A LITTLE BIT OF SUGAR (4 page)

Alisa nodded. “I’ve heard that, too. The subconscious takes it in and stores it.”

Carlina rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. I’m sure I’ll be getting enough nagging from you guys when I’m awake.”

All of the tables in front of my family’s restaurant were filled with customers when we arrived. The sausage festival had definitely been good for my father’s business.

“Looks like we might have to get ours to go,” I said as we stepped up to the door, which had been propped open for the parade goers that afternoon.

Cool air drifted out to greet us. It was a welcome relief, considering I had been walking around the hot street in a long gown.

I turned to Carla who was still puffing away. “You coming?”

“One sec,” she replied as she paused to put out what was left of her cigarette, stabbing it into the sand filled top of the nearest trashcan. “Okay, all set. Let’s go eat.”

We made our way into the Casa di Pasta. My father was standing behind the cash register. I waved to him with a smile.

“You made it.”

“Hey, Mr. Stewart,” Alisa said.

“Hello, girls.” He looked my way, his own smile widening. “My day just got brighter thanks to all these beautiful rays of sunshine you’ve brought with you into my restaurant.”

“Ooh, he’s good,” Mia said, giving me a playful nudge in the side.

“You can say that again,” Alisa agreed with a nod.

My father let out a hearty laugh. “I try my best.”

“Okay, people,” I said with an impatient groan, “I’m starving. If anyone cares.”

Carlina laughed. “We’d better see if we can find a table and order Gina some food. Wouldn’t want our Sausage Queen to starve to death on her special day.”

“There’s an empty booth in the back,” my father pointed out. “And lunch is on the house today.”

“Thanks, Mr. Stewart,” she said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Alisa joined in.

My friends loved my father.

We grabbed the empty booth and slid across the red vinyl padded seat. Red and white check tablecloths covered the tables while Italian opera played softly overhead. My father had created the perfect dining atmosphere for his patrons while keeping his prices low. That’s what made Casa di Pasta such a hit.

“You know, Gina,” Mia said as we settled into the booth.

“We haven’t heard much about your job search. How’s it going?”

“It’s not.” I traced the squares on the tablecloth with my finger. “I’ve thought about it a lot, but I can’t decide what route I want to go with my degree. Of course, my dad wants me to stay here and take over the business someday.”

Mia plopped her purse down atop the table. “How do you feel about working here for the rest of your life?”

I had worked part-time at my parent’s restaurant ever since I’d turned fourteen, washing dishes, cooking, waitressing, you name it. But did I want to do that for the rest of my life?

I shook my head. “I’m not sure. I’ve spent so many years in school, I think I’d like to find another job and save up enough money to be able to travel some, see a little bit of the world, and still be able to pay my school loans.” I’d never even been out of Ohio.

“Won’t your dad be upset if you give up your job here?” Alisa asked.

“I can do both. I’ll work part-time for them in the evenings and get another job during the day.”

“Good. If you’re going to be working two jobs then you’ll have enough money to move in with us,” Mia pointed out.

“What?”

“Think about it, Gina. It wouldn’t cost much to split rent between us four ways.”

“I don’t know. I mean it would be great and all, but I haven’t even started looking for another job yet. And I can tell you right now I’m not working any more hours at the restaurant than I already am. It only adds to my dad’s expectations.”

Give me a kitchen and let me bake desserts. That I could do all day, but waiting tables and cooking Italian dishes got old real fast.

“Come on, Gina,” Carlina pleaded. “It’s not the same without you. You know we’ve always done everything together.”

“Maybe after I find another job─”

“If you wait, you won’t do it,” Alisa said. “Look at my sister.”

Her sister, Gianna, had blown college off altogether and stayed at home, intending to save up enough money to get a place of her own. Only the money came and went. Gianna was a shopoholic, and now at twenty-four-years-old she was still living at home with her parents.

I sighed. I didn’t want that to be me. No way. No how. And it would be so much fun to share a place with my best friends. “I’ll think about it.”

“Perfect,” Mia said. “Be sure and swing by to see where you’re going to be living soon.”

“Mia─”

“She’s in,” she told Carlina and Alisa, and she was right. I didn’t want to be left out. We’d always done everything together and I didn’t want to be the one to break the tradition. Besides, I was an adult now. It was time I moved out of my parent’s house and paid my own way in life.

“I just hope I get...” My gaze shifted upward, my words interrupted by the toy airplane being dangled over my head in front of me. Taped on top of it was a tiny plastic pig. I glanced back over my shoulder to see Anthony standing there, a huge grin on his face.

