Then He Kissed Me

by Christie Ridgway

  “I’d heave him over like that,” she snapped her fingers, “if it would make you happy.”

  Stevie burst into tears again. Not because she believed Allie for a moment - or doubted her, either, when it came down to it - but because she wondered whether she’d ever be completely happy again. Jack was walking away and there was nothing she could say or any emotion she could share that would change that.

  *****

  As darkness fell outside the cottage at Tanti Baci, Jack lingered in the well-lit interior. Roxy and Emerson’s wedding rehearsal had gone off without a hitch and the rest of the bridal party was already heading toward the wine caves in anticipation of the celebration dinner. He didn’t feel the need to rush toward those confining spaces.

  Instead, he wandered about the rooms, unsure whether he was hoping Stevie would find him or whether he was here hiding out from her. He’d made love to her as his good-bye, but now they needed to talk about the broken condom.

  He hadn’t found the right moment yet, because he hadn’t found her. Since yesterday morning at the farmhouse, their paths hadn’t crossed. His footsteps clapped against the hardwood floor as he made his way into the bride’s boudoir. The room held a faint floral fragrance - the memory of wedding bouquets, he supposed. The restful scent lured him farther into the room and he sat on the cushions of the ivory-colored divan. Raking his hands through his hair, he wondered what the hell he was going to do once the wedding was over.

  He’d purchased the vineyard but hadn’t seriously expected to stay. Yet now he might have made Stevie pregnant.

  A child maybe. Fatherhood. Family. Those words hadn’t been part of his personal lexicon in a decade of dark, lonely years.

  They pierced him now, three painful arrows that had him shoving to his feet again, and the precipitous action knocked askew one of the seat cushions. Something glittered in the crevice between it and the sofa back. Jack plucked the item free and examined it, frowning. Someone had lost a jeweled cuff bracelet of what looked to be diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.

  His fingers closed over it. A sign, he supposed, that he should get on to the rehearsal dinner. He’d pass the bracelet to someone from the winery, paste on a party attitude, and contemplate the ramifications of the broken rubber later. Slipping it into his jacket pocket, he moved from the boudoir to the hallway.

  The sound of the outer door opening froze him. Stevie? But it was two sets of footsteps clattering on the wooden floor, and he ducked into the groom’s waiting room to avoid the new visitors. He needed a few more moments alone.

  This room was smaller than the bridal suite. The lamps placed here and there weren’t on, but the hail light illuminated the space well enough. One entire wall was the backside of the massive stone fireplace and there was a small wet bar in the far corner. A couple of leather chairs and a matching love seat were arranged in the middle of the room. Another door led to a narrow bathroom.

  The footsteps he’d heard before paused. Jack recognized Liam’s voice. “Whee’s Stevie?’

  That had been Jack’s question.

  “She’ll be fine.” It was her sister, Giuliana, who answered.

  She will be fine? Jack frowned. Meaning she wasn’t right now?

  “I thought she was in charge of this wedding,” Liam said, “but I saw Allie bustling around on her crutches. Penn thinks it’s too much for her.”

  “Penn would have her travel around on a cloud if lie could.”

  Liam’s voice lowered. “Is that what Kohl wants for you?”

  Giuliana’s reply whipped back. “I don’t want to talk about Kohl.”

  Good, Jack thought. Talk about Stevie instead. Wasn’t she feeling well? His chest tightened. Surely symptoms of pregnancy wouldn’t show up so fast.

  Jesus! Pregnant. A baby. A child.

  He braced himself, waiting for the expected dread to hit, now that he was allowing himself another moment to truly consider it.

  Pregnant!

  But it wasn’t horror that filled him. Weird, but he didn’t feel alarmed by the thought at all. It just seemed … unsettling, as if a seemingly solid wall suddenly fell to present him with a new, unexpected vista. For so, so long he’d been avoiding a multitude of things, including future, including family, and due to one faulty condom, both had caught up with him.

  A baby.

