Starlight (Peaches Monroe #2)(33)
Author: Mimi Strong

Dalton snorted, but not with derision. It was a good-natured snorted. He raised his arms over his head in a V-shape. “The central air keeps me chill, but I like to turn those bad boys on and feel the power.” He glanced over at Vern, who nodded and went to some switches on the wall. A second later, the fans were moving the air, and the room took on a different dimension that included swirling motion.

Keith also raised his arms in a V. “Ah, that’s good.”

Dalton lowered his arms, but moved to the concrete coffee table and propped one foot on the surface, displaying the bulge in his trousers my way while also taking up more space in the room. “With fans that powerful, you need sturdy furniture that won’t blow away.”

Keith took a wider stance. Scoffing, he said, “That’s good air flow, but my grandmother’s wicker rocking chair wouldn’t rock in that breeze.”

Dalton nodded at Vern. “Turn it up to maximum.”

Vern nodded and cranked the dial.

The huge ceiling fans whirred as they sped up, faster and more powerful than I’d expected, and then faster again. The indoor plants started swaying and rustling like a rainforest in a storm. The wind got stronger. The top sheet from a stack of papers on a side table lifted into the air and flew across the room.

Papers and plant leaves swirled through the air, and my hair whipped around, getting in my eyes and mouth.

Paper and debris swooshed by Keith, who took two steps back, looking confused and unsure.

Dalton began to laugh, and then he actually—and I swear, I fib about a few things here and there, but I’m not making this up—began to beat his chest like a gorilla in a nature documentary. He didn’t yell out the Tarzan cry, but he did bounce his fists on his chest once, twice, before resting them back on his hips.

My voice full of sarcasm, I yelled over the sound of the industrial fans, “Thanks for the amazing demonstration. Really.” I gave him two thumbs up. “Very impressive. You’re obviously the big man here.”

He grabbed a piece of paper from the air and crumpled it up. “Thanks for dropping by! I really should entertain more. This is fun.”

Across the swirling room, Vern waved to catch my eye, and pointed down at my luggage.

That was my cue to leave, so I grabbed Keith in one hand, the handle of my luggage in the other, and ran for the door.

Dalton beat us to the door and offered Keith his hand to shake. We were in the foyer, which was windy, but more like an unenjoyable vacation than a full-fledged tropical storm.

With a sportsmanlike nod, Keith put his palm in Dalton’s. Dalton grabbed him in a bear hug and murmured something in his ear.

Whatever.

I tucked my chin against my chest and let myself out the door. Keith appeared at my side a few seconds later, looking dazed.

We walked in silence to the van, and Keith helped me get my bag loaded into the back, on top of the bags of soil.

Inside the van, I held my hand over my face, not sure how I felt, exactly, but part of the emotional mix was definitely humiliation.

We started driving, putting space between us and the strangeness.

After a few minutes of driving, I said, “Tell me what he told you by the door.”

Keith frowned and shook his head. He wasn’t telling.

“Was it something depraved and sexual? Turn this van around. Turn it around right now and I’m going in there to kick his ass properly, like I should have the minute I got there.”

“Let it go.” He fiddled with the stereo and put on a station with easy listening music. “People are like living ghosts, haunting their lives with their issues. If you don’t like the story, change yourself or change your location.”

“Meaning?” I reached back and dragged my suitcase closer to my seat so I could check that my laptop was inside.

“He’s got his life, and his house, and I wouldn’t trade him, because he’s lost you, and none of his rich-guy stuff matters compared to losing a woman as precious as you.”

My heart did that thing where it squeezes up when someone says something kind and unexpected.

“You’re just saying that because you want to bury your face right here between my peaches.” I pushed my girls together with my upper arms and flaunted the food-catchers his way.

“Don’t.” He shook his finger at me. “Don’t turn away from contact by making a joke. Don’t distract from true, deep physical intimacy by bringing candy into the bedroom.”

“Technically, it was marshmallows, not candy, and you asked for it. And if we’re going to talk depth here, I took you pretty deep. Getting those last marshmallows from around the base made my eyes water.”

He grinned. “Which I appreciated.”

“I’ll say you did.”

We drove in silence for a minute, then I asked him again, “What did he say at the door?”

“He said it to me, not to you, for a reason.”

“Fine. Don’t tell me. I don’t even care anymore.” I retrieved my laptop from my bag and opened it to make sure everything was working. I tried really hard to act like I didn’t care about what Dalton had said, even though it was killing me.

“Wanna get some lunch?” Keith asked.

“Definitely. Acting like a trash-monster from a reality TV show, picking up my things from one guy’s house with another guy as my escort, has really worked up my appetite.”

“You’re not a trash-monster.”

“I didn’t slap anyone or throw a drink in their face.”

“The day’s not over yet.”

“What was up with you two guys and the alpha-male behavior? I thought I’d seen your chest puff out when we were modeling, but that was intense. I thought you two were going to start chimpanzee-screaming and throwing rocks around.”

“Now you’re making fun of me. I was in control of myself the whole time. If you ask me, Dalton could use a little meditation.”

I giggled at the idea of Dalton meditating. He’d get so bored after two seconds, just like me.

After a minute, I said, “Thank you.”

Keith looked over at me, his brown eyes gold in the bright sunshine streaming in the van’s windows.

“Thank you for everything,” I said. “Including coming inside, even though I told you to wait in the van.”

“I’m all for equality, but sometimes a man has to be a man, and stand behind his lady, so she can see how much he cares.”

“Are you trying to get into my pants? Because you don’t have to try so hard. You are really, really sexy.”