Blind Love (15 page)

Catherine met Henry and the crew at the plane. Before they boarded the carts for the ride to the house, she cautioned everyone not to mention the name of the show or the concept to anyone, especially Tony.

On the way back to the house, she asked Henry, “Can we get a shot of Cara’s household staff, maybe in front of the house?”

“We’ll have to pay them all, Cat.”

“We can afford it. We’re paying next to nothing for the use of the house. The least we could do is pay a few hundred to the members of the staff who’ll be taking care of all our creature comforts for the entire month of June.” One of the sponsors Henry had lined up, a manufacturer of women’s clothes, had offered to furnish casual clothes for the women on the show, and that savings could be used to pay the staff.

“Yes, all right. We’ll put them all on television.”

After a tour of the house and grounds with Mr. Pettibone, they ate lunch in the sunroom with Tony. Romeo and Juliet, Cara’s colorful birds, chattered away in a big cage in the corner of the sunroom. Riley stretched out under the glass-topped table. Tony slipped his shoes off and rubbed the dog while he ate.

Mitzi gave Tony a come-on look. “Tony, Cat said you liked blondes.”

“What’s not to like?” he replied, flashing that killer smile.

Catherine shared an amused look with Henry. Tony was a big flirt, and he charmed every woman he met. He’d probably been flashing that smile since he was old enough to look in a mirror and admire himself. He’d have woman all over the country lusting after him.

Tony wouldn’t have to act surprised when he heard the concept of the show. He thought he was going to have thirteen beauties to choose from. Some were beautiful all right, but he could end up rejecting all the pretty ones before he could put their faces with their names.

He could end up hating her for doing this to him.

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Wednesday evening, after Henry and the crew left the estate and Tony went outside to play with Riley, Catherine pulled on a bathing suit and skirt and went down to the pool. The freeform pool was in a natural woodland setting, quite private, with a rock waterfall on one side and soft green underwater lights. The sylvan setting would look wonderful on camera, especially at night.

Tony walked down the path with his dog by his side and stopped at the side of the pool. “Hey, Princess. How come you’re swimming without me?”

“Did you bring a bathing suit?”

Tony hunkered down beside the pool and splashed her. “Do I need one?”

He gazed into her eyes and motioned her closer, telling her without words what he wanted. She climbed the ladder part way, far enough to reach his lips. One touch of his lips released the desire she’d been fighting to keep hidden. She untied her top and put it beside her towel. To hell with the show. She wanted Tony.

Tony stepped behind the bushes and stripped off his clothes. Fully aroused, he was the most incredible creature she’d ever seen, and he wasn’t completely naked. She ran her hand up his leg to touch the latex covered organ. It throbbed under her touch. As he eased his body into the pool, she kicked off the rest of her bikini and put it beside her towel. Tonight, she’d have what she’d been dreaming about since the day Tony Donatelli walked into her life.

One passionate kiss led to another, as hands explored and rubbed and excited bodies that were already wound tight with need.

Tony pushed her back against the ladder. “I can’t wait, honey. I want you so much I’m about to explode.”

Catherine couldn’t wait either. All that dampness between her legs wasn’t from the water in the pool. Holding onto his shoulders, she wrapped her legs around him and he plunged inside her, filling her completely. “You’re so big,” she whispered.

“That’s your fault, baby.”

Tony pulled almost out and shoved in deeper, bringing a moan from deep inside her. He held her there while she writhed against him and begged, “Don’t stop, Tony. Please don’t stop.”

He grabbed her behind and held her against him as he turned around. “I don’t want your back getting scraped up on the pool.” Bracing himself against the ladder and holding her behind firmly in his hands, he pounded into her over and over again until she buried her face in his shoulder to stifle her scream of release. Making love in the warm water with this man was the most amazing, the most satisfying and incredible experience of her life, and it took a couple minutes for the fireworks behind Catherine’s eyes to settle down.

He nuzzled into her neck and kissed her there. “Princess, you’re something else.”

“So are you.”

He brushed his lips over hers. “That was just the appetizer, Princess. I’m going to take you upstairs and play your body until it sings.”

Her heart fluttered with anticipation.

Tony took Catherine in through the gym on the basement level and up the elevator to her room on the second floor. Riley, Tony’s constant companion, tagged along.

She pulled off her towel, the only thing she’d worn from the pool, and even though they’d just had sex, one look at her lush curves and smooth skin shimmering in the moonlight and he grew hard again. They didn’t turn the lights on, but the draperies were open, and with the sheers over the window, enough moonlight filtered through to see the milky whiteness of her breasts and the rosy nipples standing at attention.

Catherine pulled his shirt off and pushed his pants to his knees, and he kicked them off. Her gentle hands ran over his shoulders and chest and lower, to rub over the cleft in his penis. She licked his nipple and a jolt of electricity passed through his body.

“You like that?”

“I like you, baby, all of you.” He rolled her down on the bed in a passionate embrace. He wanted to please her, and the way she was touching and rubbing him, it made him hotter. There was so much passion packed in that little body, he wanted to taste every inch of her.

Catherine moaned as Tony brought her to the brink with his hands and mouth. “Please, Tony. I can’t wait.”

He rolled over and pulled her on top of him while he reached for the condom he’d put beside the bed, but before he could get it open, she slid down over him and it was too late. He couldn’t stop now if he wanted. Grabbing onto her behind, he plunged harder and harder, until they came together in a magnificent explosion. As his heart rate slowed, he nuzzled into her neck and nipped her ear. He wanted to hold her and love her all night.

