Velocity (9 page)

“You can do that?”

“Yes, at most hotels they will hold your baggage.”

“Huh. Learn something new every day.”

She stepped out of the shower and he couldn’t help the brief
feeling of disappointment that there would be no repeat performance of their
other shower, but considered what they’d just done. He was a selfish bastard to
expect more.

Grabbing the shower curtain, Paolo pushed it aside just a
bit. “Are you sore?”

Savannah blushed. “A little.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“No, no.” She bit her lip. “I think it’s just the newness,
you know?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, now finish your shower.”

He quickly did and grabbed a towel. Scrubbing vigorously, he
walked out of the bathroom and found Savannah pulling on a pair of little blue
bikini panties. They had pink polka dots, and though he figured he should think
they were cute, for some reason they made him want to throw her on the bed and
pull them off with his teeth. There wasn’t time for that though, and he doubted
his injury would be up for that either, so he turned away to get dressed.

They packed and checked out of the room, leaving their
luggage with the concierge, and ate a quick, early lunch before heading to the
arena. There they met up with Marco and Natalie, along with a bevy of other
riders, who crowded around him to get the story about him quitting until
finally Marco shooed them away.

“I still have no ideas about what I want to do,” Paolo
admitted.

Marco put a hand on his shoulder. “Give it time. As long as
it takes for you to figure out what you want to do next. And if that’s the
internship, then that’s what you should do.”

“I just feel—” Paolo struggled, switching to Italian after
he couldn’t find the correct word for what he was feeling. They tried to speak
English whenever possible so they could learn it better, but this time he
needed to be able to express himself. “I want to be my own person. I want to be
a strong man others can rely on. You’ve been paying for everything for three
years. For a while, it was okay because you were having success and I was just
learning, but I’ve taken advantage of you.”

“I already told you I don’t regret a bit of the money I’ve
spent keeping us on tour,” Marco told him, still in Italian. “You’re my
brother, but you’re also my best friend. I want you to be happy.”

“I honestly don’t know what will make me happy.” Paolo
rubbed the back of his neck. “I wasn’t thinking about vocations when I left with
you, and since then I’ve been riding. I don’t know what jobs are out there,
what schooling they require, or how much they pay.”

Marco’s lips twitched. “Well, you know, there is this thing
called the internet. I believe your girlfriend has a laptop with her, yes?”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Paolo replied automatically.

Now Marco apparently couldn’t keep a straight face because
he gave Paolo a full-fledged smile. “That’s what I said about Natalie. I
believe that’s also what Conner and Brady said.”

Paolo glanced over to where Natalie and Savannah were
engaged in an animated conversation. “I can’t drag her into the mess of my life
right now.”

“Doesn’t look like she minds. And it’s not a mess. Your life
is changing. There’s a difference.”

He nodded, knowing his brother was right. “She’s leaving
soon anyway. I’m sure she thinks this is just a fling.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about any of that. Has she mentioned
leaving? I know before she said she wanted to talk to athletes in other sports
and people who do dangerous jobs, but I haven’t heard her say a word about that
since you guys got together.”

“I can’t hold her back from finishing her thesis.”

“Isn’t that her decision?”

Paolo blew out a breath. “Yes.”

“Then let her make it.”

They looked over at the girls again and Natalie grinned.
“What’re you two gabbing about in your mysterious Italian over there?”

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with,
cara
,”
Marco told her. “Look, I need to prepare. Are you guys going to sit?”

“Yeah.” She gave Marco a kiss and turned to Paolo and
Savannah. “Shall we?”

The three of them made their way to seats. Savannah said,
“So you’re not going to tell us what you guys were talking about?”

“Some things are between brothers.”

Savannah and Natalie rolled their eyes at each other. Paolo
wasn’t ready to talk about anything, but he did like the idea of looking online
to find out more about jobs that might suit him.

They watched the event finals, where nearly everyone was
bucked off their bulls. Sometimes there was a night or even an entire event
where it seemed as if one failure built on the others even though each ride was
independent. In the end Marco took ninth place for a pittance in prize money.
Paolo felt even worse spending his brother’s money now.

