In Sickness and in Wealth Read online

  "Sorry, boys. I have a date with the coach."

  "Tomorrow!" the guys agreed. "We're going to get you out on the field, Kayla!"

  One of them winked at me. "Can hardly wait to tackle you, baby."

  It was a good thing Jus didn't hear that. At the end of the day, Jus took me by the hand and led me off the field. "I should have known Mom and Dad would put us to work." He was sweaty and scowling.

  I laughed at him. "It was fun. Your family has a great business."

  "Yeah?" He broke into a grin. "Well I'll be damned if I hang around and get recruited to babysit the players tonight. I'm taking my wife out for dinner."

  I made a face. "Not for fish again, I hope? I kind of like my fish cleaned before they're cooked. And shrimp shelled and deveined."

  He laughed. "How does pizza sound? Napoli is famous for their own brand of thin-crust pizza. I know the best place. Across the bay in Sorrento. Want to escape with me?"

  "If you're going to feed me pizza, I'm in!"

  * * *

  Justin

  Kayla laughed as I pulled her by the hand through the dark, narrow alleyways of Sorrento. The pizzeria I was taking her to sat at the end of a narrow street that ended at the bay. It had a back terrace that looked across the water toward the sparkling lights of Naples. And hand-tossed, oven-fired pizza that melted in the mouth.

  "I hope you know where you're going!" she said. "This area looks sketchy."

  "No, it's fine. Just old. If we follow the light to the end of the alley we can't go wrong."

  Inside the pizzeria, the atmosphere was pure old country. A nearly wall-sized painting of a jester during carnivale, dressed in full ruffles and mask as he put a pizza in the oven, hung on the wall opposite us. The air was filled with the scent of baking bread. I asked to be seated on the open-air brick terrace.

  My timing was perfect. The sun was in the process of setting and the moon was rising silver over Vesuvius. We were given a view table. Strings of white lights crisscrossed and sparkled over our heads and the patio. We sat side by side on the same side of the table so we could both enjoy the view. On a bench seat with our backs to a brick wall that was slowly giving up its heat. A large, open window of the pizzeria released delicious aromas to the terrace. A bottle filled with a red rose sat in the middle of the table, along with an unlit candle. A local band played Italian folk music and love songs on the far side of the terrace from us.

  I was high on the success of my team that afternoon. We were advancing to the semifinals. I was also high on the adrenaline of the hunt. Damn that ID thief for threatening me. I was tense with both excitement and fear. If I kept ignoring her, would she make good on her threat? Did she have something I wanted? Or was she bluffing?

  I wanted her picture so I could flush her out. I needed more data points on her facial structure to hunt her down and shut her off. She was going to make a mistake soon. I could feel it the way I could feel it when my business competition, or a needy supplier, was about to make a desperate move.

  I was also high on Kay. As she sat next to me, her new Italian perfume teased my nose. I could feel her body heat next to me. Her breast skimmed my arm, driving me mad with lust.

  She was gorgeous, perfect as she studied the menu before her and laughed. "It's useless! Pointless. Like I can read Italian! I have no idea what this menu says. Except for the word pizza. Order me a cheese pizza, will you?" Her eyes danced.

  "Cheese, huh?" I teased. "Adventurous as a five-year-old?"

  She shoulder-bumped me. "I hear it's a specialty here. Nothing like a kid's pizza at home."

  "I'm hungry. We'll need more than one pizza. What else do you want?"

  "Anything served without eyes, legs, or shells," she said deadpan. "And no caviar, either. Fish eggs." She shuddered.

  "You're no fun." I bumped her back. "But because you were such a good sport today, your wish is my command." I ordered two pizzas and a bottle of red wine.

  "Keep the staff happy, is that it?" she said.

  "Always."

  Couples sat all around us. As if she was taking their cue, she looped her arm through mine and rested her head on my shoulder, gazing at the sunset, and the view.

  I'd pulled out the big guns and picked this particular pizzeria for its romantic atmosphere and view as much as for the pizza. My brothers had always taken their girls here. If it was good enough for the Casanovas of my family, why not for me?

