by Virna DePaul
“You got it!” she called over her shoulder.
“Oh! And later today we’re going to go over the fundamentals of knocking. Don’t worry, you’re a bright kid. You’ll get it down in no time.”
Michelle stuck her tongue out at him and scampered out of the room. They heard her running footsteps down the hall and down the stairs.
“I’m so sorry,” Aurora turned to him, chagrin in her eyes.
“For what?” Dante ran a hand over her hair.
“For being here where Michelle could see. And not knowing how to explain it to her. I hope she’s not traumatized.”
Dante raised a wry eyebrow. “She’s resilient. I’m sure seeing you with your makeup smudged wasn’t quite enough to send her into therapy.”
“Oh!” Aurora’s hand went right to her eye make up and she was out of the bed instantly.
Dante chuckled to himself when he heard her furiously washing in the sink. And then he lost his breath when she came back out, pink and fresh from washing her face, his t-shirt falling over one of her shoulders.
“You know that’s not what I meant. Will she be traumatized from knowing that we slept in the same bed?”
“No,” he said, meaning it. Dante reluctantly slid out of bed and slipped past her into the bathroom, putting toothpaste on his own toothbrush and hunting up a new one for her. He handed it to her and popped his own in his mouth, talking around it. “She knows about the birds and the bees. I mean, ideally I would have talked to her about you sleeping over first, asked her permission, but as you could tell, she didn’t seem too bothered by the idea.”
Aurora spit toothpaste into the sink, her eyes narrowing. “You would have asked her permission to have me sleep over here?”
He shrugged, splashing water on his face and considering a quick shave. “Sure. It’s her house as much as it is mine. And she has to ask me if she wants somebody to sleep over. Makes sense for it to go the other way. Of course, if she said no, we’d have to have a pretty serious conversation about why. But I don’t think she would have said no. She obviously likes you.”
Deciding against the shave, he turned from the mirror and finally caught Aurora’s eye.
“You’re a good dad,” she said.
He felt the conflict of pleasure and irritation inside him. Pleasure at the praise and irritation at the wording.
“I’m a good brother,” he corrected.
She cocked her head at him before going back out to the main room and grabbing her dress off the hook. He sat on the bed and watched her as she slipped out of his clothes and into the dress. So graceful. So gorgeous. Good lord, he could watch this woman do her taxes and he’d still be aroused.
“You don’t consider yourself to be her father?”
Dante rose, swiped the t-shirt she’d been wearing off the ground and pulled it over his head. He got instant wood from the scent of it, a combination of him and her. “No. I’m her brother. She has a father. It’s just her bad luck that he’s a piece of shit.”
He didn’t want to shut her out or shut her down, but he also really didn’t want to go further into this. He knew that she was still teetering on the edge of whether to like him or not and he didn’t particularly feel like dragging his daddy issues into the room right now.
Stepping up behind her, he zipped her into her dress. He turned her, and seeing that she was about to say something further about the dad thing, he traced his fingers through the lacy holes at the neck of the dress.
“You know, the way this dress is cut, it makes the skin underneath look like a necklace.” He dropped his head and kissed along the delicate cuts of the dress. “A mouthwatering, golden, warm little necklace.”
Aurora’s sucked in a breath. Dante was completely shocked when suddenly, her soft hands grabbed him firmly on either side of his face. She hauled him toward her and started kissing the daylights out of him. Soft and hard at the same time. Her lips were so lush that no kiss could ever be too hard, but she was using all the force she could muster.
It was intoxicating to Dante.
And confusing as hell.
“I’m waaaaaaiting!” Michelle hollered up the stairs, and Dante and Aurora broke the kiss on a laugh.
He watched as she walked out of the room. He wanted desperately to grab her hand, make her tell him exactly what had her kissing him like that, but he didn’t. The moment passed, and all he could do was follow her downstairs.
