Caterina

by Patricia Paris

  He frowned. No, that couldn’t be. She’d been standing just where she was now when he’d come in. He must have bumped it with the box and accidentally pushed it shut.

  He glanced over at her and she shuffled, appearing uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. She usually came across as being self-assured, to the point of being haughty.

  She clasped her hands in front of her, rubbing one of her thumbs over the opposing hand. “I feel like I should repay you somehow.”

  “Forget it. It was just a few boxes.”

  “I’ll bake some cookies and drop them off at the site tomorrow. If you don’t want them, you can give them to your crew.”

  “Suit yourself.” Liam made for the door. He reached out and turned the knob. The door stuck. He gave it a gentle tug, but it held firm. “Is there a trick to this door?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It won’t open.”

  “Did you accidentally turn the lock?”

  “How would I have locked it with a box in my hands?”

  Cat marched over and tried the door. When it didn’t open, she frowned and pulled harder on the knob. “This has never happened before. I can’t imagine what could be making it—”

  She stepped back, a strange expression coming over her face, and her lips parted slightly. Her eyes drifted shut a moment, and when she opened them again, she shook her head and started glancing around the room, turning slowly, as if looking for something.

  “No,” she intoned quietly, as if to herself. Her eyes roamed up to the ceiling, darted back around the room. “No.”

  “No, what?” Liam didn’t know why the door wouldn’t open or why Caterina had started acting strange, but he had things to do. His sense of responsibility had already cost him enough time.

  She gave him a vague look—one that confused him even more. He got the distinct impression she knew exactly what was going on with the door. And why did she keep looking around the room as if she expected something to materialize out of nowhere?

  Shit. Maybe she had a handful of loose coins jangling around in that pretty head of hers. Just his luck, do a good deed, and get stuck locked in a room with an unpredictable nut job. Maybe there was a trick to the door. A fault that caused it to lock when it shut, something she knew about but, for some reason, pretended to know nothing about. If that were the case, she also had to know the trick for getting it open; otherwise, she’d be getting stuck in here all the time. But what could she hope to accomplish by playing a trick on him that kept them locked in her room together? It wasn’t as if she enjoyed his company, so why would she delay his leaving?

  Caterina walked over to the French doors and pulled on them. They didn’t open. Were they really stuck, too, or was she putting on a show for his benefit? Liam strode across the room and tried them for himself. Secured by some hidden lock, just like the other door.

  What the hell? Had the woman booby-trapped her bedroom doors for some bizarre reason?

  He didn’t know her game, but he didn’t have time to play, and seriously, if she was unhinged and this was all her doing, he didn’t want to hang around to find out what she might be planning next.

  Before he could confront her, she put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes, then said, “All right, Rosa, if you’re responsible for this, just cut it out. Do you hear me?”

  “What?” Liam scrunched his eyes and stared hard at her. Who the hell was Rosa? An invisible friend? Another personality? Fabulous! He was locked in a room with a deranged woman.

  “I don’t know what’s going on here, Caterina,” he said, keeping his tone even. If the woman wasn’t quite right in the head, he should probably be careful about setting her off. She might have one of her chef’s knives hidden in a dresser drawer. “Why don’t you take a deep breath and relax? Then open the door, so I can go back to the site and work on your restaurant. Can you do that? You’re anxious for me to make more progress on the job, aren’t you?”

  “If I could open the door, don’t you think I’d have done it? And why are you talking to me like, I don’t know…like you think—” She gaped at him. “You think I’m responsible for this? That I somehow made the doors seal shut so we’d be trapped in my room?”

  He scratched the back of his neck. “The thought crossed my mind.”

  “What? You think I can lock doors without touching them?” She laughed. “Do you think I can perform magic? Or maybe you think I’m a witch or something?”

  “Or something.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ll just leave that alone for now.” She sighed, pushing her hands through her shoulder-length hair and then slipping them into the pockets of her black jeans. She wasn’t acting like a crazy woman now, just a dejected one, who looked as frustrated about their situation as he felt.

