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“When did I get business cards?” she quipped as she finished her sundae.

“About two weeks ago.” He laughed and pulled one out and gave it to her.

“When did I get a Web site?”

“About three weeks ago.”

“I see,” was all she said.

Antonio chuckled. Lucy really didn’t notice a lot of things.

“Are you laughing at me, Antonio?”

“Yes, I am,” he said and impulsively ran his hands slowly up the sides of her neck. He pulled Lucy closer to him, his eyes fixed on hers as he bent down to kiss her. When she didn’t try to stop him, he covered her mouth with his and gently plied it open with his tongue. She tasted sweet, like the chocolate-chip ice cream she’d been eating, and she still had the cherry from the sundae in her mouth. Antonio began to pull the cherry out of her mouth with his tongue but she was determined to keep it. He remembered how excited she got when the ice cream guy put that cherry on top of the sundae. Then he started thinking something about eating a cherry but decided it wasn’t the time for sexualized observations about ice-cream toppings. So he split the difference and bit the cherry in half. When he pulled back he opened his eyes just in time to see Lucy swallowing the half of the cherry he left in her mouth. He knew right then he had to make love to her that night.

“It’s getting late. How about we stay over? I saw a quaint inn when we came into town. I’ll call and see if they have anything available,” he said in a low, husky voice.

“Fluttering Wings,” Lucy whispered.

“What?”

“The name of the inn is Fluttering Wings,” Lucy said shyly.

Antonio smiled.

* * *

By the time Lucy and Antonio made it to the Fluttering Wings Inn they were both tired. The day had been a monumental success. Lucy found little treasures she could refurbish for the store and got some ideas for the next mosaic mirror she’d been commissioned to create.

Lucy put the key in the lock and opened to the door to find a big king-size bed, a fireplace, a bottle of wine, and a platter of fruit on the coffee table.

“This is lovely,” she said.

“And so are you,” he breathed as he pulled her into his arms.

Antonio put his arms around her waist and pressed her closer to him so Lucy would know exactly what he was feeling. Lucy had thrown so many things into the cart when they’d stopped at the local pharmacy she didn’t notice he’d bought a box of condoms.

His first order of business was to remove her scarf from around her neck. Her kisses continued to come nervously when he finally removed the scarf. When he did, his lips wandered down to her neck. He didn’t fully understand why she would hide such a nice feature. Her neck was slender, with a few freckles. And she smelled like strawberries. Her hair, her neck, every part of her body smelled like a ripe piece of fruit begging to be eaten. He unbuttoned the buttons of her shirt. He reached the last one and pulled it her shirt from her shoulders. She gasped a little bit and hesitated.

In order to make her feel comfortable, he stepped back and removed his shirt. Then he took off his shoes and removed his pants. His boxers followed. Antonio stood there before her, naked as the day he was born, and hard as a rock. Lucy was taking it all in, her gaze drifting down then back up to his face, then drifting back down again.

Part of her felt like, she was in some artsy museum looking at a sculpture of some flamboyant sculptor’s rendition of the perfect man. Fantasizing about him fully clothed paled in comparison to what was before her right now. Antonio’s stomach seemed to be sculpted as the quintessential six-pack, but it didn’t stop there. He had muscular thighs that were lean and seemed to bulge just a bit at the same time. His arms were as toned as she’d thought, looking like he could literally hold the world up on his shoulders. She could see his penis throbbing a bit, as if it had a life of its own. Oh she’d felt it enough while he was fully clothed, standing particularly close to her. But now it was exposed and she felt exposed too. Lucy cleared her throat and thought of how not to ruin this moment. “Uh…”

Antonio’s touch was light and softer than she ever could have imagined. Maybe she did think of him as some sexed-up playboy who liked it rough, but could that be the same person who was slowly unbuttoning her jeans and had removed her bra? All she felt was skin on naked skin. Her bra was gone and Antonio was in the process of kissing one of her breasts. Time seemed to pass like the frame by frame of an old camera and as each frame progressed she was braless, then pantyless. Antonio’s mouth laid heat wherever he put it and she was on the verge of becoming a human torch. He laid her down on the bearskin rug in front of the fire and parted her legs.

