Come Away With Me

  “Were those rookies hitting on you when we were down hugging Nic and Matt?” Meredith asks Natalie.

  “Yeah.” Nat shrugs and shakes her head. “They didn’t know any better.”

  “They do now,” Luke replies mildly.

  “What did you say?” Stacy asks.

  “He didn’t say anything,” Nat replies and lays her head on her husband’s shoulder. “He glared at them like a caveman and the one guy recognized him and they shut up.”

  “I’m a caveman?” Luke asks in surprise.

  “You’re all a bunch of cavemen,” Meredith replies.

  “Am I a caveman, cara?” Dom murmurs in my ear.

  I snort and stare up at him, then lean in to talk into his ear. “I believe it was you who fucked me against the building on your property because I joked about fucking someone with an apa.”

  I pull back and see his eyes narrow. “And just hearing you say that makes me want to do it again.”

  “See? Caveman.”

  ***

  “I’m so fucking full,” Brynna says as we walk down the sidewalk outside of the stadium toward a nearby pub.

  “That’s because you ate everything except for the seat you were sitting in, legs,” Caleb says with a laugh and takes her hand in his.

  “I didn’t eat any of Jules’ pizza,” she replies with a pout.

  “I would have cut your hand off if you’d tried to steal my pizza,” Jules says.

  It’s a beautiful summer night. Not quite dark out yet, warm with a light breeze. Perfect Seattle weather.

  “I love nights like this,” I breathe, as the others joke and chat around us. Dominic is walking beside me, slowing his strides to match mine. He kisses my hand, then tucks it in the crook of his elbow, content to let me lean on him as we walk. “Seattle is beautiful in the summer.”

  “Seattle is always beautiful,” he replies softly. “Even when it rains.”

  “It’s certainly always green,” I reply with a nod. “Not so different from San Francisco.”

  “Why didn’t I know that you’re from San Francisco?” he says with a frown.

  “I don’t know.” I shrug and laugh when Sam jumps on Leo’s back, making him give her a ride. “It’s not a secret. I guess it never came up.”

  “When did you move to Seattle?”

  “Right after I left Jonathan.” I lean my head on Dom’s shoulder. “There was really nothing for me there anymore. And I’ve always enjoyed Seattle.”

  “It’s lucky for me that you loved it here.”

  “Back at you,” I reply sincerely. “What are the odds that we’d both be from opposite sides of the world and end up in the same city?”

  “It’s not odds, tesoro, it’s fate.”

  I snort and shake my head, but when I glance back up at him I see he’s completely serious.

  “You don’t believe in fate?” he asks.

  “Not really. I guess I’ve never really thought about it.”

  He nods thoughtfully. “I would think that if ever there was a couple fated to be together, it would be you and me. Like you said, we’re from opposite sides of the globe, neither of us started here, and yet, here we are.”

  “You two are slow pokes!” Sam calls back to us as Leo walks backwards. “If you trip and fall and drop me, rock star, we are going to have issues.”

  “I’m not going to drop you, sunshine.”

  “I want a ride too,” Stacy says demandingly to her husband.

  “I’ll give you a ride, all right,” Isaac replies with a cocky grin.

  “Stop it!” Jules cries, just as Luke stops dead in the center of the sidewalk, pulls his wife into his arms and drops a kiss on her that would make the gods weep. “For the love of Christmas, we’re in public!”

  “I don’t give a fuck,” Luke replies calmly, still staring in Nat’s eyes.

  “God, you’re gross,” Jules grumbles. “I need cheesecake.”

  “We’ll get you some,” Nate replies with a laugh. “Just ignore the PDA. Or join it.” He buries his face in her neck and bites her flesh, making her moan.

  “Oh, that doesn’t suck.”

  “You’re all a very affectionate group of people,” I observe, as we walk into the pub and score a big table near the back.

  “Does that bother you?” Meredith asks.

  “No, it’s just unusual.”

  We settle in, glance at menus, order drinks and just when I think my comment has been forgotten, Luke continues. “If it does bother you, Alecia, just say so.”

  “Hey! I say so all the time and you do it anyway,” Jules complains.

  “I’m fine,” I reply with a laugh. “It’s not that it bothers me. I’m just not used to it.”

  “Were your parents affectionate?” Nic asks.

  “They were with each other,” I say slowly.

  “But not with you,” Nic replies.

  I shrug and shake my head, as if it’s no big deal.

  “My mother hasn’t touched me in six years,” Nic says as the waitress sets a glass of water before her.

  “What?” I frown at the beautiful woman, surprised.

  “We don’t get along well. Never have really. So all of this affection was new to me too.” Matt kisses her temple gently.

  “You’ll get used to it,” Jules adds. “I drink a lot, to dull the grossness.”

  Natalie laughs and throws a napkin at her best friend.

  “I want hot wings,” Brynna announces.

  “I thought you were full?” Caleb says.

  “I’m in the mood to suck the fuck out of a bone,” she replies, and my eyebrows climb into my hairline.

  “Excuse me?” I ask.

