Page 100 of Always: A Legacy Novel

“Uncle Giovanni,” Catherine said, her voice faint.

“What the fuck happened in this kitchen, Catherine?”

Somehow, Catherine’s laughter didn’t come off as nervous at all.

“Some kind of bug was flying when I was trying to clean up,” she said, never missing a beat, “and then I tripped with the flour bag and yeah, a mess happened.”

“Uh … all right. Do you need help cleaning—”

“No, it’s okay, Uncle Gio.”

“Dante wanted me to check on you tonight, make sure you’re good. He said you might want to go over to Liliana’s if you were bored.”

“I’m good,” Catherine said.

“You sure?”

“Yep.”

“Make sure you get this cleaned up before your mother gets home Sunday night,” Giovanni warned with a laugh. “You know how she is about a mess. Jesus, if she saw this, you’d put her OCD into a tailspin.”

“I will.”

Cross swore he didn’t breathe or move a muscle for several minutes. He listened to footsteps fade away, and voices get fainter. He wasn’t sure how long he was inside the pantry, but he didn’t even hear Catherine approach until the door opened and light streamed in.

Another cloud of flour blew in his face.

Cross sighed.

Catherine laughed.

“Sorry, not sorry,” she said sweetly. “That’s for the nickname.”

He took one step forward, dropping his jacket and shirt, and she spun on her heel and bolted away from him.

Cross didn’t even think about it; he chased after her. He should have asked about her uncle, or if the guy was coming back. He should have asked if they had to worry about another surprise guest showing up, but he didn’t care about any of that at all.

Not when Catherine ran ahead of him, and she tugged her dress up over her head. Cross was close enough to grab the item before it could hit the floor, but Catherine didn’t slow. Neither did he.

Catherine knew the bottom floor of her home far better than he did, obviously, and she was fast as hell running through it. Cross didn’t even see the double doors coming until Catherine pushed through them.

“What—”

The smell of chlorine hit him a second before Catherine jumped. She disappeared under sparkling blue water. Cross had his pants off before she had even popped back up. Her head just broke the surface of the pool when he jumped in behind her.

Cross came up to the surface with Catherine’s hands already finding his face and pulling him closer. Closer was always better with her. Her laughter was a musical echo in the space.

“Still going to need a shower,” he said.

Catherine hugged tight to his neck as he moved them to shallow water. “Yeah, yeah. I still won, loser.”

“Funny, Catty. Also, the pizza.”

“It’s good for another thirty minutes.”

Cross leaned against the edge of the pool, while Catherine floated out to his front. Her fingers danced on his bare chest before she leaned in to find his mouth with hers. The sweet kiss didn’t stay that way for long, and he swore this was becoming an all too familiar dance for them. He certainly didn’t mind.

Definitely not when her hands slipped under the water and beneath his boxer-briefs. Her fingers danced along his length, then, already finding him hard as she circled him tightly in her palms. Of course, he was hard. She was in nothing but lace panties and the matching bra, soaking wet and touching him.