Beautiful Life: The Carpino Series (11 page)

“Well, I can’t steal Gabby’s dog.  Sure, I’d love to get a dog someday, I’ve told you that.  But now isn’t the right time with me working twelve hour shifts,” I answer.  He’s pulling every card he can think of to talk me out of an apartment. 

“I’ve been thinking about getting a dog,” he states out of the blue.

My eyes narrow and my mouth goes tight.  He knows how much I want a dog.  He knows my mom couldn’t afford one.  He also knows Preston wouldn’t let me have one.  And he knows how much I love Mia and what she’s meant to me while I was recovering.  He’s really hitting below the belt talking about a dog.

This pisses me off.  I try and control my voice when I say, “That’s not nice.”

His eyes grow warm.  Now the tables are turned and he’s the one trying to suppress his grin.  “What?” he exclaims.  “I like dogs and I haven’t had one since I was young.  What’s wrong with me thinking about getting a dog?”

“I cannot
be-lieve
you!” I say in a whispered-pissed voice because if I don’t keep my voice at a whisper I would be screaming.

“Though, I’m not getting some silly-ass dog,” he says with a full grin.

I shove his chest, but it does no good so I raise my voice, “Tony Carpino!”

Tony’s now wearing a smile and goes on to torture me, “I’m thinking we’ll go shopping again next week after the wedding.  But not for clown cars or apartments, we’ll shop for a puppy.”

“You’re doing this on purpose!” I yell.

“Well, I’m not getting a dog on accident,” he drawls.

“You know what I mean,” I go on.

“I’m thinking a German Shepard.  But a German Shepard is too badass to ride in your clown car.  We might have to look at something more girlie.  Maybe a Bulldog or a Husky,” he keeps planning our puppy purchasing trip as if I’m not having a moment.

“Stop it!” I yell again and give him another slap for good measure.

He has the nerve to pull me in tighter and leans down to my face super close to say, “After we pick out a puppy, then we’ll get to shop again for all the puppy shit.  You know, toys, bowls, collars, stuff like that.  I’ll even let you get pink shit if it’s a girl.  I don’t know if it will be a boy or a girl.  To do it right, the puppy really needs to pick us.  Or me.  It will be
my
puppy, after all.”

That’s when we hear a knock at the door and the sales lady comes back in.  Of course Tony doesn’t let me go and I have to crane my neck around to see her.  She asks, “Have you made any decisions?”

Tony says, “She doesn’t want it,” at the same time I exclaim, “I’ll take it!”

The sales lady frowns, “Are you sure?”

Tony says, “No,” at the same time I bellow, “Yes!”

Before anyone else can say anything else to confuse the situation, I ask quickly, “When can I move in?”

Still somewhat confused, she answers, “Anytime, we just need to get the paperwork filled out and your deposit with the first month’s rent.”

“Great!” I exclaim with mock enthusiasm.

“Well, thank you,” she says and goes on with her practiced sales shpeel.  “We are very happy to have you here as a member of our community.”

“She’ll never be here,” Tony says matter of factly with a big smile.  “I’m getting a dog.”

“Oh,” she says, back to surprised.  “We have a no pets policy.”

“I know!” Tony and I both say at the same time.

Honestly.

I try and pry myself away from him so I can go sign a six month lease on an apartment I might not be at very much because I have a feeling I’m going to love Tony’s dog.    But Tony doesn’t let me go and leans down to kiss me, this time playfully.  All of a sudden he’s in a really great mood.  The jerk.

“You’re happy all of a sudden,” I say with a scowl.

He kisses me again and states, “I’m just excited about my new dog.  Come on, let’s go sign your lease then I’ll take you to dinner.  We’ll celebrate your apartment and my dog.”

He grabs my hand and pulls me out of my new apartment.  I quickly glance around thinking it’s really, really small and wondering what just happened.  If I let myself think about it, I’m pretty sure Tony just hoodwinked me with thoughts of a dog.  At least I can say I’m not moving in with Tony because I’ll have my own apartment, even if I’m not in it much. 

Shit. 

I can’t think about this right now.  I have a lease to sign. 

*****

Shit again.

Tony has been on the phone the whole time I sat in the management office of my new apartment complex filling out my paperwork and making necessary payments.  I could barely concentrate because of the phone calls Tony was making. 

First, he called his Uncle Nic.  Nic is an architect and builder.  After eavesdropping on his phone call, I learned Nic designed and built Tony’s house.  While talking to Nic, Tony told him all about his plans for a dog and because of the dog, Tony needed a bid on a fence, thus the reason for the phone call to Nic in the first place. 

