The laugh he gave this time was deep and male and held no hint of sorrow. “Oh, Miss McMurty, not even close.”
She smiled. “That’s too bad, Mr. Vasilakis. Now go back to your sofa and go to sleep.”
“You aren’t going to give your fiancé a kiss good night?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, so cruel, Stanzia.”
“Good night, Luca,” she said, mortified when a giggle escaped before she could rein it in.
She yanked the covers back over her and turned on her side, comforted by his quiet laughter in the darkness.
Chapter Ten
Luca stood in his front doorway, unease rolling through him. He’d faced down hordes of reporters, ex-girlfriends with serious revenge issues, and once an entire rugby team he’d taunted mercilessly through their defeat. He’d been more comfortable in all of those situations than he was at that moment.
The van he’d been watching pull into his driveway came to a stop. Before the motor had even shut off, five little girls jumped out and rushed toward him. He stood back to let them pass, although his instincts screamed at him to bar the door. No good could come of this.
Constance alighted from the vehicle, following behind the first rush much more slowly, her hand held firmly by a sixth little girl, the one who’d been pulling up his flowers. His eyes narrowed. To his surprise, she glowered right back at him. He was kind of impressed. She was a tenacious little thing. She just better stay away from his flowerbeds.
They were followed by the sweetly plump Mrs. Ballas who patted the handkerchief tied around her graying hair before ambling to a stop beside Constance. She glanced back and forth between Luca and Constance, her cheeks growing redder by the moment.
“Mr. Vasilakis, you remember Mrs. Ballas from the Family Aid organization?”
“But of course,” he said, kissing her hand. “Welcome to my home.”
She giggled and batted him away before hurrying inside after the children.
“And this is Elena,” Constance said, nodding down at the little girl holding her hand. “You met the other day.”
“So we did,” he said, staring down at her. She was a beautiful child, really, if she’d get that scowl off her face. “You were the one ripping up my flowers.”
She stuck her chin in the air, but kept silent.
“Don’t touch anything,” he ordered.
Elena stuck her tongue out at him and let go of Constance’s hand, running inside to join the others who, by the sounds of it, were already destroying his home.
Constance folded her arms and frowned up at him.
“What?” he asked.
“She’s a child, Luca, for heaven’s sake. You don’t need to be so…gruff.”
He smiled at that and pulled her resisting form into his arms. “I was laying down the ground rules. Children need rules.”
“Oh, they do? And how do you know anything about children?”
She kept her arms folded across her chest like a shield, but she didn’t struggle against him.
“I know enough.” He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers. To his delight, she responded, her mouth moving under his. But when he would have deepened the kiss, she pulled away.
“Luca,” she murmured. “The children might be watching.”
“So?”
She blew out an exasperated sigh. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be…intimate in front of them.”
His eyebrows rose at that. “I agree. If we are going to be intimate, I want you alone so you can scream my name as loud as you want.”
Her mouth dropped open, her cheeks flaming red. Luca laughed and she pushed away from him.
“You are so…uncouth,” she said, trying to walk past him.
He caught her hand. “That I am. Never pretended to be otherwise.”
A half smile tugged at her lips. “Well, that’s true enough.”
“I was simply stating my opinion that a rather chaste kiss is appropriate enough for the kids to handle.”
“Chaste?”
“This, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t be.”
He pulled her back into his arms, his mouth descending before she could break free. The moment his lips touched hers, she stopped trying. Instead, she sank into him with a sigh of pleasure that had him angling his head so he could delve deeper. She tasted of lemon and honey and Luca couldn’t get enough.
His hand trailed down her waist and she broke away with a little gasp. She stepped back, a bit shaky, and reached up to pat her hair back into place.
“We shouldn’t,” she said, not meeting his gaze. “The girls might be watching.”
“More importantly, other people might be watching.”