  But before that was Stevie, her slender body swelling with the child they’d made at dawn in the fallow season of winter. That time of rest before the earth warmed and life broke free again. Maybe it was the Georgia farmer in him, but he realized he was smiling at the thought.

  Uncomfortable with that odd sense of satisfaction, he tuned back in to Liam and Giuliana’s conversation. Stevie’s sister’s voice was Pensive. “Are we going to save Tanti Baci? she asked.

  “I’ll do what I can, Jules,” Liam replied. “You know I will, don’t you?”

  “Yes” Though she didn’t sound as certain as the word. “Yes, I suppose I do.”

  Liam released a short laugh. “What? No barbed remark? No effort to tear the skin from my bones?”

  “Maybe this place mellows me.”

  Liam cleared his throat. “Maybe it’s the memories.”

  There was a charged pause in the conversation. Even from a room away, Jack could feel the sexual tension. He remembered Stevie telling him the cottage had been a popular trysting spot for lovers. Clearly Giuliana and Liam had spent some time here.

  Then the other couple was banished from his thoughts as Stevie took front and center again. He remembered her talking to him about another Baci legend. If you bring your true love to the cottage, the ghosts of Anne and Alonzo will appear.

  Is that what she wished for her future? Did she expect she would bring some other man to the cottage one day and know they were meant for a lifetime? The idea had his hand curling into a fist as if to punch that nameless, faceless lover.

  Would any other man see her as he did?

  Would anyone else look past her tough, tomboy exterior to discover her soft, romantic center?

  Yet, hell, what did he have to offer her beyond that ability to appreciate her inner vulnerability? Nothing but a playboy reputation, an ugly past, and two acres of dormant vines - as well as a heart he’d always assumed was just as dead.

  For the last ten years, he’d liked it that way.

  His gut was tight and his breath was coming fast as he heard Liam and Giuliana’s voices trailing away. Good. He’d take a few more minutes to get ahold of himself and then head for the dinner. When he got Stevie alone, they’d discuss the possibility of pregnancy, but he wouldn’t offer her anything beyond his support in however she wanted to handle the situation.

  The outer door creaked open.

  Then slammed shut - and the lights clicked off.

  Just like that, his phobia leapt on him like a wild beast. Jack’s heart crashed into his ribs, then fell like a stunned thing to his belly. Cold swept over his skin as the suffocating blackness closed around him.

  Breathe. Breathe.

  The darkness wrapped him in a tight cocoon. Air couldn’t reach his lungs; his muscles wouldn’t work to get him out of the cottage.

  Lamps. On.

  His thoughts moved through his head in panicky gasps.

  Lamps on.

  Turn lamps on.

  As if through sludge, he managed to shift his body. The switch to a source of light was just a few feet away. He must get to it. He had to get to it.

  Yet another item on his short list of attributes, he thought, as he ordered his muscles to cooperate. His terror of the dark.

  Move.

  But rigor mortis had settled in his muscles. He closed his eyes, almost ready to surrender to it … and then he remembered his last panic attack. He remembered Stevie in his arms, her warmth, her weight against his aching chest, the sweet comfort she’d offered him that night. The lights she’d left burning through the dark hours.

  The pain in his chest eased. He opened his eyes and found
the gloom wasn’t quite so overwhelming. His feet were in motion and then his hand reached out to locate the base of the lamp. His fingertips slid up cool metal to locate the small knob on its side.

  Light bloomed in the room. His heart lifted from its early grave and started beating again.

  The panic, already waning, evaporated.

  But he still wanted out, and he hurried to the hall and then into the central room, turning lights on as he went. With the exit in sight, he rushed toward the door, and his foot caught on one of the stones of the rock fireplace. As he pitched forward, he caught himself on another of the rocks. It shifted, and he dug his fingertips into the mortar surrounding it.

  Which shifted, too. His hand slid, catching on another stable stone.

  Now rebalanced, he examined the damage. One of the rocks at shoulder height had twisted in its mooring. It wasn’t damage, he decided, but a manmade hiding space. In the gap created by the rotated stone, he glimpsed something metallic. Peering more closely, he saw what looked to be a strongbox. With a keyhole that just might fit a key the size of the one that Stevie carried.

