Page 25

Sistine

H ow does a woman go back to who she was after a kiss that rocked her to her core?

Even after a few days, on a mundane Wednesday, I still could not shake it.

I stopped walking, adjusted the basket in my hand, and wiped my forehead, knocking my wide-brimmed hat up a little.

It felt as if the end of summer had come to a point, and it was boiling. The air was thick with all the smells of nature. The heat seemed to seduce them, and their myriad perfumes surrounded me.

I understood how nature felt. I was at a point as well, seduced until I could not think straight. All my thoughts kept returning to Mariano. I could tell he was thinking of me as well. He somehow was everywhere I was. I did not question it. When he said he knew all about me, I took his word for it.

Our eyes were constantly connecting, and even after we looked away, it felt as if I was still inside the moment with him—the moment our lips touched for the first time. The kiss lingered long after it was over. My soul would never forget it. It felt branded, as if I suddenly had a tattoo of him.

How soft his lips were, but how demanding the kiss was…it demanded everything from me; anything less would not do.

How he tasted.

How he smelled.

A thunk! sounded from below me, and it took me a second to look down.

I had been staring into the distance, forgetting where I was.

Taking a walk in the woods to the creek everyone uses for swimming.

I usually went with Atta, or if Ty was around, the three of us went together, but Atta was working on wedding plans, and Ty had gone to Maine for a couple of days.

Sighing, I leaned down and picked up the bear spray Atta had given me.

Wyoming was teeming with wildlife, and it was always best to be prepared.

I slapped at my leg as some kind of bug landed on it and flew away too fast for me to squish.

Then I looked behind me. I’d thought I heard footsteps since I left the main house and Hannah had handed me the picnic basket to take.

There was even a moment when I thought about finding Casanova and asking him to come with me. I was being honest with myself when I concluded that I had been wrong about him.

“Way off base,” as Atta had told me.

I should have gotten to know him before I automatically judged him. However, that did not erase who I was and who he was. Two people who were, by a law put into action by my family and his, not allowed to be together.

If the law did not exist?

My feet stopped.

Man-made laws did not determine the laws of the heart, and if I was being honest with myself, which terrified me, I was in love with him. However, that only made his history deter me from admitting my truth.

Because…

He had the power to destroy me.

I told myself that, after what I had learned about him at the auction, and after our kiss, I would not stop myself from getting to know him better, if only to not have regrets someday. However, after the kiss, there was something different about the way he looked at me at times.

He seemed a bit detached, a bit cold, even angry. The sudden change in his demeanor made me curious. I did not necessarily want to make whatever was going on with him better, but at the same time, I did.

I stopped suddenly again, my head whipping around. I had to put a hand to my hat to keep it from flying off. My eyes narrowed. Remo lifted his hand, gave me a curt nod, and then whistled to his team to keep moving.

Ah ha !

So I was being followed.

Where was Casanova? Perhaps hauling hay.

In no time, he had taken the lead on the things he and Angelo had spoken to Ty about.

Where the ranch could use some extra muscle.

I had to admit, it was nice to see my cousins relax for a time.

Atta did the heavy lifting when it came to money to keep the place afloat.

Ty did the literal heavy lifting. The rest fell on Hannah and Zia Bianca.

Although they were connected through marriage, their connection went much deeper.

It had become one of mother and daughter.

It was nice.

I refused to think about my own parents.

Our relationship was more along the lines of, they were the bosses, and I was the employee.

Mamma had designed but not created for the business before she gave birth to my sister and I, but my father did both.

Design and create. Myself? I was valued for what I could do—designing and creating as well.

My sister? A heavy sigh slipped from my lips and added to the heat of the day. My sister was treated as a daughter.

The creek was coming into view, and a different sigh escaped from my mouth at the sight of it.

Much like the memory of eating something sour would make the jaws clench and the mouth water, the sight of the cold water made me shiver before the recalled memory of it against my flesh made me sigh again.

It was so friggin’ hot! Hotter than the devil’s balls in a pair of flannel sweatpants, as Atta would say.

The thought made me laugh as I opened the metal box used to keep food from bears and hid the picnic basket inside.

