23. Faith
CHAPTER 23
Faith
I grunted with the effort of trying to push Dante off. He was dead weight. What got into me tonight? Dante roused parts of me I didn’t even know existed. I didn’t regret it, and I’d enjoyed myself. But I had to get a grip. It's just for research. I can end it whenever I need to. I’d almost managed to wriggle out from underneath him when he flung an arm around me, drawing me tight against him.
“That was amazing.” He nuzzled into me with his scruffy chin, dropping kisses on my ear, neck, and shoulder.
“I hope we didn’t wake up your grandmother.”
“She sleeps like a log.”
I rolled away and turned to face him. The moonlight coming through the slats of the mini blinds washed over him, casting a bluish tone over his perfect naked body. We’d never managed to get under the covers, so he was sprawled out on top. I wanted nothing more than to run a hand over his back and the curve of his magnificent ass.
My fingers trailed over the dark ink on his hip. “Tell me about your tattoo.”
He sat up and rubbed a hand across his chin. Grabbing a tissue from the nightstand, he took care of the condom and walked over to the desk, depositing it into a trashcan on the floor.
“My Dad was a Marine. Killed overseas. When I turned eighteen, I wanted to join up. Finish the job he started, right?”
“Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry.”
Dante walked over to the side of the bed, not embarrassed at all being fully naked in front of me. “They wouldn’t take me. Crappy vision and all. I got his dog tag inked on my gut instead.”
“That must have been really hard to grow up without a dad.”
“Yeah, sucked.”
“What about your mom?”
“My folks weren’t ever an item. They met when they were both counselors at some summer camp in New York. When my mom found out she was pregnant, she came looking for him, but he’d already shipped out.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed, and I rested my hand on his knee. “So what happened?”
“Meemaw took her in until I was born. She thought about making an adoption plan, but Meemaw said no grandbaby of hers was going to be raised by strangers.” He lifted his eyes to meet mine, and a slight smile flitted across his lips.
“Your grandmother’s an amazing woman.”
“Yeah.”
“And your mom? Do you still talk to her?”
The smile morphed into a scowl. “Nah. She sends a card once a year. Hell, if she doesn’t want anything to do with me, I don’t need her.”
I could tell I’d hit on a sore spot. No wonder he came across as so guarded and aloof.
“How about you? Were you a daddy’s girl?” he asked.
Where was my underwear? I glanced around the room. “My dad split when I was five.”
“You mean to tell me we have something in common?”
“We’re not supposed to be talking, remember? Just sex.”
“Hey, you started it. Looking for these?” My panties dangled from one of his fingers, and I snatched them away. I pulled them on, followed by my jeans. He put an arm around me, turning me to face him, and ran a finger down my collarbone, then under my breast. My toes curled. Not going to go there again. For god’s sake, we were in his Meemaw’s house.
I turned away. “Look, Dante?—”
He pressed up against me and caught my mouth up with his. I pushed against his rock-solid chest.
“I can’t. This was um, fun and all, but I just can’t.”
“Can’t what?”
“We agreed to keep it physical. I can’t do grandmas and family secrets and sharing wounds from the past.”
“So it’s okay for you to ask me personal questions, but I can’t reciprocate? Jeez, I’m just trying to get to know you a little better.”
My face burned. As much as I appreciated the multiple “O’s,” he was getting too close. Sex was great. But a relationship, no. There was no time for a relationship.
“I don’t want you to get to know me better.” I yanked my sweater on over my head. To hell with my bra.
“Damn, what are you so afraid of? I’m just making conversation.”
“Well, stop. If you want to call it off, fine.”
“What are you trying to hide?” Dante stood bathed in the moonlight before me, a perfect specimen of the male species.
I needed to get out of there. Being that close to him was making it hard to think. A guy like Dante and a girl like me...it was all wrong.
“I’ll just go out to the couch.” I brushed past him and escaped out into the hall. The wooden floorboards creaked as I tiptoed back to the living room and settled on the couch, snuggling under a homemade throw. What was he trying to do to me? The sex I could handle. But there wasn’t room for him to start messing around in my head. The sooner I got back to Newbridge and away from Dante, the better off I’d be.
Dante
The smell of coffee roused me from a deep sleep. I woke up, fully naked in between the sheets. As I turned my head on the pillow, the scent of Faith’s shampoo surrounded me.
So, I didn’t dream it. I wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong the night before, but it was obvious she couldn’t wait to get out from under me. She’d seemed to enjoy herself. What the fuck? I rubbed my eyes and yawned. It was better this way, anyway. I didn’t need the hassle.
