Summer Kisses (48 page)

This desire was a looming, living thing. Its heart beat right alongside hers. She needed it, wanted it, already loved it, and had to have it. But it wasn’t hers. She’d been here less than a week and wanted it all. That was the story of her life. She wanted it all.

There was a light knocking at her bedroom door.

“Are you okay?” Will’s voice was muffled by the door.

No, she wasn’t okay. She needed some kids, a husband, a dog, a picket fence, some sex, maybe some tequila, and probably some Prozac. “I’m fine.”

Slowly, the knob turned. Crap, she hadn’t locked the damn door. No one saw her cry … ever. Tears were private. She mopped her face and thanked Jesus the lights were off.

The door swung open. “Can I come in?”

“Aren’t you already in?” Until her voice was no longer shaky, she was determined to answer a question with a question.

“You’re crying.” He sat on the edge of the bed farthest from her and crossed his arms.

Damn, she wasn’t prepared for statements. “No, I’m not.”

He cocked his head to the left in a yeah-right gesture. “Your face is wet, your nose is running, and your eyes are swollen. And I heard you crying. I was on my way to the kitchen for a snack.”

“I stubbed my right toe and it really hurts.” She sat up, threw back the covers, and dramatically grabbed her foot. “Ouch.”

Will walked to the bedside lamp and felt around until he found the switch. “Let me see.”

Sweet Jesus. Will wore only thin, navy cotton gym shorts. His chest was bare, and he’d been working out. As her gaze traveled downward, sculpted pecs turned into washboard abs and a flat tummy. Just enough dark brown hair peppered his chest to make it masculine.

“You’ve been working out.” With the edge of the sheet, she swiped at the corners of her mouth in case some drool leaked out.

He patted his stomach. “Healthy eating, clean living, and two hours a day of cardio.”

“Right.” She was pretty sure that made sense.

“How about that foot?”

“It’s much better now.” She reached for the light switch and caught him staring at her chest. This was a nice development. She leaned back on her elbows, thrusting her chest out, and extended her left foot. Turnabout was fair play; she’d looked her fill, and now it was his turn.

Will’s gaze lingered on her breasts, moved down her shirt, taking in her short sleep shorts, and traveled down her legs.

“I thought…” His voice cracked so he cleared his throat. “I thought you said it was the right foot.”

She’d extended her left. Oops. “I meant the right toe on my left foot.” She folded her legs under her. “It’s better now.”

He sat down again as far away from her as he could. In the distance, thunder crackled, and the first drops of rain splatted against the window. Lighting blinked gray-blue through the blinds.

“Are you going to tell me the truth?” His hands were on his knees, and he stared down at them.

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“I know you miss Ricky and being here brings back all the memories, but—”

She laugh-snorted. “Sorry.”

Ricky hadn’t brought tears to her eyes, Will had. She laugh-snorted again. For some reason, it was funny. The more she laughed, the funnier it seemed.

“Do I get to find out what’s so funny?”

She wiped her eyes. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell you what’s so funny if you tell me why you turned your head away when I tried to kiss you.”

His brows scrunched together. “You kissed me on the cheek.”

“I was aiming for your lips, but you turned away. Then you come in here and stare at my breasts. You’re a tease.” She leaned back on her elbows again and thrust out her breasts. His eyes found her targets.

He turned to her and propped one leg up on the bed. “Why don’t you come over here and try it again?”

Thunder shook the walls, and sheets of rain cocooned them in.

“No, sir, you come here. I already made my move, it’s your turn.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed once … twice, and then he inched his way over to her. “You’re not wearing a bra.”

“If it bothers you, I can turn off the light.” She reached out, but he captured her hand and placed a kiss in the center of her palm.

His warm breath against her hand sent a quiver down her spine.

“If I had my way, you’d be naked.”

“Wow, that was cheesy. I can practically hear the pow-chicka-pow-pow music in the background.” She noticed that he was looking down her shirt.

“Are you always this chatty during sex?”

Lucky looked around. “Are we having sex? So far, the only part of my body you’ve kissed is my hand. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good kiss, if you’re in Victorian England.” In her best English accent, she said, “Shall I dash off a quick note asking you over for tea and crumpets? Would tomorrow be convenient? I can have my coachman deliver it to your butler—”

He cut her off with a kiss. His lips were soft and demanding while his hands gently cupped her face. As he leaned into her, his tongue flirted with her lips and finally darted past them to explore her mouth. She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him down on top of her. He kissed his way down her throat and eased one strap of her tank top over her shoulder and down her arm. He wanted access to her, and he wasn’t asking, and she aimed to give him an all-access backstage pass.