As they walked out that night on their way to the airport
for a red eye to St. Louis, Marco clapped an arm around Paolo’s shoulders.
Using Italian again, he said, “I know that look.”

“What look?”

“You’re feeling guilty about something.”

Paolo looked up at his brother, surprised. “Why do you say
that?”

“Because I know you.” Marco squeezed and then pulled away.
“Look, don’t worry, okay? We’re fine. We have enough money.”

“Are you sure?”

Marco stopped and Paolo broke stride before turning back to
him. His brother hesitated. “Natalie is trying to convince me to go home and
try to talk to Mom and Dad.”

“Really?” Paolo was shocked. With the way things had been
left he’d thought Marco had washed his hands of his family. “You have my
support, of course, but they haven’t treated you well. Are you sure you want to
do this?”

“No, which is why I wanted to mention it now.”

“You are a better man than me for even considering it. I
will never forgive our parents for the way they treated you.”

“You should forgive them. This doesn’t have anything to do
with you, really. I appreciate your support—I do—but this is something I need
to work out with
madre
and
padre
myself. Natalie wants to go
during the offseason. She’s got no family, basically, and she doesn’t want this
rift to go on forever.”

Paolo switched back to English and addressed Natalie. “So
you think if Marco goes home he and our parents could work out their
differences?”

“I don’t know, but both of you owe it to yourselves to find
out. You can’t leave things like this.”

Savannah caught Paolo’s arm. “Would you go back?”

“Forever or with Marco?”

“Either.”

“I don’t know.”

Looking him in the eye, she said, “You miss it.”

“Yes. I loved it there.”

“Then I think you guys should go home.”

“Have you been talking to Natalie?” he teased.

She looked over at Natalie, who was grinning. “Maybe. But
you should.”

“You just want me to take you.”

Why did I just say that?

Savannah looked taken aback. “I-I wouldn’t expect you to
take me. I mean, we just met…” She twisted her fingers into a necklace she was
wearing and Paolo cursed himself. What had he been thinking? Worse than that,
how could he fix this?

“I would be honored to take you,
amante
, but perhaps
not the first time we return. If we reconcile with our family, I would love to
show you where I grew up.”

That really made it sound as if they were planning a future
together. Paolo didn’t know what else to say though.

They made their way back to the hotel and took the free
shuttle to the airport. All of them were hoping to sleep on the plane, but
Paolo had never been good at sleeping in any moving vehicle, so he didn’t have
high hopes.

He and Savannah weren’t sitting together, and as soon as he
got comfortable he pulled out his earbuds, hoping he could find something to
entertain him during the flight. During the past months, he’d been listening to
audio books in English in an effort to learn the language better and he pulled
up his latest, a murder mystery. He was lost in it when his arm was lightly
brushed.

“Sir, you’ll need to stow that for now.”

“Oh, I am sorry. I keep forgetting.”

The flight attendant smiled. “No problem at all. Can I get
you anything?”

“No ma’am. I’m fine.”

“Well, if you need anything at all you just give me a
holler, all right? My name is Hilary.” She pointed to the nametag attached at
her breast pocket and leaned down to him. “Anything.”

Paolo hated to be rude, but he hated overly aggressive women
even more. “I will.” Reaching into the seat pocket in front of him, he withdrew
a magazine and pretended to read. Hilary must’ve finally gotten the picture,
because with a toss of her hair she flounced away and Paolo took a moment to
look back to Savannah. Her eyes were closed and he hoped she hadn’t seen the
interaction. He didn’t want her to jump to any conclusions. When it appeared
she was at least dozing, he turned back around and idly flipped through the
magazine.

Luckily the flight only took a few hours and they landed at
about four thirty a.m. local time. After grabbing their luggage, they stumbled
to a cab and made it to the hotel an hour later. They all collapsed into their
respective beds, especially Paolo, who had been unable to sleep during the
flight. He slept soundly until his cell phone alarm rang later in the morning.

