The Billionaire's Second-Chance Bride (The Romero Brothers, #1) (7 page)

“Broken hearts?” Antonio interjected for her. A grin touched the corner of his lips. “Not exactly. I’ve been very disappointed, Lucy. But I don’t give my heart to just anyone.”

Whoa!

“Oh. Um...I didn’t mean...I mean...” Lucy didn’t know what to say and she bit down on her lip again. “I meant to say that love is one heck of a ride. But we won’t know if we’ll enjoy it or not if we don’t take the driver’s seat and punch the gas pedal. We need to steer ourselves where we want to go.” Okay, wow, that sounded awkward. Lucy chewed on her lip again.

“Please don’t do that,” he said quietly.

“What?”

His gaze fell on her lips again. “Never mind.” He exhaled sharply and moved over by the French glass doors leading to the garden from the study. The view was spectacular. There was so much greenery outside and the hills in the distance created a picture-perfect painting of the outdoors.

“The view is very nice,” Lucy said to break the tension.

“It’s okay. It was there when the house was built in the 1940s.”

House? That’s an understatement.

“Oh, nice. I absolutely love the view over there. God, it’s beautiful.”

“Want a closer look?” Antonio invited in a low, sultry voice that caused a little explosion of butterflies in her stomach.

God, that man could say Atlas and it would sound sexy as hell. The truth was, she would like a closer look at him.

“Do you want a tour?” he continued.

“Well, I’ve seen quite a bit of the property.”

“I’m not talking about the estate.”

“Oh,” Lucy answered, stunned. To what exactly was Antonio referring?

“I’m talking about the part beyond that stretch over there.” Antonio raised his hand to motion to the area beyond the hills. “I know my grandfather wouldn’t have anyone take a tour there. Well, not just anyone. It’s actually an area we keep away from most people.”

“Oh, and you want me to see it?”

“I’m a spontaneous man, Lucy,” Antonio proffered. “I don’t always plan things. I act on things.”

Like acting on the moment
, Lucy guessed. “I’d love to. Thanks.” Lucy got up and reached for her handbag and her cardigan on the chair. This was not about to screw up any more opportunities to be in Antonio’s presence. She really wanted more than anything to just be with him. Just to be near him. There were few people in her life who could command that sort of reaction from her. And Antonio was one of the few!

“Are you seeing anyone?” Antonio asked.

Whoa. Where did that come from?

Her knees just got light and her heart went pitter-patter in her chest. There was that funny tingling sensation in her belly again.

“E-excuse me?”

“You didn’t understand the question? Or you didn’t hear me?”

“Yes, I just can't believe you...”
Think about what you are going to say before you say it, Lucy. Don’t put your stiletto in your mouth again.
“I mean, am I seeing anyone? What kind of question is that? I could be happily married with three children.”

“You didn’t put that up on your Facebook profile and you don’t wear a wedding band.”

Oh
.

“You’re stalking me on Facebook?” she asked as she gave a nervous chuckle.
Oh, my God! He’s interested in me?

“You attached your Facebook address to your business card, Lucy.”

Oh
.

“R-right. Of course.” Lucy blushed. She was sure she was beet red. How embarrassing. Why was she acting like a school girl speaking to her crush ... again?

Heck, she was looking at Antonio’s Facebook profile, too. Only she wasn’t one of his friends so she could not see anything on his page. Set to private, no doubt. Antonio certainly was elusive.

“Besides that, I always make it my point to run a check on everyone who comes into the family circle.”

“A check? You mean a security background check? You do surveillance on everyone you meet?”

“Just those who work closely with me or my family. I am very protective of those close to me, Lucy.”

She felt his words resonate inside her heart. She certainly could relate to that. Who could fault a man who only wanted to protect his family and those close to him? Heck, if she had that kind of money, she’d probably do the same. Or, maybe not. Either way, she was stoked that he took interest in knowing about her. What else had he found out about her?

Oh. My. Goodness.

“Come, let me take you to the slopes.”

“The slopes? Now? In the fall?”

“Yes,” he murmured as they walked through the French garden doors.

