by Emily March
“Scintillation.”
“Excuse me?”
He rolled over onto his side and went up on his elbow. Though his form was cloaked in darkness, his gaze upon her was tangible. Hope went still and watchful. Anticipation welled within her.
“Stars appear to twinkle because we see them through the thick layers of moving air that make up the Earth’s atmosphere. Their light beams are refracted many times in random directions as they hit different densities of air. That random refraction results in the star appearing to wink out or twinkle. The scientific name is ‘stellar scintillation.’”
“I see,” Hope breathed.
“Or astronomical scintillation.” He lifted his hand and trailed a finger down her cheek.
Hope shivered, but this time, she wasn’t cold. “Ah.”
He leaned forward, his warm breath whispering across her face. “Irresistible scintillation.”
Then, just as the first rays of dawn stretched into the eastern sky, Lucca Romano touched his lips to hers.
SIX
The kiss was just a whisper. Now that he’d finally surrendered to the urge, he wanted to draw the pleasure out. He explored her lips, learning the shape of them, their softness. They were delightfully full and blissfully moist. The taste of her was as fascinating as the stars that had burned across the sky. Fascinating and strangely familiar.
He felt like he had kissed her before, which was crazy. Hope Montgomery wasn’t anything like the women he usually pursued. Not a model or beauty queen or, as he’d liked in his younger days, a sorority girl. She was a homespun schoolteacher, and not just a schoolteacher, but a kindergarten teacher. The flavor of her mouth—not sophisticated French champagne, but hot chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven on a cold winter’s day—stirred his blood.
And she felt like heaven in his arms.
He stopped thinking then and deepened the kiss, losing himself to sensation. His tongue slid into her soft, wet mouth. His hand trailed over the satin of her cheek, and his fingers threaded through the silk of her hair. At the sound of her throaty moan, Lucca’s passion blazed.
He wanted her. He wanted to strip away the barrier of their clothes and feel those full breasts of hers flattened against his bare chest. He wanted to explore her with his hands, to trace the taut stretch of her muscles, the feminine curve of her hip. He wanted to taste her. He wanted to see her. Badly.
Badly enough that he knew he’d better apply the brakes.
But, in a minute.
He needed just one more minute. One more endless minute to lose himself in the erotic pleasure of her kiss.
Because now her arms had lifted and twined around his neck, and her fingers played along the sensitive skin just above his collar. She was hot and trembling and when she purred, the sound vibrated through him. Now, Romano. End it now, before it’s too late.
He lifted his head and eased away, opening his eyes. The hazy light of dawn cast a golden glow across flushed cheeks and lips red and swollen. Her chest lifted and fell in quick pants. When her lids fluttered open and she stared up at him with soft, arousal-drugged eyes, it took all his willpower not to lower his head again.
He fought for something to say and came up with a stupid “Good morning.”
“Oh. Wow.”
It pleased Lucca to know that he wasn’t the only one suffering from stupid. “That’s a nice way to begin a day.”
“Yes. Yes, it is. Was. Nice. I enjoyed it.” Her chest rose, then fell with one big breath. “Not just the kiss. The entire night was special.”
With another woman, Lucca would have fired a comeback filled with sexual innuendo, but something about Hope caused him to simply say, “Yes, it was. I’m glad you shared it with me.”
And with that, their evening with the Perseids came to an end.
They hiked back to the truck in silence, Lucca lighting their way with the flashlight. On the way down the mountain to Eternity Springs, the mood between them felt awkward. He asked if she had a busy day ahead, which she did and had already told him about. She asked him what paint colors Maggie had chosen for Aspenglow’s interior walls. As if he’d paid a bit of attention because he did all his work around the place outdoors.
Lucca sensed that the kiss had changed something. She was pulling back from him. Just as he was pulling back from her.
He pulled his truck into the driveway between their two houses. They both climbed down from the truck and Lucca hesitated. Ordinarily, he’d walk a woman he’d just spent half the night with to her front door. But if he did that since he’d kissed her earlier, he’d have to kiss her again, wouldn’t he?