I pulled on my clothes from the night before and walked into the bright kitchen. Sun reflected off the snow outside and streamed through the windows. Faith and Meemaw sat at the kitchen table, a carafe of coffee between them. I walked over to Meemaw and kissed her on the top of her head.
“Good morning, my boy. How did you sleep?”
I glanced at Faith, but she was busy studying the handle of her mug and wouldn’t look up at me. “Great, I slept great. I must have really worn myself out yesterday.” I turned to the cupboard and reached for a mug.
“Well, that’s nice,” Meemaw said. “I thought I told you to give Faith the bed? Poor girl, she probably didn’t get a wink of sleep on that ole couch.”
I looked over at Faith, still intent on her mug. She looked up at Meemaw and smiled. “The couch was perfectly fine. Dante offered the bed,”—she glanced up at me and a slight flush danced across her neck—“but I insisted.”
“Yep, she was pretty adamant about not sleeping in the bedroom.” I sat down across from her at the table and poured the hot steaming coffee into my mug. Faith knit her brows into a frown.
Meemaw got up from the table and started hauling pans out of the cabinet. “What do you two want for breakfast? I’ve got some fresh bacon from that ole hog Bugsy finally put down.”
Faith pushed back from the table to stand. “I really ought to be getting back, Mrs. Bishop.” She looked over at me. “Do you think you could give me a ride to my car now?”
“Oh, so soon? I was hoping you could stay for a while.” Meemaw set the giant frying pan on the counter and walked over to Faith. “I wanted the chance to have a nice long talk and get to know you better since you and Dante have become so close.”
I studied her over the brim of my cup. “Faith doesn’t appreciate conversation that much, Meemaw. She’s all about just getting things done.”
“Dante! Don’t be rude.”
Faith glared at me then turned to Meemaw. “I’m sorry. I just have a lot of work I need to get done this weekend.”
“I understand, sugar. Dante, can you run her over to her car? You should probably follow her back?—”
“Oh no, that’s okay. I don’t want him to miss out on any more time with you.” Faith gave her a quick hug. “I’ll be fine. I checked the weather report on my phone, and it said the highways are all clear now.”
“Well, okay.” Meemaw wasn’t used to someone challenging one of her orders.
“Thanks so much for dinner yesterday and letting me crash here. It was the nicest Thanksgiving I’ve had in a long time.”
I scoffed and pushed back from the table, then padded back to the bedroom with bare feet and returned with my socks and boots. “Let’s go, Faith. Wouldn’t want to keep you here any longer against your will.”
She thrust her arms into her jacket and opened the front door. I threw my coat on and snagged the keys to the truck off the hook. “Be back in a few, Meemaw.”
We trudged through the deep snow to the driveway. I didn’t bother trying to open the door for her. The sooner I got her out of my sight, the sooner she’d disappear out from under my skin. I fired up the truck and threw it into four-wheel drive.
My arm stretched across the back of the bench seat, and I looked over my shoulder as I reversed and turned the truck around. Faith scooted as far as possible to the other side of the cab, pressing herself up against the door.
“Careful you don’t fall out.” I removed my arm from the seat behind her and put both hands on the wheel.
“Hey.”
“What?” I glared at her, not sure why I was so pissed off. If she didn’t want to acknowledge the fucking fireworks that went off every time we were close enough to breathe the same air, it was fine with me.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t get involved with anyone right now.”
“It sure didn’t seem that way when you had your ankles wrapped around my neck last night, telling me I’d better not fucking stop.”
She gazed out the window as the snow-covered fields whizzed by. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.”
Like hell I wouldn’t. I didn’t want to get involved with anyone either. But there was something about her. Something that just wouldn’t let me go. If she didn’t want to acknowledge it, fine. I was better off without her anyway.
We rode in silence the rest of the way to the senior center. When we got there, she got out of the truck and quickly climbed inside her car.
Hell. I got out of the truck, grabbed the scraper, and began to brush the snow and ice off her windshield. Finished with the job, I leaned down to her driver’s side window and she lowered the pane.
“Thanks.” I could tell she was eager to go because she’d already thrown it in Drive.
“Yeah, see ya around.” I patted her door, and she took off, slipping and sliding out of the lot until she hit the pavement on the road.
I climbed back into the truck and headed back to Meemaw’s, hell-bent on getting the redhead with the gripping thighs out of my fucking mind.