Heaven and Hell (16 page)

I looked at Luci and griped by using
universal female griping language, “Ohmigod!”

Luci smiled at me.

“You still haven’t left,” Sam prompted
Luci.

“All right, all right,” she mumbled,
flicking her hand, turning and gliding like the catwalk model she
used to be to the door. “See you at breakfast.”

“Close the door,” Sam ordered.

She closed the door.

I turned my head to look at him in order to
say something to him about being rude but I didn’t finish turning
my head and got nowhere near saying anything because I found myself
on my back, Sam’s solid, heavy torso pressed to mine and his face
an inch away.

“Sam,” I breathed, suddenly not feeling
snippy but remembering our kiss, not the first one that was crap,
the second one that was
everything.

“Today, I show you Lake Como even though I
don’t know fuck all about Lake Como; I do know how to drive a boat.
Tonight, no parties, no friends, no nothing. You, me, dinner. Later
tonight, just you and me. You with me?”

“I’m with you,” I whispered, and I was with
him.
So
with him.

His face got even closer and his voice got
that sweeter, deeper rough-like-velvet I liked so much when he said
gently, “Baby, when I say just you and me, I need you to get I mean
just you and me.
Now, do you get me?”

“I get you.” This time it was a whisper that
sounded a lot like a wheeze because I got him. I
so
got that
I was going to
get
him.

His eyes held mine then I watched with a
deep fascination that affected me systematically when they heated
and he whispered, “You taste even better than you look and you’re
unbelievably fuckin’ beautiful. Christ,” his head dipped so close I
felt his breath on my lips as his blazing eyes burned into mine, “I
can’t fuckin’ wait to taste the rest of you.”

Oh man.

Oh God

Oh
man.

I couldn’t either.

While I concentrated on breathing and not
doing anything stupid like pushing him off, running to the door,
locking it, ripping my expensive dress off and then launching
myself across the room at him, he twisted us again so he was seated
and I was in his lap.

Then, his hand gliding up my neck into my
hair, he turned my head to look at him and he ordered, “Give me
your room key and tell me what you need. I’ll pick it up.”

This threw me and it mostly threw me because
what I needed included panties and I might have just gone at it hot
and heavy with Sam, not to mention slept in his arms, not to
mention spent hours yammering on telling him my deepest secrets and
my not-so-deepest secrets but I wasn’t ready for him to see my
panties.

Still, I needed them and, if I was correct,
to save myself from the nightmare that would end in me vowing never
to eat again that I knew would be me trying on any of Luciana’s
clothes; I needed an entire outfit.

“Kia, baby,” Sam called into my frenzied
thoughts and I focused on him.

Then I mumbled, “Um…”

To which he grinned, his hand left my hair
so both arms could give me a squeeze and he proved yet again that
he could totally figure me out.

I knew this when he whispered, “In case you
didn’t get me when you told me you got me, honey, just you and me
means I’m gonna be in your pants tonight before I take them off so,
right now, get over what’s polluting your head, tell me what you
need so I can get to the hotel, get it, get back and get your fine
ass on a boat and far away from a now up in
both
our
business Luci.”

I stared at him. Then I forced myself to
think about this. Then I made some decisions. Then I told him.

When I was done telling him, he stared at
me.

Then he burst out laughing.

I was perplexed as I watched him and when he
stopped I asked, “What?”

“You need all that to go on a boat?”

I tipped my head to the side not thinking
“all that” was all that.

“Well, yes.”

He grinned, then he stood at the same time
he slid me off his lap and put me on my feet but he didn’t take his
arms from around me and, looking down at me, he muttered, “I’m
gonna brush my teeth. You’re gonna find Luci to get a paper and pen
and write me a list.”

“Sam, it isn’t that much.”

“Baby, I need underwear, jeans, a shirt,
shoes and deodorant. I’ve got a good memory but lost track when
your list became five times that.” His arms gave me a squeeze.
“Find Luci. Paper. Pen. List.”

“I’m not high maintenance,” I informed him
quickly. “All women would need at least that.”

