CHAPTER TWO
THE NEXT MORNING, as instructed by Constanzo, Laura Beth took a taxi to Tucker Engle’s private airstrip. She pulled her measly suitcase out of the backseat and paid the driver one-fifth of the money she had, leaving her a mere pittance. If this job didn’t pan out, she’d be penniless. But since she was already in trouble, and knew Antonio and Constanzo well, taking work as Antonio’s personal assistant wasn’t much of a risk.
A swirl of April air kicked up dust on the tarmac as she walked to the plane. Two pilots stood beside the lowered stairway, comparing information in logbooks. As she approached, one of the men saw her and smiled. He said something in Italian and she winced.
“Sorry. I don’t speak Italian.”
The pilot laughed. “I speak English. What can we do for you?”
“I’m Laura Beth Matthews. Constanzo told me he would call you to add my name to your passenger list.”
The pilot looked down, then back up again. But the second pilot pointed at the list.
“Ah, sì. Here you are.” He reached for her pathetic suitcase. “I will take care of this.”
Fear ruffled through her as a man she didn’t know took the entirety of her possessions out of her hand and walked away. But the second pilot pointed up the steps.
She sucked in a breath. She needed to get away. She needed time to think. She needed a job. She climbed the stairs.
At the doorway she stopped and gasped. The main area looked more like a living room than a plane. Rows of seats had been replaced by long, comfortable-looking sofas. Tables beside the sofas provided places for books, drinks or food. A desk and wet bar in the back filled the remaining space.
She eased toward the sofas, wondering where the heck Constanzo and Antonio were. Sitting on the soft leather, she leaned back, enjoying the feel of it against her nape. She’d been so nervous the night before she hadn’t slept, and part of her just wanted to nod off. Before she got too comfortable, though, a commotion sounded outside. She jumped up and looked out the window.
A big white limo had pulled up. Antonio got out and held the door for his dad. She tilted her head, watching them.
Dressed in jeans and an open dress shirt over a white T-shirt, Antonio looked totally different. She usually saw him in tuxedos at gallery openings or formal events, or trousers and white shirts at parties for Olivia and Tucker’s kids. Seeing him so casual sent a jolt of attraction through her. Especially with the way the breeze blew through his long curly hair, making her wonder if it was as soft as it looked.
She shook her head at her stupidity and raced back to her seat. She’d just gotten settled when Constanzo boarded the plane.
“Carissima. You made it.”
She rose, just in case she was sitting in the wrong place. “I did.”
Antonio entered behind his dad. He stopped when he saw her, his brow wrinkling. “Laura Beth?”
Though Antonio had been raised in the United States, he’d spent the past five years in Italy. Speaking Italian had changed the timbre of his voice. Her name rolled off his tongue sensually. A shiver breezed along her skin. And another thought suddenly hit her—this man was now her boss. She wouldn’t just be working to organize him. They’d be living together.
Oh, wow. No wonder her thoughts ran amok. She was going to be living with the guy she’d had a crush on for five years.
Right. Plain Jane Laura Beth would be living with a famous artist, who still grieved his equally gorgeous, equally wonderful wife. Common sense plucked away her fear. She had nothing to worry about.
She smiled and said, “Hello.”
Constanzo ambled to the back of the plane. “Can I get you a drink?”
She turned to watch Constanzo as he approached the bar. “No. Thanks.”
Antonio stopped in front of her. With his windblown hair and sun-kissed skin, he looked so good, so sexy, that her mouth watered. Especially when his dark eyes met hers.
“What are you doing here?”
Reminding herself Antonio wouldn’t ever be attracted to her and she had to get rid of this crush, she peeked back at Constanzo again.
He batted a hand. “I hired her. She’s out of her apartment and had no permanent job. It was perfect timing.”
Antonio’s lips lifted into a smile that would have stopped her heart if she hadn’t known he was off-limits. “Oh. That’s great.”
The pilot announced they’d been cleared for takeoff. Antonio pointed at the leather sofa, indicating Laura Beth should sit, then he sat beside her. Close enough to touch. Close enough that if they hit turbulence, they’d tumble together.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Stop!
She had to get ahold of these wayward thoughts or she’d drive herself crazy living with him! She was not in this guy’s league. She’d figured all this out yesterday. She was common, pregnant and needed a job more than a crush.
They both buckled in. The little jet taxied to the runway of the small airstrip and took off smoothly. It climbed for a few minutes and leveled off before the fasten-seat-belts light blinked off and the pilot announced they anticipated an uneventful flight, so they could move about the cabin.
To settle her nerves and maybe waylay the attraction that zapped her every time she looked down and saw Antonio’s thigh mere inches away from hers, Laura Beth pulled a book from her purse.
“Ah. I loved that novel.”
She glanced at the book, then at Antonio. “I never took you for a science fiction fan.”
“Are you kidding? Some of the best art is in science fiction. The imaginations and imagery required are magnificent.”
Laura Beth smiled, glad they had something normal to talk about, but her stomach picked that exact second to growl. Her face flushed.
Antonio laughed. “You skipped breakfast.”
She hadn’t been able eat breakfast. It seemed that now that she knew she was pregnant, morning sickness had kicked in.
“Um, I wasn’t hungry when I got up this morning.”
Antonio unbuckled his seat belt. He reached for her hand. “Come with me.”
She undid her seat belt and took the hand he’d offered. Her fingers tingled when his warm hand wrapped around them. As he pulled her up to stand, she reminded herself to stop noticing these things and followed him to the back of the plane.
The area she’d believed was a wet bar was actually a small kitchenette. She gaped at it. “You have to be kidding me.”
Antonio nudged his head in the direction of his dad, who had fallen asleep on the sofa across from the one where Antonio and Laura Beth had been sitting.
“Anything
