Wild Hearts (The DiCarlo Brides)

by Heather Tullis

  She met Zelda in the restaurant and they ordered breakfast. Zelda was more controlled this morning, having put on her public face—the one she always wore for meetings when things weren’t going well at home. Delphi let her ramble about friends back home, the latest social activities, and what her plans were for the summer. She added comments and made appropriate listening sounds through the meal, wondering if Zelda was going to ask a single question about her life in Juniper Ridge or how Delphi liked it there now that she’d been there for most of her sentence.

  The question didn’t come. However, as they were walking out of the restaurant, she asked something else. “So you only have to stay until September, and then you can come back home to New York,” Zelda said. “I’ve been thinking, that house is too big for me to rattle around in by myself, but if you moved back in with me, we could have the most darling parties. And instead of going back to work, you could join some of my groups, get to know people better, be an instrument of change. After all, you won’t have to work once you get your inheritance. You might as well do something useful with your life. And if you miss it, there are plenty of fundraisers that can use people who are capable of organizing events.”

  Delphi nearly stopped cold. The dig about her essentially wasting her life was expected and overlooked with only a little pang. What surprised her was that her mother had just complemented her—okay, it was buried under all of the other stuff, but did her mother just indicate that Delphi did a good job with organizing events? When was the last time that had happened? “Thank you, Mother.”

  “For what? I mean, all of the etiquette lessons and social instruction we spent working on getting you ready for society did have a few good results.”

  Delphi ground her teeth together. And there was the second negative in the compliment sandwich.

  She looked up in surprise when she heard her name being called and recognized Jeremy’s voice. He approached from the front door, his hair wind-blown from his bike, his black leather jacket making him look at terrific as usual, and his helmet under one arm.

  “Hi, what’s going on?” she asked as he strode toward them.

  “I came early for my photo shoot on the grounds, hoping for a chance to meet your mother,” he said, offering his hand to Zelda for a shake. “The desk clerk said you were together.”

  “And you are?” Zelda asked, accepting his offer.

  “Jeremy Litster. I’m the photographer who works with your daughter. She stood me up to spend time with you last night.” He smiled at her. “I can see where she gets her beauty from.”

  Zelda smiled with pleasure. “Aren’t you a handsome devil? Silver tongued. Delphi always did go for that type.”

  “We’re hard to resist. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Delphi wasn’t sure what to think about the exchange. Jeremy seemed unfazed by her mother’s cool study of him, and Zelda definitely wasn’t impressed by her new love interest.

  “She didn’t mention she was dating anyone.” Zelda shot her a speculative look with more than a hint of disapproval thrown in. “I’m sure you’re doing your best to keep her here when her year is up. George always did want to keep her far away from me. And then he got her involved in this place. As if she had nothing better to do with her life than be at the beck and call of other people. She was raised to be better. Something more than this.”

  “Mother, I love this. This is what I wanted to be. You know that.” Delphi was embarrassed to have her mother speak that way about her. Especially in front of Jeremy. It was one of the reasons she hadn’t intended to introduce them.

  “Mrs. Gifford,” Jeremy said with disgust in his eyes. “Maybe you don’t realize because we don’t always see our family members clearly, but your daughter is a strong, independent, capable woman who has been making her own decisions for a long time. Maybe you should give her the credit for taking charge of her own life and doing a terrific job of it.”

  That’s what he thought? Delphi’s face tightened as she tried to keep the emotions brought up by his words from coursing through her. “Excuse us, will you?” she said to her mom, then grabbed Jeremy by the arm of his leather jacket and hauled him into the nearby executive offices—which were empty on Sunday morning—slamming the door behind them.

  She pushed him against the door and set her hands on his chest. As his eyes widened and he started to make excuses, she cut him off. “No one else has stood up for me against her in years.” Not since Fallon. Except for George, but she wasn’t counting him. That was his job. Jeremy hadn’t done it because it was his job; he did it because he cared. “You have never been sexier than this very moment.”

  And then her lips were on his, and her hands were skimming up his chest to his shoulders and fire was zipping through her like mad. She’d forgotten she had this in her, this wild edge and hunger that filled her. He turned them so she was against the wall and he molded her closer to him and mussed her hair, his fingers spearing through it.

  “You are the most incredible woman I’ve ever met,” he said as he shifted his lips down her neck. “There’s no one like you. Maybe your dad was right about us.”

  What was that? He was lifting his mouth back to hers for more when she pushed him away so she could see his face. “Wait, what?” She panted a couple of times, her head not exactly clear. “What about my dad?” When had that come into the conversation? She was falling desperately in love with the man who stood up for her, and he was talking about her dad?

  He paused for a moment, as if forming the words in his head. “He thought we would make a good couple. He wanted us to hook up like Vince and Cami did.” Jeremy used his thumb to wipe at something on her cheek and moved in to kiss her again.

  She shoved him again and stared. “So my dad tried to sell me off to you? Is that it? And now you’ve decided the goods might not be so bad?” Hurt sliced her, hurt that her father hadn’t thought she could figure out her own life. Hurt that she and Jeremy had fallen into it so easily. “Did he offer you a bonus if we started to date?”

