Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“U nfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the concert with you on Saturday. I have to fly to Miami this weekend. Bella’s great-grandmother lives there in Coral Gables.”
Scarlett waited for a reaction, but Antonio didn’t say anything. Nor did he move. Instead, he continued holding her while his hand gently ran up and down her bare arm. To say it was soothing was an understatement. She felt more relaxed than she’d felt in the last twenty-four hours.
She lifted her head slightly and glanced at him. When she met his intense gaze, those damn butterflies that often took flight in her stomach when he looked at her were back. He really was a beautiful man, but his stare could be a bit unnerving at times.
“Did you hear me?” she asked.
“Yeah, I was waiting for you to finish,” he said simply, still caressing her arm.
“Oh.” She returned to her position and sighed.
He knew of Ezra. Well, he knew Ezra was Bella’s father, and he had passed away before she was born. He didn’t know anything about Scarlett’s relationship with him, though, and there was no need to talk about it. Instead, she recounted the conversation she’d had with Cynthia and told him about her concern for the woman. Specifically, that she didn’t think Bella’s great-grandmother was well.
“The last thing I want to do is cancel on you, but since she asked me to come this weekend, I’m thinking I really should. I’ll pay you back for the concert ticket. Unless…”
Unless you want to take someone else , she almost said, but she couldn’t make herself finish the sentence. That would be like pushing him into another woman’s arms.
Then again, just because she couldn’t go didn’t mean that he shouldn’t, but she doubted he would. Going to a Maxwell concert should be experienced with someone special. Someone you were romantically interested in.
And the thought of him taking another woman was… Well, it didn’t sit right with her. Scarlett didn’t want to imagine Antonio enjoying the concert with someone else, and that was just selfish. She should want him to go and have a good time.
“Unless what?” Antonio asked, his quiet tone cutting into her erratic thoughts.
“Unless you umm… Unless you want to take someone else,” she said quietly, hating to even give him that idea.
“I don’t. And you don’t have to reimburse me,” he said.
Scarlett sighed. She hated this. Sure, there might not be a future for them as anything more than friends, but canceling after promising to go out with him made her feel awful.
Antonio might be a little too serious, rarely smiling, and not a big talker, but he was a sweetheart. He was also a great catch. Any woman would be lucky to snag him. Unless Scarlett got her act together, it wouldn’t be her.
“Did Bella tell you that she asked me to go to the father-daughter dance with her?” he asked, switching the subject.
Scarlett smiled. She forgot to thank him for making her daughter so happy. “Actually, she told me that she doesn’t need me to go because her Uncle Tony was going with her. She said I can stay home. I’m not sure if I should be thanking you or be offended that she kicked me to the curb so easily.”
Antonio didn’t say anything, and when Scarlett glanced up at him, he was smiling, dimples and all. She returned her head to his chest. There was comfort in hearing his steady heartbeat against her ear. So what if he wasn’t a big talker? His calming presence more than made up for his lack of words.
“She really likes you,” she said of Bella. “Outside of Jayden, I have never seen her take to anyone so quickly before.”
“My grandmother calls that the Jenkins men’s charm.” He gave a slight shrug which jostled her a bit. “Women are defenseless against it.”
Scarlett snorted a laugh. She laughed even harder when she glanced up to find him with a serious expression on his face. The fact he could say that with a straight face made it even more hilarious.
“What’s so funny?” he asked in all seriousness, and she lost it, rolling away from him and laughing harder.
This man . He really needed to lighten up some.
When Scarlett finally pulled herself together, she settled back on the sofa a few feet away from him. “You’re something else. You know that?” she said, dabbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. She wasn’t worried about smearing mascara since she hadn’t bothered putting on makeup.
“Is that a good something else?” Antonio asked, surprising her.
Scarlett searched his unwavering dark amber eyes and got lost in their depths. He was definitely getting under her skin, in a good way. Some of her concerns about allowing him to get closer were easing.
“It’s a very good something else,” she finally said. “Would you be interested in going to Miami with us for the weekend?”
Wait! That’s not what she’d planned to say. Hell, she wasn’t sure what she’d been about to say.
Antonio’s left eyebrow shot up, and his expression said, seriously ? Her expression probably telegraphed the same message, but now that she had posed the question, inviting him wasn’t a bad idea.
“Yeah, come with us. We’re leaving Friday and returning Monday evening. I can ask Nancy to get you on our flight and reserve another hotel room. Or we can see about finding a two-bedroom suite. I know Bella would be thrilled if you spent the weekend with us.”
“You said Bella would be thrilled to have me on the trip, but what about you Scarlett? Do you want me to go?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “I want you to go. Besides, a little birdie told me that you need a vacation.”
Antonio snorted. “With my family, that could’ve been any one of them.”
“If you can’t go, I understand, but—”
“I would love to spend the weekend with you and Bella, but we won’t need hotel rooms. I have a vacation home in Miami that I don’t use nearly enough. We can stay there.”
