She let out a small sigh like she released her frustration and stood taller. “They fit. It’s already better than what you showed up wearing. Your clothes were falling off you. I’ll keep my distance.”
For her own benefit. But she needed an ear and he had those to offer so he picked up the plates and she followed, bringing their silverware. He asked, “How did you know my size?”
Her gaze went up and down his body. He froze. Was she sizing him up like a man did to a beautiful woman on the street? His cheeks were warm at the thought so he put the plates down and she said, “My brother Gabriel served and he had your build. What branch were you in?”
Observant was a good skill to have. And Mica was pretty perfect in every way from what he could tell. He stood taller like he went to attention as he said, “Marines. But that was a long time ago.”
She laughed, this time, like she was happy despite everythingas she shrugged. “He was too and says the same thing.”
Even if he reminded her of someone she loved, she was nothing like any woman he’d known. None had made him wish he was worthy of her as he nodded and said, “I’m sure he’s a good man.”
She smiled at him, more like beamed her sunshine at him as she said, “As I’m sure you are.”
“I’m not your brother.” His voice was more throaty than he had a right.
The tingles in his lips to kiss her and take what sh’'d offered could never be satisfied.
She reached out and brushed her fingers against his cheek as she said, “You are absolutely not. Rocco, I want two things right now.”
Awareness of her ripped through him. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep in control but he asked, “What, ma’am?”
She sighed and took her hand back. She then said as she straightened herself, “First, I need you to promise that no matter what number two is, you’ll stay at the chalet. I slept better knowing you were here to protect me. I probably shouldn’t have refused to bring security with me, but I never had a guard that I trusted enough to sleep through the night.”
Guard. Yes. Right. Mica’s wealth was all around them. He just nodded and said, “Yes, ma’am.”
She softened her stance as she said, “So number two…”
His muscles were tense as she stepped closer. Every cell of his body wanted to grab her, kiss her and take her. However he stepped away and said, “I’m getting the meatloaf out of the oven.”
He turned and she said in a quiet voice, “Number two. I’d like for you to kiss me.”
He paused. So much for distance. This wasn’t good. His heart beat faster as his lips parted but he shook his head. “I don’t think-”
“Look, if we don’t like it, then it’s best to know.” Her voice only made his desire for her like a whirlwind about to swallow him whole as she said, “It’s better than wondering.”
Her lips puckered and everything inside him tightened up as he said, “I don’t know-”
“I see in your gaze that you want me too,” she said as that mouth of hers captured his every thought, making his own water.
The pounding in his chest caught him off guard. He couldn’t move. “I…”
She came closer again and his body was pumped with adrenaline at the idea of kissing her hit him hard. “Rocco, I’m so used to being spoiled and given whatever I desire that it’s best if you-”
The oven clock beeped, interrupting her.
His head swam as blood surged through him. He needed to either satisfy this urge in him or find ice-cold water to drown himself in as he said, “Lunch is ready.”
She lowered her face and he saw her blush as she pressed her hands to her perfectly shaped breasts. “I don’t want to feel like the aggressor.”
“Then let it be natural,” he said, like he had any right to correct her when all he wanted was to rip off her clothes and claim her.
“What does that mean?”
“If things happen, it should just happen, without thinking ahead.”
She pressed the bridge of her nose and said, “You keep calling me ma’am. It’s driving me crazy.”
This time he touched her and ignored the spark that rushed through him as he said, “I don’t mean to make you crazy, Mica. You’re beautiful and kind and sweet.”
“Rocco…” Her eyes fluttered and lips parted.
Heaven help him because he couldn’t stop himself. He needed to taste her, to have her.
And he lowered his head, tasting heaven itself.
Her kiss only fueled his need for he—-his body had never felt so alive.
If he didn’t stop, he’d lose what was left of his common sense.
So he ended the kiss abruptly, pulling away to reach for the oven. “Now go into the dining room so I can serve you properly.”
Her hips swayed as she headed to the freezer and called out, “I’m getting the beers. I want this to be… special, like we’re celebrating being alive.”
A date with a beautiful woman who rivaled angels in heaven wasn’t fair. He’d never asked for this. He never would because Mica was so far above him, that she was nearly perfect.
And she deserved a prince, not a prisoner like him.
6
Mica checked her ponytail was still straight in the steel appliances that shined, and she had no appearance of being disheveled.
Rocco’s kiss was hotter than anyone else’s ever.
And she’d been kissed before, though that intensity made her knees weak.
Her cheeks were still warm from earlier, but she headed out of the freezer and toward the dining room, with cold beers for them both she’d had taken in the freezer.
The cold air hadn’t cooled her enough.
Rocco was near the table h’'d just finished setting and she met his gaze.
Her lips parted.
If only he’d kiss her again and not stop.
However, the wail of her baby from the monitor interrupted and she stepped back. Rocco said the obvious, “Sounds like your son is awake.”