* * *

“More wine?” Antonio said quietly.

“Maybe one more glass. But I don’t want you to move.” Lucy sighed.

“Well, I have to move to get you some more wine, Lucia,” Antonio murmured into her ear.

“I’m still thinking about it.” She giggled.

Antonio loved her giggle. He loved everything about her. Lucy was softly caressing his wrist of all things. Then he remembered that he caught her when she was falling off that ladder that day. That incident seemed like a lifetime ago. He never in a million years thought a visit to Felix would be a turning point in his life. How many times had he visited the town and he’d never run into her? Why hadn’t he met her before his sixth visit to his friend’s home? Life was funny that way. He was not ready to meet someone so special in his previous five visits. He was walking through his life, doing his thing. And all that time she’d been in a store on Main Street. He knew there was something different about him now.

Lucy was talking, but he couldn’t really hear what she was saying. It’s not that he wasn’t listening. His heart was pounding so loudly it was drowning out her words. Did she hear his heart beating like that? It sounded like a thunderous drum beating in the room.

Antonio shifted a bit to hold Lucy tighter, wanting nothing more than to calm down and make love to her again. Her dark brown hair had cascaded over his chest and he ran his fingers through it. He caressed the curve of her hip with the other hand. He couldn’t hear the words she was saying but he felt everything. He felt like, for a moment, they were one person. A feeling of completeness and serenity engulfed him. Images of the two of them being blissfully happy and growing old together flashed in his head. Holy shit! If this was love then he was on the verge of ecstasy and revelation at the same time.

Antonio leaned down and kissed Lucy while she was in midsentence. He lovingly placed her on her back and lay on top of her. As he began to make love to her for the third time that night, he wondered if he’d ever feel this wonderful again in his life.

“I love you, Lucy,” he said before he smothered her with a kiss.

It’s possible she answered him back but he didn’t want to hear her answer. He just wanted Lucy to know he was capable of giving love without ever hearing the words back. She had given him an incredible gift.

* * *

They returned to town and Antonio dropped her off at her art deco apartment building and kissed her senseless. He told her he would see her later after he’d taken care of a few things. Lucy waited for him half the afternoon and into the early evening. Finally she went to sleep and figured she’d see him at the store in the morning.

She opened the shop the next morning excited to see him but instead found a note that had been shoved under her door.
I need to go before I screw up the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’m sorry.
Lucy sank in the antique chair next to her register and cried.

Chapter Ten

Alejandro took one look at his brother’s piqued face and knew the day had finally come. He didn’t say anything when Antonio popped up on their door two weeks ago with some lame excuse about an unexpected photo shoot in Connecticut. Instead he let his brother keep whatever was bothering him to himself. But Lauren was worried about him. So they decided to stage an intervention.

Alejandro brought home a case of beer and waited for the kids to fall asleep so he could have a man-to-man with his brother.

“The last time I saw you looking this down, Yesenia accidentally told you Santa Claus didn’t exist,” he said to his little brother.

“Funny,” Antonio replied as he swigged his beer.

“So what’s her name? Your artist woman?” Lauren said as she entered the living room.

“What makes you think it’s her?”

Lauren waddled over and nestled close to Alejandro. “Because you look the way your brother used to look. I didn’t know it was ‘the look’ until after everything happened, but it was indeed the look.”

“I’ve been drinking. Please dumb everything down for me,” he drawled.

“What’s so wrong with loving someone? Maybe she will make you happy,” Alejandro said quietly.

“She does make me happy,” he said in a stoic voice.

Lauren and Alejandro both looked at him in amazement.

“I am a slightly less self-absorbed asshole when I am with her.”

“Then why did you flee and come here?” Lauren challenged him.

“Lauren, I’m not my big brother. I can’t conquer things like that. Maybe he could face his fear of abandonment issues, no thanks to our father, but I can’t. There’s something in me that can’t let go.”

