First Kiss (19 page)

Fab loved this girl.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Cinderella's Castle!

Breckin!

I'm SO over the winter wedding idea. That can be SUCH a dreary time. I mean, the weather is totally unpredictable, some people go through holiday depression, and let's face it, there is no busier time than the Christmas season. Who has time for a wedding? Guess what I'm thinking? You never will. Disney World! Oh, my God! It could be so fabulous. Julia can get married in Cinderella's Castle, and Roman can be her prince. Okay, I'm swooning just thinking about it. Find out more on Disney World. It's not just for kids anymore. Haven't you seen the commercials?

Air Kisses, Kiki

The cackle came courtesy of Zac Toledo, a postcard-perfect image of LA cool in his distressed/paint-splashed Grail polo and destroyed-wash Chip & Pepper jeans.

Fab lunged toward him, like a lion pumped up for a fresh kill. "Hey, buddyyou might want to wait outside."

Zac disregarded the suggestion in that infuriating way that only twenty-year-old boys who think they're God's gift can.

The girl pressed her hands against Fab's chest in a begging attempt to stop him from removing Zac by force. "Screw Affair!" she shrieked. "We don't have to stay here! I don't even want to stay here anymore! There are a thousand hotels in this city! Every last one of them better than this hellhole!"

"Serafina!" Fab yelled back. "What are you doing? This guy's a jerk, and he's just using you."

"Well, if anyone should know about a guy using girls, then it would be you," she fired right back.

"This isn't about me," Fab said.

"Exactly," Serafina snapped triumphantly. "It's about me . Which means it's none of your business."

"You're my sister," Fab said quietly, his voice close to being sinister. "It will always be my business."

The floodgates of relief opened up, and Kiki got washed away by the most wonderful feeling in the world. Not his lover , but his sister! Oh, thank God! For a minute there

Kiki swept into the Tomba sibling dustup like a fairy godmother, giving Fab a secret look that translated Let me handle this . She smiled at the girl, who, up close, was practically Fab in glorious female form. "Serafinawhat a lovely name. For an equally lovely girl." She put out a hand.

Serafina warily accepted it. "Who are you?"

Kiki glanced around. There were guests lurking about, taking in the family drama as if it were a new reality show. Hmm. Never can be too careful. "I'm Jennifer Aniston."

Serafina pulled a face. "No, you're not."

"Yes, I am, dear. Check the register if you must."

"You're that skank from the Post ."

Kiki hooked an arm around Serafina's shoulder, dug her nails into her flesh just enough to let the girl know that skank was not appreciated, and gently led her away from Fab. "That's all a terrible misunder standing. Sort of like that skirt you're wearing. Of course, you didn't mean to put it on and walk out the door looking like you'd do anything for fifty dollars and a dime bag of pot."

Serafina stopped in her tracks. "Excuse me, but I don't even know you. So why are you in my face?"

Kiki simply gave her an empathetic smile. "I, too, have a brother."

Serafina thawed slightly. "Is he overprotective? Does he basically track your every move like some stalker? Does he think every guy you've ever dated is an asshole?"

"Not so much," Kiki answered. "He's younger, and we don't even live in the same region."

Serafina gave her a dumb look. "So what's your point?"

"My point is this brothers have a finely tuned radar for creepy guys. It's not any guy that he wants to keep you away from. Just the bad ones. Think about it. If you were with a quality, stand-up guy, then Fab would feel relieved . Not only would you be with someone fantastic who'd look out for you, but you'd be off the market for the Zac Toledos of the world."

The look on Serafina's face said she was listening. Sort of. "How do you know Zac?"

"Oh, honey," Kiki said, laughing the laugh of the weary. "Zac is not a person. He's a type. Trust me. I know all about the Zac brand of boy." She snapped her fingers in a homegirl Z-snap formation. "Been there. Done that. Got the soundtrack." Then she leaned in conspiratorially. "Explain this to me. What guy with half a brain in his head would bring a girl to her own brother's hotel? Okay, it'd be one thing if Fab owned the Waldorf. You know, a place so big that you could easily keep missing each other. But Affair?" Kiki shook her head in disbelief. "Please. This hotel is so small that Fab probably knew what you were up to before you even got out of the cab! Was it Zac's idea to come here?"

Serafina nodded.

"Figures," Kiki sniffed. "He probably thought you could get a free room."

Serafina shot a cool glance over to Zac, ignoring Fab entirely. "Guys can be so lame."

"Yes, they can. If we had more timesay, the rest of the afternoonI'd tell you about my ex-husband, the two guys who sank my trust fund, the pervert who thought I was clueless about the hidden camera in his bedroom or we could just sit quietly and discuss Ben Affleck."

This got a laugh. A real one. "Did you date him, too?"

"No, but sometimes a girl just has a feeling."

Serafina beamed a glare at Fab. "He treats me like I'm still in eighth grade."

"Just think about what I said," Kiki advised. "If you were with a decent guy, you wouldn't be getting any static from big brother over there."

