think about anything else.

  “You are not paying any attention to me,” her grandmother said.

  Kaitlin blinked and brought her mind back to the present. She smiled at her companion. Dorothy Colleen Fitzpatrick was eighty-nine and still as quick-witted as she was at thirty. Or Kaitlin assumed, since she wasn’t around then. From the stories her father told them about his mother, Kaitlin was sure her grandmother was.

  “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”

  “Yeah?” Her grandmother narrowed her blue eyes. “You seemed to have been like that since you got back from New Orleans.”

  She shook her head. “I have not.”

  “Yes you have. Give over, Kaitlin. What’s his name?”

  Her grandmother was too smart for her own good. “Why do you think a man is involved?”

  “Because, no woman looks all dreamy-eyed like that for anything else. Unless you’re a lesbian. Which is fine, but I am not sure how your mother would take it.”

  “I was engaged.”

  “According to Aeden, there is a good chance Glen was a woman.”

  She snorted. She was going to have a talk with her brother.

  “So, tell an old woman about your romance. I need something to spice up my days here.”

  Kaitlin shook her head. She didn’t need her grandmother getting excited about something that may never happen.

  “It isn’t much of a romance. He’s moving here. I knew him in college, and now he’s going to teach at the university. ROTC.”

  “He’s military?”

  She nodded. “Marines.”

  “Well, I for one am glad for it. You need a man to make you happy.”

  “I don’t need anything to make me happy. I am happy. I don’t need a man.”

  Her grandmother shook her head. “No. I mean that you need a man that can make you happy. Glen never did.”

  She could not argue with that because it was true. In all the years she had spent with Glen, he had never made her laugh. He never tried to.

  “Either way, I’m not sure he wants to have a relationship, but I do like him. He’s really sweet.”

  “A Marine who is sweet? This man I must meet.”

  What a nightmare. Not that she didn’t want him to meet her grandmother, but it would get back to her parents. She needed to ease Brando into getting to know her family. They could be…overwhelming.

  “You’re not eating,” her grandmother said.

  She looked down at her plate and felt her stomach turn. The last few days, she had been like that. Kaitlin knew she didn’t have the flu, but she felt slightly like the way she had during finals. It had to be the fact that she hadn’t been able to fight the nerves since she knew for sure Brando was going to stay with her.

  “I’m kind of nervous about Brando coming by.”

  Her grandmother nodded. “It will all work out.”

  She sighed and noticed the time. “I better get going. I have an appointment with Mr. Salter.”

  Her grandmother’s eyes narrowed. “You be careful with him. He’s had a few incidents.”

  She chuckled. “Yes, he does like to pinch the nurses. Me though, he doesn’t touch.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I told him who my grandmother was. Apparently, he’s scared to death of you. You seem to have a reputation around here for some reason.”

  Her grandmother laughed. “Good. Be good, sweetie.”

  She rose and leaned down to give her grandmother a kiss. “Do you need me to walk you back to your room?”

  “No. I’m going to go see Bernice,” she said, mentioning her best friend.

  “Okay. Be good.”

  Kaitlin stopped to empty her tray in the trash, then she went on her way. She was glad she worked in a place where she got to see her grandmother every day. It was one of the many joys she’d had with her job at the retirement community. She could probably earn a little bit more money elsewhere, but she loved it there.

  She had become intrigued with the idea of speech pathology when her grandfather O’Conner had a stroke. She had been a freshmen in college and it had convinced her that is what she needed to do. Getting to do it right where she wanted to live and getting to spend a lot of quality time with her grandmother made it even better.

  But, it also made her a target. She loved her family, but they had to be the most gossipy family ever. Her mother liked to keep informed about everything and she knew her grandmother was going to call tonight. What she did not need was her brothers interfering. They tended to scare men off.

  Not that she thought Brando would get scared off easily. She smiled. That was one self-confident man. But, then, being a Marine, it was probably a prerequisite.

  Her smile faded as her stomach rolled over again. Dammit, she would not allow her nerves to get in the way. She would be cool when he showed up tonight. Kaitlin could play the part of the sophisticated lover. Maybe.

  She swallowed and forced herself to put one foot in front of the other. She would get through her appointment with Mr. Salter, then she would dash home to clean up the house.

  Her phone vibrated on her hip. She looked at it and noticed it was Wendy.

  “So, you want to go out tonight?” Wendy asked.

  “Do you ever say hello when you call other people?”

  “Yes, but I don’t love them like I love you.”

  She chuckled.

  “Are you going to answer me?” Wendy asked.

  “No.”

  “No you aren’t going to answer me?”

  She laughed. “No. Brando is getting here tonight.”

  “Damn, I thought that was tomorrow. Okay, well, after you have hot monkey sex, you can report it all to me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You want to know too much about my sex life.”

  “Well, until you went to New Orleans, you didn’t have one. It was dead on arrival.”

  “Gee,
thanks.”

  “As a nurse, I can assure you, it had flat lined and was on the way to the morgue. Of course, now that Mr. Studly has shown up, it is resurrected.”

  “Are you finished?”

  “Like a second coming.” Wend sighed. “Okay, now I am finished.”

  She tried not to laugh but failed. “Is that all you wanted to talk about?”

  “No. I do need to talk to you, you know, a gab fest.”

  Oh, that wasn’t good. When Wendy had issues, they tended to deal with her family. Her parents had a tendency to wreak havoc on her life when they blew into it.

  “I am going home after this appointment. We could hang out until Brando gets there. I was just going to veg out.” Or take a nap. She had seemed exhausted the last week, and she had no idea why.

  “Can’t. I’m on until five today. Call me tomorrow and we can set something up.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Do all kinds of naughty things to that man. Bye.”

  She hung up and slipped her phone back in her pocket. Her nerves had her stomach rolling over again. Damn, she hadn’t had a case of a nervous stomach since the day she’d defended her thesis. How was she ever going to get accustomed to the fact that Brando was coming to see her? If this developed into more of a relationship, she might have issues keeping anything down.

  With a sigh, she pushed those thoughts aside and headed off to her appointment. She had to get done with work so she could make sure to get home in time to get ready for Brando.

  * * * *

  Brando’s phone rang the moment he parked in front of Kaitlin’s house. He would ignore it, because he was already nervous enough. He had been so sure of himself, but at the moment, there was always the worry she’d had second thoughts. When he talked to her the night before, she had given him directions to her house.