* * *
Turned out scram-damn-bles were flippin’ delicious. But as she’d already insisted he was beautiful and a good dad that morning, Aurora kept her thoughts on his cooking skills to herself. She didn’t want to go playing all her cards right now. She was still in shock that she even had those cards to play. Her feelings had come out of nowhere. Blindsided her.
The three of them sat around the breakfast table eating and Michelle held up her newly cleansed crystal, ticking it back and forth on the chain like a pendulum.
“Aurora?”
“Hmmm?”
“Can crystals heal my Von Willebrand’s?”
Aurora swallowed what was in her mouth and took a quick second. She could feel Dante’s tension from across the table. She didn’t have to look at him to know what he was wanting her to say.
“No, they can’t, Michelle,” Aurora said quietly but firmly, not wanting to crush the little girl or give her false hope. “Remember how I said that they’re not magic? They’re good for you the way a full night’s sleep is good for you, or drinking enough water. They can soothe you or make you feel better, but they don’t do miracles.”
Michelle cast her eyes down but she nodded. It was the answer she’d been expecting.
“Besides,” Dante chipped in. “You know that Von Willebrand’s is genetic, Michelle. There’s no cure.”
“I know. I know.” She propped her head on her chin and took a big bite of her eggs. “I guess I just get sick of having it sometimes. I just wish there was more stuff we could do to get rid of it.”
“Yeah, that’s how I feel about being so dang handsome all the time,” Dante said, immediately making Michelle snort and fight a smile. Which, of course, had been the intended effect. “Sometimes it’s just such a burden. Every guy wants to be you, every girl wants to get next to you. It’s just like, enough already!”
Aurora and Michelle rolled their eyes at each other and laughed. But as Aurora finished off her breakfast, a thought was brewing. One she didn’t want to share with Michelle until after she’d shared it with Dante.
Chapter Ten
“You sound like a woman in love,” a voice said from behind Aurora as she washed her hands in the sink of the women’s bathroom at work the next Monday morning.
Aurora turned and found herself face to face with Rose. She gulped. “I’m sorry?”
“Oh,” Rose waved her hand in the air. “None of my business, I’m being nosy. It’s just any woman who hums to herself, with that expression on her face, while she washes her hands at work, has got to be in love.”
Aurora’s eyes went to the mirror and she caught sight of the expression she was making. Well. Shit. There it was. In every line of her face.
Aurora cleared her throat. “I don’t know about that.” She paused. Decided to tell the truth. “But I certainly had a good weekend.”
Rose grinned at her, her auburn hair seeming to light the air around her. “I had one of those myself.”
Aurora waited for the plummeting dip of her stomach at the news that Gio and Rose had had a good, presumably sex-filled, weekend together, but it didn’t come. Actually, at the moment, Aurora didn’t think anything could turn her stomach. She felt like she was walking on air.
“So, who’s the guy?” Rose asked, washing her hands herself.
Aurora swallowed hard when Dante’s face immediately swam in her mind. She braced a hand against the sink as she felt a little dizzy. Standing there in the women’s restroom, two feet from Gio’s girlfriend, not only was Aurora not feeling jealous, but sh
e realized, with a kind of dizzy fascination, she’d barely thought of Gio at all the last few weeks. At least not as anything more than a friend and business associate. Rose had asked if she was in love, asked who the guy was, and both times, Aurora’s mind went instantly to Dante.
She ran her hand under the cold water and discreetly slipped some onto the back of her neck. When the hell had that happened? Aurora knew that her feelings for Dante were blossoming. That was undeniable. But since when had Dante completely bumped Gio off her radar?
“Aurora?”
Aurora shook her head and focused on Rose. “Sorry?”
“No, that’s okay, you just look a little faint, is all. I asked a question and you didn’t even hear.”
Rose took Aurora by the arm, with a much firmer grip than Aurora expected, and sat her gently on the bench along the wall. “You’re looking a little peaked. Do you feel alright? I’m a nurse.”