  “No, of course not. What kind of guy do you take me for? How could you think that about him, either?” He wiped his mouth, smearing the lipstick she’d gotten on his skin.

  Delphi could barely breathe through the betrayal. “How did you guys meet? Why you? And why me?”

  “I don’t know why us,” Jeremy said. “Vince recommended me to take some shots of the building as it went up. George interviewed me and we talked several times over the next year or so. Sometimes the dinner meetings were more social than business.” He rubbed his hands on his pants, like they had gotten sweaty. “One night he just suggested that he thought we’d make a good couple. Like in a permanent way.”

  Of course Jeremy only wanted her because her father had pushed her on him. So that was why Jeremy had been chosen to be the photographer for her to work with—George was already planning to put them in each other’s way. “You’re just interested in me because Daddy decided I would be a decent bride for you.”

  She shoved at his shoulders, pushing him back a full step, her pain turning to anger. “I can’t believe I was falling right into his plans. Again. The man had no shame, I swear.” She whirled to open the door, tears prickling at her eyes.

  Jeremy snagged her arm, stopping her. “Wait. Give me just a second. Give yourself a second to think.” It took him a moment before he spoke again. “Okay, hold on, you remember the way I came at you when we first met?”

  “Yeah, like I could forget.” She yanked her arm out of his hold, but looked at him, remembering it clearly: the way he’d started on the offense the second he opened his mouth.

  “That was because I was determined not to go along with what your dad wanted. Like I wanted some guy I’d only met a couple of times telling me who to marry. And I figured if you were crazy enough to go along with it, then I wanted nothing to do with you—but you put me in my place without a blink and I didn’t think about that again.”

  When she relaxed a littl
e, listening, he pushed ahead. “Then, hey, here we are even without him interfering, and I gotta say, as much as I despise what your dad did to you all, I’ve never been so attracted to any woman before.” He took a deep breath and lowered his voice even more. He moved his hands to glide along her upper arms. “I thought it was just chemistry, but there’s something more here.” He stared at her, searching her face. “Isn’t there?”

  A long moment passed as she stared at him, everything clicking into place inside her. “Right now, the last thing I want is to make my dad happy. He might be right about us, but that just makes me mad.”

  He huffed a little. “So you’re going to make both of us unhappy because it’s the only way to thwart your father?”

  She struggled, trying to accept what he was saying and match it to what she felt. “You’d be unhappy? If we didn’t go out anymore?” It was weak and selfish, but she needed to hear it. Did he feel what had just realized she was feeling or was this still just a fun side trip for him?

  He stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. “Yeah, I would. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe it is just chemistry. Really, really amazing chemistry.” He shook his head. “I never thought I’d say this, but don’t you think we owe it to ourselves to find out?”

  He stepped closer, and without touching her with his hands, pressed his lips to hers, lighter than before, and that buzz of electricity flared between them again. “Go out with me tonight.”

  “Can’t tonight. Mom’s here,” she whispered against his mouth, her hands coming to rest on his hips. If this wasn’t about her dad, if it was about them, then she couldn’t push him away.

  “Come on, I bet she goes to bed early.” When she shook her head, he pushed on, “If not tonight then tomorrow? The next night? Any night you can get away.”

  She smiled against his mouth. “Okay, tonight. We’ll talk about tomorrow night later.” She pulled back, leaving one last kiss behind. “You’ll have to wait until I finish up with her. It could easily be after nine.”

  “Sounds good to me.” He straightened his jacket and ran his fingers through his hair.

  She wiped at the lipstick smeared beside his mouth and studied him and the remaining red smudge on his cheek for a moment. Then she decided to leave it. If he could stand up for her, she could stake her claim, even if it was wordless. “You’ll do.”

  She took his hand as they returned to the main offices where her mother stood. Delphi enjoyed the way Zelda’s eyes flashed onto the lipstick and her mouth tightened and thinned. It was the same streak of independence that had pushed her to get the tattoo—which was petty of her, but for the moment, Delphi didn’t care. No doubt Zelda would have words to say about Delphi’s behavior, but Delphi would worry about that later.

  She knew she had promised Jeremy that there would be no strings, but she couldn’t change the fact that she loved him—she was still reeling from this realization. And she didn’t think this was a new thing—though she’d just felt the tumble, she’d probably been on that slippery slope for weeks, but she hadn’t let herself think about it. She wanted to curse her father, but decided to wait to see what happened. Maybe there was nothing but heartbreak in store for her, but she’d been there before.

  And as long as she could get Jeremy to hang around, there was always a chance, no matter how remote, that he would come to love her too.

  Never a night owl, and from a time zone that was two hours earlier than Colorado’s, Zelda said goodnight to Delphi a little before nine. Delphi was happy to leave the hotel and hurried over to Jeremy’s.

  All day her mind had flashed back to their encounter that morning and how he’d stood up for her. She realized that she’d come to trust him more than anyone else. The growing love in her heart fluttered as she realized their talk had taken things to the next level. This was a real relationship now, not just a couple of people hanging out sometimes.