  “Okay,” she said, darting him a glance. “You might have trouble believing what I’m going to tell you, but it’s the truth. I didn’t lock the doors, but I’m pretty sure I know who did.”

  “Care to enlighten me?”

  “Rosa. She’s done this before.”

  “Okay, so where is she, and how do we get her to let us out? Is she a guest here?”

  Caterina smirked. “I’m not sure guest is the right word. More like an uninvited visitor with an interfering nature. She pops in and out when she feels like it. I’m sure she’s responsible and that she’s someplace close by.”

  “In the hallway?” Liam walked over to the bedroom door, rapped on it. “Hey, Rosa, are you out there? Listen, I can appreciate a joke as much as the next guy, but I’ve got a lot of stuff I need to get done, so could you be a sport and unlock the door, please?”

  He waited a moment but got no indication anyone was in the hall listening. He looked at Caterina. “I don’t think she heard me. Maybe she’s not out there.” He frowned. “This Rosa, does she have all her faculties?”

  “She’s not crazy, if that’s what you mean. And I’m sure she heard you. She’s just being a brat.”

  “How can she hear me if she’s not here?”

  “Because she is here, you just can’t see her.”

  “But you do?”

  “No, I don’t see her! Do you think she’s able to show herself to only one person in a room and remain invisible to the other?” She stopped and seemed to ponder what she’d just said. “Well, maybe she can. I don’t really know…but no, I don’t see her.”

  Caterina was either messing with him, or she really did have some missing screws. The lucidity in her steadfast gaze made him think it was the former. He just couldn’t figure out what would motivate her to play him this way, though.

  Liam held up a hand. “Okay, I get it. Rosa’s a ghost.”

  “Yes, a very meddlesome one.” She gave him a slight smile. “I have to say, I’m surprised you considered anything paranormal. You’re more open-minded than I was. I refused to believe in the possibility that we had a ghost living here until I was practically forced to accept her existence.”

  NOPE. NOT OPEN-MINDED at all, Caterina realized as she took in his expression. Bullheaded. Bullheaded with a side of getting angrier by the minute.

  “Enough with the games, Caterina. I don’t know why you’re doing this or what you’re getting out of it, but I’m not amused. Now open the damn door.”

  “I told you. I can’t! Only Rosa can, and she won’t until she gets what she wants.”

  “Then why don’t you clue me in to what it is that your invisible, ghosty friend wants so we can end this farce?”

  “First of all, she’s not my invisible, ghosty friend. She’s my great-aunt.”

  Liam glowered at her. She didn’t like it, but really, could she blame him? He’d been trapped in a room with her by her dead ancestor, whom he wasn’t buying, and she hadn’t even told him her worst suspicion.

  “Fine. I’m going to play along for a minute, but only because if I don’t get out of here in the next five, I might have to break the door down. I’d prefer not to have to do that.” L
iam stalked toward her, stopped about a foot in front of her, and locked his sea-blues on her.

  “Now, tell me, what has to happen for Rosa to open the door?” Sarcasm coated his words, thick as her béchamel, without any of the sauce’s lovely subtlety.

  Caterina caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “You have to kiss me.”

  Silence loomed, like a blanket of fog descending upon the Blue Ridge. It closed around her as if it would suffocate her. Pulsed. Condensed. Held her breath captive as his gaze narrowed to a tiny slit that stabbed her.

  And then he laughed. Not a happy, you’re a hoot, we’re having a great time, kind of laugh. No, more like a you’re freaking playing with me and I don’t like it, kind of one.

  “You want me to kiss you?” From his expression, you would have thought she’d asked him to trim her toenails with his teeth.

  “Not particularly, no. Rosa wants it. I don’t understand why. I just know she’s got this weird thing about doors and…and people kissing. She pulled the same stunt with Lucia and Antonio.” She started pacing, walked over to the door, and however futile, gave it another try.