The second phone call was to his brother-in-law, Lanny.  Lanny is a vet and has his own practice.  He talked to Lanny at length about breeds, rescue dogs versus puppies, breeders and just about everything dog under the sun.  Tony also informed Lanny he was having his yard fenced, like yesterday, to have it all ready for his new dog.   From my eavesdropping, I learned if you rescue a dog through a rescue organization, they’re super picky and have all kinds of requirements, such as the fence which is why he said it would be done yesterday. 

Tony finally shut down his phone, looked at me and says with another annoying smile, “Aren’t you done yet?  It’s not like you’re buying dog.  Or rescuing one for that matter.  Apparently not just anyone can rescue a dog.  Those organizations have really high standards.”

I give him a glare and pout, “I’m hungry.”

He takes my hand and hauls me out of the office pulling me to his Explorer.  He gives me another yank and all of a sudden I’m pinned against the passenger door, Tony’s long hard body pressed up against mine.  He leans down and kisses me, this time intense, like he can’t wait another second to get his lips on mine. 

With his big strong hands spanning my jaw and up behind my ears into my hair, he lifts his head just enough to say, “I can’t wait to get a dog.” 

I slump against the car and close my eyes.  He’s completely wearing me down.  I don’t know how much longer I can take it.  I feel his fingers tense in my scalp.  When I open my eyes he’s smiling at me as he asks, “What’s wrong?  Aren’t you excited about my dog, gem?”

I let out a breath of air and say, “Your dog scares me, Tony.”

“Really?” he asks.

“Yes, really.”

“Why?” he asks, moving in toward my face, his lips close to mine.

“You know why,” I whisper back.

“Tell me,” he demands, against my lips.

What I can’t tell him is he’s becoming harder and harder to resist as the days go on, and if I’m honest with myself, with each additional orgasm he gives me.  If he throws a dog into the mix I’m toast.  A goner. 

I decide to leave out the orgasms and just focus on the dog, whispering, “You know I won’t be able to resist a dog.”

He looks at me a beat and his eyes sweep my face feeling like a caress, exactly the way I’ve come to cherish.  He looks back into my eyes and takes my breath away when he whispers, “Good.”  He leans down to kiss me one more time, long, soft and sweet.  I feel his lips leave mine and I barely open my eyes when he says, “Now, let’s go eat.”

I wake up to hammering.  And saws.  And lots of men’s voices coming from outside Tony’s bedroom window. 

I burrow my face deeper in my pillow at the same time I feel Tony’s arm tighten around my torso pulling my back into his front.  His forearm is angled up my side and his thumb is torturing the outside of my breast back and forth.  I don’t know what’s freaking me out more, his thumb or the fence going up in his backyard reminding me of the imminent puppy purchasing process that will begin tomorrow.  I do know that my body is starting to deceive my brain as of late and I find it’s doing it again because my body wiggles back into Tony tighter.  Apparently my body can’t get close enough despite my freak-out. 

And I feel him:  awake, alert
and
erect in his boxers.  The second I wiggle in tighter, I feel him press his hips and his erectness into my bottom at the same time his lips hit me below my ear.  That’s when he murmurs, “Mornin’, gem.”

Again, my body acts on its own accord, lifting my head for him to gain better access to my neck.  Tony takes advantage of the access granted and traces my neck with his tongue at the same time he pulls away from my back.  His hand splays across my stomach to push me down on my back and he instantly rolls over me.  His mouth hits mine, firm and intense.  My stupid, stupid body continues to ignore my freak-out because my legs separate and his hips instantly fall in between, pressing hard against me making me gasp into his mouth. 

Oh, but that feels good.

I feel my hips move with his, my legs pulling up so I can feel more of him and he dips a hand under his t-shirt that’s on my body.  With the hammering and sawing continuing outside, I feel his hand come to my bare breast as he starts to torture my nipple with a roll and gentle tug. 

And that feels so good my lips form the words, “Do that again.”

I feel his lips smile against mine and he grinds his hips between my legs even harder.  Then he does it again, but the squeeze and tug are even more intense and I moan into his mouth. 

I think my moan did it, because all the control Tony was holding onto vanishes into thin air.  He sits back on his knees, yanks me up with him and whips his t-shirt off my body.  Before I know it, I’m on my back again and he has his lips are wrapped around my nipple sucking, rolling and biting. 

It. Is. Heaven.

So much so, I forget about the hammering, the sawing, the fence and the impending puppy.  I arch my back and put my hands to the back of his head to hold him to me.  He moves to my other breast and his teeth are tormenting my other nipple when we hear it.

The doorbell. 

Like a wet blanket, the doorbell makes me tense and Tony stills where he is at my breast.  He looks up to me and growls out, “Fucking-A.”

