Did you all play together and have lots of fun?”
Carlo shook his head. “You definitely have the wrong idea of what it is like living in a large family. Having siblings is not always fun. Especially being the youngest boy. I only had one sister to pick on and she was too little to tease for a long time. The rest picked on me until I was able to fight back.”
“But you all shared toys didn’t you? It must have been loads of fun,” she sighed, wishing she could have experienced siblings.
“It didn’t matter how many toys we had. Everyone wanted what the other was holding, especially me. And since I was the smallest for a long time, most of my toys got ripped out of my hands. Until I learned to fight back, that is,” he explained.
“Is that why you’re so muscular? Because you had to fight all your older brothers?”
Carlo raised an eyebrow at her observation which instantly made Kate’s cheeks flame yet again. Carlo laughed at her shy expression. “I guess it was a type of competition among the five of us. We’re all pretty big. I like working out but so do all my other brothers. It wasn’t really about toys though.”
Kate almost giggled in delight. “What were Christmas’s like? Did you have lots of presents and lots of fights? I can imagine all the toys six kids had. It must have been heaven with wrapping paper flying everywhere and lots of food and candy.”
Carlo nodded. “Christmas was fun if a little hairy. I had to learn to hide my toys or lose them. Michael was always trying to take electronic toys apart until he discovered computers. That was our saving grace. It still is. I have nine nieces and nephews with another one on the way. With that many kids in one house, you cannot imagine the noise and chaos,” he laughed, shaking his head.
“But you love it?” she asked, knowing from the way he was smiling that he did.
“Yeah, they are all a lot of fun.”
They talked until almost midnight before Kate looked at her watch. “Oh no! It’s so late. I really need to get home. I have an early start with three demanding soon-to-be co-workers,” she said, smiling at Carlo.
Carlo chuckled and quickly threw some bills on the table to cover the check. “I’ll take you home.” He stood up and came around the table to pull out her chair.
Kate was again flustered by his nearness. Also, she wasn’t used to men treating her like a lady. Usually, she had to run to catch up to her dates once they left the table.
She was so nervous she almost dropped her purse as she stood up. “No, I need to get my car back at the office,” she said and rushed on ahead of him to the restaurant exit.
After all their talking in the restaurant, Kate couldn’t think of anything to say on the short drive back to the store headquarters. She was too conscious of the man’s thigh right near her own. She kept thinking about the idea of moving her hand slightly, finding out if his leg was really as muscular as it appeared. She told herself it was only curiosity and nothing else. She’d think the same thoughts of any statue in a museum that was chiseled so perfectly.
Her car was the only one left in the parking lot and she knew she’d be ribbed about the fact when she arrived at work the following morning. There weren’t many secrets in this office. Thankfully, they wouldn’t know who she’d left with. She didn’t want to imagine David’s fury if he knew she’d been to dinner with Carlo and they talked about family and personal things all evening.
As soon as Carlo’s car stopped, Kate jumped out. She bent over and smiled, “Thanks for dinner. It was wonderful. I’ll see you tomorrow,” and she slammed the door before he could say anything else. Kate jumped into her tiny Mazda Miata and drove off, afraid to look back at the handsome man sitting quietly in the car behind her.
Chapter 2
The following morning, Kate was a half hour late for work and was rushing to catch up with her morning routine. She’d overslept because she’d forgotten to set her alarm the previous night. Kate had been dancing around her room as she’d gotten ready for bed, so thrilled about her evening with Carlo she hadn’t remembered to press the button that would wake her