Page 38 of A Perfect Pairing
Antonio leaned closer and whispered heatedly, “Wait until tomorrow. I’m going to give you all the trouble you can stand.”
Her hand came up to touch him, and she quickly snatched it down, remembering they weren’t supposed to be doing that yet. She took a furtive glance around, relieved not to see anyone. “And I can’t wait.” She gave him a sensual smile, then strutted off, adding a little extra sway in her hips. Natasha paused and called over her shoulder, “Oh, I hope you’ll like the dress I picked out. I want to look extra nice for Mama Nora.”Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.
Saturday morning, Antonio helped his father and brother with the last of the party setup. Yesterday he’d been there to pull out and clean up the outdoor furniture and drop off some of the rented chairs. He glanced at his watch.
Nate chuckled. “That’s like the tenth time you’ve done that in the last five minutes. You have somewhere else to be, or should I say someoneyou’re anxious to see?”
Was he really that obvious? “I’m just checking to see how much time we had to finish,” he lied with a straight face, which turned out to be useless when it came to his older brother.
“We don’t have much left, so if you want to take off to go pick up Natasha, feel free. And if you don’t want anyone to know about you two, you’re going to have to do a better job at keeping those smoldering looks to a minimum, especially around Mom and Grandma. And the legion of women who still think they have a shot at being the next Mrs. Antonio Hayes.”
Antonio shot his brother a dark glare. “Whatever.” They positioned another table and added the rented folded chairs. When he looked up, Nate stood there with his arms folded, staring at Antonio in that know-it-all way. Sighing and making sure their mother wasn’t nearby, he said quietly, “We’ll let everyone know today that we’re back together.”
Nate clapped him on the shoulder. “About time.”
“You boys done over there?” their father called.
“You need something?” Antonio started in his direction, with Nate following.
“Can one of you go by the bake shop and pick up the cake? Your mother just gave me another task.” He shook his head.
Antonio really didn’t want to make any other stops aside from picking up Natasha.
“I’ll get it, Dad,” Nate answered, then threw Antonio a look that said,You owe me.
He scanned the yard. “If you don’t need anything else, I’m heading home to shower. I’ll be back before one in case something comes up.” They didn’t, so he took that as his cue and waved at his mother on the way out.
His grandmother had decided to have the party earlier in the day, saying she was too old to be hanging out all night and needed her beauty rest. At the time, Antonio hadn’t cared one way or another about the start time. Now he was grateful because it meant he’d see Tasha sooner.
He’d tossed and turned all night with one erotic dream after another behind that little display she’d put on yesterday. He couldn’t help wondering what her dress would look like. She’d had no idea how close he had been to throwing her over his shoulder and finding the nearest bed. Even now a low hum of arousal remained in his body.
When he got home, he sent Tasha a text letting her know he’d pick her up at twelve thirty. After grabbing a quick bite to eat and showering, he was back out the door.
The closer Antonio came to Tasha’s house, the more anxious he became. Beads of perspiration popped out on his forehead despite the midseventies temperatures and the fact that he had the car’s air-conditioning cranked up to its highest setting.
He parked in her driveway and released a long breath as he got out. “Get a grip, man,” he muttered. This was worse than when he’d had to endure her father’s inquisition at sixteen.
The moment she opened the door, he forgot to breathe.
“Hey, handsome. Are you going to stand there staring all day, or are we going to a party?”
His gaze made a lazy tour over her body in the blue dress that lovingly caressed every one of her magnificent curves, then down to her feet, with their red-painted toenails and encased in a pair of thin-strapped sandals, which sent a jolt of lust straight to his groin.
“Antonio?”
“Huh? What?” Antonio shook his head to clear it. “Did you say something?”
Natasha chuckled. “I said hi… and a couple of other things.”
He moved closer until their bodies touched. “You lookamazing, sweetheart, and I have to tell you, I’m seriously tempted to skip Grandma’s party in favor of a private one for two.” He brushed his lips across hers. “We should get out of here now, because you are trouble, beautiful.”
“Probably.” She locked the door behind her. Once in the car, she added with a wink, “There’s always later, though.”
Antonio lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t recall you being this bold back in the day. But I like it.” Gone was the shy girl he’d fallen in love with, and in her place stood a gorgeous, confident woman he couldn’t wait to know better.
“Are there a lot of people coming?” Natasha asked as he drove.
“At last count, it was close to a hundred.”
