Before We Kiss

by Susan Mallery

  Bailey stood. “I need to go. I want to walk slowly to city hall so I’m not sweaty when I arrive.” She pressed her hand to her stomach again. “I hope I can do this.”

  Taryn rose and hugged her. “You can. You’ll be great. Tell me everything that happens.”

  “I will,” Bailey promised, and left.

  Taryn watched her go. Pride filled her eyes. For some reason the other woman had taken an interest in Bailey to the point of arranging a clothing exchange with the sole and secret purpose of getting Bailey a new interview dress. Taryn had figured Bailey wouldn’t simply accept it as a gift and she sure couldn’t afford it herself. So there had been a ladies-only clothing exchange.

  Taryn sat down and picked up her latte. Her engagement ring sparkled in the afternoon light. “So,” she said slowly. “Start talking.”

  Larissa grinned. “She’s right. We want details. You said hi and he said hi and then?”

  Dellina did her best to keep from smiling. “Are you talking about my meeting with Sam? It really wasn’t that interesting.”

  Taryn’s gaze narrowed. “If I had something to throw at you, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

  Dellina laughed. “No throwing. Our meeting was fine. Very professional.”

  “No sex on the kitchen counter?” Larissa asked.

  Dellina shook her head. “No. Sam wouldn’t do that.”

  “But you would?” Taryn asked. “Interesting.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it. Sam was pleasant, we cleared up any lingering confusion about our past and talked about the party.”

  Both women stared at her, as if wanting more. No way she was going to mention the tingles. They were private. And probably foolish. She’d had a night with Sam and it had been great. But they’d both moved on and now they were working together. End of story.

  “I was hoping for more,” Larissa admitted.

  “I think he’s good-looking,” Dellina told her. “Does that help?”

  “Not really. I’ve never slept with Sam. Was he good?”

  Taryn laughed. “Larissa, my sweet, that makes it sound like you’ve slept with Jack and Kenny.”

  Larissa’s blue eyes widened. “What? No. Of course not. I work with them.” She flushed. “Especially Jack. We’re friends. Nothing more. Just, you know, good friends.” She pressed her lips together as if trying to prevent herself from babbling. “For the record, I have not slept with anyone at Score. I was just wondering about Sam.”

  Dellina felt a little of Bailey’s tummy unease but it had nothing to do with being nervous. For a second she couldn’t place the cause.

  “Because you’re interested in Sam?” Taryn asked, her eyebrows raised.

  The second Taryn asked the question out loud, Dellina realized the cause of her anxiety and it didn’t make her happy. Why did she care if Larissa had a thing for Sam? She’d spent one evening with him and had a single conversation since. What did she care if he slept with the entire state of California?

  “I’m not interested in Sam,” Larissa said with a sigh. “I meant I work with them, they’re sexy, handsome men. All of them. Equally. I’ve heard things in the media and from various women and I wondered if any of it was true.” She looked at Taryn. “You slept with Jack and you won’t give me any details. Maybe Dellina will be more forthcoming.”

  “I was married to Jack,” Taryn said. “And no, I’m not talking about that part of our relationship.”

  They both looked at Dellina expectantly.

  She held up her hands. “Um, no. I’m not comfortable getting into specifics.”

  “How about a gross generality?” Larissa offered. “Was he good?”

  Dellina felt herself start to smile. “Yeah, he was good.”

  Larissa squeezed Taryn’s hand. “Our little boy is all grown up.”

  “You’re a freak,” Taryn told her. “You know that, right?” She turned to Dellina. “As Sam’s business partner, I would encourage you to have sex with Sam. I’m guessing it would improve his mood and I’m for that. As your friend, you probably want to think more than once about getting involved with a man who has that much bad luck with women.”

  “Arguing each side equally,” Dellina murmured. “Impressive.”

  “Isn’t she?” Larissa sat back in her chair. “What is it about sports guys that make them so appealing?”

