As Kenny G’s instrumental rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” smoothly slid into the air of the pickup cab, Tierney smiled, arched one astonished brow, and giggled, “Festive? Did you just say festive? And you actually have Kenny G on your playlist?”
“Of course,” Rome answered, frowning as if offended by the fact she was so surprised. “I mean, if you prefer, like, heavy metal, I’ve got that too. I could change—”
“Oh no, no, no!” Tierney exclaimed, reaching out to block his hand from touching the iPod. “I just didn’t expect it. I thought maybe you plowed to more…energetic music.”
Rome smiled. “Oh, by the end of the night, I will definitely be plowing to something else. But while we’re waiting, I thought Mr. G would make the snow seem a little less ominous and bit more—”
“Festive?” Tierney teasingly finished.
“Yeah.”
“Well, Mr. G does tend to do that,” she admitted. “He smooths me out,” she added with a sigh as she did indeed begin to relax a bit.
She heard Rome laugh and looked to see him studying her again. “Smooths you out? You mean like when you watch movies and iron stuff? Same kind of thing? Only then you’re smoothing out clothes too.”
Tierney laughed too. “Yeah…I guess it is similar.”
“That’s a really good way to put it,” he added, thoughtful for a moment. “Kenny G smooths you out.” He nodded. “I like that. It sounds a lot better than chilling you out or calming you down. It smooths you.”
Tierney giggled. “It seems like you’re pretty easy to entertain tonight.”
“Why? Were you worried about entertaining me?”
Tierney had never been so worried about making sure someone found her interesting instead of boring in all her life. Of course she was worried about entertaining him! She wondered for a moment just how in the world she’d ended up agreeing to go with him in the first place. But though she wondered how it had happened, she knew exactly why it had happened. Tierney would do just about anything to spend time alone with Rome Novak.
“Well, kind of,” she admitted. “I mean, it must be a bit stressful, all the plowing…especially when you can’t see two feet in front of you in this snow!”
Rome, still grinning at her, winked. “Well, you don’t have to do much to entertain me, Tierney. You could just sit there all night, and I’d find that interesting enough.”
Tierney’s heart did several flippy-flips in her chest, as her stomach filled so full of butterflies she felt like she couldn’t breathe!
“Ooo! You are smooth!” she laughed as she blushed as red as a traffic light at Christmas. “Maybe I should call you Mr. G, huh?”
“That’s because you smooth me out,” he teased.
“Oh, is that so?” she teased in return.
“Yep. You can iron on me anytime, Tierney,” he continued to flirt.
Naturally Tierney was delighted nearly beyond endurance. Locked in a warm pickup cab in a snowstorm with Rome Novak? It was ethereal! And as nervous as she was—as jittery at being so secluded and close to him—Tierney knew that she had to hide the fact he caused her to want to bounce around the pickup cab like a rabid squirrel. She needed to appear calm—meet him flirt for flirt like she’d gotten in the habit of doing. She figured that, above anything else, might keep him entertained and alert—a witty, flirtatious banter worthy of a drop-dead gorgeous, smart, clever snowplower like Rome Novak.
“I’ll remember that next time I’m nervous or stressed out,” she said, disappointed when she realized she hadn’t left an opening for their flirting to continue.
Rome glanced to the clock on his dash and sighed. “Well, your brother sure is taking his dear sweet time, isn’t he?”
He was impatient. Tierney had failed in trying to entertain him.
“Do you usually have to wait like this? This long, I mean?” she asked, attempting to turn the conversation back on—but to a more casual subject.
Rome shrugged. “Sometimes longer. It just depends on the reports and what calls come in and when.”
“So you probably usually just, like, read or something, right?” Tierney offered, desperate to keep the dialogue going.
“Nope,” he answered, however. “I usually just sit here and think about stuff.”
“Like what kind of stuff?” she asked.
Rome looked at her. His eyes narrowed, simmering with an increasingly familiar glow of mischief.
