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“Of a guy named Pete?” He pressed, humor lacing his eyes as he waited on Rose’s response.
“Well, no it’s,” she stammered the frustration mounting as his smirk grew bigger watching her make a total fool of herself. She never got this tongue-tied ever. “It’s just a saying. You know ‘for the love of Pete.’” She shook her head. “Never mind, but no, I wasn’t thinking of any guy, and I don’t have a boyfriend.”
He smiled even bigger now. “Really? Why’s that?”
Mercifully Sal and Grace came around the corner, and Rose loved them at that moment for their timing.
“Checking up on me already?” Vincent teased. “I told you I’d be cool.”
“The food’s here,” Sal said without smiling at Vincent’s playfulness. “Why don’t you guys come get something to eat?”
Vincent turned to Rose, lowering his voice. “You don’t wanna go back into that circus yet, do you?” Lowering his voice even more, his next words made her literally tingle. “Stay out here with me a little longer?” There was a sudden gentleness in his eyes. “Yeah?”
Unable to even speak for fear her voice would be a squeak, she nodded, and he smiled, turning back to Sal to inform him that neither of them were hungry and they’d grab something later.
Rose managed to look away from Vincent’s profile just in time to see Sal frown and lift his hands midair, parting them as if parting the Red Sea. “Can you get a little space between the two of you? C’mon, Vin. There’s enough room on that swing.”
Vincent laughed, glancing back at Rose who was sure her face was as red as it was hot. “You’re kidding me right?” But he scooted away from her a little, her pounding heart ever grateful. Maybe now he wouldn’t hear it.
For once today Sal’s distrust in Vincent had come in handy, not that Rose minded him sitting so close. The good looks obviously ran deep in this family, and Vincent was certainly no exception. She’d never been so close to such piercing and incredibly sexy eyes. But that was just it. When she first laid eyes on him, she immediately dismissed the thought that a guy like him would be interested in her. She knew nothing about him, yet the polo shirt he wore looked so out of place with his jeans, shoes, hair and just his entire character that she hadn’t been surprised when he mentioned he’d been forced to wear one of his dad’s shirts.
What had come as a surprise was when he asked her if she wanted to check out the koi pond with him. After she’d finished being stunned, she managed to play it all cool like she wasn’t totally flattered and giddy about the invitation to hang out with him alone.
When he’d flirted with her earlier, she was certain she’d imagined it, or at best he was just teasing trying to make her nervous like some of the guys at school had started doing more often these days. Knowing now that she hadn’t been imagining anything and that he actually wanted to hang out with her alone longer, she wasn’t sure how much more her never-been-there heart could take.
Playful flirting was one thing, but even though she’d done her share of flirting, she was in no way prepared to do so with a guy in Vincent’s league. She knew his type; there were a few like him at her school: guys that looked and acted years beyond their age. One even drove a motorcycle. Not in a million years could she picture herself having a conversation with him much less flirting with him.
Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself a senior had recently asked her to the prom. A senior. Okay, so he’d been her friend for years, and he couldn’t decide who to take without getting some major hate from several of his off-and-on girlfriends. So he asked Rose who everyone knew was his platonic friend from one of her advanced classes that consisted mainly of seniors. Still, she was going to the prom with one of the most popular seniors at her school. If she ever got a chance to tell Vincent about it, she didn’t have to mention that part.
Vincent chuckled as Sal turned back and looked at him one last time before turning the corner and going out of sight. He shook his head and glanced back at Rose. Since she didn’t really expect to be hanging with him this long, she hadn’t been ready for their friendly banter to turn into a squirming fest. While his playful eyes toyed with her, her stomach now turned in anticipation of his continual questioning about her boyfriend—something she’d never even come close to having.
Before he could to beat that drum again, she tried changing the subject. “Sal seems pretty anxious about you misbehaving. There’s gotta be a story there. Tell me about it.”
That instantly wiped the smirk off his face, and he shrugged. “I may’ve run into some trouble in the past: dumb stuff, mostly running with a crowd that tends to,” he pulled a leaf off the tree next to the porch and began tearing it in small pieces, “I don’t know...make bad choices.” He looked up from the leaf to look at her and smiled but not like before. It wasn’t a coy smirk; it was sweet and gentle like when he’d asked her if she’d stay out here with him. “I’ve never been like them, not too much anyway. It’s just that hanging with them sometimes I got caught up in their trouble. But they’re my friends. We go way back. I can’t just turn my back on them. So instead, I’ve been trying to convince some of the ones closest to me to change their ways, be smarter. We won’t be kids forever.” His eyes brightened suddenly. “Consequently, my father’s gonna talk to my Uncle Sal today about me possibly getting hired to work part time at one of their restaurants this summer.” His gentle smile was back to being coy, and the funny thing his smile did to her insides was back again. “If that happens, I’ll be out here all summer.”