Another look to Zac. This time Serafina melted a little. "Zac is cool, though. The columns mention him all the time. And he's so cute."

"He is now," Kiki agreed. "I'll give you that. But wait until the heroin addiction sets in. We'll be having a different conversation one year from now." She paused a beat to allow this jaw-dropper to sink in, then moved on. "So you have classes with Tiffany Lynn? She's a friend of mine."

"Really? Are you a stripper, too?"

It was all coming back to Kiki nowhow annoying younger siblings could be. "No, I'm an actress."

"Do you play strippers?"

"I haven't yet, but I'm not opposed to the idea," Kiki replied sunnily. "Especially now when I really need the work."

Serafina smiled shrewdly. "Do you subscribe to the way-to-a-man's-heart-is-through-his-family theory? Is that the reason for this big-sister act?"

"First of all, it's 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.' And I can't cook. So there goes that. But believe me. Fab's not the motivation here. When I see a beautiful young girl with bad taste in guys walking around poorly dressed, it's my duty to get involved. I was runner-up for Miss America in 1995."

"I was only eight that year, but I remember watching." Serafina's eyes went wide. "Wait a minute. Are you the one who did the dramatic monologue from St. Elmo's Fire ?"

Kiki gave her an upbeat nod. Finally! A viewer who remembered something besides Miss California.

"News flash: It's really better to sing," Serafina said.

Kiki blanched. This girl did not need bitch training wheels. She was definitely ready for prime time.

"I think I'll go upstairs and pack now. Obviously , Zac and I are changing hotels."

"So after all of this spectacle and drama you're going to stay with that night creature?" Kiki asked.

" If I decide to kick Zac to the curb, I'm not going to give my brother the satisfaction of thinking he had anything to do with it." Serafina punctuated the grand announcement with a bounce of her hair. She started off, then swung back around. "Mind if I give you some advice on the subject of men? As it relates to my brother, of course."

Kiki saw a gleam of something in Serafina's dark eyes. And it wasn't kindness. She steeled herself as she nodded.

"Don't get too comfortable in the role of girlfriend. Or whatever it is you are to him. Fab tends to bore easily. And I don't think a runner-up has what it takes to hold his attention for very long."

"Don't count on it," Kiki shot back. No way was this little strumpet going to get the best of her. "Chances are, when you're crying on Fab's shoulder after Zac dumps you , I'll be the one handing you tissues."

Serafina's Tomba-perfect lips parted in surprise. The look on her face said the last word was always hers. Now the qualifier almost always had to be employed. She stomped away in a huff.

Kiki made a beeline for the front desk to join Fab.

"Thanks for stepping in," he said, drinking deep on a Red Bull. "I was about to kill her. Or him. Maybe both of them." His neck was pulsing with aggression.

Kiki questioned the lightning jolt of Red Bull at a time like this but said nothing. "She's at that age where you can't tell a girl anything ."

"Serafina's always been at that age."

"Zac's nothing but a phase," Kiki said. "But the more you object the more attractive he'll seem to her."

Fab shot up his brow. "Then maybe I should go tell her I'd like him to be my brother-in-law."

Skillfully, Kiki robbed the Red Bull and finished it off. He didn't need anymore. She did. "Now there's a plan."

Fab gave her a meaningful look. "The day started off much better than it's become."

"And you're surprised?" Kiki asked silkily. "Our shower scene is going to be pretty hard to top."

"Is that a challenge?"

Kiki threw down the gauntlet. "That depends. Are you up for it?"

He smiled at her, took back the Red Bull can, realized it was empty, and crushed it into his palm. "Oh, don't worry. I'll rise to the occasion." And with that he took her hand, leading her toward the stairwell, and, ultimately, directly into it. He was silent the whole way. Until the door closed.

"I'm getting addicted to you," Fab said.

Kiki felt it. The vivid brightness of the crucial moment. The rush of the push forward. The tempering that comes from not holding back.

Hungrily, Fab pressed his mouth to hers.

She breathed to the rhythm, and his deep know-ingness of the beat made the most delicious music as the heat and wetness of her tongue melted into his.

Suddenlyand painfully for herhe pulled back, outlining her mouth with the cool satin of his fingertip. "I'm not getting any work done. I might have to evict you."

Kiki pretended to be hurt. She did her best breathy bombshell voice. "Me? I'm just a girl who expects good service when I stay at a hotel. That's all." Somewhere in heaven, Monroe was smiling down.

Fab sucked gently on her lower lip for a few sec-onds, then let go. "How do you like us at Affair so far?"

"You're very what's the word accommodating ." She grinned at their inside joke, turning her head to throw a glance to the first set of stairs. Several flights up was her room and her bed. Soon to be their bed. Kiki started up.

But Fab stopped her. He shook his head. "I can't wait that long." His hands began to work fast on the hook, button, and zipper of his slacks.

There were manners to uphold, conventions to be followed, rules that a woman lived by if she wanted a man's true and total respect. Saying no to a stairwell blow job was certainly one of them. But those thoughts were for tomorrow or the next day. Any other time than right now.