David(38)

“Oh, of course. You’re Ricki Dennison. Donovan’s been working at your company these last few weeks.”

“He has. And I’m sure he’s glad the assignment is over.”

“He might be, but I’d rather he stuck with it for a while. Telling secretaries to restart their computers is a lot safer than keeping crazed killers from shooting their bosses.”

“True.”

She seemed to look me over, as if she was trying to associate things she’d heard about me with the real thing. “I guess you’re wondering where David is,” she said finally.

“I am.”

She gestured toward the back deck. “Last I saw him, he was helping Rose organize the side dishes up on the deck.”

“Thank you.”

I headed off, brushing past laughing couples and exhausted parents, trying not to get in the middle of photo opportunities. David, I finally discovered, was just inside the main house, trying to balance a huge bowl of potato salad on his lap. I snatched it up just before it went sliding forward to become smashed into the laminate flooring.

“Thanks.”

“Look at you, always trying to take on more than you can handle.”

“Well, you know, all this testosterone…”

I just shook my head as I bent down for a kiss. David tugged me close when I tried to pull away and deepened the kiss.

“You are a dirty boy,” I said.

“You didn’t come over last night.”

“I had a late meeting, but I’m here now.”

“You are.”

He studied me for a minute, his eyes lingering on the low cut of my jeans. I just shook my head and walked away, pretending to be annoyed by his attention but honestly loving every bit of it. The way he looked at me had the power to send me flying higher than the space shuttle.

We stepped out on the back deck and a flustered woman—must be Rose—gestured for me to set the bowl in the center of a long table, almost like a centerpiece.

“They always take on so much more than they can handle,” she moaned to no one in particular.

“Relax, Rose,” David said. “It’s a party.”

I held up the bottle of wine I still somehow managed to carry. “Where should I put this?”

Rose gestured toward a huge tub full of ice. “That’s as good as anywhere.”

I walked over and peeked, surprised to find everything from water to soda to expensive bottles of wine all floating in the ice together. I pushed my bottle into a corner, half hoping no one would notice how much cheaper it was than some of this other stuff, then grabbed a bottle of water and went back to where David was watching the festivities in the garden below.

“You guys often have these kinds of parties?”

“First one in a long time,” he said, tugging at my hand until I settled lightly on one of his knees. “We’ve never been in much of a mood to celebrate until now.”

“Ash and Donovan seem to be having fun,” I said, gesturing toward the barbecue pit.

“They love that queinesmas macho crap.”

“That what?”

“It’s Spanish for who’s more macho.”

“Show off.”

David laughed. “You’d be surprised the things I know, my love,” he said, pulling my hair to one side and kissing my neck.

I sighed, as I leaned back into him. “We could sneak out of here and you could teach me a few things.”

“I could. But then my brother would come knocking on my door and that could potentially lead to a few embarrassing moments.”

I laughed. “Okay. Then we stay.”

And we did. And it was a quite enjoyable afternoon. There was a lot of good food, a lot of good wine, and a lot of wonderful conversation. I spoke to a Los Angeles cop who actually knew quite a bit about social networking and the head of a local bank who liked to go square dancing on the weekends. He even showed us a few moves that I was able to imitate better than I’d expected. Donovan came around a few times and Kirkland—what could I say about Kirkland? He was beautiful with skin like melted caramel and eyes that seemed to look right through you. And that charming smile? I could understand why his bed was never empty.

I might have considered just one night if it weren’t for the fact that I was pretty sure no one could be as gentle and affectionate with me as David was.

I was in the kitchen helping organize the dirty dishes when Kate found me again.

“Quite a day, huh?”

I smiled. “They are an amazing group of people.”

She laughed a deep, warm laugh. “I remember the first time I met them all. It was quite overwhelming.”

“Kirkland is something, isn’t he?”

Her smile was big and bright, a smile that said things I couldn’t even begin to explain. “Kirkland is going to break a lot of hearts when he finally finds that one girl that tames him.”