Blind Love (5 page)

The women he’d dated in his younger years had been smart and sexy, and several were good wife material, but he wasn’t looking for a wife then. He still wasn’t, but finding women for short-term relationships was getting harder. Everyone knew he was related to Nick and Cara Andrews Donatelli. Sometimes he couldn’t tell if women were interested in him or in getting close to Cara. He’d tried to tell himself it didn’t matter, that as long as the sex was good he didn’t care why they were with him, but he hated the thought that a woman might date him for reasons other than being with him.

After dinner, Tony drove Catherine to the hospital. Father had a rack-like thing over his bed so he could lift himself and move a little without putting any pressure on his hip and leg. Walter Timmons had worked hard for most of his life, but he’d always been the one in control. From the look of frustration on his face, he was not in control now, and he wasn’t happy about it. He didn’t apologize for yelling at her this morning, and she didn’t apologize for her caustic remarks about his lady friends, if you could call them that.

Catherine looked around her for Tony, and he stepped up beside her. “Father, this is Tony Donatelli. He’s helping me redo the maid’s rooms into a bedroom and bathroom for you.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“You need a place to sleep until you can handle the stairs again. The other choices are to stay here in the hospital or go to a rehab facility. I thought you’d rather come home.”

“Okay,” he said with a resigned sigh. “Fix the house. What happened to... Can’t remember her name.”

“Fawn. She and her paint charts are gone.” With any luck, she’d find herself another man to mooch off of before Father recovered. He wouldn’t take her back anyway. Once his women were gone, he moved on to the next one, although looking at him lying in the hospital bed, she didn’t think he’d be in shape for another bimbo anytime soon.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds as if in pain. When he opened them again, he said, “I want to see Megan.”

Strange that he’d want to see her mother now. Catherine’s mother walked out of their lives years ago, when Megan decided she couldn’t put up with a controlling man any longer.

“I’ll call her.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek. “I love you.”

A single tear traced a path from his eye to his temple. “I love you, too.”

It was the first time since she was a little girl that they’d said those words to each other, and he was obviously as touched by it as she was. “Rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

If her parents could resolve their differences for a few weeks, Megan could take care of Father while Catherine returned to LA to wrest her television show out of Mitzi’s hands. Now that she’d found the perfect bachelor, she felt more confident about having a successful show.

If
Tony would agree to do it. He hadn’t given her an answer yet.

<>

Fawn stood out of sight in the hallway outside Walt’s hospital room listening to the conversation inside. Walt said he wanted to see Megan. Who in the hell was Megan, and why would he want another woman when he could have her?

Who was the guy with Catherine, and what was he doing with a dumpy little bitch like Catherine Timmons? Was he after Walt’s money, too? She’d only gotten a glimpse of the guy’s back, but she liked what she saw. He had dark hair, big muscles, and a cute butt.

She waited down the hall until Walt’s visitors left and then walked back to the room, but Walt had his eyes closed. He looked old and pale and scruffy, nothing like the well groomed gentleman she’d met at that ritzy country club last month. She’d gone there with Stuart Poole, and then his wife had shown up. Stuart whispered to get lost, so Fawn ducked into the bar and ordered a drink. Minutes later, the waitress handed her an envelope. Stuart had left her three hundred dollars and a note that said he didn’t want to see her again.

When Walt showed up in the bar, she thought he was the answer to all her problems. He was an older guy, well dressed, and he smelled of money. Now he didn’t look like he could solve his own problems, let alone hers.

Maybe she’d come back after he recovered. She never could stand to be around sick people.

Chapter Three

T
hat evening, sounds of hammering and wood splintering came from the maid’s rooms. Sanchez, who lived on the property and took care of the outside of the house and the pool, was helping Tony tear out walls. Catherine hoped they knew what they were doing, because it sounded like they were doing some big-time damage in there.

While the men worked, Catherine left a message on her mother’s answering machine and then sat in Father’s study, sketching out what she expected to happen on the first three episodes of
Blind Love
. The show was her big chance to prove to everyone, including herself, that she had good ideas and that she could accomplish what she set out to do. Father had made her feel worthless, but she’d show him.

It was nearly midnight when the hammering finally stopped and Catherine went in to see what they’d done. All the walls and bathroom fixtures were gone, and Tony’s shirt was plastered to his body with sweat. Who knew a sweaty guy could look so good? His muscles rippled with every move. He turned toward her and cocked his head. She swallowed a groan. He’d caught her staring at his buff body. He must think she was a complete idiot.

She cleared her throat. “I thought you guys were going to work all night.”

“We’re done with the demo work.” Tony motioned to Sanchez with his head. “This guy has earned a bonus this month.”

“Yes, he has.”

Sanchez left and Tony brushed the dust off his jeans.

“Tony, how about a swim before bed?”

His eyebrows shot up and a little smile played with his mouth. “Skinny dipping?”

At the thought of getting naked with Tony, heat crawled up her chest and settled in her face. She cursed her fair Irish complexion.

His laugh, low and deep, was the most seductive sound she’d ever heard. “I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”

She waved toward the pool. “There are bathing suits in the cabana behind the pool. Help yourself.” She ran upstairs to change. She needed to keep their relationship on a business level, but how? Every time she looked at him, she turned into a fourteen-year-old with a crush on the new kid in class. If he touched her, she wouldn’t be able to resist him, and a quickie with the handsome carpenter could undermine their working relationship on the show. Still…she had to admit she was tempted.
More
than tempted.