Aurora smoothed her hair back. “I’m alright. I’m just a little dizzy from the pregnancy is all.”
“You’re pregnant?” The sweet look of delight on Rose’s face was undeniable.
“Oh. Crap.” Aurora held one hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I’m pregnant, but I haven’t told anyone yet. Including the father.”
Rose immediately zipped her lips. “I won’t say a word. I promise. Can I get you anything? Seltzer? Juice? A cookie?”
Aurora rubbed a hand over her belly. “Apparently the baby likes the sound of all three of those things.”
The two women laughed. Just as she’d expected she would that night at the fundraiser, Aurora genuinely liked Rose. What the hell was going on here? Her life was changing faster than she could even keep track of.
“I heard your question before,” Aurora said. “About who the guy is. I just, I got a little surprised because the answer wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.”
Rose cocked her head to one side and leaned up against the sink. “Again, not my business, but you’re in love with two people?”
Aurora shook her head. “No. No, not anymore, apparently. But it seems I am in love. I just didn’t realize it until now.” She put her hand over her belly again. “Oh lord. What am I going to do?”
“I know we don’t know each other very well, Aurora,” Rose started, biting her bottom lip between her teeth. “But can I give you a little advice?”
“Sure.”
“Did you know that Gio and I knew each other in high school?”
“Oh?” Aurora’s brow furrowed. She’d had no idea.
“Yeah. And things fell apart right after graduation. And, you know, that was that. But fifteen years later, it turns out that wasn’t exactly that, you know what I mean?”
“Ah. No. Not really.”
Rose grinned. “Sorry, I know this isn’t making a ton of sense. Look. I guess I’ll just say that when you know, you know. And all you can do is get out of your own way. People fall out of love all the time. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you sure can’t make yourself un-love somebody. No matter how hard you try. It’s useless. So if you feel it, you might as well show it.”
* * *
Dante leaned back in his desk chair and scraped a hand over his stubble. He held the phone away from his ear for a second, just to get a break from Gio’s voice. He was making sense, but damn if he didn’t annoy the ever-loving crap out of Dante these days.
He’d never had a problem working with Gio in the past, even if the two of them were very different people with very different views on how things should get done. But these days, Dante felt his fuse get shorter and shorter with the man.
Aurora was between them. And as far as Dante could tell, Gio didn’t even know that Aurora was between them. The man didn’t even know that Aurora was pining for him. And Dante was fairly certain she was. She never mentioned him, looked so uncomfortable if he was mentioned, and she’d been coming over to see Dante more and more often. For the hundredth time, Dante cursed himself for ever proposing the idea that she use him to get over Gio.
He’d thought that having Aurora in any way, at any cost, would be better than not having her at all. But lately, knowing that she really wanted Gio was driving him insane. It never affected him when he and Aurora were together. When she was there in front of him, touching him or kissing him, Dante didn’t think twice about it. All he could think was how perfect she was, how much he wanted her. But then later, he’d think back on it. And he’d realize that she’d probably been picturing Gio the entire time they were together. Every time it felt like a poison spreading through his body.
It was almost like he couldn’t get a moment alone with her. There were always three people in the room: Aurora, Dante, and the ghost of Giovanni Esposito.
He fucking hated it. But his only option was to put up with it, or break things off with her.
That was never happening. Not when he could barely stand to go the few days she always made him wait between phone calls. Between hook ups. He never called her, didn’t want to pressure her. And besides, that wasn’t the way their arrangement worked.
He thought back on their weekend together. He was grateful to Michelle being so dang pushy. Because it meant that Aurora had stayed over Saturday night as well. And on Sunday, the three of them had gone to a movie, ordered more food.
But now it was Monday and while he’d gone to bed with Aurora in his arms, he’d woken up completely alone. No phone call. No text. No thanks for the weekend. Nothing. Just like that first night they’d hooked up.
