Tina Leonard - Navarro or Not

Okay, she just had to never lose her mind around Navarro again. And then everything would be fine.

“Friends?” he asked her.

“I’m not sure,” she replied.

“I’m voting for kissing cousins,” Crockett said with a grin. “Now that we’re all related, anyway.”

Navarro slapped him upside the head. Nina smiled. “We’re not related yet,” she told him.

“We’re related to Valentine’s baby,” Crockett replied. “And anyway, once you’ve kissed a Jefferson, you’ll never be able to—ow!” He pulled back from his brother’s slap. “It’s true, all the women say it!”

“Say what?” Nina asked.

“Nothing,” Navarro said.

“No, tell me. I want to know.”

Navarro sighed. “The saying goes that ‘Once you’ve kissed a Jefferson man, you’ll kiss anything he wants you to.”’

Nina laughed out loud. “Is that a saying you brothers made up? To create your own mystique?”

Navarro shrugged.

Crockett shook his head solemnly. “We’ve never had to toot our own horns.”

“Oh, brother.” Nina stared out the window. “Hey, look!”

The brothers came to stand beside her to stare down into the courtyard. Marvella was talking to Valentine, who appeared to be upset.

“I’m going down there,” Nina said, but Navarro held her back.

“Hold on,” he said. “Let’s be good spies.”

“My sister needs me!”

“No. She needs something, but not necessarily you butting into her business.”

She pulled herself out of his hands. “Since when did you become my guardian?” she demanded, keeping a watch on Valentine who was now wiping at her eyes.

“Tried to tell you,” Crockett said. “Once you’ve kissed one of us, you’ll never want to let go of him.”

“That’s not what you said,” Nina said, outraged.

“I’m paraphrasing.” Crockett shrugged. “Most women in your position would be happy right now.”

“My position? What position is that?”

Crockett never took his eyes off Valentine. Nina had a feeling he was talking by rote, ladling the same ol’ bunch of nonsense the brothers probably gave every woman.

“Me and Navarro and a pretty bed all in a room with you. Most women would be happy. They might even try to fulfill some kind of twin fantasy.”

Nina gasped, and Navarro put his hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened at the feel of his arm around her shoulders, his hard length lined up against her back.

“Shh,” he told her. “Let Crockett think.”

“Let him think!” she said, pulling free. “All he does is…is talk about sex.”

Navarro nodded. “That’s what a man does when he’s thinking. But trust me, there’s some serious busywork going on under that hat.”

“I need to be with my sister,” Nina said.

“No,” Crockett said, waving her back.

“You don’t care what happens to her! You don’t care that she’s upset!”

“Sure we do,” Navarro said. “She might be carrying Jefferson goods.”

Nina whipped around to stare into Navarro’s eyes. “Goods?”

“Okay,” Crockett said. “Here’s the deal. Marvella wants Valentine to do something she doesn’t want to. Valentine is upset. I’m going to nonchalantly stroll outside for a smoke.”

“You don’t smoke,” Navarro said.

“Sure I do, for this charade. And Marvella’s going to think I’m you,” he told Navarro. “So don’t blow my cover by letting her know there’s two of us in the house.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Keep your eye on the peach. But don’t do anything else, because I might need a rescue. Listen in case I shout.”

“What’s the point to this?” Nina asked.

“Nemo salis satis sapit,” Crockett said, heading out the door.

“What?” Nina said. “What did he just mumble?”

“Two heads are better than one, loosely translated,” Navarro said, leaning so he could spy from behind the curtain more easily. “Sometimes Crockett likes Latin. As do I.”

“You guys are really weird,” Nina said. “I don’t know if having two heads is a plus for you.”

“But you liked kissing me. Admit it,” he said, staring down as his brother entered the courtyard, whistling innocently.

“Would you stop?” Nina demanded. “That’s exactly what your brother did. Talk about meaningful things while your mind is on something else.”

“We have excellent focus,” Navarro said. “And we’ve been good way too long.”

“Whatever.” Nina watched Marvella greet Crockett. “Think she’ll notice he has on a different shirt?”

“No. No one gets past the pretty face.”

Nina rolled her eyes.

“Besides, he’d just say he changed, and Marvella wouldn’t doubt that because a cowboy always carries a change.”

“I wonder why,” Nina said dryly.

“Hey, we’re trying to help you here, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“What’s Latin for ‘I’m not exactly buying that’?”

He ran a finger slowly up the back of her neck and Nina shivered. “So tell me again about how much you liked kissing me.”

“I grade your ego an A-plus,” Nina murmured. “But clearly it was you who liked kissing me since you can’t stop talking about it.”

Outside, Crockett plucked a rose and handed it to Marvella, which she took with a laugh. To the casual bystander, it would appear to be any other Sunday afternoon, passed pleasantly by people who enjoyed each other’s company.

Only the flash of Valentine’s face as she glanced up at Nina’s window gave away the mirage.

“Something’s not right,” Nina murmured.

“I know. We’re going to help you fix it. You’re new to town. We have to spot you some lag time on learning how to outwit Marvella.”

“But that’s my sister!”

“It’s okay,” Navarro said. “Trust me.” Then he made her shiver again as he put an arm around her. “So back to the kiss we shared—”

“A mistake of epic proportions.”

“Really?” He turned to face her.

“Yes.”

“So you’ll not be kissing anything of mine I ask—”

“No.”

He raised his brows. “Well, that is new.”

“You’re not fooling me, Navarro Jefferson. Any woman with an ounce of sanity would listen to the bull you’re peddling and say, ‘No, thank you.”’

“I like your sense of self-respect.” He turned her head gently so she was looking down into the courtyard again. “Now watch Crockett close the deal.”

Nina watched, amazed, as Crockett led Valentine away from Marvella, apparently with Marvella’s approval. He handed Valentine a hanky out of his pocket, which she gratefully took.

Two minutes later Crockett and Valentine walked into the bedroom.

“Are you all right?” Nina asked, rushing over to her baby sister.

“I’m fine.” Valentine sank into the only chair in the room, while everyone else gathered around her. “And don’t ask me to talk about it, because I can’t.”

“Why not?” Nina demanded.

“I just can’t.” Valentine turned sad eyes on Crockett. “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”

“I like gratitude in a woman,” Crockett said. “Maybe we should try for a foursome.”

To Nina’s surprise, Valentine giggled. “Pass. One Jefferson was all I needed.”

“See?” Crockett said to Nina.

“Okay. Hold on a minute here,” Nina said. “Everybody hear the new rule. No more joking about sexual matters. It’s in very poor taste, considering the…situation.”

Valentine and the two men stared at her.

“Whew, that’s the librarian in her coming out,” Navarro said. “No sense of humor. Where’s your bun?”

Nina swept a hand over her chin-length hair. “Buns are passé for librarians. Why are you all taking this so lightly?”