Chapter 2

2

As they followed the host through the restaurant to their table, Brando placed his hand on the small of Kaitlin’s back. She knew that it was just the way he was. The only brother she had met was his twin and he had the same manner about him. She was pretty sure that the Santinis were raised in much the same way her brother were. It was a gesture that he would have done with any woman he accompanied.

Still, she couldn’t fight the little thrill she felt slip down her spine as other women looked at her. Kaitlin had never been on the receiving end of the envious stares before and it felt damned good. Once they were seated, Kaitlin ordered her heart to stop beating out of control. Damn thing didn’t pay one bit of attention to her.

“So, what kind of conference are you here for?” Brando asked.

She shrugged as she looked over her menu.

“Kaitlin?”

She looked up and found him studying her. He always did that to her. Even when they were in college. There was always something so serious behind those chocolate brown eyes.

“Oh, sorry. My brothers tend not to pay attention.”

“I’m definitely not one of your brothers.” He sat waiting, staring at her. “Kaitlin?”

He was just so pretty. I mean, a man shouldn’t be considered pretty, but Brando was. No heterosexual woman could ignore that crooked little smile. She had seen it in action while they were in college and Kaitlin knew no woman was immune. She had always thought he could get away with murder if the entire jury was made up of women.

“What?”

“You’re here for a convention.”

He spoke as if she were stupid or had a major head injury. Of course, she sounded like she was, so Kaitlin sort of understood his position.

“Oh, yes. It was a convention for speech pathology.”

“Speech pathology conference in New Orleans?”

She smiled. “They are kind of a rowdy lot. They don’t get out that often, so they tend to party like crazy when they go to a conference. It’s like they save it all up for the annual get together. I believe there were a few laws broken the year we went to Vegas.”

He opened his mouth to continue, but he stopped when the waiter appeared to get their drink orders.

“So, you stayed in College Park?” Brando asked. “I thought you would move back to Baltimore to be close to family. Or that was the plan, right?”

Kaitlin laughed. “First of all, Baltimore isn’t that far away. I like the proximity, but I need my space. My brothers stop by too much as it is. If I was in Baltimore, they would make my live a living hell. Secondly, I was going to move there mainly because Glen would need to work there.”

“Yeah, what happened with that?”

She didn’t say anything right away. Most people in her life knew of her humiliation, but there was no reason Brando would know. He’d probably spent most of his adult life half way around the world. He didn’t know she had horrible taste in men and that last breakup was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. She had decided that marriage might not just be for her. If she couldn’t keep a man faithful before he had a ring on his finger, there was little chance she could do it after the wedding.

“It wasn’t a pleasant breakup. I caught him lying to me. Then, I caught him cheating on me.”

He frowned. “I would say I was sorry he was an ass, but I can’t.”

“You can’t?”

He shook his head. “No, because if you had gotten married, we wouldn’t be having dinner.”

“There is that.”

“Do you like living in College Park?”

She nodded. “I didn’t really want to live in Baltimore, and I got a great job in College Park. It takes me about fifteen minutes to get to work.”

“You’re working with stroke survivors?”

She blinked. “Yeah.”

He must have picked up on her tone. He glanced up. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just amazed you remembered that.”

“Of course I remembered it. It was your goal, right? You talked about it all the time.”

But no one, outside of her best friend Wendy, had paid attention. Well, expect Brando apparently.

The waiter returned with their drinks and took their orders, Kaitlin felt a little more in control. She could do this. She could have dinner with Brando. She had done it before. Of course, she had been engaged. Nothing had changed on his side; but for her, she could put him in the friend category. Now, it was different. Looking into those dark chocolate eyes with the impossibly long eyelashes sent heat racing over her flesh. Seriously, how did a man have lashes like that and not look feminine? But he did.

Her gaze dropped down to his mouth. Lord, she wondered about it all the time. There were rumors about him in college. More than one friend had told her of all his conquests. He had been rated one of the best kissers on campus by the sororities.

“Earth to Kaitlin,” he said, humor filling his voice.

She looked up and found his eyes dancing.

“Sorry,” she said, as she felt heat fill her face.

“No problem. You have to have your moments of deep thought.”

Kaitlin laughed at the term he’d come up with while they were in college. She was often letting her mind wander, especially around him. All her brain cells went on vacation when he was around.

“I don’t know about deep thoughts, but I am definitely worn out.”

“Oh? Hard week of partying?”

She shrugged. “I went out once or twice with some people I know. Our panels started at eight in the morning. Who has a conference in New Orleans and expects people to attend early morning panels?”

“Bastards,” he said with a laugh. “But I am glad you are here. Makes it easier.”

She frowned. “Makes what easier?”

“I was going to look you up when I got to Maryland. I wondered if you had gotten married.”

“Really, Brando? You expect me to believe that you thought about looking me up?” She shook her head.

“I did. A lot.”

She studied his serious expression. He might joke around a lot and he always knew how to pull a smile from her no matter how bad she felt. So, she knew he was serious now.

“You did?”

“Yes. See, I was kind of hoping you weren’t married.”

She shook her head as she tried to figure out what the hell he was talking about.

“What do you mean?”

Brando sighed. “It’s that I always regretted not keeping up with you. You were one of my best friends in college.”

Of course. He was looking for a friend. She could be friends with him. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Or the fact she would fantasize about him later…that was totally allowable as a friend. Because, she knew that men like Brando Santini didn’t go for women like her.

“Well, I am glad too. It will be fun to have you back in College Park.”

And she would just pretend that she was happy with the situation, just like she had in college.

“So, your brothers? What are they up to?” he asked.

More comfortable with this kind of conversation, she smiled and went into horrible stories about her brothers.

By the time Brando was seeing Kaitlin to her room, he was convinced he should get some kind of award. It was hard to believe it was taking more of his attention to control the arousal thrumming through his blood than it had in college. Of course, actually talking with none of that blood in his brain had been hard to handle, but he had pulled it off tonight.

“This one is me,” she said.

He hated the tone she was using with him now. It was the same thing as if she had patted him on the head and said goodnight. He knew that she saw him as a friend. He had said something wrong during dinner, and she had switched off. Before then, she had been staring at him like she wanted him for dessert. He had been fully ready to play that role for her. Hell, he knew he wasn’t going to get any sleep, but he wasn’t about to go out. She was in his mind and tugging on his soul again. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to get her out of his head now.

Brando knew he had this last chance. He was going to make sure she understood where they stood. She unlocked the door and turned to face him.

“I am so glad I ran into you tonight.”

He smiled. “I think it was more that I ran into you.”

She chuckled. “Yes, but then, you had issues with being too focused at times.”

“Hmm.”

Silence. She was trying to step back into her room, and he couldn’t let that happen. She needed to understand that when he got to Maryland, he was planning on pursuing her, in every way possible.

Before she could take another step back, he rested his hand against the doorjamb and leaned closer.

“I can’t let you go without a goodnight kiss.”

She blinked. “Oh, Brando, you don’t have to do that. I understand. It’s sweet, but, let’s just leave it at that.”

That was not the response he expected. That was his only excuse for allowing her to step further into the room. She was already closing the door.

He knew he had to make sure she knew that he wasn’t trying to be sweet. Brando stepped forward.

“I think you might be confused about something.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“The kiss was more about what I wanted .”

He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her forward. He had the pleasure of watching her eyes widen in surprise before he slammed his mouth down on hers.