Thunder roared all around them, and lightning tore through the blinds.

His mouth found her nipple and licked at it through the thin cotton of her sleep shirt. “I can’t believe I finally get to have you.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. His hand covered her other breast, and she rocked her hips against him. Her hands fisted in his hair, and she urged him lower. Will kissed his way down to the top of her shorts and licked at the waistband.

Suddenly he froze and then sat up. “Is that knocking?”

Lucky opened her eyes and looked around. “I don’t hear anything.”

She ran a hand up his chest and made to pull his mouth back to her when the pounding started. It wasn’t the rain but the door.

“Wow.” Fists smacked against the door. “Wow.”

It was Dawnie. They both jumped up and sprinted to the door. Please God, don’t let there be anything wrong.

“What’s wrong?” Will was breathing as hard as she was.

Dawnie, wearing a pink Barbie nightgown, had her two sacks of Barbies looped around her forearms and Cuddles tucked into the crook of her arm. “Me and the Barbies and Cuddles are scared. We don’t like funder. Can we sleep with you?” She shot them her best poor-pitiful-me look. “Please?”

“Sure, honey.” Lucky nodded. She took the sacks of Barbies and moved aside so Dawnie could come inside.

“Thunder? Really?” Will wasn’t buying it. “It stormed last week, and you slept right through.”

Dawnie amped up the sad-puppy eyes and added, “I’m cold.”

If Lucky’s arms hadn’t been full of Barbies, she’d have scooped Dawnie up.

“Can I have some hot chocolate?” Dawnie fake-shivered for effect.

Lucky knew she was getting played, but she didn’t care. This sweet little girl wanted hot chocolate, and she’d get it. “Sure, and I bet I can scare up a cookie or two.”

“I don’t think it’s wise to hype her up on sugar this late.” Will crossed his arms and glanced at Dawnie. “It’s funny. You’ve never been scared of thunder before.”

Dawnie coughed dramatically. “My throat hurts.”

“And the Oscar goes to … Dawnie Garza.” Will shook his head.

“Who’s Oscar?” Dawnie took a break from her dramatic interpretation of a cold, sick, scared child.

“Nobody.” Lucky dropped the Barbie bags on the coffee table and took Dawnie’s arm, leading her out the door. They walked down the stairs, through the house, and finally to the kitchen. “Let’s see what we can find in the cabinets.” She opened the first one. “Protein bars?”

She cocked her head and looked at Will. “Really?”

“What? They’re good for you.” He patted his tight stomach. “Healthy eating is my life.”

Lucky mouthed, “I hate you.”

He blew her a kiss.

She rolled her eyes and opened the next cabinet. It held only protein powder and Powerade Zero. The man couldn’t even drink sports drinks with sugar. “Nothing here.”

Without much hope, she tried the pantry. Two boxes of mac and cheese, one sad bag of banana chips, and three cans of coconut milk stood between them and starvation. She picked up the coconut milk and then put it back. Starvation was starting to look pretty good. Tomorrow, she was going grocery shopping for some real food.

She went to the fridge and opened it. “Skim milk.” She turned to Will. “What is wrong with you?”

He hunched his shoulders. “It’s good.”

Lucky squatted in front of Dawnie. “Uncle Will’s a little crazy. We’re going to have to improvise.”

Her little brow scrunched up. “What does that mean?”

“Make do,” Will said absently to Dawnie and smiled at Lucky.

“Huh? Why don’t you just—”

“I can’t wait to see how you produce hot chocolate out of thin air.” Will winked at Lucky while putting his hand on Dawnie’s shoulder.

“Ye of little faith. Warm up three mugs of that almost-milk and watch the magic.” Lucky stepped around him and grabbed her purse off the kitchen table. She always had some chocolate in there. She upended her prized Prada, spilling the contents on the table. After sifting through the mountain of junk that she felt necessary to haul around, she finally found three Hershey’s kisses and two mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. “Hot chocolate coming up.”

“But the box…” Dawnie’s voice faded after Will kicked her under the table.