“Not true. You
are
high maintenance
and before you twist that to pollute your head, I don’t care about
that either. I like it. I get to best the challenge then enjoy the
benefits. But, right now, to move us on, what I need is a
list.
Yeah?”

I studied his face thinking that it appeared
Sam Cooper could get grumpy.

So I felt my best course of action was to
agree with a, “Yeah.”

He grinned. Then he dipped his head. Then he
touched his mouth to mine.

Seriously sweet.

Then he lifted his head, turned me out of
his arms and gently pushed me toward the door.

I accepted the prompt and kept moving but I
looked back to see him bent at the waist, his long arm stretched to
the toothbrushes, one of his hands in the bed.

God, I was a freak because I thought he
looked hot even reaching for a toothbrush.

Then I thought it prudent to look where I
was going so I didn’t run into the door.

I was leaving the room but eventually coming
back to him.

I was coming back to him.

On that thought, I left the room.

And I did it smiling.

God Granted You More Talents

I was sitting at Luci’s kickass wrought iron
table outside on her terrace, my heels to the seat, my knees to my
chest, sipping a cup of coffee while wearing her bright orange silk
robe with huge even brighter scarlet red flowers on it that she let
me borrow when she brought me a bunch of stuff so I could
shower.

Upon seeing it, I told her it was totally
awesome and she told me she bought it not far away and promised
we’d go there before I left so we could pick one up for me.

“They have one exactly the same but this
enchanting purple with a splash of vibrant pink flowers,
cara
mia,
that would be
perfect
for you.”

I agreed instantly, wondering what Luci
would consider was an “enchanting purple” that was “
perfect
for me”, completely forgetting my vow to quit blowing my admittedly
large but shrinking by the day cash stash on stupid stuff and
telling myself everyone needed a good robe.

Still, I knew by the feel of it that robe
was expensive so I didn’t figure everyone needed
that
good
of a robe.

But… whatever.

One more splurge.

Nothing wrong with that.

Right?

My hair was wet and combed back, I’d
consumed a bowl of fruit and two pieces of toast that was more
delicious than any toast I’d ever had except in Paris. My
experience was that Europeans didn’t mess around with bread, no
doubt about it. I didn’t know what it was but their bread
rocked
. What made it better was that the toast was spread
with Nutella which meant I went from really liking Luci to
seriously liking her considering her breakfast included
Nutella.

She’d gone to turn on her laptop so I could
pull up my webmail and I’d moved to studying a view I knew I’d
never find anything less than amazing.

I was thinking that it was weird and cool
she had a party last night that included loads of people, food,
drink, red-coated valets and white-coated waiters but today her
house (or what I’d seen of it on my way to the table) was
completely tidy and sparkling clean, not a glass half full of
champagne or a stray cocktail napkin in sight. It was like
magic.

I was also thinking that last night, I’d
laid it out for Sam and, right then, he was picking up my stuff so
we could spend the day then the evening then the night
together.

Which meant I wasn’t just studying the
view.

I was studying the view smiling.

Yes, again.

I heard Luci speaking in Italian and I
twisted my head in surprise to see her approaching, a cell to her
ear, and I was surprised because she’d walked away not a minute
ago.

And she didn’t have her laptop with her.

She stopped by my side, said something, then
said, “
Ciao,
” then took the phone from her ear, extended it
to me, I noticed she had the same phone as me right before she
said, “I heard it ringing as I was walking by,
cara,
your
bag is in the other room. I answered it. It’s a lady called
Celeste?”

Suddenly, my cell phone morphed into the
head of ferocious, snapping wolf with rabies though I didn’t know
if wolves could get rabies but my phone wolf had them.

Definitely.

“Kia?” Luci prompted on a shake of my
phone.

Oh man. Here we go. Celeste was probably
curious about how my date went.

Now it was nine thirty in the morning after
I slept in my fabulous gown
and
my fabulous shoes
with
a man I had practically just met, something Celeste was
way too cool, chic and sophisticated to ever,
ever
do.