  “Oh, just wait,” Sam says with a grin. “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen Brynna suck the fuck out of a bone.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~Alecia~

  “But I hate to run,” I whine, as I pull into my parking space and cut the engine.

  “Don’t be a pussy,” Blake replies into my ear. “I need a run and I want to talk to you, so I’m picking you up.”

  “You’re using me as an excuse because I have the best running trails in my neighborhood.”

  “That hurts, Leash,” he says. “It’s true, but it hurts.”

  “You’re a smart ass.” I giggle and walk to my building.

  “I’m a smart ass who’s almost to your place.”

  “What? I’m just getting home.”

  “Well, hurry up and change. I just got off the freeway. See you in a few!”

  “Damn it, Blake!”

  But it’s no use. He’s already hung up. I hurry upstairs, let myself in, and immediately begin shedding clothes. My shoes come off first, tossed just inside the door, then I unzip and shed my skirt, leaving it in a wad by the kitchen.

  My blouse and bra are flung next, one ending up on the couch, and I have no idea where the other went.

  I’ll pick them up later.

  I hurry into a sports bra, tank and yoga shorts, and Blake bursts through my front door, just as I’m lacing up my shoes.

  “You’ve gotten messy, Leash.”

  “Eff you. You didn’t give me any time.”

  “Are you going to pick your clothes up?”

  “I will later.” I sigh and wave him off. “I have to take them in to be dry cleaned anyway. Are you really going to make me run?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He winks at me and wraps his arm around my neck, kisses my head with a loud smack, and pushes me away.

  “Why do I have to go? Can’t you go running without me and just come back here when you’re done?”

  “God, stop whining,” he says and rolls his eyes. “It’ll be good for you.”

  We leave my condo, ride down the elevator and walk out to the sidewalk, then break out into a slow jog.

  “This is as fast as you’re going to go?” Blake asks me with a smirk.

  “If you don’t like it, go by yourself.” I sniff and already hate the way i
t feels to run. I’ve always hated it. “How’s Emily?”

  “Why do we have to talk about this?”

  “So it takes my mind off the fact that I don’t want to be running.”

  “So, let’s talk about your love life”

  “Hell no, you’re the one making me run. So start talking.”

  He sighs and stares out at the water, watching a boat drift by. “We’re good.”

  “Well, that was informational.”

  Blake laughs ruefully. “One of the things I love about you is that you don’t take my shit.”

  “You don’t need me to take your shit. You have enough people in your life who do that for you.”

  “True enough.” He picks up the pace, just a bit, and I growl at him, making him laugh again. “You’re kind of a weenie, Leash.”

  “Emily.”

  “She’s great.” He sighs again, not because he’s out of breath, but because he doesn’t want to talk about this with me.

  I don’t care.

  “She’s funny. Smart. Has a banging body.”

  I shake my head and look up toward the heavens. “Seriously.”

  “She seriously has a banging body.”

  “Does it always go back to sex with men?”

  “Pretty much, yeah.” He seems to give this some thought and then shrugs. “So I enjoy sex. Sue me.”

  “I enjoy it too, but that isn’t in the top three things that I talk about when I discuss who I’m dating.”

  “Okay, what are your top three things?”

  “He’s smart, sweet and funny.”

  “What’s number four?”

  “He’s amazing in bed.”

  He laughs long and loud, then high fives me. “You’re funny.”

  “I know.”

  “I really enjoy Emily,” he says, serious now. “She’s fun to be around, and she also doesn’t take my shit. If I cook something she doesn’t like, she’s honest about it. She’s sweet.”

  “She is sweet,” I agree. “I’m glad it’s going well.”

  “You are?” he asks, surprised.

  “Of course. I want you to both be happy.”

  “When we were at Dom’s, you didn’t seem so convinced.”

  “I admit, I always imagined you’d be happy with someone other than each other,” I admit with a shrug. I’m breathing harder now, and that pisses me off. “But you’re adults.”

  “How are things with Dom?”

  I grin before I can stop myself, and Blake being Blake, he catches it.

  “That good, eh?”

  “I like him.”

  “Thank you, captain obvious.”

  I laugh and elbow his arm.

  “He’s nice to me.”

  “He’d better be, or I’ll kick his ass, friend or not.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “Out of morbid curiosity, what do you like about him?”

  I frown and ponder the question, running in step with him, our feet pounding the pavement. We pass an older man walking his dog, and a young mother with a baby in a stroller.

  “I respect him,” I begin. “When I first met him, I thought he was just a player. Some charming Italian who melts panties off women with just a few pretty words, and works his way from bed to bed.”

  “Wow, you got all of that from meeting him at family gatherings?”

  I shrug and keep talking. “But he’s not that person. He loves his family fiercely. He’s proud of his business. He’s so damn good to me.”

  “I’m glad.”

  I glance over to find Blake watching me with serious eyes.

  “You deserve to be happy too, you know.”

  I nod and then laugh. “And as ridiculous as this sounds, I think I’m in love with him.”

  “Oh, I could have told you that.”

  “What? How?”

  “You should see the look on your face when you talk about him,” he says with a grin. “You’re such a girl.”

