THAT'S AMORE

by Janelle Denison, Tori Carrington, Leslie Kelly

  Watching his bachelor party unfold from the sidelines, Jason finished off the last of the beer in his bottle and moved farther away from the action taking place. The stripper Paulo and Mani had hired for the evening's entertainment was currently peeling off layers of her hula dancer outfit and had the group of guys enthralled with her enticing performance. So far, Jason had managed to avoid being the center of attention, and he preferred to keep things that way, especially when his mind was on Leila and how she was fairing after that afternoon's debacle with her parents.

  She'd been visibly upset afterward. While he'd wanted to stay with her, she'd insisted he go to his bachelor party and have a good time because there wasn't much they could do about her parents' reaction.

  Jason felt differently. There had to be some way to make the situation more bearable, even if it meant there were certain things he had to give up. Leila was the one who mattered the most to him. And ultimately, he couldn't bear to see her suffer any more when it came to her family.

  Because he'd lost his mother and father at such a young age, family, and being a part of one, was extremely important to Jason, and he hated that he'd caused so much dissension in Leila's home. In two short days the Malekalas were going to be his family as well, which meant making amends any way he could.

  After spending the afternoon trying to figure out a way to make everyone happy, he'd come up with a possible solution. But it entailed talking to his friend and business partner, Nick, first, and making sure he wouldn't be compromising the success of their Internet business in any way. And since Nick wasn't arriving in Maui until tomorrow, there wasn't a whole lot Jason could do until then.

  Loud, raucous cheers pulled him from his thoughts, and he glanced toward the sound just in time to see the stripper, now down to a skimpy bikini top and G-string, plop herself into Paulo's lap and shimmy her hips provocatively.

  Grateful that he wasn't the one in the spotlight, Jason shook his head and laughed … until he saw Leila's old boyfriend, Kalani, heading toward him. Paulo and Mani had invited their male friends to the bachelor party, most of whom Jason had met over the passing months, Kalani included. But other than a brief hello, his fiancée's ex was the one guy Jason usually kept his distance from.

  Kalani was a good-looking Hawaiian with dark hair and eyes, a native who reminded him too much of why Leila's parents thought Jason was second best for their daughter. This was the man they'd wanted Leila to marry, and instead she'd chosen him.

  "Looks like you could use another beer," Kalani said, and offered Jason a fresh, cold bottle of the brew.

  Was he that transparent? A smile quirked the corner of Jason's mouth as he accepted the other man's friendly overture. "Thanks."

  "No problem." Kalani took a long drink from his own bottle, and regarded Jason thoughtfully. "You really have it bad for her, don't you?" he said after a few quiet moments had passed between them.

  Uncertain where Kalani was heading with his question, Jason played it cool. "What do you mean?"

  Kalani pointed the tip of his beer bottle toward the stripper, who'd moved on to another admiring male in the group. "Most men would be living it up at their bachelor party and be more than happy to be the center of that woman's attention. But you're content to watch from a distance. It doesn't look like you're enjoying your last few nights of freedom all that much."

  Jason shrugged. "That woman just doesn't do anything for me."

  "Like I said, you really have it bad for Leila." Kalani laughed.

  There was no sense denying the obvious, so Jason didn't even try. "I guess I do."

  Kalani took another long swallow of his beer, then his expression turned more serious and direct. "I have to admit that I'm disappointed that things didn't work out between Leila and myself, but I can see that she's really happy with you. I guess it's the way things were supposed to work out."

  Coming from Kalani, that show of support was huge, and Jason didn't know what to say in return. All he really knew of Leila and Kalani's relationship was that Leila had been the one to break things off. Jason didn't know the reasons behind his fiancée's decision to end the relationship, but he suddenly found himself curious.

  Kalani patted him on the back in male comradery. "Leila's a great girl, so take good care of her."

  "I plan to," Jason replied without a second thought.

  "See that you do, or else you'll have Paulo and Mani to answer to." Kalani's tone was light and teasing.

