VINA IN VENICE (THE 5 SISTERS)

by Kimberley Reeves

  “On the contrary,” Travis grinned as he reached over and turned off the light, “If I have my way, there will an extraordinary amount of sight-seeing and exploring going on.”

  Her insides quivered as his hand began making a slow path up her thigh. “Would that…exploring part be starting right now?”

  His answer came in the form of a very long and thorough kiss.

  ***

  Even groggy from sleep, Travis recognized the citrusy scent that filled his nose. He turned his head, drawing in another deep breath when he felt the tickle of Vina’s hair against his cheek. He liked waking up with her in his arms, and the way she curled up by his side with her head resting on his shoulder and the warmth of her breath whispering across his chest. If only he could tell her how much he loved her.

  Soon, Travis promised himself.

  A quick glance at the glowing hands of the clock on the nightstand told him it was nearly dinner time. Catrina had informed him earlier that she would give them a wake-up call via the intercom about thirty minutes before dinner was served. At the time, he figured a three hour nap would be enough to refresh them for the rest of the flight. The problem was that once he started kissing Vina, he hadn’t been able to stop. At most, they’d slept for an hour and a half.

  Easing his arm from beneath her head, Travis slipped out of bed and felt his way to the chair where he’d left his clothes. Vina was dead to the world right now and could do with an extra hour of sleep. He managed to get dressed and out the door without waking her, then made his way towards the front of the plane to find Catrina. There were still several hours left of the flight; delaying dinner so Vina could sleep shouldn’t be a problem as long as Catrina hadn’t started preparing it yet.

  He found her in the attendant’s compartment flipping through a fashion magazine. Travis was a big man, and though there was plenty of room for a couple of flight attendants, it felt too confining for comfort once he was inside. Catrina dropped the magazine on the empty seat beside her and rose to her feet, a sultry smile on her crimson lips. Now that he was so close to making Vina his, it was hard to imagine that he’d ever been attracted to women like Catrina.

  “Well, you look rested,” she cooed. “Where is your…uh…fiancé?”

  “Still asleep, which is why I came to find you.”

  Misconstruing what he’d said, Catrina sauntered up to him and slipped her arms around his neck. “And now that you’ve found me, what do you intend to do with me?”

  Travis gripped her waist with his hands in an attempt to keep her from pressing any closer. “I’m sorry, Catrina. I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

  “Oh, I understand you all right. You’re the type that likes to live on the edge, take a few risks.” She smiled up at him. “Like locking yourself in the bathroom with me for a quick romp while your fiancé sleeps off the champagne.”

  “Catrina, you’re not…” Travis stopped abruptly when he heard a muffled sound coming from the doorway.

  He didn’t need to turn around to know that Vina had come looking for him, or what she’d seen when she found him.

  Chapter 9

  Catrina grinned, looking anything but contrite. “Uh, oh, I think you just got busted.”

  “I have not been busted,” his tone was hard, “because I wasn’t doing anything to get busted over.” Travis gripped her wrists and firmly pulled her arms from around his neck. “I only came to see if you would delay dinner for an hour so Vina could get a little more sleep.”

  “If you say so,” Catrina shrugged, clearly convinced he had other motives for seeking her out.

  Travis didn’t bother trying to persuade her otherwise. What did he care if the crazy woman believed he came back here to proposition her? The only thing that mattered was what Vina thought, and right now he had a pretty good idea what was going through her head. Not that he could blame her. Discovering them together in the small attendant’s compartment was incriminating enough, but the real clincher was finding Catrina draped all over him. In Vina’s eyes, it was irrefutable evidence of his infidelity, proof that he couldn’t remain faithful to her for even a few hours if there was another beautiful woman at his disposal.

  “There’s no reason to delay dinner at this point,” he said, flicking his eyes over Catrina in distaste. “Just for the record, I’m not interested in being initiated into the mile high club and suggest you conduct yourself in a professional manner for the remainder of the flight.”

  Catrina smiled, unaffected by his deliberate barbs. “You may want to rethink that, loverboy. I saw the look on your girlfriend’s face. It’s going to be quite some time before she lets you back into her bed, assuming she doesn’t break it off with you altogether.”

  “I’ll deal with my relationship with Vina. You just worry about doing your job.” Travis turned to leave. “One more thing,” he called over his shoulder. “If you do anything to upset Vina again, you’ll find yourself in the unemployment line tomorrow morning.”

  Catrina was wise enough not to goad him any further, apparently concluding from his tone that he was dead serious. He hurried through the lounge, pausing for a few minutes outside Vina’s room to consider what he was going to say. Would she believe the truth? More importantly, would she even give him the chance to explain what happened? At least he had one solid advantage working for him; with no place to run off to, it would be easier to convince Vina to hear him out.