  “Their bodies,” Dellina said without hesitating, telling herself she was speaking in generalities and not talking about Sam at all.

  “The danger,” Taryn added. “Remember during the Olympics when we couldn’t stop watching Kipling Gilmore? When he skied down that mountain, it was the sexiest thing ever.” She paused and grinned. “Except for Angel, of course.”

  “Yes, don’t leave your fiancé out of it,” Larissa murmured. “I’m with you on Kipling. Yum and double yum.”

  Larissa leaned toward them both. “So I heard from a friend of mine.”

  Taryn groaned. “Run,” she told Dellina. “Run while you still can. Run and never take her calls.”

  Larissa’s mouth turned into a pout. “You don’t know what I’m going to say.”

  “Yes, I do. Some creature needs rescuing. It’s going to be weird and inconvenient.”

  “Mostly to Jack,” Larissa reminded her.

  Taryn perked up. “That’s right.” She looked at Dellina. “Jack is forever helping Larissa with her various projects. Whether he wants to or not.”

  “It’s one of his best qualities,” Larissa said.

  “Why doesn’t he just say no?” Dellina asked.

  “It’s not in his nature,” Taryn said. “He’s a sucker for Larissa’s causes.” She picked up her latte again. “All right. What is it now?”

  “There might be a lady in Barstow breeding chiweenies.”

  Larissa paused dramatically. Dellina looked at Taryn. “What’s a chiweenie?”

  “Hell if I know. And where’s Barstow?”

  Larissa put her hands on the table. “They’re dogs. A Chihuahua-dachshund mix. There’s concern she has a puppy mill rather than a breeding program. We’re still investigating. But we might need to go in and rescue them.”

  Taryn’s right eye twitched. “Save us all,” she murmured. “Fine. Go rescue your chiweenies, but don’t ask Dellina for help until after the party. I mean it. She’s working on a deadline.”

  Larissa’s eyes widened. “But they’re puppies!”

  Taryn looked at Dellina. “You see what I put up with?”

  Dellina heard the love behind the frustration. Because for Taryn, the people at Score were her family. Dellina knew how important belonging could be. She would do anything for her sisters and her friends. Every now and then she wondered what it would be like to have a Mr. Right in her world. Then she told herself she was doing just fine and that a man would simply get in the way of that.

  * * *

  SAM ARRIVED AT Score a little before six in the morning. He stored his change of clothes in his locker, then headed outside.

  While the days were warm in summer, the nights were still cool, as were the early mornings. The sun had just started to climb over the mountains when he walked onto the basketball court across the street from the company offices.

  When he and Kenny and Jack had first come to Fool’s Gold for a charity event, they hadn’t been looking to leave Los Angeles. But something about the town had appealed to them. They’d come back individually over the next few weeks and had ultimately decided to relocate. When Taryn had gone looking for a building, they’d requested a space for a half basketball court. Ever the overachiever, she’d found one where they could put in a full court. Which meant three mornings a week there were pickup games with the guys in town.

  Now Sam stepped through the gate in the high fence and wal
ked toward the people already there. He, Jack and Kenny made up the Score contingent. From CDS, the local bodyguard school, were Justice, Angel, Ford and Consuelo, the only woman who joined them. Gideon, who owned the local radio station and his twin brother, Gabriel, showed up most mornings. Usually someone else came to play. One of the Stryker brothers, Josh Golden or Raoul Moreno.

  They played to thirty points and generally followed NCAA rules. Teams were decided by drawing poker chips from a bag and whichever team Consuelo wasn’t on was skins. Given the choice, Sam preferred having the petite brunette on his side. She was small but fast, and she played dirty.

  “Hey,” he said as he approached. As he greeted everyone, he did a quick head count and realized they were down one player. Clay Stryker had arrived just after Sam, which meant one of the regulars was absent.

  “It’s Angel,” Consuelo said with disgust. “I’m sure he’s still in bed with Taryn.”

