by Virna DePaul
“Okay,” she heard herself saying. “I’ll follow you. Will you order me—”
“Orange chicken, one egg roll, one spring roll, and cold sesame noodles? Yeah. I remember from last time,” Dante said with a wink.
“Okay,” she said again in that same small voice. Her brain was going a mile a minute here. What the hell was even going on?
Aurora walked to her car, determined not to look back, but of course, she did. She did it just in time to see Dante toss Michelle’s backpack in the back seat and say something in a low, firm voice. Michelle lifted her hands in innocence and said something back that had Dante chuckling and shaking his head.
Aurora slid into the front seat of her car. Knowing he took care of a kid and watching it happen were two very different things, she realized. Over the last few weeks, she’d finally started to wrap her head around the new Dante. The one who basically had a kid. She’d gone over there enough times, seen Michelle’s stuff strewn around, listened to him mention her here and there.
Aurora had thought she had a handle on the whole thing. But apparently not. Seeing them together, their obvious rapport, their ease with one another, had really thrown her for a loop.
Dante never brings friends home.
Michelle’s words echoed through Aurora’s head as she followed their car through downtown Los Angeles, to the Chinese food place and then back to Dante’s house. Did that mean that he never brought women home? Or at least never let them meet Michelle?
Then why the hell was he inviting her to dinner? He could have introduced her as a work colleague, taken the damn contract and told her he’d see her on Monday. He didn’t have to invite her into family time.
Aurora forced her hands to loosen on the steering wheel. She took a deep, cleansing breath and rolled down the window for some fresh air as she rolled up the driveway.
She’d had another doctor’s appointment that morning and the doctor had warned her, again, about the negative effects of stress. She insisted that Aurora find some outlets to bring more calm into her life.
So, either Aurora could fret and piece apart every second of what was about to go down. Or she could relax, eat some orange chicken and hang out with someone who seemed like a very good kid.
She supposed she was going to have to get used to hanging out with a kid. Aurora cleared her throat. She was going to have to get used to it alright, just not with Dante around. After all, Dante had already admitted he didn’t want kids, and she wasn’t about to make him feel obligated to take care of her.
Aurora sighed deeply and stepped out of the car, careful not to slam the door. She had arrived a few minutes later than they had and she found herself knocking on the front door as Michelle pulled it open, a huge grin on the little girl’s face and an even bigger book in one hand.
“You want to look at my new book while Coco sets out dinner?” Michelle asked holding up the huge tome and stepping backwards so that Aurora could come inside.
"Sure," Aurora said as she stepped in and kicked off her shoes. "What's the story about?"
"It's not really a story, it's more of an encyclopedia, I guess," Michelle said. “Dante got it for me for my birthday but he says it's too boring to read with me."
Aurora laughed. "Is that so?”
“Yeah,” Michelle said, climbing up onto the big plush couch in their living room and shoving aside some pillows to make room for Aurora. “But he thinks everything Harry Potter is boring.”
“Excuse me?” Aurora stopped in her tracks and put one hand over her heart. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. He doesn’t like Harry Potter? I didn’t realize the man was a lunatic.”
Michelle laughed and flipped the book open. “Totally.”
* * *
When Dante found Aurora and Michelle, he wasn’t prepared for how affected he’d feel at the sight of his two favorite females together. Aurora had her feet demurely tucked under her, the coral dress straining around her hips and breasts as she leaned over Michelle’s shoulders to get a better look at the pages.
“There it is!” Aurora said pointing at the page. “I knew it was a total tongue twister. Peskipiksi Pesternomi.”
“Pepsi pipsi Pepperoni,” Michelle tried to repeat it and had both of them dissolving into laughter.
“Sounds like something on the menu at a pizzeria.”
The girls swiveled their heads around to look at him and Dante was much obliged to see Aurora's eyes give him a quick scan up and down. He was pretty certain her eyes lingered a bit longer on the dishtowel at his shoulder, but he couldn't be certain.
“Your sister tells me that you’re not a Harry Potter fan.” Aurora lifted an eyebrow at him.
“Oh god.” Dante sagged against the door jamb. “Not you too. I’m surrounded by nerds.”
“Nerdy is the new cool, Coco,” Michelle said, getting up from the couch and strolling toward the kitchen.
He took the dishtowel off his shoulder and whipped it up tight, snapping it out in the air a scant inch from Michelle's waggling behind. Michelle merely cackled with laughter and took off for the kitchen.
Dante took in Aurora’s expression. “You know I’d never actually snap her with this, right?”
“Of course, because of the Von Willebrand’s?”
“You remembered the name of it.”
“Remember it? I Googled the crap out of it when I got home.”
The fact that she’d cared enough to Google Michelle’s condition meant the world to him. In that moment, he wanted to sweep her into his arms and kiss her, but instead he let her walk past him toward the kitchen. She didn't get to see the way he watched her walk away, for once not focusing on the sway of her hips but rather, just the air around her, just the way she moved through his house, toward his little sister who waited, her feet swinging on the stool in the kitchen. She didn't turn, so she didn't get to see it.
But it was there. And it was real. And he felt it.
