With Me In Seattle: Bundle Two (108 page)

He nods as I turn and walk briskly around the villa, almost running into Celeste as she’s arriving for the day.

“Oh! Hi, Alecia.”

“Hello, Celeste.”

“You’re leaving?” She raises a brow. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes,” I lie. “I have some business to see to. Can you please pass the message on to Dominic? I won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Coward
, my mind taunts me.

“Sure, I’ll let him know. Have a good day.” She waves and disappears inside, and I make a hasty retreat, immediately regretting leaving, but unable to turn around.

***

Four hours later, I’m pacing my living room. I’ve talked myself in and out of pursuing a physical relationship with Dominic six times.

Six. Times.

I’m sick of myself.

I scoop up my phone, and before I know it, it’s pressed to my ear and ringing.

“So, you
do
remember that I exist,” Blake’s dry voice comes through the speaker and I want to cry. I bite my lip and stare out my window at the boats floating on the blue water of the sound and concentrate on breathing. “Hello?”

“I’m here.”

“What’s wrong?” he asks, immediately concerned, and that makes me want to cry too. “Damn it, Leash, talk to me.”

“I’m an idiot.”

“Sometimes,” he agrees, and then chuckles, and I take a deep breath. “Why this time?”

“You’re not helping.”

“Start at the beginning. What’s up?”

“I slept with him.” I walk numbly to the glass and lean my forehead against it. The cold feels good on my warm skin. “And I liked it.”

“I hope you liked it. If not, what in the hell is the point?”

“Not helping.”

“Who, exactly, did you sleep with?”

“Dominic Salvatore.” I swallow and close my eyes. “I slept with him last night, and again this morning, and then I ran out of there and came home. I’m an idiot.”

I can hear Blake shuffling around and then his chair creaks as he leans back in it. “Why is sleeping with Dominic a bad thing? He’s a good guy.”

“That’s just it. He
is
a good guy. And he’s sexy and hot and the best sex I’ve ever had.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, stop it.” I roll my eyes and pace back toward the kitchen.

“So I’ll ask again. What’s the problem?”

“This isn’t just a fuck buddy situation, Blake. I’m way too…” I wave my arm about, trying to come up with the right words.

“Beautiful? Amazing? Wonderful?”

“I was going to say incapable of having a real relationship.” I bite my lip and then feel myself grin. “But thanks for the compliments.”

“I don’t know what the fuck Jonathan did to you, but I do know that he did a number on your view of relationships. Leash, of course you’re capable of having a relationship. You and I have been in one for more than three years.”

“That started as sex, and now we’re just friends. And I love you, but not in that way.”

“And you think you could love Dom in that way?”

Much to my distress, tears fill my eyes. “I like him.”

“Do you think he likes you back, or is he just looking to get laid?”

You make me lose my English.

“He likes me.”

“He’d be stupid not to.” Blake chuckles ruefully. “Alecia, you are a sexy, beautiful, smart woman. Not all romantic relationships work, but some do.”

“Not for me.”

“Shut up for a minute. Jesus, you’re fucking stubborn.”

“Did you just tell me to shut up?”

“Yes, and you’re not good at taking orders, obviously.”

Come, Alecia.
I’m good at taking orders from Dominic.

“Just take a deep breath, Leash. You’re over-thinking this. I know you. You had a good time, and it scared you, and now you’re doing the girl thing, over-analyzing it all.”

“I
am
a girl.”

“I’m aware,” he says with a chuckle. “I love you, kiddo. You’re the best friend I ever had. You’re still the best
sex
I ever had.”

“Blake—”

“You deserve to be happy. Just be happy, Leash.”

“I want to be happy too,” I choke out.

“So, just do that. Be happy. Fuck him senseless. Laugh with him. Let him teach you about wines and all that other fun shit, and don’t worry about the rest of it.”

“How did you get so smart?”

“I was in love with you for a long time, and you couldn’t love me back.” My heart stumbles to a stop as my eyes widen and my jaw drops. “I’m lucky just to have you in my life. I got over it, and now I think of you more like a sister, but don’t shut Dom out the way you did me. Not if you think it could work out between you.”

“Blake.”

“I mean it. Go back out there.”