  I shake my head as we turn back toward the condo.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been in love before, B.”

  “You’ve been married,” he says.

  “I’m learning that doesn’t mean much,” I reply honestly. “I mean, I think I thought I loved Jonathan when I married him; I hope I did, but it was nothing at all compared to this. And it’s going to sound silly, but I miss him.”

  “Why is that silly?”

  “I just saw him Monday morning. I’ve been too busy this week to see him, and I miss him.”

  “Why are you running with me on your one free night this week rather than spending it with Dom?”

  “Because he has an event at the vineyard, so he’s not free tonight.”

  “Have you told him you love him?”

  “Are you nuts?” I shriek. “No way.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’ve only been seeing him for a few weeks. It’s too soon.”

  “Women.” He rolls his eyes and speeds up more as my building comes into view, but I let him go ahead of me, and stay at my pace. When I approach my building, he’s panting, stretching his legs by the front door. I immediately begin to stretch with him.

  “You should go see Dom tonight, Alecia.”

  “He’s busy.”

  “Not too busy for you to show up and tell him you love him.”

  “I can tell him this weekend.”

  “Why wait? You miss him. You love him. Go see him. Seriously, life’s too short for this bullshit.”

  I let us into my condo, frowning at my friend. “When did you become a dating expert?”

  “Look.” He takes my shoulders in his hands and forces me to look him in the eye. This is very un-Blake. “What if you don’t get the chance to tell him? You’ll always regret it.”

  “Have you told Em you’re in love with her?”

  “Hell yes, I have.”

  I’m struck dumb. I stare up at him, and then fling my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Go be happy for you. He’ll love seeing you.”

  “Are you trying to kick me out of my own condo?”

  “Hell yes, I want to use your shower. The spray in there is fantastic.”

  I laugh and walk into my bedroom closet, blindly change my clothes, and then scowl when I realize I’m sweaty.

  “I should take a shower.”

  “Yeah, no man wants to hear his woman say I love you while she smells like a gym rat.”

  I stick my tongue out at him and march back into my bedroom, stripping out of my clothes on my way to the shower.

  What the hell am I going to do, just show up in his office and blurt out, “I love you! Surprise!”

  That’s lame.

  Maybe I should take him dinner or something. Except, he said he has to work tonight, so that won’t work.

  Why am I overthinking this so much? Just go tell the man you love him!

  But what if I do, and he just stares at me in confusion. Or worse yet, says thank you.

  Dear God, I would die of horror.

  Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. I should wait. It’s still early in our relationship. There’s no need to rush this.

  You’re my treasure.

  Would a man say that to someone he doesn’t love?

  I don’t think so.

  I turn off the tap, and just as I reach for a towel, there’s a commotion in the living room, and I hear a very angry Dominic yell, “What the ever loving fuck is going on?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  ~Dominic~

  I miss her.

  It’s been less than three days since I last held her, tasted her, and I miss her as if she’s a part of me.

  Because she is.

  I’m tempted to say fuck it and just go to her tonight. Let Celeste handle the event. That’s what I pay her for, isn’t it?

  I reach for my cell to text Alecia when my office line rings.

  “Salvatore,” I answer briskly.

&n
bsp; “Ciao,” my cousin Gianna says in my ear, but I can hear an edge in her voice, with just that one word.

  “What’s wrong, bella?”

  “I need you here, Dom.”

  “You do this every three months like clockwork, Gianna. I can’t just pack up and come to Italy. I have a business here. A life.”

  “Marco has been robbing us blind.”

  I sit forward in my chair, frowning, sure I’ve heard her wrong.

  “Mi scusi?”

  “You heard me.” She sighs the sigh of one who is bone-tired. “The vineyard is broke, Dominic.”

  “How?”

  “A little at a time. I think he’s been gambling again.” I close my eyes and everything in me stills.

  That little motherfucker.

  “Where is Marco, Gianna?”

  “I can’t find him.”

  “Son of a bitch!” I pinch the bridge of my nose, already making plans to fly to Italy today.

  “Dom, you’re the one that knows figures. You’re the only one who can fix this. I need you here.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  “Grazie,” she begins, but I cut her off.

  “And when I get there, we are going to have a long talk about why it took you so fucking long to call me.”

  “Just get here.”

  She hangs up, and I’m tempted to hurl my phone across the room, but instead I yell for Celeste.

  “What’s wrong?” she asks, as she comes into my office.

  “I have to leave for Italy this evening.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “No.” I swear and pace behind my desk. “I’ll need you to stay this evening for the event. I want someone here to supervise.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Good. I’m going up to pack.”

  “Do you want me to book the airline?”

  “No, I’ll do it. You’ll be able to reach me in Italy if you need anything.”

  “How long will you be gone?”

  “I don’t know.” I sigh, already sick to my stomach at the mess that awaits me there. “It could be a few weeks. A month at the most.”

  “Don’t worry about anything. Everything will be fine here.”

  “Thanks, Celeste.”

  I quickly gather my laptop, iPad, cords and pack my briefcase, pocket my phone and jog upstairs, taking two stairs at a time.