I reached out, took the phone, whispered,
“Thanks, Luci,” then hesitantly put it to my ear and said softly,
“Hey, Celeste.”

“Well?” was her reply.

I blinked at my knees.

“Sorry?” I asked.

“Well? The woman I just spoke to told me she
was Luciana Gordon. The Luciana, I assume, whose party you told me
you were going to last night?”

Oh
man.

“Celeste, um… well…” God! “Honey, last
night, I had a bit too much to drink.”

“Excellent.”

I blinked again.

Then I repeated, “Sorry?”

“
Ma chérie,
you were tense, champagne
is excellent at relieving stress. This is good.”

“Okay, well…” Shit! “Maybe I should have
said I had
way
too much to drink.”

Silence then, “And how is that, Kia?”

I sucked in breath.

I didn’t want to tell her this and I
really
didn’t want to tell her this with a Luci who had not
gone back to get her computer but instead settled herself in the
chair by me at the table and was currently pouring herself a cup of
coffee and therefore also was going to stay awhile. I couldn’t get
up and wander away because I figured that would be rude, maybe not
as rude as Luci’s obvious eavesdropping, but still rude.

So I had no choice.

And that was why I glued my eyes to my knees
and whispered, “I… something happened and, I couldn’t help it. See,
um…” I rushed the rest out. “I didn’t tell you this but I’m a widow
and my husband was abusive and last night, like, ten minutes after
we got here, something happened and then Sam wanted my attention so
he got it and he was kind of physical doing it and I, well… I
freaked out, exposed my secrets because I kind of couldn’t, um…
not
react. And he, well, then
he
freaked out in his,
uh… Sam way because he freaked
me
out. He was really upset
and then he promised me he’d never hurt me and shared about his
life and when I told him I couldn’t trust him not to hurt me that
was when he promised me he’d make me believe he’d never hurt me
then he spent the rest of the night being really nice and he was
all, well…
Sam
being a gentleman and making sure I wasn’t
left out of conversations and stuff like that so, I, well, I kind
of haven’t told you this but I’m wealthy but, I’m, you know,
new
to being wealthy and I was just a normal person before
and will eventually not be on vacation, I’ll go home and be normal
again and I got kind of drunk and felt Sam needed to know I was
not, you know, like him and so I told him I wasn’t and he told me
he didn’t care but it was more than him not caring, he told me he
was like me and told me I was not the fraud I was trying to
convince him I was and I was just me then we spent the night
talking about family and friends while lying in bed, I fell asleep
in his arms and today he’s taking me out on a boat and showing me
Lake Como.”

I finally shut up then I sucked in breath,
continued to ignore the completely unmoving Luci and I waited.

Celeste didn’t speak.

Shit.

“Celeste?” I called softly.

Nothing.

I kept trying. “Are you disappointed in me
that I… well, didn’t take your advice, especially when you were so
kind, and that I, you know, kept from you I’m normal?”

That was when she spoke.

And this was what she said.

“
Ma chérie,
you are many things and
one of them is not normal.”

I blinked at my knees again, not sure if
this was good or bad.

She kept talking.

And she was doing it quietly.

“Thomas and I, we had a daughter.”

She said “had”.

Oh God.

Oh no.

Oh
shit.

“Celeste,” I whispered.

“We lost her when she was twelve. She had
leukemia. That was four years ago.”

Oh
God.

Oh
no.

Oh shit!

“Honey.” I was still whispering.

“She was blonde with green eyes.”

I closed my eyes which were green but still
felt them fill with tears.

“Her name was Clémence.”

OhGodohnoohshit!

Celeste kept speaking quietly.

“I know you are not her. I know this. But
that does not mean the last three days I have not enjoyed thinking
that, if Clémence was still with us, grown up, grown beautiful and
off on some adventure and she found herself where your mother
lives, your mother would see her and think that she reminded her of
you, take to her and share with her like I have with you, giving
her something more than she would have found on her own, a gift, a
treasure, what I hope I’ve given you.”