“Well, right now I’m thinking that if this were, like, say 1984—you know, back when my parents were teenagers—I’m thinking that this would be the perfect setup for a full-on N.C.M.O.S.”
Tierney frowned. “A what?”
Rome chuckled. “You know, like in high schools now. They called it NickMo at my high school, but my mom says in the ’80s, they just used the acronym N.C.M.O.S.”
Tierney was still frowning. Shaking her head, she admitted, “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Rome laughed. “Private school, huh?”
“Maybe,” Tierney answered coyly, for he’d hit the nail right on the head. She had attended a private school, completely missing out on the fun, misery, and drama of a public high school experience. “So who is Nick Moe? And what is N.C.M.O.S? I assume it’s an acronym for something.”
Again Rome’s eyes dazzled her with an intriguing smolder of amusement. “They’re the same, actually. NickMo—it’s a nickname for the acronym N.C.M.O. It’s actually the same thing as N.C.M.O.S., but I guess our generation is just too lazy to use a five-letter acronym, so they shortened it to four. Personally, I prefer my mom’s acronym for—”
“For what?” Tierney interrupted with giggling impatience.
Her giggling stopped cold, however—her smile fading instantly, her heart leaping in her chest—as Rome Novak leaned toward her, saying, “N.C.M.O.S. Noncommittal make-out session, Tierney.”
“N-n-noncommittal what?” she asked breathlessly—for certainly he hadn’t said what she’d thought he’d said.
“Make-out session,” he repeated. “You do know what a make-out session is, don’t you? I’m sure they at least had that in private school, right?”
“O-of course,” Tierney stammered, feeling suddenly overly warm again. “L-like that party game spin-the-bottle…or post office or whatever,” she said, gesturing as if she thought such things were trivial.
“I guess it’s similar,” Rome admitted. “Did you ever play?”
“Play what?” Tierney asked, feigning ignorance. She didn’t want to look stupid in front of him, but his talking about kissing was freaking her out a bit—making her nervous and overheated. All she could think of was kissing him at her bridal shower—in the hallway at Halloween—and it was making her mouth water.
“Spin-the-bottle? Did you ever play?” he asked again.
“Of course,” Tierney fibbed. The truth was she’d never played, but Alec had played spin‑the-bottle at a party once and had described the experience to her in great detail.
“Well, Tierney, I bet I could spin your bottle like it’s never been spun before,” he teased.
Thankful he’d returned to his flirtatious teasing instead of continuing to educate her on acronyms, Tierney smiled. The snow outside the pickup had nothing on the flurries of butterflies going on in her stomach. She had to retaliate—return to the teasing tone their conversation demanded.
“You think so?” she asked.
Rome nodded, answering, “Oh, I know so.”
Arching one eyebrow, Tierney countered, “Maybe I could spin your bottle like it’s never been spun before. Ever think of that?”
He chuckled. “Actually, yes…I did think of that.”
Tierney blushed—tried to steady the pace of her breathing, for it had begun to quicken.
“In fact,” Rome continued, “since you did just open the door…I call. Let’s me and you have us a noncommittal make-out and see who spins whose bottle, shall we?”
Instantly Tierney
’s heart leapt up into her throat—or at least it felt like it did. Was he still kidding? Surely he was. Surely he wasn’t suggesting they really make out—right there, that very minute, as the engine of his truck rumbled with a low idle and snowflakes the size of daisies continued to bury the streets of the small city.
Yet just in case he wasn’t kidding—on the off chance that Rome Novak really meant to do exactly what he’d suggested—Tierney tried to appear unfretted and answered, “You’re on. Bring it, bub.”
“Bub?” he laughed.
Tierney shrugged. “Would you prefer buster?”
But Rome shook his head. “Nope. Bub will do just fine.” He paused a moment, his eyes narrowing as he studied her. “Did you really just say, ‘Bring it’?”
“Step up or tap out, playah,” she teased.
Again he laughed, and Tierney was pleased in knowing she’d managed to entertain him for a moment.
“Oooo! You’re a feisty little thing, ain’t you?” he chuckled.
