Michael nodded. “Yeah, I know. The salesperson warned me that not many women could wear that shade of yellow. But I ignored her because I liked it and thought you would look nice in it. You probably would if you didn’t’ have those circles under your eyes.”
Looking out the window, she smiled. “I think it’s a nice color.”
Michael didn’t say anything else. They drove in silence the rest of the way.
The Attracelli home wasn’t just a house. It was a mansion. A huge, gothic mansion with seventeen bedrooms, a kitchen that a catering company would envy, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a maze of hedges among acres of gardens maintained in memory of Antonia’s father who loved a lush variety of flowers.
Inside, there was a ballroom, mostly used to chase siblings, and now cousins, a library stacked floor to ceiling with books, a sauna, gym, solarium and hot tub. Growing up in this house, Antonia knew what privilege was like.
The family finally drove off to church, then filed in, one at a time, taking a seat in the chosen pew. No matter how much teasing went on during the ride to church, they all knew that church was a quiet time. Everyone sat down, taking up a whole pew. Antonia made sure she sat between two of her aunts so she could avoid the inquiring glances from her brothers during the sermon. She wasn’t prepared to deal with them right now.
Antonia didn’t hear anything during the service. She barely remembered singing hymns. But as they filed out, she greeted the priest with Sal right behind her, telling him that it had been a wonderful sermon.
After church, the whole family gathered for lunch. The women, all except for Antonia, made lunch. Sometimes it was simple food, like sandwiches. But today, since the temperature was almost seventy degrees, everyone agreed to have a barbecue outside on the flagstone patio. Antonia was in the kitchen with the rest of the women instead of on the lawn or patio playing with her aunts’ kids or talking with her brothers.
She didn’t want to admit it, but she was hiding from her brothers. All of them. She knew Sal had told them the whole situation. She’d received too many looks from each of them for her to delude herself into believing they didn’t know. So while Sal was in his study with a guest, she hid in the kitchen, hoping against hope that she’d be able to avoid a confrontation today.
That was as far as her plan went until Sal came out of his study, accompanied by the man who’d occupied her dreams and driven her crazy with thoughts of his kiss for the past two nights.
“Ladies,” Sal announced, stepping into the kitchen, “I’d like to introduce you to Brett Hancock. He stopped by to get some papers signed. I was hoping there might be enough food so I could invite him to stay for lunch.”
Antonia had turned around with a smile on her face, ready to greet the person he was introducing. But when she caught sight of the tall, broad shouldered man standing next to her brother, she immediately turned back to her onion and chopped harder, hoping he wouldn’t see her amid the chaos of the food preparations.
Antonia gritted her teeth as all her aunts and cousins laughed at Sal’s joke. There was always enough food to feed an army at any Sunday afternoon lunch in the Attracelli household. One more wouldn’t make a dent.
Antonia’s Aunt Marsha was the one who spoke up. “Brett, you’re more than welcome as long as you can get the knife out of Antonia’s hand so she will stop mutilating that onion. It’s already been punished enough for its sins, whatever they were. It doesn’t need to be turned into pulp.”
Antonia turned beet red as four women laughed at Antonia’s attempt at chopping an onion.
“Why don’t you do us a favor,” Jennifer, a cousin of Antonia said to Brett. “Have Antonia show you around the house and gardens. It’s nothing compared to what it will be like in a month or so when the weather becomes warmer, but the solarium might be nice right about now. I think Sal’s been working on it,” she said, noticing Antonia’s shocked expression but not understanding its meaning.
“Ladies, I accept your challenge,” Brett said. He walked over to Antonia, towering over her as he laid a hand on her forearm that instantly stopped all movement, including Antonia’s heart beat. But as he slid his hand sensuously down her forearm, cradling her hand as he took the knife and set it on the counter next to the once proud onion, Antonia’s heart started back up. Triple time.
Putting a hand in the small of her back, Brett guided her out of the kitchen.
“Good luck,” Marsha said, amid five stunned stares. As soon as they were out of the house, Antonia turned to him. “How could you do that to me?”
Brett chuckled. “What did I do to you?” he asked. “Reveal to you how much you wanted me to touch you? Just like I wanted to touch you?”
Antonia’s mouth dropped open. Turning away from his smiling face, she snapped, “Boy, you have a high opinion of yourself.”
Brett just threw back his head and laughed, drawing the attention of Carlos, Michael and Giuseppe who were standing on the patio, examining the grill’s flames, each with a beer in his hand. “Would you like me to demonstrate just how much I know you’d like me to touch you?” he said once his laughter had died down. They were moving down the steps from the patio to the lawn, thankfully out of hearing from her brothers.
Antonia couldn’t believe her ears and stopped walking so she could face him. “What?” she whispered, staring up at his handsome face.
“Shall I kiss you again?” he asked again, looking down at her, as he watched her lick her lower lip. “I don’t mind demonstrating, as long as I’m making a point,” Brett said, moving forward as if he were going to do just that.
“Don’t you dare!” she gasped. She turned then and headed for the pool hoping to put a little distance between the two of them. He was too powerfully attractive for her peace of mind.
Concentrating, she refused to look at him as she said, “I’m supposed to show you the grounds. Here’s the pool,” she waved a hand in the direction of the covered pool then headed for the garden beyond. As soon as she reached it, she waved a hand towards the still sleeping plants. “This is the garden,” she said without any enthusiasm and kept walking.
It wasn’t until they came to the hedge maze that Antonia realized how far away from the house they’d gotten. She immediately turned back, but Brett realized the same thing at the same time. Instead of moving back towards the house, he put an arm out and grabbed her by the waist, then almost lifted her back into the relative isolation of the hedge. Antonia couldn’t do anything but gasp as his muscular forearm wrapped around her waist, setting her down a foot away from his massive chest.