One Night With a Santini (2 page)

“Have dinner with me?” he asked before he could help himself. He wanted any and all the time he could get with her.

She opened her mouth, and he was worried she was going to say no. His fate hung in the balance. He didn’t know exactly why he was thinking that, but for some reason, him having dinner with Kaitlin seemed vitally important. Like a matter of life and death important. He had one night and knowing she was unmarried, possibly available, was a little bit more than he could ignore.

“Okay. That sounds wonderful, in fact.”

He let loose the breath he had been holding and smiled. “Great. Have any place in mind? This is my first night in New Orleans.”

“Oh.” She glanced down the hallway where Chet had walked, then back to him. “Are you sure you want to eat dinner with me then?”

He smiled. “I can assure you that there is one thing I want to do tonight, and that is spend time with you. How about the little restaurant across the street?”

“I haven’t been there, but a couple people said it was good.”

“Great.” He held out his arm. “Ready?”

She looked down at his arm, then back at him. The shy smile that curved her lips tugged at his heart and did more amazing things to the rest of his body.

“Let’s go.”

CHAPTER TWO

As they followed the host through the restaurant to their table, Brando placed his hand on the small of Kaitlin’s back. She knew that it was just the way he was. The only brother she had met was his twin and he had the same manner about him. She was pretty sure that the Santinis were raised in much the same way her brother were. It was a gesture that he would have done with any woman he accompanied.

Still, she couldn’t fight the little thrill she felt slip down her spine as other women looked at her. Kaitlin had never been on the receiving end of the envious stares before and it felt damned good. Once they were seated, Kaitlin ordered her heart to stop beating out of control. Damn thing didn’t pay one bit of attention to her.

“So, what kind of conference are you here for?” Brando asked.

She shrugged as she looked over her menu.

“Kaitlin?”

She looked up and found him studying her. He always did that to her. Even when they were in college. There was always something so serious behind those chocolate brown eyes.

“Oh, sorry. My brothers tend not to pay attention.”

“I’m definitely not one of your brothers.” He sat waiting, staring at her. “Kaitlin?”

He was just so pretty. I mean, a man shouldn’t be considered pretty, but Brando was. No heterosexual woman could ignore that crooked little smile. She had seen it in action while they were in college and Kaitlin knew no woman was immune. She had always thought he could get away with murder if the entire jury was made up of women.

“What?”

“You’re here for a convention.”

He spoke as if she were stupid or had a major head injury. Of course, she sounded like she was, so Kaitlin sort of understood his position.

“Oh, yes. It was a convention for speech pathology.”

“Speech pathology conference in New Orleans?”

She smiled. “They are kind of a rowdy lot. They don’t get out that often, so they tend to party like crazy when they go to a conference. It’s like they save it all up for the annual get together. I believe there were a few laws broken the year we went to Vegas.”

He opened his mouth to continue, but he stopped when the waiter appeared to get their drink orders.

“So, you stayed in College Park?” Brando asked. “I thought you would move back to Baltimore to be close to family. Or that was the plan, right?”

Kaitlin laughed. “First of all, Baltimore isn’t that far away. I like the proximity, but I need my space. My brothers stop by too much as it is. If I was in Baltimore, they would make my live a living hell. Secondly, I was going to move there mainly because Glen would need to work there.”

“Yeah, what happened with that?”

She didn’t say anything right away. Most people in her life knew of her humiliation, but there was no reason Brando would know. He’d probably spent most of his adult life half way around the world. He didn’t know she had horrible taste in men and that last breakup was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. She had decided that marriage might not just be for her. If she couldn’t keep a man faithful before he had a ring on his finger, there was little chance she could do it after the wedding.

“It wasn’t a pleasant breakup. I caught him lying to me. Then, I caught him cheating on me.”

He frowned. “I would say I was sorry he was an ass, but I can’t.”

“You can’t?”

He shook his head. “No, because if you had gotten married, we wouldn’t be having dinner.”

“There is that.”

“Do you like living in College Park?”

She nodded. “I didn’t really want to live in Baltimore, and I got a great job in College Park. It takes me about fifteen minutes to get to work.”

“You’re working with stroke survivors?”

She blinked. “Yeah.”

He must have picked up on her tone. He glanced up. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just amazed you remembered that.”

“Of course I remembered it. It was your goal, right? You talked about it all the time.”

But no one, outside of her best friend Wendy, had paid attention. Well, expect Brando apparently.

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders, Kaitlin felt a little more in control. She could do this. She could have dinner with Brando. She had done it before. Of course, she had been engaged. Nothing had changed on his side; but for her, she could put him in the friend category. Now, it was different. Looking into those dark chocolate eyes with the impossibly long eyelashes sent heat racing over her flesh. Seriously, how did a man have lashes like that and not look feminine? But he did.

Her gaze dropped down to his mouth. Lord, she wondered about it all the time. There were rumors about him in college. More than one friend had told her of all his conquests. He had been rated one of the best kissers on campus by the sororities.

“Earth to Kaitlin,” he said, humor filling his voice.

She looked up and found his eyes dancing.

“Sorry,” she said, as she felt heat fill her face.

“No problem. You have to have your moments of deep thought.”

Kaitlin laughed at the term he’d come up with while they were in college. She was often letting her mind wander, especially around him. All her brain cells went on vacation when he was around.

“I don’t know about deep thoughts, but I am definitely worn out.”

“Oh? Hard week of partying?”

She shrugged. “I went out once or twice with some people I know. Our panels started at eight in the morning. Who has a conference in New Orleans and expects people to attend early morning panels?”

“Bastards,” he said with a laugh. “But I am glad you are here. Makes it easier.”

