A Little Slice of Heaven (14 page)

Laughter exploded from Sal.

Even Crystal gave in to a fit of giggles. But she took her approval one step further and flung her skinny arms around his neck. “I love you, Kyle. When I grow up, will you marry me?”

“
I’ll be waiting,” he assured her, gathering her close in a bear hug.

What a little sweetheart! If he thought his own daughter would turn out this charming, he’d have married and had dozens of children by now. Who knew? In twenty years or so, he just might take this angel up on her offer. He’d probably be available.

Above the tiny head, his gaze locked onto Gianna’s. Her mute approval charged the air with static electricity. God, he wanted to kiss her again more than he wanted breath to fill his lungs. But no, he’d walk this tightrope without losing his balance. He’d made a decision. Gianna was off-limits.

He settled for placing his lips against the top of Crystal’s hair, breathing in the watermelon scent of her shampoo.

****

When Mrs. Melendez returned to take her children home, they wrapped their arms around Gianna, buried their faces against her stomach and clung.

“
No, Mommy, no!” Riel exclaimed. “We want to stay here.”

With an apologetic smile, Gianna looked up from the three dark heads burrowed in her waist. “How did the interview go?”

Mrs. Melendez nodded. “Good, I think. I’m sorry I’m late. I met with the personnel director and the head of the department. They said they’d get back to me by Friday afternoon.”

“
Well, that sounds encouraging.”

“
I thought so, too. But now I have to find a babysitter.” She crossed her fingers. “Just in case.”

“
I told you I’d watch them.”

The children, listening with big ears to the adults’ conversation, immediately pleaded with their mother. “Please, Mommy, can Gianna watch us? Pretty please?”

“
And Kyle, too!” Crystal chimed in. “Kyle can watch us, too.”

Mrs. Melendez’s dark eyes studied Gianna’s face. “Why do you suppose she wants Kyle there?”

“
I can’t imagine.”

“
We’re going to get married someday,” Crystal replied. She turned to Kyle, standing behind the counter. “Right?”

“
You bet, sweetheart,” he said, winking at the child.

“
But only if Gianna doesn’t marry him first. She kissed him outside in the parking lot. On the lips!”

A dozen heads swerved between Kyle and Gianna, each more curious than the other. Gianna’s cheeks burst into an inferno, and she stared at the parking lot until the fire cooled.

“
Well, well,” Mrs. Melendez remarked, folding her arms over her ample bosom. “Out of the mouths of babes.”

“
I gotta admit.” Bethany pointed from her usual seat in her usual booth. “The kid makes sense. You two make a great couple. I don’t know how I missed the signs until now. I’m going to be a psych major, after all. You and Jeeves are perfect for each other. He’s stiff and serious. Good-looking but in a prickly sort of way. You’re fun and pretty, but too soft. Think about it. You’re a doormat and he’s a pair of kick-ass boots.”

Indignation rose like smoke up a chimney, and the fine hairs on her nape danced. “I am
not
a doormat.”

“
Sure you are. But that’s what makes you special. And Jeeves, well, he won’t take crap from anyone.” She chuckled and leaned back, swinging her legs onto the bench. “Not even from me. Face it. You guys balance each other out. You’re a match made in heaven.”

Gianna’s feet wanted to run, but with hands fisted at her sides, she held her ground, glaring at Bethany.
Et tu, Brute?
 

Now what should she do? Any denial she made would add fuel to the fire. And Kyle’s rounded eyes said he was as surprised by this turn of events as she. Try as she might, no clever quip or sarcastic reply came to mind. And all those eyes… Why did everyone stare at her as if she were a puppy in a storefront window? Was this
Gang Up On Gianna Day
or something?

“
Don’t you have a class now, Bethany?”

“
Nope.” She flashed a Cheshire cat grin, black lipstick ghoulish against white teeth. “I’m all done today. So I’m gonna stay here ‘til Tommy gets out of football practice at five-thirty.”

“
Lucky us,” Gianna muttered.

“
Well,” Mrs. Melendez cut in as she tousled her twins’ heads. “I’m going to take my guys home. Gianna, if you’re serious about watching them, you’d really put my mind at ease.”