* * *
They landed in Miami over an hour ago, and Antonio still couldn’t believe Scarlett had invited him to vacation with them. The invite the other morning had been one of several surprises by her that day. Finding her on his doorstep after his run, had rocked him. At first, Antonio thought he was seeing things, but when the shock wore off, concern took over. His blood pressure had skyrocketed until he was assured she was all right.
Antonio smiled as he glanced at her in the passenger seat sound asleep and then through the rearview mirror at Bella, who was asleep in the back. Nothing could get him down today. Spending time with the most exquisite woman in the world and her precious daughter was the boost he needed. Add to the fact that they were making a long weekend out of this Miami trip, and he felt like he was floating on air.
Scarlett mumbled something in her sleep, and Antonio glanced at her. They’d left Cincinnati at the crack of dawn, and after being on a flight for a couple of hours, she looked totally pulled together. Her hair was twisted in individual medium-size braids, with one side covering her right eye and the rest hanging to her shoulders. Her makeup, though she didn’t need any, was flawless as usual.
Then there was her outfit. The outfit that made him have to glare at a few guys who thought it was okay to check her out. The stylish olive-green jacket and pants set seemed a little dressy to Antonio, but if Scarlett had been trying to catch attention, it worked. Men shot appreciative gazes her way, and there were several women at the airport who stopped to compliment her. To his surprise, his cousin Jada had designed the outfit.
The jacket hung just below Scarlett’s shapely ass and belted around her narrow waist. The loose-fitting pants had two huge square pockets down each leg, and a rope-like string which tied at her ankles, bringing attention to her high-heeled sandals.
Antonio had initially thought it was a two-piece suit, but now that she had the jacket hanging open, he noted the sports bra-like top in the same color and material as the jacket and pants.
The woman was already sexy, but her stylish outfits took her appearance to the next level. She looked as if she had just stepped off a fashion runway. If she planned to dress like this for the whole trip, he would have to do some shopping. Otherwise, his polo shirts and khakis might make her embarrassed to be seen with him.
Antonio pulled onto the circular drive of his single-level concrete home and parked in front of the door. He had gotten the three-bedroom, three-bathroom home five years ago for a steal. It had needed a little work, but with the help of his brother and father, they’d renovated it to his specifications. He loved the place, but other family members used it more than he did.
Scarlett jerked awake suddenly and looked around. She and Bella had fallen asleep within minutes of getting into the rental car.
“We’re here, Sleepy Head,” Antonio said. “Are you feeling okay? You slept the entire flight, and you barely had your seatbelt fastened before you fell asleep again.”
“I’m sorry. I’m fine, and I know I’m horrible company today. The last few days have been super busy because I had to move up a couple of photo shoots with some new clients. I’ve been getting to bed late and getting up early.”
“I’m glad Bella insisted on sitting next to you on the airplane. Otherwise, she would’ve been whining about me dozing off.” Scarlett glanced out the passenger side window at the house. “This is lovely, Antonio. I can’t wait to see inside.”
“Sit tight, and I’ll get your door for you. Then I’ll get Bella,” he said and climbed out.
He and his male cousins had been taught from an early age the importance of being a gentleman. That and learning how to cook were nonnegotiable in their family, and he and his cousins were passing what they knew down to the next generation.
Antonio opened Scarlett’s door and extended his hand to her. She took it and smiled up at him, and it was as if someone had pulled open the curtains and let the sunshine in. He wanted to take things slow, but when she looked at him with such adoration, it made him weak in the knees.
She climbed out of the vehicle like the regal queen she was, and it was taking everything within Antonio not to pull her against his body and taste her luscious lips again. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t mess this trip up by moving too fast. The restraint would test his patience, but in the end, it would be worth it.
But when he started to release her hand, Scarlett held on and smiled at him as she moved closer. He stood still, willing to let her do whatever she had in mind, and his patience paid off. She lifted up on tiptoe and placed a lingering kiss against his lips.
“Thank you for coming with us and for letting us stay at your place.”
Antonio gently eased some of her braids away from her eyes. “Believe me when I say it’s my pleasure. Oh, and feel free to kiss me whenever you want. My lips are yours.”
Dammit . Did that line sound as cheesy to her as it did to his own ears? When she burst out laughing, he got his answer. Smoothness with the women wasn’t one of his strengths, but if he could keep her laughing, maybe she’d overlook his weak pickup lines.
“Noted,” Scarlett said grinning. “I like kissing you.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
He wanted to do much more than just kiss her. If he had his way, she’d be officially his by the time they left Miami. Whether the Jenkins myth was a real thing or not, Antonio believed in his heart that Scarlett was his. He had to show her how good they could be together, and this trip was the perfect time to do that.
He just had to stay away from cheesy pickup lines and become a smooth operator.
Surely, it couldn’t be that hard. Could it?