Have to, Romano? What a hardship you’re considering there.
Hope glanced at him. “Thanks again for including me, Lucca. The meteor shower was a spectacular show.”
What about the kiss? Maybe the fact she hadn’t mentioned it meant she wouldn’t go inside and call his sister and spill the beans. He’d dated one of Gabi’s friends in the past. He knew how all that worked. Once Hope told Gabi that he’d kissed her, he’d be dealing not just with Hope, but with Gabi and Mom, too. Madness. You need to take a big step back.
He cleared his throat. “It’s a good way to put a period on the summer. I’m headed to Boulder to visit my brother and by the time I get back, school will have started. You’ll be busy. I guess stargazing late at night won’t work for your schedule. I probably won’t see you much.”
She offered up a fake smile that made Lucca feel like a heel. “You’re right. I have no leisure time once school starts. If I were to try to fit something else into my schedule now, well, I would need to want it badly. I’m afraid stargazing will have to wait until the situation suits my desires. Have a nice trip to Boulder.”
Well, then. She’d put him in his place, hadn’t she? He shot back a smile just as false as hers. “Thanks. I intend to.”
She started toward her house, giving him a backward wave. “Bye. Today is trash pickup. Don’t forget to carry your can to the curb.”
Lucca stood watching her until she disappeared inside her house. “Carry my can to the curb?” he muttered. “Was that some sort of crack?”
He wasn’t certain, and it made him a little grumpy. Everything since the kiss had made him a little grumpy. As he grabbed his duffel and the quilt from the back of the truck and carried them into his house, he muttered, “Sleep deprivation. That’s what this is. It’s all it is.”
He’d take a little nap before heading out to see Tony.
But when he sprawled across his bed and buried his head in his pillow, thoughts of Hope Montgomery drifted across his mind like wispy clouds. Better for them both that they stopped before they ever really got started. He wasn’t looking for a relationship. Hell, he wasn’t even looking for sex. Go figure. Since that self-destructive stretch during his Latin American sabbatical when he went around nailing anyone who was interested, he’d lost interest in meaningless sex. But he wasn’t ready for sex to mean something, either.
Kissing Hope Montgomery had stirred him. Tempted him.
The memory of it plagued him when he tried to fall asleep.
After tossing and turning for twenty minutes, he gave up. He showered, dressed, threw a few things into a bag, and headed for Boulder.
He phoned his brother when he was twenty minutes out. Tony wasn’t through with work for the day. “I have another hour to an hour and a half here, and I didn’t have time for lunch. I’m going to want food the minute I’m free. Want to play tourist for a while, then pick me up and we can go to dinner?”
Lucca considered a moment, then said, “Weather is nice. How about I stop at the grocery store for steaks and fire up the grill at your house? I can have it ready when you get home.”
“Sounds great. Key is in the usual spot.”
When Tony had been an assistant coach in Boulder, he’d lived in an apartment near campus. After he’d won the head-coaching job, he’d bought a house up in the Flagstaff area that had a great backyard and a
n awesome view.
Lucca stopped at a grocery and purchased everything he would need for supper, knowing the chances that his twin had a stocked refrigerator hovered between slim and none. He arrived at Tony’s house, found the house key hidden on a rafter on the back porch, and let himself inside. By the time Tony drove up, Lucca had a salad made, baked potatoes ready, and two huge rib eyes ready for the outdoor kitchen grill.
Tony changed into shorts and a T-shirt and walked out barefoot carrying a bottle of Cabernet. He inhaled the aroma and exhaled with worshipful appreciation. With his gaze locked on the sizzling steaks, he said, “As of this moment, you are officially off the hook for the hundred you owe me.”
“I don’t owe you a hundred.”
“Yeah, you do. American League won the All-Star game.”
“Oh.” The brothers had a standing baseball bet. “I didn’t notice. Think I was taking in the sights on a nude beach in Brazil when that game was played.”
