An Unexpected Attraction (Love Unexpected Book 3) (8 page)

He shot her his best appalled look. “That’s because we do.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” she teased, “but the best wine I’ve ever had wasn’t Italian. It was a California red—fruity and textured with hints of cedar and cardamom.
Delicious
.”

“You must be joking,” he muttered. “You’re unsophisticated American palate doesn’t know any better, so I forgive your blasphemy.”

Brenda laughed, cute and sexy at the same time. A sound he would never get tired of, even when she was giving him hell. “Oh please. Italian wines are good, don’t get me wrong—but there are so many good ones out there, I have to say that Italian wine is one among many.”

“You’ll eat those words,” he promised.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Their playful banter had recharged him, and the thought of spending time with her tipped his pulse rate forward a little faster.

“Okay, Mr. Santorini, let’s go.” She walked ahead of him.

His gaze dropped, admiring the left-right swing of her hips.

At the door Brenda cast a glance over her shoulder and almost caught him staring at her behind. “This better be some damn good wine.”

“It is,” he assured her. He opened the door and let her precede him. “Trust me.”

****

If she hadn’t been with Jay, Brenda would have walked right past Vino Luogo, almost hidden in plain sight with a nondescript glass door and nestled between two businesses on either side.

“Mr. Santorini.” The host, a middle-aged man with a portly build and bushy dark beard greeted Jay.

“Hello, Joel.”

“I see you have a guest tonight. Give me a few minutes to find you a table.” He lumbered away.

“You weren’t kidding,” Brenda murmured to Jay. “You really do come here often.”

“I’m afraid so,” he said with a small smile.

Vino Luogo was indeed ‘a little wine bar,’ like Jay said. Dark furniture and dimmed lights created a cozy atmosphere. Shaped like a long rectangle, the dining room contained small tables lining the walls, none able to seat more than four people, the majority accommodating two. A low hum of conversation filled the packed room. If Joel found a free table, it would be a miracle.

Apparently, miracles do happen. He found a two-top near the back in a semi-quiet corner against the exposed brick wall. Brenda hadn’t planned to eat again, but the small plate menu featured intriguing choices such as edamame hummus and bacon popcorn. She broke down and let Jay suggest a few items for them to nosh on.

They opted for the bacon popcorn, set in the center for sharing, and a plate of mushroom flatbread for Brenda. Jay chose tomato flatbread with fontina cheese and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. Not long after the food arrived, the waiter poured them each a glass of Nebbiolo wine and set the half-empty carafe on the table.

Brenda picked up the bowl-shaped stemware.

“
Salute
,” Jay said.

He watched her as she swirled the liquid and lowered her nose to inhale its fragrance. “Mmmm.” She took a sip and allowed the wine to roll over her tongue. Full-bodied with complex flavors and notes of licorice, it was arguably the best red she’d ever tasted.

Across the table from her, Jay wore a self-satisfied smirk. “I won’t ask what you think because I already have a pretty good idea.”

He did know wines. “When you’re right, you’re right.” She set the glass on the table.

He leaned toward her, a glint of amusement in his eye. “You can thank me now.”

She rolled her eyes and said one of only a handful of Italian words that she knew. “
Grazie
.”

Jay watched her with a pleased expression on his face, before lifting his glass and taking a sip.

She slipped a morsel of cubed flatbread into her mouth, concentrating on the task and the flavor of the caramelized mushrooms. Anything but look across the table at him and the way his mouth closed over the glass.

“How is your sister?” he asked.

Her sister Tracey would start her last year of college in the fall. “She’s fine. We spoke last week. Her studies are coming along well.”

“What’s her major again?”

“Computer information systems.”

“Ah yes. Good for her.” He twirled the glass on the table.

For a long time, neither said a word. Her gaze flitted over the rest of the diners seated at the small tables and the curved, wooden tasting bar. Mostly couples, but there were also small groups of friends, and from the private room a bachelorette party’s cheering and clapping could be heard.

“I’m sorry,” Jay said.

Her attention came back to him. She almost missed the quiet apology. Her heart constricted a little, saddened they’d come to this point. “I’m sorry, too. I overreacted.”

