Real Deal

by Piper Rayne

  “I know you might not like to hear it, Cat, but I make no promises. The women I date know the score before they agree. It's not a surprise.” He downs another swig of his beer.

  “Maybe you two should just agree to disagree at this point,” I holler out and Cat looks over at me.

  “One day, the clouds will clear and you'll realize what you're missing.”

  “When I'm buried six feet under.” Dane smiles and it’s apparent he’s enjoying the banter, but Cat is not amused.

  She walks back into the family room and leans down to talk into my ear. “I'm going to make dinner.”

  I shake my head. “We can order something.”

  “No, no, I'll make dinner for you and Lily and then I'll get her to bed before I leave.” She smiles and her hand lands on my arm in the most natural way. My gaze shoots to Lily, but she's busy with Garrett.

  “Thank you.”

  “That's a nine for wifely duties,” Dane leans in and says as he passes us, obviously eavesdropping on the conversation.

  “I can still kick your ass. I’m not hurt that badly,” I threaten and he laughs, throwing himself down on the couch.

  “Daddy, that's a dollar,” Lily says but doesn't get up to collect.

  “That's right Lil, hit him in the pocketbook.” He chomps down on another cookie, as crumbs fall from his mouth onto his shirt. “Yeah, these aren't nearly as good as those cupcakes I had. Seriously, they dissolve in your mouth and the frosting, oh, the stuff I could do with that frosting.”

  A smile crosses Cat's lips as she listens to him speak. “Who makes them?” she asks and as I study her features, I get an inkling that she already knows who it is.

  “Charlie's friend. I think whoever it is should buy The Bread Box Bakery. You heard that Georgie's moving to Arizona and closing the shop, right?”

  “She is? Lily loves her zebra cookies,” I say.

  Even Garrett turns around. When a company closes in Climax Cove it's a big deal and Georgie's is a staple for the tourists who come here each year.

  “I took Toby there for her jimmy cakes the other day and she said she can't do it anymore and she has no help.”

  “Her son? What was his name? Chris?” Garrett asks.

  “Moved to San Francisco.”

  “So, she's putting the shop up for sale?” Cat walks back in from the kitchen, intrigued by the conversation.

  “Yeah. At season’s end,” Dane says.

  “Does she have any prospects?” Cat asks.

  Dane looks over. “Not that I know of. Why? You interested?”

  “No, but I might know someone who is.” She leans back on the couch and stretches her legs out so her bare feet are close to mine on the ottoman. Her feet are so tiny and feminine compared to mine. Her pink toe polish stands out on her tanned feet and compared to my battered-up feet we look like a before and after example. The image of our feet close together warms my heart somehow and I wonder what it would be like to come home to her every night.

  “Well, then get snappy. Climax Cove needs another bakery by next tourist season,” Dane adds before grabbing yet another cookie.

  Makes you wonder how many he’d eat if they were a ten.

  25

  Marcus

  “Sit down,” Cat demands, pointing to the chair with the plate of food in front of it.

  Lily scurries up and climbs into her seat and looks down at her plate.

  Lasagne and garlic bread.

  Her eyes widen in surprise. I’m sure to her Cat walks on water, so she shouldn't be too surprised that she can put a mouth watering dish on the table.

  “This looks delicious, Cat,” I say, sliding out of my chair to grab a bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner.

  “Stay,” Cat points to the chair. “What do you need?” she asks.

  I laugh and Lily joins me in.

  “She can get bossy,” I say in a teasing way toward Lily.

  Cat's stance widens and she places her hands on those narrow hips. My apron is long gone now, leaving her in yoga pants and a t-shirt. Both articles of clothing are clinging to her curves.

  I hold my hands up in the air. “I was going to get us a bottle of wine.”

  “I've got it.” She scrambles to my wine fridge and pulls out another bottle of red. I sit at the table as instructed and watch her move around my kitchen. “Lily, tell your daddy what we did today.”