So no romantic dinner for two. She knew better. She was a mom now though she pointed with her fingers toward the door she just stepped into as she said, “I’ll go get him.”
He saluted her like a soldier. “I’ll get the playpen so he can be next to you while you eat.”
“Thanks.” She ran up the stairs.
No one was that useful in her life, not even her parents. Julie took care of a few things but she didn’t automatically assume anything unless she was asked.
Her mother and father had complained when she’d asked for help to babysit when she’d been so sick, but she wanted to go and get her brother, their son, with her helicopter as Jacob interfered with a fundraiser they’d wanted to attend.
Rocco’s simple gesture to get her playpen had struck a cord as she made the top step in her dash.
What would it be like if she actually had a real partner without being a bother?
Might her life be sweeter then?
Jacob stopped wailing the moment she scooped him into her arms.
He trusted her to take care of everything, and those big eyes of his made her hold him tight.
The one good thing from her messy past was him. She cradled Jacob to her and returned down the stairs, music reaching her ears.
Rocco had chosen relaxing music as if caring what she might want over dinner conversation. As she entered the dining room, she stopped abruptly. Rocco had set up the playpen beside her seat, a blanket folded back invitingly.
Seriously? Not only was he thoughtful of her, but Jacob. Her heart pounded with gratitude but she sat down in her chair and handed him the soft blanket from one of her friends in New York. “Here, please put this away.”
Rocco folded it and put on the empty seat next to him as he said, “I thought he might be cold.”
Considerate, and once sh’'d have thought the same. She smiled at him and explained, “Babies are’'t strong enough to push back a blanket in their sleep. All the books say don’t give them one
when they are asleep.”
“I didn’t know.” He took the chair next to her and Jacob.
This felt like what a real family must be like. Dinner. Help with the children. Were Raphael and Gabriel doing this too, with their pregnant wives?
She pulled her chair closer, getting a savory smell of meatloaf. “I’m learning as I go. I research everything.”
He lifted the bowl of mashed potatoes and piled them on her plate as he said, “Sounds like a lot of work.”
Carbs were never her friend, but she held her tongue. She checked on her son one more time as he rattled his small monkey like it was the most fascinating thing in the world and she handed him the bottle on the table and then picked up her silverware. “I was always a good student.”
“I bet you were.” He winked and they both ate a few bites in silence.
Her son sucked his bottle and calm enveloped her.
Life was pretty perfect right now and she honestly never had this sense in her fast-paced life. She cut into her meatloaf and asked, “What about you?”
He finished his bite, raised his eyebrow and asked, “As a student”"
Rocco relaxed her when she knew absolutely nothing about him. Rationally she should go slowly. So she nodded and said, “Yeah. How were you in school?”
He scratched his chin like that five o’clock shadow of his itched. “Well, my older brothers just made all my teachers put me in the troubled section. School was pretty boring.”
She ate a few bites. In school she’d always been pressured for the perfect grades, the perfect life, never mind the unhappiness that went under the cracks of never living up to perfect. “You weren’t challenged?”
He finished more of his food, folded his hands together and said, “Look, your brother sounds like a stand-up guy. Mine… well mine weren’t. They were both, small-minded and that eventually killed them. I joined the Marines to escape being like them.”
Not everyone had her life and her means. She tasted his meatloaf which caught her off guard. It melted in her mouth with an explosion of flavors. Wow. She hadn’t expected this as most of the time meatloaf was well… boring but then she’d only had it at conferences and never ordered it off the menu. “Well, the service is honorable.”
She savored the last of her meat dish, never expecting it to be so tasty. He said, “They do well with troubled kids like me. Unfortunately I…”
“You what?” She ignored how her heart was on pins and needles, wanting to know more about everything with Rocco.
He stared at his empty plate and said, “I ended up a disappointment to them too.”
Rocco took a swig of the beer but put it down fast.
She sipped her own and stared at his lips. He was very handsome, kind, sweet, considerate which was the opposite of disappointing. “Why? You seem like you learned…”
He sat back and his face tightened like he did’'t want to talk about this as he said, “I tried to help my brothers but they set me up, which is why I need to ensure my mother is okay now.”
“Your mom is lucky she has you.” She reached out and tapped his hands, ignoring the zaps inside her.
He lowered his shoulders, clearly upset as he shook his head. “Doubtful.”
Rocco was absolutely nothing like the prep school men she always met. He genuinely cared for his mother. “My parents love all things about New York. My brothers both disappeared during high school and left me running the family business after my father’s heart attack where he was ordered to give up stress.”
He started to pick up the dishes as he said, “So you were the good daughter, as I’d expect.”
She helped with the silverware, but he took it from her as she said, “Not really. My mother still thought I should marry well, despite the fact I was running my father’s business, and she introduced me to Ali.”
He carried the dishes to the kitchen but asked, “Jacob’s… sperm donor?”
“Yes,” she called out but she lost sight of him behind the kitchen door.
In another life she’d have trailed after him to continue, but Jacob was eating. And she wasn’t ready to leave her baby boy with those big brown eyes of his.
