Under the Hood: An Under the Hood Novella (Entangled Bliss) (3 page)

Chapter Four

Mark took her to Michelangelo’s. The tiny Italian restaurant hummed with muted conversations from every table. A piano player in the corner performed classic Rat-Pack favorites, and lit candles in glass votives on each table set the scene to intimate.

Alice took in every detail. “I love this place.” Her eyes shone with reflected light from the candle. She peered at the menu. “And they have a great selection.”

“The ravioli is to die for. They do a great steak too. Not quite as good as mine, but—”

“You cook?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“Not me. The closest I ever get to cooking is nuking frozen dinners.”

“I’ll have to have you over for chili. But I’m warning you, I like it hot.”

“Hot’s good.” Alice’s cheeks went pink, as she studied the menu intently.

Every word from her mouth made him think of sex. He’d shared the occasional dinner and hook-up with women who, like him, hadn’t been looking for a commitment, but had been celibate for the last while.

It hadn’t bothered him. Until now. But Alice wasn’t like the others. If they ended up in bed—no,
when
they ended up in bed—it would be more than sex.

Alice’s finger trailed down the menu, then stabbed. “They have scampi. I’m sold.” The menu snapped shut.

That’s it?
Mark stared. The last woman he’d brought to Michelangelo’s had hemmed and hawed for ages over the choices available. She’d asked his opinion on everything, as if nailing down his approval was an essential part of the evening.

Not so, Alice. She made a decision and stuck to it.

“Wine?” Mark picked up the wine list.

“Sure. White would be good.”

“Anything in particular?” Mark debated handing the wine list over, but decided against it.

She leaned back. Smiled. “You choose.”

The waitress took their order, and delivered a basket to the table.

Alice took a breadstick and bit into it. “I love these. When I was a kid, I always thought the breadsticks were the best part of going to a restaurant.”

A long tendril of silvery hair bounced against her neck. Mark resisted the urge to touch it. “Where’s home?”

“Here.” Her eyes clouded. “Now I live here, so I’m trying to think of it as home, but I grew up in New York. All of my family live there.” She picked up a knob of butter and smeared it on the end of her breadstick. “I’m part of a huge family of eight kids.”

Mark’s eyes widened. “Eight?”

Alice nodded. “Eight. Six boys and two girls. My father is a mechanic and the family business is a garage. Go figure.” A wide grin stretched her mouth. “Four of us followed in Dad’s footsteps. I worked in the family business for a while before we decided to open
Under the Hood
.” She placed one hand over her heart. “I did my time.”

“It must have been difficult to leave. To relocate in a different place alone.”

Alice dabbed at the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “Yes and no.” Memories painted her face wistful. “I’m the youngest, so it was difficult to be taken seriously. And my brothers are really good at poking their noses where they don’t belong.” She rolled her eyes.

“Ah. I know what that’s like. I bet they all have opinions about your love life.”

Her eyebrows arched. “You suffer from that, too?”

The waitress approached, balancing large white plates of steaming food. Mark leaned across the table, and spoke quietly. “You’ve met Susan…”

Amusement sparkled in her eyes.

The waitress set their plates down, snagged the basket, and departed.

Alice’s mouth twitched. “She takes a keen interest, does she?”

“They all do,” Mark said with exaggerated solemnity. “You have it easy. Being the only son is
hard
.”

“At least sisters don’t take your love interests aside and warn them to behave.”

“Wanna bet? I wouldn’t put it past them.”

Alice rolled her lips together as if stifling a grin. “I’m teaching Susan all about her car. She seems very nice.”

“The moment she gets any hint that you and I are an item, that will change. Believe me. She’ll spill all my secrets.”

Alice’s eyebrows rose.

Mark shrugged. “There’s not much to tell, really. Apart from my engagement. She’s bound to tell you all about that.”

If it were possible, her eyebrows rose a little higher.

“Here’s the abbreviated version. I’d known Victoria since we were kids, we dated in college, and drifted into an engagement. My sisters adored her. We’d been engaged for a year before we broke up.”

