Love & Curses (Cursed Ink) (4 page)

Oh, shit. Here it comes.

“But when you kissed me—”

“You thought of the asshole who treated you like shit.” He gripped the steering wheel, wishing he could take those last words back.

“I wasn’t going to say that,” she spat.

He rounded on her. “No? Then what?”

She lunged toward him, crushing her mouth against his. Lust warred with anger, leaving him breathless and hungry for her. But when he reached for her, she pulled away.

“I was going to say I liked it.”

“But?”
There’s always a but.

She sat back in her seat and buckled herself in. “I need some time to get everything straight in my head.”

He shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the parking space. “Okay.”

The ride home was quiet, with Calista mostly staring out the passenger window. He stole glances but couldn’t see her face and had no clue what she was thinking. He gritted his teeth.
I so screwed this up.

By the time he pulled into her driveway, fat raindrops slapped the windshield. She reached for the door handle and paused.

“You’re my best friend.”
She peered over
her shoulder at him. “
I don’t want to
lose you.”

He forced a smile. “You won’t.”

The corner of her mouth twitched. “You’re a good kisser.” She sighed. “I just need a little time. Can I call you tomorrow, maybe meet for lunch?”

He looked out the windshield, sheets of rain blurring the scenery beyond, and nodded. “Sure.”

The door slammed, and she was gone.

And damn if she hadn’t taken his heart with her.

Chapter Four

After a long night of dreams filled with images of Andy, Calista woke more conflicted than ever. He’d been upset with her when he’d dropped her off the night before. She knew she’d hurt his feelings. But he was the one constant in her life, and she didn’t know if she was ready to risk everything by becoming intimate with him. Her relationships always seemed to end badly.

But, damn…when he’d pressed his lips to hers?
That
had been a complete toe-curler. It had taken every ounce of restraint she possessed to stop with just the kiss. Delicious tingles rippled low in her belly at the memory. She needed to make things right with him somehow. Grabbing her cell off the nightstand, she punched in his number.

“Hello.” His deep baritone voice set her stomach to fluttering again.

“Hey, it’s me.”

“Hi, me.” He sounded his normal jovial self.

“I was wondering about the lunch I mentioned last night. Do you still feel like grabbing something to eat with me?” She eased onto the side of her bed, toying with the fringe on her comforter, preparing for rejection.

“I do, but I need to head into the restaurant early today. The AC unit is down, and I have to meet the repairman in an hour. Why don’t you meet me there? I’ll whip us up something tasty.”

“Are you sure you’ll have time? I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“I’m sure.” He chuckled. “Sweetheart, the last thing you are to me is inconvenient.”

There went those damn butterflies again. “Okay. I’ll see you around noon, then.”

She disconnected and started her Saturday morning routine. By eleven thirty, she found herself more than ready to see Andy. She’d re-visited the kiss they’d shared the day before about a thousand times. The man had definitely stirred something inside her, but she needed to make sure she wasn’t
transferring emotions she craved from another person
to him.

The last thing she wanted was to hurt him or use him as a rebound. That wasn’t her style, and he deserved much better. On the other hand, in all the relationships she’d had, good and bad, she’d never experienced the racing heart and flutters the way she had when Andy kissed her. And, she longed for more.

After locking up the house, she skipped down the sidewalk, unable to wipe the smile off her face at the prospect of seeing him again. Lord, she just wished she knew if pursuing a relationship with him was the right thing to do. The man was nothing like the other men she’d fallen for in the past.
Isn’t that the point?

There wasn’t a mean or bad bone in his body. He was laid back, funny, attentive. He’d always been a rock she could lean on. Weren’t those the qualities she truly wanted from a man? Not the self-absorbed jerks she usually met.

She rounded the corner, Andy’s restaurant just half a block away, and stopped dead in her tracks, unable to breathe for a second. Across the street, Ben stepped out of a liquor store, a bag clutched in one arm. Pausing on the sidewalk, he reached across his chest and rubbed his other shoulder for a moment then winced. He tilted his head to the side and massaged the joint. Had he hurt himself somehow? A moment later, his gaze shifted, locked on her, and Calista tensed.

Oh, God. I don’t need this. Not now.
She waited for the pang of pain that usually ripped through her lungs at the thought of losing him, but it didn’t come. Instead, a deep sadness swirled in her chest—for herself, for the wasted weeks she’d spent giving him her heart, but also for him. He had no idea how to love a woman.

The brief urge to tell him her thoughts crossed her mind, but the instant realization he was no longer worth her time or energy replaced it. As he gazed at her, he grimaced.
Good gosh. Did he just read my mind?

Ben’s chin lifted, his gaze moving high above her head. She frowned. What was he staring at? Twisting toward the building, she craned her neck and looked up. She squinted, trying to comprehend the dark shape she saw.

Her heart stuttered.

Two stories above her, a baby grand piano swayed precariously, the groan of strained metal piercing in the air.

Chapter Five

Andy glanced at his watch, and his pulse jumped. Calista would be walking through the restaurant doors any moment. With a last perusal of the trout almandine, garlic sautéed asparagus, and boiled red potatoes with chives he’d prepared for their lunch, he pulled off his apron and headed toward the front entrance. Damn, his heart was pounding like a jackhammer. He’d shared lots of meals with the dark-haired beauty, but this would be the first that counted as a date.

Well, it did to him, anyway.

He pushed through the doors and strode out onto the sidewalk. The street was busy with the lunchtime crowd bustling about. Turning, he caught sight of her near the corner at the end of the block. Why was she just standing there? He frowned. Was she having second thoughts?

