Here Comes Trouble (10 page)

“Stop it, Papa! Stop it!” Arianna squealed with delight.

Celeste reached out her hand for her daughter. “Come on, Arianna, let’s go inside and get you changed before you mess up your pretty dress.”

“But—But I want to stay in my dress, Mommy,” Arianna said.

“Don’t start with me,” Celeste said in a firm voice. “We already talked about this. You have two choices. If you keep your dress on, you have to stay inside. Or, you can change and come back out. The choice is yours.”

Arianna pushed out her lower lip. “Okay. Uncle Matt, I’ll be right back. When I come back, I have a surprise. Don’t leave, okay?”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got to stick around and help you guys eat all this food, remember?”

Her face brightened. “Okay. Papa, don’t tell him the surprise, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“I’ll be right back!”

When they’d disappeared, Matthew asked, “How many guests are you expecting?”

“About ten of us total. Some of my friends, Antonio, and a few of his friends.”

“So you’re still happy?” he asked after a brief silence.

“I think it’s obvious, but I couldn’t be happier,” Roarke affirmed. He started placing meat on the grill. Each piece sizzled when it connected with the hot grate. “You changed your mind and drove all the way out here to ask me that?”

“No.” Roarke knew enough not to ask any more questions and waited for Matthew to talk when he was ready. He continued to place meat on the grill, and after a prolonged silence, Matthew said, “I messed up with Lorena. I thought I had a chance at getting her back, but I found out she’s dating someone. I saw her last night, and she can’t forgive me for what I did. I hurt her too much.”

Roarke closed the lid on the grill and set the tongs on the counter. “I kind of figured you had a thing for her, so I wasn’t surprised when the two of you hooked up. I was surprised when you broke up with her, though. When you got past the two-month mark, I thought for sure you were in it for the long haul.”

How sad that two months was considered a long-term relationship for him. “I didn’t cheat on her.” He’d been saying that a lot lately.

“I know.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t even know why I broke up with her.”

“Too many wild oats still to sow maybe?”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

Matthew paced restlessly. He didn’t fully understand why he’d ended the relationship. Sure, being with her scared him, but he’d been happy. And he’d known her for years, experiencing a level of comfort with her he hadn’t with other women because they’d been friends first.

“So what changed your mind and made you want her back?”

“I was miserable.” He stopped and hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans. “It really hit me when I was sitting on the sofa with my arm around this girl I picked up at the sports bar, watching a basketball game, and she kept asking me all these stupid questions. ‘What happened?’ ‘Why was that a foul?’ ‘Why did the referee stop the game? I don’t understand what’s going on.’ She got on my nerves.

“She didn’t understand anything about the game. If Lorena had been sitting there with me, she would have been quoting stats and yelling at the referee for bad calls. A completely different experience.” That was his problem. Ever since Lorena, every other woman fell short.

Roarke watched him thoughtfully. “Now what?”

Before he could answer, Arianna came back out wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. In her hands she held a tiny black kitten. “Look, Uncle Matt. This is my surprise.” She held up the cat for him to see.

“Cute.” He stroked the animal’s head. “Boy or girl?”

“It’s a girl kitty. Her name is Midnight, ’cause she’s black.” She held the kitten close to her chest and gently rubbed her fingers down its body.

“She’s beautiful.” He stroked the kitten one more time and then tried to answer Roarke’s question. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I really want to get”—he looked at Arianna and said the first words that came to his mind—“my kitty back.”

Arianna’s head snapped up. “You lost your kitty?” she asked sympathetically.

Matthew nodded.

“Did you not take good care of it?”

Roarke choked back a laugh and turned his back to the two of them, busying himself with preparing the corn for the grill.

“Well, I don’t know if—”

“Kitties are a lot of work, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but I can handle it.”

“I wanted two, but Mommy says I have to prove I can handle one before she lets me have another one, so I’m going to take good care of her.” She kissed the kitten, and it made a little mewling sound. “How many have you had?”

“Oh, lots. I’ve lost count.”

“
Really
?” Arianna gasped. “You’re so lucky. I want another one so bad. I think it’ll be fun. Have you ever had two at the same time?”

Good times
. “Yes. It’s extra work, but it’s worth it.”

“I knew it. I hope I can get another one,” Arianna said wistfully. “What kinds of kitties have you had?”

“Oh, I’ve had all kinds. White, black, different colors. I don’t discriminate.”

“What does disc-discriminate mean?”

“It means he’s not picky,” Roarke interjected. “Anytime he sees a kitty, he has to have it.”

“I’m not that bad,” Matthew said defensively. “I do have standards.”

“The problem is,” Roarke continued, wrapping an ear of corn in aluminum foil, “he only keeps them for a short time. He switches them out often.”

“Why, Uncle Matt? Is it because you don’t know how to take care of them?” Arianna’s worried gaze met his.

“I know how to take care of them.” Matthew shot Roarke a dirty look.

“No, he doesn’t,” Roarke said. Matthew frowned at him.

