A Glimpse of Fire (12 page)

His slightly rough chin tickled, and she giggled. “It never crossed my mind.”

“Not once?”

“Not even for a nanosecond.”

“I don’t know. You sounded like you enjoyed your own company last night.”

She gasped and glared at him, hoping like hell she hadn’t turned every shade of red. “You—you butthead.”

He grinned. “Butthead, huh?”

“As if you didn’t get
your
rocks off.” She’d really hoped he wouldn’t bring up last night. At the time she’d been so turned on, she hadn’t cared about the proverbial morning after. But even as she’d gotten dressed earlier for the reception, several flashbacks had had her cringing.

Eric laughed. “Hey, no denying it here. I think we should do that every night. That we’re not together, that is,” he said, taking a nip at her earlobe.

She bit her lip. Who knew how much longer that would be? A good reason to quit talking and get down to business, she decided and trailed her finger over the tip of his penis, spreading the thick drop of moisture she found there.

That got his attention. He sucked in a breath and
leaned back. She lowered her head and drew him into her mouth, flicking her tongue over the ridge she knew was especially sensitive. His thigh muscles tightened beneath her palms and his moan came out a strangled cry.

“Wait,” he said, his breathing labored.

She shook her head and sucked him in deeper.

“Dallas. Please.”

She smiled and ignored him.

“Dallas.”

She had no intention of stopping, and he must have gotten it because he lay back and moaned, his thigh muscles bunching beneath her right hand. He was so big and hard, she had trouble manipulating him with her tongue, but that didn’t seem to faze him. He threaded his fingers through her hair as his entire body shuddered and he cried out her name.

Never had she experienced such a rush of power and excitement. And satisfaction. Contentment. The whole thing scared her to death. This was only supposed to be about sex. Fulfilling a fantasy. She wasn’t supposed to want to crawl inside him and stay forever.

“Y
O
, D
ALLAS, YOU READY FOR
lunch?” Tony stood on the scaffolding two stories above her, clearly not giving a damn that all the other guys heard him cavorting with the enemy. God bless him.

She shaded her eyes to look up at him. “Give me ten minutes, okay?”

“No problem. It’ll probably take me that long to clean up Buddy’s mess.”

“Screw you, St. Angelo.” Buddy threw down his work gloves and grabbed his lunch pail.

“Have a nice lunch,” Tony called after him. “Don’t hurry back.”

Several feet away from Dallas the new guy doing the finishing work on the lobby banister started laughing. Nobody else did. At least not out loud. Most of them at one time or another had been the target of Buddy’s vicious temper.

Not Tony, though. For some reason Buddy steered clear of him, even though Tony sometimes goaded him mercilessly. No one knew why, and Tony wouldn’t say. The funny thing was everyone figured Buddy had some connection to either one of the higher-ups or the union
bosses. His work was sloppy and his attendance poor. He should have been fired years ago.

That’s the kind of thing that really infuriated Dallas. Most of the women she knew worked twice as hard so they weren’t singled out. And then jerks like Buddy skated by for years.

Yesterday and today had been good days. No traffic duty, and Dallas had gotten to work indoors. It helped, too, that she spent most of the time daydreaming of Eric. Twice she’d had to jerk herself back to reality to keep from sanding off the rest of her pathetically short fingernails.

For the first time, she’d forgotten to bring her work gloves. Hardly a surprise considering she hadn’t gotten home until four in the morning. Amazing she wasn’t a wreck. Sure made concentration difficult.

“Ready?”

She looked up at Tony. “Has it been ten minutes already?”

“Twelve, and I’m starving.” He handed her
Aladdin
lunch pail to her and inclined his head toward the unfinished railing she’d been sanding. “This will be here when you get back.”

She sighed. “Much to my delight.”

“Where are your gloves?”

“I forgot them.”

He frowned at her hands. “You should keep a spare in your lunch pail. I have one but it won’t fit you. Especially not for this kind of close work.”

“Not a big deal,” she said, shrugging and heading to
ward the door that led to the park where they always ate. Well, not really a park—more a triangle of grass with two trees and a couple of benches where mothers stopped with their strollers to chat over a cup of coffee.

Tony followed, saying nothing, until they got to the park and sat on the grass under a pine tree. Then he took one of her hands and inspected it. Lots of skin tears, and two knuckles on her right hand were scraped and bleeding a little.

She winced. Damn it. They looked like hell, and it was a big deal. Eric would… She put the brakes on her wayward thoughts. This wasn’t about Eric. If he wanted someone more glamorous, that was his problem. She couldn’t mold herself according to someone else’s plan.

But her nails and hands did look like hell.

“Hey.”

She looked at Tony.

He smiled. “It’s okay to be a girl, you know. I actually like them.”

“Don’t be a wiseass. This isn’t about that.”