  Unable to help himself, Jason grinned wryly. "Yeah, and I get the feeling they'd break my kneecaps if I ever did anything to hurt their baby sister."

  Kalani's brisk nod confirmed that thought. "Kneecaps and a few other body parts, I'm sure."

  Jason chuckled, liking the other man's humor. He could also see why Leila's mom and dad liked Kalani so much. He was a genuinely nice guy who, luckily for Jason, held no grudges.

  "Congratulations, man," Kalani said solemnly, and held his hand out. "I'm happy for you both."

  "Thanks," Jason said, shaking Kalani's hand in a firm grip. "I'm a lucky man."

  "That you are," Kalani agreed, and clicked his bottle to Jason's in a silent toast. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy the rest of the evening's entertainment."

  Jason grinned. "Have fun."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Jason arrived at Leila's the following morning after running some last-minute errands and making arrangements for their wedding night together. He wanted tomorrow night to be special and memorable. And with luck and Nick's support, he'd be able to give Leila the greatest gift of all. What he had planned was unexpected and certainly a last-minute ordeal, but he felt confident that he'd made the right decision.

  Feeling upbeat and optimistic about their future together, Jason entered Leila's cottage only to find her sitting on the living room couch with her face buried in her hands. There was a big opened box on the coffee table in front of her, and while his first thought was that she wasn't feeling well and her morning sickness had lingered, he didn't think that was the case at the moment.

  Concern swept over him and he started toward her. "Leila, what's wrong?"

  She lowered her hands, giving him a glimpse of just how upset she was. Her eyes were moist, as if she'd been crying, and the frustration in her gaze spoke for itself. "You aren't going to believe what happened."

  He sat beside her on the couch, certain nothing could be so bad that they couldn't figure out a way to work through the problem. "Try me."

  "Domeafavor.com, the online place where I ordered our wedding favors, sent me someone else's stuff instead of our Hawaiian candy leis that are imprinted with our names and wedding date!"

  Ahh, now there was a big tragedy, Jason thought in silent amusement. And he supposed to a bride-to-be, a mix-up like this was a huge catastrophe. But considering everything else they'd been through the past few days, this mistake was small potatoes in comparison.

  "Did you call the company and let them know about the mix-up?" he asked calmly.

  She nodded. "Yes, and they were extremely apologetic about the situation. Apparently, our wedding favors were sent to another couple by mistake, an Efi and Nick Constantinos in Detroit, Michigan." Her voice began to rise as she grew more and more distraught. "The woman told me that we weren't the only ones who received someone else's stuff, instead of their own. And of course she apologized profusely and assured me I'd be credited for our order and could keep these favors. But that doesn't do me much good when they're all imprinted with another couple's name."

  Tears welled in her eyes and she shook her head.

  "What a mess this is!" she choked out. "You know this is all my mother needs to see to believe it's a sign from the Hawaiian Gods that we shouldn't get married."

  "Honey, your mother would use any excuse she can find to convince us not to get married," he teased lightly, even though there was too much truth to his words. "I don't care whose name is on those wedding favors, or what they are, it's not going to change my mi
nd about making you my wife. And that's all that matters."

  She gave a great big shuddering sigh. "You're right."

  "Of course I am," he said, knowing a good amount of her reaction was due to her hormones wreaking havoc on her emotions. "So, since the company told you to keep the items, why don't we go ahead and use them and make the best of a very funny situation?"

  She lifted a delicate brow, a hint of her playful side emerging. "You find this amusing?"

  "In the scheme of things lately, yeah, I do." He ran the tip of his finger down the slope of her nose. "Just think how the other couple is going to feel about getting our Hawaiian candy leis."

  She laughed in agreement, the sound soft and sweet.

  He motioned toward the box on the coffee table. "Let's see what we've got to work with."

  Scooting forward, Leila pulled out two different items—a cigar and a small gold box—and handed them both to Jason. "Cigars and a box of pastel candy. Hardly a Hawaiian wedding tradition," she said wryly.

