Chapter Three
Chapter Three
L eo picked up the bottle of wine he’d bought as he headed out of his kitchen. Vince had dressed for dinner, but he still didn’t look happy about the situation.
“What?” Leo asked.
Vince sighed. “I told you earlier that I’d stay home.”
“It will make me look like a dick. You came here to see me and one of the three nights you’re here, I’m going to go to dinner without you.”
“I completely understand. She’s smoking hot.”
Leo rolled his eyes and walked to the door. There was a reason Vince was thirty-five years old and single. He couldn’t see that a woman would take offense to that comment. Leo knew he had already started off badly with Maryanne. He wanted to make sure he made a good impression tonight.
“No. She said both of us.”
“Actually what she said was you and the other one. I'm not so sure she wants me there.”
That would not be good. He was already attracted to her and being alone with a bottle of wine was not a good idea. He needed Vince there to be a buffer. His main objective was to repair the damage and move on.
“So, was last night a little too much for you?”
Vince rolled his eyes. “Yeah. A few beers on the Riverwalk and some hot Tex-Mex food was a little too much for me.”
What they had done was spend the night up talking. They were a close family, but he and Vince were less than two years apart in age. They had gone through a lot together growing up and he was the only one who had understood why Leo had opted to go in the Army instead of attending college first. Leo knew he wanted to be a medic for longer than he could remember, and Vince had been the first one he had told.
“Come on. The food might suck, but I have a good wine, and we can always hit fast food later.”
“Okay, as long as it’s a Whataburger.”
“I have no idea how you stay so fit and eat like that. I got the shitty genes apparently.”
Vince chuckled as he followed him out of the door and waited for him to lock it. “I could have told you that, Leo. It was evident from an early age I had far superior genes.”
It only took a few minutes to get around the apartment complex to where her apartment was located. By the time they were walking up the stairs, his stomach was turning over. Not the kind that told him he was going to be sick. No, these were butterflies...like he was sixteen years old and picking up Sue Martin for his first date.
“Looks different here,” Vince commented.
“These are bigger apartments. They didn't have any open when I toured. I wanted one, but another one won’t open up for eight months.”
Before they reached her door, he could smell the food. Onion, garlic, and basil. She'd cooked Italian for a couple of Italians. He lifted his hand to knock but he didn’t get to. It opened with a whoosh. Again, all thought dissolved from his mind.
He had seen her in work and exercise clothes, but it had not prepared him for her in casual clothes. Her hair was down, the soft curls cascading over her shoulders. The hot pink shirt she wore clung to her tits. And, lord, she had a body that was made for wearing those worn hip hugging jeans. Her feet were bare, but he saw the bright pink polish on her toes. It matched her shirt.
“Hello. Sorry, did I scare you,” she said. There was laughter in her voice and it made his heart jerk…along with other body parts.
Vince laughed. “No, but we are stunned by the smell.”
She smiled at Vince. Her whole face lighted with happiness. “Thank you. Come on in.”
Vince stepped over the threshold, but Leo stood there trying to get his brain to work.
“Santini?”
He shook himself and looked at her. Her brow furrowed as she studied him. Great, she thought there was something wrong with him. He forced himself to smile.
“Sorry.”
“No problem. Is that for tonight?”
“What?”
She pointed to the wine in his hand. “Sure.” He followed his brother in and didn't miss the smirk on Vince’s face. Leo knew he was going to get shit for this.
“Vince is right. Smells delicious.”
She gave him a smile over her shoulder. “It is.”
“Kind of bold serving red sauce to a couple of Italians.”
She laughed and the sound danced over his nerve endings. Damn, he was barely able to control himself when she was mean to him. Smiling and laughing at him…that was going to make her lethal to his libido.
“You two aren't the only Italians around.” She started looking through her drawers. “Aha!” She held up her bottle opener. “Would you mind? I suck at it.”
More at ease now, he said, “Sure.”
“So, you're Italian, Ms. Johnson?” Vince asked.
“Oh please, call me Maryanne, or MJ. I answer to either.”
“And you can just call me the other one.”
Her face flushed. “You heard that?”
