Heard It Through the Grapevine

by Pamela Browning

  “Gina, I couldn’t have invented anything more pleasurable than kissing you.”

  “After two years of missing me?” There was that flirtatious quirk to her smile again, and Josh thought he might be falling in love with it. With her.

  The question was, did he want to run away again, before he found himself committed to this woman?

  The answer, at the moment, was no. At least, not yet.

  THEY DROVE AT A LEISURELY PACE toward Calistoga at the north end of the valley. Josh held Gina’s hand, which rested lightly on his knee.

  “Tell me about this geyser,” he said.

  “We might have to wait for it to erupt,” Gina said. “Which it does, in theory, every forty minutes. Slow down, we’re almost there.”

  The geyser was beyond a low building housing displays and educational exhibits. Gina took him first into the building and led him around the room, pointing out the most interesting pictures, yet what he wanted was a guided tour of something else—her body. It didn’t help that when she bent close to a display case, her sweater was drawn tight against her breasts. She’d left her hair unbound so that it spilled seductively across her shoulders, and the way she moved—so graceful and so unselfconsciously sexy—drove him out of his mind.

  He wanted to ravish her as no woman had ever been ravished, and then do it all over again. He wanted—

  “Oh, Josh, it’s time for the geyser!” Gina grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her to the outside viewing area, crowded with other sightseers. She moved closer to make room for newcomers, and he let go of her hand so that he could drape an arm casually across her shoulders. He was supposed to be looking at the geyser, but all he wanted in his field of vision was Gina.

  “Excited?” she asked, and all he could do was groan. He was excited, but not about the geyser.

  “It’s almost time,” someone said, but still Josh wasn’t thinking of the geyser. He was thinking of making love to Gina, of finally expressing his desire. A capricious wind blew her hair toward him so that strands of it wafted across his cheek. As she reached up and pushed it back behind her ear, he caught her hand, brought it to his lips. At that moment the geyser began to whisper, then the water rushed up out of the earth with a fury too long contained.

  Gina’s eyes locked with his, and he knew that when he finally made love to her, he would choose to be looking into her beautiful face at the moment of climax, would want to see the expression in her eyes in that magic moment. Would want her to see his eyes, which would tell her how much he cared about her, how much he wanted her.

  Having reached its peak, the geyser slowed to a spurt, to a trickle, then ceased. The crowd was quiet, and Gina was still staring at him. Slowly, he lowered his hand, the fingers still laced through hers.

  He didn’t dare speak. He didn’t want to stop the magic.

  “That was spectacular,” Gina said. She withdrew her hand from his slowly, as if she didn’t want to break contact.

  All he could do was nod. The two of them together would also be spectacular. He knew it, and perhaps she did, too. Now it was up to her.

  GINA WAS SHAKEN BY WHAT had happened at the geyser. In that moment of its eruption, she had lost herself in Josh’s eyes, and for an instant, she had known what it would be like to lose herself in making love with him. That passion, that longing, that closeness that she had felt for him two years ago had returned full force, and this time every cell in her body seemed to be urging her to bring things between them to their natural completion.

  Was it a good idea? Maybe not. But if she never knew Josh Corbett in that way, she might regret it all her life.

  They drove toward Rio Robles through the golden twilight, speaking occasionally but mostly enjoying the rare communion of two seeking souls. When they reached Rio Robles, it was dark and still early. Gina wasn’t hungry, but she thought Josh might be. She was contemplating inviting him to her place for a light supper and considering the consequences of such an invitation when Josh noticed the bright lights two streets over.

  “Looks like a party’s going on,” he said, slowing the car.

  “It’s the street market. They block off the downtown streets on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month and allow the local farmers to set up stalls where they can sell their produce.”

  “I hear a band. Mariachi music, it sounds like.”

  Gina stopped trying to figure out what she could serve for supper. She’d just had a better idea. “We could grab something to eat if you’d like. Some of the vendors sell really great food that they cook right there in the open.”