“You didn’t overreact.” He made the statement in a matter-of-fact way and then drank some wine. He set the glass carefully on the table but his eyes remained trained on it. He frowned, as if searching the depths for the answer to a question. “You seeing anyone?” Now, he studied her with the same intensity he had the wine.

“Uh…n-no, I’m not,” she stuttered. The change in topic threw her. “Not right now.”

“No broken hearts left behind in Chicago?”

“Plural? No way?” She laughed, albeit uneasily. Conversations like this, particularly with Jay of all people, always made her uneasy. “There was someone, but he doesn’t have a broken heart, I assure you. We cut ties when I left. It wasn’t very serious.” She picked up a kernel of corn from the bowl in the center of the table and slipped it into her mouth. Jay hadn’t eaten anything since they sat down.

“Not serious for you.” Not even the hint of a smile was on his face, attentive eyes capturing every word and every movement.

“Not for either of us.” She wanted to change the subject and avoided his eyes, focusing on a still life painting of wine bottles and grapes on the wall. When she swung her gaze back to Jay, he was staring at her. “What?” she asked sharply.

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“The past.”

He looked at her in a way he never had before, or rather in a way she hadn’t seen in a very long time. Her chest felt heavy and she swallowed hard.

“What are you thinking about the past?” A dangerous question, and yet she still asked.

He traced a finger around the rim of his glass. The movement reminded her of an intimate caress, the warm stroke of a lover’s fingertip over heated skin.

“Thinking about when Nick introduced you to us he was probably halfway in love with you by then.
Ti ricordi
?”

She looked down at the table, embarrassed.

“Yes, I remember,” she answered. “Except for the part about Nick being halfway in love with me.”

“You like to pretend it’s not true, but he did have feelings for you. Still does.” His voice had dropped lower, almost hypnotizing in its monotony.

Shrugging, she broke eye contact. The line of conversation about Nick made her uncomfortable.

“Did you know he talked about you a lot before he introduced you to us? He mentioned this beautiful woman he wanted us to meet.”

She didn’t know this little bit of information. Nick had approached her in a cafe. She’d been eating lunch alone while reviewing notes for a class, and he’d walked up and introduced himself. She’d shot him down right away, but eventually they exchanged numbers when he convinced her all he wanted was friendship.

“I don’t understand why we’re talking about this.” Brenda rubbed the back of her neck, wishing she hadn’t inquired about his thoughts after all.

Jay stopped tracing the rim of the glass. “Then
I
met you. The night we met, Jenna was with me.
Ti ricordi
?”

“Of course I remember. It was really cold that night. I almost canceled but changed my mind because I’d promised Nick I’d go.” They’d met at a popular jazz and blues lounge in Marietta.

“You wore a black sweater dress, knee-high, black leather boots, and a red scarf. Three inch heels. Big dangly gold earrings with diamond accents. A gold ring on the middle finger of your right hand with the design of a rose on it. Pink nail polish. Red lipstick. Your hair was a little longer then, and you had pulled it back from your face.”

Brenda swallowed at the amount of detail he recounted.

A bittersweet smile lined his mouth. “I can’t remember what I wore that night. I can’t remember what Jenna wore. But I remember every detail of your outfit. I remember what your mouth looked like, your eyes, and especially your smile. I even remember the way you smelled. And I remember thinking…” His voice became quieter, husky. She waited, breathing suspended. “Thinking…that I wish I’d met you first.”

A shaky breath expelled from her lungs. The glass in front of her became the center of her attention for a long time. Silence hovered over the table like a gloomy specter.

“Jay…” She risked a look at him, and the intensity in his eyes burned into her soul. This was why they couldn’t be alone together, not even in a public place, apparently. “That’s the wine talking,” she croaked.

His lips firmed, rebellious in the dismissal of her words. “It’s the truth.”

“You can’t say something like that and just…”

“Just what?”

“Not expect me to react.” Anger swelled inside of her. Anger that he’d dared say something so intimate, so
wrong
. “You and I can’t happen. You know we can’t. It wouldn’t feel right.”