Rocco returned with two small plates with a vanilla cupcake with strawberry on each of them. H’'d baked too? Her eyes widened as he placed it in front of her and asked, “What made you fall for the guy? He was rich?”
“My mother loved him.” She accepted the fork he offered.
He sat down with his own dessert and scooted closer to the table. “So you fell for a guy your mother picked out for you?”
She took a bite of the creamy and soft cupcake and once again she had heaven in her mouth. Rocco was amazing. As she finished the bite that reminded her of his sweet kiss, she asked, “Did your mother ever try to set you up with a woman?”
His face froze like he’d just been doused with cold water but then he said, “No. She’d know that I would say no.”
Must be nice. She’d always lived on wishing for parental approval. Perhaps that was bad but it was something she was changing. She finished her cupcake and said, “I was busy running my dad’s business, so I said fine to the date. And when we went out, he made me think I was the only woman in the world for him.”
“But?” He lifted his eyebrow.
She sipped her beer and for once her heart didn’t feel hollow. Again Rocco made her feel calm, even as she said, “Apparently he had the routine down pat and I fell for it like an idiot.”
He leaned close, as if really listening to her. “So, what did you learn? Never pick the guy your mother wants for you?”
She laughed and sat back, despite how her body had warm goosebumps and her skin was practically jumpy with awareness in every cell as if he touched her when he hadn’t at all as she said, “I’m using that line for Christmas when the next family get together is planned.”
Her lips tingled.
She wanted another kiss.
She picked up her spoon and took a bite of the cupcake instead.
The sweet cream was yummy, but absolutely not what she wanted.
She licked her lips and decided she’d ask again, but then her baby wailed, awake from his doze.
With a small sigh she said, “Jacob’s up.”
“I’ll get a bottle.” Rocco immediately stood and headed into the kitchen.
Her eyes widened. She hadn’t had help since Jaco’'s birth, so this was nice. Her life had been in flux since birth, as she worried about Jacob’s life and her own. She picked up her baby and patted his back, hoping he’d calm down.
A huge burb escaped his lips. She hadn’t thought one so small could make that sound, but then Jacob rested his head.
And when Rocco returned, her baby was already fast asleep.
He put the bottle beside the playpen as she laid her baby back down.
Rocco darted into the kitchen, and she was still standing when he returned with a small cake.
How much had he baked today? She curled her hand on her waist and asked, “What’s this?”
“I figured we can have chocolate cake too.” He winked and sliced a piece on her plate.
This was too much. “I’m trying to lose the baby weight.”
He looked her up and down and his brown eyes darkened as he asked, “Why? You’re the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen.”
Heat coursed through her. Most men expected perfection. And to be honest, she wanted to feel attractive. “Still ten pounds less would be great.”
His nose wrinkled but then he took a bite of the cake like this was the first time he’d had sweets in years. “Too skinny is never attractive and you’re perfect as you are.”
She took a bite of the delicious chocolate and wished she has more kisses from Rocco instead. Her entire body was swimming in awareness of him but she finished and then pushed her plate away.
Her heart pounded but she scooted closer as he swallowed his last bite and said, “Now that’s sweet. So, about that kiss?”
&n
bsp; He put his fork down and it clinked against the plate as his muscles became rigid. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
No. Sh‘'d been too forward for him again. She ignored how adrenaline coursed through her as she brushed her hand against his forearm and tilted her head. “I asked for it. And I’m hoping you do it again.”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s not a good idea.”
At least he hadn’t said ma’am. It was an improvement “Because you’re bad news?”
His gaze went to her lips that puckered from his perusal as he said, “Yes.”
She stilled and hoped he kissed her but he didn’t. He also didn’t pull away. She ran her hands through his coarse hair that smelled like her lemon shampoo in the room. “This time I want to pick someone my mother didn’t select for me.”
“She would not approve of me.” His lips met hers.
A sigh of satisfaction escaped her lips as she deepened the kiss.
She never wanted this moment to end.
Rocco was perfect and she left her chair to kiss him deeper.
He traced her hips and she was in heaven until the kiss ended. He retook his seat and waited for her to sit back.
Her chest was heaving, and aching with need, but she sat again.
He reached for the plates like he was going to clean. She reached out to help as she said, “But I do. Jacob clearly does. So will you stay for a while and it might be more than just protecting me because I’ll pay you here?”
He stopped and the plates made a slight noise. He met her gaze and his face turned red. “Now that sounds really awkward.”
True. She took his free hand. “Better we talk about the truth and then figure out where we go from there than let it fester.”
His hand turned and their fingers brushed against as each other as he asked, “What do you mean?”
If she listened to her instincts and didn’t just fall for a man because he made her life on paper seem better then she’d be safe and without Jacob.
This time she wanted to trust her desires so she met his gaze and said, “Life is short. I almost died a year ago and I have’'t been attracted to anyone since.”
Sweetest Obsessions - Anthology Page 86