Dante's Way

by Marie Rochelle

  Amara hated to admit it, but Dante was right. What woman wouldn’t be fascinated by his good looks? However, she couldn’t come right out and admit she had been drawn to him since the night he grabbed her.

  If Dante was thrown by seeing her cleaned up then he definitely would be taken back by her surprise attraction to him. She was pleased but a little scared at the thrill he gave her when just weeks ago the mere mention of his name would send her into a fit.

  “I wasn’t thinking anything like that at all,” she admitted, trying not to notice how good the black t-shirt looked stretched across his wide chest.

  This was a first for her noticing the sexual chemistry between her and him, but she had to make sure not to get carried away by her own response to his magnetism. Without a doubt, more than one woman had fallen for his biker good looks, but she couldn’t allow herself to become one of them. She was working towards starting her life over, not finding a man. But if she was looking for one, Dante would be at the very top of her list.

  “I guess I misread what was going on between us,” Dante said uncrossing his arms, “but I still have to leave and get back to the bar. I do have to admit I had a very good time talking to you. Maybe I’ll see you again the next time I come by to see Pastor Allen.”

  “I’d like that a lot,” Amara replied before she could stop herself and felt her face growing warmer when one of Dante’s eyebrows arched at her. “I mean since we’re trying to be friends, I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

  Great! Why did she sound like she couldn’t wait to see him again? She needed more practice at being nonchalant because right now she sucked at it!

  Squeezing her arm, Dante grinned at her making his eyes shine even more than they already did. “I don’t see anything wrong with it either.” He gave her one last look before he let go of her arm and sauntered out of the room showing off his perfect ass in his well-worn jeans.

  Against her will, Amara gave Dante’s tempting body one last long lingering look then sighed before she turned back around and started working on putting away the rest of the groceries.

  She completely missed how Dante stopped in the open doorway and stared at her for a few extra minutes before spinning on his heel and finally leaving the kitchen.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  A half hour later, Dante strolled through his crowded bar waving at customers in the booths as they called out his name; but he couldn’t give them his full attention because his mind wasn’t on the activity going on around him.

  He hadn’t been able to get his wandering thoughts off of Amara since he left the shelter.

  He never imagined in his wildest dreams she’d actually look like a beauty pageant contestant underneath all of that filth and grime. He could still feel the smoothness of her skin beneath his fingers from where he had touched her arm.

  Even after he drove away, his thoughts kept filtering back to her so that he almost forgot to pick up Caleb’s cell phone like he’d promised. How was it possible for someone to change so drastically in such a short period of time?

  Amara’s face was free of any kind of makeup and her outfit wasn’t expensive at all. All she had been wearing was a pair of jeans and a simple top but on her body it looked simply perfect.

  As he continued down the back hallway to his office, Dante wondered if she was still thinking about him or if she’d gone on with her day and he was only a distant memory to her. He didn’t like the thought he could be so easily forgettable to her.

  He would have to find a way to make sure he saw her again before the week was over; it was only fair for him to check in and see if she had any problems putting the rest of the food away.

  Opening his office door, Dante walked inside and closed it behind him glancing at Caleb who was hanging up the phone. His friend leaned back in the chair then frowned at him.

  “Where have you been for two hours?” Caleb demanded. “I thought you were coming straight here after you dropped off the food at the shelter and picked up my cell phone at Inked.”

  “I got caught up with something,” Dante said, walking across the room. He handed Caleb his cell phone. “Besides, I wasn’t aware that I had a time limit to get back here.”

  Standing up, Caleb shoved his phone into his pocket. “You didn’t, but what held you up? Did Pastor Allen give you another lecture about working too hard again? I know that’s what happens every time he sees me. The last thing I need is a lecture from him when he knows nothing about my life. I think he’s just a nosy old man.”

  “You need some guidance from someone. Why not from Pastor Allen? He’s lived a lot longer than both of us, but no, he wasn’t the one who kept me. We only talked to each other about ten minutes and then he left to take care of something else,” Dante answered.

  Moving away from his friend, Dante took a seat behind the desk flipping through the paperwork stacked on there. He picked up a fax hoping this is what he had been waiting for.

  “Is this the information for the last two teams entering the pool tournament?”

  “Yeah, the fax came through about forty minutes ago and they sent the entrance fees to the bar’s PayPal account, so they’re ready to go and all of the slots are full now.”

  Dante was glad everything was finally taken care of. Now he could start working on the brackets for the teams, along with the tournament rules including the number of games per match. It was detailed and the more time he had to get all of it in order the better.

  “I’m not going to let you dodge my question. I told you about the fax now let’s get back to who kept you at the shelter for so long?” Caleb watched him closely.

  Tossing the paper down on the desk, Dante looked at his buddy. This conversation wasn’t going to end until he got an answer. It wasn’t any of his friend’s business but he would tell him anyway and without a doubt the information would get straight back to Griffin.

  “I saw Amara. She’s staying there now,” he answered, watching and waiting for a reaction.

