Kiss in the Dark (11 page)

Boston sighed and drifted to sleep, comforted by the knowledge that Vance was in the next room, filling out his paperwork.

Danielle stepped into her apartment and dropped the grocery bags in her arms. Vance looked up from his place at the table. There were papers spread over nearly the entire surface, and he looked tired.

“Two bags?” he asked, looking up at her. “You were gone for two hours and you brought home two little bags of groceries?”

Danielle shrugged. “I couldn’t think of what we needed,” she lied. The truth was Danielle had left the apartment hoping Vance would return from his run before Boston left to go back to her own apartment. She’d seen the way Boston tried not to be delighted in Vance’s company, the way Vance limited his time with Boston. She studied her brother for a moment—his tousled hair, the dark circles under his eyes. “Why are you still up?” she asked. “You look tired…and don’t you have to be up early?”

“I had some paperwork to finish,” he mumbled. “Not to mention the fact I was worried about you being gone so long this late at night.”

Danielle smiled, kissed her brother on the top of the head, and began putting the groceries away. “Well, I’m home now…so you should turn in,” she said.

“I will,” he said. “Um…would you mind if I slept on the couch tonight?” Vance asked.

“No…not if you really want to.” Danielle frowned. Her heart began to beat harder as worry and fear swept over her. “Are you having trouble sleeping again, Vance?” she asked. Silently she prayed that it wasn’t that—that Vance’s torturous insomnia hadn’t returned after so many years.

“What?” Danielle exclaimed. Was he serious? What was he talking about? What woman was in is his bed? Yet, all at once, understanding washed over Danielle, and she nodded. “You finally coaxed Boston into your bed…didn’t you?”

“Actually, I carried her there…told her to take a nap,” he said without looking up from the papers he was now gathering into a neat pile. “Haven’t heard a peep out of her since…and I’m certainly not going to wake her up now and send her back to that snake she lives with. I’m just glad my house opened up so she can move in here on Saturday. I told her we’d help move her stuff for her.” He paused and looked to his sister. “I hope you don’t mind that I made that commitment for you.”

Danielle smiled. “Not at all. But when did you find out about the house? You didn’t say anything.”

“They called me while I was on my way home from work today,” he explained. “But you and sleeping beauty in there were so busy babbling on about men and chocolate that I just figured I’d wait until things settled down.”

“Vance,” Danielle began, “you don’t have to hurry about moving. You know that. Boston would die if she thought you were rushing to get into your house and out of here just for her sake.”

“I’m not. Why wouldn’t I want to move into my house? It’s costing me a fortune. It would be stupid not to move in as soon as possible, right?” He looked to her and grinned.

Danielle smiled too. She was happy for her big brother. He
had
worked hard to get into his own house, especially at such a young age. She was happy for him. She could just imagine him sitting in the privacy and comfort of his own place again—watching cop shows on TV and eating ice cream right out of the carton.

“You’ve got a point,” she said.

“Of course I do,” he said. He finished gathering his papers, set them aside on one of the counters, and yawned. He stood from his seat at the table, stretched, yawned again, and headed for the sofa.

“Now if I can just make it until my job at the zoo kicks in,” he mumbled. “This road construction stuff is killing me.”

Danielle thought of Boston asleep in Vance’s bedroom. Boy, would she be rattled when she woke up in the morning. Danielle giggled to herself, knowing full well Boston would be mortified she’d spent the night—whether or not it was contrived by Vance.

“You know, Vance,” Danielle began, very tentatively. She was scared—worried that what she was about to say might set her brother back. “You should pursue Boston.”

Vance chuckled as he stretched out on the sofa. He tucked a throw pillow under his head and pulled the quilt off the nearby chair, haphazardly covering himself with it. “Oh, sure,” he chuckled.

He looked at her then—glared at her with the recognizable pain and anger blazing in his emerald eyes. “
You’re
not past it, Danny,” he growled. “You’re not over it, and it wasn’t even your fault.”

“It wasn’t your fault either, Vance,” Danielle argued. “Please just—”

He raised a hand, the familiar gesture that he didn’t want to continue conversing the subject. “She’s not my type, Danielle. You know that…so just let it go,” he mumbled.

“Whatever, Vance,” Danielle grumbled. “Good night.” Danielle shoved the carton of ice cream in the freezing compartment of the fridge, slamming the freezer door a little too hard.

Vance could be so irritating! Maybe he’d been right. Maybe she was glad he’d told her to back off from encouraging him to pursue Boston. After all, maybe Danielle didn’t want her best friend to be shackled to Vance’s sometimes-irritating temperament.

Stomping off to her bedroom, Danielle closed the door and exhaled a heavy sigh of frustration. Vance—what an idiot! She shook her head, determining she would do as he suggested and let it go—for now.

