The Villa

turned his head to give her a kiss on the cheek and missed by three inches. "Thanks."
    "No problem. Here we go. All the way down. Easy. I don't want to hurt—Oh! I'm sorry," she said when he yelped.
    "No, it's not the arm. It's—in my pocket. The box. Rolled on it." He groped for it, swore and felt only mildly embarrassed when she reached in to retrieve it herself.
    "Buying baubles, are we?" She flipped the box open, blinked. "Oh my."
    "I guess I should tell you, I bought it for your mother. Gonna ask her to marry me." He pulled himself up a bit on the pillow and slid straight down again. "Got a problem with that?"
    "I might, seeing as you proposed to me five minutes ago, you fickle bastard." A little teary-eyed, she sat on the side of the bed. "It's beautiful, David. She'll love it. She loves you."
    "She's everything I've ever wanted. Beautiful, beautiful Pilar. Inside and out. Second chances all around. I'll be careful with her."
    "I know you will. I know it. The year's not half over," she said quietly. "Everything's moving so fast. But some things," she added, "some things are moving in the right direction." She leaned over, kissed his cheek. "Close your eyes for a while. Papa."
    When Tyler got back, she was making minestrone. It always knocked him back a step to see her working in the kitchen.
    "He's here," she said without looking around. "Sleeping."
    "I told you he could take care of himself."
    "Yes, he did a wonderful job of that by getting shot, didn't he? Stay away from that soup," she added as he leaned over the pot. "It's for David."
    "There's enough here for everybody."
    "It's not done yet. You should drive up to the vineyard. You can stay at the castello tonight. I'm having files messengered over. I can work on the computer here."
    "Well, you worked all that out, didn't you?"
    "We're not here to sightsee." She walked out of the kitchen.
    He took a moment to make sure his temper was on a leash, then followed her into the small office. "Why don't we just have this out?"
    "Nothing to have out, Ty. I've got a lot on my mind."
    "I know why you didn't want me to come."
    "Really?" She booted up the computer. "Could it be that I have a great deal of work to do in a short amount of time?"
    "It could be that you're pissed off, betrayed, hurt. Those things slice at you. And when you're hurt, you're vulnerable. Defenses go down. You're afraid I'll get too close. Don't want me too close, do you, Sophia?" He took her chin so that she had no choice but to look at him. "You never did."
    "I'd say we've been as close as it gets. And it was my idea."
    "Sex is easy. Stand up."
    "I'm busy, Ty, and just not in the mood for a quick office fuck."
    He hauled her up fast enough, violently enough, to upend her chair. "Don't try to boil everything down to that."
    Moving too fast, she thought again. Too many things with too much speed. If she wasn't at the wheel, how could she maintain the right direction?
    "I don't want any more than that. Anything else is too much trouble. I said I've got a lot on my mind. And you're hurting me."
    "I've never hurt you." He eased his grip. "Maybe that's part of the problem. You ever ask yourself why you end up with the kind of guy you usually end up with?"
    "No." She tossed her chin up.
    "Older guys. Slick guys. The kind who slide right out the door when you give them the boot. I'm not slick, Sophie, and I won't slide."
    "Then you'll just end up with rug burn on your ass."
    "Like hell." His smile was lethal as he lifted her onto her toes. "I don't slide, Sophie. I stick. You better take some time and think about that." He let her go, strode to the door. "I'll be back."
    Frowning after him, she rubbed her arms. Big son of a bitch had probably left bruises, she thought. "Don't rush on my account."
    She started to drop back down in the chair, changed her mind and kicked the desk. The petty gesture made her feel marginally better.
    Why didn't the man ever do what she expected him to do? She figured he'd make a show at the public relations deal, then slither away, bored brainless. But he'd stuck, and that thought made her kick the desk again.
    They'd acted on some pure, healthy animal lust, she thought and picked up the chair. Had some stupendous sex. She'd expected him to cool off in that area, too. But no.
    And what if it was true that she was a little worried because she didn't show any signs of cooling off, either? She was used to certain patterns in her life. Who wasn't? She'd never had any