Love’s Learning Curves
Diana DeRicci
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LOVE’S LEARNING CURVES
Copyright © 2010 DIANA DERICCI
ISBN 978-1-936165-52-0
Cover Art Designed By Anastasia Rabiyah
Photographs Copyright Jimmy Thomas RomanceNovelCovers.com
Edited By D. Thomas Jerlo and Traci Markou
Published by Purple Sword Publications, LLC
www.PurpleSword.com
To Se, Mi, and Mina.To my awesome editor, DTJ.
To Traci, and her crazy blonde moments.
Sometimes they turn out better than you could ever dream.
Chapter One
Dario slammed his desk drawer shut, annoyance thinning his patience. The doors to his office opened, and his Uncle Antonio walked in. Great. He didn’t bother to look up, fully aware of the reason for the visit.
“I’m not taking Muffy to the Spring Luncheon.”
He yanked out another drawer, rifled through the contents and smacked it shut. Still no damn keys. Where the hell did I leave them?
Antonio’s lips thinned. “She needs an escort.”
“So? There’s plenty of toys for her to chose from.”
“That was crude,” Antonio growled.
Dario shrugged. It was the truth. Antonio had been pushing him at Muffy for the better part of a year now. He wouldn’t come out and say he hated her, but she sure as hell didn’t do a damn thing for him.
Raking his hand stiffly through his hair, he said, “Look, Antonio, I know what you’re doing, but it needs to stop.”
“You’re the heir,” he ground out.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Dario muttered without looking up at the other man. Louder, he snarled, “Where are my keys?”
A knock on his door snapped his attention to the front of his office. “Uh, D. I have your keys. Remember? I borrowed the car this morning.”
Chance stood pensively at the front of the office, bouncing from one foot to the other, the missing key ring held aloft in his fingers.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Chance. I did forget. Did you get all your stuff done?”
“I did, but I need another favor.”
Dario practically jumped for joy. Anything to get him out of his uncle’s sight for the next five minutes. Standing, he leaned over and shut off his monitor, done for the day. Chance walked in. His younger cousin watched him with an apprehensive hopefulness. Dario, not his dad. Go figure. Dario adored Chance. Antonio, though a fair man, could be a bit brusque and cold, even toward his own son.
“Dad can’t do it, but could you take me and Bethany to the State Fair this weekend? Her folks won’t let her go unless we have an adult drive us.” Chance grimaced, not that Dario didn’t understand his angst. For seventeen, his cousin was a very level young man. He may have been considerably younger, but he respected Dario, looked up to him, so he made sure he did his best to treat him fairly.
“This weekend is the Luncheon,” Antonio was quick to remind them both.
Somewhere in the ether of his imagination, Dario heard the hallelujah chorus and bells. “I’d be glad to, Chance. Have her folks come to my place to meet me and we’ll leave from there. Good?”
“You rock!” Chance tossed him the keys and shot out of the office.
Antonio fumed. “Dario.”
“Sorry. I have plans, Antonio.” He managed not to grin like the Cheshire cat with that announcement. Just barely.
“If your father knew you were skirting your duty…”
Dario choked. “He doesn’t expect me to dance to his tune, Antonio. Why can’t you do the same?”
“Because at least one of us in this family, in this pride, has to take it seriously.”
Dario narrowed his eyes at Antonio’s clenched fist, his stormy features. “Be very careful how you malign Dad, Antonio. You know as well as I do, he’s doing a damn fine job. Just because I won’t give your prize protégé the time of day doesn’t mean I’m not doing my duty.”
When his uncle would have said more, Dario stopped him with a sharp head shake. “Antonio, it’s almost Friday. Dad and Mom will be back in time for the Luncheon Saturday. I’m not even needed. Muffy will be fine with whoever she chooses to attend with her.”
“It would look better to the other prides if you were present, and with a respected date.”
Dario stifled his groan. Respected my ass. More like claws in waiting. He didn’t bother to reply, instead leaving his uncle standing in the office, knowing if he didn’t, Antonio would only continue to needle him over the situation. The answer was clear.
He wasn’t going to the Luncheon, and he wasn’t going to court Muffy.
* * * *
Shrieks and squeals of laughter filled the air. Hard packed dirt gave way to little tufts of grass along the edges of the causeways where the rock borders met the grounds. Music blared through the air as they passed another carnival ride going full speed, to the screamed enjoyment of the riders. Sheridan froze and rose up on her toes as an enthusiastic herd of kids ran past her, charging for their next adventure. Dropping to her feet, she laughed and shook her head, taking the near stampede in stride. It was all a person could do in the chaos that was the State Fair.