  “Amara...as in the homeless girl you’ve been trying to help? How did she get there?” he questioned. “Don’t they have an age requirements for those shelters? Shouldn’t Pastor Allen have turned her over to juvenile services?”

  “First, Amara isn’t as young as I thought she was. She’s twenty-four. I don’t know who got her to go there, but I’m glad they did because I confronted Ike the other day about talking to her.”

  Dante didn’t miss the worried expression that quickly passed over Caleb’s face. Everyone around town knew how Ike made his money. It wasn’t a secret and he didn’t try to make it one either.

  “I guess you’re telling me she wasn’t scared of you this time. You must have worked your Braden charm on her. You know Keira almost fell for it until Jim stepped in and put a stop to it.”

  “I don’t know what Braden charm you are talking about,” Dante said, “and I was never a threat to Jim’s relationship with Keira. We’ve always been friends and nothing more.”

  “Now you are, but back then I think you were having other thoughts about the future Mrs. Russell and it was okay. She’s very sexy. I know I’ve taken a couple of looks at her myself.”

  Dante was done talking about this nonsense with Caleb. He had a lot of work to get done before he left for the night and his buddy wasn’t helping.

  “Aren’t you going to be late for work?” he asked, hoping his friend took the blatant hint to leave him alone.

  “I do have an appointment coming in about forty-five minutes, so I better go,” Caleb admitted. “However, you still didn’t tell me what it was about Amara that held you up for so long, but don’t worry about it. I’ll find out. You know that always do.”

  Spinning around, Caleb walked across the room and went out the door. Before the day was over, Dante bet that his phone would be ringing and Griffin would be on the other end wanting his own questions about Amara answered too, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it. He had more important things to take care
of first.

  Reaching for the mouse on his desk, Dante moved it around on the shiny surface then clicked on the folder named tournament pulling up the brackets, so he could add the final two players. If this new venture for him was a crowd drawer as he planned it to be, it could rack in hundreds of new patrons, along with thousands of dollars for the bar.

  At the beginning when the idea was brought up to him, he did feel somewhat ill-equipped to undertake such a task especially after he learned what was entailed, but he researched it some more and figured out how to make it a huge attraction for the bar.

  Now with the whole thing falling into place easier than he imagined, his adrenaline levels were starting to rise and he loved the feeling of being pumped up. It was the greatest rush in the world.

  Well...maybe not the greatest but since he hadn’t being with a woman in months, this had to do until he found the right one to share his bed. All he had to do was find a female who made him think about her more than his work. Sadly, it was easier said than done.

  What about Amara?

  The thought flashed through his mind before Dante could stop it making him pause for a moment then he shook it away. He saw that Amara found him attractive, but that didn’t mean anything except they had good chemistry.

  Sexual chemistry had gotten him in trouble time and time again. He wasn’t going to be sidetracked by it again, besides Amara had only accepted his friendship a few hours ago. She didn’t hint at wanting anything else from him and why would she?

  They barely knew each other but that could change and secretly Dante wished it would since he found Amara to be very captivating. He wondered what else was buried deep inside of her that needed to be coached to the surface by him with soft words and understanding.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “When were you going to tell me that Dante kissed you?” an angry voice accused. “I thought he had gotten over his crush for you. I might need to have that talk with him after all. He needs to find a woman of his own and leave you the hell alone.”

  Keira stopped working on the list for Trevor’s birthday party and stared at Jim standing by the table glaring at her. Where in the world had that question come from? Why was her husband asking her such a ridiculous question?

  “What are you talking about?” she asked, placing her pen down on the dining room table. She didn’t know what Jim was talking about. “Dante didn’t kiss me,” she denied, vehemently.

  “I know that he did. Why aren’t you telling me the truth? I’ve seen how he looks at you. I saw it the other night at the bar when he was talking to you. He could barely keep his eyes off of you. I thought his feelings for you would have ended once we got married, but I can see I was wrong. How could he still want another man’s woman, especially his wife?”

  She couldn’t believe Jim actually still believed his best friend was interested in her romantically. Why was her husband bringing this up now? Someone had to put these ideas into his head. She loved that he didn’t want other men looking at her, but Dante was one of his closest friends and he would never do anything to ruin up their friendship.

  “Who told you that Dante kissed me?” she asked, again wondering who would start such a horrible rumor. Maybe after she found out who told Jim something so stupid, she would be able to fix the problem without it turning into a full blown argument between them.

  “Trevor told me about it while I was driving him to soccer practice,” Jim said. “Are you telling me that my buddy didn’t kiss you at the grocery store in front of my sons?”

  Keira could barely contain her laughter. Trevor told her that he would tell his father about the kiss, but it had been so insignificant that she had forgotten about it before she left the grocery store and besides it happened literally weeks ago. Why was Trevor only telling his father about it now? She guessed she should have taken her stepson’s promise more seriously since he was so scared of losing his family.

  With deliberately casual movements, she got up from her chair and made her way slowly towards her furious husband. “Yes, Dante did kiss me.”