  Not anything Sam wanted to hear. Taryn was too much like a sister for him to be thinking about her having sex with anyone. When it came to personal information, he didn’t want to know.

  Just then a man on a Harley rounded the corner and parked. A couple of the guys whistled loudly.

  “Who’s finally getting some,” Ford yelled. “Did your woman not want you to go?”

  “Can I help it if I’m a god in bed?” Angel asked as he pulled off his helmet.

  Sam grinned.

  The first few mornings after the court had been finished, there had only been the three guys from Score. Later in the week, the team from CDS had shown up. The game had grown from there. Sam wasn’t sure, but he would bet Taryn had something to do with it. There were more greetings, then everyone drew from the cloth bag and divided into teams.

  Sam saw he and Consuelo had different colors. He grimaced as he pulled off his shirt. He would have to be careful around her. She thought nothing of throwing an elbow. If it went high, the man she was guarding ended up with a black eye. If it went low, he generally walked like a cowboy for the rest of the day. Neither was appealing.

  “Let’s go,” Jack said, clapping his hands together.

  Kenny rolled his eyes. “Once a quarterback,” he muttered to Sam.

  Sam chuckled.

  The ball was tossed into the air and they were moving.

  Sam ducked around Justice and reached for the ball. He moved downcourt only to sense more than see someone coming up beside him. He turned, shifted his weight and jumped up to shoot. The ball spun through the air and fell gracefully into the net.

  “Way to go, Sam.”

  The high-pitched yell had him looking over his shoulder and then swearing under his breath.

  “They’re ba-ack,” Ford said as he ran past.

  Most mornings two old ladies showed up with lawn chairs and mugs of coffee. They sat and watched until the game was over, cheering both sides and often suggesting that shirts weren’t the only thing that should come off.

  He had no problem with that. It was that one of the old ladies seemed especially interested in him and that was kind of weird. He’d run into her a few weeks ago at one of the town festivals and he would swear she’d pinched his ass.

  Justice scored for the other team, then Jack stepped out of bounds to take the ball. Sam got into place and caught it, then passed it to a teammate. As they all moved up the court, he thought that if someone was going to go after his ass, he would pick Dellina. They’d only been together that one time, but it had been memorable. The way she’d kissed him, he thought as he turned and reached for the ball. Her mouth had made him—

  He came to a stop involuntarily as his face made contact with something hard and sharp. Pain exploded by his eye, but before he even started swearing, he passed the ball to Clay. Only then did he reach up to touch the rapidly swelling lump that was going to not only leave a mark but give him a black eye. He turned to Consuelo.

  “Seriously? You had to do that?”

  “You weren’t paying attention. You know I hate that.” She sounded more defensive than contrite. Then she pointed to his face. “Your nose is bleeding, too.”

  He rubbed his chin. Sure enough, his hand came away with blood on it.

  “Man down,” Jack yelled, walking toward him.

  “I’m standing,” Sam told him even as he headed off the court. Dripping blood would make the court slick. And he should probably get some ice on his eye.

  “I’m not going to say I’m sorry,” Consuelo yelled after him.

  He smiled. No, she wouldn’t, and he liked that about her.

  Sam walked across the street. It was still before seven but when he entered the offices of Score he found Taryn in the foyer. She took one look at him and shook her head.

  “No,” she said firmly. “I’m not patching you up. And don’t bleed on the carpet.” She walked to the phone at the reception desk and picked up the receiver. A second later she said, “Sam got injured.” She paused and looked at him. “Black eye and bloody nose.” Another pause. “Yes, they are idiots.”

  She hung up. “Larissa will meet you in the locker room.” She pulled a box of tissues from the reception desk and thrust it at him. “Use these. I swear, if you drip on our carpet...” she began.

  He took the box and pulled out a handful. “You’ll what?”

  “Be very angry.”

  “Ooooh. I’m trembling.”

  She glared at him, then stalked off. Considering she was wearing four-inch heels, the pace was impressive.