He swallowed a mouthful of wine. His sisters all thought he was a bastard for breaking Victoria’s heart, but one day he’d just really
seen
Victoria. And knew that much as he loved her, he wasn’t
in love
with her. The type of love that they had wasn’t enough. Victoria deserved a partner who was crazy about her.

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Alice’s head tilted. “It’s better to break an engagement than break a marriage.”

She understood him so totally, so naturally, that Mark could only stare.

“What happened next? Tell me there was a happy ending,” she said.

“Eventually. My sisters couldn’t understand why I broke the engagement. Victoria was chic, sophisticated, polished, and they considered her perfect for me. Susan told me Victoria was upset, that she was losing weight…”

Memories flooded in of that awful time. He hadn’t meant to be the cause of such anguish, such pain.

“You felt guilty.”

He glanced up. Alice’s gaze was filled with compassion.

“I went to see her. As a friend might.” Mark puffed out a breath as the whole horrible affair ran through his mind in slow motion.

“But you weren’t a friend, you were more.”

Mark nodded. “She’d set up a seduction scene that screamed ‘getting back together.’ I tried to tell her that I cared about her, that we’d been friends before, couldn’t we just go back to…”

Alice winced.

How was it that women got it when men were so clueless? He’d been clueless anyway. “She didn’t take it well.” His words didn’t begin to describe Victoria’s tears when he’d explained that he was there as someone who cared, but not
the
someone. He’d dodged a vase on his way out.

“Susan reckons I’m an emotionless bastard. She’ll warn you off me.” Mark’s stomach clenched, worried their relationship would be over before it had even started.

“I don’t think you’re an emotionless bastard. If you were, you would have avoided Victoria like the plague.”

The tension left Mark’s shoulders.

“Does she still live here?” Alice glanced around with a nervous expression on her face that was so comical he couldn’t hold back a smile. “Because I’m feeling the fear.”

“Victoria is happily married to an accountant. They live miles away.”

Alice wiped imaginary sweat from her brow. “So she found her happily ever after.” Her eyes turned serious. “People only get hurt when they have different expectations of a relationship. When they confuse lust with love.”

He wasn’t looking for a relationship, but somehow Alice’s words filled Mark with irritation that she wasn’t expecting more. “What about companionship, sharing your life with someone, as well as a bed?”

Alice’s jaw tightened. “And getting your heart mangled in the process? I don’t think so.” She reached for the wine bottle and poured herself another glass, then tilted the bottle his direction. “More wine?”

…

Alice’s thoughts lingered over Mark’s description of his fiancée.
No one would ever call me sophisticated or chic.
She pushed down the insecure thought. Even though Victoria was supposedly right for him, they’d broken up.

Mark’s face was full of regret as he recounted the engagement disaster. The fact that he’d cared enough to check on Victoria, had reached out to try and heal her wounds, was admirable. Misguided, sure, but the man who broke her heart hadn’t the decency to come right out and say he wasn’t in love. He’d just added another woman into the mix. Honesty was the one thing she needed in a relationship, above all else. Mark had told Victoria the truth, even when lying would have been easier.

When the waitress came back with the dessert menu, they both ordered chocolate mousse.

Alice breathed in deep. No one in Meadowsweet except Mel and Betty knew about her relationship fiasco, but Mark had been so open, it seemed only right to confess.

“I thought I was in love with someone once.”

Mark’s gaze met hers and held. The ache of long-forgotten pain bloomed in her chest, now just an echo of the searing agony it had once been. She twisted her napkin in her fingers.

“Unlike you, he didn’t come clean about his feelings. He started sleeping with someone else and didn’t bother to cover his tracks.” Looking back, it was inevitable that she’d find out about Joel’s philandering; after all, he’d slept with a friend of a friend. Alice forced a tight smile. “I think if I’d been in Victoria’s shoes, I’d have been grateful for your honesty. Maybe not at first, but eventually.”

Mark looked away. His mouth tightened.

“That day we met…” His gaze flicked back to hers with an intensity in the depths of his eyes that was startling. “I’m not as helpless as I seemed—I know where jumper cables go.”

So he isn’t immune to macho pride.

