How to Love (5 page)

“Did you say something to her?”

Mike pursed his lips and looked past Carlos. “Probably. I don’t know what. She’s kind of…unpredictable.”

Carlos gave a short laugh. “Jesus. That’s great.” Their eyes met. “You like her, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” After a brief pause, Mike’s eyes steady on him, he said, “You?”

Carlos nodded slowly. “Yeah. What little I know of her.”

“Why don’t you go talk to her?”

Carlos nodded again. “Okay.” He headed toward the beach, looking for her in the crowd, finally spotting her sitting on the sand on the far side of the fire, arms wrapped around her knees.

She wasn’t overtly sexy. She wasn’t a tanned California blonde with long legs and big boobs. Her build was delicate, including her breasts. Her hair was dark and glossy, her skin tanned only a pale golden color. She didn’t wear a lot of makeup. Yeah, her shorts were short, but so were every other woman’s there, and the tank top she wore was loose and drapey, not skintight. But there was something about her, a confidence, a sensuality, a certain way she’d looked at him as if he was something special, that made her irresistibly attractive.

Even as he walked toward her, some other dude dropped to the ground beside her and set a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at the guy and Carlos caught the flicker of dismay on her face.

Carlos hesitated only a second, then continued. They had no idea if she was involved with someone. Likely not, since she’d come to the party with her friend, but still…might as well find out. And he got the distinct feeling she didn’t want to talk to this guy, whoever he was.

He walked up to her and sat on the other side of her, the sand cool and silky soft. “Hey,” he said.

She looked at him and smiled, first with obvious relief and then her smile turned rueful. What was that about? “Hey, Carlos. This is Josh. Josh Busher.”

“Good to meet you.”

The two men shook hands and Carlos felt the cool vibe from the other man. But Jules seemed glad he was there, so hell no, he wasn’t leaving. They made some small talk. Josh was apparently a San Amaro police officer. Then after a few minutes Josh rose to his feet and left them alone.

Warmth from the fire heated Carlos’s face, the ocean breeze cooled his back. The music was quieter down here, the rhythm of the waves rushing onto shore more audible.

“What was that about?” he asked Jules once Josh was out of earshot.

“What was what about?” She turned big innocent eyes on him.

Yeah, right. “Was he bothering you?”

She sighed. “No. I can handle him.”

“I’m sure you can. Ex-boyfriend?”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

He nodded slowly. “I gather he’s not happy about the break-up.”

“No. But God, it was months ago. And it wasn’t really a break-up. I mean, I never intended it to be more than just…you know…fun.”

“Uh-huh. But he wanted more than…fun?”

She gazed into the fire. “I guess.”

Carlos gave her a squinty look. Didn’t she know? “He was too serious?”

She rolled her eyes. “Every guy is too serious. Why does it always have to be about marriage and babies?”

Shocked into momentary silence, Carlos just stared at her. Then he laughed. “Are you for real, doll? Because I don’t think I’ve ever heard a woman say those words.”

She frowned at him. “I’m for real. What are you saying? I’m weird?”

“No! No, no, that’s not it. It’s just…you know. Women are usually the ones looking for that shit and guys are going, whoa, back off, babe.”

She smiled reluctantly. “Yeah. That’s true. Okay, so I’m not like every other chick. Deal with it.”

He laughed and clinked his beer against hers. “Cheers, doll. To each his own.”

They fell silent for a moment, watching the flames dance in yellow and orange spears. Then Carlos said, “Fun party. Nice of the Surf Sisters to have this for us.”

“They like having parties. And they have a great place for it.”

“Yeah. It’d be nice to live right on the beach.”

“Can’t get much closer than we are, though,” she said.

“True. I’m not complaining.” He tipped his cold beer to his lips. “I really like it here so far. And the neighbors seem great.” He met her eyes. Sizzle. Snap. “Did Mike say something to piss you off?”

Her eyes widened at his question, then she dropped her gaze to her knees. “No. Of course not.”

“Okay. That’s good.”

“You saw us.”

“Yeah.”

“Well.” When she lifted those long dark eyelashes her eyes held a hint of uncertainty. “Did he send you over here to talk to me?”

“Not exactly.”

She squinted a little at him, the flames shimmering over her luminous skin. “He seems like a great guy.”

“He is.”

“He’s very…intuitive.”

“Yeah.” He studied her again. “He can be.”

“Hey, there you are!”

Carlos looked up and saw Bella trudging through the sand toward them. Hell. He frowned when Bella stumbled a little. Double hell. She’d apparently had a lot to drink tonight.

She lurched to a stop in front of them and gave Jules a long look. “What are you doing, Jules?”

“Sitting here by the fire.” Jules batted her eyelashes and smiled up at the little blonde. “Were you worried about me?”

Uh-oh.

But Bella laughed at that. “Yes, actually.”

Carlos’s eyebrows rose. “Thanks a lot.”

Bella gave him a lopsided smile. “I didn’t mean because of you.”

“Oh.” For a minute there he’d been worried about a cat fight. Bella was drunk and almost seemed jealous, and Jules was…he could not for the life of him explain why he felt protective of her when she was clearly a strong, independent woman.

Bella planted her hands on her hips, one still holding a bottle, shaking her head. “You can’t have them both, Jules,” she said.

Jules rose gracefully to her feet and gave Bella a disdainful look. “For heaven’s sake, Bella, get over it.”

Bella sighed. “Jesus, Jules, you just can’t help it, can you? When are you going to stop this? It’s like an addiction, isn’t it? You know you don’t have to…”

Carlos saw the flash of hurt in Jules’s eyes before she turned and walked away. He couldn’t help but watch the sway of her butt in the little denim shorts she wore, muscles flexing in her slender legs as her feet sank into the soft sand in long strides. He looked at Bella. “What was that about?”