“Lose any toes?” Kay asked, grinning.
Sheridan wiggled them in her sandals. “Nope, all intact.” Glancing at her brother, Rush, and Kay, his wife of five months, she asked them, “So what are you two up for now?” Stacee and Jonas caught up to them, sharing dyed sugar on a stick. Cotton candy sweetened the air.
“If it spins, I’ll pass,” Stacee offered. “I can’t handle vertigo, especially loaded on sugar.”
Jonas wrapped a hand around her waist. A very slight bulge showed the beginning signs of her pregnancy beneath her clothing. Sugar and baby. Sheridan didn’t blame her for passing.
Up ahead, the line for the Ferris wheel wasn’t too long. She motioned with a hand flip. “How about that?”
“I don’t know,” Stacee balked, looking a little green at the idea. The baby had been kicking her ass from the inside out. She hadn’t handled a whole lot of the fair as of yet, but the day was young.
Jonas pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’s okay. We’ll come again when Junior is old enough and you can show him how tough you really are.” He was grinning while he said it, mischief painted clearly on his face.
“Her,” she stated succinctly. “I’m telling you, her.” Then she stuck her tongue out. It was blue.
“Well, I want to go,” Sheridan said. When it looked like none of the four were going to team up with her to ride the wheel, she said, “This won’t take long. Don’t go far.”
“We’ll be over at
the water guns,” Rush said, pointing to a standalone booth. “You up for it?” He challenged Jonas with a show of teeth, not meaning anything, except maybe a test of pride. Considering the two’s personalities, and their initial meeting, they got along really well.
“Men,” Stacee mumbled.
“Alphas,” Kay agreed, then all three women giggled. “Don’t worry. We won’t leave you.”
Sheridan sighed, the only sign of her exasperated frustration with their persistence. “I’m fine. Really.”
“We know,” Rush was quick to point out. “Just taking care of my sis.” He jostled her toward the line. “Go. I don’t want to beat him more than twice.” He stated that with a definite evil gleam in his eyes, rolling a shoulder in Jonas’s direction who snickered a rude comment back.
Ignoring their byplay, she refrained from grumbling. Ever since Brant asked Mona to marry, everyone had been treating her like spun glass. Big deal. So they’d only dated for six weeks when he’d asked. So her ex chose someone else, after spending more than two years with Sheridan. Time to move on. It was just a large pill to swallow when Mona was also a classmate and only too willing to brag and rhapsodize over their wonderful relationship.
Turning on a heel, she left the four behind her. Standing in line, she drew a breath through her nose to calm her ire. She wasn’t mad at them. Not really. She knew they had her best interests at heart. So what if Brant had practically begged her to set him up with Mona after they’d broken up? So what if it had worked out that well for them? It wasn’t like he was ever around for her. He couldn’t even find the time to come to Rush’s wedding. It wasn’t a huge event, just family at the Justice of the Peace. Brant simply couldn’t be bothered to break his routine and schedule for one Saturday. Honestly, she hadn’t expected he would to begin with, but it had been the last straw. After watching Kay and Rush, Sheridan knew she was ready for something more. Brant had taken the out rather than the commitment.
What did sting was the fact that Mona was a size six on her worst day. Perfect breasts, lush blonde hair, and robin egg blue eyes. Every man’s Katherine Heigl fantasy. With blue eyes. The epitome of what Sheridan wasn’t. That felt like a slap to the face, and her family’s insistence on coddling her only made it harder to shake it all loose. She really didn’t care that he’d chosen to marry Mona. What stung was the apparent differences between the two of them, because even in her dreams, Sheridan wasn’t a six.
“The line is moving,” a gruff voice murmured near her ear.
“Oh! Sorry.” Coming out of her thoughts, she closed the distance.
“Are you riding alone?”
Sheridan blinked and looked over her shoulder. And almost gasped at the intense set of eyes she found. Melted brown sugar, or better yet, deep clover honey. Either way, they were stunning. “I am.”
He grinned with a low chuckle. “Do you mind if I ride with you? I’m going up to see if I can spot my cousin, but I feel weird sitting alone.” Tilting his head with an owl blink of realization, he added, “And that would be the lousiest pick-up line ever, if I weren’t telling the truth.”
“Really? Not a pick-up line?” She laughed when he actually glanced away, apparently with a hint of embarrassment.
With a short shrug, he asked, “Why are you riding alone?”
Sheridan waved down the fairgrounds. “One of our group is pregnant and not handling the rides too well. I don’t mind doing this one alone. I love the views.”
