The Santini Collection 1-4 (38 page)

“
Why do we need to talk about it? Let’s just let it go, pretend it never happened. Like you have for over fifteen years.”

“
What?” It was a stupid question for him to ask because he knew. When she had told him she had no choice than to marry Mike, he had walked away.

“
I think it’s best to forget it again.”

Forget it? Is that what she did? She had no idea that he had compared every woman to her. They had never made love, but he remembered the feel of her mouth beneath his, the way she clutched at the lapels of his tux, and the scent of jasmine that surrounded them.

He took a step closer until he was only a few inches away. He could smell it now, that intoxicating scent. It was on her skin. He could imagine lying in bed, having it on his sheets.

He gently cupped her face. “I never forgot. I wanted to, but I never could do it. Now…I refuse. I won’t push you tonight, but I don’t plan on ignoring this. I’ve always wanted you, from the moment you hit me with that damned locker door.”

He settled his free hand on the door behind her and leaned closer. Without closing his eyes, he brushed his mouth gently over hers. He watched the flare of arousal darken her eyes before her eyelids slowly shut. He lost himself in her.

Vince slipped his tongue inside her mouth and drew her closer. She shuddered against him. He slipped the tie of her robe loose and slid his hand up to her breast. He brushed his thumb over her nipple and it hardened. He deepened the kiss and pressed against her. Vince knew without a doubt that she could feel his arousal. She moaned against his tongue and he felt his control slipping. He wanted—needed—her now. Right now. But he knew if he pushed her tonight, it wouldn’t be good. With regret, he pulled back.

“
I have to go now, or I won’t make it out the door. I just want you to know that I will be back.”

She opened her mouth, probably to argue, but he settled his fingers on her mouth.

“
No. Don’t. I’ll give you time, Jules, but I won’t give up.”

She sighed and nodded. He dropped his hand.

“
Why not come to brunch tomorrow?”

She shook her head. “No. Tomorrow will be busy at work. With spring approaching, its kind of crazy at the shop.”

He nodded. They both needed space. “Okay. How about dinner Monday night?”

She chuckled. “Not waiting this time, Santini?”

He gave her a quick hard kiss. “Nope. So how about it?”

She sighed. “Can you call me tomorrow and get my answer?”

“
Playing games?” he asked.

Jules shook her head. “No. I want to make sure I don’t let my hormones get in the way.”

“
Okay.” He kissed her nose. “Sleep tight, Jules.”

She slipped out of the way and opened the door.

“
Night, Vince.”

It took all of his control to walk out of that door. He waited until she closed it and locked it before walking down the steps to his car.

He was on his way home when he realized what he’d just started. When it came to Jules, he never seemed to have any control. A guy just didn’t kiss his best friend’s fiancé the morning of their wedding if he had control.

He sighed as he turned onto Highway 1. Vince knew that if he started something up with Jules it wasn’t an affair. She was the one woman he had always loved and getting tangled up with her would be serious. Get married and have kids kind of serious.

Vince waited for the panic to set in. It always hit him about this time when he thought of marriage, but it didn’t. Instead, a feeling of rightness settled in his gut. He wanted Jules. He wanted her forever.

He sighed. Now, he had to figure out a way to convince Jules.

Chapter Five

Jules was helping Mrs. Markinson pick out some annual flowers when she felt the fine hairs stir on the back of her neck. She looked out over the hundreds of flowers filling the greenhouse and saw Vince Santini pretending to shop. She wanted to be irritated because she wasn’t too sure how she felt about the kiss or last night. She didn’t like pushy men, and that was one thing Vince was. Well, he was in a way. When they’d been in high school, he’d been a bit of a nerdy jock…and so sweet.

“
Jules, dear, did you hear me? I said, I’ll take another flat of marigolds.”

She shook herself back to the present. “Of course, I’m sorry, Mrs. Markinson.”

She helped the retired schoolteacher to the check out then went in search of Vince. She found him in the fountains. God, why was he here? He had apparently stopped by the shop without going home after brunch. He was wearing a polo shirt tucked into a pair of casual dress pants.

He must have felt her watching him because he asked, “Why would someone want one of these in their yard?”

“
It brings birds to the yard that will eat bugs, adds another level of decoration to your garden, and flowing water helps reduce outside noise.”

He looked at her then back at the fountain. “No, why would someone want a naked little boy in their yard?”

She looked at the fountain and laughed. It was one of the Cupid fountains. “That’s Cupid. He’s not a little boy. Considering the stories your mother has told me about you, you should not be judgmental. Oh, and don’t forget
The River Incident
.”

He looked out of the side of his eye at her. “I can’t believe you told the women that story.”