“I’m going to go help Emily out tonight at the Haverland wedding.” I’m still stuck like stupid on
I was in love with you for a long time.
“Blake, I didn’t know.”

“You weren’t in a good place then, kiddo. You’re good now. I’m okay.”

“We’re okay?”

“We will be if you go back to the vineyard tonight. Emily doesn’t need your help. The Haverland wedding is tiny, and she has it handled.”

“It’s
my
business. I should be there.”

“It’s
your
business, and you’ve hired good people. You’re being stubborn again.”

“I love you too, you know.”

“I know. Go to the vineyard.”

“No.”

“I’ll give you a thousand bucks.”

“I don’t need it.” I giggle and flop down on my couch, feeling more relaxed than I have since this morning when I was in Dom’s arms. “You’re bossy.”

“Fine. Do what you want.” He sighs dramatically. “What do I care if Salvatore gets laid?”

“He already got laid today. He’s fine.”

“I don’t want to know this.”

I chuckle again and then take a deep, cleansing breath. “So, I overreacted.”

“Probably. What’s up with women? Why can’t y’all just fuck like rabbits and then get on with your day? Why do you have to sketch out a three-year plan and talk it to death? Just enjoy the sex, for Christ sakes.”

“People should pay you for this advice,” I say dryly. “Speaking of sex, are you seeing anyone?”

“I’m seeing a few someones,” he replies with a smile in his voice. “I don’t have sex hang-ups.”

“You’re gross. Tell me you’re being careful.”

“I buy condoms by the case.”

“Ew.”

“You asked, sweetheart.”

Chapter Nine

~Dominic~

“Good morning, Mr. Salvatore.”

I glance up from my computer as Celeste walks briskly into my office. “Good morning.”

“I just saw Alecia,” she begins, and opens her iPad to go over notes with me, as is our usual morning routine. “She was just leaving.”

My heart stills. “Leaving?”

“She said she has some business that requires her attention, so she asked me to pass the message on to you.”

“Fine.” I nod, as the rest of me sighs in relief. Business. Yes, it’s just like my Alecia to run off at a moment’s notice if her business needs her. I love her work ethic, her passion for her job.

Yet, it’s interesting that while she loves the planning, she’s as cynical as they come when it comes to love.

I wonder if I can change her mind in that area.

I begin rattling off duties for Celeste to see to during the day. “Mick, the head of security, will be here tomorrow morning, and every day thereafter until the wedding.”

“Yes, I have that on the schedule,” Celeste replies with a nod. “Do you want me to have lunch brought in for your brothers today?”

“My brothers?” I ask with a raised brow.

“Yes, all of them are here.”

I blink at Celeste in confusion. “All of them?”

“Whether related by blood or marriage, they’re here. The backyard is a huge mass of testosterone. Can you bring them by more often?”

I laugh as I stand and shake my head at my assistant. “They’re all completely in love with their women, you know.”

“I don’t have to touch them to appreciate them. I’m sure their women would understand.”

“Would Clay understand?” I ask, referring to her husband of more than a dozen years.

“Clay doesn’t have to know.” She smiles and follows me out of my office. “So, lunch?”

“Yes, have sandwiches brought in from that café I like in Olympia. I’ll be in the backyard.”

“Lucky bastard,” I hear her mutter, and can’t help the smile that comes to my lips. I’m secure enough in my masculinity to admit that the Montgomery side of my family is a handsome one. I don’t see any of them as my eyes scan the reception area, but I can hear raised voices coming from the ceremony site in the vines.

“Why do you smell like me?” Isaac asks Matt, the second eldest brother, with a scowl.

“I had to use your body wash when I caught a shower at the office before we came here,” Matt replies calmly, with more than a little mirth in his trademark Montgomery blue eyes.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Isaac yells, as the rest of the brothers laugh. “You can’t use my body wash!”

“It’s soap, dude,” Caleb says with a shake of the head. Caleb is only a year older than me.

“I have to burn the fucking body wash now,” Isaac mutters.

I stand back and take them all in. Not only are all four of my brothers here, both Luke and Mark Williams are here, along with Leo Nash and Nate McKenna as well.

The whole fucking family.

Mark is measuring boards and Isaac is manning a saw. I frown as I realize they’re all in jeans, holding tools, hammering boards.

Even McKenna.