  After preparing a few sound lines of reasoning that he felt would successfully coax her out of the room, Travis was thrown off balance when she opened the door after the first light rap. He was even more surprised to discover she didn’t look the least bit upset. Which only proved what he and his buddies had concluded long ago: women were a mystery that would never be unraveled.

  “Come in,” Vina said graciously, taking a step back so he could enter the room.

  Travis eyed her warily as she closed the door and turned to face him. “I…uh…just wanted to make sure you were all right.”

  “Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Well, I thought…I mean, after what just happened…” shoving his hands in his pockets, Travis floundered.

  Maybe he was wrong and she hadn’t seen Catrina clinging to him like a human vine. No, if that was true, Vina would still be in his room instead of her own. Probably a good idea to be up front about it or she might think he really did have something to hide.

  “Look, I wanted to let you sleep a little longer so I went to ask Catrina to delay serving dinner. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but she obviously misconstrued it and thought that I…well, that I was…which I wasn’t, but she…”

  “Thought you wanted a little appetizer before dinner?” Vina supplied.

  “So you did overhear what she said.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t realize you were in there with her until I reached the doorway. I was thirsty and went to ask for a bottle of water, but when I heard what she said about having a quick romp in the bathroom, I took that as my cue to leave.”

  Travis was floored. “You don’t honestly believe I would have done that, do you?”

  “Of course not,” Vina assured him. “You may be commitment challenged and have an aversion to relationships that last past the third date, but I know you don’t sleep with every woman that offers herself to you. I also know that despite the playboy reputation your brothers have tagged you with, you don’t let your libido overrule your brain. A woman who makes a habit of hopping from one man’s bed to another wouldn’t appeal to you, regardless of how sexy or beautiful she is.”

  “I’m glad you recognize I don’t live up to my reputation, but that doesn’t explain why you left.”

  “Travis, she knew I was there. I walked up just as you were telling her there was a misunderstanding. She looked right at me and then promptly turned on the sex kitten routine. It was all an act for my benefit, to prove she could seduce you with minimal effort.”

  “If you knew that, why didn’t you s
ay something?”

  “And let her believe you would have accepted her proposition if I hadn’t interrupted you? Not on your life,” Vina said with vehemence. “Besides, you’re a big boy. I figured you could get Cat to retract her claws all by yourself.”

  Travis threw up his hands in exasperation. “Why do I get the feeling there was a game being played and I was the only one who wasn’t given a set of the rules?”

  “Poor baby,” Vina sounded genuinely sympathetic, “it must be horrible to have to fend off women everywhere you go.”

  “You think this is funny?”

  “Maybe just a tad,” she admitted.

  “Unbelievable. I was actually worried Catrina’s little stunt had upset you. I was even stupid enough to think…”

  Vina looked at him expectantly. “What, Travis? Finish what you were saying.”

  Travis shook his head, thoroughly disgusted with himself for feeling gutted by Vina’s lack of emotion. He thought she would be jealous of Catrina, threatened by her. Hell, he wanted her to be seething with jealousy, wanted her to feel as predatory about him as he would be about her if another man tried to seduce her. Obviously, the intimacy they’d shared in his room hadn’t meant nearly as much to Vina as it had to him.

  “Never mind,” he said, disappointment lending a sharp edge to his tone. “I’m going back to my room. I’ll see you at dinner.” He moved towards the door, but Vina didn’t step aside as he expected. She just stood there, looking hurt and confused by his abrupt mood swing. “I’m sorry,” he managed a thin smile, “I didn’t mean to be so short with you. Maybe I’m the one who needs a little more rest before dinner.”

  Tears shimmered in Vina’s eyes. “Or maybe you jumped into this relationship thing with me without giving it ample thought and now you regret it.”

  “That’s not true. If anything, I put too much thought into it. Because of that, I expected too much too soon.”

  Vina’s voice was laced with sadness. “You thought you would feel more for me than you do.”

  “No, sweetheart,” Travis said with a wry grin, “just the opposite; I had this delusional image of you falling head over heels for me after one kiss. What happened with Catrina proves just how far off track I was.”

  “Is that what you think? Travis, just because I walked away without causing a scene doesn’t mean I’m not crazy about you. The truth is, I’m not sure how to act around you anymore. I’m afraid I’ll do or say something that will spoil what we have…or what…what we could have.”

  “I don’t think I’m getting the big picture here. Are you saying the reason you didn’t react to Catrina hanging all over me was because you thought it would somehow ruin things between us?”

  “Yes, that’s it exactly.”

  Travis raked his fingers through his hair, more perplexed than ever. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Of course it does. You hate it when the woman you’re with acts jealous. You said it’s embarrassing and that it instantly kills any attraction you have for her.” Vina drew closer to him, her voice softening. “What I said about not storming in there because I wanted Catrina to know it was your decision to turn her down…that part was true. But it wasn’t the only reason.”