  Shaking his head, Jack readjusted the rock, making note of its location so he could find it again. Then he stood, arrested by a sudden thought. “My God,” he said aloud. “I’m right. I’ve found Stevie’s treasure.”

  He didn’t know why he was so certain of it - but it had to be true. Nothing short of a miracle, he supposed, but he’d found the lock that fit her key.

  Another possibility. Another new vista, perhaps. Jack realized he was smiling again, his chest warming, his anticipation growing like it felt his heart was at the notion that the next time he saw Stevie he’d get to tell her -

  - that he loved her. It was yet another sudden, certain thought.

  Of course. Of course he loved her.

  It didn’t even surprise him. It just seemed right.

  No wonder the idea of her pregnant was so appealing.

  No wonder he’d found the thought of good-bye so painful.

  No wonder that he’d begun to see for himself a future beyond running - again - from his own reflection.

  He was in love with Stephania Baci.

  He’d found what she’d been seeking, and in exchange, he’d found the thing the person - who had enabled him to strip off the shroud he’d lain beneath the last ten years. Because of her, he’d finally found a way to rejuvenate what once had died inside him.

  Stevie. Loving her made him want to no longer be the careless, selfish man of the past ten years. Now he saw a future for himself, lying just ahead. He wanted to spend the rest of his life kissing her awake. Slaying her dragons.

  If only she’d let him, he’d be her prince.

  It humbled him, how much he wanted that.

  Then He Kissed Me

  20

  ************************************************************************************************

  Stevie had forgotten about the press conference scheduled by Senator Platt between the wedding rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. Though the politician had yet to emerge from wherever she was waiting, a gaggle of press was already standing in the winery parking area, illuminated by the white fairy lights strung through the trees and along the arbor that connected the administrative offices to the caves.

  She skirted the group, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Her intent was to check in with Allie and - hopefully - discover she wasn’t needed during the dinner. After Stevie’s crying jag, her little sister had volunteered to handle the rest of the Parini-Platt wedding details. With swollen eyes and a red nose, she’d taken her up on the offer. But thanks to a passing time and ice packs, her meltdown no longer showed on her face. Her conscience insisted she at least make sure there wasn’t something she could do for her sister on crutches.

  A hand caught her elbow. A man swung her into a hug. “My favorite Baci,” he said into her ear as he lifted her onto her toes.

  “You big liar.” She kissed her brother-in-law, Penn Bennett, on the cheek. Despite the ache in her chest, she found a smile for him. He was a dark blond like his half brothers, Liam and Seth. Rangy and with the same good looks. But what made him most attractive to Stevie was how much he loved her little sister, formerly known as the Nun of Napa. “And you fib with such conviction. That’s Hollywood for you.”

  Everyone knew the crux of the popularity of Penn’s TV show was his own good nature and easy charm. Subtract the sunny disposition and he reminded her of another too-handsome man. She looked away, her nose tingling again.

  “Steve,” Penn said softly. He drew her close once more. “Come with us when we go back to Malibu. We’ll wrap you in blankets and prop you up on the deck with a pitcher of margaritas and a stack of romance novels. You’ll recover your fighting spirit in no time.”

  She leaned her forehead against his shoulder. It would be so easy to run away with them. But hadn’t she tried that with her whole “sex like a man” charade? She’d been running from tenderness and intimacy with Jack and both had caught up with her anyway.

  Drawing free from Penn, she shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got all those weddings to coordinate - brides to soothe, grooms to buck up - you know the drill.”

  He spun the gold band on his left ring finger and smiled. “It was the happiest day of my life.”

  Her nose stung again and she pressed the back of her hand to it. “Penn, don’t do that.” Don’t make me long for what you have with Allie.

  Reaching out, he chucked her under the chin. “Sorry, sweetheart. But about those weddings … Are you sure about that commitment you made to Tanti Baci? I know you did it for us - so Alessandra and I can spend more time together when I have to be in Southern California.”

