Celina (Connelly Cousins #1) (2 page)

But it was the box sitting on her pillow that made her squeal with delight.

Lina unceremoniously dumped the half dozen books on her unmade bed and grabbed the package, her eyes zeroing in on the California postmark.
Stacey
!

She hadn’t seen her college roommate in a couple of years, but that never stopped Stacey from sending her signed, first-edition hardbacks weeks prior to general release. Forget the mass market paperbacks. Lina knew exactly what she would be reading tonight.

After slipping out of her sensible flats and conservative, public-library-appropriate clothes, Lina tugged on silky-soft harem pants and one of her brother’s old practice jerseys and crawled into bed. Everything else – including food, laundry, and that paper for her Mythological Studies course - could wait.

She’d just cracked the cover when her cell phone vibrated with an incoming message. She sighed when she saw the text from Jamie.

They’d been dating off and on for a few months. Jamie was what many women might call a ‘good catch’: handsome, intelligent, responsible, and courteous. The type of man a woman could settle down and be content with. Even Johnny would probably approve, and Johnny didn’t think
any
man was good enough for her. That was just a theory, though, because Lina hadn’t actually told Johnny about him.

As wonderful as those characteristics were, they weren’t enough for Lina. It wasn’t Jamie’s fault. He was a great guy, but there just wasn’t any
spark
there, at least not on her end. And she needed that. She wanted passion and excitement. Edge. A man who would make her heart pound furiously and her breathing erratic with just a look. As much as she might wish differently, Jamie just wasn’t that man.

Some might say she read too much romance, but the real root of her fantasies lay in her heritage. Lina had grown up believing in true love, like the kind of love her parents had. Her Irish grandfather called them
croies
– or hearts; they symbolized the one person who was the other half of your soul. That’s what she was holding out for.

But that didn’t mean she had to be a bitch.

She read the text and sighed again.
How was your day? Hope the kids went easy on you.

He was so thoughtful. He actually listened when she told him things. He remembered that she’d had the field trips today, even when she was sure she’d only mentioned it once last week. She wished Jamie
was
the one for her; it would simplify things tremendously.

The kids were great,
she replied.
But exhausting
.

Her hopes that he’d pick up on the subtle hint were dashed when the phone buzzed again, this time with an incoming call. She couldn’t
not
answer it, not when she’d just responded to his text.

“I know just what you need,” he said by way of greeting. “How about a quiet dinner at Calvecchios? Pasta Aglio, a nice Chablis... ” 

Damn it
. The man didn’t play fair
.
Offering comfort carbs and wine at her favorite Italian restaurant! And why did she feel a stab of annoyance?

“That’s very thoughtful of you, but I’m beat.”

His reply was immediate, as if he’d been expecting her to decline. “Of course.  You must be tired after the day you had. I could pick something up.”

Double dog damn it.
“Can I take a raincheck? Tonight I just want to curl up with a good book and make an early night of it.”

Lina bit her lip, feeling increasingly bad as the seconds ticked by in silence. She could clearly picture the disappointment in his eyes. Turning down Jamie kind of felt like kicking a puppy.  She looked longingly at the book.

“Okay, Lina,” he finally responded. “Get some rest. I’ll call you this weekend okay?” 

“Thanks for understanding, Jamie.”

Lina disconnected the call with a mixture of guilt and relief. Was she being selfish? Unintentionally leading him on?  She liked Jamie and didn’t want to lose his friendship, but if that wasn’t enough for him, it might be kinder to let him go.

* * *

D
amn it
. Jamie McCullough cursed softly under his breath as he broke the connection. What the hell was he doing wrong? Despite his best efforts, Lina preferred hopping into bed with a book rather than him. Why read about it when he was offering the real thing?

He’d applied the tried and true methods men had been utilizing for years – romantic, candlelit dinners, flowers, wine. Clearly, Lina required a different approach. Instead of growing closer, she seemed to be moving farther away. And the harder he tried, the farther she got.

He needed help.

Desperate times called for desperate measures, and Jamie was at the end of his rope.