Vance inhaled a deep breath. He held the breath for a moment—counted to ten before exhaling. He was tired—every which way tired. He’d worked road construction off and on all through college, but knowing a good job was waiting for him at the zoo in less than a month was turning him into a weenie. In that moment, he simply wanted to be able to get up in the morning, drive to the zoo, and get to work on the plans for the new lion enclosure.

His body ached from intense physical exertion. His head ached from going through the zoo paperwork. His stomach twisted with anxiety at the thought of Danielle’s suggesting he should pursue Boston. He thought of the pretty, auburn-haired girl in the next room—felt his anger flare at the thought of her viper-like roommate. Boston was a uniquely kind, nice girl—the kind of girl he would’ve liked to have won for himself in another life, in other circumstances. He’d overhead Boston and Danielle talking about this Logan West that Boston was dating. He hoped the guy was worthy of such a rare young woman—that he treated her well and didn’t take advantage of her inability to say no.

He clenched his eyes more tightly shut—shook his head a little to try and dispel the vision of Boston in his mind—the soft, sweet fragrance of her hair against his face as he’d carried her to the bed. He started thinking about maybe moving Boston into Danielle’s apartment tomorrow instead of waiting until Saturday. That way she could sleep in his bed tomorrow night as well and never have to spend another hateful evening with that Steph chick. He sighed, however. There just wasn’t time. Everyone had work, and then there was the Friday night hangout planned at Danielle’s. It would have to wait until Saturday. Still, the idea of sending Boston back into the den of venom ticked him off.

Vance inhaled another deep breath—held it to the count of ten—exhaled slowly. He was tired—weary—plain worn out. He had to turn off his brain, settle down, and get some sleep. He began to concentrate on the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall, the sound of the traffic outside. It worked—and he slept.



Boston seemed to drift in and out of sleep. She was comfortable—unusually so—warm and rested.

She heard voices. They seemed distant at first, but then she realized they were in another room—just beyond the one she slept in.

Instantly, she sat upright—rather, bolted upright.

“Oh my heck!” she exclaimed. She clutched the worn quilt to her chest as she looked around. The digital alarm clock on the nightstand said six a.m. At least she wouldn’t be late for work—not if she raced home and managed to shower and get ready without a confrontation with Steph.

Leaping from the bed, Boston flung open the door and raced into the kitchen. Danielle was there, dressed in a nightgown and a light bathrobe. She was pouring juice from a pitcher into a glass on the table.

“Good morning, Boston,” she greeted. “How did you sleep? Do you think that bed’s gonna be okay? It’s a queen…but you can bring the twin from your apartment over if you’d rather.”

“Vance didn’t wake me up!” Boston exclaimed.

“Sorry about that,” came Vance’s raspy morning voice.

Boston looked to the sofa where Vance was sprawled. He looked charmingly handsome! His dark, tousled hair and the way he was rubbing his eyes gave him an adorable, boyish appearance.

“I got tired and lay down out here and…” Vance shrugged his shoulders. “Did you sleep well though?”

Boston inhaled a calming breath and nodded. “Actually…yes.”

Vance smiled and tossed aside the blanket he’d been covered with. He sat up, stretched, and rubbed his eyes again. Boston sighed, somehow delighted by his groggy appearance. She looked to Danielle, who stood staring at her, a knowing smile on her own sleepy-looking face.

“Oh my heck!” Boston exclaimed. “I’ve gotta hurry! Steph will chew a hole in me when I get home, and I have to be to work on time.”

Danielle shrugged. “Just shower here. You can wear something of mine. You don’t really need to go back to the apartment before work, do you?”

Boston’s stomach churned as she saw Steph’s name on the caller ID. She looked to Danielle. “Are you sure you don’t mind lending me some stuff?”

Boston put her thumb over the cell’s mouthpiece and looked to Danielle. “That would explain why she didn’t call until now, right?”

“You are so rude, Boston Rhodes!” Steph continued, so loudly both Danielle and Vance could hear her as Boston held the phone away from her ear. “Seriously, I can’t wait for you to move out of here! I can’t believe I gave you two weeks! I should’ve made you leave last Friday! I can’t believe I’ve put up with your lack of consideration for this long! Where in the world were you? I can’t believe you put me through this! I suppose you were at Danielle’s. What’d you do, sleep with her brother?”

“Steph,” Boston began, but she paused as Vance moved to her, placing his mouth close to her phone.

“See you after work, Boston,” Vance began. “Thanks for keeping me warm last night.” Boston gasped as Vance then made a quick kissing noise with his mouth. With a triumphant nod and grin, he said, “Let her put that in her pipe and smoke it,” then sipped his orange juice.

“I’ll be home by six, Steph,” Boston said. “But…but I feel it’s only right to tell you that I’ll be moving out tomorrow…instead of next week.”