“Asshole. I take it back. You still owe me.” Tony decanted the wine and poured two glasses.
“Nope. Take-backs not allowed on bet settlements. Sit down and fill your face with rabbit food. Steaks will be ready in five.”
Both men were hungry, and they didn’t waste much time talking as they plowed through their meal. Afterward, they cleaned up, then Tony dished up two bowls of Rocky Road ice cream—their favorite—and carried them outside. Tony had a great backyard spot to watch the sunset.
Tony opened the conversation with a challenge. “I had hoped you might come by campus,” he said. “You haven’t seen the new practice facility. I’d like to show you around.”
Lucca understood that his twin’s offer involved more than a tour of a new basketball headquarters. He hadn’t gone near a basketball court since the day of his meltdown, and Tony was asking if Lucca had his head on straight yet. The answer was no. “Maybe next time.”
Tony set down his ice cream. “I’m thirsty. You want a bottle of water?”
“I’m good.”
His twin snorted as he stood and took a water from his outdoor kitchen fridge. He lifted the remote and switched on the television mounted above the bar area. He thumbed to a basketball game then defiantly sauntered back toward Lucca, who shifted his chair toward the sunset—and away from the TV.
Tony muttered an expletive, then asked, “So, what brings you to Boulder so soon? You’ve been in Eternity Springs, what, two weeks? Is small-town life proving too boring already?”
“Actually, Eternity Springs isn’t too bad. Mom wanted me to go to Denver to pick up some things she’s ordered, and I’m not going to come that close and not visit you. Besides, I need to talk some family things over.”
Tony stretched out, took another bite of ice cream, then asked, “You having trouble with Zach?”
“No. Not at all. I really like him.”
Once the facts about their mother’s adult “secret baby” had come to light, Lucca and Tony hadn’t been as certain as Gabi and their brother Max that Zach would end up being a welcome addition to their family. The way it turned out, he’d been just what Mom had needed to jerk her out of her depression after their father died.
“It’s Mom and Gabi,” Lucca explained. “Both of them are acting weird, and I want a second opinion on how to deal with the situation.”
Tony lifted his spoon in salute. “The doctor is in. What’s the trouble?”
“I’ll start with Mom. It’s kind of hard to explain, but if you had to describe Mom, using three words, what would they be?”
“Loving. Witty. Loyal.”
“True, but that’s not what I’m looking for. Think business-related words.”
“Mom was a stay-at-home mother. I don’t think of her in business-related terms.”
“Think PTO mom.”
“Oh. Okay, then. Organized. Decisive. And workaholic.”
Lucca nodded. “I’d agree with those. So let me explain three things about the work being done at Aspenglow Place. Indoors, the first thing she did was have the upstairs bathrooms painted.”
“I thought they were all going to be renovated.”
“They are.”
“That’s stupid. Why did she do that?”
Lucca ignored the question. “It gets better. She has purchased six colors of paint for the outside—not samples, mind you—but enough paint to paint the exterior six different times in six different colors. What’s craziest of all, three times I’ve walked into that house in the middle of the workday to find her sitting in a rocking chair reading a book or watching TV. Watching soaps!”
Tony sat up straight. “Soaps? Mom? Our mom?”
“Yep.”
“She doesn’t watch daytime TV.”
“She does now. And she’s hooked. She got all teary yesterday when she told me about one of the characters coming back from the dead. Pregnant. With amnesia.”
“That’s bizarre.”
“Gabi doesn’t know what she’s getting into. You’ve heard that she’s quit the sheriff’s office?”
“Yes. I understand she wants to help Mom run the inn.”
“I’m not taking bets on how long that idea lasts. Gabi put together a renovation plan—a good one, mind you—but the changing paint palette is driving her crazy. Yesterday she told me she’s beginning to wonder if working together might be harmful to their mother-daughter relationship.”
Tony pointed his remote at the TV and started channel surfing. “I could have told her that.”
“Yeah, well. I thought they needed to try it to figure it out for themselves. If you or I tell Gabi it’s a bad idea, she’ll dig in her heels and stay longer just to prove us wrong.”