With his professionally cut and styled sandy hair, hazel eyes, and no-wrinkle Dockers, Jamie looked out of place among the bearded, pierced, and tattooed biker types that frequented Big Mo’s Cycle Shop. That was okay. He wasn’t there to buy a bike or to check out the latest gear. He was there to see his older brother.

The owner, Big Mo, glared through slitted eyes to see who had the balls to come in five minutes before closing time. His fierce features relaxed slightly when he recognized Jamie, then inclined his head toward the back. Jamie ignored the curious looks of the few remaining customers and crossed the floor, slipping quietly into the area where Kyle spent most of his days, creating one-of-a-kind custom cycles.

Pounding heavy metal music blared in the background, easily heard over the loud hum and crackle of the TIG welder. Kyle was on the floor, his attention focused solely on his task. Jamie waited patiently for Kyle to finish, but couldn’t resist turning down the music when the screaming guitars made his back teeth rattle.

“How can you even think with that so loud?” he asked when Kyle flicked off the welder and lifted his safety shield to peer at him. Jamie didn’t really expect an answer, which was good, since he didn’t get one.

“What’s wrong?” Kyle asked instead.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Kyle examined the stainless steel exhaust pipe he’d been working on. Seemingly pleased with it, he pushed the welder base off to the side and shifted, reaching for a wrench. “So this is just a social call?”

“What, a guy can’t drop in and see if his brother’s up for grabbing a beer or something?”

The snort from beneath the bike was audible. “Now I know you’re full of shit. What do you want, Jamie?”

Hands in pockets, Jamie shifted his weight slightly. Miffed as he was that Kyle would think the only reason he’d come to see him was because he wanted something, it hit a little too close to home. The truth was, they didn’t have a lot in common. Though they were brothers, they were as different as night and day. And while that didn’t preclude them from having the occasional beer together, it didn’t happen often enough to make his sudden presence plausible. 

Feeling a slight pang of guilt, Jamie turned his gaze to the wall, where a calendar sported a scantily clad woman in a suggestive pose involving a Harley. “Jesus, Kyle.” His brother’s piercing blue eyes bored into him until the urge to squirm nearly overwhelmed him. “Okay, fine. I want some advice, okay?”

Kyle returned his gaze to the cycle. “On what? You thinking of getting a bike?”

“No. I want your opinion on ... a woman.”

“That library chick you’ve been seeing?”

“Yes. And her name is Celina.”

“Whatever. What’s the problem?”

Jamie dropped down into the rolling desk chair that looked as though it had seen far better days. As a twenty-five year old professional on the executive fast track at the publishing company where he worked, it was awkward asking his older brother for advice on women. But Jamie was desperate, and no one knew more about seducing a woman than Kyle.  

“Celina is different. She’s everything I’m looking for in a woman – quiet, intelligent, sweeter than honey.”

A barking laugh sounded from Kyle’s position on the floor. “Fugly, huh?”

“No,” Jamie scowled. “She’s beautiful. Built like a Greek goddess. Golden hair, green eyes.”

“And she’s a
librarian
?”

“Yes. She works at the Birch Falls library during the day and attends classes at night. She’s working on her Master’s degree,” he told his brother proudly.

That was how they had met. Celina enrolled in the Aspiring Authors class Jamie’s publishing company sponsored at the local university as part of the continuing adult education program. Jamie had attended as a representative in his boss’s place. It was only supposed to be a one-night thing, but after that first night, he was hooked, and volunteered to take over the remaining classes. His boss, a curmudgeonly sort who hated lecturing, had readily agreed.

Those had been the longest eleven weeks of Jamie’s life. He’d been forced to watch every other male on campus vie for her affections. He hadn’t been kidding when he said she was beautiful; Celina was the type of woman men had been writing sonnets about for centuries. She had golden hair the color of sunshine, with natural, random streaks of copper beneath. Her green eyes reminded him of the deepest oceans, and they sparkled when she smiled. She probably didn’t realize how they grew wider, like big doe eyes sometimes, or how she tended to lean forward, accentuating those lovely, full breasts, when she found something particularly interesting. Her favorite genres were classic love stories and mythologies. She found them fascinating, and Jamie found her irresistible when she found something fascinating.

