Lana put a hand to her stomach. “Holy smokes, that’s high. Is there actually oxygen up there? I mean, we’re nearly twelve-thousand feet already. It’s a wonder we didn’t all get altitude sickness when we came here last time.”
“Don’t be dramatic. Anyway, the flight was amazing, and he was great . . . and fun, suave and smart. The man has so many angles I hardly know what new facet I’ll uncover next.” She glided her lipstick on, rubbed her lips together, then checked it out in the mirror. “Anyway, I decided to be honest and tell him I first flirted with him because I figured Dad would never approve.”
Lana’s eyes grew round and her mouth fell open for a second. “I can’t believe you said that! Cami, I’ve never known you to be straight-up rude to a nice guy before.”
“Not nice ones, no. But then I told him he was way more than I thought, and I was having fun with him.” She frowned slightly as she picked through her cosmetics to find the right blush. “He told me Dad tried to convince him the two of us would be perfect together, and Vince had decided I must either be ugly or socially inept, until he met me.” She grinned at her sister in the mirror. “It was quite enlightening, and honestly, only intrigued me more—which doesn’t make any sense, but there you go.”
Lana’s eyes bugged out. “So when did he kiss you? Before or after your heart-to-heart?”
“After. Smack dab after, and I have to say, Trent so pales in comparison in the kissing department. Trent could probably have taken lessons from the teenaged Vince and learned something, the man is seriously talented.” It felt good to say it, especially with the nasty aftertaste her ex had left after his last visit.
Lana sat in surprise for a long moment. “Okay, that’s . . . hmmm. Isn’t it great when the guy really knows what he’s doing? Night and day difference. I remember . . . Well, anyway.”
Cami twisted around in her chair and eyed her sister. “Whoa, who have you been kissing lately? I haven’t heard about you with anyone for a while now. Almost a year. And why not?” She wiggled her eyebrows when she thought of Gage. “You know Vince has a couple of hot friends—”
This time it was Lana’s turn to protest. She slashed her hand down, cutting off the comment. “No, we’re not going there. No blind dates, no set ups, no men of any kind. Period.”
Odd coming from a woman who had been pretty active on the dating scene since her teens, and Cami thought she sensed an edge of hurt in her sister’s words. “You want to talk about it?”
Lana’s face hardened. “No. Just go ahead and give me the lowdown on the contacts you’ve made this week.”
Deciding it was okay to let Lana have her change of subject—there wasn’t time to needle an answer out of her right now anyway—Cami recapped her activities. “You’ll find the contracts on your bedroom desk and I’ll send you an email with my notes tonight so you can check them over in the morning.” She slid her feet into a pair of silver, strappy, heeled sandals and checked her cute purple Dior dress in the full-length mirror. She looked good.
The doorbell rang and Cami grabbed her coordinating clutch and headed out.
Sage called up the stairs, “Cami, Vince is here.”
Cami had to remind herself her sandals weren’t made for rushing down stairs as she reached the open staircase leading to the great room. It was ridiculous how excited she was for this date—she wasn’t a fresh-faced teen anxious to get to the prom.
Vince came into view, eyeing her as she descended. “Wow. Do you need more words, because I’m afraid if I try I’ll trip over my own tongue,” he said as she reached the bottom. He took her hands and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
The comment made her grin. “I think wow will do. And right back at ya.” Whatever Cami had expected, it hadn’t been the navy suit with a stark white pinstripe. He’d said to dress up, but she’d never imagined ‘up’ was for him included a suit coat. He looked every bit as appealing clean shaven as he had with a sexy scruff of beard. “I admit, I’m not sure what you have in mind tonight.”
A smile curved his lips. “Good.” He turned to Lana. “It’s good to see you again. Hope you don’t mind me taking off with your sister when you probably just got in.”
