A Santini's Heart (The Santinis Book 10) (11 page)

“Ah, so someone told you about the job.”

“Yeah. I got a heads up from a friend. Pulled a few strings; and, hopefully, I can spend a little more time stateside. It’s been a long few years.”

All of them had deployed through the years. It was hard to be in the military these days and not deploy. But Nando and Carlos had done it the most.

“Understandable.”

“So, is this company you have this morning the very lovely Tia that Mom is always going on about?”

“Mom goes on about her?”

“Yes. She’s always talking about how much she likes Tia.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, I can see it now. I will be the lone Santini left in the family.”

Carlos waited for the panic that usually hit him when he thought about marriage. But, just like the night before, he felt nothing but comfort. And resolve. He was resolved to convince her to take this thing between them seriously.

Nando rolled his eyes again. “Oh, yeah, I’ve lost you. Damn.”

“Your time is coming.”

Nando shook his head. “Nope. At least not anytime soon. Why would I screw up a great assignment in Hawaii with something like get married?”

Carlos remembered saying something like that to Anthony. He could argue with his brother, but Carlos knew better. As his mother said, arguing with a Santini was like arguing with a brick. It was just best his little brother found out all on his own.

* * *

T
ia woke the next morning
, alone in bed. Morning was a relative term, as it was before sunrise. She figured Carlos was already downstairs, she just hoped he didn’t make coffee yet. In all her years of coffee drinking, no one made worse coffee than Carlos.

She slipped out of bed and realized she was naked. Damn, where were her panties? She found them, but she didn’t feel like putting on her clothes from the day before. She could grab something out of the guest room, but she decided to invade Carlos’ privacy. She opened the second drawer and found t-shirts. After grabbing one, she tugged it on, then headed to the bathroom. After taking care of business, she headed downstairs. It wasn’t until it was too late that she realized Carlos wasn’t alone.

Dammit. There were two men in the kitchen, one being Carlos of course. The second one was younger, had lighter hair that was fashioned in the typical military buzz cut so many Marines kept. Lord, this was the little brother Fernando. She had seen him in pictures.

Not wanting to meet one of his family members with nothing but a pair of panties on and a t-shirt, she took a step back. The floor creaked beneath her bare foot. Both men turned. Carlos’ expression softened when he looked at her.

“Tia. My brother is here.”

He rose from the table and walked over to her. He was only wearing a pair of jeans.

“You can come on in.”

“Hey, Tia,” Nando said cheerfully.

“Hey.” She looked back at Carlos. “I can’t sit down here dressed like this. Give me a second, and I will be right back.”

She turned to hurry off, but he caught her hand and pulled her close. She frowned at him.

“Good morning.”

His voice rolled over the words, and she wobbled a little. Damn, when he spoke in that tone, she couldn’t seem to keep her knees from turning to jelly.

“Good morning.”

He kissed her then, soft, sweet, and just hot enough to send her head spinning. She sighed and leaned closer, wanting to deepen the kiss. Then, his brother cleared his throat. Carlos pulled back and rested his forehead against hers.

“I’m going to kill him.”

She smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

She backed away and then turned to run up the stairs. She hurried to get dressed, hating that she was at a disadvantage. The idea that she met Fernando in what amounted to her PJs embarrassed her. A lot of people probably didn’t care, but Tia did. After pulling on her jeans, she decided to just keep wearing the shirt. It smelled like Carlos and she liked that.

After a quick look in the mirror, she started back out of the room as Carlos stepped in.

“Hey, you don’t have to rush.”

“I just hate that I met him this way.”

He chuckled as he moved closer, then slipped his hands around her waist.

“I have him cooking breakfast. Don’t worry.”

She nodded and tried to untangle herself from Carlos, but he held on tight.

“Carlos.”

“Tia,” he said, humor lacing his voice.

“We need to get down there.”

“I agree, but I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“I was going to ask you to spend the night out here tonight, but with Nando here, I didn’t think you would feel comfortable.”

“I have a house.”

“And?”

She frowned at him. “I think that while we took a step, we have to be careful about where we go from here. Our professional lives are intertwined, so let’s make sure we give each other space.”

Truth was, she would happily have stayed another night. That scared her more than anything. She was a woman who liked her space and valued her privacy. One night with Carlos and she was ready to throw it all to the side.

The frown he gave her told Tia that he wasn’t happy with her statement.

“We’ll talk about it later. If we don’t get down there soon, he’ll eat the food all himself.”

“And I can make some coffee.”

“There’s coffee.”

“Did you make it?”

He shook his head. “Nando did.”

“Then I might be able to drink it.”

He chuckled and led her out of the room, but even humor didn’t quiet her worry. She was desperately afraid she was making a mistake with Carlos. At least with his brother here, she had a buffer. She would have to face the consequences of their relationship and what it meant to both of them later, but right now, she was going to just go with the flow.

C
arlos walked
her to her truck late that evening. For two people who had spent the previous night having mind-blowing sex, they barely spent any time together today. Both of them had been busy all day with clients, and Carlos had shown his brother around.

“Mom was trying to convince Nando to come over to their house.”

“I heard.”

His mother had arrived, his father in tow, with the makings of a huge dinner. His mother had insisted Tia stay for dinner, and they’d spent most of the time telling stories of Nando. He loved that he could share this night with his family, but he was even more thrilled that Tia had been there with them.

He carried a bag filled with containers of food for Tia to take home.

“I was sort of sorry she didn’t drag him out there.”

Tia shook her head. “Carlos. You should be embarrassed with yourself. Do you want him to be tied to your mother?”

He shrugged, and used the line they all used with Carlos. “He’s the baby. He’s used to it.”