Alice smothered a grin, dipped her spoon into her chocolate mousse, and savored a spoonful. When she looked up, his gaze was fixed on her mouth. “I’m glad your battery was dead that day. I’m glad I was there.”

Mark turned his hand over and linked his fingers through hers. “Me, too.”

Warmth seeped in from the point of contact. The detail of where they were, the other diners, and the piano music faded as Alice gazed into Mark’s eyes. Her body seemed hyperaware of him, and as his thumb rubbed against the outside of her hand, a shiver raced up her arm. Beneath her dress, her nipples tightened against the black lace of her bra.

I can do this.

There was no reason to fear getting hurt again, not if she went into this relationship with her eyes open. If she allowed herself to surrender to the blazing attraction, but kept her heart out of reach—safe.

Mark’s phone rang. He glanced at the display. “Excuse me for a moment. I have to take this.” He pushed back his chair and walked a little distance away.

With his attention distracted, Alice gave in to the temptation to just gaze. His mouth, his eyes. The width of his shoulders.

What started out as a casual dinner had changed into something else the moment they kissed. Now, after a few hours of getting to know each other, he was becoming more and more interesting.

Alice plucked at the edge of the white linen tablecloth.
Is tonight the night?
If she invited him in, it wouldn’t just be for coffee—the heat banked in his eyes every time he looked at her promised more.

She’d dreamed of him naked, and the thought of making those dreams a reality made nerves flap inside her stomach like a murder of crows taking flight. She’d worn her prettiest underwear to give her confidence, but her bedroom… She’d have to distract him while she threw the scattered clothes into the wardrobe.

I’m really doing this.

“Ready to go?” Mark was standing next to her chair.

Alice’s cheeks heated with a flush. “Yes.”

The street outside Michaelangelo’s was wet. Mark took her arm. “Careful you don’t slip in those heels.” His smile warmed her insides. “It must have been raining while we were at dinner.”

She hadn’t noticed. In fact, she’d barely noticed anything outside of the sensual bubble that had surrounded them in the restaurant. It must be much later than she’d thought. The sky had darkened, revealing a pincushion of shining stars.

He unlocked the car, and held the door open as she climbed in, then made his way around to the driver’s side. The cocoon of the MG’s interior was cozy and intimate. Mark started the engine, and in mere moments they were driving through the darkness.

Meadowsweet was practically deserted.

“It’s so quiet here at night I have difficulty sleeping,” Alice said.

“Unlike the city that never sleeps.” Mark changed gears, his hand close enough to touch her stockinged knee. She angled her knees to the right. The hem of her dress rode up slightly.

Mark pulled the MG into the parking lot. Nerves bit as they walked from the car.
What about tomorrow?

Reality splashed over Alice. He lived upstairs. If they ended up in bed together, what about the days after? Every morning, every evening they’d bump into each other going out or coming home. One night of passion could lead to months of awkwardness.

In the elevator, Mark pressed three. The air seemed to vibrate with unspoken desire. The elevator doors slid open. They stepped out and took the couple of steps to her door.

“Would you like to come in for coffee?” Alice’s heart thumped rapidly.

What was to come was inevitable, inescapable in light of the passion that had been burning beneath the surface all evening. She stepped closer, into the circle of his arms. His mouth dusted against her jawline, finally claiming her lips in a quick kiss.

“I’d better not. It’s getting late.” He took a step back and his arms dropped away. “I really enjoyed this evening. Maybe we could go out on Saturday. Do you hike?”

Shock thundered through Alice. She’d expected him to act on the attraction humming in the air between them, not ask about hiking. How had she read him so wrong? “What do you have in mind?” Her voice was irritatingly husky. She cleared her throat.

“I thought we could take a picnic, climb Heartbreak Ridge. The view from up there is great. You haven’t been, have you?”

“No. That sounds good.”

“Can you make eleven o’clock?”

Could it have been her comment about lust rather than love? She hadn’t tagged him as a romantic, but maybe he’d been insulted…

Mark’s body was rigid, his shoulders tense, hands curled into fists at his side. His smile seemed plastered on.

Alice crossed her arms. “Sure.” She knew she sounded terse, but was so shaken she couldn’t fake delighted.