“I’ll catch her when she comes back. It sounds as though she’s been working hard all week. And Vince, sometime I’d like to take a ride in your balloon.” She lifted a hand as she added a caveat, “But without the kissing, since she’d break off all of my fingers.”
Cami rolled her eyes, but he laughed. “As soon as I get a chance I’ll arrange to take you both up for a ride.”
“I’m going to hold you to it. Now have a good evening.”
“I guess we have her approval,” Cami said as she gave Vince’s hand a light tug toward the door. “See ya,” she said to Sage as they walked by. The two of them had shared bits of conversation over the previous few days, but they’d both been very much wrapped in their own pursuits. Sage seemed to have put her hurt over Cami’s thoughtless comments in the park behind her, but Cami couldn’t forget them.
It occurred to her maybe Sage had been a little lonely in the past few days. Despite the free time on their hands, she rarely went anywhere besides the hotel. Cami pushed that to the corner of her mind to consider some other time—when she didn’t have tall, dark, and handsome taking her out.
They rounded the patio to the driveway and she grinned as a classic Mustang in metallic blue came into view. She sent him a sideways glance. “Borrow it from Jeremy?” She was relieved as she’d only ever seen his truck and her dress and his four-wheel drive weren’t a great combination.
He put a hand over his heart. “You wound me. Jeremy did help me fix it up, but this baby’s mine. It’s nothing compared to your Z4, of course.”
“Few things are.” But she loved the lines and angles of the Mustang. “What year is it?”
“1967.” He opened the door for her. “I bought it when I was fourteen, spent the next two years pouring all my summer earnings into getting it to run.” He shut the door when she was seated and circled around to his side. “Best investment I ever made,” he said when he was putting on his seatbelt.
“I bet you got a lot of chicks with this car,” she suggested, though she had the feeling she already knew the answer. It wouldn’t have been a classic back when he was in high school, but a hot Mustang was a hot Mustang at any age.
He grinned but declined to answer, making her like him better for not bragging or denying the truth.
As they pulled onto the road, she asked, “So where are we going, anyway?”
“You’ll see.”
It ended up being a little mom-and-pop shop off the beaten path with fabulous pasta and a soft, romantic atmosphere.
“I never would’ve expected to find this here,” Cami said as Vince held her hand across the table. The staff was friendly and her spinach linguini in pesto and the slice of tiramisu she’d shared with Vince had been incredible. “If it wouldn’t offend Rosemary, I’d put a bug in Lana’s ear about trying to steal the chef. On the other hand, we have three restaurants, and a number of openings coming up, maybe I will anyway.”
Vince laughed. “Since Carlotta owns the place, I doubt even you or Lana could convince her to jump ship.”
“Oh, well, you can’t have everything.” But she made a mental note to add it to the restaurant list for the concierges.
“How is Rosemary in the kitchen, anyway?”
Cami took a sip of her water; she’d stopped at a single glass of wine. “I hear she’s fabulous, but I haven’t had a chance to sample anything she’s cooked yet—except espresso, and she’s a whiz at that. Best on the planet!”
“And you?” He lifted her hands, kissed the backs of her fingers slowly, eyes focused on her face. “What are you good at?”
She felt a frisson of anticipation rush through her at the contact. “I’m a whiz at a lot of things, and I can make my own meals when I must, but cooking isn’t my biggest talent. You?”
“I make a mean spagh
etti.”
She couldn’t look away, felt sucked into his dark gaze. “Yeah? Anything else?”
He turned her hand over and traced the inside of her fingers and along her palm with kisses, demonstrating how good he was at seducing a woman’s senses. “Coffee. Cold cereal. Peanut butter sandwiches—I make the best you ever tasted.”
Air shuddered into her lungs at his touch and the fluttering in her chest that he was so good at producing had returned. wondered how such a simple touch could affect her so much. “Maybe I’ll give them a try sometime.”
“I’ll make sure of it.” He lowered her hand, his expression regretful. “I suppose we ought to head back. I have to be up before sunrise.”