Marco had already left for the arena so he could register on
time, but Paolo, Natalie and Savannah decided to take the few hours before the
event to see the famous St. Louis Arch. As they stood there, side by side,
Paolo marveled at all the cool sights he’d seen so far in America. Yes,
Italia
was gorgeous, but he had to admit the United States boasted some pretty
interesting attractions. For the first time he considered that he might not
mind staying here in the States, even if he was living away from his brother.

But where could he go? What could he do?

Savannah had originally scheduled only this stop in St.
Louis and one in Kansas City so she wouldn’t be far from her home in
Albuquerque, but she found herself looking at the schedule and considering her
thesis. She’d been planning to move on to the NASCAR circuit and study the
drivers before her term started again, but what she really wanted to do was
stay on the bull rider tour and maybe help Paolo figure out his next move.
Besides, she
still
hadn’t heard back from the good folks at NASCAR,
which pretty much nixed those plans and left her some spare time.

Paolo looked so lost, and if she admitted it, that upset her
greatly. Even though she knew it wasn’t the prudent thing to do, she had to
admit, at least to herself, that she had major feelings for Paolo. How major
she wasn’t sure, but in a week when both of her originally planned events were
over, she wasn’t going to be nearly ready to say goodbye to Paolo forever.

In fact, the thought of never seeing Paolo again, never
kissing him again, never feeling his warmth beside her in bed again, downright
depressed her. As she let the hot water of the shower cascade down her body,
she found herself fighting tears. Luckily Paolo had gone downstairs to get
coffee for her and she wondered if some of her weepiness could be attributed to
the lack of caffeine, but deep down she knew it was more than that.

Last night Paolo had been talking as if they might have a
future together. But they hadn’t discussed exactly how long she was staying on
tour and Savannah knew he had to be wondering when she was leaving. At this
point she wasn’t sure what to tell him. She had plenty of research from her
numerous conversations with the guys, but she could always use more. At least
that’s what she told herself.

She jumped out of the shower and quickly connected to the
hotel’s wifi to look at the schedule for the bull riding tour.
Hmm.
If
she went to one more event than she’d planned, the next one after that would
actually be in Albuquerque. How had she not noticed there was an event in what
was now her hometown?

The best thing to do would be to sit Paolo down, tell him of
her plans and see if he would be amenable to having her help him consider his
options. It was obviously bothering him to stay on the tour with no real
purpose. She didn’t know a lot about being a veterinarian, but she could bet
Paolo would be good at it. He had this patient, calming way about him. It was
one of the things that had first attracted her to him.

Paolo returned with coffee and some pastries and she urged
him to sit with her and eat.

“I wanted to talk to you about how long I’m going to be on
tour and what your plans are.”

He nodded and she watched as his gaze skittered away before
returning to hers. “When are you leaving?”

“We’re here in St. Louis, and I’ll be around for Kansas
City. After that the tour is headed to Albuquerque.”

“And that is where you’re from, right?”

“Yeah. I go to the University of New Mexico.”

“Is that a big university?”

“Yeah. There are about twenty-five thousand students there.
Tons of programs.” She didn’t want to push him too hard, but she’d love to see
him try going to college. He would be a great student—she could feel it in her
bones. “Anyway, that will be the last event I’ll be able to attend.”

“How far away is that event? It’s not the next one, I know
that.”

Savannah tried to school her expression. “It will start in
about two weeks.”

He nodded, looking away again. His hand crept up to the back
of his neck and she saw his fingers go white. “All right.”

“Have you given any thought to what you’d like to do?”

“I am planning to talk to Marco today. I think I might like
to work with the bulls. I want to support myself.”

“Well, maybe the internship will help with that. Like the
man said, it would be practical experience.”

“There’s something I was wondering,” Paolo said. “Would you
help me use your laptop to maybe see what kind of jobs there are for people
like me?”

“Of course. We can do it right now,” Savannah answered,
glancing at her watch. “We have a little while until we need to be at the
arena.” Rising, she grabbed her laptop and brought it over to the desk where
Paolo was sitting. He pulled her down onto his lap. She booted it up and, after
connecting to the hotel’s wifi, did a search for jobs for people who liked the
outdoors and animals. She wasn’t sure there were many occupations that married
the two, but perhaps there was something she hadn’t thought of yet.