She frowned. “Makes what easier?”

“I was going to look you up when I got to Maryland. I wondered if you had gotten married.”

“Really, Brando? You expect me to believe that you thought about looking me up?” She shook her head.

“I did. A lot.”

She studied his serious expression. He might joke around a lot and he always knew how to pull a smile from her no matter how bad she felt. So, she knew he was serious now.

“You did?”

“Yes. See, I was kind of hoping you weren’t married.”

She shook her head as she tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

“What do you mean?”

Brando sighed. “It’s that I always regretted not keeping up with you. You were one of my best friends in college.”

Of course. He was looking for a friend. She could be friends with him. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Or the fact she would fantasize about him later…that was totally allowable as a friend. Because, she knew that men like Brando Santini didn’t go for women like her.

“Well, I am glad too. It will be fun to have you back in College Park.”

And she would just pretend that she was happy with the situation, just like she had in college.

“So, your brothers? What are they up to?” he asked.

More comfortable with this kind of conversation, she smiled and went into horrible stories about her brothers.

* * * *

By the time Brando was seeing Kaitlin to her room, he was convinced he should get some kind of award. It was hard to believe it was taking more of his attention to control the arousal thrumming through his blood than it had in college. Of course, actually talking with none of that blood in his brain had been hard to handle, but he had pulled it off tonight.

“This one is me,” she said.

He hated the tone she was using with him now. It was the same thing as if she had patted him on the head and said goodnight. He knew that she saw him as a friend. He had said something wrong during dinner, and she had switched off. Before then, she had been staring at him like she wanted him for dessert. He had been fully ready to play that role for her. Hell, he knew he wasn’t going to get any sleep, but he wasn’t about to go out. She was in his mind and tugging on his soul again. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to get her out of his head now.

Brando knew he had this last chance. He was going to make sure she understood where they stood. She unlocked the door and turned to face him.

“I am so glad I ran into you tonight.”

He smiled. “I think it was more that I ran into you.”

She chuckled. “Yes, but then, you had issues with being too focused at times.”

“Hmm.”

Silence. She was trying to step back into her room, and he couldn’t let that happen. She needed to understand that when he got to Maryland, he was planning on pursuing her, in every way possible.

Before she could take another step back, he rested his hand against the doorjamb and leaned closer.

“I can’t let you go without a goodnight kiss.”

She blinked. “Oh, Brando, you don’t have to do that. I understand. It’s sweet, but, let’s just leave it at that.”

That was not the response he expected. That was his only excuse for allowing her to step further into the room. She was already closing the door.

He knew he had to make sure she knew that he wasn’t trying to be sweet. Brando stepped forward.

“I think you might be confused about something.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“The kiss was more about what I
wanted
.”

He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her forward. He had the pleasure of watching her eyes widen in surprise before he slammed his mouth down on hers.

CHAPTER THREE

For a long minute—maybe two—Kaitlin didn’t react. She couldn’t. Every thought she had dissolved as she felt his mouth move over hers.

Brando pulled back an inch. When he spoke, she felt his breath against her mouth and shivered.

“This works a lot better if you participate.”

She blinked at the sound of his voice. This wasn’t the sweet man she thought she knew. He wasn’t the friend who could always make her laugh no matter what the situation. A dark thread of need deepened his tone. It left her head spinning and her body throbbing. Kaitlin had never heard that before in a man’s voice. Not directed at her.

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

“What?”

Normally, Kaitlin would lie, but maybe because of the loss of brain cells, she couldn’t. “I…I’m confused.”

He chuckled. “Let me help you decide on the matter.”

Without another word, he lowered his mouth to hers as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her tight against him. This time she knew it was coming, but wasn’t any better prepared for it. The kiss blasted through her body, leaving her head spinning, her heart beating so hard against her chest that she was sure she’d pass out at some point. She knew she had two choices. One was to run away and slam the door in his face. The other was to hold on and enjoy the kiss. She picked the latter.

Closing her eyes, she returned the kiss. He must have liked it because he growled and deepened the kiss. He slipped one hand up to cup her face as he slanted his mouth over hers again and again. As he continued to kiss her, he walked her back into the room and shut the door. Before she was finished, he tore his mouth away.

“We need to get you naked.”

His voice was rough, raw. All of the sweet man she knew had been stripped away and this man was on the edge. It sent tingles dancing over her flesh. He stepped forward and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. Then he turned her around. As he pulled the zipper of her dress down, Brando skimmed his finger down her spine. She shivered.

“Does that bother you?”

She shook her head as he kissed her shoulder. The simple gesture had her curling her toes into the carpet.

“No,” she breathed.

“Ah,” he said, as he let her dress fall to the floor. A rush of cool air feathered over her, including her very bare rear end. She closed her eyes, as she just remembered she’d worn a thong.

“Well, well, well,” he said, admiration easy to hear in his voice. He dragged his fingers over her bottom. It was a light touch, but it affected her. “If I had known you were wearing this under your dress, I would have never made it through dinner. There is a good chance I might have fainted from lack of blood to my brain.”

She shook her head again.

“You don’t think so?” he asked. Before he allowed her to answer, he playfully smacked her bare flesh. “That’s what you get for not believing me.”

She shivered again. She had never been into things like that. Or maybe she was, because heat flared over her flesh. She might be into them because it was Brando. He could drive a saint to sin.

“You don’t know how long I have fantasized about touching you.”

He undid her bra, then eased it off her. She didn’t know where he threw it, because he turned her around.

“Good God, I definitely would have never been able to pass a class if I had seen you naked. I would have been fully occupied with how you looked and then working out ways to get to see you naked again.”