But he doesn’t get up.  He comes back over me, giving me all his weight, grinds his hips in between my legs again for good measure and kisses me.  The doorbell rings again.  He lifts his head to look down at me, eyes all heated and sexy, hair all messy and sleepy. 

“I should get the door,” he states.

“Yeah,” I agree, not really knowing if I want him to get the door or not.  My brain is starting to wake up and have its own freak-out over what my body has done with the current situation. 

He leans down to kiss me one more time and demands, “Do not move.”

Before I can do or say anything with my brain or my body, he’s up and I immediately feel the loss of him.  He flips the covers up and over me, bending to the floor to pull on his sweats pants and a tee.  He moves out of the bedroom as I hear the doorbell again and I look over to the clock. 

Shit!

I need to get up.

Today is Gabby and Jude’s wedding and I have to be at her house in an hour for makeup and hair.

The last week has been a whirlwind with the final wedding activities, wedding plans and moving into my apartment.  Not to mention I worked five days in a row so I could have the whole weekend off for the wedding.  Gabby was about as happy as Tony that I signed a lease and am planning on moving out of her house.  I had to listen to them both tell me it was unnecessary and a waste of money.  Then Tony announced his grand dog plans and Gabby perked up right away, totally catching on to Tony’s hoodwinking dog strategy.  I huffed at both of them, marched out of the room as I heard Jude rasp out, “Nice work,” probably to Tony since I’m sure he’s obligated by the brotherhood to pound his chest in support of macho hoodwinking skills. 

Even though Gabby wasn’t happy about me moving out, she proved to be the amazing friend I knew she was and supplied me with a treasure trove of really great furniture.  I offered to pay her for it, in addition to all her time and energy she spent refinishing it all.  Of course she waved her hand around while saying with a knowing look, “Don’t worry about it.  Consider it a loan.  I’m sure you won’t be using it for long anyway.” 

I decided to shut up about the furniture and just accept it because I didn’t need to think about what she meant by that.  All I had to purchase was a mattress set and a small love seat, since that’s all that would fit into my tiny little studio apartment.  I made these purchases quickly and efficiently but more importantly, while Tony was at work.  I didn’t need to be shopping for mattresses with Tony. 

I got the keys to my new apartment a couple of days ago.  It took Tony and Jude about forty five minutes to move my stuff in, a somewhat depressing realization of how little I have.  But my mattress and loveseat were delivered yesterday and my apartment is all ready for me.

Of course I ended up in Tony’s bed again last night because he drove us straight here after the rehearsal dinner.  I didn’t say boo about it because I was distracted and happy for my friend who is over the moon happy about getting married. 

This is not a good sign of things to come.  I mean, there isn’t even a dog in the picture yet.  But I’m late.  I jump out of bed pulling Tony’s t-shirt back over my head and am heading to the bathroom for a shower when Tony comes back in. 

“I thought I told you not to move,” he says, standing in back of me at one of the sinks I’ve claimed in his master bathroom. 

I don’t want to go back to me almost naked in his bed waiting for him so I ask, “Who was at the door?”

“The contractor,” he says, as he moves in close, fitting himself to my back.  “He had a question about where I wanted the gates.”

I look up to him in the mirror.  We both look tousled with sleep…and well…other things.  But the difference between us is striking.  His olive skin to my fair light coloring.  His almost black eyes to my green.  And his thick, dark brown wavy hair to my very straight, very light blonde.  His arms snakes out and comes around my middle and my hand instantly comes up to his.  I look down at my skin on his, running my fingers over his hand and forearm. 

I feel his lips at the back of my head and he calls out, “Gem.”

My eyes go directly to his.  His eyes hold mine through the mirror.  Without letting go of my eyes he gives me a squeeze as he expresses, “I want this.”

I feel my brows gather as I ask, “This?”

“Us.  But more.”

My voice dips and I ask again, “What are you saying?”

I didn’t know it was possible, but he looks into my eyes even deeper, deep enough to reach my soul, when he says, “I want it all.  I want you in every way I can have you, Leigh.  I want you in my house, my bed.  I want to give you a dog and a family.  And once you’re officially mine, I want to give you babies, lots of them.  I want to give you a full life, gem.  You’re ready for it, you just need to open your eyes and see it.  It’s right in front of you.  It’s time for you to reach out and grab hold.” 

Closing my eyes at his words I feel my knees wobble.  He pulls me in tighter and demands softly, “Look at me.” 

Opening my eyes, I feel him let go of me to turn me around.  He gathers me up again and fists my hair to tilt my head back to look at him and I’m surprised my knees didn’t buckle completely when he declares, “I will never hurt you and I will never leave you because I love you.  And because I love you, I want you to be mine in every way.”