  My love for Kay danced on the tip of my tongue, silenced by fear of rejection. I whispered to her, "I like what you're doing, but you don't have to act here. No one knows me or us."

  She smiled lazily. "I'm doing this for my own pleasure, Jus. I like being out with you."

  My heart lurched.

  "I'm growing used to this act." She squeezed my arm.

  I grinned, trying not to show how happy she made me as a waiter lit the candle on our table.

  "Italy has been wonderful so far," she said. "You spoiled me rotten in Milan."

  "Not so rotten, I hope," I said. "I had to bribe you before I subjected you to days with my family."

  "I don't know why you were worried about it. I love your family!"

  I stared at her. "You do?"

  "Cross my heart." She laughed. "They're loud and sporty—"

  "And you fit in with them better than I do. The stork left me on the wrong doorstep."

  "No!" She shook her head. "You don't give yourself enough credit. You were awesome today. I think it made me hot watching you coach your guys. Bossing those big, strong jocks around like that." She pretended to swoon. "Directing the game. Calling the shots. You were brilliant! They couldn't have won without you."

  Did she know how hard she was tugging my heart?

  I shrugged, trying to appear humble. "Dad could have done just as well. He's coached his team well."

  "You're too modest." She sighed. "I like you as warrior leader."

  The waiter arrived with our wine and poured us each a glass. I raised mine to Kay's. "To always winning. Chin-chin!"

  "Chin-chin!" She looked radiant and happy.

  An older Italian couple sat next to us, smiling at the sight of us, their table so close it was almost an extension of ours. The woman turned to me, pointed to our rings, commented on how new and shiny they were, and asked in Italian, "Newlyweds?"

  I answered her and was soon carrying on a conversation with her and her husband.

  "Yes, we're American."

  "Where from? Seattle. Yes, very far away from New York. The opposite side of the country."

  "On our honeymoon? Of sorts. She's meeting my family," I explained. "No, my wife doesn't speak Italian."

  "Look at the way your wife looks at you!" the woman said. "She adores you! She's very much in love with you. Don't take it for granted. You should tell her you love her often. Women like to hear it. Don't they, my husband?" She smiled at the older man.

  My heart beat double time. Had the woman seen something I was blind to? Did Kay love me? Or had she perfected her act?

  "Yes, my love." The man reached across the table and took his wife's hand in his. "I tell her always. You tell your wife always and you'll have a long and happy marriage. Like us!" He raised his wine glass to us. "Salute!"

  To our health.

  I raised my glass. "Salute!"

  Kay watched us, an amused, confused look on her face.

  Our pizzas arrived. Both tables drifted back into private conversation.

  "You're so hot when you're speaking Italian," Kay purred in my ear. "What did they say?"

  "Nothing much. Just small talk."

  "Jus!" She glanced at the woman. "She's motioning to you. What does she want?"

  "The Italians talk too damn much with their hands." I grinned. "She wanted me to tell you something." I wanted to tell her the same thing. Had since college.

  "Well? What are you waiting for? Tell me." Her eyes sparkled in the fading light.

  I shook my head. "She's mistaken. You don't want to hear
it." Not from me. I took a slice of pizza.

  Kay slapped my arm. "You can't tease me like that and not tell me."

  I shrugged.

  "Jus! Tell me already."

  I set my pizza down, looked earnestly into her eyes, and told her what was in my heart. In Italian, of course. "Sei il mio tesoro d'oro. Ti voglio bene. Ti amo con tutto il cuore."

  The Italians are flowery. They would never stoop to just saying a plain I love you. Bah! They must embellish. If not, what's the use of being known for their passionate natures?

  I learned this from the many Italian rugby players I'd met over the years. You must woo the girl with your words. I'd taken a lesson from them and repeated the Italian way to tell a woman you love her. You're my golden treasure. I love you. I love you with all my heart.

  And then I kissed her, thoroughly.

  The woman I'd been talking to smiled at me. And gave me the Italian equivalent of a thumbs-up, the sweeping arm gesture with her pointer finger making a circle with her thumb, her other fingers extended, meaning perfect!

  I nodded back.