Bella sighed again and swayed a little. “She thinks I’m jealous because she went out with Josh. And yeah, maybe I was. But I actually like Jules. We worry about her.”

Carlos frowned. “Worry about her?”

“Never mind.” She moved closer and her smile changed to a more sultry one. Now Carlos repressed a sigh. She was a neighbor and had been nice enough to throw this party to welcome him and Mike to San Amaro. She was apparently attracted to him, and sadly he was going to have to put an end to that before it got out of hand. He rose too.

“Let’s go back to the house.”

“No! Carlos…let’s stay here for a while. We can talk…” She lost her balance a little and he caught her arm. “Get to know each other better.”

“You have guests here you should look after.” He led her back toward the house, helping her as she stumbled through the sand. “Do you have any coffee? Maybe you should have some.”

“Coffee? I don’t need coffee!”

“Okay. Maybe a soda or something then. Something to eat.”

Up on the deck with lots of people around, he managed to get her talking to someone else. He looked around for Mike or Jules. Or both. Jules seemed to have disappeared. He didn’t see her friend Neve either, but there was Mike, sitting on a deck chair talking to a few people. He joined in the group conversation with them. When he had a chance, he leaned in to Mike and said in a low voice, “I think Jules may have left.”

Mike frowned a little. “Yeah?”

“Little drama. Tell you later.”

“Okay.”

Carlos didn’t really feel like staying much longer at the party, but since it was for him and Mike he felt obligated to stick around. So they did, meeting people, talking, laughing. He managed to avoid Bella for the rest of the evening, and it actually was good to meet people in town since they were going to be living there now.

It was three in the morning before things began to wind down, and as they walked home, Carlos told Mike about Bella and how she’d approached Jules and claimed to be concerned about her. But neither of them could figure out why. They both paused in front of their house and eyed Jules’s little cottage. “Guess it’s too late to check on her, huh?” Mike said.

“Yeah, I think so. Although I get the feeling she can look after herself.”

“Yeah,” Mike said thoughtfully. “Me too. But then, for some reason, I also get the feeling it might be time someone took care of her.”

Weird. He’d had the same thought.

They walked around back and entered their house through the sliding doors from the patio. Carlos slanted a glance at Mike as they stood in the dark kitchen. “So. You like her.”

Mike dipped his head a little. “Yeah.”

“Hey. It’s okay.” He reached out and nudged Mike’s chin up. “I like her too. What do we do about that?”

Mike regarded him thoughtfully, head tipped to one side, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. He stepped closer and slid one hand around the back of Carlos’s neck, and Carlos felt the heat of his body through his T-shirt as Mike pulled him closer. Their eyes met and held in the dimness, the only light coming from the hall light they’d left on. Carlos edged closer so their hips bumped, and his groin tightened.

“Flip a coin?” Mike murmured, lowering his head.

“I know you’re joking,” Carlos said, tilting his head so Mike’s face rubbed against his cheek. “I’m serious, babe.”

“I know.” Mike rubbed his nose alongside Carlos’s, his eyes closed, and inhaled deeply. “I know. I am too. She’s skittish.”

“Yeah. All tough and sexy on the outside…”

“I’m not really sure what’s inside.”

“But you want to find out.”

Mike turned his face and found Carlos’s mouth with his. They kissed, long and deep, their mouths opening for each other. Carlos pressed closer so their whole bodies aligned and slid his hand into Mike’s hair.

“I do,” Mike admitted a long moment later, leaning his forehead on Carlos’s.

“So go for it.” Carlos pressing his aching cock against Mike, who was just as hard.

“I’m not leaving you out.”

“I know.”

They’d done this before. One of them would meet a girl, ask her out. Start things off. Sometimes things worked out. Sometimes they didn’t. And even when things had worked out and they’d had hot ménage sex with another woman, they’d never found exactly what they were looking for.

“Maybe this time…” Carlos murmured as Mike dragged his tongue down the side of his neck. His skin tingled everywhere, every nerve ending sparking, his cock rigid and engorged. He rubbed against Mike and groaned.

“Yeah.” Mike’s teeth grazed his skin. “Maybe this time.”

Jules awoke Sunday morning with lingering remnants of irritability about what had happened at the party last night. She made coffee in her tiny kitchen, looking out the window into her little square of backyard. Morning fog hung low in the sky, making the light all pearly and glowing, but she could already see the sun trying to burn through.

Why were women such bitches to each other? She’d never done anything to Bella. Bella had blamed her for Josh breaking up with her, but that really hadn’t been her fault and now, even months later, Bella still had the idea that Jules was out to get any guy Bella was interested in.

She didn’t want
any
guys.

Well, not for a relationship, anyway. Sex was good, though.

She glumly poured a cup of coffee and lifted the mug to her lips with both hands, breathing in the warm rich scent. She would steer clear of Carlos if there was really something between him and Bella, but clearly there wasn’t. Or maybe she should steer clear of Carlos anyway, just so Bella would know that for sure. Except, hell, why should she live her life because of someone else’s hang-ups? Ah well. Someday Bella would find the guy for her and hopefully that would help.

It was Sunday and Jules had things to do. First up, the farmers’ market where she would stock up on fruits and vegetables and flowers for the week. Maybe some of Corey’s orgasmic chocolate. Then she had to stop in at the gallery to do a few office things. The gallery was only open from noon until five on Sundays, and she had her two part-time helpers working today, but she needed to look after some things in the office.

She changed out of the flannel shorts and gray T-shirt she’d slept in, sliding a short black T-shirt dress over her head. She pushed her feet into flip-flops and brushed through her hair, then ran her hands through it to loosen the waves. She smoothed sunscreen over her face, something she always did when going outside, added a little gloss to her mouth, then grabbed her purse and car keys and headed out.