by SUE FINEMAN
He grabbed her behind and held her against him as he turned around. “I don’t want your back getting scraped up on the pool.” Bracing himself against the ladder and holding her behind firmly in his hands, he pounded into her over and over again until she buried her face in his shoulder to stifle her scream of release. Making love in the warm water with this man was the most amazing, the most satisfying and incredible experience of her life, and it took a couple minutes for the fireworks behind Catherine’s eyes to settle down.
He nuzzled into her neck and kissed her there. “Princess, you’re something else.”
“So are you.”
He brushed his lips over hers. “That was just the appetizer, Princess. I’m going to take you upstairs and play your body until it sings.”
Her heart fluttered with anticipation.
Tony took Catherine in through the gym on the basement level and up the elevator to her room on the second floor. Riley, Tony’s constant companion, tagged along.
She pulled off her towel, the only thing she’d worn from the pool, and even though they’d just had sex, one look at her lush curves and smooth skin shimmering in the moonlight and he grew hard again. They didn’t turn the lights on, but the draperies were open, and with the sheers over the window, enough moonlight filtered through to see the milky whiteness of her breasts and the rosy nipples standing at attention.
Catherine pulled his shirt off and pushed his pants to his knees, and he kicked them off. Her gentle hands ran over his shoulders and chest and lower, to rub over the cleft in his penis. She licked his nipple and a jolt of electricity passed through his body.
“You like that?”
“I like you, baby, all of you.” He rolled her down on the bed in a passionate embrace. He wanted to please her, and the way she was touching and rubbing him, it made him hotter. There was so much passion packed in that little body, he wanted to taste every inch of her.
Catherine moaned as Tony brought her to the brink with his hands and mouth. “Please, Tony. I can’t wait.”
He rolled over and pulled her on top of him while he reached for the condom he’d put beside the bed, but before he could get it open, she slid down over him and it was too late. He couldn’t stop now if he wanted. Grabbing onto her behind, he plunged harder and harder, until they came together in a magnificent explosion. As his heart rate slowed, he nuzzled into her neck and nipped her ear. He wanted to hold her and love her all night.
After Tony pulled out, Catherine felt the flood of moisture and realized he hadn’t used a condom. “Oh, Tony, you didn’t wear—”
“You didn’t give me a chance to put it on, honey.”
Catherine rushed into the bathroom, knowing it was too late to do anything about it. He’d been with so many women, he could have passed something on to her. But he said he’d never had sex without a condom. What if she got pregnant? Birth control hadn’t been an issue before, but it was now.
Without knocking, Tony walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. “Come on, Princess. Let’s wash the chlorine out of your hair before you turn into a blonde.”
“I thought you liked blondes.”
He put his face in hers. “Didn’t that little romp in there tell you anything? I’m crazy about you, Catherine. I can’t sleep for dreaming about you.”
Wanting to believe him, yet knowing he’d probably said those words to other women, Catherine stepped into the shower. She turned her face away from him so he couldn’t see her tears. Making love with him confirmed what she already knew. She was crazy in love with Tony, and he’d probably fall in love with one of the blondes on the show. A month after the show ended, he wouldn’t remember her name. Hot tears ran down her cheeks while he tenderly shampooed her hair and body.
Why couldn’t she be satisfied with sex?
Why did she have to fall in love?
<>
Nick and Cara and the baby arrived on Thursday with most of Tony’s family. His mother was there, his oldest brother and his family, and his two sisters and their families. There were nine adults and an equal number of children of various ages, from baby Max at five months to Vincent, a high school senior.
Everyone on Cara’s staff was busy with preparations for the annual birthday barbecue, but that stopped the instant Nick carried Max into the house. The baby was passed from one smiling member of Cara’s staff to the next until he cried for his mother.
It took Tony twenty minutes just to hug everyone and introduce them to Catherine. She seemed overwhelmed by the noise and exuberance of the Donatelli family, but Ma’s warm hug and a wink from Tony made her smile.
Thursday’s family dinner was a noisy affair that lasted for hours. As the kids got tired and fussy, members of the staff took the little ones up to their rooms to get ready for bed. Cara tossed a blanket over her shoulder and nursed the baby, and the sound effects were interesting. Max obviously enjoyed his dinner as much as the rest of the family enjoyed theirs.
All Tony’s siblings except Al were married. Al was a college student who didn’t date much. Tony was several years older and still screwing around with every good-looking woman who was willing, including the cute little redhead sitting across the table from him.
Gina asked, “Tony, are you going to marry the woman you pick on this television show?”
He shrugged. “Who knows?”
“I know,” said Ma. “Tony will settle down when he finds the right woman.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Vinnie. “Women are always coming in to the nursery asking if I’m related to Tony Donatelli.”
“What do you tell them?” asked Tony.
“Same thing I say when someone asks me if I’m related to Nick. Never heard of him.” Everyone laughed.
“I’ll take some of those women off your hands, Uncle Tony,” said Vincent, and his remark brought more laughter. Vincent was a typical seventeen-year-old, over-confident one minute and insecure as hell the next.
“You won’t have to take women off anyone’s hands, Vincent,” said Ma. “As soon as the girls find out what a great boy you are, they’ll be chasing after you.”
