Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection by Violet Duke Page A

of them go for the night.
    “See you later, Rob,” Tony said to him, and he knew his kid brother would have the sofa sleeper already pulled out and made up for him when he got in tonight after his closing shift. He was one lucky dude, having a brother like that. Even if the guy made him look like a slacker when it came to relationships.
    “Thanks, Tony.” He gave his mother a kiss and the family a parting wave. Then he lightly took Elizabeth’s arm and led her to his Porsche.
    “Whew,” he said, when they’d driven a mile away from the house. “We did it.” He turned to her. “Thank you. You were amazing. Brilliant. No one suspected a thing.”
    She looked at him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. “Roberto Gabinarri, that was the most deceitful, underhanded, lousy trick I’ve ever seen anyone play on their mother, and I think you should be ashamed of yourself. Both for trying to fool her and for manipulating her emotions in such a disgraceful way.”
    He felt a stab of pain in the vicinity of his heart. Damn it if she wasn’t right, but this wasn’t something he wanted to admit. Or intended to.
    “And that was the longest sentence I’ve ever heard you say to me without stuttering,” he said, striking back without thinking, and then wishing he could slap his own mouth for his thoughtlessness.
    “I-Is that why you chose m-me?” she asked, pulling her lovely lips into a tight, unforgiving line. “Not because I wouldn’t want to say no to you, but because you thought I couldn’t?”
    He pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. It killed him that she’d think so poorly of him, that he’d hurt her like this, especially when she was trying to help him. It killed him worse that, in some small way, she was right. Not that he’d admit that either.
    “I am so sorry, Elizabeth. No, that wasn’t why I chose you. My comment was rude and inexcusable, and I hope you’ll forgive me. Sometimes I speak without thinking.”
    “I never do,” she whispered.
    He nodded but the lump of self-recrimination in his throat kept him from replying.
    “So, w-why did you choose me, th-then?”
    Her question was a fair one, but he didn’t have an honest answer. He’d already stretched the truth a bit. Yes, her inability to speak quickly and freely had , he was ashamed to admit, passed through his mind when he formed the idea of taking her to his mother’s. With a family as chatty as his, and Elizabeth being so naturally quiet, he thought he might be able to direct the conversation with no one being the wiser. That had backfired, of course. But he’d also counted on Elizabeth’s warm heart to see him through if he got caught. Which he had.
    “I knew that, even if you were furious with me, you’d still back me up. That you wouldn’t throw wine or ice water or hot tea in my face. That you wouldn’t embarrass me in front of my family.” All this was true, and he tried to project every ounce of his sincerity in saying it. “Thanks for being someone I could count on. Even though we haven’t seen each other in years, you’re still just as I remembered you.”
    At this, something dark passed behind her clear eyes and she looked down. “It’s almost eight,” she told him, belatedly touching her watch although she was clearly well aware of the time. “You’d better drive us back to Tutti-Frutti.”
    “Okay,” he said, and let it go. He’d make this gaffe up to her. Hell, he’d have a month of dinners to do it. Maybe he’d even confide in Tony at the end of the month, ask him if he knew of any nice guys to set Elizabeth up with after he hightailed it back to Chicago.
    Although there was something vaguely unsatisfying about that thought. Probably because she was a truly nice girl, and he wouldn’t want her to get hurt by some of those creeps out there. God, there were a lot of bad dudes on the prowl.
    They got back to the sweets shop and Elizabeth, after waving to Gretchen