“What is this?” Paolo pointed at a link on the screen and
Savannah clicked on it. A wild animal sanctuary was looking for veterinarians
and other staff. They made it clear on the site, though, that they received no
government funding and that the pay was very low—Savannah guessed that cut down
on the potential applications they had to weed through.

It also mentioned that many of their vets did their work for
the sanctuary pro bono. That might not be the best place for Paolo, and after
she explained what pro bono meant, Paolo agreed. His frustration was evident as
one foot tapped the floor in a staccato pattern and he ran his hand through his
hair repeatedly.

They went through a bunch more links, and it was becoming
evident Paolo would either have to go to school or accept a job that didn’t pay
much if he wanted to be outdoors and work with animals. Some of the jobs, such
as a couple of openings for zookeepers, also wouldn’t accept any candidates
without a green card, which Paolo didn’t have.

He jumped out of his chair. “I need to do something now,
cara
.
Once the NBT processes that I’ve quit I’ll lose my work visa here.” Since Marco
had gotten them their visas and always made sure they were up-to-date, he
hadn’t even considered that before.

Paolo was probably right. She wasn’t real familiar with how
visas worked, but she would imagine if you were on a work visa, they expected
you to work. Savannah wondered if the unpaid internship the NBT had offered him
would qualify as “working”.

“Let’s go over to the arena. Maybe you should talk to the
NBT and see what their plans are for processing your paperwork. They might also
know if the internship would be considered work or not.”

“Yes, we should ask.” Paolo rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“I didn’t think through everything before I did this. What if they make me go
back home?”

“With any luck it won’t come to that.”

They made their way to the arena and Paolo went to talk to
the tour officials while Savannah explained the situation to Marco and the
other guys, plus Jessica and Natalie. When Paolo returned, he was beaming.

“They said as long as I have a job, whether it is paid or
not, they believe I can stay in the States. I told them I would accept the
internship.” He glanced over at Marco, who nodded and grinned. “I can still
think about what I want to do, but I will not be scared of being sent home.”

“That’s great,” Conner told him, slapping him on the back.

It was obvious how relieved Paolo was. After the
pronouncement, people started to scatter and he stalked toward Savannah, an
intent look playing over his features.

“What?”

“This,” he responded, grabbing the sides of her head and
plunging his tongue into her mouth. As he searched her depths, his hands moved
down to her shoulders before continuing down her back. When he reached her ass
and gripped it, pulling her into him, she let out a surprised squeak, which he
swallowed. Paolo had never been aggressive in public and she wasn’t sure what
had brought this on, but when he backed her against a wall, all logical thought
flew out the window as she clung to him in the face of the all-out assault on
her senses.

Finally he pulled away and she gasped for air, her chest
heaving with the effort of getting desperately needed oxygen into her lungs as
Paolo watched with hungry eyes.

“What was that about?” she managed to croak. He still had
her plastered to the wall with one thigh between her legs and his hands
manacling her wrists at her sides.

With what sounded like a muffled Italian curse he moved
away, turning so she could only see him in profile.

“I am sorry. I…” His fist balled on his forehead and knocked
there a couple of times. After a brief glance in her direction, where he looked
as if he wanted to disappear from embarrassment, Paolo turned and stalked off.

Savannah’s mouth dropped open.
What the hell?

She looked around to see if they’d made a spectacle, but
luckily the event was just starting and the pyrotechnics and music had seemingly
diverted everyone’s attention. If she’d thought she could get to wherever he’d
gone, she would’ve gone after him and demanded an explanation, but she didn’t
have credentials to get back there without one of the riders and they were all
busy preparing for their rides. With a sigh, she trudged to her seat. Clearing
up this mystery would have to wait.

* * * * *

Paolo wanted to kick his own ass. If he’d seen a guy doing
that to a woman he would’ve pulled him off her, assuming she was being
attacked. Sure, Savannah hadn’t struggled, but he hadn’t even given her a
chance to. What was wrong with him? He had the utmost respect for women, so why
had he jumped her like that?