Before long, they had walked to a driveway where a two-passenger red convertible was parked. “We’ll drive up to the hillside. It’s quite a way,” Antonio explained as he opened the passenger side of the car for Lucy.

“Thank you,” she said with sincerity.

The interior smelled like fresh, new leather. The car itself sparkled under the sunset sky. It looked more like a showroom model than a car driven by anyone on a day-to-day basis. Maxine earlier mentioned that she saw Antonio exit a BMW. This was obviously a different vehicle. It would be no surprise that a man of Antonio's stature would have several luxury vehicles, no doubt. Probably each one for a different occasion. What a way to live!

“Very nice,” she commented, almost breathless.

“It gets me around,” Antonio virtually dismissed the compliment as he sat in the driver’s seat. He turned the key in the ignition and the car started with a smooth, quiet start.

Lucy's old sedan certainly never started that way. It was often obvious that her engine could use a bit of help or at least some fine-tuning. Heck, some mornings it never started.

They drove through the verdant hilltop path taking in the scenic view. “I didn’t know there was so much pristine land out here.”

“It’s a break from the city,” he said, casting her a sideways glance. His lips curled into a sexy grin. He looked adorable as the wind whisked through his dark, short mane.

“For sure,” she agreed as she held down her own locks of hair as the wind tousled it. She tucked the sides behind her ears but it was no use, the warm early autumn breeze continued to sweep her brunette hair into her face.

“The scenery is so beautiful.” Lucy's eyes drank in the greenery as they climbed higher up the hilltop.

“Not half as beautiful as you,” Antonio murmured in a low, deep voice.

Lucy turned to him. She was, in a word, stunned. Did he just say she was beautiful? Oh, God! Her belly was really bubbling up in a tingly way. Oh, God! “Thank you,” she replied sheepishly as she looked out at the scenery, trying to avoid his gaze. This was stupid. She was a grown woman. What was she afraid of?

“You want on some music?” Antonio asked with a dimpled grin.

“Sure. Can you get one of those oldies station or easy-listening channels?”

Antonio reached over the satellite radio and set it to a station.

Before she knew it, the song “Never Knew Love Like This” by Stephanie Mills boomed through the speakers. Lucy thought she would faint. Good thing she was sitting. The smooth, soul ballad with the catchy melodic tune sounded: "I never knew love like this before, now I’m lonely never more...since you came into my life...”

Oh, God! Lucy felt as if she could sink into her seat. What a coincidence for that song to play! How embarrassing. The song was one of the most beautiful ballads she’d ever heard. An old eighties tune but it certainly couldn’t have spoken for the mood any more than it did. It was as if Antonio’s car was alive and played music to what a person thought inside his or her mind.

Antonio glanced in her direction and his grin grew wider. Great! He sure was enjoying this, wasn’t he? He probably thought she was in love with him or some such nonsense. Egotist.

“Nice choice. The station, I mean,” he quipped.

Lucy resisted the urge to playfully slap his muscular arm. She wanted to pinch him but she didn’t.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement. By the time that song ended, the beautiful ballad “Lost in Your Eyes” by Debbie Gibson played. It had to be one of her all time favorites. Both of them were quiet in the car for a moment as they pulled up to the top of the hill with the gorgeous view of the mansion and the enormous green spread below.

“Well, we’re here. What do you think of the view?” Antonio seemed a bit more mellow. Was it the music? Could a beautiful ballad really tame the beast, so to speak?

She got out of the car slowly as he held the door open for her. “Thank you,” she said.

“You’re a very polite woman,” he commented. “You must have said thank you at least three hundred times since this afternoon,” he surmised with a boyish grin. "But who's counting?"

She would not say thank you to that comment. She willed herself not to. Gosh, he was right. She was very over-thankful for everything, if one could call it that.

Antonio took that opportunity to grill Lucy about her life. What she enjoyed and what she didn’t and how noble it was for her to take over her auntie’s business, though he still wanted to discuss letting his grandfather down as gently as possible. He loved that old man. Lucy asked him about his own family since clearly he knew much about her.