  He grinned, glad to see her humor resurfacing. He cast a quick glance at the words imprinted on the favors, and came to the conclusion that these particular items had been meant for an Italian wedding.

  "Salute!"

  Luke and Maria Santori

  May 21, 2005

  "Well, the cigars are obviously for the male guests," he said, twirling one between his fingers. "And I believe these are bombonieres for the women."

  "Bombonieres?" she repeated, her expression creased in confusion. "What is that?"

  "It's a box of candies." He shook the favor so she could hear the rattling sound the hard candied almonds inside made. "A bomboniere is a traditional Italian wedding favor."

  She appeared both intrigued and surprised at his knowledge. "How do you know so much about Italian wedding traditions?"

  "Nick is Italian, and they had these kind of favors at his sister and cousin's weddings," he explained. Then he met her gaze. He had another piece of interesting information about the favors he wanted to share with her. "Know what else is an Italian custom relating to the bombonieres?"

  "No. What?"

  "Well, it's said that the number of candied almonds that are in this box indicates how many children the couple will have."

  Her eyes widened and sparked with curiosity. "Really?"

  "Yep." He rattled the box of candies again and waggled his brows at her. "Shall we see what Fate has in store for us?"

  She placed her hand on her belly and grinned at him. "Sure, though we're already ahead of the game by one."

  He opened the gold box, counted the pastel almonds, then let her do the same.

  When she was done, she gasped in shock. "Five? We're going to have five kids?"

  He chuckled. "I'd be very happy with five children."

  "Oh, Lord!" She dropped back against the couch. "Let's get through this one first, and then we'll talk."

  "Fair enough." He put the cigar and candies back into the bigger box, figuring they had plenty of time to discuss their family affairs later. "By the way, Kalani gave me his blessing to marry you."

  Her head rolled against the back of the sofa, a frown etching her features. "He did?"

  "Yep." He reclined against the couch next to her. "I thought it was quite nice of him, actually."

  "When did you see Kalani?" she asked, a cautious note to her voice.

  "Your brothers invited him to my bachelor party last night."

  "Figures," Leila muttered, rolling her eyes at her brothers' lack of social decorum. Didn't Paulo and Mani realize it was in bad taste to invite an ex-boyfriend to her current fiancé's bachelor party? Obviously not.

  "I'm sorry about that," she said, truly apologetic that Jason had to deal with Kalani. "He shouldn't have been there."

  "It didn't bother me at all." He smoothed her hair away from her face. "He's a nice guy."

  "Yes, he is," she agreed, and even she heard the hesitancy in her tone, which Jason promptly called her on.

  "Sounds like there might be a 'but' in there since things didn't work out between the two of you."

  She sighed, pondering the best way to explain her relationship with Kalani. "He is a nice guy, but he wasn't the right guy for me."

  "I already know that, since I'm the right guy for you."

  She laughed, his claim on her warming her deep inside.

  He reached for her hand and laced their fingers together, connecting them not only physically, but emotionally as well. "Why did you break up with Kalani, especially when your family liked him so much?"

  "Because my family wouldn't have had to live with him, and I would have." Leila turned more fully toward Jason and curled her legs beneath her on the sofa. "Just like my brothers, Kalani comes from a very traditional family, where the men are raised to be the providers and the head of the household, and the women are demure and accommodating."

  Absently, Jason twirled the gold plumeria band around her ring finger. "That night at the luau when I first met you, you were demure and shy. Those were the qualities that initially drew me to you."

  "You know what they say about old habits dying hard. That's how I was raised, to be subdued around men. When I first met you, I was just breaking out of that reserved shell of mine and testing my newfound personality."

  "Well, you blossomed into a beautiful, independent, sensual woman." He lifted her hand and placed a warm kiss in her palm.