Vincent reminded Tony of himself at that age, only he’d never let anyone see his insecurity, not even his family. Even in high school, he’d slept with one girl after another. He’d always chosen the ones who’d expressed an interest in him first, so he didn’t get shot down. His greatest fear was finding a girl he really wanted to be with and having her reject him. By the time he’d finished high school, he’d built a reputation with the girls. Not necessarily a good one.
He glanced at Catherine and realized she had more power over him than any other woman he’d ever been with. She could be playing with him or using him to get her new television show off the ground, but he didn’t think so. He’d seen something in her eyes and in her voice when she asked him if he wanted a woman to come home to.
Was that what he wanted? Was it what she wanted?
He glanced at Nick and Cara, at the loving looks they shared, and knew he was missing out on something special. Vinnie was happy, and so was Gina. He wasn’t sure about Maria. She’d come here without her husband, and if someone brought up his name, she changed the subject. Gina had always been pretty, but Maria hadn’t grown into her beauty until her thirties. After giving birth to four kids, she was stunning. If Maria’s husband didn’t appreciate what he had, there was something wrong with him.
Tony glanced at Catherine. She was watching him with a softness in her eyes that made him want to kiss her. Too bad they wouldn’t get any more time alone until after the party, after his family returned to Washington.
He’d always been in control in his relationships with women. This time was different. Catherine was different. He felt in control one minute and off-balance the next. The ornery little red-haired vixen had him so mixed up, he didn’t know what to think, except if she was pregnant, he’d marry her in a heartbeat.
When they met, he thought she didn’t want anything
but friendship, but that first lusty kiss in the pool said he’d misread her. After making love with her and sampling the passion that simmered inside that sexy body, he knew sex wouldn’t be enough for either one of them. And now, seeing her cuddling Gina’s little boy on her lap, he pictured her nursing his baby girl, rocking her to sleep, and tucking her in bed. And then making love to him, making another baby to love.
Why was she putting him on a television show to find another woman? It didn’t make sense, unless she cared more for her career than for him.
Didn’t she want him for herself?
Ma asked Catherine, “How is your father doing?”
“He’s happy to be home from the hospital. My mother is with him now. I hired nurses, but he needed—”
Ma nodded. “He needed family.”
Tony loved his family, and he wanted a big family of his own someday.
What did Catherine want?
Watching the way the Donatelli family interacted, the way they showed their affection for each other, Catherine felt like she’d led a deprived life. Everyone in his family took care of all the kids, babies were passed from lap to lap, and everyone talked at the same time. It was wonderful, yet overwhelming.
Tony’s mother, Sophia, was a sweet dumpling who was constantly touching and hugging or praising and encouraging. She envied Tony and his siblings. Father seldom showed any physical affection, and he was the only real family she had after her mother left.
Gina took her little boy from Catherine’s lap. He’d been given his bath and wore jammies with feet in them, and he smelled like heaven. In that moment, she had an intense longing to hold her own children and to have them passed around a table like this, being kissed and loved by the whole family.
If Tony got her pregnant last night, would he marry her? Maybe, but she didn’t want to marry anyone who was with her only out of obligation. She wanted Tony to love her as much as she loved him.
Catherine said goodnight and walked upstairs. Tony was so devoted to his family, she knew he’d never be serious about any woman who didn’t fit in. She was not only an outsider, she felt awkward and out of place in the presence of this many exuberant personalities.
Tony’s mother wasn’t shy about showing her love for her family. Sophia’s influence on Tony, on all of them, was apparent. She’d struggled to take care of her family after her husband died, and Catherine had grown up with all the privilege that wealth brings. Father had taught her to hold herself above working class people, yet aside from Cara, the Donatelli family was comprised of working class people. They may not have had a lot of money when Tony was growing up, but they had something more important, something Catherine had grown up without.
They had a tight, loving family.
<>
Angelo and Teresa arrived after breakfast the next morning. Angelo wasn’t quite as tall as Tony, and he had his mother’s sweet smile. Catherine was surprised to see not only the family greeting them with hugs, but the staff as well. Still, Teresa used to work on the staff here.
The happy newlyweds held hands and shared adoring looks.
Al arrived around two. He was taller than Tony, and if anyone in the Donatelli family could be considered shy, it would be Al. He was the quiet one. Sophia said he’d made the Dean’s List again, and she was so proud of him. The whole family was proud of Al. He’d be the first of Tony’s siblings to get a college degree. They’d all had some college or trade school, but none had a four-year degree.
Tony had gone outside to help Nick roll the barbecue grills out on one of the patios when Cara came downstairs with the baby. She sat with Catherine in the sunroom, watching the activity outside.
“How many people do you invite to this thing?” Catherine asked.
“It’s more for the staff than for me. Nick’s family comes, of course, and a few friends, but it’s mostly the staff and their families. Everyone has a good time, and after working so hard to maintain this place all year, the staff deserves a party.”
Walt Timmons would be aghast. He’d never included the staff in anything.