“Are we having a party that I wasn’t aware of?” I ask as I approach.

“Oh, good, you’re here.” Will grins and shakes my hand, then claps my shoulder. “We’re making the arbor.”

“We are?” I glance toward Isaac. “Don’t you have a crew for this?”

“We decided this would be more meaningful,” Luke replies with a smile. “We’re making the arbor, and Will is going to take it home after the wedding and put it in their garden.”

“It’s something from the brothers,” Leo adds with a grimace. “I tried to talk them into just letting me write a song, but Will has his pansy ass set on something pretty for the garden.”

“Fuck you, man, Meg loves the garden,” Will replies, and then grabs Leo into a headlock and rubs his head with his knuckles. “You telling me that if Sam said she wanted pretty in the garden, you wouldn’t give it to her?”

“I’d give her anything she asked for,” Leo replies as he wrestles out of Will’s hold. “And did just this morning.”

“Watch it,” Luke advises. “She may be your wife now, but she’s my sister, and I can still kick your ass if need be.”

Matt shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “Anyway,” he says, and grins at me. “We were waiting for you. You have to hammer some nails for your soon-to-be sister-in-law too.”

I roll my sleeves and take an offered hammer from Mark.

“How’s the baby?” Caleb asks Nate, and we all crack up when the tall, tough former fighter breaks out in a goofy grin.

“Stella’s awesome.” Nate wipes his sweaty forehead on his black T-shirt and takes a long drink of water. “She’s fucking beautiful.”

“Well, look at her mother,” Mark says off-handedly as he measures out more boards, earning a raised brow from Nate.

“Have
you
been looking at her mother?” Nate asks, and we all glance at each other, trying to hold our laughter in.

“Sure, I mean—” Mark suddenly stops and frowns and then looks at Nate. “Dude, not like
that
. It’s Jules, for fuck sake.”

“I’m well aware of who Stella’s mother is,” Nate replies with a chuckle. “And you’re right. She’s gorgeous, so it makes sense that I’ll have my hands full with Stella.”

“This family is good at producing beautiful babies,” Isaac agrees.

“I find it a bit disturbing that there are no women around and we’re talking about babies,” Will says. “Shouldn’t we be talking about sex and cars and football?”

“If you talk about sex,” Leo begins, “you’ll be talking about my sister, and that’s not okay.”

“How are things with Meredith?” I ask Mark, steering the conversation away from sex and babies.

“Great.” He grins and passes a board to Isaac for cutting.

“And how are you feeling?” Caleb asks him. We all sober as we wait for his response. Mark was hit by a car while on the job more than a month ago, and while the injuries weren’t serious, it was a scary time for the family.

“I’m good as new,” he replies. “But I don’t mind having Meredith around to coddle me now and then.”

“And how are all your beautiful girls?” I ask. The guys all nod and grin, thinking of their women. I can’t help but think of
my
woman and smile myself.

“My woman is gonna love this,” Will says, as he gestures to the wood lying in a heap on the ground. “She has no idea. And it’s going to mean more to her because you all made it for her.” Will’s face sobers as he looks at each of us. “No one’s ever needed family more than my Megan.”

“Well, she has it in spades now,” Caleb replies and strips his sweaty shirt off, tossing it aside.

“Okay, boards are cut,” Isaac announces and then begins giving us all instructions on the most efficient way to assemble it, and we break off into teams.

“You’re quiet today,” Caleb comments as he, Matt and myself work on the top of the arbor.

“I’m quiet every day,” I reply. “Besides, you’re one to talk.”

Caleb shrugs and passes me a handful of nails.

“Who is she?” Matt asks quietly.

“Who is who?”

“The woman that put that shit-eating smile on your face earlier.”

“That’s an unfortunate turn of phrase,” I reply.

“It’s a woman,” Caleb confirms. “He’s evading.”

“I’m not evading.”

They both stop what they’re doing and stare at me, then bust up laughing.

“I’ve just started seeing Alecia.”

“Holy shit! You talked her into it?” Matt asks.

“Wore her down is more like it,” Caleb replies, then bumps fists with Matt.

“She’s an interesting woman,” I reply, rather than take the bait to get angry. I may not have grown up with brothers, but I did grow up with cousins. I know baiting when I see it.