“I can help you, Uncle Matt. I’ve had my kitty for two weeks now, and I’m very good at taking care of her.” Matthew smiled at the earnest expression on her face. “Lemme tell you, kitties can be difficult. When I first got her, she was scared. She barely let me touch her, so I had to be very, very careful. I put out her milk in a saucer, and she’d come over, but if I tried to touch her, she’d run away. I kept doing it, and finally she let me pet her.” Arianna sighed, as if the process had taken way too long.

“You have to be very gentle with them, Uncle Matt. You can’t be too rough, or then she won’t let you get close. So every time I touched her, I was very gentle. I pet the top of her head. Like this.” She demonstrated. “I scratch her under the chin.” She demonstrated again. “She
really
likes that. See? I do all the things she really likes over and over again. She likes shiny things, too, and playing with string. I play with her a lot so she’ll be comfortable with me and know I’m fun. You know what she does now?”

Matthew shook his head, surprised at the rapt attention he was paying to this conversation with a seven-year-old about her cat. “If I sit down on the floor, she comes to me. I don’t even have to do all the things I used to do, because she trusts me now. She comes right over and climbs up on my lap and purrs.” Arianna grinned broadly. “So that’s how you take care of a kitty, okay? Next time you get one, you can follow those tips, and you won’t lose her again.” She scampered off to play in the grass nearby with the kitten.

Roarke and Matthew looked at each other.

Roarke shook his head. “Out of the mouth of babes.”

“No kidding.” He may have just gotten some of the best relationship advice he’d ever received.

****

Later, the rest of the men started showing up and Celeste called Arianna inside. Lucas and Xander, two of Roarke’s good friends, showed up first. Xander owned a bakery and brought dessert—a couple of apple pies and peach cobbler. Lucas showed up with his appetite and promptly stole a rib from under the foil where Roarke had set the cooked meat.

The four of them stood around sipping beer and talking while two of Roarke’s other friends tossed a football. Matthew, glad for the opportunity to get his mind off of Lorena, looked up as the next set of guests came through the gate.

“What’s he doing here?” he asked.

Roarke followed Matthew’s gaze across the lawn. “Who?”

Antonio and three friends came toward them. “The guy on the left. That’s the man Lorena’s dating.”

“Uh-oh,” Lucas murmured. His eyes traveled between Lewis and Matthew.

“He’s Antonio’s friend,” Roarke said. “Don’t do anything crazy.”

“Roarke, you worry too much. I’m a grown man, and I’m smart enough to leave well enough alone.” One little white lie wouldn’t kill him.

When the four men came over, a round of introductions started.

“I didn’t know you’d be here,” Antonio said with an apologetic look at Matthew.

“I changed my mind,” Matthew said.

“It’s good to see you again.” Lewis had the same slick smile pinned in place, so phony it made a three-dollar bill look legit.

“You talked to Lorena about our conversation,” Matthew said.

Lewis shrugged. The others around them fell silent, watching the exchange with guarded expressions. “No hard feelings, I hope.”

“No, not at all, Linus. I hope you don’t have any, either.”

“I don’t. And it’s Lewis.”

“Good.” Matthew grabbed a beer from the cooler and held it out to him. The other man watched the beer with distrust, as if he thought it might be poisoned. Finally, he took it with a “thanks.” Matthew turned to his brother. “Everybody’s here. Let’s eat!”

Roarke gave his brother a suspicious look. “All the food is on the island. Everybody help yourself.”

The men gathered around and loaded their plates with ribs, chicken, and sides. They talked about sports, problems at work, problems with their wives and girlfriends, and they congratulated Roarke on the impending birth of his son.

Matthew joined in the discussions, but he remained cognizant of Lewis and couldn’t quell the feelings of utter distaste that filled him every time he looked at the other man. Part jealousy, part anger at his edited version of their encounter churned inside him, turning rancid and making him want to do something to wipe the smile off his arrogant face.

“I need to work off some of this delicious food,” Lucas said, patting his stomach. He rose to his feet. “How about a quick game of touch football? Who’s in?”

They all agreed and divided up into teams, with Roarke, Matthew, Lucas, Xander, and one of Roarke’s friends on the same team. They did a couple of practice throws and then ran plays.

Matthew kept his eyes on Lewis, looking for an opportunity to strike. Because he’d already made up his mind he’d make him pay for twisting the truth to Lorena. He obviously didn’t play fair, and neither would Matthew.

It was his own fault he and Lorena were no longer together, but Lewis had caused the anger she directed at him last night. It was Lewis’s fault he’d wound up falling asleep horny because the woman he loved had run out of his apartment as though a pack of wolves chased her. He needed to expend the pent-up frustration, and what better way than at this man who dared ingratiate himself into his brother’s home.

The opportunity came twenty minutes into the game. Antonio passed the ball to Lewis. He took off across the grass, and Matthew ran toward him. Tensing his body, he turned it into the consistency of a brick wall and slammed into Lewis.