“You have a point.”
“And I could be all wrong. Gabi and Mom could be the perfect working couple. At least Gabi’s not afraid to say no to Mom, which is more than I can manage.”
“Man, I’ve never been able to do that, either.”
“I’m counting on Gabi to convince Mom she needs to hire a contractor.”
“I thought that was your job,” Tony observed.
“I can handle a little painting and repair and doing yard work outside, but I don’t know a damn thing about plumbing or electrical work or carpentry. I don’t know the subs in the area. If she wants Aspenglow to be a commercial success, the work needs to be done right.”
Tony’s cellphone buzzed, and he picked it up and sighed. His thumbs flew across the touch screen. “If somebody had told me five years ago that my job would soon entail tweeting, I’d have called BS.”
He tossed the phone onto the chair beside him and glanced at Lucca. “Daytime TV, huh?”
“And laundry.”
“Laundry?”
“She doesn’t do laundry on a schedule anymore. I’ve seen her let dirty towels pile up for over a week. And there were breakfast dishes in the sink at dinnertime.”
“Definitely bizarre.” Tony took a thoughtful sip from his bottle of water. “You know, Lucca, considering everything, I hesitate to bring up the D word. …”
Lucca flattened his mouth. Damn, he didn’t want to talk about this. Not even with his twin brother. “I know I was depressed. I did get some help when I was away. It’s better. Now we are talking about Mom, not me.”
Tony took a moment to absorb the news and Lucca could see questions lighting his eyes. His brother knew him well enough to understand that now was not the time to pursue the topic. He asked, “Do you think we need to be worried about Mom?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so. I think she’s just … changing. Everything is different with Dad gone.”
“It was easier when Dad was alive. Everything was his call. Now we’re the ones with the responsibility.”
“That’s the problem right there. Mom would say that she’s responsible for herself. And honestly, she’s right.”
“But she’s our mother. Our widowed mother. We’re her sons.”
“Which makes us responsible,” Lucca agreed.
/> Tony rubbed the back of his neck and thought the problem through. “All right. Here’s my take. I saw her and Savannah during their Denver trip recently. Mom seemed happy as a clam to me. Maybe once she brings a contractor on board, the weirdness will work itself out. Could be she has too much to organize and it’s overwhelming her. I say we do that, then wait and see.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Glad we’re thinking along the same lines.”
“We usually do.” Tony rolled to his feet and carried the empty ice cream bowls to the outdoor kitchen’s sink. “So, want to bet on how long Gabi lasts at Aspenglow?”
“I won’t bet that she actually begins there.” Lucca paused a moment, then said, “My next-door neighbor told me the school’s PE teacher just quit and they haven’t found a replacement. I thought maybe Gabi could …”
Tony was shaking his head before Lucca completed the thought. “Bad idea.”
“She’s an athlete. She knows basketball.”
“She played basketball. She can’t coach basketball. She’s a terrible teacher. You know that. She has no patience. For the sake of the students, I’d let that one go.”
Lucca sighed. “All right. You’re right. I knew that. I needed someone else to say it out loud. Between her and Mom … I’m just worried.”
“Good. You caused them both enough worry, disappearing the way you did. A little payback doesn’t hurt a damned thing.”
“I’m an ass. I know that.”
“I’m glad we can agree, brother.”
Lucca shot his twin the bird, and Tony laughed. “Look, I’m not worried about Gabi. She’ll find something that’s right for her. It may take her awhile, and she’s bound to bounce around a bit, but she’ll land on her feet. As far as Mom is concerned … well … I don’t like the dishes-in-the-sink thing. Still, she’s better than she was a year ago. That’s a good thing. Deep wounds take time to heal. You know that, right?”
Lucca understood that here, his twin wasn’t talking about their mother.
He nodded curtly, wishing he could explain the cloud that had descended on his spirit to his brother, but since he couldn’t explain it to himself, that wasn’t going to happen.