Antonio was closed at first but as they meandered around the hillside they got to talking more. He loved to capture the beautiful scenic images, and in fact, he owned a mini gallery in one of the cottages where he displayed his artwork and nature photography. He even showed her some images on his smartphone. Lucy was awestruck. His mood darkened somewhat when she asked him about his father. He didn’t want to delve too much into his father’s passing and what type of man he was. And what Lucy noticed more was the pain in Antonio’s eyes when he answered a question about his mother. She was alive but it sure didn’t feel like it. He didn’t want to discuss anything about his mother. She was off limits apparently. Period. Done with. A nonissue. Lucy wondered in horror about what type of relationship they might have had for him to never want to trust women. Perhaps there was more to the story than the little she had heard. There must have been. Antonio was a sweet, resourceful man who gave a lot to the community, though he never spoke directly of it. While questioning him on his projects, she learned that most of it was to help young people succeed in life on their own regardless of their backgrounds. He seemed to be quite passionate about that. Obsessed even. It was one of the forces that drove him daily. To turn underdogs into top dogs. Who could blame him for wanting to do that?

Was it because he didn’t have much himself growing up. Not in material things, obviously, but in love. Companionship.

Lucy had explained to Antonio that the reason she wanted to continue the agency, despite having her own reservations about some of the stunts the brides and grooms wanted to pull off, was it was a way to grant dreams to deserving people. Antonio commended her on her intent but still made it clear that by Friday, he wanted her to resolve the issue with his grandfather’s wedding.

Way to ruin the moment
, she thought.

They enjoyed the scene of the lake below and Lucy also noticed the chairlift to the side going all the way down to the bottom of the hill.

“You guys own all of this land?”

“We do.”

“But it’s like cottage country up here. Is there a resort near by?” Lucy felt so out of her league and so out of bounds. How could she not have known this? She knew that Romero Realty owned plenty of properties and land but never envisioned this. Unlike Antonio, it wasn’t as if she went around ordering background checks on everyone with whom she did business. Although it would probably be a good idea. Everything she knew about people was reduced to whatever she could Google about them. Ha! That made her feel so amateurish compared to the Romeros.

“During the winter months, we open up the cottages over there and we pretty much run a ski resort. We do a lot of student packages.”

“Can the students even afford this?”

“We do complimentary packages, Lucy. We give back to the community and to the young people.”

“Oh, right.”

“I trust you will be present at the Diamond Ball this Thursday evening?” Antonio’s tone made the sentence sound more like a command than a question or invitation.

“Well, I do have a lot of projects this week,” she answered with a grin. “But I think I will try to squeeze it in.”

“Good,” Antonio answered curtly.

The sun was setting and the sky was turning into swirls of red and purple in the distance. When she looked at the lights of the town below, it was a picture-perfect image.

“You must love coming up here, Antonio.”

“Like I said, I like to get away from the city when I can. And from people.”

“From people?”

“Yes. Why, does that surprise you?”

“Well, you seem like such a people person.”

“I do?”

“Yes.” Lucy then thought back to their first meeting at the office. He didn’t exactly seem people-friendly at the time but that was obviously because he was peeved with her about his grandfather’s wedding.

Oh, no. His grandfather’s wedding. Just then, Lucy’s feelings took a serious nosedive.

Lucy kept directing her gaze to the chairlifts going up and down the steep hill, empty. It was sad in a way. Here, Antonio had all this land and it was practically empty. It was like owning an amusement park and not allowing admittance.

“You want a ride?”

“On the chairlift?”

“Come.” Antonio didn’t wait for her to answer.

Oh, my. This was so not how she had planned her evening. It was better. Too bad it was a work night.

Lucy didn’t know why but she just wanted to spend the whole evening with Antonio. Heck, she wanted to spend more than just the whole evening with him. There was something about him that lulled her senses. Something about Antonio that she just couldn’t quite pinpoint.

What was it about Antonio Romero? This man was as elusive as he was sexy and hot as hell. His presence captivated her every time she saw him. Whether in person or in her dreams or her fantasies. And there he was. With Lucy. Alone. Just the two of them.