Baby Max slapped his hands on the table and blew bubbles. Cara wiped his mouth several times. “I can’t believe he’s cutting teeth already. The first time he bites me, he goes on the bottle.” Max squealed and cooed happily. He was an adorable baby, with dark eyes that would undoubtedly be brown like Nick’s, and soft, curly dark hair.
They talked about the show for several minutes before Nick appeared with a fancy English pram and a clean diaper. Catherine ran her hand over the hood of the pram. “This is lovely.”
“It was mine,” said Cara. “And my mother’s before me. We plan to get a lot of use out of it. As soon as I stop nursing Max, we’re going to try for another one. I don’t want Max to grow up alone.”
“Hey, I’m up for the job,” Nick said with a wink, and Catherine burst out laughing. He looked happy, and so did Cara. Nick put the baby in the pram and changed his diaper, something else she couldn’t picture her father doing. But she could picture Tony changing his baby.
Nick disappeared with the baby and Cara asked Catherine about her and Tony. “There’s something going on between you two. I can see it in his eyes.”
“It won’t last.” Catherine tugged at her hair. “This is the wrong color and I’m too short.”
“Nick was determined not to fall in love with me because I had money and he didn’t. All those preconceived notions fly out the window when you fall in love. What does Tony think about going on this show to find another woman when he has you?”
“I don’t know what he’s thinking, but it’s too late to back out now. We have the women selected, the costumes on order, the program host hired, and the production and writing staff is putting it all together. Tony doesn’t have to stay with whatever woman he chooses on the show.”
“What if he does?”
Catherine couldn’t answer. She wasn’t ready to lose him.
She wandered around the grounds watching the preparations for the birthday barbecue. She helped Tony set up folding chairs, examined the gazebo he’d built, and visited with his mother.
In a quiet moment, Sophia asked, “Catherine, are you in love with my Tony?”
“We haven’t talked about—”
“It’s me asking, not Tony. Do you love him?”
Catherine couldn’t lie to Sophia any more than she could lie to her father. “Yes, I love him.”
“Then why are you putting him on this show to find another woman?”
“It’s only a television show, Sophia. He doesn’t have to fall in love with any of them, and he doesn’t have to stay with the woman he chooses. Besides, I’m not sure he feels the same way about me.”
“I know,” she said with a warm smile. “I know when my Tony is in love.”
Catherine gave her a big hug.
Did Tony love her? When they were together, it felt that way, but she wasn’t sure. Maybe he treated all his lovers with the same affection. Maybe he did love her, just a little, but the feeling would pass when he saw the tall, beautiful blondes on the show.
Catherine looked around for Tony, but he and his brothers had disappeared, so she filled her plate at the outdoor buffet and sat with Cara and Sophia.
Sophia kept pushing more food on her. “You’re too skinny,” she said. “You need to eat more.”
Cara laughed. “She does that to me, too.”
“Because nursing a baby takes so much out of you.”
Cara gave Sophia a hug, and Catherine was touched by the love in Tony’s family. No wonder he was such a great guy. No one in his family was embarrassed about showing their affection. When Cara married Nick, Sophia had accepted her as an important member of the Donatelli family. Cara’s little boy wouldn’t grow up alone and lonesome, isolated in this beautiful mansion. He’d be surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins, and a grandmother anyone would be proud to have.
In some families, the in-laws—or out-laws—brought discord to family
gatherings, but the Donatelli family was all about love. What she wouldn’t give to be a part of that, to not just have Tony’s love, but the love of the entire family.
The sun dipped below the horizon, someone rolled out a birthday cake, candles blazing, and the sound of many off-key voices singing Happy Birthday filled the air. Cara blew out the candles. After she cut the first piece, she handed the knife to Sophia and walked to the gazebo Tony had built, where the band sat.
Speaking into the microphone, Cara said, “Thank you everyone for making this another wonderful birthday celebration.”
After the cheering stopped, Cara asked, “Angelo and Cassie, would you sing for us?”
As they sang, the pure tones and harmony sent tingles through Catherine’s body. Tony was right, his brother could sing. Cassie, Cara’s favorite cook, sang several solos, and so did Angelo. And then the four Donatelli brothers stood on the steps of the gazebo and sang together, harmonizing like a barbershop quartet. They each had a solo part, including Tony, but Angelo sang most of the solos. They were all good, but Angelo had an outstanding tenor voice.
Sophia smiled at her boys. “They sound better when they practice.”
They couldn’t practice when Tony was in California, Vinnie was in Tacoma, Al was in college at Stanford, and Angelo was away on his honeymoon, yet they sang together as if they’d practiced every day for the past month.
“I want them all on the show.” The four brothers could serenade the girls before they met Tony. It would give him a chance to scope out the girls without them knowing who he was. The men could introduce themselves, using only first names, and then walk away. Tony would be left standing there by himself, flashing that killer smile.
And then he’d go inside, where the host would tell him the concept of the show.
He’d never forgive her, and she’d never forgive herself if she lost him over a stupid television show.
Chapter Ten
Early the next morning, Catherine kissed Tony goodbye and boarded Cara’s private jet for the flight back to Santa Barbara. She hated leaving Tony, but she’d made a commitment to Henry, and she had things to do if this television show would ever be aired.