She raised one eyebrow and crossed her arms. “The women?”

“
They’re now a group. A scary group.”

She laughed. “Your father always said there was nothing that scared a Santini man more than his woman.”

“
I hope you didn’t tell Mom that.”

“
No. What are you doing here?”

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I was driving by and thought I would stop.”

“
Ah.” She looked at the fountain again. “So, you’re not here to buy things for your garden. Your mother said it needed a lot of work.”

He rolled his eyes. “That woman. She’s been after me since I moved in last fall.”

“
It will add value to your house.”

He smiled. “Indeed?”

“
Yes. If you’re just here to flirt with me, I don’t have time. Plus, you kind of suck at it. I mean, asking me about fountains? Really, I expected more out of a Santini.”

At first, he looked stunned, then slowly, his mouth curved.

Oh, my
. Her heart did a little jig and she had to draw in a deep breath to calm it.

“
Is that so?”

“
Yes.”

“
So what do you expect me to do about it?” he asked.

His voice had deepened and brushed over her nerve endings. Heat threaded through her blood. Oh, this was not good. He was just smiling at her and she was losing control. The man was lethal to a girl’s libido.

“
Well,” she said inching closer. “What do you want?”

For a second, he only stared at her. Then he swallowed.

“
What do you mean?” he asked, his voice a little deeper, and God, it sounded good. She could just imagine hearing him whisper in her ear as he woke her up in the morning.

Damn.

“
Well, do you want something that lasts just a little while or are you looking for something longer?”

His eyes widened and then darkened. “Huh?”

She crossed her arms. “Do you want annuals or perennials?”

For a moment or two, he said nothing. Then, he threw back his head and laughed.

“
I forgot what a warped sense of humor you have.”

And Vince had always appreciated it. Mike never had. Now that she looked back, she realized it was probably because Mike didn’t get her jokes. Vince always did.

“
Hey, it’s hard not to be warped when you’re raised in the military, right?”

He continued to smile at her and she felt her heart bump up against her chest. Oh, lordy, not good.

“
Maybe you should come by and look at the mess of a yard I have, then you can help me pick what I need.”

“
You’re serious?” she asked.

“
Yeah. Mom’s right but I don’t know where to start and I trust you not to make it look too flowery.”

She laughed. “Trust a Santini to make that kind of statement.”

“
What?”

“
You’re asking me to come by and decide on flowers, but don’t want it to be too flowery.”

“
You still didn’t answer my question.”

She sighed. “Okay. When do you want me to come over?”

“
How about tonight?”

“
Hmmm. I have a lot—”

“
I can close up,” Angela said from behind her. She looked back over her shoulder at the younger woman.

“
See,” he said with a smile. “I’m on my bike if you want a ride.”

She knew she shouldn’t. Riding on the back of a bike was not something Jules Andrews did. Not anymore. And she had Rufus at the shop with her today.

“
No. I need about thirty minutes to close out some things on the computer.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, but he apparently accepted her excuse. “Okay. You know where I live?”

“
Yeah, your mother told me.”

“
Of course she did. I’ll see you in a few.”

He turned and walked out.

“
Lord love a duck, that is one fine man. And seriously, I couldn’t let you ignore an invitation like that.”

“
I should though. Santinis are never easy.”

“
Who wants easy when they can have a Santini?” She shook her head. “Wait, there are more?”

“
All taken, sorry.”

Angela sighed. “And you have the last one in here drooling all over you.”

“
He was not drooling on me.”

“
He was. He watched you for awhile with Mrs. Markinson.”

She didn’t know how she felt about that. “Either way, not really sure I’m going to do anything about it.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but Jules stopped her. “Don’t. You know I have my reasons.”

She hadn’t told Angela about her marriage. Jules assumed that she picked up on things, but she didn’t really tell anyone about it. Her therapist said it wasn’t healthy, but Jules figured that she could only take one step at a time.

“
Yeah, but you need to get out there. Have some fun. That Santini dude looks like he would be a lot of fun.”

“
That might be the problem,” she said more for herself than for Angela. There was no reason to question her decisions right now. She had said she would go out to his house so she would. “Okay, I’m going to shut down my computer and head out.”

“
Quit making it sound like a death sentence. Of course, if there was a way to die I wouldn’t mind dying in bed with a man like that.”

“
Good lord. Does your mother know you talk like this?”

“
Where do you think I learned to talk like I do? And, there’s Rick.”

“
What’s your brother doing here?”

“
When Major Hunkmeister came in, I called him. I had a feeling I was going to close up alone, so I told him he had to come up here.”

“
Only you would order a Marine around.”