  “You’re on,” Josh said. A minivan ahead of them was pulling out of a parking place, and he slotted the BMW neatly into the space.

  Before Gina could get out of the car, Josh came around and opened the door for her. She pulled on a light jacket as they walked, and Josh slid his arm around her shoulders and drew her to him. It was nice that he was affectionate. She liked a man who wasn’t afraid to show a woman that he cared when they were in public.

  They passed a couple of groups, and, as always when they saw Josh, the women did a double take. He noticed and said sheepishly, “I guess they remember me from the show.”

  “Maybe they think you’re handsome,” she said.

  This seemed to embarrass him. “It could be you that they’re gawking at,” he pointed out.

  “Oh, sure. Like I really believe that,” she scoffed, but in a way it could be true. As in, look at her, she’s with him, meaning that they admired her for having such a handsome escort.

  Main Street stretched for six blocks, and it was lined on both sides with booths. The trees had been strung with tiny white lights, so that a soft glow suffused everything. People thronged the streets, and food from the stalls lent a combination of tantalizing aromas to the crisp night air.

  “Hi, Gina,” someone said, and Gina turned to see her cousin Martin with some of his friends. Her heart sank when she realized that she and Josh might well acquire an entourage of her relatives, but Martin only said, “See you around,” before disappearing toward the town square.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Josh asked.

  “That we don’t need company? Believe me, I know.” She smiled up at him, and he grazed her cheek with his knuckle.

  “Not that I don’t like your family,” he said.

  “Not that I don’t love them,” she agreed.

  “But we deserve some alone time,” he said.

  “Agreed.”

  For a moment, all she wanted was Josh Corbett in her field of vision—to take in the little crinkles at the corners of his eyes, watch his lips as they curved into a tender smile. His lips. Oh, God, she’d better stop this or she’d be kissing him out here in the middle of Main Street with the whole town observing.

  “How about a burrito made fresh right over there?” she said in a rush, angling her head toward a nearby booth.

  “Good idea,” Josh replied.

  They let themselves be propelled by the crowd, and found that they had to hold hands in order not to be separated. When they’d received a plate of food from the cheerful vendor, who insisted that they douse their burritos with his special hot sauce, they settled on a table in the alcove of a building and chowed down.

  “This is the best burrito I ever ate,” Josh said after he’d taken a bite.

  “I don’t suppose they have a lot of Mexican food in Boston,” she ventured.

  He stared for a moment. “You’ve got to be kidding. Every kind of restaurant is represented there.”

  “Boston is a place I’ve never been,” she said. She must seem less than worldly to Josh, but that was nothing new. He’d figured out that she was relatively unsophisticated back at Dunsmoor Castle.

  After they’d finished their food, they bought Italian ices for dessert and walked along the street eating them. Josh finished his first and made a detour to a stand selling handmade jewelry. “Gina, this would look great on you,” he said, holding up a
large amber heart swinging from an intricate silver chain. “It’s so pretty against your hair.”

  “Oh, not really,” Gina said. She didn’t have any extra money to buy things like that. She plowed most of her profits right back into her business.

  “I’ll buy it for you,” he said, and even though she protested, he insisted. Before they left, he fastened the necklace, brushing aside her hair to adjust the clasp and then arranging it across her shoulders again. “There. It’s perfect for you.”

  “Thanks, Josh. That was a nice thing for you to do.” She hadn’t wanted him to buy her a present. She didn’t want to feel obligated to him.

  “I’m a nice guy.”

  “That’s true,” she said thoughtfully.

  “Don’t sound so surprised,” he said, but he was grinning. “Now what would you like to do?”

  “Buy fruits and vegetables. They’ll be fresh, probably picked today.”

  “Hi, Gina. Hello, Josh,” said a voice at Gina’s elbow, and suddenly, Frankie was there.

  “Hey, sport,” Josh said. “What’s new?”

  “Not much. Nothing good.”

  “Hmm, does that mean that you still haven’t brought up your math grade?” Gina asked him.