A long silence fell between them, his eyes staring into hers for breathless seconds.
“I agree.”
Though the way he said it, an intense purr between them, made her think he wasn’t talking about the viewable sights from the top of the wheel. That did sound like a pick-up line.
“In fact, I think I’d love to sit with you,” he said. “If you’re okay with it?” He waited expectantly.
Sheridan knew there were all kinds of warnings she should be heeding at the moment, but with those golden bronze eyes watching her, honest and open, it was hard to really listen, harder to care. And really, what could he do? He’d never escape, especially with her brother a scream away. The last thing she was feeling was threatened. Finally, she agreed.
He stood straight and handed over enough tickets for the both of them. “This one is on me.” The attendant opened the swing gate and allowed them to enter the swaying bucket of the ride.
She wasn’t uncomfortable, but she knew an alpha when she saw one. He wasn’t wolf. That much she was positive of.
He inched closer, though he didn’t crowd her on the seat. “I promise, I’m looking for my cousin. He came with his girlfriend, and he isn’t answering his phone.” The bucket pitched and jerked as the rotation paused and started for new riders.
“What does he look like?” She searched beneath them as they gradually made their circuit, rising higher.
“Brown hair, average height. He’s wearing jeans, and a green t-shirt. Bethany is a willowy blonde. I think she was in shorts.”
“Does he tuck in his shirts?” she asked, studying the grounds below them.
“Doubt it. He’s seventeen.”
“A hat? Is that him?”
Her ride partner shook his head. “No. No hat.” He gave her a smile. “Great eye though.” He leaned on his forearm on the edge of the cup’s rim, his gaze sweeping the grounds that they could see. “What’s your name?”
“Sheridan.”
He offered a hand. “Dario.” The flesh of his palm was smooth and warm, confident in her grasp. The sunlight streaked off his eyes like fireworks. He didn’t rush to release her hand. “Don’t I know you?”
She calmed her erratically beating heart with a slow drawn breath and a lot of effort. His palm held hers in an easy grip. She could pull free, if she wanted. It wasn’t his hold that was making her blood race; it was the way he was looking at her. Like he wanted to lick her and then devour her, and then maybe lick her all over again.
It took two tries to find her voice. “I don’t think so.”
“No, I know I do. I’ve seen you somewhere.”
Tilting her head, she examined his face. A twinge of recognition snaked over her spine. But from where, was the question. “Your eyes,” she whispered. He nodded.
“I know. You had your hair up.” Reaching carefully, he swept it behind her ear, watching the motion thoughtfully. “I’m positive of it.”
She fought to remember where she could have been in the last year. Nowhere. With a shake of her head, she explained, “The last place I had a need to dress for the occasion was for Jonas’s commendation banquet.” The ginger-orange colored bucket swayed as the wheel stopped, leaving them at the very top.
“South Lake?”
She nodded.
“That’s it!” He was nearly beaming. “Almost two years ago, right?”
Sheridan barely remembered seeing any particular face, since the whole evening had been a blur of jokes, teasing and tears for Stacee’s husband. “He received honors for busting a federal case. That case was how he met Stacee.”
“My parents were invited guests, so I went, too. You were at a full table, but there was a time or two…” Dario’s voice drifted away, his attention focused on where he held her as though sifting through those memories. All she felt was the gentle stroke of his thumb on the top of her hand. Each unconscious motion sent tingles up her arm. “I saw you, and all I wanted was to know who you were. By the time I could get away, you were nowhere to be found.” Rising, he captured her eyes in the golden halo of his own. “Are you married?”
She shook her head.
“Dating?”
A twinge of hurt snuck up on her, but she answered him honestly. “No. Why?”
“Because I wanted to ask you to go out with me tomorrow. You’re here with friends, or I’d offer to make this an impromptu date. My cousin asked me to bring him and Bethany. He didn’t mention how hard it would be to keep them close, or that they’d purposely ditch me not ten minu
tes inside the gates.”
“Come with us,” she offered, then blushed at her forwardness. She cleared her throat. “I’m usually not this impulsive.”
“But…” he prodded. Humor made his eyes glow.
What she wanted to say took her by surprise. That she wanted to get to know him better, that he had amazing eyes, that her heart seemed to have developed an unnatural pace since he’d clasped her hand. Just staring at him, his eyes, his lips, was making her feel odd. She couldn’t tell him any of it. Instead, she explained, “Because there’s no fun in walking this place alone. Besides, who are you going to make faces at in the fun house?”
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