“It’s kind of nice you think I’m Superman and, as a matter of fact, I’ve still got this belt buckle…”

Lauren cut her eyes at him.

“I didn’t wake up one morning and say I’m over my father being a jackass. I had to work at it. We went to couples counseling.”

“You did?”

“Yes we did.” Lauren spoke up. “It’s private and I know how your brother feels about people thinking he has mental problems. I had issues. He had issues. But we had children that we wanted to see grow up healthy and relatively normal. The two of us being together caused a lot of chaos. We couldn’t just fix it all by ourselves without knowing why we caused it in the first place.”

“I love her. I love this woman who wears crazy scarves and paints in colorful overalls and likes to watch cheesy art house movies. When I see her, my heart beats faster and my palms get sweaty. I wish I were a better man. Because she deserves better than me.”

“Antonio,” Lauren said in a strained voice. “You are a good, kind, generous man. The arrogance, well, that just comes from being handsome all your life and not knowing how to deal with it. I kid you about that camera and attracting women with it, but I think you really use it to watch the world and keep yourself at arm’s length from it. I think you finally found the one picture you can’t take and move on. Sometimes the real thing is better than a photograph.”

“So you think I am worthy of the love of a beautiful, sweet, loving woman? Even after all the dogging around I did?” he grumbled.

Lauren stood up and took his hand. “I think you need a beautiful, sweet, loving woman because of all the dogging you did. May seem like you were the one having all the fun, but you suffered too.”

“I don’t want to get my heart broken. I think she could do it. I seriously think she could be the one that could be the end of me.”

“How about I shoot you in the shoulder? Then you tell me which hurts less. A bullet or a broken heart.” Lauren smiled.

“Antonio,” Alejandro said in a stern big brother voice. “De Soto men don’t let anything stand in their way to get what they want. But sometimes we stand in our own way when it’s time to get what we need. Go get her and make things right with her. She loves you. She’ll forgive you.”

“How do you know that she loves me?”

“Because the love a person feels for you is reflected in your eyes. You carry it around with you,” Alejandro said.

“I gotta go.” Antonio jumped up.

“I packed your bag and there is an eleven thirty plane leaving out of Newark. I printed your e-ticket for you.”

Both men looked at Lauren. Alejandro let out a slight chuckle.

“What do you think I was doing in the study?”

“Apparently not looking for the book Lana asked for.” Antonio laughed.

“I found that book hours ago. I love you, Antonio. I am so happy for you.” She jumped in his arms and gave him a big squeeze.

Antonio embraced her—well, both her and the baby. He wanted to tell her that she looked beautiful despite her complaining earlier about turning into a house again. Love, babies, and Alejandro suited her.

At that moment Antonio finally knew why Lauren had come into their lives. She single-handedly was able to repair his and Alejandro’s broken hearts. She never was meant to be his. Anyone could see she was meant to be with his brother. She was meant to open his eyes and make him see what it was he was missing in his world.

“I love you too. Both of you.” He looked at his brother. “And her name is Lucy.”

“I love her already. Lucy and Lauren.” She flashed a grin at him.

“What if she wants babies?” he said.

“You would be a great dad. But check with her first and see what both of you want.” Lauren laughed.

“Babies are good, Antonio. And we’d help you along the way.” Alejandro smiled.

“How about this?” Lauren said sheepishly. “You can be the godfather of our little girl. That way you can experiment on her.”

Antonio cracked a smile. “I would be honored. Another daughter, bro?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I have two monsters in training upstairs. I’m not worried about it.” He winked.

“Yeah, Dylan and Diego are going to smother her something terrible.” She sighed. “You see how they are with Zaria and she’s older.”

“De Soto men are very protective of their women,” Alejandro and Antonio said in unison.

* * *

Lucy stood in the highest point of the balcony, her gaze glued to the trees. It was when she reached the highest point in the theater that she saw how the trees became animated thanks to awesome lighting by Rick, the lighting director.