He removed his hard hat and raked his fingers through his dark wavy hair. “I’ve never asked you questions, right?”

“Oh, God.”

“Relax. I’m not gonna get too personal.”

“Good.” She opened her lunch pail and got out the waterless hand wash.

He stared at her with an amused look on his face. “I had this neighbor in Queens. She moved in next door when I was about ten and she was maybe twelve or
thirteen. Jenny was so damn cute. Long blond hair about your color. Blue eyes, too. And dimples…” He shook his head, smiling. “She wore her hair in braids all rolled up and tucked away because her mother wouldn’t let her cut it. And she always had a baseball cap on. Never once saw her in a dress. I doubt she owned one.”

He paused and stared at two kids playing ball. Tempted to tell him to shut up, Dallas took out a green apple and bit into the tart fruit. Obviously he was using the story as a parable because he thought it somehow applied to her. Which it clearly didn’t.

“I wasn’t interested in girls yet,” he continued, “but some of the other guys in the neighborhood kept sniffing around her. She’d get so mad, she’d call them out to the park and threaten to whip their asses. If you treated her like one of the guys, she was fine. But if—”

“Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and eat your lunch.”

He laughed. “I’m just saying—”

“Don’t, okay. Besides, you got it all wrong.”

“Go ahead, straighten me out.”

She sighed. “Why do you do this job?”

He snorted. “Why do you think? Number one, I hate wearing a suit and tie. Number two, I don’t know how to do anything else.”

“Don’t give me that. How much money did you make off the last two brownstones you refurbished?”

He grinned, shrugged.

“That was a rhetorical question. I know damn well
you had to have made more than five years’ salary working here.” She sighed and put down her apple.

“So? Why you bustin’ my chops all of a sudden? I’m on your side, remember?”

“I know. Really I do.” She and Tony were a lot more alike than she’d thought, she just realized. Both restless. Both wanting something a little more but not ready to cave in or sell out.

He was much more ambitious than he’d ever admit. She was probably the only one who knew, but four years ago he’d bought a foreclosed brownstone, lived in it while he’d renovated it and then sold it for a hefty profit before moving on to the next one and starting over.

Shaking his head and frowning, he unwrapped his sandwich. “I think you need to get laid.”

A strangled laugh escaped her and she punched his arm. If he only knew… “Now you sound just like the rest of them.”

“That was low, Shea, really low.”

“You asked for it.” She stared at her half-eaten apple, tempted to tell Tony about Eric. But really, what kind of advice could Tony give her? Besides, then she’d have to confess her lie. No, not a lie. Her
pretense.
She winced.
Fantasy
had a better ring. Either way it sounded awful.

Besides, there was more on her mind than Eric lately. Like how tired she was getting of the job, of having to wash her hair three times every night to get the dust out. She’d made her point with her parents by now. And she’d paid off most of her debts and started saving some
money. Maybe it was time to start looking for something else. Possibly even put her business degree to some use.

Of course, her restlessness had nothing to do with Eric and the fact that he most likely came from some upper-crust Philadelphia family who’d expected more of their son than to date a construction worker. Nor did it have anything to do with how much she’d been enjoying the dressing up and evenings out. It was just time to move on. That’s all. Nothing more.

Tony grunted. “Quit with the long face. Let’s move to neutral ground. Tell me about the meeting.”

She looked blankly at him. “That was Tuesday.”

“Yeah, so? We didn’t talk yesterday. You skipped lunch so you could knock off early. Must have had a hot date or something.”

She looked away. Hard to believe is was only Thursday. That meant she’d met Eric five days ago. That didn’t seem possible. So much had happened. She felt so much more than she should. Feeling the weight of Tony’s stare, she glanced over at him and mentally flinched at the fascinated curiosity in his eyes.

She cleared her throat. “That was only the second meeting. We have a long way to go. We didn’t even have that good a turnout.”

“They’re afraid of losing their jobs. Can’t blame them.”

“I don’t. Believe me.”

“Yeah, I know. So what are you gonna do about it?”

“Me?”

He snorted. “Yeah, you. Who else has the smarts and the guts to get changes made?”

“I just want to get them to the point where they don’t feel they have to take crap from anybody.”

“And then?”

“I’m not their mother.”

He smiled. “I’m just saying…you stirred the pot.”

“That doesn’t put me in charge. What they need to do is unify.”

His eyebrows drew together in a thoughtful frown. “They still need a leader.”

“God, you look like my father.”

“Shit.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “You’re not gonna be able to walk away from this.”

“Who said anything about walking away?” Guilt needled her. She wasn’t exactly anxious to carry the torch. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to organize another meeting.

“Well, butter my toast. Aren’t you getting testy?”

She laughed. “Butter my toast?”