  Kay stared at me, her eyes wide. Her lips moist and plump from my kiss. "In Italian? Really, Jus?"

  "You said it was sexy." I picked my pizza up again and took a bite.

  "What did you say?"

  "Exactly what I meant," I said.

  The band that had been quietly playing in the background, interrupted. "Scusi. We are now taking requests."

  "Luna Mezza Mare!" An obviously American man a few tables away called out and pointed to the sky where a full moon was rising.

  "Moon over the sea!" The lead singer clicked his tongue in approval. "Very good suggestion from the Americano! A favorite of ours. Who can resist a good Napolitano tune about the sea? And the moon. And the love?" He shrugged comically. "Or the lust." He nodded to his band. "One, two, three."

  He broke into the first verse of the upbeat song full of innuendo about woman's lovers coming and going.

  Kay clapped. "I know this one! You texted me the YouTube link. It's from The Godfather."

  "It was in The Godfather. But it was popular long before that. It was supposedly written by a Napolitano sailor."

  The singer left his perch at the end of the terrace and started working the crowd, encouraging the audience to clap along as he sang his way from table to table. The crowd ate it up.

  When he stopped at our table, Kay laughed and covered her face with her hand, fingers spread, as the young Italian singer crooned to her. He pulled her hand from her face and held it over his heart while she laughed. She was blushing when he finally released it and stood, clapping his hand against the other one that held the mic.

  "Tutti!" he yelled, still clapping. All. He encouraged the audience to sing along.

  Kay nudged me. "Jus, sing! You have to!"

  I shrugged. Damn, I wasn't letting that Italian steal my thunder or my girl. I started belting out the lyrics in Italian, keeping up the singer.

  He shot me an exaggerated look of surprise and handed the mic to me. I took it and serenaded Kay, breaking into English for just one line that told her there was only one guy she should marry. And that was me. I pointed to myself.

  She laughed and clapped as the singer and I broke into a round of la, la, la, la, las. He grabbed me and motioned to follow him to the next table and then join him on stage.

  I should have sat back down. But I was having too much fun. My brothers hogged the spotlight at the tourney. Here I was able to be myself and shine. Kay blew me a kiss like a groupie. The older Italian woman at the table next to us leaned over and whispered something to her. Kay nodded, listening intently as she clapped to the song.

  Her hands froze in place. Her eyes went wide. Kay's smile became effervescent. Her eyes sparkled in all the light that fell on them—the moonlight, the candlelight, the light from the window behind her. What had the Italian woman said to her?

  The song ended to a raucous round of applause. I took a bow and made my way back to Kay, waving and shaking hands. Taking ribbing and teasing. At the table, I slid in next to Kay and put my arm around her.

  She turned and smiled at me. "Ti voglio bene."

  My heart stopped. I glanced at the older woman. My mouth went dry.

  "This isn't part of our act." Kay's voice was soft and full of emotion. "I mean it, Jus. I love you."

  If hearts could sing, mine was playing an arena right then. "Sei la mio coccola. I love you, too.

  She stroked my beard. "I have no idea what the first part meant."

  "It's something romantic. It doesn't translate exactly—"

  She took my face in her hands. "I love you, too. Why didn't you tell me in English the first time?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" I swallowed hard.

  She smiled softly. "Love makes you vulnerable, Jus. Always has. I—"

  I stared at her, waiting for her to finish. "Yes?"

  "I think it's time we finished our pizza and went back to the pensione. That song you sang to me!" She fanned herself.

  I signaled the waiter for the check.

  Chapter Six

  Kayla

  Jus loved me. And I loved him. Stunning and surprising as it was, I really, truly did. Without doubt now, I was in love with Justin Green. Who ever would have thought it possible?

  There was something poetic and beautiful about our little scene in the Italian restaurant last night. And about an older Italian woman, an eavesdropper, no less, prompting Jus to confess his secret love for me. And the woman teaching me how to say I love you in Italian. Ti voglio bene. Words to live by.