  Her mind flashed to Fallon and she was surprised that while there was some pain of loss there, it didn’t hurt as much as she expected. Was she really ready to move on?

  She wasn’t sure, but she was sure that she wanted to see where things were going with Jeremy, to give this the full chance that it deserved.

  She huddled a little more into her jacket as she got out of her car and headed up the stairs to his apartment. It wasn’t full dark yet, though the sun had set some time earlier so she didn’t need the porch light he’d left on for her. When she reached the top of the stairs, she heard Bon Jovi’s latest album blaring through the door and she knocked. She could see into his kitchen and a slice of his living room, but didn’t see Jeremy. She checked for a doorbell, but didn’t see anything. She tried knocking again, but there was no answer.

  Deciding that he wasn’t going to hear her over the music, and his invitation was reason enough to let herself in, she tried the door handle and entered.

  There was a big bowl of ice with sodas chilling in it on the counter, an array of crackers and cheese were spread out next to it with a package of cookies and a few mis-matching plates set out in readiness. The rest of the kitchen was immaculate, which made her wonder if this was normal for him, or if he’d spent most of the day scouring the place for her arrival. If this was normal, she heartily approved.

  The game of Yahtzee sat on the small, round dining table, and the living room was sparse and neat as a pin—and missing the requisite flat screen television she thought all single men owned. In fact, there was no television at all, which surprised her, until she remembered about the break in. She called out, but must not have heard over the music, so she continued into the apartment. The bathroom sparkled, his bedroom—which held only a bed, dresser and an ugly lamp she hoped he’d scrounged from a second-hand store or a neighbor’s attic instead of paying good money for. On the other side of the hall she found him sitting at his laptop, frowning over a picture he was tweaking in Photoshop. She walked over and pushed the pause button on his iPod making the room ring with silence after the loud booming.

  He jumped and looked at her in surprise. “When did you get here?”

  “Just a moment ago. You had the music up so loud you didn’t hear me calling. It’s amazing you have any hearing left if that’s how you usually play it.”

  He saved his file and hibernated the computer while he spoke. “I wasn’t sure how long you’d be, and music helps me concentrate.”

  Delphi lifted her eyebrows but she knew what he meant. “So you have to play it at deafening levels?”

  “Not a fan of Jon?”

  “Of course I am. I have that album myself, but I usually play it low enough that I don’t risk hearing damage.” She smiled and slid into his lap. “Have a productive afternoon?”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “Yeah, I got most of the wedding photos processed, so I should have some free time this week to do something with you. You want to take a day off and play hooky?”

  “More than you can imagine. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous for the next few days. We could take a day and break in my new bike.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved in for a kiss.

  “Tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Mmm, Tuesday, I think.” She pressed her lips lightly to his. “Rosemary and Harrison get in tomorrow and I have a few things to wrap up from the wedding this weekend. Having my mother here has kind of cut into work time.”

  His hands slid up her back. “You know, I’ve grown to really like these suits you wear, all starched and perfectly put together.” His mouth skimmed along her chin to her ear.

  “And I thought you liked the camisole that showed off my navel.”

  “And your tattoo, don’t forget. There’s something about that tat that makes my mouth water.” One of his fingers traced the area where the tattoo was hidden, giving her chills. He kissed her and she melted into it. The kiss was soft and languid, drawing her in and pulling her further under his spell.

  “Do you mind if we put off the snacks and game for a little while?�
�� she asked as she slid one button loose on his shirt.

  He pulled back so he could see her face, his gaze searching as he studied her. “I thought you didn’t do casual.”

  Nervous, she wet her lips. “After today, I’m pretty sure this isn’t casual anymore. Am I wrong?” Her heart thudded and she had to suck in a breath through a throat that felt like it had closed off partway. Her fingers played with his button placket as she desperately hoped he didn’t break her heart.

  He finally answered. “No. You’re not wrong.” And then his mouth covered hers again.

  Eventually they made it into the bedroom.

  When they emerged again, it was after eleven. Delphi wore his shirt reveling in the way the soft cotton felt against her skin and his scent, which emanated from it. She headed into the kitchen, starving and yet satisfied in every other way.

  His hand came to her waist from behind. “I don’t think we’re going to get to Yahtzee tonight after all.”

  “No.” She smiled to herself. “I could use some of those cheese and crackers, though. It’s been a long time since dinner.”

  He grabbed a couple of sodas from the bowl on the table and slid one to her. “How did things go with your mom today? You didn’t say.”

  She smiled a little to herself. “She was my mom. Not much to say there, but she didn’t dig at me again after you left. I don’t expect that to continue for long, but I’ll take what I can get. She’s having a hard time accepting that Ralph wants a divorce. It’ll be a while before she totally bounces back, but she’ll cope.” She stacked cheese and crackers and took a bite.

  “Better than my Dad did, I hope. Though that was a little different.” He watched her, and a smile formed on his face.

  “What?”

  “I like this—you talking about private family stuff instead of hiding it away. All while being rumpled up and wearing my shirt. It’s way sexier on you than on me.”