  The heaviness in his chest began to ease. “Are you telling me you were jealous?”

  Vina looked up at him, guilt written all over her face. “I was pea green with it. I wanted to tromp in there and yank every strand of peroxided hair out of her head and tell her…well, some very unladylike words came to mind. And now that you know how I really feel about it, are you disappointed in me?”

  “Disappointed?” Travis pressed his lips together, gazing past her as if he was mulling it over. “No…that’s not how I would describe what I’m feeling right now.” Turning his eyes back to hers, he told her, “I can honestly say this is the first time I have been elated to discover a woman considered doing physical harm to another female over me.”

  “And the bad words,” she broke into a radiant smile. “Don’t forget, I also considered compromising my reputation as a respectable lady for your sake.”

  Travis reached for her then, gathering her in his arms. “You really are crazy about me, aren’t you?”

  “Completely bonkers.”

  “Believe me, Miss Moore, the feeling is mutual.”

  “Prove it,” she said, her words little more than a breathless whisper.

  Only too happy to oblige, Travis took possession of her parted lips with great eagerness. He was looking forward to spending time with Vina in Venice. More specifically, time alone in the Palazzo suites where there were no intercoms and no interruptions by the cool, crisp voice of the flight attendant announcing dinner was being served.

  ***

  Vina was still feeling the dizzying effects of being kissed senseless when they emerged from the cabin. With their fingers intertwined, they strolled through the lounge area to one of the small dining tables. Sitting close together with soft music sifting through the overhead speakers, it felt more like a cozy, romantic restaurant than an airplane. Even Catrina’s stony face as she served their meal couldn’t dispel the magical atmosphere.

  After Catrina retreated to the attendant’s compartment, Vina remarked, “For someone who was so desperate to jump you less than an hour ago, she’s certainly bent on giving you the cold shoulder now.”

  “Could have something to do with the fear of losing her job.”

  Vina was both surprised and pleased. “You actually threatened to have her fired?”

  “I may have suggested a professional attitude would keep her out of the unemployment line.”

  Their conversation turned to more pleasant things, and after lingering over a deliciously decadent chocolate zabaglione cream cake, Travis asked Catrina for a chilled bottle of champagne. They moved to the other side of the plane where the seats were so plush, Vina could easily have curled up for a brief nap. The sumptuous meal was making her drowsy, and the champagne only enhanced the drugged effect. She felt incredibly uninhibited, as if she could float on air just like the clouds outside her window.

  “More, please,” Vina held up her empty glass.

  Travis plucked the glass from her hand with an indulgent smile and set it on the coffee table next to his. “Anymore and I’ll have to carry you from the plane. Come here,” he said in a deep, husky voice that sent shivers racing up Vina’s spine.

  Sliding over so close their thighs were flush against each other, Vina let out a contented sigh when Travis put his arm around her. It felt nice to be sitting like this, with her head resting on his shoulder and butterflies chasing each other around inside her stomach. Her hand, which she’d settled lightly on his knee, was engulfed with warmth when he covered it with his and curled in his fingers around her palm.

  Vina gave up the fight to keep her eyes open. As her mind drifted into a state of limbo where she wasn’t fully awake but not quite sleeping either, she wondered if her parents would approve of the budding relationship between her and Travis. They had adored him, of course. Travis was practically part of the family and had been for years, but she couldn’t help speculating as to why they hadn’t considered him as a potential love interest. In truth, it was still difficult for Vina to assimilate without a sense of surrealism.

  If only there was a way to be sure I won’t end up on the discard pile with all his other girlfriends, she thought wistfully.

  Would it be worth it? If it didn’t work out and she suffered the same fate as the others, would it be worth having Travis for however long it lasted? To belong to him, to experience the rapture of his bone melting kisses whenever she wanted, to share his life, his bed, the passion of making love. Tilting her head back, Vina eked her eyelids open and gazed at his handsome face with a sleepy smile.

  Travis returned her smile. “I thought you’d dozed off.”

  “I nearly did. But then I started thinking and…well, there’s something I just have to tell you.”

  “Uh, o
h, sounds serious.”

  “It is,” she said, “terribly serious. I have a confession to make. You see, I have this…addiction.”

  “What kind of addiction?” Travis asked, his expression growing solemn.

  “Well, it’s strange really, because I’ve never folded to such weaknesses before, but this is different. It’s almost become an obsession…a desperate need that I can’t resist no matter how hard I try.”

  “I’ll help you. No matter what it is, I’ll help you conquer it,” he said so fiercely it made Vina laugh.

  “Oh, I’ll definitely need your help, but I’m afraid it will only fuel my addiction, not cure it.” Her eyes moved to his lips, the need to feel them pressed against hers already so intense, Vina’s voice quivered. “It’s your kisses, Travis. I look at you now and all I want to do is kiss you. I can’t seem to help myself. I want…I need…”