A Santini's Heart (The Santinis Book 10) (7 page)

“Don’t start on me. It’s bad enough Mom played hardball tonight with Tia, but I know Dad suspected something when he showed up.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

Shit. He hadn’t meant to reveal that little tidbit. “Nothing.”

“Come on. Don’t make me call Dad.”

“He won’t tell you crap.”

“Oh, but Elena can get him to tell her anything.”

Dammit, that was true. Being the only girl in the family, Elena had a special connection with their father. He hated to use clichés, but his sister had their father wrapped around her finger. And if she really wanted to know something, there was a chance his father would tell her.

“So, you can let me know, or you can let me go through Elena. If Elena knows, so does everyone else.”

That was true. She had a pretty big mouth. Add in Dante, her twin, and her husband, JT, who was Anthony’s best friend, and it would make its way through the family. Hell, it would probably make it to the English side of the Santinis before he heard about it.

“Mom and Dad showed up for dinner. I forgot they were coming.”

“Please tell me you two were naked and there’s video of Mom’s reaction.”

“I don’t know why you don’t leave the Marines and start up a stand-up career. You’re so damned funny.”

“Come on.”

“We weren’t naked, but I didn’t have my shirt on. Because it was hot.”

There was silence.

“Shut up. I had it off before Tia showed up.”

“So, you were waiting for her.”

He didn’t respond to that. “Anyway, I know it was pretty obvious to Dad what had been going on.”

“And just what was that?”

He opened his mouth to blast his brother, but he heard his sister-in-law in the background.

“Who are you talking to?”

“Carlos,” Brando said.

There was a sound of a struggle, then his sister-in-law was on the phone. “Hey, Carlos.”

“Kaitlin. How are you feeling?”

“I’d feel better if my husband hadn’t been so danged loud and let me sleep. I will point out he insisted that I take this nap.”

“You can never trust him. Believe me.”

“Is he giving you problems?” she asked. Kaitlin understood brothers. She had five of them.

“No, I was not,” Brando said from the background.

Carlos smiled. “He was being mean to me.”

“Brando Santini. You should be ashamed of yourself. What was he being mean about?”

“He was needling me about my single status.”

“Now that you mention it, I do have a really good friend who should be back soon.”

“Let me guess, the blonde with brown eyes. The one who was your maid of honor?”

“Yes.”

He snorted. “Yeah, no. I don’t poach.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was under the impression that Aeden and your friend hooked up.”

“Hmm. Then, what about this Tia?”

Carlos heard his brother cackling in the background. Dammit.

“I thought you would be nicer.”

She laughed. “Don’t you know when women get married, they want everyone else to get married too?”

“So, we can all be miserable together.”

“Take that back or I’ll call your mom and tell her that you are looking to settle down.”

“Damn, you’re meaner than Brando.”

“I grew up with five heathens, who were always being mean to me. I had to play hard or go hide in my room.”

“So which brother was the worst?”

“Aeden. Definitely.” She sighed. “I’m famished, so I’m going to make your brother take me out to eat.”

“You take care of yourself and be sure to tell my brother if he screws up, I’m waiting in the wings.”

“Ha, you would be so lucky.”

“I would be. Bye.”

“Aloha,” she said with a giggle and the phone clicked off.

He laid in his bed thinking about his brother and his new wife. That baby on the way—not to mention, Dante was going to be a dad soon too. And for the first time in his life, he felt a twinge of envy. He wanted that…but he had a hard time picturing it. It had always been a vague idea of happiness.

Now, when thought of it, the picture was sharper and, for some reason, the woman in that goal resembled Tia.

Had he been in love with her all this time, or was this just a crush? Nope. It wasn’t that. It would be bigger, overwhelming. It was plain and simple attraction. They were both unattached adults with no reason to hold back other than the ranch.

With a sigh, he got up and decided to go down to do a little paperwork. Lord knew he wouldn’t get any sleep tonight, and he was getting sick of cold showers. Something was going to have to give, and give soon.

F
riday afternoon
, Carlos watched Tia walk from the barn. It had been a long week, not giving either of them a chance to talk about the situation. And that is the best word he could come up with at the moment.
Situation
. It sucked, but it was better than naming the lust that seemed to grab him by the balls from the moment he woke until he fell asleep at night.

If he were truthful, there had been many opportunities to talk about it, but Tia had avoided it and him as much as possible. He could handle that for a little bit. He wanted her to be damned sure that she wanted this with him. Of course, that did not mean he wasn’t going to use every minute he could to convince her to his side.