It had pissed him off. And it had meant that he’d argued with Michelle over every little thing and ensured that he’d sent her off to school in just as bad a mood as he was in.
Now it was halfway through Monday and his mood had only worsened. Aurora still hadn’t called or texted and as far as Dante was concerned, all of it was the fault of the man on the other end of the line right now.
“I think we should be able to have the specs on the Peterson project in another week. But it depends on whatever happens on your end,” Gio said. “Are you close to sealing the deal there?”
“Of course I am. What do I look like, an amateur?” Dante snapped and couldn’t help the wave of pleasure he got from being an asshole to Gio.
Gio sighed. “God, you’re touchy these days. No. You aren’t an amateur, Dante. But you have been off your game recently and it’s not ridiculous for me to check in here. Between you and Aurora, I swear, it’s like tiptoeing through mousetraps.”
That had Dante’s ears perking up. “What’s that? Aurora’s been in a bad mood recently?”
Gio was quiet for a minute. “Not a bad mood exactly, but she’s been colder than usual, I guess. I mean, you know her. She’s uber professional. But she’s always been warm with me. And that’s not really there recently. I must have done something to piss her off.”
Music to Dante’s fucking ears. She wasn’t being as warm to Gio as she usually was? What the hell was he supposed to make of that? He figured it could mean one of two things. One, she was just pissed that Gio had found someone else and she was trying to keep herself from getting hurt again. Or two, her more tender feelings were currently being expended somewhere else, or on someone else.
The thought had Dante losing his breath. Suddenly in a much better mood than he’d been in all day, he found himself much less irritated with Gio and much less anxious to end the call.
“Any word from Raphael DePella?” Dante asked, referring to a client that he and Gio had been trying to land for months.
“Yes, actually. Hold on, I’ll forward you the email he sent me from Greece.”
“Greece? He’s still on that fucking vacation?”
“Yeah, I’m not sure he’s in the mood to talk business anytime soon which is a shame because…
Gio’s voice faded away as the door to Dante’s office opened and there was Aurora. One hand on the knob and one hand pulling her messenger bag off and tossing it on the floor. She wore a silky la
vender blouse and a cream colored pencil skirt. Her blonde hair was in a long, thick braid over one of her shoulders. And she had a look in her eye that Dante had come to know and love quite a bit.
She’d come here to scratch an itch.
Dante watched, the phone still to his ear, as she closed the door behind her and locked it. He watched as she stepped purposefully across his office, her hips swaying and her eyes heated.
Dante could hear Gio’s voice in his ear, but he couldn’t for the life of him understand a word the man was saying. He made a non committal sound in the back of his throat hoping it sounded like he was still listening.
And then Aurora was standing there, in front of him, looking perfect and untouchable and as gorgeous as always. Dante’s mouth watered. He patted his lap, asking her to climb on, but she shook her head.
Bending down, she clamped a hand onto Dante’s knee and swiveled his chair so that he was facing her. Standing between his legs, Aurora’s eyes burned into his. She kept eye contact as she slowly bent down in front of him, going to her knees.
Dante’s mouth instantly dried up. He pulled the phone away from his ear. “Sweetheart,” he murmured, but she shook her head, pushed the phone back toward his ear and dropped her eyes to his belt.
She wanted him to keep the phone call going?
Aurora made quick work of his belt and the zipper of his pants. Within seconds she was holding his cock, huge and hot in her hand. She’d never gone down on him before but now she was looking at him as if she wanted to devour him whole.
“Sure, yeah. That makes sense,” Dante said into the phone, his voice tight.
Leaning forward, Aurora didn’t waste any more time. She held him steady in one hand and swallowed him down.
Dante widened his legs and planted his feet and did everything he could not to jam his cock down her throat. But she was not making it easy. He wasn’t prepared for the way her luscious lips looked closing around him. He wasn’t prepared for the alluring peek down her blouse she was giving him. He wasn’t prepared for the vicious little circles she was making with her tongue.