“
Of course I’m serious,” she replied. At least the subject had veered off her love life. “Call me the minute CompTech offers you the job. You want me at your house, I’ll be there. I promise.”

“
Kyle, too?” Crystal repeated.

Gianna’s focus flipped to Kyle who stood near the oven, a charming smile softening his features. For all his antics to the contrary, he obviously had a weakness for children. Then again, maybe only pretty girls managed to break through his cool façade. Like every other man she knew, did Kyle only warm up to an angelic face and adoring eyes beneath fluttering lashes?

Well, one thing was certain. Unlike every other man she knew, Kyle packed a kiss that made her knees turn to warm gelatin. A kiss that still burned her mouth hours afterward. Okay, so she hadn’t kissed every man she knew, but of the men she
had
kissed, none of them—

“
Mommy, is Kyle coming, too?”

Crystal’s insistent whine broke Gianna’s musings and cooled her burning lips more efficiently than lip balm with aloe.

“
I don’t see how he can, sweetheart,” Mrs. Melendez replied. “He works here.”

In direct imitation of her mother, Crystal folded her arms over her chest. “So does Gianna, but she’s coming.”

“
Yes, but, Gianna was helping out while her mom and dad were away. This is Kyle’s job, sweetie. He’s a pizza man. He can’t leave for the day because you wish him to play with you.”

Mrs. Melendez’s description of Kyle as a “pizza man” struck a tremendous blow to his pride. Gianna saw him wince and hurried to ease the unintentional insult. “Actually, Kyle’s only working here to help out as well. He’s really a stockbroker in Manhattan.”

“
Oh, yeah?” Piqued interest radiated from Bethany’s black-rimmed eyes. “Stockbrokers make a truckload of money, don’t they? Why would you give that up to work here?”

“
Because I needed him,” Gianna said firmly. “And he was nice enough to come through for me in a pinch.”

“
Sweet.” Cat smile returning, Bethany folded her arms behind her head. “See what I mean? He’s perfect for you, Gi.”

Oh, no. She was not about to traipse down that path again! “What makes you think any man is perfect for me?”

“
You like girls?”

“
Um...” Mrs. Melendez hastily gathered her children. “I think we’ll be going now. Thank you so much for your help, Gianna. I’ll call you as soon as I hear something.”

“
Bye-bye, Kyle,” Crystal shouted as her mother pulled her out the door. “See you soon! Don’t forget your promise.”

While the family headed out, Gianna spotted Kyle studying his shoes. Poor guy apparently suffered the same discomfort she felt. Hoping to break the tension, she cleared her throat.

Her ploy must have worked since he leaned close enough to whisper, “Thanks for coming to my defense.” His hot breath filled her ear, invoking memories of when he’d kissed her.

Her lips tingled, and she clamped her teeth to stop from swooping in for a landing. The heat of his eyes trapped her as neatly as a fly caught in a spider’s web. Without thinking, she stepped forward, one finger stretched toward the cleft in his chin. She burned to touch his jaw line, to feel the rough texture of his skin against her cheek, to fold into his embrace and let the tension recede from her bones in one long flood…

“
Yup,” Bethany interjected. “A match made in heaven.”

Chapter Ten

On Friday, Kyle’s plan to sleep until noon disintegrated when, at ten, the telephone seared his consciousness. Initially, he thought to ignore the incessant ringing. With this, his first day off since he began working at
Villa Mare
, he intended to loll around all day. After ten rings, blissful silence reigned for thirty seconds, and he burrowed under the blankets. Then the noise began again. Muttering about the rudeness of suburbanites, he tossed aside the blankets and padded into the kitchen, nearly yanking the phone off the wall.

“
What?” he barked into the receiver.

“
Kyle?” A male voice, low and urgent.

“
Yeah?”

“
It’s me. Rory.”

Sleep still clouded his brain, and Kyle came awake slowly. Rory? Oh, right. Rory, the accountant with an agenda.

“
You okay?” Rory asked.

Senses tingled to life. “Of course, I’m all right. Why?”

“
You have a television where you are now?”

The tingle grew into pins and needles across his skin. “Rory, what the—”

“
Turn on NNC, if you get it out there,” Rory demanded.