He walked around a corner and then dropped to his haunches,
leaning his head on the wall in front of him. Still breathing hard, he gripped
the back of his neck with both hands and shook, berating himself in Italian.
One moment he’d been happy he could stay in America and the next he’d had
Savannah against the wall and was practically fucking her in public. She didn’t
deserve that.

Rising quickly, Paolo made tracks down the hall. He had no
idea where this corridor led, but it really didn’t matter. When he reached a
set of double doors, he hit them and found himself in some sort of storage area.
Paolo had been told he could start work that day since the animal handlers were
actually a man short, but until he pulled himself together that was impossible.
He knew damn well that in the shape he was in, a bull would’ve gored him to
death before he would’ve even noticed the beast coming for him.

His phone buzzed and Paolo removed it from the pocket to
read the text message.

Where are you? Natalie said Savannah told her you took
off.

Cursing again, he debated about what to tell his brother.

I did something, but we can talk about it after you ride.

He bit his lip, hoping Marco wouldn’t pursue it, but he
should’ve known his brother better than that. He was in “protective big
brother” mode.

What is it? Are you all right?

Paolo snorted.

I’m fine. Savannah might not be. I acted like a jerk.
He sighed and started another message.
I’m upset and I need to cool down. I
am supposed to report for work too. We can talk later. Take care of Savannah.

Before he could even put his phone away it was ringing.
Paolo answered and Marco spoke in rapid-fire Italian.

“What the hell is going on? What do you mean, you acted like
a jerk and Savannah might not be fine? I am looking at her and Natalie right
now. She looks a little upset, but she’s still here. What happened?”

There was no way to hide this. “I basically attacked her. It
started out as a kiss but I got really carried away. Inexcusably carried away.
I wouldn’t be surprised if she never wants to see me again.”

“You attacked her? Surely she did not feel that was the
case.” Marco’s tone was incredulous. “How did she react?”

“She couldn’t react. I was holding her against the wall.” He
let out a shaky breath. “I don’t know what came over me. I’m sure she hates
me.”

“You need to talk to her. Your world is being turned upside
down. That’s bound to mess with your head.”

“I had no right. I can’t believe I did this.” His voice
cracked and he heard Marco clear his throat.

“Look. I know you need to get to work, but maybe you’re
blowing this out of proportion.”

“How could I be doing that? I almost fucked her against a
wall in a public area.”

“It wouldn’t have gone that far and you know it.”

“Still—”

“Still nothing. Come talk to her. You can’t let this
fester.”

With a sigh, he agreed. “I’m coming.”

“Good man. I need to go.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

With heavy feet and an even heavier heart he made his way
back to the stands. When he got to the area right outside the section they were
slated to sit in, he called Savannah.

“Hey.” Her voice was guarded, and he could hardly blame her.

“Hello,
cara
. Um, can we talk?”

“Sure.”

“If you don’t feel comfortable being alone with me I
understand.”

“I’m fine, Paolo. Where are you?”

“On the concourse outside 118.”

“Be there in a minute.”

As he waited, he couldn’t keep himself from pacing. What
could he say to her? A simple “I’m sorry” seemed ridiculously inadequate.

Savannah appeared, alone, and indicated an almost empty
eating area. “Do you want to sit down?”

He nodded and they tucked themselves into a booth in the
corner.

“I would like to say first, I’m so sorry for what I did.”

She reached over and took his shaking hands in hers. “I
wasn’t exactly kneeing you in the groin, honey. I would just like to know what
brought it on.”

Paolo shrugged. “I am asking myself the same question. I
hope you know I would never hurt you.”

“I do know that. Like I said, I wasn’t exactly fighting you
off. I just wanted to know why you went so crazy all of a sudden.”

“I think…” He paused to make sure he had the English words
right. “I think I suddenly saw how much my life was changing and I wanted some
comfort. I looked at you and you are so beautiful and so kind.” Pulling his
hands out of hers, he gripped his hair in frustration. “But I cannot explain
better than that. I don’t know any better than that. If you never want to see me
again I will understand.” Paolo couldn’t meet her gaze and instead stared at
the pattern on the table in front of him.