As far as he could ascertain, she firmly – but politely – declined all offers. That, of course, made her even more desirable. As a representative of his company, his hands were tied. He’d had to wait until the final grades were posted before asking her out himself. Expecting to be turned down, he was pleasantly surprised when she accepted.

Celina was every bit as charming as he’d dreamed she’d be. She was witty and quick, and she laughed at all of his jokes. They could speak for hours on nearly any subject; Jamie found her thoughts well-organized and sometimes shockingly insightful.

His only complaint was that their relationship had not progressed past the comfortable, intellectual stage. He had held her hand and kissed her chastely good night, but nothing more. Though he’d never been a big proponent of one-night stands, he was a normal, healthy man and he wanted her with a passion he’d never felt for anyone.

She was so sweet, exuding an innocence rarely seen in women his age. He suspected she’d never been with a man. It was in her eyes, in her body language, in the shy way she cast her eyes downward and hesitated when anything even remotely sensual arose in movies or conversation. That kept him from pushing too hard, while at the same time, drove him nearly insane. After all, how many perfect twenty-somethings were there in today’s world who had never known the pleasure of a man?

But while Jamie grew increasingly obsessed with Celina, she remained quietly unreachable. And for the last couple of weeks, he had begun to feel like she was slowly slipping away. He believed if they took things to the next level, she would see him as something more than a friend.

He tried to explain this to Kyle, but his brother was far more cynical.

“Yeah, right, Jamie. A twenty-five-year-old virgin goddess. Man, is she yanking your chain or what?” Kyle snorted.

“It’s true,” Jamie insisted. “If you met her, you’d know what I was talking about.”

“Yeah, then why haven’t I ever heard of her, huh? I think word would get around if she’s half as hot as you say she is.”

Jamie shrugged. “You don’t exactly hang in the same circles. She’s not a biker groupie, and I doubt you’ve been spending your free time in the library.”

“Maybe she just doesn’t want to have sex with
you
, little brother. Ever think of that?”

Yes, he had. Sometimes it was all he thought about. But since she wasn’t actively seeing anyone else, Jamie preferred to remain optimistic.

“Will you just meet her? Then decide for yourself.”

“What the hell would I want to do that for?” Kyle pushed himself out from under the bike and got to his feet. He’d apparently finished everything he could with the parts he had, wiping down his wrench with a soft cloth and placing it just so on the rolling tool bench. Kyle didn’t care much for neatness and order as a whole, but he kept his tools in a state of perfection, his work area a place of pristine mechanical beauty.

“You have a gift. Meet her. Talk to her. Then tell me what I need to do to get her to, well, you know...”

Kyle laughed, a full, rumbling, masculine laugh that sounded a lot like the custom engines he worked with all day. “You can’t even say it?” He shook his head and laughed harder. “Let me get this straight. You want me to meet some chick that’s been giving you a hard-on for the last couple of months but refuses to put out because she’s some kind of virginal goddess or something, so I can give you advice on how to get into her lily white cotton panties?”

Jamie smiled ruefully. “Yeah. That’s pretty much it.”

Kyle peeled off the blue coverall he wore over his jeans and plain white T-shirt.
Jesus
, thought Jamie when he saw the bulging biceps and the way the XL T stretched to capacity across his brother’s broad chest.
He’s been working out
.

Kyle hung up the coverall on the hook near the door and pulled the tie loose from his jet black hair. It fell below his shoulders, in stark contrast to his icy blue eyes. Everything about him screamed ‘bad boy’. Suddenly, putting Kyle anywhere near his sweet, gentle Celina seemed like a horrible idea.

“Look, Kyle, I’m sorry. It was a stupid idea.”

Kyle looked up at him through the curtains of hair that fell across his face as he laced his boots.
Yep, definitely a stupid idea.
Introducing Kyle to Celina would be like introducing the lion to the lamb.

“All right, bro. I’ll meet her, if it means that much to you. But I’m telling you, she’s yanking your chain. Virgin, my ass,” he chuckled, sliding into his black leather jacket. “Hell,” he added with a lopsided grin, revealing his perfect white teeth. “If she is as hot as you say she is, I might have a go at her myself.”