  Lily's eyes light up. “First we played Barbies and Cat did all their hair different and we got them dressed up for a big party.”

  “That sounds fun,” I say.

  “Then we went for a walk on the trail.” It’s apparent that Lily enjoyed having Cat to herself with the way her eyes are beaming.

  I glance from my daughter over to Cat. “I should’ve told you, we've seen a few black bears over the years. I usually take protection with me.”

  Protection would mean a gun and I don't tell Lily I have it on me when we go.

  Cat looks back at me as she stands on her tiptoes to grab two wine glasses from the cupboard. Her calves are flexed and the arches of her feet are straight up in the air, causing her t-shirt to raise enough for me to catch the glimpse of her stomach.

  “We were fine,” she says.

  “Next time you go with me.”

  “We saw a frog and then Miss Cat scooped it up into her coffee mug and we put it in the stream.”

  I chuckle. Lily seems very proud of their accomplishment.

  “Nice,” I say.

  Cat comes back over and places the two glasses, wine bottle and the opener on the table. I pull the bottle and opener over to me, fully capable of opening the bottle of wine for us. She smiles at me, letting me know that she'll let me have that one and disappears again over to the fridge. A minute later, a juice box is placed in front of Lily. Man, she's sure made herself comfortable today. Surprisingly, I find I kind of like that.

  “Oh, and Daddy! We made our own playdoh.” Lily hops down from her chair and runs over to the counter where the mail sits. “Look, Miss Cat made the flower and I made a butterfly.”

  I look them over, and realize that Miss Cat can do more than just paint, she can sculpt too.

  “Then we made the chocolate chip cookies.” Lily smiles. “Miss Cat even let me try some of the dough.”

  “Lily.” Cat’s eyes widen and Lily's hand flies up to cover her mouth. Cat looks over to me. “That was our secret. I know what they say about raw cookie dough but it was just a small piece.” She even holds up her fingers to show me the exact amount.

  “It's fine. I'm glad you guys had such a great day today. I'm upset I missed it.”

  Lily shares a look with Cat and they both smile. “We missed you, too, Daddy,” Lily says.

  “Now both of you eat,” Cat says, pointing to our plates.

  Lily and I pick up our forks and start eating the lasagne. Then I realize, I need to cut Lily's up but when I place my fork back down and bend to reach for her plate, I see her scooping a piece into her mouth. Cat already cut it up before she brought it to her.

  Huh, I glance to Cat’s lips that turn up as she chews.

  I take a sip of my wine, admiring the table and the people seated at it.

  I'm one lucky man.

  Later that night, I'm flipping through the mail from earlier in the week while Cat gives Lily a bath and tucks her into bed. My hands freeze when I see an envelope with the return address of the prison in the upper left corner.

  Another fucking letter from Gretchen.

  Not bothering to open it, I shove it in the middle of the stack and place it on the table. I know what she wants and she can chill the fuck out and wait for a response. The problem is, did Cat see the letter sitting there?

  Cat tiptoes into the living room a moment later. “Okay, I think she's down,” she says, falling back onto the couch. “Bath done, story down, goodnight hug, check.” She does an imaginary checkmark with her index finger.

  She's been a trooper staying the entire night to help me out
as much as possible.

  “What are you watching?” she asks, glancing at the television.

  “Some cooking show.” I hold my hand out. “Come join me.”

  She sits up, crossing her legs under her and shakes her head at me. “I don't want to hurt you.”

  I reach for her. “You're not going to hurt me. Come on.”

  She crawls over to my oversized chair and gingerly sits down on me, swinging her legs over my lap.

  “You look exhausted,” I say as she lays her head on my shoulder.

  “I'm tired but good. This is nice.” Her arms wrap around my neck and she kisses my cheek. “Do you need anything?”

  I've got everything I need right here.

  “No, I'm good.”

  She wiggles her feet in front of us and gets comfy on my lap. A small spot of flour is still on the side of her head and I swipe it off with my finger.