“What kind of fun can he have at your mother’s house?”

“Not like he’s going to have a lot of fun out here. I’m going to bed as soon as the sun sets. For some odd reason, I’m worn out today.”

He had the pleasure of watching a fine blush spread across her cheeks. Tia Mendoza blushing. Damn. It made her even more attractive. All those contradictions just seemed to pull at him.

They stopped at her truck. She took the bag and placed it in the floorboard on the passenger side. When she turned back to face him, she smiled at him. It was one of those smiles he had seen her use on people before. She was going to try and placate him.

“What’s that for?”

“What?”

“Don’t give me that look.”

“What look?”

He snorted. “I’m not going to just pretend last night was nothing big.”

Her smile faded. “I would never say that.”

“I sense a but here.”

She shook her head and looked over his shoulder. He followed her line of vision and found his mother watching them through the front window. Marcella noticed the attention and disappeared. He might just kill his mother.

He turned to face Tia again. “So that’s why you gave me the little smile.”

“What the hell are you babbling on about?”

“You have this smile. You use it when dealing with difficult people.”

She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “I do not.”

He nodded. “Especially when trying to work donors. You give them the “I’m Tia Mendoza, and I don’t have time for this crap” smile.”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t.”

“You do,” he said with a laugh.

“Well, the smile wasn’t for you. It was for your mother, who is back, by the way.”

He turned around and found his mother looking at them once again. “Good lord. Aunt Joey definitely has rubbed off on her.”

“Anyway, I have to go.”

Dammit, it was too soon. “I was thinking.”

“Always a bad thing.”

Carlos ignored the barb. “I thought maybe we could share a room this weekend. At the hotel?”

She sighed. “No.”

“Why not? It’s not like my brother didn’t just give my mother a play-by-play of what happened this morning.”

She covered her face with her hands. “God.” She dropped her hands. “I’m not a prude, but I am kind of private about things. This is just...not my kind of thing. I’m not used to all of this.”

“I’ll tell them to knock it off.”

It was her turn to snort. “Like that will work.”

“So, the room...”

“I need space to get ready. If you’re there, you’ll be in my way.”

He opened his mouth, but she stopped him by moving closer and brushing her mouth over his. He was so stunned by the action, he stopped talking. It was the first spontaneous kiss from her. He wrapped his arms around her body and deepened the kiss. About the time he was working out a way to convince her to stay, she pulled back.

“I know I’ll probably end up in your room, but I need to get ready, and I don’t need you hovering.”

The fact that she knew she would be in his bed that night placated him.

“Okay.” He gave her one long, lingering kiss, then he forced himself to let go. “Drive safely.”

“Always do.”

She climbed into her truck and headed on her way. As he stood there watching, he heard someone walking up behind him. He knew it wasn’t his mother. The tread was too heavy. When they were younger, his brother had learned to walk around like a damned ninja. It was because he wanted to play pranks on people, and it had worked. Still did. That left his father.

“Nice girl.”

“Beautiful woman,” he said.

His father chuckled. “I have to say your mother raised you right. Just be careful.”

He glanced at his father. “You already warned me once. No, wait, twice. Are you hoping three times is the charm?”

His father shrugged. “She reminds me a lot of Elena. Your sister seems tough, and she is. But she’s that way because she wants to protect her soft heart. Just be careful you don’t bruise Tia’s.”

“Damn, Dad, you know I will. I’m a man. We’re idiots.”

“As I said, your mother raised you right.”

* * *

T
ia parked
her truck in front of her house, happy the long day was over. She knew Carlos had wanted her to stay over, but she needed her space. Staying there, being with him, it was a little too much temptation for her right now. Thankfully, she had been able to use Nando’s visit as an excuse to run away.

As she walked up to her porch with her arms full of leftovers, she admitted that much. The night she spent with Carlos wasn’t what she’d expected. Fun? Check. Hot, blow her mind sex? Check. But all the other stuff…that had scared the crap out of her.

She wasn’t a woman who liked to back away from a fight, but at the moment, she needed to get her head screwed on straight. She needed to figure out just what the hell was going on with her. There were moments the night before when he had looked at her that she had melted. He didn’t even have to touch her, just give her that soulful look and she was a goner.

The most amazing thing is he didn’t know it. He had no idea what it did to her. Every time it happened, she wanted to cling. Tia Mendoza was not a woman who clung. To anything. Well, except horses. They had been the constant in her life. Now, the thought of a day without Carlos, of not having that contact…it made her itch. Even when he had been in Hawaii, he had texted several times a day. Sometimes even with photos.

With a sigh, she unlocked her door and stepped through the doorway. The moment she did, she knew there was something wrong. Nothing looked out of place, and the house had been locked up tight. But…her kitchen light was on. She never left her light on when she was gone. She stepped into the kitchen, placing the containers on the counter. She walked through the area trying to put her finger on what was wrong. What was making her freak out? Maybe she had left the light on. She walked through the kitchen again. Everything seemed to be in place.

Still...

She strode to her back door and found it unlocked. She knew she hadn’t left it unlocked. Carefully, she checked the rest of the house. Nothing disturbed, but the light being on...and her back door unlocked made her uneasy. She stepped out on her back porch and looked around. It was still, except for the first stirrings of nocturnal animals. It appeared normal. There wasn’t even a branch out of place or something to alert her that there was an intruder in her space.

Tia dismissed it, and turned to go back into her kitchen when she saw it. Beneath her window, there were two definite footprints.

She stepped down off the stoop and walked over. When she stood there, what she saw made her blood run cold. She knew no one had been there except her in days, and she hadn’t stood in this particular spot. That left her with one conclusion.

Someone had been looking in her kitchen window.