  “That bastard...I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him around you. It was my fault as much as it was his. I always felt he still had lingering emotions for you and why wouldn’t he? You are one gorgeous woman, but the second I’m gone he tried acting on them. Well, I’m not going to let him have you. I love my family. It’s mine and it will stay that away.”

  Jim’s eyes narrowed as she continued walking towards him. She could already feel the anger rising from his body. He was ready to go into fighting mode to protect his family and she found it so adorable.

  She loved he wanted to protect her, but she didn’t need it. Going up to her angry husband, Keira stood on her tiptoes, kissed him on the cheek and then took a step back. She waited for his reaction to her kiss. Jim stopped his tirade and stared at her.

  “Why are you kissing me on the cheek when I’m telling you how pissed off I am about another man kissing you in public for everyone else to witness. Especially one I’ve considered my good friend for years..”

  Sighing, Keira threw her hands up in the air trying not to laugh at the entire situation. “I was only showing you how Dante kissed me at the grocery store,” she answered. “Are you still mad enough to kick his ass? I need to know now, so I’ll have enough money to bail your sexy ass out of jail.”

  “He only kissed you on the cheek?” Jim uttered, some of the passion gone out of his voice.

  She nodded at him. “Yes, it was very innocent. Trevor should have told you all of it. Dante and I are only friends and nothing more. He has never made a pass at me in all of the time I have known him. Why would he when everyone knows I’m madly in love with my very handsome but a little possessive husband?

  A faint light twinkled in the depths of his beautiful eyes...it was almost devilish. “Since you’re so in love with me how about we go upstairs and I can show you how much I love you too, Darling,” Jim suggested, yanking her against his warm, hard body.

  Placing her hands on his chest, Keira leaned her body away. “Whoa...wait a minute. Aren’t you going to debate me about this? I mean minutes ago you were ready to kick Dante’s ass.”

  “I know I was but after hearing your side I see how Trevor misunderstood what happened. He’s a kid and to him a kiss is a kiss. Anyways, why would you want Dante when you have me?”

  Jim pulled her back into his strong arms placing his hands on her lower back. He slowly rained kisses down the side of her neck. “Damn, you smell so good. Come on and let’s go upstairs. Drew is taking a nap. I know we can find something to do to entertain ourselves for an hour,” he whispered, slipping the strap of her shirt down her arm.

  “Honey, I can’t,” Keira whispered, squirming around in her husband’s arms. “I need to finish the list for Trevor’s birthday next month. I’m still searching for that basketball video game he’s been hinting for.”

  “Sweetheart, I’ll help you look for the video game he really doesn’t need later. If we can’t find it, I’ll get Hayward to help out with the search. He’s very good at getting his hands on hard to find items. Right now, all I want to do is make love to my beautiful wife.”

  Keira didn’t think it was possible for her to fall in love with Jim any more than she already was but she just did. He knew how to touch her heart without even trying. It’s what made their relationship so special.

  “Well, I think I could take a break for a little while to have some fun,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “Finally,” he said, swinging her up into his arms.

  “Hey, I can walk.” She giggled as he carried her out of the dining room.

  He looked at her intently. “Beauty, I know you can but I love any chance I get to have you in my arms.”

  A familiar shiver of awareness shot through Keira as she snuggled closer. She cherished her life now and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even the hard times she experienced with Jim had gotten her here with him and
their children. Her body never stopped aching for her husband’s loving touch. She couldn’t believe how she was filled with such an amazing sense of completeness anytime she was with him.

  “Sweetheart, what are you thinking about?” Jim whispered against her ear as he carried her past Drew’s nursery to their bedroom.

  “I’m thinking about how extremely blessed I am. I wouldn’t trade you and the boys for anything in the world.”

  Pausing in front of their bedroom door, Jim eyes tenderly melted into hers and as always her heart skipped a beat. “Keira, you are irreplaceable to me too. I love you baby so damn much.”

  “You are the love of my life and the life of my love, but I think we need to help Dante find someone too. All of us are so happy, I feel bad for him especially after he dated a bitch like Bambi. Do you know anyone at work you could fix him up with?” Keira asked, staring at him.

  “Sweetheart, I would rather be doing other things than working on my buddy’s love life right now,” Jim answered. “Like what?” Keira said, grinning at her very charming husband.

  “Well, it involves me stripping you out of these clothes and tossing your sexy ass down on the bed and maybe working on seeing how many times we can make love before Drew wakes up. What do you think?”

  “Why are we still standing out in the hallway wasting time?”

  Keira laughed as Jim kicked their bedroom door opened with the toe of his cowboy boot and carried her on the inside.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Six weeks later...

  Sitting in front of the computer at the public library, Amara tapped her ink pen against the notepad as her eyes scanned through the help wanted ads on the screen. She had gotten up early this morning and helped Pastor Allen prepare breakfast for the few homeless people that still came to the shelter, then stayed and helped clean up before grabbing her backpack and coming here to look for a job...any kind of job.