  “I'm a disaster.” She chuckles and buries her head into my neck.

  “You're beautiful.” I lean in and kiss her temple.

  I refrain from telling her what I'm really thinking. I stop myself before I ruin our moment, but I can't deny it...motherhood looks good on Caterina Santora.

  “Stay the night?” I ask instead.

  “Are you sure? What about Lily?”

  I place a chaste kiss on her lips. “I'll handle it. We can say you slept in the guestroom because you weren’t feeling well. I want you here in the morning with us.”

  “Okay.” She nods.

  I know I’m crossing a line here that I can’t hop back over, but I’ve never been more excited not to have it all figured out in my life.

  26

  Caterina

  Lucky for us, Ashley's sickness was a twenty-four hour bug, because the following Thursday evening, Marcus invites me out to a picnic dinner. We leave right after camp, drop Lily off at home and then he drives us out of town to where we’re going to hike through the bush to a waterfall.

  I've seen many things in my life—been privy to trips to Europe, Africa, and China. But nothing could have prepared me for the view when we pushed through the thick trees.

  Water overflows onto rocks below and then flows into a pool of water as green as an emerald.

  “How do you know about this place?” I ask in awe, my feet still not moving from their spot on the edge of the water.

  “I found it on a hike and brought Lily last year.”

  He places the picnic basket down on one of the larger rocks and sits down. I join him and he hands me a bottle of water. The hike I complained about was well worth this view. I swear it beats the sunset in Africa over the plains and the giraffes off in a distance.

  “Thank you,” I say to him and he smiles, pulling out a Tupperware container full of strawberries.

  He holds it out to me and I take one. “You're welcome. I knew you'd enjoy it.”

  “There's no one around?” I ask, glancing at the forest surrounding us.

  He shakes his head. “That's why I wanted to come during the week. It can get crowded on the weekend. Let's eat and we can swim for a while before it gets dark. Then we need to get out of here.”

  I lean forward over the picnic basket, his lips too tempting not to kiss. “Before a bear eats us?” I shake my whole body in fake terror.

  “You laugh, but it's a real threat.” His face is stone cold.

  “Do you have a gun with you?”

  I hadn't even thought about it until now.

  “Yes.” He's confident and cocky and for some reason, it turns me on that he knows how to use a gun. Or maybe it's the protective side of him that I'm liking. Either way, I enjoy the feeling that he’ll look out for me should something go wrong. The guys from the city would probably just pull out their nail files to try to defend us against any wildlife.

  “So, what do we have in here?” I ask as I rummage through the picnic basket.

  “We’ve got antipasto salad skewers, those strawberries and if you're really good I made my own chocolate chip cookies.” He winks and my stomach does what I’ve come to think of as the ‘Marcus flip’ over the past few weeks.

  “Are you trying to compete with me?” I ask, narrowing my eyes in a playful manner.

  He chuckles and shakes his head. “No way. Yours are better.”

  We sit on the rock while he feeds me the antipasto skewers.

  “Can I ask you a question?” There’s something I’ve wanted to know and now seems as good a time as any to ask since we’re alone.

  “Sure.” He chews and swallows, shifting the picnic basket to the side and sliding over so we're right next to one another.

  “Have you had a lot of women since Lily?” I study my water bottle, my finger picking at the label.

  “No. If you haven't been able to tell, I'm very protective of her.”

  Interesting. “Has she asked about me? Why I’m around a lot more?”

  Marcus swings his arm around my shoulders. “No, I don't think she really understands, but surprisingly hasn’t really said anything since the first time you came over. I think it's because she likes it though.”

  “Do you have plans on telling her about us?” I bite my lower lip. This is unchartered territory for me. I'm not even sure what to tell Lily.

  “Yes,” he says simply and leans in to kiss my temple.

  I swallow hard and ask the question I’ve really wanted an answer to, even more to how many people he’s slept with since his daughter was born. “When did her mom leave?”

  His body tenses and his lips don't leave my temple right away. “Three months after she was born.”