  "I like who I've become," she stated empathically. She only wished her mother would come to understand and accept the changes she'd made in the past year. "When I was with Kalani I realized that our relationship was totally unbalanced. Marrying him would have been a huge mistake. In time I would have felt stifled, and probably would have grown to resent him. But with you, I'm my own person, and we've always been on equal ground."

  He reclined against the corner of the couch and pulled her with him so she was lying against his side. "Little did you know it was my intention to keep you barefoot and pregnant all along." His tone was low and teasing.

  She laughed and punched him lightly in the belly for that chauvinistic remark, earning an exaggerated "oomph" from him for her efforts. "Seriously, Jason, you've always accepted me for who I am, without any expectations. That's why I fell in love with you."

  He considered that for a moment. "Is that the only reason?"

  She drew lazy patterns across his T-shirt-covered chest with her finger, circling his nipples before skimming her way down to his flat belly. "Well, your sexy smile and hot body caught my attention, too," she said huskily. "And that first kiss you gave me in the gazebo … no one had ever kissed me like that before. You stole my breath, and I just knew you were going to steal my heart, too."

  His fingers slid into her hair, cupped the back of her head, and drew her down for a kiss that was just as slow and sweet and drugging as that first time. Her lashes fluttered shut as he nibbled at her bottom lip, coaxing them to part so he could sweep his tongue inside her mouth and take her deeply, thoroughly.

  His wicked, wonderful mouth continued to seduce hers, making her blood run hot and sluggish in her veins. Her breasts tingled, grew heavy, and her nipples tightened with almost painful intensity. And between her thighs, a steady, throbbing sensation began.

  Feeling restless and needy, she shifted closer, moving her body up and over the heat and strength of his. She pressed him deeper into the sofa cushions and straddled one of his hard, muscular thighs with her own, welcoming the pressure and friction against her aching feminine mound.

  But it wasn't enough. She needed more, and she broke their kiss to tell him so. "I want you inside me." And judging by the rock-hard erection nudging her hip, he was more than ready to accommodate her request.

  He stared up at her, his eyes a smoky shade of blue, his sandy-blond hair tousled around his head. "No morning sickness to deal with today?"

  "It passed as soon as I got up this morning, thank God, and I'm finding that being pregnant is making me, well, horny," she said wit
h a shameless, tempting grin. "Just kissing you is getting me turned on."

  A strangled groan vibrated deep in his throat. "Which explains your quick orgasm the other night."

  "Ummm. My body is definitely more sensitive. My breasts, my sex…" she murmured in his ear as her hand found the thick length straining against the zipper of his jeans and stroked him. "And, I still owe you for the other night."

  He caught her wrist before she could unzip his jeans and pulled her hand away, his expression filled with pained regret. "As much as I'd like to, we can't."

  "Why not?" Before he could answer, she added, "I'll be sure to lock the front door this time so there won't be any interruptions."

  "I have to go pick up Nick at the airport." He glanced at his watch. "His flight is arriving in about half an hour."

  "How about a quickie, then?" she suggested, and gyrated her hips against his. "I'll get on top and do all the work. I don't think it'll take either one of us very long to come."

  He gently grasped her waist to stop her provocative undulations. "Lord, I'm about to lose it right now. But the next time we make love, I want it to be slow and hot and leisurely. I want to see every inch of your body—how it's changed with the pregnancy—and kiss you everywhere. I want to do all that tomorrow night, on our wedding night."

  She pouted in disappointment. "You're seriously going to make me wait?"

  He chuckled at her attempt to sway him. "We're both going to wait. It's just one more night, and I promise when I have you naked beneath me, I'll give you as much pleasure as you can handle."

  She brightened considerably at the thought. "Oh yeah?"

  He nodded and touched his fingers to her damp bottom lip, a wealth of promises shimmering in his eyes. "I'll make you come with my fingers, with my mouth, and when I'm buried deep inside of you. And then, if that's not enough to satisfy that insatiable sexual appetite of yours, I'll do it all over again, until you're content and completely exhausted."

  She shivered, knowing he was a man of his word. "You're so bad for teasing me that way."