But Tierney smiled and shook her head. “Not really. I just talk a big game.”
“Well, I don’t,” Rome said, leaning over the console toward her.
Tierney gulped as he reached out, taking hold of her chin just the way he had that day at her ill-fated bridal shower—the way he had on dreamy Halloween only a short while before. Leaning over the console further, Rome pressed his left cheek to her right one, and Tierney held her breath.
“Step up or tap out, baby,” he whispered in her ear.
Tierney felt every bone in her body begin to dissolve as Rome pressed a long, lingering kiss to her jaw right below her ear. Slowly his mouth caressed her skin as it followed her jawline to her chin. He pressed her lips with his thumb as he continued to softly kiss her chin and jawline. Tierney had never, never, never in all her life been so affected! Well, not since Rome had kissed her the first and last time anyway, but even those blissful previous occasions had been different. This was a teasing sort of windup or something, and it made her want to take his face between her hands and kiss his mouth full on and unreservedly!
Leaning over the console was awkward and uncomfortable, but Tierney’s mind silently repeated that she would rather be aching with discomfort than risk interrupting the chance of having Rome kiss her again.
All of a sudden, however, Rome released her chin, and she felt his strong hands slip under her arms and begin to lift her.
“Whoever the idiot was who thought of putting bucket seats and a console in pickups…” he mumbled as he very ably began to pull Tierney over the console and toward him.
Almost before she’d realized what had happened, Tierney found herself sitting in Rome’s lap. He grinned at her as he reached down and pushed the button on the side of his seat. The seat slowly slid back as far as it would go, and Rome moved his legs farther apart, causing Tierney’s bum to settle down onto his seat between them.
“There now,” Rome said, taking Tierney’s right arm and placing it around his shoulders and neck. “That’s better.”
The cold of the pickup’s driver-side window felt invigorating against Tierney’s shoulders, but not nearly as invigorating as the sensations of pleasure rippling through her body when Rome slipped his left arm under hers that was around his neck, embracing her waist as he again took hold of her chin.
He smiled at her, asking, “Now…what was that you said again? Step up or tap out, playah?”
Tierney blushed at having been so brazen, simultaneously gasping with delight as Rome tipped her head and turned her face from his a bit while pressing a sizzling kiss to her neck.
He was different than any other man who had ever kissed her—far more attractive, of course, but it wasn’t just that. It was the way he seemed to be prepping her or something. He hadn’t gone right for her mouth, forcing a hard, wet kiss the way other guys had done—even Dillon. It was as if Rome were endeavoring to please her before taking what he might want from her. Tierney smiled as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to enjoy the feel of Rome’s kiss on her neck, on her cheek, to her earlobe. It was like he was smoothing her out!
Tierney felt weak, almost intoxicated, as at long, long, long last, Rome’s hand holding her chin directed her face toward his. Her eyes fluttered open when she sensed he was looking at her—and he was.
“You ready to see if I can really spin your bottle, baby?” he asked, winking and grinning at her.
But Tierney smiled at him and unexpectedly heard herself confess, “I already know you can. You spun it so fast once before that I broke off my wedding. Remember?
Rome’s smile broadened. “Is that so?”
“You were there. What do you think?” she whispered.
“It wasn’t part of the plan, you know,” he said, “me kissing you that day.”
“But…but Alec talked you into dressing up and—”
“Alec talked me into dressing up, stepping out of a box like some idiot, and trying to convince you not to marry that dude while we were dancing,” he interrupted. “Kissing you…well…” He shrugged. “That was my own idea.”
“It was?” Tierney asked as her heart leapt over and over and over again in her chest. Alec hadn’t told him to kiss her that first time? Rome had done it of his own volition? Oh, certainly she knew Alec hadn’t put Rome up to kissing her on Halloween, but the knowledge that Rome had kissed her of his own choice that day at the bridal shower—it caused her to begin to tremble with a happiness she’d never known before!
“You weren’t buying the whole tango, talking thing, right?” Rome began. “And besides…what guy wouldn’t want to steal a kiss from you?”