  “And look,” she threw out, in case he had some misguided notion that any of this had been her idea, “I’m no more thrilled about it than you are, but if you want her to open that door, then…then I think that’s what she’s waiting for.”

  Liam snorted. “This is ridiculous.”

  Caterina crossed her arms under her breasts and stared at the floor. If her aunt weren’t already dead, she’d be tempted to kill her. She’d put Cat in an intolerable position. Liam had never liked her. After this debacle, he’d be adding crazy to the list of things he held against her.

  “Okay, you know what? Fine!” He threw his arms in the air, as if in defeat, and crossed the room.

  Cat angled him a glance. Was he going to do it?

  Liam scowled down at her, clearly unhappy about the prospect. Did he think she relished the idea? No, she didn’t, but she wasn’t getting all surly about it.

  “Just so we’re clear.” He glared at her, as if to drive home the point. “I will be extremely unhappy if that door remains locked after this.”

  He put his hands on her shoulders and bent forward. Random electrical currents began pinging off her nerves. He brushed his mouth across hers as if it were a tabletop he was flicking a dustrag over, then straightened and reached behind her to try the door. It remained locked.

  Liam’s expression hardened. He rolled his jaw. “It didn’t work.”

  The temperature in the room took a sharp dive. Cat rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Apparently, Rosa wasn’t impressed.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No. She’s not going to open the door for…for that. Did you notice the room just got much cooler? That’s Rosa’s doing, another one of her little tricks. I think in this case it’s her way of letting us know that didn’t qualify. She wanted a kiss, and that was—”

  He rolled his jaw. “Was what, Caterina?”

  “As kisses go, pathetic, actually. I’ve been kissed enough to know a good kiss from a bad kiss, and believe me, that was bad. It might have been the worst kiss I’ve ever gotten. I’m not surprised Rosa’s disappointed. If that’s the best you can do, I’m afraid we could be locked in here for—”

  Liam grasped her by the shoulders and pulled her hard against his chest. “Then I guess we need to change Rosa’s opinion,” he said harshly.

  Before she could take another breath, his mouth covered hers with a heat that came out of nowhere, burning off the chill that had permeated the room quicker than her electric skillet could melt a pat of butter.

  Lightning quick, a bolt of desire caught Cat off guard and ignited a flame in her blood that roared to life. She moaned. Liam increased the pressure, moved her up against the door, worked some kind of delicious magic on her with his lips. She wrapped her arms around his back, opened her mouth to his. A hunger gnawed at her, made her feel as if she’d been starving for this—his kiss—the only thing that could satisfy her craving.

  His hands glided down her rib cage and back up again. His thumbs brushed the sides of her breasts, sparking flames of desire that burned along her nerves. He moved against her, his hips pressing into hers, and dropped his mouth to her neck.

  Cat let her head fall back. The pleasure of his mouth traveling over her skin—kissing, taking little nips—drove her crazy, made her want. Oh, but he was tempting. She never would have imagined Liam could make her feel so sublime, fill her with such need, or make her melt so easily for him.

  Liam…Oh God! She was grinding against the bedroom door with Liam.

  She laid her hands on his chest, held him away. He stepped back, short breaths coming hard, like her own, and stared at her. He’d shaken her to her core, but she didn’t want him to know how devastating that kiss had been.

  She sidled away from him, her mind a confused blur. As she moved aside, the door drifted open. Liam’s eyes darted to hers, locked. She couldn’t name the emotion she saw swirling in them, read his thoughts or feelings. And she didn’t know if she wanted to.

  He fisted his hands at his sides but said nothing, then turned abruptly and stormed out of the room.

  CATERINA STARED AT the open doorway Liam had just escaped through. She ran her hands over her hair, brought one down, clasped it across her mouth. A tremor rippled down the length of her body. She stood there, frozen, and closed her eyes.