  I'd almost told Jus about the baby right then. But to blurt out that kind of news so quickly on the heels of I love you seemed crass and calculated. As if I'd been waiting to spring it on him until he declared his undying love and called me his treasure. Not that I ever expected to be called a golden treasure, not even with my blond hair. No, I had gold digger attached to my name and reputation. I didn't want Jus thinking I'd been waiting for him to commit before I dropped the bombshell and reeled him, and his wallet, in.

  He loved me. But did that mean he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me? He hadn't committed to making the marriage long term. And why should he? In his mind he still had ten months to let this love grow and see where it went. Why rush things?

  I wasn't sure myself. I only knew I wanted us to have a fighting chance. I tried to dream up some romantic way to tell him. I came up blank. Was there a romantic way to spring an unplanned pregnancy on a guy?

  His birthday. Maybe his birthday. If I was still pregnant on his birthday, August 22nd, I would definitely tell him. What do you get the guy who has everything? A child, of course!

  No, well, in addition. Jus had been struggling so much with colors in Milan. Wouldn't his life be easier and richer if he could see the world as everyone else saw it? I'd saved the results of his online colorblind test, which would allow me to order the correct glasses for him. I made a note to order him a pair of colorblind correction glasses when we got home. The gift of color and a baby. How would any woman ever top that? Who could be more of a golden treasure?

  The Greens shepherded around one hundred "young men," to use Diana's words. They had staff that translated for them and got them to all the places they were supposed to be. Staff that coached. Medics and trainers. Administrators to deal with passport and visa issues. A large, happy family of employees, all of them dressed in the signature black rugby shorts and shirts with the Rugby Explorers logo plastered everywhere. And, yes, shouldn't their color have been green? Or was that too obvious?

  Jus left early to help his dad with the morning practice. I'd been so sleepy, again, that he'd let me linger in bed. Diana had left a women's outfit for me with a note that it was a gift for me to keep. But please wear it while helping out around camp. She also left me a nametag on a lanyard.

  In Milan, I'd gotten used to having a brioche and cappuccino in the bar for breakfast. I missed the simple ritual as I grabbed a
pastry and headed to the practice field to find Jus, pulling a cooler full of iced water and sports drink Diana insisted I take to them.

  After being catcalled and propositioned by half a dozen Italian men on my way to the field as I struggled with the cooler—blonds were rare in Napoli—and having my butt pinched in the process, I found Jus. Kirk, Jerod, and Jeremy were with him, drilling the guys and running them through warmups.

  Jus waved to me as I arrived at the sidelines, pulling my red cooler. Kirk let the guys take a water break, to much cheering. They descended on me, joking and flirting while I handed out beverages. Suddenly I was their angel of mercy. And hydration, apparently.

  I kissed Jus quickly. There was an emotional intimacy between us now that hadn't been there before. Confidence in us. And a burning passion stronger than any I'd felt before. What I'd had with Eric felt like a pale imitation compared to this. A mere schoolgirl crush. An immature thing. Being with Jus was headier than anything I'd known.

  "Kayla, you going to cheer us on today?" one of the players, Matt, said to me as he grabbed a dripping bottle of water. Matt was probably twenty. And just so darn cute.

  "I certainly am!" I did a quick cheerleader jump. "Will that do?"

  Matt and his buddies clapped. "You ever play any rugby?"

  Matt was the biggest flirt of any of the guys. The way he said it was a challenge.

  "No." I shook my head. No way I was letting a challenge go unanswered. I was dying to get on the field and give the game a try. "I usually prefer to give blood the old-fashioned way. Played a little lingerie football in college, though. We called it powder puff, but…" I winked. "Don't suppose there's any such thing as lingerie rugby?"

  Matt grinned and pulled off his shirt, revealing rock-hard abs. "Let's invent it. I'm game. And damn if I'd mind being known as the inventor of another lingerie sport."

  The guys hooted.

  I shouldn't have been teasing and flirting with the guys. I was just so happy. I couldn't stop myself. I was wearing a sports bra beneath my rugby shirt. I stripped my shirt off to reveal my sexy bright pink sports bra with a zipper in front and extra underwire. "College lingerie football is always flag. I don't suppose there's such a thing as flag rugby, either? No flag, no game."