Her phone vibrated, or must have, since she pulled it out of her front pocket to answer. She continued walking. When she was close enough, he caught bits and pieces of her conversation.

“What makes you think it was deliberate? You know I go over a lot of unpaved areas out here.”

She was quiet for a moment while someone answered her on the other end of the phone. The way she rolled her eyes told him she wasn’t impressed with what was being said. Carlos wondered how many times she had that same reaction when talking to him on the phone.

“Okay. Well, can you get me another one? I like a full size spare on hand. Thanks.”

She hung up and then looked up at him. “What?”

“Was that about your tire?”

“Yeah. McNulty thinks it was deliberate, but I disagree.”

Of course she did. Tia always had her own opinions about things and, in her mind, she was always right.

“What made him think it was deliberate?”

“Small puncture on the side of the tire. So, he thinks it was done by someone, but I just don’t see it. You know I drive through fields around here, so you just never know what I am going to pick up. Truth is, other than the grocery store, I haven’t been out.”

“Gee, you have such an active social life.”

“Pot meet kettle,” she said with an
I don’t think it is anything to worry about though
look.”

He nodded, but he still didn’t like it. If he butted into her business like that, she would probably get upset; but there were ways of getting around that.

“And, if I find out you called McNulty behind my back, I
will
make you regret it.”

“Noted.” It didn’t mean he wouldn’t check it out though. He’d make sure McNulty didn’t tell Tia. “So, what are you doing tonight?”

“Going home, then going to bed. I have a day of shopping ahead of me.”

“Hmm.”

Then, without giving her any warning, he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. He’d learned the only way to get a chance for a kiss from Tia was to be quick and sneaky.

He kissed her hard and fast, delving into her mouth. It had been difficult keeping his hands off her the last few days, but he had promised to give her space. Yet, just that little taste had his baser instincts clawing to be let loose. Because of that, he slowly released her. Her irritated moan was music to his ears.

She opened her eyes, and he saw that she was as dazed as he was. His blood was humming, and there was a good chance the imprint of his zipper would be on his dick. The woman was killing him.

“What was that for?”

“For a little while.”

She shook her head and turned to leave, but he caught her hand.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you come by tomorrow when you’re done?”

She frowned as she thought about it. He didn’t know if she was annoyed and trying to get out of it, or if she was annoyed because she wanted to see him as much as he wanted to see her. He was hoping for the latter.

“I’ll let you know.”

He pushed back the frustration. He had only just realized how much he wanted her—and that she wanted him too—less than a week ago. Remembering that he told her he would be patient, or try to at least, didn’t quench the hunger he had for her.

“Come on, Tia, I promise not to bite. Well, not that it would really hurt, and you like that kind of thing.”

Her mouth twitched. “No. I just don’t know how long it is going to take tomorrow, and I really want to make sure I am in the right mood.”

She did have her moods, and he had been the subject of many of the bad ones.

“Okay. But if I don’t hear from you by six, I’ll be calling you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

She walked off to her truck, and he watched her as she did. He realized at that moment how many times he had done just this. That it gave him comfort. It was part of the ritual for the end of the day. It wasn’t until that moment that he understood how essential it was to his routine. Carlos wasn’t too sure that either one of them were ready for that to be voiced out loud though. Saying it in the open would make it too real.

“Be careful,” he said before he could help himself.

She glanced back over her shoulder. The smile she shot him had his blood heating. That was expected. What he didn’t prepare for was the way his heart melted at the sight.

“I always am.”

Then, she climbed into her truck and headed off. Carlos knew that parting shot was about more than her drive home. He didn’t blame her for that, but it wasn’t going to make her night any easier.

It also meant he was heading to taking another damned cold shower.

* * *

T
he next morning
, Tia was already late when she hurried out her front door. Carlos had told tales of his mother, and Tia didn’t want to get on her bad side.

She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, so when she ran into something large and human, she gasped. When she looked up, she realized it was Chet Miller, an old friend of her brother’s.

“Hey, Chet. How are you doing?” she asked.

“I thought we could have a little chat.”

She sighed. “Sorry. I’m meeting a...friend in Tucson. And I’m already late.”

“Um, how about dinner next Saturday? And don’t tell me you can’t because of work.”