  “We had a test the other day, and one of the questions was about figuring two to the seventh power. I’m not sure if I got it right or not. Josh, you want to come over and throw a baseball with me sometime? My dad says you used to play on your high school team.”

  “Sure, Frankie. Maybe tomorrow afternoon if you’re going to be home.”

  “Speaking of your dad, Frankie, where is Rocco?”

  Frankie jerked a thumb toward Volare, which was a half block away. “He and Shelley are eating dinner in there. Oh, and by the way, Gina, they delivered your car to your place earlier today. Pop said that now he’s finished working on it, he’ll have time to paint my bike.”

  “That’s good news for both of us, right?” Gina said with a smile. Frankie had been wanting his bike painted ever since one of Rocco’s customers had backed over it in the parking lot.

  “Yeah, it sure is. Well, guess I’d better go, ’cause I’m here with Mia and her mom.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Josh called as Frankie melted into the crowd.

  Gina and Josh resumed their walk. “What’s with Frankie’s math grade?” Josh asked her.

  “Rocco told Frankie that he couldn’t play with the accordion band if he didn’t bring his math grade up. He thinks it would take too much time away from Frankie’s studies, since they’ll meet two nights a week right after dinner.”

  “That’s too bad,” Josh said.

  “Maybe it’s the incentive Frankie needs to study more in the afternoon. That kid absolutely hates to crack the books until the last minute.” Gina stopped at a large vegetable stand and began to pick up and discard eggplants, turning them over and over in her hands as she studied them. The delectable vegetables turned Josh’s thoughts to how luscious Gina herself was.

  I’ve got to stop thinking like this, he told himself in desperation.

  “I’ve found what I want,” Gina said with satisfaction. “I’ll make eggplant parmigiana next week.”

  I’ve found what I want, Josh thought. I just can’t get to it.

  “Now for some pomegranates,” she said, moving down the line to a bin full of them. Again, she began to browse through the fruit, tossing some back, putting others in a bag. The pomegranates were the exact color of Gina’s lips. As round as her breasts, which he ached to touch at this very moment.

  Stop it, Josh told himself sternly, but he couldn’t stop visualizing Gina. He knew exactly how he’d approach her; first, he’d caress her rich, ripe pomegranates—no, breasts. Then her soft cheeks, and he’d explore every part of every crevice, kiss every sweet inch of her skin until she cried out for mercy.

  “Mercy,” Gina said in a conversational tone, which brought him back to reality. “We’d better stop by the bakery kiosk over there. They usually have the most wonderful brioches.”

  Josh stuffed his hands in his pockets and followed glumly along, knowing that he shouldn’t get his hopes up. This night would probably end as the others had, with Gina evading his kisses and rushing upstairs. Without him.

  Gina bought several brioches and some hard poppyseed rolls, and he took the bags from her to carry. Even if this evening ended in disappointment, he wouldn’t consider the day a total loss. The two of them had reached a rare communion when they’d watched Old Faithful.

  Damn. He didn’t want the evening to be over yet.

  “How about if we go check out that mariachi band?” he suggested.

  “Oh, that would be fun,” she said, smiling brightly.

  It didn’t take long to reach the town square and locate a table at the edge of the dance floor. Before long, Josh was snapping his fingers. Couples young and old circled the floor, dancing every which way. “Want to try it?” he asked.

  “If you do.”

  Gina preceded Josh to the dance floor, where she turned to him and flowed into his arms. The music was fast, and Josh was a good dancer. The bandleader eyed them, and Gina saw him confer with one of his musicians. After that, the music slowed to a plaintive ballad, and Josh tightened his arms around her. Her temple pressed against his cheek, and his breath fluttered against her ear. They danced, but it was more than moving their feet in time to music. It was the two of them in concert, every little movement making them more aware of each other. Of their faces, so close that all she would have to do is tilt hers toward his to find his lips. Of their hands, clasped close to Josh’s chest. Of their bodies, touching each other until Gina was primed for love.

