Kiss in the Dark (5 page)

Boston giggled and wrinkled her nose as an image of Steph being downed by an anaconda entered her mind. She hoped Danielle were right; she hoped Vance Nathaniel wasn’t stupid enough to fall for Stephanie Crittendon’s ridiculous methods of catching a man—a mate. She’d hate to see Danielle have to endure Steph any longer than she already had. Furthermore, something about the idea infuriated her even further; to think of Steph winning a guy like Danielle’s brother bugged her to no end.

“An anaconda?” Boston asked. She giggled as she ate more ice cream. “You crack me up, Danielle.”

Vance couldn’t help but smile as he continued to eavesdrop. Witnessing an anaconda working its prey into its body would really be something to behold! He liked that his sister knew him well enough to use such an analogy. Furthermore, Danielle was absolutely right: he’d pegged Boston’s roommate the minute she’d set foot in the apartment—shallow, self-centered, cruel. He also sensed the girl was far more willing to do whatever was necessary to catch any guy she set her mind on than Boston and Danielle suspected—far more willing—and whatever was necessary.

Danielle’s friend was lucky to be moving out. Vance knew women like this Steph person—anybody was better off without their company. He continued to make the pretense of watching
COPS
as he listened to the girls’ conversation. He gathered Boston really liked the guy she had a date with the following day; it seemed the guy was taking her golfing. Vance nodded. It was a pretty good date idea—an entire day together. Eighteen holes did take awhile to play through. He hoped this guy—Logan seemed to be his name—was a good guy. He knew Danielle really liked Boston and valued her friendship very much. And, to his senses, Boston seemed to be worthy of his sister’s admiration and devotion. There was something very vibrant and sort of sunshiny about her—a rare effervescence. In a different time and place, Boston was just the sort of girl Vance himself would’ve been drawn to. But it wasn’t a different time or place, so he pushed the thought from his tortured mind—or at least tried to push it from his mind. She was awfully cute. That auburn hair looked so smooth and soft he wondered if it actually tasted like cinnamon. She was curvy—owned a great shape. He liked the way the green of her eyes seemed to deepen when she laughed, the way her smile lit up the room. Yep, in another time and place, he might have looked twice at Boston—whether or not an anaconda was downing her.

“Well, ladies,” Vance said, pressing the power button on the remote and standing. He stretched for a moment, and Boston felt her eyebrows arch with admiration at the muscles in his arms and legs as they tightened. “I’m gonna hit the hay. I have to be out on site at five a.m.”

“On a Saturday?” Boston asked. She felt an odd pang of sympathy in her chest. She was so relieved to have the weekend off, and she always felt bad for anyone who didn’t.

“Yep,” Vance said. He walked to Danielle, bent, and kissed the top of her head affectionately. “Good night, baby sister,” he said.

She smiled, and he looked to Boston, offering her a hand. Boston accepted his hand, and he gripped it firmly, saying, “It was good to meet you, Boston.”

“You too,” she said. She was surprised by the giddy feeling that popped around in her stomach for a moment.

He didn’t release her hand right away. In fact, he tugged at her a little and nodded toward the back of Danielle’s apartment. “The offer still stands, by the way,” he said.

“The offer?” Boston asked.

“To bunk in with me if the situation with that chick you room with becomes too intolerable,” he teased.

“Oh!” Boston giggled. She was mortified when she felt a delighted blush rise to her cheeks. “Well, thank you…but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” he asked, winking at her. He released his firm grip on her hand, yet held to her fingertips—lingered. “I could show you our room right now if you want. Danny’s got it all fixed up nice with extra pillows and quilts. It’s awful cozy in there.”

Boston giggled again—blushed again. “Thank you, Vance…but I’m sure I can make it through a couple more weeks of Steph.”

“Okay,” he said, releasing her at last. “But don’t say I didn’t try. When that psycho chick you live with comes after you, you just remember who offered to help you out first.”

“He likes to pretend he is,” Danielle said. “In truth, he’s just a terrible tease.” Danielle giggled. “You should’ve pretended to take him up on his offer. He wouldn’t have known what to do! He probably would’ve bolted out the window.”

Boston laughed a moment—but only a moment, for a dismal thought she’d been trying to ignore pushed itself to the forefront of her mind then. She was going on her second date with Logan, and a second date wasn’t usually something to worry about. But if there was a third—in Boston’s experience, it was during the third date that guys often began to push for things.

“I bet Vance has had his share of women, huh?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah!” Danielle said. “Especially when he was younger. The girls would flock to him like you can’t imagine…kind of like when you go down to the pond at the park and start tossing a few bread crumbs to the ducks. You know how they get all frenzied and, like, want to eat your ankles? That’s how girls were about Vance. Of course, he beats the women off with a stick now—actually, just reads them so fast and chooses who he will deal with and who he won’t—that it’s not quite as bad as it used to be. Especially since—”

“Oh, wait, Boston,” Danielle said. “He’s not…Vance isn’t…he isn’t promiscuous, if that’s what you mean. And I’m sure Logan West isn’t either.”