He gave her what she was sure he thought of as his best smile. She frowned. It irritated her that he seemed to think she should drop everything to spend time with him. Men like Chet always thought anything else could wait until they got the attention they wanted. She’d known Chet for most of her life, but there had never been any spark of attraction between them. He was her brother’s friend. Rich, and most women would say attractive. He was fair-haired with blue eyes, and he had an affinity for bathing himself in cologne. It was enough to wake up the dead.

“Actually, next weekend is the benefit. You’re coming, right?”

For a second, he said nothing, then recognition must have hit him. “Oh, yeah. Yes, I plan on being there.”

“Great. Actually, that’s why I need to get going now. Meeting a friend to look at dresses, since apparently I’m not allowed to wear my boots and jeans.”

He hesitated, and she knew he wanted to talk about something.

“Is anything wrong that can’t wait?”

“Just a question I had about the land.”

That made her stop her progression towards the truck. There was something off about his tone. She turned to face him.

“What are you talking about?”

“You know when Adrian wanted to start the ranch, he asked for money.”

“Yes, and if I remember correctly, you turned him down, as did a few of his other friends.” Adrian had shrugged it off, but it had pissed Tia off to no end. These were his oldest friends who always liked to talk about how their friend was a Marine. It was like they thought it made them sound more patriotic, even though none of them had ever thought of serving. However, when Adrian had asked for an investment to start the ranch, they had all turned him down. Worse, they had avoided him afterwards.

“I always felt bad about that.”

She really didn’t have time for this. The seconds were ticking down, and she was sure she’d have to explain herself to Mrs. Santini by the time she got there. That was not a position she wanted to be in.

“Noted. I really don’t have time for this though.”

“Sure. Just...” he sighed.

Good lord, how did women find him attractive? She knew Chet’s reputation. He always had his pick of women. When they were in school, he had always dated the most popular girls, and he had often won all those silly titles like Prom King. All this time spent waiting for him to grow a set of balls, so he could ask her something, was annoying. Maybe women liked men who couldn’t make decisions? That was probably why she didn’t have many girlfriends.

It was already getting hot, and it was unusually muggy. A bead of sweat rolled down her back while she had to wait on Mr. Wonderful to gather the courage to talk to her. She didn’t have time for this crap this morning, and especially not on one cup of coffee.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Hey, why don’t I take you to the benefit?”

She blinked again. “What?”

A look of irritation passed over his face a moment before it quickly dissolved into another smarmy smile. “The benefit. I can take you.”

“Like a date?”

His face flushed, and she realized she had sounded put off by the notion of going on a date with him.

“I’m sorry. What I meant was that I’ll be there so early. We have a lot we have to do before it happens. We’re actually going to be staying at the resort where we are holding the benefit.”

“Oh, okay.”

“But, hey, hunt me up and we’ll have a drink together.”

An expression of irritation dissolved into smooth acceptance. One thing about Chet was he knew how to play the game. It was why he was in real estate and why he was so good at it.

“That sounds like a grand idea. See you then, Tia.”

She nodded and headed to her truck. She pulled out her phone and saw the time.

“Dammit.”

When she opened the door and hopped up into her truck, heat surrounded her and raised her own body temperature. If she made it into Tucson without melting, it would be a miracle. At least then she would be spared the wrath of Mrs. Santini.

After turning the air on high, she put the truck in gear and backed out of her driveway. As she went down the road, she looked in her review mirror and saw Chet watching her as she drove away.

This was definitely a weird day. Chet asked her for a date, and she was going shopping for a dress with Mrs. Santini.

* * *

C
arlos rinsed
out his cereal bowl and looked out the window. It was a habit he’d fallen into the last year. Eat breakfast, drink coffee, and look for Tia.

Just as he thought the night before, it was a pattern, one that he found comforting. It was odd how fast he had fallen into patterns. And how strange it felt to be in the house and on the ranch without her. Of course, there had been times when she hadn’t been there. Last year, she’d had the stomach flu, and he had ordered her home after she had thrown up on his boots.

In the past week, he had been able to steal three more kisses. He would never do it during work hours. Tia was a woman with a lot of pride, and he would never dishonor her by doing that where a client would see them. Tia wasn’t trying to play hard to get. One of the things he liked about her was that she was straightforward. A person always knew where he or she stood with Tia. She wanted to be sure. He could understand that. Although, it didn’t make waiting easier.

He saw the cloud of dust that told him someone was coming down his lane. He glanced at his watch, and realized his first tour was supposed to start in five minutes. With one last large gulp, he finished off his coffee and headed to the front door. He had work to do before he could moon over Tia.