Page 23 of Love or Leave

He stepped behind her and took the collar of her coat and slid it down her back, then forced his gaze off her long, soft neck asimages of him bending and kissing her along her necklace burst into his mind.

What the hell is happening?

A million conflicting thoughts raced through his mind. He fought the urge to slap himself.

"Thank you," she said with a pretty, reluctant smile.

He handed their coats to the attendant, took a deep breath, and walked them through the doors.

His eyes immediately found Fran.

She was standing by the bar with a tall, rugged looking guy in a brown suit with a navy plaid tie. His heart sank. He looked away before she noticed him noticing her and put all his attention on his “date.”

"You okay?" he asked, leaning in toward Cara.

She turned and smiled up at him. Well, slightly up at him. Wearing heels, she was only a couple of inches shorter than him.

She leaned in close, her cheek close to his, and whispered into his ear, "I feel like my heart is going to fall out of my butthole."

A laugh escaped, taking with it some of the tension, and finally he got a bit of relief. "Medically impossible," he said as he took her hand to give her some support. She was warm and soft and he had to work hard to get his wayward thoughts in line. "Just remember our code word."

They took a few more steps into the room and pulled up short when Antonio's favourite person came bounding toward him with a shriek. He bent down and opened his arms.

"Zio!"

He lifted Sophie up, and she kissed his cheek. "Hello, little miss," he said before shifting his attention to Cara, who smiled back at him, finally resembling her usual self. "Cara, this is my niece, Sophie. Sophie, this is Cara."

"Hello," Cara said. "I love your dress."

Sophie smiled, then dropped her cheek onto Antonio's shoulder. Maria finally caught up with her daughter and stopped in front of him with a sigh.

"Sophie," she said, taking her from Antonio's arms. "Go find the other kids so I can talk to Zio, okay?"

"I don't know where they are," she said, the corners of her mouth pulling down with a little whine.

Maria gave her a patient smile. "That's the point of hide and seek. Off you go."

She set Sophie down on her little white dress shoes and they all watched as she meandered away until she saw a little boy run out from under a table and chased after him.

"I'm glad you came," Maria said to Antonio as she gave him a hug before turning to Cara.

"Hi."

Cara smiled at Maria. "Hi."

Antonio's shoulders relaxed slightly. "This is Cara," he said to Maria. "Cara, this is my sister, Maria."

Maria pulled Cara into a tight hug and, when she pulled back, gave him a look of concern. "Fran's already here with Blake Hunter."

Antonio sucked in an annoyed breath. "I think we can just call him Blake."

"I know that name…" Cara said. A little crease formed between her pretty dark eyebrows as she scanned the room.

Antonio could see the second she found him and put two and two together. She gave a bit of a nod, and her gaze dropped to the woman beside him.

"Is that Fran standing next to him?"

Maria rolled her eyes. "That's her, Princess Fran."

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