No Place Like Home

by Trina Crooks

  “I love the way you say my name.” I swallowed hard and grabbed a towel to clean my hands. I had to do something because I didn’t want him to see how flustered I was. “We should have a celebratory glass of wine next to the fire,” he urged. “Just another hour and I will take you right home.”

  Wine did sound good. “All right. I can’t pass up that.” I went and got comfortable next to the warm and comforting fire while he poured our drinks. I kicked off my shoes so that I could relax my aching feet and then sat with my back against the sofa.

  “Here you go.” Antonio handed me a glass and I quickly took a long sip. “So, what else is there to learn about you?”

  “Aren’t you tired of hearing about me?”

  “No. Maybe I am not portraying this very well but I like you Sonya. Very much.”

  I took another sip and turned my head away from him. “Mm,” was all I had to say to that.

  “I am going to keep pestering you until you like me too,” he said with that damn incredible smile of his.

  “Oh really,” I responded in a low voice as I took the liberty of glancing at his lips before looking into his eyes.

  “Yeah.”

  Damn. All of this was not going the way I planned. I was not supposed to get sucked into his web like every other woman that came into his presence. I stared at the fire that was glowing so bright it was nearly blinding me while Antonio reached for his glass of wine. But when he twisted his body back towards me it was not the wine he had in his hand. It was the cheap, plastic mistletoe he bought just days ago. This man then raised it over my head with a big Cheshire grin on his face. “What do you think you are doing?”

  “You ask too many questions.” He leaned toward me and there was no way I was going to move away from him because if I was honest with myself, I knew that I’d wanted Antonio to kiss me as soon as I met him.

  His full lips made contact with mine and I had to steady herself by laying my hand firmly on the blanket to keep from falling over. There was just this instant flame that ignited as soon as we touched and it evoked a feeling in me that I’d never felt before. Antonio gave me a soft peck and then leaned away from me but it took me a moment to open my eyes. I could see him staring at me with his own eyes slightly closed and within moments he was kissing me again. This time the kiss was a lot more passionate which caught me totally off guard. His tongue slipped slowly into my mouth and mine met his, sliding around each other like they did this sort of thing every single day. We continued in this fashion for a moment before I came to my senses.

  “I should probably go home,” I said softly as I ripped myself away and tried to wrap my mind around what just happened. Antonio grabbed my hand.

  “Just stay. It’s late. I will set an alarm to take you home in the morning.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think that is wise.”

  “We will stay right here. Fully clothed.” I knew that he was telling me the truth and not some ploy to eventually get me naked. Besides that, I was tired. Closing my eyes right now was just what I wanted to do.

  “Okay. That sounds innocent enough.” I grabbed a pillow from the couch while Antonio put out the fire. He came to join me back on the blanket and brought another to cover ourselves with.

  “Are you comfortable?” he asked as he laid down beside me.

  “Yes. Good night Antonio.”

  “Good night beautiful.” He laid a comfortable distance away from me but for some reason I kind of wished he hadn’t. I sighed softly and tried to push the kiss we just shared from my mind but it wanted to play over and over on repeat. After what seemed like forever, and long after I heard Antonio’s even breaths, I fell off into my own restful sleep.

  Chapter Six

  Beep beep!

  Beep beep!

  Beep beep!

  I opened my eyes slowly as the annoying sound finally came to an end. An arm came around my waist and pulled me closer and I let it. It felt comfortable to be lying here with…

  I sat up and turned to see that it was Antonio lying next to me. Last night I had such a good time with him that I was sure I dreamt it. But here he was—looking just as handsome asleep as he did awake. His eyes were still closed and he was now laying on his back, giving me a glimpse of his rock-hard stomach making me lick my lips lustfully. “Mm, mm,” I said to myself before I finally tapped him on the chest to wake him up. “Antonio. Time to get up.”

  “Okay.” He opened his eyes and slowly sat up. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning.”

  Antonio stretched his long limbs and looked at me with his adorable eyes. “You want me to make you some breakfast?”

  I scrambled to my feet and quickly put on my shoes. “No. I should get home to get ready for work.” I ran off to the kitchen to grab all of the cookies and was at the door waiting on him before he fully got himself together.

  “You can leave the cookies here. I can bring them with me when I pick you up for the bake sale.”

  “No. My car will probably start right up tonight. There is no reason why you need to be bothered with me this evening.”

  Antonio chose not to fight me about it which I appreciated. He drove me the short distance to my house and then kindly waited so that he could take me to work, although I insisted that I could call my mother for a ride. After he dropped me off, I spent the next eight hours struggling to stay awake. The only thing that helped was my mind replaying our evening together. I had an amazing time with him and talking to him was so easy which was making me fall for him more and more.

  It was only thirty minutes before the chili cook-off and of course I was running behind. After Kira told me just today that she would love it if the baked goods were bagged with two cookies each, I had to run home and fulfill this last-minute request for my friend. Kira was going to owe me big time after all of this.