  Twenty minutes later Larissa removed the ice pack to check the swelling. “You’re going to have a black eye,” she murmured. Her touch was light as she brushed her fingers over his cheek. “You want to go see a doctor?”

  “No.”

  “Typical. Use the ice packs for ten minutes on, ten minutes off. Don’t press hard.”

  “I know how to do this,” he reminded her.

  “You know what would be better than knowing how to treat a black eye? Not getting hit in the first place.”

  He nodded. “Point taken.”

  She started putting away her first aid supplies. “It’s not usually you who gets distracted. What happened?”

  He’d been thinking about Dellina’s mouth. Not that he would share that with Larissa. “It was one of those things.”

  “Poor Sam.” She picked up her kit, then paused. “I’ve been talking to one of my rescue groups about—”

  He was already halfway out the door. “Good luck with that.”

  “You didn’t hear what we want to rescue.”

  “I know.”

  * * *

  FAYRENE HOPKINS WAS a big fan of having a plan. She knew exactly where she wanted her business to be by her twenty-eighth birthday. She understood the market in her town, the opportunities and had even been saving to buy a small apartment building. Because in addition to having her own company, she was going to start buying up real estate in Fool’s Gold. She had friends, family, a wonderful man who loved her and a plan. What she didn’t have was an engagement ring and not having it was killing her.

  It wasn’t the ring itself, she admitted. It was what the ring represented. Commitment. Because as much as Ryan swore he loved her, he seemed in no hurry to pop the question. Fayrene was ready to get married and get on with the next phase of their relationship.

  She sat on the stool in her sister’s spare bedroom. Dellina was on the phone, dealing with a client issue. Which left Fayrene alone with a dozen or so beautiful wedding gowns. Some were samples, others had been ordered for soon-to-be brides. Brides engaged to men who were willing to cough up a ring and set the date.

  Fayrene sighed heavily. She knew in her heart she had no one to blame but herself. When she and Ryan had first met, she hadn’t been looking for love. She’d been interested in building her business. She
was young and sometimes that meant she wasn’t taken seriously. She knew that for the other businesses in town to be willing to use her services and trust her to get the job done, she had to be willing to do more than was expected. Falling in love would only be a distraction.

  Only Ryan had been so...nice, she thought wistfully. Sweet and funny. They’d met at Hendrix Construction. He’d been there as an engineer while she’d been filling in for the receptionist. She’d also been pet-sitting a pregnant cat who had chosen that morning to go into labor.

  While she’d been running around like a crazy person, Ryan had calmed her down, checked on the cat and kept it all together. She’d been impressed. She’d tried to keep her distance from him, but she’d been unable to resist his charms. And when he’d kissed her...well, she’d been totally lost.

  Now, as she picked up one of the dresses and held it against her, she supposed Ryan’s greatest virtue was that he was doing exactly what she’d asked. Waiting. When they’d admitted their love, she’d been scared about losing her chance at her business dream. Getting married would have been too much of a distraction. So they’d agreed to wait four years. One of which had passed, which left three more to go.

  Only she didn’t want to wait anymore and she couldn’t figure out how to get that information to Ryan without telling him directly.

  She held the dress in front of her again. From what she could see through the protective plastic, it was a beautiful strapless gown with layers of—

  “Leave that dress alone!” Dellina walked into the room and put her hands on her hips. “Fayrene, that’s either a special order or a sample. You can’t mess with the merchandise.”

  “If it’s a sample, I can.”

  “Then go to Paper Moon and try it on in the store like a normal person.”

  Fayrene returned the dress to the rack and sighed. “I’m not normal. I’m an idiot. Ana Raquel was smart. She realized she loved Greg and got engaged immediately. They moved in together.”

  “They also eloped.”

  Fayrene wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t want that. I want a big wedding.” With all her friends there. She wanted to walk down the aisle and see Ryan at the other end. She wanted a church ceremony and a backyard reception.