Of course his brother had heard that. Maryanne wasn't exactly quiet when she spoke.
“Just call us Leo and Vince. One of us will answer.”
She laughed as she set a couple glasses on the counter. She rose to her tiptoes to grab another one but Vince walked up behind her.
“Let me get that for you.”
She stilled as Vince grabbed the glass and pulled it down.
“There you go,” Vince said, his voice even as if he didn’t realize he had been that close to her. Hell, if Leo had been, he would have embarrassed himself. When she turned around, her face was pink again.
“Hey, Leo, gonna open that bottle or just break off the bottle opener?” Vince asked as he leaned against her kitchen counter. He looked like he was making himself right at home.
Leo frowned at him, but noticed he was looking at his hand. Leo had the bottle opener in such a tight grip that his knuckles were white. He glanced at Maryanne who was busy at the stove with her back to them. With effort, he loosened his hand and gave his brother a warning look. He uncorked the bottle and set it on the counter to breathe.
“So, you’re Italian? Johnson doesn’t sound very Italian,” Vince said.
She tossed another smile over her shoulder. “My grandmother is Italian. And since she’s the one who taught me how to cook, most of my entrees lean that way.”
She grabbed a box of spaghetti and dumped the pasta into the boiling pot.
“So, your grandmother lived with you?” Leo asked.
She gave the spaghetti a stir, then turned around. “Yeah. My mom died when I was three. Dad tried for a few years to handle the four of us on his own, but it’s hard. Y’all know what it’s like with a military obligations and add in the four kids—it was a circus. Anyway, there was an incident and basically, he felt he lost control. And you know how Marine fathers are.”
Leo snorted. “Losing control is not something any military man likes.”
“Of course not. I get it. I mean, you give over so much of your life that you need to control something and when you can’t control a five-year-old girl…you feel your life is falling apart. He wouldn’t let my grandmother take me away, so she moved in with us. It was the best because my brothers were running amuck and Dad had a lot on his plate. He says he would have never made any of his stars without my grandmother helping out.”
“Stars?” Leo asked.
“Don’t tell me your father is General Bryan Johnson,” Vince said in a strange tone. Leo shot his brother a look, but his brother had his concentration on Maryanne.
“Yeah. Do you know him?”
More than likely Vince did. He’d been Special Forces early in his career, but he had made his rank fast, and he had been to several specialized schools. He was a little young for making Lt Col but he had done his time in the field and his time at the Pentagon.
“Is he still active?” Leo asked.
She nodded. “I wish he would get out and get a life. He also needs a woman.”
Vince seemed to recover himself a bit and chuckled. “That’s a strange thing for a daughter to say.”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, it’s been a long time since he’s had a relationship. I can understand why it’s hard for him because, well he’s busy. I keep telling him that soon he’ll be all alone.”
“He always has his daughter to keep him company,” Leo said.
She snorted. “Yeah, Dad and I love each other but we usually get in some kind of argument within twenty-four hours. I’m the one child of his who is not in the military and he cannot control me at all. It drives him crazy.”
Her timer buzzed on the oven and she retrieved some garlic bread. She set the pan on the counter and grabbed a basket.
“What was the incident?” Leo asked.
“What?”
“The incident. The one you said drove your father to ask your grandmother to move in?”
She sighed. “I was a tomboy.”
“No way,” Vince said with a chuckle.
“Yeah. Kind of hard to believe with a Marine father and three Marine brothers that I would turn out that way, right? Right now, we don’t always get along and they made my life hell in high school, but then, when I was little, they were my whole world. They treated me like one of the guys. So, when I wanted to play t-ball, I expected to get all the same equipment they did for baseball.”
Leo frowned. “Yeah, so, why didn’t you?”
Her cheeks pickened. “There’s one bit of important equipment that boys wear that girls don’t.”
Then it hit Leo. “You wanted a cup.”
“Well, yeah. They all had one. And from what my grannie tells me, they did anything I wanted up until then. Dad felt guilty because Mom died, not that it was his fault, but still, you know. And he said, even though I was a tomboy, I knew how to work the house of men. I would cry and they would do anything I wanted. But, when I demanded a cup and threw a fit in front of the entire team and their parents because I couldn’t get one, Dad decided it was time for some maternal influence in my life.”