  I carried the large box out to my car, sat it on the back seat and then turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. “Ugh!” Just this afternoon at work I managed to talk Joseph, a neighborhood handyman into helping me get my car started for it to only stop once again when I needed it. I stared straight ahead because I was so over this and was going to have to take it to an expert pretty soon to see if some sort of magic could be worked. It was just something I was dreading because the mechanic in town was my ex-boyfriend and although he was married now, I still didn’t like to be in his presence.

  Tap, tap

  I looked at my driver’s window and saw Antonio standing there. “I thought I would come over and see if you needed a hand transporting your items.”

  I never thought I would be so happy to see him. “I do. Thank you so much. I really do owe you one.”

  “Not a problem.” Antonio opened my car door and then pulled open the back door to lift the box of cookies out. I got settled in his passenger seat while he transferred the baked goods to his own back seat. Antonio slid behind the wheel and then smiled at me. “What would you do without me?”

  “At this point, I really don’t know.”

  “You really should get your car checked out. It’s not normal for a car to be this temperamental. You have to know the mechanic here, right?”

  I sighed. “I do.”

  “Your father’s best friend or the priest moonlights as the mechanic during the day,” he said with a chuckle.

  “It’s my ex-boyfriend. We are on not so friendly terms so that’s why I’ve been putting it off.”

  “Well that explains it.”

  We arrived at the community center in a short time and I was immediately greeted by Kira who was now starting to show signs of her pregnancy. Or maybe I was just paying more attention to her. “Was your belly sticking out like that before? My goodness. It’s only been a week.”

  “I know. This thing shot out like gangbusters one morning. I have been wearing loose clothing trying to hide it but since most of the town knows now, I figured I’d put this little bulge on display.”

  “Oh, you are so cute,” I
said as I pinched Kira’s cheek.

  “Stop it,” she responded with a giggle.

  “Ladies I love this friendly banter you guys have going on but this box is getting heavier by the second.”

  “I’m so sorry. Can you place them over on that table?” We began moving to the table in question where Antonio was able to sit the box down and I saw this as a good moment to introduce the two.

  “Kira this is Antonio Randall. Antonio, my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Kira.”

  “It is so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard about you through the grapevine.”

  Antonio looked at me as if I was the culprit. “It wasn’t me. I don’t find you to be a fascinating conversation piece.”

  “Is that so? All right,” he said as he gave me an ornery face. “Let’s see how you get home this evening.”

  “I know most of the town. Someone will take me home,” I answered as I stuck my tongue out. I hated to admit it but he was actually growing on me.

  “I am happy to meet you because I have a huge favor to ask you. Can I get you to take pictures with the lovely ladies of our fine town for a small fee? It would really be great for charity.” This year the whole bake sale and chili event was Jasper Springs’ way of raising money for charity. We pooled all of the proceeds together and wrote one mass check. It was easier that way.

  I watched as he smiled brightly. “Anything for charity. But make Sonya pay double.”

  “Oh hush,” I fussed as Kira called over Felicia, the town flirt. Well her and Evelyn were in a fight for the title. She came over quickly because she was all too ready to show him around. Felicia intermingled her arm in his as they slowly walked off and I watched as they did. Felicia was leaning into him and laughing as they made their way across the gym floor which made me turn to my friend with annoyance.

  “I can tell that you like him.”

  “He is a visitor to our town and I am being friendly.”

  Kira just shook her head because she knew what I was saying was not the total truth. “If you believe that.”

  I went around and sampled all of the different chilis that were submitted in the contest, although I already knew who the winner was going to be. Mrs. Young. She made the best chili hands down. I finished a big bowl and was contemplating on how to get more of my prediction of the winner, before my mother came over to where I was standing. She had two Christmas cookies that I stayed up half the night making in her hands.

  “Hopefully these cookies are good Mama. As the night went on, I am not responsible for the taste of them.”

  “I’m sure they’re fine. Guess who called me last night?”

  I cut my eyes to the picture taking area and saw the ever-growing line of women standing there to get a picture with Antonio. He looked so damn handsome as he greeted Miss Clark, a seventy-year-old grandmother. He gave her a big hug and then proceeded to take a picture with her. The sight of that really warmed my heart and was letting me see an extra kindness to him that was a turn on.

  “Sonya.”

  “Hmm, yes. Who did you talk to Mom?”

  “Your Aunt Sylvia.” That was my mother’s older sister. Their relationship was not a very close one after Aunt Sylvia left Jasper Springs and moved to Dallas after she graduated from high school. They might talk a couple times a year which I never understood. “We were catching up for almost three hours on the phone last night.”

  “Well if you guys talked more often you would not have to be on the phone all night long,” I mentioned. My mother nodded her head in agreement before she continued on.

  “Anyway. She told me about your cousin Stephanie. She is moving to Florida in January for a new job she has. Isn’t that great? I guess she wanted a change and applied to some firm and got the job.”