* * *
After dinner, Michelle wanted to watch a movie and Aurora found herself in the peculiar position of saying yes to the invitation without a single reservation. Dinner had been fun, full of teasing and laughter and so much food all of them groaned and held their bellies and begged for mercy.
And now Aurora sat next to Michelle on the floor, combing through the endless DVD collection that Dante kept hidden in a chest underneath the flat screen.
“Oh, let’s have mercy on him,” Aurora whispered to Michelle when the little girl pulled out her collection of Harry Potter movies. “What about this one?”
She held out Inside Out.
“Sure!” Michelle said, reaching for it. As she did, a necklace fell forward from the neck of her loose t-shirt.
“That’s pretty,” Aurora said, reaching for the chain of the necklace and deftly avoiding the clear crystal that hung on the end.
“Aunt Arlene gave it to me last year, she said it’s a magic stone.”
“Clear quartz isn’t magical, really.”
Michelle’s eyes dimmed but Aurora kept going. “But it is very powerful.”
Michelle’s eyes lit right up again. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s a healing crystal. But yours won’t work right now.”
“Why not?”
“Well,” Aurora rose, held out her hand to Michelle to help the little girl up. “Crystals have energy fields. And so do you. And crystals can kind of be used like energy soap, to clean up your energy field.”
“Cool.” Michelle’s eyes were huge and riveted on Aurora. When Aurora glanced his way, she could see that Dante’s eyes were riveted on her as well. She swallowed hard, naturally resistant to sharing this part of herself that she normally kept close to her heart, but she’d already piqued Michelle’s interest. Plus she wanted Michelle to get the healing qualities of the crystal, so…
“If you use one crystal to clean too many things, or if you wear it for a long time without cleaning it, it gets kind of dirty itself,” she explained.
“Like if you use a rag to dust too many shelves, the rag gets all dirty.”
“Exactly.” Aurora brushed the little girl’s messy hair back from her face in an absent gesture. “So right now your crystal has all sorts of energetic grit and grime. We have to cleanse it if you wanna keep wearing it.”
“How?”
“Well, my mother uses sage smoke, but I don’t suppose you have any of that.” Aurora raised an eyebrow at Dante and he raised one right back. “Well, in a pinch there are a few other things you can do. Clear, fresh, running water is one or dirt where something new is growing. Like a garden.”
“We don’t have one.”
“Alright, then the last resort is moonlight.”
“Really?” Michelle was vibrating on her feet.
“Sure. You find a patch of moonlight and lay it there all night, and in the morning it will be safe to wear again.”
Michelle was off like a shot, unclasping her necklace and flipping off the lights so that she could locate the best patch of moonlight.
“Where’d you learn all that?” Dante asked gently before tugging Aurora onto the couch next to him.
She shrugged. “My mother is Louisiana Creole. Born in the bayou and then lived in New Orleans most of her life. She has a different set of beliefs and understandings than you Northerners do. But it’s not that uncommon down there.”
“If I don’t believe a word of it is she going to take a lock of my hair, sew it to a doll and prick it with a pin?”
Aurora frowned at him. “She’s not Voodoo. Or Hoodoo.”
“What the hell is Hoodoo?”
Aurora threw her hands in the air. “Google it for fuck sakes. I’m just saying that my mother is not crazy. And neither am I.”
Dante stilled for a second. Well, most of him stilled. His hand, however, kept tracing patterns on the silky skin of her thigh. “So you believe it too. That wasn’t just for Michelle’s benefit.”
Aurora sighed. Sometimes she missed New Orleans so much she could barely breathe. This would never be something she’d have to explain on a date down there. “It’s easy to believe in something that is real for you.”
He pulled back from her. “What do you mean ‘real’?”
Aurora dragged a hand down her face. “I don’t usually talk about this stuff to people who I want to see me as a competent business woman.”
“Aurora, I stopped thinking of you as just a competent business woman the night I fucked you against the steering wheel of my car.”
“Shhh.”
“If you’re asking whether or not I’m going to stop thinking you’re competent because you believe in mystical juju whatever, well, no. I won’t stop thinking you’re competent. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the engine behind that company.”
Her eyes narrowed on his, thoughtful. He really thought that she was that essential to Gio’s company?
“Alright, then,” Aurora said. “If you’re so eager to know, I just mean that I know energy like that is real because I can feel it, sense it. Auras are real because I can see them, sense them. You call it ‘belief’, but I call it ‘reality’.”
Dante narrowed his eyes just as Michelle’s bare feet slapped back into the room. “I did it. There was a big patch in the laundry room. How will I know if it’s clean in the morning?”
“In the morning, soak it in some salt water for at least a few hours. Just to be safe.”
Michelle nodded. And then with the guilelessness of a child, climbed onto the couch between Dante and Aurora.
“Brought it,” she said to Dante, holding up a small nose spray of some kind. “It’s time for my medicine,” she said to Aurora.
Aurora had read about that. Children were able to take some of their Von Willebrand’s medicine as nose spray. It saved them from having to get shots every other day, which for a blood clotting disorder, was important.