Tony shrugged, looking adorably sheepish. “My mother’s from the south,” he muttered. “She says stuff like that sometimes.”

“Who knew?”

“What?”

She shook her head. “Is she Italian?”

“Nope. Half French and half Irish. Atlanta born and bred.”

“Wow! I always pictured you as part of this big Italian family who’s been here for three generations.”

“Stereotyping, huh?”

“No.”

Tony grinned.

Her indignation died a quick death, and she sighed. “That did sound pretty bad.”

“Nah, I just wanted to bust your chops. Anyway, you got it half right.” Angling his head, he looked past her, the odd expression on his face making her turn to see what had captured his interest.

“Dakota?” She stared as her sister approached from not six feet away, clearly uncomfortable walking in heels on the soft grass. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you, obviously,” she said, the sarcasm in her tone entirely uncharacteristic. She darted an unsmiling glance at Tony.

“Why?” Dallas pushed to her feet because she knew Dakota wasn’t about to sit on the grass. Not that Dallas blamed her. The gorgeously tailored navy blue suit she wore hadn’t simply been yanked off the rack. “How did you know I was here?”

“I stopped at your job site.” The clipped tone and the annoyance in her gray eyes pretty much said it all. “How can you work with those Neanderthals?”

Tony started laughing, and Dakota gave him a scathing look. “This is when you’re supposed to say ‘present company excepted,’” he said, dusting his hands together and getting to his feet.

Dakota’s perfectly arched eyebrows went up. She wanted to say something. Dallas knew that look. But Dakota was the genteel one of the siblings. She needed harmony even if it meant trying to please everyone.

Tony gave her one of his killer grins. “You have to be the sister.”

Dakota didn’t seem as susceptible as most women were to Tony’s smile, and Dallas quickly made the introduction before Tony did or said something totally annoying. Dakota grudgingly extended her hand, and Tony made a show of wiping his palms down the front of his jeans. Which would’ve been okay if his jeans were clean.

Dallas sighed. Designer suit, perfect nails, perfect hair, perfect everything, her sister was just the kind of woman Tony liked to give a hard time. At the risk of seeming rude, she gave Tony her back and asked, “So, what’s up?”

“I wanted to remind you about dinner at Mother and Dad’s Saturday night.”

“You came in person for that?”

“Yes, because it’s that important.”

Dallas glanced over her shoulder at Tony. He’d taken the hint, sat down and returned to his lunch. His gaze, however, stayed on Dakota. Poor guy. That was never going to happen.

“Why is it so important?”

“Because you didn’t show up the last two times.”

“Wrong terminology. I didn’t
not
show up. I declined the invitation. Big difference.”

“You know what I mean.”

Dallas groaned. She hadn’t really thought about dinner yet. “I’ll be there, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

Dakota grinned. “Want me to pick you up?”

“Don’t you trust me?” She smiled back. “No, thanks, I don’t need a ride.” A wild thought popped into her head. “Hey, are you taking a date?”

Dakota’s eyes widened. “To Mother and Dad’s? I—I hadn’t even considered it.” Her gaze narrowed, and she shot a look at Tony. “Are you?”

Dallas bit back a laugh. Her sister could pontificate all she wanted about the importance of family and the duty of children to their parents, but when it came right down to it, she kept her distance, too. Not as blatantly as Dallas, but she wasn’t exactly ready to open the door to her life.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Dallas said slowly. “I’m thinking about it.”

Dakota blinked, and her gaze briefly flitted to Tony again.

“Not him. He’s just a friend.” Dallas smiled. “But I could bring him for you if you like.”

“Are you—” Dakota lowered her voice. Fortunately a couple of kids arguing over a ball drowned her out. “Are you insane?”

“Why? He’s really a nice guy.”

With a haughty lift of her chin, Dakota adjusted her starched white collar. “Dinner will be served at seven. Mother says to come anytime after six. And I suggest you warn her if you do bring someone else.”

“Thank you. I never would have thought of that.”

Dakota rolled her eyes. “See you Saturday,” she said as she turned and headed for the sidewalk.

Dallas idly watched her go, wondering why in the hell she’d even given the idea of taking Eric a passing
thought. Of course, she hadn’t, really. Mostly she’d wanted to tease Dakota.

“Hey, how come she didn’t say goodbye?”

At the sound of Tony’s voice behind her, Dallas smiled and went back to join him.

With an exaggerated sigh he put a hand to his heart. “I think I’m in love.”

“You said that on Monday about the blonde at the deli.”

“Did I?” He frowned. “Hmm.”

She shook her head, chuckling as she reclaimed her spot on the grass and unwrapped a piece of Gouda. She probably ought to set him straight. Not that she thought he was really serious. Or not that she wouldn’t like to see them hook up. Tony would be good for Dakota. He’d loosen her up. But she’d never go for someone like him. Not in a million years.