He smiled, then he found himself laughing out loud. “Seriously, Maryanne, it doesn’t surprise me in the least.”
She smiled. “It was a good thing though. Having another woman in my house was a godsend. I don’t even want to think about talking to my father about puberty.”
“Well, I would say that you turned out just fine, in my humble opinion,” Vince said sweetly.
She blinked then smiled at him and just like that, Leo was pissed. This was going to be one long night.
Maryanne was relieved when the evening came to an end. It had been difficult to sit through the meal and not drool over her companions. Of course, having Vince there made it a little easier. He flirted with her enough to make her feel pretty, but didn't push it. He had no interest in her at all. At least, she didn't think he did. Anyway, the brooding presence of Leo made it hard to be a completely relaxed meal. He added to the conversation, but the dirty looks he kept giving her and Vince made her uncomfortable. It was as if he didn't trust her with his brother.
“Now, here, take this,” she said as she offered Vince the plastic container of food.
He took it with that drop-dead gorgeous smile—dimples and all. “No problem. That hardly leaves you any, though.”
“Believe me, I don't need that hanging around my house. Once Tuesday hits, I'll be gone so much with work, I’ll end up throwing it away. Or worse, I will eat it all tomorrow on my day off.”
He nodded and headed to the door. Leo said nothing as he followed his brother to the door. Once Vince stepped through the doorway though, Leo shut the door and grabbed her by the wrist pulling her to him, then crowded her up against the door. Before she could tell him to get his hands off her—and she was so totally going to do that, really—he slammed his mouth down on hers.
Her brain fizzled. Just right there, stopped working. She couldn't seem to do anything but to kiss him back. Every other thought dissolved and the primal instinct to connect took over. Heat bloomed within her, pulsing through her veins. In that one instant she went from sort of frustrated to wanting to tear off his clothes. When he pulled back, they were both breathing heavily.
“Just so you know which Santini is really interested.” He swooped in for another quick kiss. “God, you taste good.”
From the need she heard in his voice, she was sure he would kiss her again, but with a sigh, he stepped back.
“Thank you for dinner.” He kept looking at her and she didn't know what to say. That steady gaze had her heart smacking against her chest. What did you say to a man who fizzled your brain like that?
“Maryanne?”
“What?”
He offered her a gentle smile that almost undid her. “I can't open the door with you standing in front of it.”
“Oh.” Her face heated as she stepped aside. He opened the door and paused.
“I would love to take you out tomorrow.” She was formulating her excuses, when he continued. “But, my brother is only here for another day. How about next Friday?”
“You're asking me out?”
She didn't mean to shout the question but this was bad. Worse, she wanted to say yes, Yes, YES.
Oh, god.
“I thought we should explore this...thing.”
“Thing?” Great. She sounded like an idiot.
“How about we call it breaking even? You made me dinner. I'll take you out for dinner.”
She should say no. A man like Santini had heartbreak written all over him, but she could only say, “Okay.”
He smiled as if she had given him some kind of gift.
“Good night, Maryanne.”
Then he slipped out the door.
“You need to lock the door, Maryanne,” he said through the door.
“You’re not my keeper.”
But she did lock it.
“Goodnight.”
She said nothing and leaned back against the door. The man was dangerous. Big time dangerous. Like get her into all kinds of trouble dangerous. And dammit, that excited her even more.
As a military brat, she had grown up around like men like him, and when she started dating, it was natural to gravitate toward military guys. She knew a lot of her friends went the other way, but she hadn’t, mainly because they didn’t expect her to be prissy. They accepted the fact that she could take them down like she did with Leo and still see her desirable. She could hunt and fish and be herself. A lot of them liked rough and tumble girls like her.
After awhile though, being treated as their buddy with a side order of sex got boring. They always seemed to think she wanted nothing more than that.
She sighed. Going out with Santini was a mistake. She liked him. He was hot, sexy and that one kiss still had her knees feeling like asphalt on a hot Texas day. She would have to come up with some kind of excuse not to go out with him. And that would be the end of it.
Really.