Minutes later, Catherine jumped into the pool. A soft blue glow illuminated the water. In the coolness of the evening and the warmth of the water, with the stars sprinkled in the sky above her, she felt the tension start to leave her shoulders. She loved to swim, especially after the sun went down. Her sensitive skin couldn’t take much sun.

Tony jumped in, already wet from the cabana shower. She couldn’t take her eyes off the muscles in his arms and chest. He was a great looking guy with his shirt on, but without it, she couldn’t look away. “Do you work out every day?”

“When I’m not working.” He cocked his head and his dark eyes sparkled. “Still think I’m magnificent?”

She rolled her eyes. Tony definitely had an ego problem, and he liked to flirt. If they could capture that on camera, every hot-blooded woman in the country would watch.

He grabbed her legs and pulled her under and then pushed her up and out of the water. His eyes scanned her breasts and came back to her face. “Wow. One of these days, I may have to find out if they’re natural or man-made.” He tossed her back into the water as if she were a ball and then grabbed her foot and reeled her in. “Are you sure you don’t want to skinny dip?”

She pushed away. It was always about boobs, and she couldn’t deal with it now.

“It was a compliment, Catherine. Like you asking me if I work out.”

“I know.” She wanted him to like her for herself, not for the two blobs of tissue on her chest. She’d considered breast reduction, but Cara had talked her out of it. They were nineteen at the time, and Catherine was tired of hearing the same tired Dolly Parton jokes. Some of the guys at school called her
the Boobsie Twins
or
Tits Timmons
. They were just teasing, but it hurt her feelings. Why couldn’t they look at her face? Why couldn’t men recognize her intelligence and business skills? Why couldn’t Tony like her for her personality instead of her breasts?

Piece by piece, the life she’d struggled to build for herself was coming apart. Her father sold the hotel chain because he didn’t trust her to run it. She’d worked hard to be successful in Henry’s production company, but by the time she got her father settled, her television show would be someone else’s project. She’d worked on other shows, of course, but this one was
hers
. Or it had been hers. When Mitzi finished with it, it probably wouldn’t even resemble the original concept. Mitzi thought it was stupid for a guy to eliminate any of the women without knowing what they looked like first, but that was the hook, the reason viewers would tune in week after week to watch the show.

<>

Most women would have taken Tony’s remark as a compliment, but for some reason, Catherine was sensitive about her body. He didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. Had he spent so much of his life flirting and teasing that he didn’t know how to be a friend when a woman needed one?

He’d never been attracted to a redhead, but there was something different about this one. If he’d met her in a bar, he probably wouldn’t have given her a second look, especially if she looked like she had when she picked him up from the airport. The yellow dress was a different story. When Catherine wanted to be attractive, she did a dynamite job of it.

<>

Catherine walked down to the kitchen the next morning feeling down. A blanket of fog had settled over the city below, and lacy wisps clung to the hillside and floated over the pool. Fog always depressed her, since it was one of the essential elements of smog, the bane of her existence.

Tony stood at the stove, flipping pancakes. “Good morning. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starving.”

Sanchez tapped on the kitchen door and opened it. “Delivery for Miss Catherine Timmons.”

It was a florist box filled with delicate pink rosebuds nestled in a bed of baby’s breath. The card said,
Please forgive me.

She was twenty-nine years old, and, aside from her prom date, it was the first time anyone had ever given her roses. It was a touching gesture, and she didn’t know quite what to say, except, “Thank you, Tony, but you didn’t have to—”

“Yes, I did.” Tony slid the pan off the burner and filled their plates with pancakes and bacon. “I called Cara this morning, and she said this was your favorite breakfast. Sit down and eat before it gets cold.” He poured two cups of coffee and set a bottle of syrup on the breakfast table.

“I should do something with the flowers first.”

“Eat first, and I’ll try real hard not to put my foot in my mouth again.”

A smile pulled at her lips. “You’re going to spoil me.”

“I hope so,” he said, and the sound of his voice slid inside her like warm brandy. She had to remind herself that he was there as a favor to Cara, because at that moment it felt like he was there because he wanted to be with
her
.

She was tempted to use the fireman and keep Tony for herself, but they had to start off this new show with a strong bachelor, a man who would draw viewers and keep them watching every week. A man with Tony’s looks and charm would guarantee a successful start to their new show.

While Tony worked, Catherine called Henry and told him a little about Tony, holding back Tony’s last name and his relationship with Cara. If Henry knew, he’d want to use it for publicity, and Tony wouldn’t want that.

“Mitzi wants to use the fireman, and she has ten girls lined up. I asked her to send you email reports.”

Mitzi acted like it was
her
show. “Henry, Cara said we could use her estate, but she has conditions. One is using Tony as the bachelor. She also wants everyone who’s going to be there to be pre-screened, security check, the whole bit. The other condition is having me there to keep an eye on things.”

“Sounds good to me, Cat. We’ll use the fireman next time.”

Tony hadn’t agreed to do the show yet, but he would. He had a big ego, and he was proud of the way he looked. Structuring a show around him would inflate that ego even more.

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