“Already?” She could have sworn they’d only been there for an hour or so.
He chuckled. “We’ve been here over three hours. I think they’re hoping to close soon.”
She glanced around them and realized there was only one other customer in the building. “Well, then.” She pulled her hand free and stood. A glance at her watch proved it was nearly ten. “This was a great idea.”
He tossed a tip onto the table as he’d already paid their tab. “I’m glad you approve.” He threaded his fingers through hers and led her to the door. “I thought something different was in order, to show you I’m more than a glorified mower of lawns.”
“I had already figured that out,” she reminded him.
“Yes, so you said.” They walked through the front gardens to an arch covered in climbing roses, still in bloom and filling the night with their soft fragrance. Twinkle lights had been wound into the arch and along the bushes beside the path. He turned her into his arms. “You’re an amazing woman.”
“I’m glad you think so.” It was all she got out before he covered her mouth with his. This kiss was as different from the first as night from day. Where the first kiss had been gentle, sliding into sensual, this one started strong, and only grew deeper. He slid his hands up her arms—which were covered in goosebumps—and to her neck, tipped her head, and took it deeper.
Cami felt like she was drowning and didn’t care about coming up for air. She held on and pulled him closer, tasting his mouth, nipping at his bottom lip.
When she eased back, she thought if he was going to make a habit of sending her head whirling, she’d have to stop wearing high heels. She felt wobbly and held onto his arm for support while she got her bearings. “You have a way of knocking me for a loop.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” He took her elbow, steadying her, and they continued to his car.
After a far less explosive, but every bit as mind-numbing kiss when they reached her front door, Cami floated into the house to find Rosemary and Jonquil in the great room with Lana and Sage.
Lana smirked at her. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“I didn’t say that.” But she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.
“Like the stars in your eyes aren’t enough? How stupid do you think we are?” Rosemary asked. She pushed a long fall of blonde hair behind her shoulder. “I’m almost surprised you noticed we were in the room.”
Cami beamed at them. Then her brain kicked in and she saw the worry on their faces. Rosemary and Jonquil shouldn’t have been there. When had they arrived? Had something happened after she’d turned off her phone? Her smile fell and she crossed to them. “What’s going on?”
A frown came over Lana’s face. “We didn’t want to ruin your date. You’d better sit down. There’s another media issue we need to handle.”
Chapter 17
Cami stared at the news article Lana had brought up on her laptop.
Life of crime: Did Daddy DiCarlo make a big mistake?
As if the pictures of debauchery from a few days ago weren’t enough, stories are flooding in about the other sisters in the DiCarlo debacle. Reports that Jonquil Chestnut has a history of theft and criminal behavior have been confirmed. Rosemary Keogh was expelled from more than one school for refusing to follow the rules, and actually held internships under two different chefs in Europe—which begs the question, did Daddy have to pay someone off so she could finish her training—training she apparently couldn’t get anyone in the U.S. to give her?
The world waits to see if the daughters of hotel magnate George DiCarlo can pull off the launch of his newest resort.
Cami gnashed her teeth. “All right, I already know this is a load of crap, so tell me what really happened. If we’re going to twist it back our way, I need all the facts.” She looked at Jonquil.
Jonquil spread her hands. “The best I can think of is that I stole a candy bar when I was nine. My mom found it, took me back to the store, and arranged with the store owner for me to go in every afternoon for a week to sweep the floors. I didn’t even get to keep the candy bar.”
“And you’re supposed criminal record?” Cami asked.
Jonquil’s lips twisted and she avoided eye contact. “I had too many parking tickets—give a girl a break; do you have any idea how hard it is to find a parking spot in Philly? Anyway, I didn’t get them paid in a timely manner, and I ended up with a warrant for my arrest. A friend of mine worked on the force, mentioned it to me and I went in the next day and took care of it. I wasn’t ever booked.”