I thought about attaching the bear spray to my clothes, but those were slim.

I wore a leopard-print swim coverup over a gold bikini that left little to the imagination.

The last time I had visited was winter, and I could not seem to find the bikini I had left behind.

Atta let me borrow this set, and I kept having to adjust the top.

Most people who came out to the creek went skinny dipping. I was too practical for that. My top came off, but my bottom stayed put. I did not want a parasite swimming up my you-hoo, as Atta called it. I unhooked the top and set it in the bear keep-away box.

I hesitated a moment before I turned toward the water, reaching for the Annie pendant around my neck. I rubbed it for comfort constantly, like my friend Anselma turned the ring on her pointer finger around for the same reason.

What if Mariano’s men check on me, and my flotation devices (breasts) are buoying me up in the water?

The ranch had a system when it came to the creek. If the sign was lifted to the entrance of the woods, the path to get to the creek, it meant someone requested privacy. I had lifted it, but…the men had followed me.

“They know not to come in this far.”

I gasped, and my arms instantly went over my naked breasts.

The rocks around the creek were slippery from algae, but I had no trouble turning and finding Casanova in the creek, wiping water from his face.

He must have been under when I pulled up in my sandal thongs.

Water ran down his face, and he eyed me with the same cold look again.

“I will just…” I turned to go, then stopped when he called me by my name. Sistine. Ugh. What happened to Annie? I had to admit…I loved when he called me that.

“The creek is big enough for both of us. Unless…”

I turned to face him.

He grinned.

I narrowed my eyes.

“…you think I might bite.” He lifted his hands, his palms hovering over the water, and flashed his perfect white teeth at me. The sun had darkened him, which made his light eyes pop even more. He ran a hand through his silky black hair, fixing it.

Was he naked?

He answered me by going under again, and I could see his ass underneath the clear water. A flash of two dark—perfect—buns. Even his culo was spectacular. It rivaled any statue in Italy I had ever seen.

My mouth watered, and for a reason other than remembering something sour. This reason was sweet. However, there was a bite there as well. A reminder. Just because he was a fine specimen of a man did not mean he did not have sharp teeth.

I took a deep breath as Casanova broke the surface. I purposely waited for him to clear his eyes before I started to move toward the water.

What he did next was supposed to be a subtle move, but I caught it on him. His eyebrows lifted and his eyes widened, then narrowed.

Perhaps because I was grinning.

The grin slipped from my face as soon as the water touched my feet. I sucked in a breath, before I dipped my toes completely in.

“One of those people, ah?”

My eyes rose to meet his. “ Scusi? ”

He motioned to where I was standing. “You dip your toes in.”

“You do not?”

“Nah, I jump right in.”

This explained a lot about our differences when it came to this…relationship.

“It is cold,” I said, hoping he understood I had been feeling the same from the distance he had been putting between us. I did not understand why. Even with how warm it was outside, I was chilled.

We stared at each other from across the creek. When it did not seem he would respond, I looked down, watching as the clear water rippled over my skin. It was starting to feel nice. I sighed. So nice.

“Tell me who he is.”

My head snapped up, and my eyes crashed with his.

“I know it’s not the fucker who your family wants you to—” It was as if he could not finish.

His hands turned into fists, and even with the heat of the sun, his muscles tightened as if the water had frozen.

The vein in his head was swollen, and so were the ones in his arms and hands, which told me even if the water was frigid, his heat could still rush through it. He was such an enigma!

“What nonsense are you talking about?” I asked.

“The dead man.”

“I am not following, Mariano.”

His eyes softened a bit when I called him by his name. I took a deep breath, and it trembled out.

“My men have looked and found no other man in your life, yet you push me away. You speak of being hurt.” He spoke in Italian, then switched to English. “Once bitten twice shy.”

Laughter barreled through my chest as I stepped off the rock, and the water instantly reached my waist. I sucked in a trembling breath and, taking Mariano’s advice, allowed the deeper part of the water to take me under.

When I popped back up, the piercing needles of the cold water had faded, and the sun beat down on my face full force.