“
Hold on a sec.” Fully awake now, he placed the receiver on the countertop and strode into the living room. Picking up the remote control, he switched on the television and flipped around for a moment until he found the National News Channel.

A familiar face filled the thirteen-inch screen. He recognized her immediately. From her perfectly-coifed hair to the creamy pearls around her alabaster throat to the stupid Yorkie, Chaucer, posed on her lap in a matching red-plaid vest and bow tie. Some things never changed.

Adding to his surprise, an inset in the lower corner of the screen held a snapshot of him taken six months ago at a dinner party at the Legacy Club. Now, standing in this shabby room in an apartment the size of the club’s men’s room, he cringed at the arrogance the half-smirk on his face displayed. God, had he ever really looked so smug, so self-possessed? Forcing his eyes away from the unflattering photograph, he listened to the well-known voice filling the living room with liquid charm.

“…
missing now for over a month,” Colette said into the camera, “and my family is desperately worried about him. We want to be certain he’s all right…”

“
Son of a—” Heart thudding in triple time, Kyle raced into the kitchen again and fumbled for the receiver. “Why is my sister speaking to the press?”

“
She’s looking for you.”

Gee, no kidding. “I can see that. But why?” His legs shook so badly, he had to sit. But he wanted to hear what else his sister might reveal. Extending one bare foot, he pulled a chair near. Now he could still see the television while anchored to the phone.

“…
he couldn’t bear the shame of filing for bankruptcy…” Her words slithered into the kitchen, and the blood froze in his veins. As she dangled his closet skeletons before whirring cameras on national television, the realization of how this would affect his future crept into his mind like fog on a Louisiana bayou at midnight.

“
Jeez, Rory, couldn’t you stop her?” No answer, which only confirmed the suspicions bouncing around Kyle’s head. “You set this up, didn’t you? You and David. You couldn’t stand the fact I was winning. You convinced Colette to go public so I’d have no choice but to back down and return home with my tail tucked between my legs. How low can you get?”

“
That’s not true, Kyle.” Rory’s speech pattern grew staccato. “David and I didn’t know Colette was planning this. I swear. You have to believe me.”

“
Terrific.” He scrubbed a hand over his unshaven cheek. “What am I supposed to do now?”

“
You want to call off the bet?”

“
You
did
set this up!” The shouted accusation made his head throb, and he softened his tone to a fatal hush. “By God, you’ll do anything for Aurora. I should have known—”

“
To hell with Aurora, Kyle! Let’s just call this whole thing off. Get your ass back here before the situation gets any worse.”

His sister’s cultured, precise words beckoned from the living room, pouring salt into his open wounds. “Kyle, if you can hear me, please return to the loving arms of your family. We’ll work it out, I promise…”

Loving arms, ha!
Where were those loving arms when he first told her about his misfortune? As he recalled, Colette had sniffed in disdain, told him she hoped he didn’t expect her to bail him out, and then slammed her mahogany door in his face as if he were already the homeless man he soon became. Now, she showed up on the twenty-four hour news channel, begging him to return to her loving arms? What audacity!

“
This performance just might net her an Academy Award.”

“
Look, Kyle, she may be acting, but she’s right. Give up and come home. David and I proved our point. We’ll confess the whole thing to everyone, have a big laugh, and go back to the way things were before this mess ever started.”

“
You and David proved your point?” Unable to believe his ears, he shook his head with the ferocity of a wet dog. Just when he’d adjusted to God’s great practical joke, he awakened to a new nightmare. Hadn’t he been punished enough for his stupidity? Would his private hell never end?

“
You’re taking my words out of context—”

“
And you seem to be taking lessons from David now. Quit practicing for the bar exam, and think about this.” Panic gripped his gut and twisted. “We’re not in prep school anymore, for God’s sake. Do you think those stuffed shirts in the Legacy Club will take kindly to what we did? Especially when they realize the public might learn they threw me out on my butt the moment I told them about my bankruptcy? Their motto of
With malice toward none, with charity for all
would take a tremendous beating underneath the media spotlight
.
Do you think they’ll suddenly welcome me with open arms because I’m not as broke as they thought?”