“What?” Boston asked, feigning ignorance.

“I know how your mind works,” Danielle said. “You’re already getting all worked up over whether or not Logan West is gonna pressure you to—”

“I’m sure he won’t,” Boston interrupted. “He’s such a nice guy. I’m just paranoid.”

“You’re paranoid because the last four guys you’ve dated have turned out to have no moral character at all!” Danielle said. “Believe me, I get it. I’m gun-shy too.” Danielle giggled, however, and added, “But I still have high hopes where Theo is concerned. Don’t you think a man who wears bow ties might have chance of being a good guy?”

Boston looked over to see Vance standing in the hallway wearing nothing but a pair of striped pajama bottoms and brushing his teeth
. Good grief! He’s totally ripped
, Boston thought, trying not to stare at Vance’s muscular torso.

“I just wish you’d moved in last month!” Danielle said. “But it won’t be long. I’m sure Halle will beg you to stay with her. We’ll all be fighting over you.”

“Have a good day tomorrow,” Boston said. She glanced past Danielle to Vance, still standing there displaying ridiculous muscles and brushing his teeth.

As Boston walked to her car, she glanced up into the starry night sky. The breeze was warm, and everything was still. The crickets were chirping, and it soothed her further. Steph would be in bed when she got back to the apartment. It was her routine—get mad at Boston and tell her to leave, then act like nothing had ever happened and go to bed. Boston was glad of it, however, for she had no desire to talk to Steph one more second that day.

Inhaling a deep breath, she breathed out slowly, calming herself. She would think about Logan—dream about their planned date to go golfing. She couldn’t wait! She’d have the whole day with him, a whole day without Steph. Sure, she had to start making plans about what to do with her stuff until she figured out exactly what to do, but she wouldn’t worry about it anymore until she’d had her day with Logan West.

Boston got into her car, reached over, opened the glove compartment, and retrieved a chocolate Tootsie Pop. She popped the sucker in her mouth, turned the key in the ignition, and headed for home. The flavor of the candy in her mouth was delightful! She thought about Vance teasing her about sharing Danielle’s extra bedroom with him. He was a funny guy. Funny and ripped! She shook her head, for she knew that no matter what Danielle said about her brother’s character, Stephanie Crittendon had chosen Vance Nathaniel to be her mate, and Vance Nathaniel was about to be forced into a high-speed chase like nothing he’d ever seen on
COPS
. She thought again of how handsome and built Vance was—about the fact he was a zoo exhibits curator.

It suddenly seemed too ironic that Steph would look to Danielle’s brother as her selection of “mate”—Vance, who would soon be working as part of the city zoo staff. A vision of a gorilla, a female gorilla named “Stephanie,” popped into Boston’s mind. She giggled at her mind’s illustration, thinking Steph’s temperament would probably be a lot easier to deal with if her soon-to-be ex-roommate were a primate in one of Vance’s zoo exhibits.

Chapter Three

Golfing with Logan had been fabulous! Not that Boston did well—her score was actually pretty pitiful, but so was Logan’s. Though the golf scores weren’t anything to brag about, the company, the beauty of the day, and the experience were wonderful. After they’d finished golfing, everything just got better. Logan took Boston to lunch, to a movie, and then to dinner. They’d spent nearly sixteen hours together! Boston couldn’t think of a time she’d spent sixteen hours on a date—it was incredible.

Now, as Boston sat in Logan’s Volvo on their drive home, she sighed—entirely satisfied with the way her second date with Logan had turned out. He’d asked her if they could do something together again soon, and she’d said yes, of course.

Still, as Logan turned into Boston’s apartment complex, anxiety washed over her. Steph. It was only nine o’clock, and Boston knew Steph was home—knew she’d continue to be a brat, the way she had the night before when Boston had told her she was moving out. Oh, it wasn’t like Steph gave Boston the silent treatment or anything—though Boston wished she would. Instead it had been incessant whining and self-absorbed pity parties from the minute she’d returned from Danielle’s until Steph finally let Boston get to bed at two a.m. At that moment, Boston realized just why she was so tired so early in the evening. Five hours of sleep, followed by eighteen holes, lunch, a movie, and dinner—it was a miracle she had any energy left at all. What little she did have would be immediately drained when she entered the apartment and Steph started in on her again. There was nothing on earth more certain than that.

When Logan arched one amused, rather daring, eyebrow, however, Boston quickly added, “I mean, don’t think I didn’t enjoy every minute. I was just explaining why I probably look a little less than fresh.”

“I knew what you meant,” he said. “Let me get your door, and we can get you to your apartment and into bed.” He got out of the car and walked around to her side of it.

Boston knew he was only speaking metaphorically—that he meant he knew she was tired and wanted to turn in. However, the fact that the last four guys she’d dated always wanted to go much, much further than merely dating and kissing had left her a little suspicious. Still, Logan West wasn’t like the other guys she’d dated—he was a gentleman. He hadn’t even kissed her yet. Therefore, it seemed very doubtful he’d try to push her into anything more intimate.

Boston shook her head to rattle such thoughts from her mind as Logan opened her car door.