Dante helped administer the nose spray, set it aside, and then gathered Michelle next to him. His arm snaked along the back of the couch and played with the ends of Aurora’s hair.
The movie blinked on. As she watched the colorful film, felt the warmth of the little girl’s shoulder pressing into hers, felt Dante playing with her hair, Aurora felt exactly what her doctor had been encouraging. She felt totally relaxed.
And happy.
Happier than she’d felt in a very, very long time.
Chapter Nine
Aurora awoke and was, at once, completely confused and completely clear. She knew exactly whose shoulder her cheek was resting on. Without even opening her eyes she knew that was Dante’s chest hair under her palm, his hand firmly on her ass. But what she didn’t understand was how the hell she’d ended up here.
She never slept over. Even on their first night together, she’d waited until he’d fallen asleep and snuck out. After that, he’d made sure she couldn’t sneak out, but she’d still managed to kiss him goodnight and leave before the sun was ever close to rising. But here she was, morning sun kissing her closed eyelids, blanket pulled damn near up to her chin.
She pulled away from him and sat up, pushing her hair back from her face. She was dressed in a big, soft t-shirt and sweatpants, her coral dress hanging on a hanger on the back of the closet door.
“You fell asleep during the movie,” Dante said in a low voice, gruff from sleep. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
Aurora turned and whatever she’d been about to say dried right up in her throat. Dante laid there, one hand crooked under his head, bare chested, his hair tousled from sleep. His eyes were heavy and his stubble was darker than she’d ever seen it.
“Wow.” She couldn’t help but reach out and touch his sandpapery chin. “Man, you’re really handsome.”
Dante’s eyes lit with so much surprise and delight that it made Aurora realize how rarely she ever complimented him.
“It can’t be a shock to hear that, Dante. You know you’re attractive.”
He gathered her closer, nuzzling his face into her neck and hair. “Sure. I know what I think of myself. But I didn’t know what you thought.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please, you think I’d have been fucking your brains out all this time if I wasn’t attracted to you?” She turned to him, traced one finger over his strong brow, up along the wavy hair at his forehead. “Not to inflate your ego, but you are really, really beautiful.”
To Aurora’s utter delight, a faint color came into Dante’s cheeks. His eyes fell away from hers. “Come on.”
“You’re embarrassed.” She couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face like fire. “I can’t believe I figured out how to embarrass Dante Callaghan.”
“I’m not. And I’m not that.”
“Beautiful or embarrassed? Because from where I’m sitting, you’re very much both.”
Dante pursed his lips and opened them to say something but his bedroom door burst open.
“Coco, can we do scram-damn-ble this morning? I’m really hungry and… Oh! Aurora! You stayed!”
Aurora’s heart completely stopped as a tousle-headed Michelle came marching into Dante’s bedroom. Oh crap. Double crap. Triple crap. They hadn’t covered any of this. It hadn’t even occurred to Aurora that she was going to have to face Michelle this morning. And it definitely hadn’t occurred to her that Dante was going to have to explain why Aurora had slept in his bed.
“I’m so glad you’re still here!” Michelle jumped up onto the bed with them without hesitation. “Dante never has girls sleep over. Can we check my crystal? Are you staying for breakfast? Dante will make you scram-damn-ble.”
Aurora turned to Dante. “Scram-damn-ble?” she asked faintly.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, looking very much like he was trying to keep himself from smiling. “It’s just an egg scramble. But I make it so damn good you have to call it a scram-damn-ble.”
Aurora looked from Dante’s easy, smiling face to Michelle’s hopeful grin and she felt something fly right out of her chest. It was almost li
ke letting go of a kite in the wind. She was just tired of clinging to it. And there was no fighting it anymore. She let go of it and wasn’t even sad to see it fly away.
She hadn’t planned on this. God. She certainly hadn’t planned on this. But while she was here, she was going to enjoy it.
* * *
Dante watched Aurora’s face carefully. He knew she’d been shocked when Michelle had just pranced right in. And actually, Dante had been a little surprised himself. It wasn’t unusual for Michelle to barge through the house, but he’d thought he’d have another hour or so before she woke up. As he’d lain awake that morning, Aurora sleeping across his chest, he’d been going through his options, including the best way to tell Michelle that Aurora had slept over.
In a different world, he’d have wanted to talk to her about it way before it even happened. But then both of them had fallen asleep during the movie and he hadn’t wanted to wake either of them. Aurora sleeping over was a surprise all around and Dante was just relieved that Michelle was taking it so well. She didn’t seem to find it weird in the least.
So now, all he could do was roll with the punches and help Aurora do the same. She just looked so damned cute, so different from her usual, immaculate business attire. Her hair was all tumbly and the sleeves of his t-shirt went way past her elbows. She was looking back and forth between him and Michelle like she could barely believe what the hell was going on.
Mildly concerned that Aurora was freaking out, Dante reached across the bed and grabbed Michelle by the ankle. She laughed and wriggled around as he dragged her across his lap. “Hey, nosy Mcgee. Go get the scram-damn-ble stuff out of the fridge and Aurora and I will be down in a second.”
“Okay!” Michelle was up like a shot.
“Oh! And press the button on the coffee maker.”