I feel my eyes well up with tears.  This is too much.  I’ve never felt this way about anyone and I know I’ve held myself back, but if I let go I know I could love him forever.  There’s so much to love.  I’m scared to tell him and I don’t know how he can love me.  I’ve never had anyone love me.  Not ever. 

“Don’t say anything,” he goes on.  “When you open your eyes and see this for what it is, you’ll see what I see.  And when you do, you’ll want it as much as I want it.  And I want it.  More than I’ve ever wanted anything, gem. 
Anything
,” he stresses his last word by tensing his fingers in my scalp, as if he needed to emphasize his feelings even more. 

I decide not to say anything, mostly because I don’t know what to say and I’m afraid my heart will overpower my brain and tell him I love him, too.  He kisses me long and soft, then says, “Take a shower, I’ll get you to Gabby’s but pack a bag, I reserved a cottage at the club tonight, we’re staying there.” 

Without giving me a chance to say a word, not that I would have, he kisses me again while swiping the tears away with his thumbs and turns to leave his bathroom.  I turn back to the mirror while trying to slow down my heart. 

There’s no way I can put this off to think about until tomorrow. 

No way.

“Shit,” I whisper into the mirror. 

*****

I’ve never seen Gabby more beautiful.  And Gabby’s always beautiful, so that’s saying something. 

We’re standing in the Bride’s Room of the church with T minus fifteen to take off, at least that’s how Tony keeps referring to it.  He’s hanging out with the women since he’s walking Gabby down the aisle.  It’s been a busy day full of hair, makeup, nails and last minute details.  Even though Gabby only had eight weeks to plan the wedding, she’s surprisingly calm and looks like she’s enjoying every minute.  But she’s the queen of detail, I’m sure she’s confident everything will go off without a hitch.  Plus she has an army of Carpino women at her back to make sure her day is perfect. 

Gabby’s dress is strapless and slim fitting all the way to the floor where it bells out into a medium length train.  But what makes the dress fantastic are the Swarovski crystals cascading down the entire gown.  It fits her curvy figure like a glove and it’s as elegant as the bride wearing it.  It’s absolutely perfect for her. 

Her hair is in a loose up-do with tons of complicated twists and curls.  Tucked in here and there are more little crystals, glimmering if caught by the light.  Her makeup is a little heavier than normal, perfect for a formal evening wedding. 

Reagan, Lilly, Paige and I are attendants and our dresses are fantastic as well.  I’m still thanking Gabby for not choosing strapless dresses for us to wear.  I don’t have the boobs for a strapless dress and I’d be tugging at it all night like I was in middle school.  Even petite little Paige has way more curves than me.  But Gabby thinks of everything, I’m sure she thought of that, too. 

No, our dresses are perfect.  They’re light silver, slim to the floor with a slit up the middle in the front hitting above our knees, just high enough to show a little leg with each step.  It has a tiny little kick train in the back, spaghetti straps and a deep V in the front dipping to the wide band just under the bust.  The band is made of dark grey and covered with more crystals to accent Gabby’s dress.  The men are wearing dark grey tuxes with vests and a tie. 

It’s time.  I reach for my bag and pull out a small box with a silver ribbon wrapped around it.  Gabby is busy chatting with Chloe who’s in her own white flouncy dress with a silver sash.  Chloe is dancing in circles talking everyone’s ear off. 

“Gabby,” I call to her.  She looks over and so does Tony.  He came shopping with me, he knows we could have a drama at the most or a moment at the very least.  Tony and I both move to her and I say, “I have something for you.  I know you’re not superstitious and didn’t want anything new, old, borrowed and blue.  This is just a gift, but you’ve got to keep it together girlie.”

“What, is it going to make me lose it?” she asks, looking curious.  I look over at Tony and he gives me an encouraging smile.

“Just open it.  We’ve got to be at T minus twelve by now,” I tease.

She takes my gift with a hesitant look on her face, pulling the bow and opening the lid.  The second she looks into the box she gasps, throwing her hand over her mouth.  Not taking her eyes off the box, she reaches in and touches the charms lightly with the tips of her fingers. 

There are two charms, one of her mom and one of her dad.  I found the pictures at her house, took them to a jeweler, had the pictures scanned and shrunk down to size.  They’re soldered between glass with sterling silver around the edges with an eye hook at the top.  Her mom is in one and the other side is a picture of her parents on their wedding day.  Her dad is in the other and the opposite side holds a picture of the three of them.

“They’re for your bouquet,” I explain.  “You can have your parents with you when you walk down the aisle.”

“Ohmygoodness,” she starts to tear up.  I can tell she’s trying to keep it together because she swallows and nods her head real fast while pulling in a breath.  She looks up and breathes, “It’s perfect, Leigh.  I can’t think of anything more perfect.  Thank you.”