He was too good to be true, too perfect in physical features and the things he said. Tierney didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Wow,” she breathed. “Do you practice that stuff or what?”
“What stuff?” Rome asked. But Tierney could see he was finished talking. He took hold of her chin as his head descended toward hers—as his arm tightened around her waist. “Now let’s get down to some serious making out, okay?”
“O-okay,” Tierney breathed.
Rome’s warm breath on her lips caused Tierney’s entire body to break into goose bumps—caused her to begin to quiver with excitement and desire. His mouth was so close she could almost taste it—and, oh, how desperately she wanted to.
“Hey, Romeo…you warmed up?” Alec’s voice interrupted over Rome’s phone.
“Or not,” Rome growled as he released Tierney’s chin and picked up his phone.
“Oh yeah…I’m warmed up all right,” Rome responded to Alec, winking at Tierney and causing her to blush.
“Then you and Tierney head out to the city roads East and South and we’ll take North and West,” Alec instructed. “Then we’ll do the ones the county gave us. All right?”
“You got it,” Rome answered. “Plowing out now.”
“Roger,” Alec said. “Keep me posted.”
“Roger,” Rome said, tossing his phone onto the dashboard.
Alec’s interruption had reminded Tierney just how ridiculous she’d been to think she would find herself sitting in Rome’s pickup making out with him during a snowstorm. She felt foolish all of a sudden—embarrassed—and she moved to scramble out of his lap.
But Rome’s arms stayed around her body. She looked at him, and he grinned at her.
“Shouldn’t we get started?” she asked.
The engine of the pickup roared as Rome revved it with a couple of pumps of the gas pedal and shook his head. Tierney tried to wish away her deepening blush, but it was on her cheeks to stay for a while.
“What’s a couple more minutes, right?” he asked.
Oh, Tierney thought she’d remembered how absolutely delicious Rome’s kiss was. She thought she’d remembered how perfectly his mouth fit to hers and how magnificent it made her feel, the desire it evoked from her. But clearly she hadn’t—for when Rome Novak’s lips met hers, Tierney nearly fell apart! She thought for a mome
nt that she would dissolve from the bliss of it—from the nearly painful hammering of her heart!
Over and over again Rome’s mouth worked a spell of passion, longing, desire, and pure rapture over Tierney. These kisses were different than the ones she’d been blessed with before. They were almost wanton, driven, and hot and caused her entire body to quiver with pleasure.
He broke the seal of their mouths once, pressing a hot, moist kiss against her throat, and though the sensation was blissful, Tierney knew their time was short. Taking Rome’s whiskery face between her hands, she directed his mouth to hers once more, kissing him the way she never imagined she would have the courage to kiss a man.
Tierney sighed when Rome’s kisses became even more aggressive then, as he once more stepped into the dominant predator’s roll—kissing her with such an impassioned vigor Tierney found she could hardly breathe.
Without warning, Rome suddenly broke from her, lifting her back across the console and plopping her into her seat once more.
Slamming the gearshift into drive, he almost grumbled, “You win. Consider my bottle thoroughly spun.”
“But my bottle is still spinning,” she ventured. “So doesn’t that make you the winner?”
Rome looked at her, exhaling a sigh and smiling once more.
“I’d say we’re both winners then,” he said, winking at her. As he pulled away from the curb, he said, “I guess next time, we’ll have to play post office, right? Give the USPO a real run for their money, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Tierney said, fastening her seatbelt and trying to restore her breathing to some semblance of normalcy. Next time? He’d said next time? Tierney could hardly breathe as it was! She couldn’t imagine what would happen to her if there really were a next time.
She watched as Rome reached out and messed with his iPod a minute.
Smiling at her as Bon Jovi’s “Lost Highway” began, he said, “I guess we better get down to business now, right? I don’t want to get fired for smoochin’ with the boss’s sister.”
Tierney nodded as she watched Rome lower the snowplow blade and hit the gas.
One Classic Latin Lover, Please Page 12