After Tony pulled out, Catherine felt the flood of moisture and realized he hadn’t used a condom. “Oh, Tony, you didn’t wear—”

“You didn’t give me a chance to put it on, honey.”

Catherine rushed into the bathroom, knowing it was too late to do anything about it. He’d been with so many women, he could have passed something on to her. But he said he’d never had sex without a condom. What if she got pregnant? Birth control hadn’t been an issue before, but it was now.

Without knocking, Tony walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. “Come on, Princess. Let’s wash the chlorine out of your hair before you turn into a blonde.”

“I thought you liked blondes.”

He put his face in hers. “Didn’t that little romp in there tell you anything? I’m crazy about you, Catherine. I can’t sleep for dreaming about you.”

Wanting to believe him, yet knowing he’d probably said those words to other women, Catherine stepped into the shower. She turned her face away from him so he couldn’t see her tears. Making love with him confirmed what she already knew. She was crazy in love with Tony, and he’d probably fall in love with one of the blondes on the show. A month after the show ended, he wouldn’t remember her name. Hot tears ran down her cheeks while he tenderly shampooed her hair and body.

Why couldn’t she be satisfied with sex?

Why did she have to fall in love?

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Nick and Cara and the baby arrived on Thursday with most of Tony’s family. His mother was there, his oldest brother and his family, and his two sisters and their families. There were nine adults and an equal number of children of various ages, from baby Max at five months to Vincent, a high school senior.

Everyone on Cara’s staff was busy with preparations for the annual birthday barbecue, but that stopped the instant Nick carried Max into the house. The baby was passed from one smiling member of Cara’s staff to the next until he cried for his mother.

It took Tony twenty minutes just to hug everyone and introduce them to Catherine. She seemed overwhelmed by the noise and exuberance of the Donatelli family, but Ma’s warm hug and a wink from Tony made her smile.

Thursday’s family dinner was a noisy affair that lasted for hours. As the kids got tired and fussy, members of the staff took the little ones up to their rooms to get ready for bed. Cara tossed a blanket over her shoulder and nursed the baby, and the sound effects were interesting. Max obviously enjoyed his dinner as much as the rest of the family enjoyed theirs.

All Tony’s siblings except Al were married. Al was a college student who didn’t date much. Tony was several years older and still screwing around with every good-looking woman who was willing, including the cute little redhead sitting across the table from him.

Gina asked, “Tony, are you going to marry the woman you pick on this television show?”

He shrugged. “Who knows?”

“I know,” said Ma. “Tony will settle down when he finds the right woman.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” said Vinnie. “Women are always coming in to the nursery asking if I’m related to Tony Donatelli.”

“What do you tell them?” asked Tony.

“Same thing I say when someone asks me if I’m related to Nick. Never heard of him.” Everyone laughed.

“I’ll take some of those women off your hands, Uncle Tony,” said Vincent, and his remark brought more laughter. Vincent was a typical seventeen-year-old, over-confident one minute and insecure as hell the next.

“You won’t have to take women off anyone’s hands, Vincent,” said Ma. “As soon as the girls find out what a great boy you are, they’ll be chasing after you.”

Vincent reminded Tony of himself at that age, only he’d never let anyone see his insecurity, not even his family. Even in high school, he’d slept with one girl after another. He’d always chosen the ones who’d expressed an interest in him first, so he didn’t get shot down. His greatest fear was finding a girl he really wanted to be with and having her reject him. By the time he’d finished high school, he’d built a reputation with the girls. Not necessarily a good one.

He glanced at Catherine and realized she had more power over him than any other woman he’d ever been with. She could be playing with him or using him to get her new television show off the ground, but he didn’t think so. He’d seen something in her eyes and in her voice when she asked him if he wanted a woman to come home to.

Was that what he wanted? Was it what
she
wanted?

He glanced at Nick and Cara, at the loving looks they shared, and knew he was missing out on something special. Vinnie was happy, and so was Gina. He wasn’t sure about Maria. She’d come here without her husband, and if someone brought up his name, she changed the subject. Gina had always been pretty, but Maria hadn’t grown into her beauty until her thirties. After giving birth to four kids, she was stunning. If Maria’s husband didn’t appreciate what he had, there was something wrong with him.

Tony glanced at Catherine. She was watching him with a softness in her eyes that made him want to kiss her. Too bad they wouldn’t get any more time alone until after the party, after his family returned to Washington.

He’d always been in control in his relationships with women. This time was different. Catherine was different. He felt in control one minute and off-balance the next. The ornery little red-haired vixen had him so mixed up, he didn’t know what to think, except if she was pregnant, he’d marry her in a heartbeat.

When they met, he thought she didn’t want anything but friendship, but that first lusty kiss in the pool said he’d misread her. After making love with her and sampling the passion that simmered inside that sexy body, he knew sex wouldn’t be enough for either one of them. And now, seeing her cuddling Gina’s little boy on her lap, he pictured her nursing his baby girl, rocking her to sleep, and tucking her in bed. And then making love to him, making another baby to love.

Why was she putting him on a television show to find another woman? It didn’t make sense, unless she cared more for her career than for him.

Didn’t she want him for herself?

Ma asked Catherine, “How is your father doing?”

“He’s happy to be home from the hospital. My mother is with him now. I hired nurses, but he needed—”

Ma nodded. “He needed family.”

Tony loved his family, and he wanted a big family of his own someday.

What did Catherine want?

Watching the way the Donatelli family interacted, the way they showed their affection for each other, Catherine felt like she’d led a deprived life. Everyone in his family took care of all the kids, babies were passed from lap to lap, and everyone talked at the same time. It was wonderful, yet overwhelming.