“It would feel right,” he said in a measured tone. His gaze raked over her, mentally stripping her naked, violating her with the blatant hunger in his eyes. “It would feel fucking incredible.”

She squeezed her thighs together. “Stop it, Jay.”

“Why?” he asked harshly. He leaned forward, staring her right in the eyes. “So we can continue to act like there’s nothing between us?”

“There
is
nothing between us. It’s not an act.”

Angry color tinged his cheeks. “Dammit, Brenda, it’s been twelve years. Whatever sense of honor or guilt you feel is misplaced.”

“Why?” she whispered fiercely. Her eyes shot to the table beside them. Certain the couple wasn’t paying them any attention, she continued. “Why did you ask me to come here? So you could harass me? So you could bombard me with your despicable thoughts? Jenna is my friend. I’m not going to betray her because it’s convenient for you.”

“Jenna and I have been divorced for ten years.”

“That doesn’t make it right. I don’t want to have this conversation with you.”

“Tell me you feel nothing.”

“Stop it.” What they’d done was wrong. He’d had a girlfriend. His girlfriend was her friend.

“Tell me you feel nothing. You can’t, because you do. That night—”

“
No
.” She stiffened. The fist in her lap tightened. “We agreed nothing happened. And please, please stop looking at me like that.” His eyes said it all. What he wanted to do to her. How he’d do it.

“How long are you going to keep this up?” he asked.

“I’m ready to go,” she said, holding his gaze. “You can leave with me or I can leave without you. Whichever you prefer.” She picked up the goblet from the table and downed the last of the wine. Her hands shook. Erratic breaths sputtered from her chest.

A stretch of silence hung between them like angry live wire. After a moment’s hesitation, Jay also finished off his wine. He called over the waiter and very rudely demanded the check. The poor waiter hadn’t done anything wrong but had become a casualty of their tense conversation.

When the bill was paid, Brenda quickly stood and stalked ahead of Jay, not even pausing when he stopped to chat with Joel. She hurried down the street, brushing past the many pedestrians congregated on the city’s sidewalks this time of night.

The pleasant evening she’d hoped to enjoy was over. Done. This was her punishment for wanting to spend time with him. Her punishment for enjoying his company too much.

Brenda banked the corner toward the lot where she’d parked her car. She didn’t know how close he was until his voice came from behind her.

“Do you plan to keep on running forever?”

She pivoted and faced his angry glare. He loomed over her, appearing even larger than usual because of the street’s downward slope.

“It was a kiss. Only a kiss, and a very long time ago. What do you want from me?”

“Honesty. It was more than a kiss,” he said, halfway yelling. “Did you forget you were straddling me?”

“Lower your voice.” Her eyes darted around the almost empty side street. A man rode by on a bike and a car horn blared, prompting a woman to hustle across the street. “You pulled me on top of your lap. You forced me to straddle you.”

Considering all the sidewalk available to him, Jay stepped way too close. “Did I force you to open the buttons on my shirt?”

No, he hadn’t done that. Her hands, with minds of their own, had accomplished the task swiftly and with noteworthy gusto.

“Did I force you to lick my chest and neck?”

No, he hadn’t done that, either. Her tongue had taken charge, savoring the distinctive tang of his skin and playing with his hard nipples.

“That was—” Her lips trembled. “I didn’t mean to.” She blinked rapidly, overcome by the stinging sensation in her chest as he edged even closer.

“
Maledizione
, do you know how long it took for me to forget the scent of you on my fingers?” he asked in a coarse voice. “Do you have any idea how long it took for me to forget how the inside of your mouth tasted?”

She had a good idea, because she’d fought to forget the salty flavor of his skin, the scent of his masculine musk, and the way the inside of
his
mouth tasted.

“Why are you doing this? Why now?” she asked huskily.

“Because it’s been twelve years.” His voice sounded as if he had an obstruction in his larynx. “Because Charlie is dead and he thought he had time, and the truth is, we don’t have time, and we don’t know what could happen tomorrow. You said don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today. So I’m not. Having you here in Atlanta, so close but still so far away, has been hard for me.
Giorno e notte penso solo a te.”
He scraped his fingers through the hair on his head.
“
Every day and every night, you’re all I think about.”