  I stared at my mother with astonishment. Whenever I brought up moving my mother acted like that was the worst thing she heard in life. “You realize that is exactly what I am talking about doing.”

  “Oh, it’s different. Stephanie has a college degree and already has a job lined up. You are just moving and hoping things turn out for the best. I don’t want you to get there and fail and come running back home.”

  “Thanks for the support Mom.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you probably should get a job in New York before you go. Save some money or something.”

  I was tired of this conversation all ready. “Yeah. Pretty much I need everything lined up perfectly before I try to change my life. Why can’t I take a leap of faith?”

  “It’s just not a smart idea Sonya,” my mother replied before changing the subject. “I think I am going to go over here and see what other sweets they have for sale before I start heading home.” She walked off leaving me standing alone.

  “Ugh!” My mother can be infuriating, I thought before turning to take a gander at Antonio and his line of women. The line was getting shorter than it was previously actually which was nice for him. I know that he didn’t want to spend the whole event taking photos so I hoped that he would be done soon. Antonio took a picture with his charming smile and then made eye contact with me. He waved for me to come over so I did. For some reason I felt like I was responsible for him and it was my sole duty to make sure that he was taken care of. So as much as I didn’t want to be around him while this coven of women was flirting, I made my way over to where he was.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Come take a picture with me.”

  There were five women standing in line, each of them I could call by name, all of them giving me a very mean stare. “You have paying customers. I’m not paying for this picture.”

  “I don’t want you to. This is a pleasure picture for me.” He reached his hand out to me. “Come on.”

  I placed my hand in his and stepped over the velvet rope to stand at his side. I positioned myself next to him like some of the other women that I noticed earlier, arm against arm, but that was not how Antonio wanted this picture taken. He pulled my back to him and wrapped his arms around me like we were at Homecoming. “Really?” I said with a chuckle.

  “Yes. You’re special and I want our first picture together to be special. Our children are going to see this.”

  He said what? I thought as the photographer snapped the picture. Our children!

  *~~~*

  After Sonya left, the line stayed consistently ten women deep and Antonio stood there and took pictures with all of them. All ethnicities seemed to be interested in getting their turn for a photo and then several of them took a moment to flirt. He was not interested in that part of it but he smiled kindly and tried to keep the line moving. He finally looked over at Felicia who was glued to the sidelines as his assistant of sorts. “Exactly how many women live in this town?”

  “Jasper is not as small as it looks and we probably have some residents from our sister town Sandy Springs in attendance, which is about thirty miles away. The two towns get together fairly often for events.”

  “Oh,” Antonio answered as an older lady came over to stand next to him.

  “How are you doing tonight Ma’am?” He placed an arm around her shoulders as she stood relatively close to him to get a good shot.

  “I am just marvelous. You are a handsome little devil,” she said with a grin.

  “Thank you.” The cameraman took the picture and she scooted off. The 8x10 photos wouldn’t be ready for them to pick up for another few days. Everyone was given a number to correspond to the correct picture. A few more pictures were taken before there was only one more woman left. They took their shot quickly and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Last one,” Felicia said as she came over to stand next to him.

  “I forgot about you. Let’s do this.”

  Felicia tried to get a little bit cozier than all of the women before but he made sure that there was a respectable space before the picture was taken. “I am going to put this photo in a nice frame and put it on my fireplace.”

&
nbsp; Antonio smiled. He saw Gigi coming his way so he hoped that meant that Felicia would be leaving his side. But she didn’t. “Hello Antonio. Felicia.”

  “Hi Mrs. Randall. Are you having a good time tonight?”

  “Yes I am. I love all of the community events that the town has. I get to see all of my friends right here in one room.” Antonio stood there while the two chatted for a moment about some of the people who were in town before his grandmother turned her attention to him for a moment. “Felicia, can I have a word with my grandson?”

  “Sure. See you around,” Felicia said to him and then walked away. Her hips swayed a little too hard as she walked away and that made him snicker in amusement.

  “How are you enjoying yourself so far in Jasper Springs? It seems the lady residents like you a lot.”

  “I like it. This slower pace of living is different but I could get used to it if I had to.” He spotted Sonya across the room and stared at her for a moment before he turned back to his grandmother.

  “That Sonya is a nice girl. I have always liked her from the start.”

  “Yes, she is. I like her too.”

  “Mm hmm. I can tell.”

  “She told me she is thinking of moving to a bigger city; New York to be exact, for a new start and that would be just perfect for me.” The more time he spent with her, the more he liked her. She was just the kind of woman he was hoping to find and if she moved to New York he could pursue something lasting with her. But the frown on Gigi’s face did not look approving.

  “I don’t see Sonya being a big city girl. But I could be wrong.” They both glanced over at Sonya while Antonio contemplated what his grandmother just said. He didn’t have a comment for that because he hoped for his sake that the statement was not true.

  “Well if you excuse me, I would like to get over there by her.”

  “I guess,” Gigi said teasingly and Antonio started making his way toward Sonya but he was intercepted by Felicia. This woman just did not quit.