“Funny you should mention it. I’ve been thinking about the same thing. I want to be able to hold your hand and walk near the lake with you or go to Splendid Scoops for ice cream. So, yes, I think it would be a great day to make the announcement.”
He leaned over and kissed her until she melted against the seat. Natasha just hoped she could last that long.
Antonio didn’t know what to expect when he and Natasha arrived for the supper club dinner, but he hoped they were nothing like the dinners his ex-wife had insisted they attend. Those affairs might have been billed as casual, but they were anything but. Instead, they most often turned out to be filled with stuffed shirts who spent the entire evening lauding their accomplishments and debating who had the biggest bank account.
“If it isn’t Antonio ‘Lights Out’ Hayes.” He’d been given the nickname in high school because they claimed it was lights out for the other team once he hit the court.
“What’s up, Dana ‘Pit Stop’ Stephens?” He laughed and pulled her into a hug. “It’s been a long time, girl. You still messing around with cars?” She used to spend summers working at her father’s garage and got the nickname after a guy in auto class challenged her to see who could change a tire the fastest. Not only did she change two tires in the time it took him to do one, but she also had time to wipe down the windows. Everyone thought she should be on some racing team’s pit crew.
“More like running the shop these days.”
“Good for you.” He greeted Gabriel with a fist bump. “What’s up, man? Thanks for the invite.”
“Anytime.”
“You must be Serenity,” Antonio said to the woman curled into Gabriel’s side. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”
“Same here.” Serenity reached out and gave him a hug. “Come on in and get comfortable. We have a couple more people who should be here in a few minutes. In the meantime, help yourself to appetizers and wine.”
“Thanks, and thank you for the brunch last week. Everything was delicious.”
She waved him off. “Oh, it was nothing. I’m just glad you enjoyed it.”
Enjoyed was an understatement. Natasha looped her arm in his and steered him over to the bar where Serenity had lain out a charcuterie board, bacon-wrapped scallops, and spinach dip. “She did all this,andshe’s cooking an entire meal, too?”
Natasha smiled. “I told you she loves to cook.” She got two plates and handed him one.
Antonio added a little of everything, then poured them both glasses of wine. The group laughed and talked with a relaxed camaraderie that he’d longed for while living in New York. This was the complete opposite of the pretentious gatherings he’d endured. Most of his childhood friends had moved away, and aside from his brother, he didn’t really have any other friends here. But he and Gabriel had bonded immediately and had already made plans to get together. Being here convinced him even more that he’d made the right decision in returning.
“Oh, yeah, this is my jam!” Natasha hopped down from the stool, threw her hands in the air, and shook her hips to Silk Sonic’s “Fly As Me.”
He sat mesmerized by her movements in her body-hugging jeans and sweater, and his hands itched to trace every one of her luscious curves. She danced over and pulled him to his feet.
“You still know how to dance, don’t you?” she asked teasingly.
“I might be able to do a little sumthin’ sumthin’.” Antonio wrapped an arm around her waist and moved to her beat. They used to love dancing together and had often made up choreographed routines to songs and showed them off at school dances. When the song ended, she came up on tiptoe and kissed him.
“Yep, you still got it.” She did a little hip sway and sashayed over to refill her wine.
One more minute of her dancing like that andshewas going to get it… all of it. He tossed back the remainder of his wine and met Gabriel’s knowing gaze.
The doorbell rang, and Gabriel let in another couple, whom he introduced as Jonathan and Terri Rhodes.
“Okay, everybody, dinner is served,” Serenity announced. “Tonight we decided on a little surf ’n’ turf—beef tenderloin, lobster medallions in a butter cream sauce, twice-baked potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, and rolls.”
Over dinner, the women argued good-naturedly about the latest R&B singers, while the men discussed their predictions for which NBA teams would make it to the finals.
Brussels sprouts had never been high on Antonio’s list of foods, but whatever Serenity had done to them made him go back for seconds. And he wasn’t the only one.
Gabriel came over for more food. “I heard you and Natasha are trying to keep a low profile, but you look like you’re having some trouble with that.”
“Maybe.” But being here, he didn’t have to worry about it. He could touch, caress, and kiss her as much as he liked. His biggest problem lay with his decision not to make love to her until they were on solid footing. Being around her kept him in a state of arousal. “But I don’t plan to wait much longer.”
“No, I don’t suspect you will,” he said with a smile and went back to the table.
Antonio doubted he’d last the three weeks until Grandma Nora’s party.
CHAPTER 12