The only hot chocolate Lucky had ever made involved ripping open a pouch, pouring the contents into some hot milk, and stirring until it was chocolaty and wonderful. How hard could it be to dissolve chocolate into some milk? That’s how they made hot chocolate in Europe. That was it—she was making European hot chocolate.

“You’re in for a treat.” This would be the best hot chocolate the world had ever seen. Sure, she’d had issues with the mac and cheese, but hey, she’d drunk more than her fair share of hot chocolate.

Will took Cuddles and tucked the puppy in the crook of his arm. She snuggled close and fell asleep.

“She likes you.” Dawn smiled at Will.

Once the microwave dinged, Lucky pulled the mugs out one by one. Plumes of steam rose and filled the kitchen with a slight buttery smell. Unwrapping the candies, she dropped one kiss in each mug and mashed up the peanut butter cups and added them too. After some vigorous stirring, the milk turned an off-white color, and chunks of chocolate and gritty peanut butter floated to the top. She stirred some more. Nothing happened, so she put all the mugs back into the microwave to melt the chocolate. After thirty seconds, the chocolate melted, but the cocoa didn’t look right. It was thin and a beigey-orange. Opening the cabinet with the protein powder, she grabbed a can of chocolate, added a full scoop to each mug, and stirred. The color was right, but now it was gritty because not all the powder dissolved.

“Need some help?” Will called from the table.

“Nope, everything’s under control. Prepare yourself for the best hot chocolate of your life.” She stirred for all she was worth. It was still gritty. Deciding to let the cocoa rest in the hopes that all those gritty little particles would settle to the bottom, she headed back to the table, sifted through the pile of purse junk, and came up with a battered pack of Oreo cookies. Money might be tight, but brand-name Oreos were a necessity.

She arranged them on a plate and glanced at the cocoa. Clumps of powder floated on top like leaves in a pond. She plunked an Oreo in each mug, hoping it would hide the glops of protein powder.

“Here you go.” Sliding her fingers through the loops of the mugs, she carried all three with one hand and the plate of cookies with the other. She set the cookies and the mugs on the coffee table. “Enjoy.”

As if he were handling toxic waste, Will carefully picked up the mug and examined the cocoa. Dawnie did the same.

Lucky waited to see if he liked it.

Will and Dawnie shared a look, and both nodded their heads.

“It’s good. A little crunchy, but good.” Dawnie made a loud
mmmm
sound. “It’s so good. Tastes like peanut butter.”

“Don’t oversell it,” Will whispered loudly.

Lucky wasn’t sure what that meant, but she took her own mug and sipped. She gagged and spit it out. “That’s nasty.”

Both Will and Dawnie grinned.

Lucky set the mug down. “How much did he pay you to drink it?”

“Ten bucks.” Dawnie put her cup down. “I’m supposed to drink it all and tell you how wonderful it is.”

Lucky leaned over and kissed Will full on the mouth. “That was nice of you.”

“I don’t remember cooking being one of your gifts.” He draped his arm around her.

“I have many talents.” She squeezed his knee.

“I’m counting on it.” Will’s gaze landed on Lucky’s chest.

“How come you kissed Uncle Will on the mouth?” Dawnie nailed her with shrewd eyes. “Are you gonna marry Uncle Will? ’Cause you should only kiss people you love on the lips.” She pointed to Lucky. “Only the doctor or your mommy or your husband should see or touch your private lady parts.”

Will’s shoulders shook with laughter.

“Thanks for the tip.” Lucky took a cookie. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“No problem.” Dawnie pried apart the Oreo and licked the cream. “So, can I sleep with you?”

Thunder rattled the windows. Even God couldn’t resist this sweet child.

“Of course. You and the Barbies and Cuddles are welcome to spend the night too.” She gathered up the dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen.

Dawnie wiped her mouth with the bottom of her nightgown. “Usually, when I beg for hot chocolate, Uncle Will makes the mix kind he keeps in the cabinet above the refrigerator.” Dawnie straightened her nightgown. “I’m gonna go brush my teeth.”

Lucky glared at Will, who smiled in return.

Dawnie dug in one of the Barbie bags until she found Barbie Fashionista, and they went to the bathroom. Cuddles lumbered along after her, tail waggling a mile a minute.

“You have cocoa mix?” Lucky punched him lightly in the arm. “Why didn’t you pull it out?”