“All right. I’m surprised there was still a note anywhere about the warrant.” Cami rubbed her temples. “Those should be easy to prove, but I want you to call your friend and find out why the warrant is still popping up under your name, and get it cleared out. If they’re finding it, the warrant may still show it’s valid.”
Jonquil covered her mouth. “I didn’t think of that.”
Already feeling a little better, Cami turned to Rosemary. “Okay, spill, you rule breaker. What happened? Were you actually kicked out of your schools?”
Rosemary smirked. “Okay, I can’t help it; I was a bit of a rebel. Dad always said I should’ve grown up in the sixties.”
Not amused, Cami pinned her with a hard glare.
“Fine. You need to lighten up! I wasn’t actually kicked out. We had an administrator at the school who was giving a teacher problems. She was a great teacher, totally dedicated, and didn’t even have to work. She had plenty of money.” She lounged back on the sofa.
When Cami kept staring at her, Rosemary shrugged and continued on. “Anyway, I was on the student council when she tendered her resignation in the middle of the year because the dude was picking at her so much. We talked about it and decided to stage a walkout. I headed the whole thing. The administrator quit that day and left town, and the teacher stayed. If I served a week’s after-school detention, it was well worth the price.”
“And what else? I understand you actually completed two full internships in Europe with chefs who focused on different things. The second one was a pastry chef, right?” Cami leaned back in the chair, not quite ready to relax, but feeling a little better about things.
“Exactly. So it’s total crap.”
“And before that?”
Rosemary’s lips pursed. “Okay, there was one more situation, but I was framed.”
Framed? Really? Cami wanted to reach out and smack Rosemary for not getting to the point. She’d been in such a great mood ten minutes earlier. “Details. Now.”
“Keep your shirt on, or should I say, your dress, and did I mention how much I love those sandals? Wow!” She shifted further into the cushions and took a sip of her Diet Mt. Dew—the only thing Cami had ever seen her drink besides espresso. “Anyway, I was going to a private school, and the cheer queen was upset the football captain liked me. We had words, which a teacher stopped—words, no physical fighting involved. Of course, there may have been slapping and scratching in the future if the teacher hadn’t stepped in, but that’s beside the point.”
Rosemary waved the comment away. “Okay, so I probably would’ve used my fist, but it never got that far. Anyway, we had a report due for history class, and she copied a paper from the Internet, put my name on it and somehow sw
apped my actual report. No, I can’t prove she was responsible, but,” she shrugged, “who else? Then she went to the teacher and said she’d overheard me talking about how I didn’t care about the class anyway, and so I’d totally poached a report from online. Of course the teacher did a couple of searches and proved it was stolen. It didn’t matter that I had a copy of the report I’d written, the school put me out to dry as an example.”
Cami was sure dealing with Rosemary was going to give her ulcers. “You were how old?”
“Seventeen. And I had great self-control. I only keyed her car in response, but I made sure it couldn’t be pinned on me, so it’s fine.” She folded her arms over her chest.
Cami swore. She stood and walked over to the window, fisting her hands to keep from hitting something. Why was she having to deal with this woman? What had her dad been thinking putting Rosemary to work in his hotel?
“Chill, kidding, I didn’t key her car. It crossed my mind when I saw it sitting in a parking lot one night, but I held myself back. There is a line.”
Cami felt some of the tension eased from her back and shoulders, but kept her hands fisted at her sides as she turned to everyone.
Rosemary rolled her eyes. “Get this woman a shot of something to calm her down before she has a come-apart.”
“You know,” Cami said evenly, “For someone who lived in Europe for two years, you sure come across as an inner-city delinquent.”
Rosemary grinned. “I grew up in D.C. I can be as smooth and cultured as the next person. I just prefer to be myself most of the time.”
“Wonderful. Well, we can’t do anything about the school expulsion except say it was a misunderstanding, but no one’s going to buy it, so let’s avoid discussing it at all if possible.”
A Perfect Fit Page 9