  The music continued to be slow for the next few numbers, full of muted brass, plaintive violin and soulful guitar. Desire shimmered in her blood, hummed beneath the surface of her skin, made her body feel languorous and edgy at the same time. She swayed into him, felt his taut muscles beneath the fabric of his shirt. She lifted her lips to his, oblivious to the others on the dance floor, the musicians, anything.

  His lips met hers, soft, sure. Tension vibrated between them. “Let’s go,” he said, and she nodded.

  They stopped for a moment to pick up their packages where they had left them, and then they slipped away from the lights, the music, the people.

  In his car she lifted a hand, brushed it against his cheek. She heard him catch his breath and then he turned to her, his eyes deep with longing, the same longing that made her nipples pucker beneath her sweater. He pinned her back against the seat and kissed her, his lips ravenous, his tongue seeking. “Tell me what you want,” he demanded, his hand finding the silky inside of her thigh.

  She tore her lips away, clung to him as all doubt faded. “I want—you. You,” she whispered.

  “Are you sure, Gina?”

  Her eyes found his, saw the glitter in the darkness. “Yes,” she breathed.

  She didn’t remember afterward how they got to her cottage, but she did remember standing inside the door, silent in her need, before Josh took the breathtaking first step of slipping his arms around her waist. In a moment, they were kissing in a flare of passion. She helped him out of his shirt, lost it on the way up the stairs, unfastened her bra as they kissed in her dark kitchen. She felt an aching readiness that couldn’t be overridden by common sense. The time for that had come and gone; now she was his.

  She backed toward the bedroom as he touched her breasts, circling her nipples with his thumbs, skimming his hands downward. Without speaking, she shivered out of her clothes above the waist. She felt no self-consciousness in front of him, no reticence about anything.

  The only light was the glow of a street lamp shining through the cottage window. “My gorgeous Gina. You’re even more beautiful than that nude in that mural,” he murmured as they reached her bed. “More lovely than I ever dreamed.”

  “I wish—” she began, and then thought better of it.

  “That this had happened in Scotland? S
o do I.” She considered this as she slid off her shoes, kicked them into a corner, wrapped her arms around Josh and kissed him gently on the shoulder. He slowly unbuttoned her slacks. They pooled around her feet, and she stepped away from them, only to be swung up into his arms.

  He settled her carefully on the bed, lay down beside her. She reached her arms up, pulled him down to her and reveled in the textures of him. Skin, hair, teeth, tongue. Tangled with hers, then not tasting each other and lingering, and his lips exploring her throat and down, down…

  His face was in shadow, but she could still see written there the wonder and the beauty of this moment—the excitement of making love for the first time. All her anticipation could never have prepared her for this. Nothing in her life had been as beautiful as wanting to become part of Josh. She heard herself murmur his name as his lips found her breasts, as they feathered across her abdomen, and she wove her fingers through his hair. He paused for a moment. “Gina,” he said tenderly, “are you protected?” She shook her head. “I’ll take care of it,” he said, reaching for the foil pack in his wallet. Then they were lost in the sensuous tumble of their bodies, wild with pleasure, her body arching into his, pulsing toward a smooth, slick, satiny welcome. Tears of joy that finally this was happening to her. A gasp, a cry, her name, her man. Her love. Yes.

  She held him tight, spiraling down from the incredible peak as gently as a whisper on the wind. Josh stroked her face, kissed her with inexpressible sweetness and did not question her tears. Then he curled his body around hers, his hand curving around her breast, and held her that way until they both fell asleep.

  Once during the night, Gina drifted up out of a dream to feel him stir and asked him if everything was all right. He tightened his embrace and said, “Very,” before kissing the back of her neck.

  She knew from his steady breathing that he had fallen asleep again, and she snuggled even closer. With a sense of contentment and well-being, she herself fell asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  Josh woke up to a huge weight in the middle of his chest. In the first moments of waking, he was sure that it was Gina, ready for more lovemaking.