  Hot. Reckless. And she’d liked it. Liked it as she’d never liked a man’s mouth and hands on her before. Not good…not even in the same galaxy as good.

  She shouldn’t have baited him, telling him his first attempt was pathetic. She’d provoked him. Maybe part of her had wanted to, had wanted a taste of the raw sexuality she’d told herself she didn’t like, but which tempted her nonetheless.

  Her breath came fast and harshly. She tried to regulate it by taking deeper breaths. She was young and healthy, with the same needs and desires as most young, healthy women. Why, though, of all the men to cross her path, had she developed an itch for this one? She didn’t particularly like him. He clearly didn’t like her.

  Cat snorted. Talk about understatements. He’d be furious with himself. And he probably blamed her for goading him into proving he did, in fact, know his way around a woman’s lips. Her body sighed. Did he ever!

  She walked to the door, closed it and then stood with her back against it. It had happened. It didn’t matter that he’d stirred a craving that would go unfulfilled. Mind over matter, or in this case, over lust. She wasn’t immune, but she wouldn’t give in to it. She could control a misguided case of the hots.

  She’d lusted after other things in life: that second helping of chocolate lava cake; a third glass of Bordeaux when two were more than enough; the dusty cocoa UGGs she wanted when she already had them in powder blue. She’d resisted them all. Just because she might want something didn’t mean she was foolish enough, or indulgent enough, to give in to every little desire. She knew how to exercise self-control over things she didn’t need to be happy or that weren’t good for her. Like Liam Dougherty.

  She pushed away from the door and walked toward the boxes sitting at the foot of the bed.

  Was there any chance he hadn’t been aware that she’d started grinding against him, just before she realized it herself and pushed away? Caterina grimaced. There was probably about as much chance that she hadn’t been aware of his hands traveling over her body or how much she’d wanted to feel them against her bare skin.

  “Do you think because you are virtuous,

  that there shall be no more cakes and ale?”

  William Shakespeare, Othello

  Liam got out of his truck and closed the door. He scrutinized the building as he walked across the gravel. They’d finished getting all the sheathing up and the wrap on last week. The roofers would finish tomorrow. The windows and doors were supposed to have been delivered over a week ago but still hadn’t arrived. He’d sche
duled far enough in advance, so they’d have them here and ready to install as soon as the roof went on, and everything could be sealed up before December hit.

  He pulled his cell from his pocket and called the window company, got their voice mail.

  He rolled his jaw in frustration and then left a message. “This is Liam Dougherty. I’ve already left two messages and haven’t heard back from anyone, so I’d appreciate it if someone called me today to let me know what’s going on with our order. If we don’t get it soon, it’s going to put us behind. If that happens, you’re going to have a very unhappy customer on your hands.”

  He disconnected, jammed the phone back into his pocket with a mumbled curse.

  “What bit your ass, bro?” Burke asked, as Liam ducked under the yellow perimeter tape.

  “This is the second time this year that I’ve had a problem with windows not being delivered when they were promised. We were supposed to have them ten days ago. I’ve left three messages to find out what the delay is, and if someone doesn’t get back to me today with a good reason and a guarantee that we’ll have them by the end of this week, they’re done.”

  “Shawn had a problem with them a couple of months ago. He told me that when he called to find out what was going on, the owner told him he and his wife were going through a divorce, and she’d left him with a mess to try to straighten out in the office.”

  Liam pulled a frown. “Everybody’s got shit to deal with. If they weren’t going to be able to fill the order on time, they shouldn’t have taken it. Now I’m locked in. If I tried to get them from another company at this point, it’d take at least six weeks. I don’t have that kind of time.”

  “See if you can move some of the subs up a few days, and deal with the windows when they get here.”

  “Yeah, you try getting a sub to change their schedule with only one or two days’ notice. And forget next week with the holiday.”

  Burke held up his hands. “Only trying to be helpful. You don’t have to get pissy about it.”