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“Let me give you something else I think you need.” I tilt my face up to his.
He smiles slowly as he bends to meet me. Our eyes locked on each other until the moment our lips touch and just as they do, I whisper, “Yes.”
And my eyes flutter shut. If anything in my life has ever felt as right and sure as this kiss, I can’t remember.
It’s an exploring kiss that he starts to deepen right away. I open my mouth for him and his tongue feels hot as it sweeps the inside of my bottom lip. My awareness narrows to Reece. His hands in my hair, his mouth taking the offering of mine with avarice. I feel it right at the center of me.
A vibrating sensation against my thigh, makes me jump back, breaking our kiss.
Reece is a sight; his hair mussed, his mouth smeared with my lipstick and his eyes bright. He looks down at himself and it’s a few seconds before he realizes the vibration is coming from his phone’s buzzing.
He grabs it and simply says, “We’re coming out.” And hangs up.
“Come on, Vega. Let’s get out of here.” Reece hurries me through the kitchen and out a backdoor into the alley. The SUV’s rear passenger door is open and Reece climbs in and pulls me inside with him.
He puts the privacy screen up and leans back in his seat, covering his eyes and swears under his breath. I eye him expectantly and when he doesn’t say anything else, I poke him in the ribs.
He opens one eye, and when he sees my worried expression, he sits up and smiles. But it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sorry, it’s just . . . that was a close call. We really need to get you a publicist soon.”
I groan. He squeezes me reassuringly. “We can talk about it later. I hoped we’d have a little more time before all of that.”
“All of what?”
“We’re only a few minutes from my parents. Let’s just enjoy the rest of the day.” I nod my agreement, but I can’t shake the little kernel of unease that I’m feeling at the thought of publicists and paparazzi. But before I can worry about that, I’ve got to get over my most immediate challenge—meeting Reece’s parents.
28
Lucía
The Carras’ home is nothing like Reece’s place in Calabasas. Just a mile down the same street as Spago, it’s Beverly Hills grandeur at its finest. Black wrought iron gates open up to a long, manicured bush-lined drive. The drive crests near the front door of a red brick mansion.
“This is where you grew up?” I ask Reece as he parks his car on one side of the massive drive.
“Yeah, my parents have lived here for almost thirty years. They moved here when I was little. It was my mother’s grandmother’s house before it was theirs.”
“Stay there.” He opens the car door for me and takes my hand to help me out.
“You’re very gallant today,” I joke. I have butterflies in my stomach as we approach the door, I tug his hand and come to a stop. “Reece, I’m nervous. I’m not sure I’m ready to meet your parents.”
“Why not? They’re just regular people.” He grabs my arm and tucks it into his side.
They’re the furthest thing from regular, it’s laughable to hear him say that. My insides feel like jelly, but I plaster a smile on my face as I walk into the house with Reece.
It’s like stepping into another world.
The floor is cream-colored stone, punctuated with black diamond-shaped tiles every five or six feet. The entryway’s huge crystal chandelier hangs from a huge silver dome in the thirty-foot ceiling. The stairs look like they’re carved out of ivory and the rails are wrought iron and glass. Everything is so ornate. The flower arrangement on the table in the middle of the foyer is the size of some of the small trees we have in our yard in Los Feliz. I’ve never seen this kind of luxury in person.
Reece heads up the stairs and beckons me to follow.
We get to the top and walk down the longest hallway I’ve ever seen in a home. “This place is like a palace,” I mumble to Reece.
“Yeah, it is. Growing up here was fun, but it was too big for us.” We walk all the way to the end and he opens two double doors.
“My parents have been spending a lot of time in the viewing room. My dad is finally taking his doctor’s orders seriously and Mom takes three days a week off to keep an eye on him.” His voice drops to a whisper as we enter a huge room.
“It’s why I’m still in LA. I’ve had to work with the rest of the executive team to come up with a plan for my dad’s absence.”
The room has three walls that are movie screens. The screens all have their own seating area. In the one that’s across from the doors, I see two heads, bent together in one of the huge reclining chairs. Playing on the screen is of all things, Love Actually. The scene where the office worker chick finally gets it on with the guy she has a crush on is playing. There is no sound coming from the screen.