A dark object close to the top of the building she lingered next to captured his attention, and he looked up. Moving men worked to hoist a piano to the third floor. Dread curled in his stomach, and he started walking toward her. As he watched the men struggle, the hairs on his neck prickled, and he increased his pace to a jog. Something wasn’t right.

“Calista,” he called, but a car honked at the same moment.

He stared at the workers, at the contraption they’d rigged to lift the baby grand. His gaze traveled the length of the rope up to the—

Oh, shit.
A tendril of gray mist snaked around the pulley at the top—the same smoky vapor he’d seen right before a bus had nearly run them down the day before. The hazy strand reached along the base plate, engulfing the bolts clamping the winch to the building. A metallic groan tore through the air.

Fear gripped Andy’s throat and squeezed. He raked his gaze back down to Calista, who remained stock still, peering up at the behemoth looming above her. Why the hell didn’t she move?

“Calista!”

But she didn’t react. Another damn car horn had eclipsed his yell.
Fuck!

He sprinted toward her. The top of the metal plate gave way, and the piano lurched. Workmen shouted.

Almost there. He could make it….

The pulley snapped free with a screech. Andy slammed into Calista, wrapped his arms around her, and crashed against the building’s brick wall.

An ungodly discordant sound exploded behind him. Wood splinters speared the air, and what seemed a thousand razor wires lashed his back. Muffled voices broke through the ringing in his ears, and he opened his eyes to peer into her face.

Fear swirled in her golden gaze. “A-Andy?”

“Right here.” Relief swamped him, and he held her close. “You okay, anything hurt?”

She trembled, her shudders rippling along his body. “I-I’m okay.” Her breath blew warm but shaky on his neck. “You?”

He hesitated. “Uh, no. Not so much. There’s a baby grand wedged against my back.”

***

Calista set the dirty lunch plates in her sink and turned to watch Andy amble to the couch. Two hours had passed since the piano fiasco, and he seemed to be moving much better than when the workers had first moved away the wreckage that had once been a baby grand.

Angry, red scrapes marred the backs of his arms and calves, but he seemed okay. She couldn’t know for sure—he’d refused to let her look beneath his tattered shirt or go to the ER. Instead, he’d insisted they go to the restaurant to grab the meal he’d prepared. His gritted words and stiff movements had done little to disguise his pain, so she’d steered him to his car and suggested they take the food to her place.

For the second time in the last twenty-four hours, he’d saved her life. She dried her hands on the dishtowel and, setting it on the counter, moved to gaze at him through the doorway. The man had been amazing in action—appearing out of nowhere and shielding her body with his. What else might he be good at?

Time to find out.

With her stomach doing backflips, she sauntered to the couch where Andy had made himself comfortable.

“How are you feeling?” She settled next to him.

“I’ll live, and so will you. That’s the important part.”

“I can’t believe you had to save me a second time.” She gave a small laugh. “I must’ve pissed someone off to have this kind of bad luck. I mean, I’ve been known to be a little klutzy, but really, a piano dropping on my head? Feels like bad karma to me.”

He put his arm around her, and she snuggled into his chest. Damn the man smelled good. Woodsy, fresh, and all male.

Right.
“I wanted to talk about last night,” she whispered, and he immediately stiffened. Twisting to face him, she lifted her hand to his jaw and grazed her thumb over his lips. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what happened in your car yesterday. Believe me, nothing about your kiss or touch reminds me of Ben, and that’s a good thing. You stirred something in me yesterday I’ve never felt.” She gazed into his dark, unreadable eyes, and her confidence wavered.
Finish it, Calista. Be honest.
“I guess it scared me. It’s so hard to put my heart back out there on the line. I swore I was done looking for love, but you made me want to believe again. I’m just so afraid of losing what we have if it doesn’t work out.”

He tightened his arm around her and, reaching up, cupped her face with his other hand. “Ah, baby. The only thing you stand a chance of losing is a past of regret. You are the one for me. I’ve known for almost a year.”

Her heart stuttered.
A year?

“I’ve just been waiting for you to catch up.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and gazed at her with such intensity her breath caught. “Your heart is safe with me. I swear it.”

Her reserve melted at his words. Leaning in, she captured his mouth with hers. He parted his lips, and she drank in his warmth. She darted her tongue into his mouth, dueling with his in a kiss that caused her toes to curl and liquid heat to pour through her. No one had ever touched her so gently, kissed her so thoroughly. She felt cherished.

“God, Calista. I want you,” he said, his words laced with lust. “I’ve wanted you since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

Oh God, the way he stared at her. No one had ever looked at her with such overwhelming desire. It was as though he consumed her with his eyes. “Then take me.”

Andy growled deep in his throat and deftly took over the kiss. His hands slipped underneath her shirt and skimmed up her ribs, his thumbs detouring to brush over her hardened nipples. She arched toward him, longing to have his mouth on her, but he continued upward, shoving her shirt over her head and tossing it to the floor.

“You’re so beautiful.” He licked down the length of her neck to nip at her shoulder, and she shivered under him.

Not one to be outdone, Calista grasped the bottom of his shirt, lifted it over his head, and sent it flying. Staring at his extremely impressive chest, she ran her hands over his tight abdomen and up through the matting of brown hair covering some well-sculpted pecs. “Wow, I had no idea what you were hiding under your shirts all this time.”

His flat male nipples called to her, and she placed her mouth over one, laving it until his skin broke out in goose bumps. She’d barely moved to the other when he groaned, pulled her away, and laid her flat onto the couch. She peered up at him as he rose over her, looking primal and hungry.