  “I didn’t do it for you and Allie - or just for you and Allie, anyway.” She was wearing an amethyst-colored knee-length wool coat over black trousers and a black sweater, and she shoved her hands in its side pockets. Thanks to her sister’s new passion, she was also wearing a lavender hand-knit cloche hat that included a crocheted flower on the short brim. She still felt chilled.

  “Tanti Baci is part of me, too.” She’d been wrong to try to escape from its hold on her. The winery was not only her legacy, but also the foundation she would need to keep herself steady after Jack left her life. “I need to give it what I can.”

  Penn swept her into another hug. “It makes your little sister happy to have you part of the team - and Alessandra happy makes me very happy.”

  She clung to him, blessing him for the changes he’d brought into Allie’s life. Love didn’t have to be totally screwed up, the newlyweds proved, if you found the right fit. She and Jack just didn’t mesh in that same way.

  “Well, well, mon anqe,” a sardonic voice said. “And here I thought we’d agreed to be exclusive.”

  Stevie tightened her grip on Penn. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered to him.

  Steeling her spine, she turned to confront the person who had pushed against her barriers and rattled every locked gate. He stood, looking relaxed and elegant in dark slacks, collared knit shirt, and sport coat.

  “Exclusively what, Jack?” It took everything she had not to close her eyes and pretend he wasn’t there, because if she could have constructed the complete wrong man for herself, it would be him: a gorgeous prince with a wealthy family and a dark past.

  He was staring at her. She couldn’t read his expression, but she could sense the odd tension in his tall frame.

  Her fingers curled into fists that she shoved back into her coat pockets. “What’s going on, Jack?”

  “I… uh…” He forked his hand through his hair, a sign of uncharacteristic hesitation.

  “Yes?”

  “I have so much to tell you … I don’t know quite where to start.” He broke off, speared his fingers through his hair again. His gaze had never left her face. “You’re just so damn beautiful.”

  From behind her, Penn leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Oh, yeah, he�
��s an ogre.”

  She ignored him. “All right, Jack, I get it. You want something. What is it this time? Because the only thing I’m willing to give you tonight is directions out of Edenville.”

  “I think we should set a date,” he said quickly. “You know, the wedding date.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Jack, this is my brother-in-law, Penn Bennett. You don’t have to pretend around him. He knows the engagement’s fake.”

  He barely spared a glance for the other man. “I don’t want it to be fake, Stevie. I want you.”

  “Ha ha.” How sappy was she that even the false words made her mouth go dry? “What is wrong with you?”

  “Approximately ten years of debauched and wasteful living - though I swear the worst of it was over within the first two. But even afterward, I confess I never worried what people were saying about me. Now, Stevie, you can’t know how much I wish I had better press clippings.”

  “I hear you, buddy,” Penn said, sounding much too supportive. “The gossip industry can be a bitch.”

  Stevie glanced over her shoulder. “Does he look like someone who needs sympathy?”

  Jack acted as if he hadn’t heard either one of them. His gaze remained glued to Stevie. “I know I don’t deserve you. That’s the worst part - I can’t think of one good reason why, on the face of it, you’d go into this with me. But I…” His hand scraped over his chin. “I’m in love with you. I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”

  “What?” The actual sound of her reaction was muffled, however, by that of the reporters as two couples - Emerson and Roxanne, Senator Platt and her husband - stepped out of the entrance to the wine caves. The press surged forward, though Stevie noted that Jack’s parents were not on scene. Apparently Emerson’s mother was canny enough to know that their glamorous personages would eclipse even senatorial splendor.

  “Stevie…” Jack started.

  She shook her head and pretended to give her attention to the conference a few feet away as the senator began her opening remarks. Stevie didn’t really catch what was said, she didn’t try actually, because she was using the time to think her way through the muddle in her head. What the hell was Jack doing? Why was he saying these things? Her nose was tingling again but she refused to cry in front of the damn man.