  My stomach suddenly feels like there’s lead in when I picture Lily as an infant without a mother’s love.

  “And she never sees her?”

  He takes his fingertip and pushes up my chin to the side so I’m looking directly at him. “I don't want to ruin today by talking about Lily's mom.”

  He’s opened up more than he has in the past about it. Baby steps I guess. Still, the fact that he won’t discuss Lily’s mom with me still cuts like a jagged knife to the heart.

  I'm falling for Marcus more each day I share with him. And Lily, she's already weaseled her way into my heart whether her dad and I break up today or years down the line. But if Marcus can't be honest with me about his past, I’m not sure we have a future.

  Trying to move things back into safer territory, I ask what I think is a mundane question and will garner a mundane answer. “So then tell me, what do you love so much about Climax Cove?”

  He blows out a long stream of air. “I hated it when I first came here, but it's grown on me. Maybe because every sidewalk, every building, and every season or holiday reminds me of Lily.” He looks off into the distance for a second before continuing. “Take for instance during the summer festival…I was sitting at a table with Lily, bouncing her on my knee to the beat of the music. We were having a great time and then she threw up the first funnel cake she ever had all over my legs and feet.” He laughs and I love the twinkle in his blue eyes when he talks about his daughter. “As frustrated as I was, I always remember that time with a smile. Don't get me wrong, people are up in your business all the time here, and you can never just run an errand without it taking an hour. Which I think I've grown to tolerate more than enjoy.” He leans in close. “But don't tell Betty, the town librarian that, she's usually the one stopping me.”

  A tear pricks the corner of my eye. I’m envious that Marcus has found where he belongs. I think I'm still finding my way. It's not San Francisco, whether it be my high school or Berkley friends, I always felt restless. It’s just never felt like it was where I belonged—like it was home. Home is a place where you're accepted for exactly who you are. So, for me, home is the studio, when I'm producing my art. My parents are great and they've grown used to my art, but I'm not sure they would feel the same if I was a starving artist selling my stuff at flea markets around the country.

  “Hey.” He inches forward, his hand caressing my che
ek. “Did I say something?” For a man who runs hot and cold, he's very attentive and warm right now.

  I shake my head. “No, I just…” I shrug. “It must be nice to know you're exactly where you want to be.”

  He gives me a small smile that has a sad note to it and he shrugs. If I’d recorded what he confessed a minute ago, he wouldn't be acting like Climax Cove might or might not be that place for him. It wasn't only his words, but the sentimental tone of his voice while he spoke them.

  “And where is that for you, Caterina Santora? Where do you want to be in the art world?”

  Isn't that the question of the year?

  “New York, I suppose.” My voice holds none of the confidence his did when he spoke about Climax Cove.

  “I guess that's the place for an artist to be, right?” He picks up his plastic wine glass and looks off to the right.

  “Yeah.” I pick at the loose gravel on top of the boulder. “I've had a few galleries interested in doing a showcase, but they're more about testing the waters. I don't see my stuff going for a very high price. New York just sounds like San Francisco. A lot of people, a lot of concrete and a lot of germs.” God, I sound like Ava.

  He chuckles, stabbing a piece of strawberry with his fork and holding it up to my lips. I accept it and chew. “They'll be lucky to have you.” He winks.

  I've tried to keep the worry of what happens to us at the end of August at bay. There's the long-distance option, which is maybe successful in what, one in a million cases? Or the ‘hey, it's been real, see you next summer’ option. But Lily always comes to mind. What will she think when I sail off to New York come fall?

  Feeling the weight of all the inevitable decisions we’ll have to make bearing down on us I decide to lighten the mood. I glance from the inviting, emerald water and back to Marcus. “How do you feel about skinny-dipping?”

  Marcus’ eyes widen and he shakes his head. “I'd prefer not to get arrested today.”

  When I begin to strip off my t-shirt, dropping it on the rock beside me, his eyes widen even further. Not in surprise this time, but in lust.