He had to admit, he’d been going through a dry spell with women the last eight months or so. He stepped out onto the dance floor to join the other bachelors waiting with varying degrees of trepidation, well, except for the young boys who didn’t know better.
When it appeared no other males would be joining the group of seven or eight assembled on the dance floor, Marc shouted, “Heads up!” Facing away from them, his brother-in-law stretched the elastic garter with his pointer finger and let it fly over his shoulder. The scrap of lace made a trajectory straight for Tony who reached up and grabbed it easily in midair, beating out some distant teenage cousin from Sicily.
“Tony!” Angelina cried with excitement. He grinned back at her, oddly not weirded out at all given where the garter had been all day. Dragging it up his arm to flaunt it on his biceps like some gambler in an Old West saloon, he glanced in Pippa’s direction, but she was talking with another cousin who hadn’t even bothered to try and catch the thing.
“Now, will the young lady who caught the bouquet join Tony on the dance floor?” the emcee asked. “We’re going to have a little fun and do a reversal, letting Tony put the garter on your leg.”
Shit. Not Carmella!
She’d detested Tony since they’d met at that Aspen coffee shop last year. He’d shown up to give Angelina a ride home after Marc had acted like a jerk again. The two siblings had firmly chosen familial sides that night and, ever since, clashed whenever they’d met. The stiff businesswoman wouldn’t know how to have fun if her life depended on it.
As expected, Carmella D’Alessio shot him an equally disgusted look and didn’t move an inch. Not that he expected her to be at all agreeable. She had too many bristles and would probably be happy to watch Tony blown off the face of the earth right about now.
But damn.
The woman sure filled out that body-hugging dress—even better than Pippa did. Strapless, it revealed an expanse of olive-skinned cleavage and Carmella’s sexy, bare shoulders. Would her skin be as soft as it looked?
You’ll never find out.
Would she take the emcee’s challenge and come toward him? Dollars to doughnuts, no way.
“Come on, Carm,” Marc teased his sister. “We won’t hold you two to any official engagement or anything.”
What the—? Who said anything about engagements? Good way to throw cold water on any interest he might have in Carmella, Marc. Tony glared at Marc who held Angelina in front of him, arms around her waist, apparently relishing his new marital status. Being with Angelina wouldn’t be any hardship for the man. He’d married up.
Suddenly unsure whether he wanted to go through with this garter reversal himself, Tony glanced down at the floor, then to the empty chair Angelina had sat in minutes ago—anywhere but at Carmella.
When he finally put eyes on her again, she stood firmly rooted to the same spot at the edge of the dance floor. More determined than ever to show this predicament with Carmella was no big deal to him, Tony held his position.
Come on, Carmella. It’s not like I’m going to bite. Not that I wouldn’t like to take a nibble or two. Why does she dislike me so much?
Tony had always been the clown of the family, a title he’d claimed proudly since childhood. But she was so serious all the time. They had an opportunity to offer a little entertainment at this party. Why didn’t she just get over here so they could get this over with?
Carm had never been indecisive in her life and not one to back down from a challenge, either. She ran this five-star resort as an equal partner with her brother, Alessandro, never hesitating over the major decisions they made on a daily basis. And yet, here she stood wishing the floor would open up and swallow her so her thigh wouldn’t have to get up close and personal with Tony Giardano’s mouth.
As much as she hated to admit it, he had sinfully sexy lips. And his two-day stubble gave him an even more devil-may-care look than normal. As a firefighter, Tony had to keep most of his face clean-shaven so it wouldn’t interfere with his breathing gear. Without a doubt, that scratchy stubble would play hell with her tender skin in places only one guy’s whiskers had gone before. And that had been a long time ago.
Knowing Tony, he’d put the garter as high on her thigh as Marc had had to reach to remove it from Angelina’s. The man had a penchant for tormenting her without even trying, ever since he’d shown up at the café nearby thinking Angelina needed rescuing from Carmella’s brother. Heat from a touch of anger flooded her face. If she’d known catching Angelina’s bouquet would put her in such a predicament, she’d have remained seated at her table. But Mama had encouraged her to participate and have a little fun now that the party was coming to a close.
You owe me one, Mama.
Would her flushed cheeks make him think she was blushing? With three older brothers, Carm had never let anyone embarrass her and certainly wasn’t going to let Tony be the first. Unwelcome emotions warred inside her right now as she continued to hesitate. He seemed no more thrilled about this than she was.
“Tony, come on! Be a sport!” Angelina goaded. “You too, Carmella, especially after you worked so hard on this reception.”
Seemingly emboldened by his sister’s taunt, Tony squared his shoulders and took a few steps toward Carm, stretching out his hand toward her. Uncomfortable at his intense gaze, she shifted her focus to the