“Seems you owe me a date.”

“What?”

“He’s right,” Mia said with a giggle. “You did tell him you’d go out with him when pigs flew.”

Carlina laughed so hard she snorted. “That’s about as close to flying as a pig’s going to get.”

Anthony dropped the ‘flying’ pig onto the table in front of me and parked his hunky butt on the bench next to me, forcing me to scoot closer to Alisa.

“So what do you say, Gina?”

“About what?” I asked, acting as though his sitting so close to me had no effect on me whatsoever.

“You going to hold up your end of the deal?”

“We didn’t have any deal,” I told him, trying to ignore the feel of his jean-clad thigh pressed against my gown.

He raised a challenging brow.

“We didn’t,” I argued weakly. I looked to my friends for some kind of help out of this situation. No such luck. They were too busy drooling over Anthony.

So maybe I had mentioned something about flying pigs. “You’re not playing fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war.”

“Oh, please. Love has nothing to do with it.”

“Yet,” he replied.

“You’re crazy.”

“About you.”

My friends went nutso over that statement. So much so that people seated around us stopped eating and turned to gawk at us. I was really going to strangle him.

“Fine,” I said in an irritated whisper. “I’ll go out with you - one time.”

His mouth curled up into a triumphant grin. “That’s a start.”

“And an end,” I insisted. “I repeat -
this
is a one-time thing, Anthony. And I get to pick the place.”

“You name it.”

“Cedar Point the Saturday after next.”

“As in the amusement park?” he asked, some of his cockiness slipping away.

I had him there. That would teach him to try and corner me into a date the way he had. I looked to my friends with my own triumphant grin.

My friends knew as well as I did that Anthony would have no choice but to back out of our supposed date. It was a well-known fact that he and amusement park rides didn’t go well together. He had gone to Cedar Point with a bunch of his classmates the weekend after his senior graduation and returned home that night sicker than a dog. I was sitting out on my porch when his friends dropped him off. His coloring could have given the Incredible Hulk a run for his money.

After a long hesitation, Anthony laughed and replied, “Fine.”

I twisted around on the bench to look at him, certain I had misunderstood him. “What?”

“I said fine. It’s a date.” He pushed off the bench, unfolding his six foot something body and turned to me with a smile.

“But...I...”

“How do you like that? She’s so excited she can’t even talk,” he told my friends with a husky chuckle.

Try shocked. I couldn’t believe he’d actually accepted. “In your dreams, Carboni.”

“You sure are.”

My girlfriends’ muffled laughter surrounded me. They were eating this up.

“Ooh!” How could one guy make me feel so crazy?

“Enjoy your lunch.” He turned and headed for the door.

I jumped off the bench seat to chase after him. “Anthony, wait!”

He stopped and turned to me. “Yeah?”

“Are you serious?”

“About you?”

“No,” I blurted out. Talk about a one-track mind. “About going to Cedar Point with me.”

“Sure. In fact, there’s nothing I’d like better than to be strapped into a ride with you.”

Had he already forgotten about his last trip to an amusement park? I sure as hell wasn’t going to be strapped in beside a guaranteed puke machine. Anthony Carboni might be hot, but I had no intention of becoming a human barf bag.

“Look, about Cedar Point─”

His smile morphed into a frown. “If you’re thinking about dragging the spaghetti slinging crew along with us, think again. This is our date, Gina. Yours and mine alone.”

Yeah, one I was going to have to go on wrapped in plastic wrap. I considered reminding him about his last trip to Cedar Point and was about to do so when it hit me. Anthony was testing me, seeing how far he could push me before I backed out of our date. Well, I had news for him. I had no intention of backing out. Let him go and get sick. The guy deserved a little embarrassment of his own after this whole humiliating Sausage Queen thing. Maybe I’d even get it on my cell phone and post it to YouTube or something. It would serve him right.

Anthony glanced past me to the table where my friends sat watching us. “I think they’re waiting to order.”

I nodded, having completely forgotten how hungry I was. “I should get back...”

“I’ve got to get going anyhow. I still have a float to disassemble and then from what I hear a few windows to clean. Catch you later.”

I watched him walk away, wondering what had just happened? Had I really given in and agreed to go out with my hunky neighbor? Was I nuts?

Shaking my head, I turned and walked back to the table.

“Mmm...mmm...mmm,” Mia said, looking past me. “Can you say nice ass?”

“I wouldn’t know,” I replied. “I wasn’t paying any attention to that.”

“Liar,” Alisa said with a giggle.

I ignored her comment. Mostly because they were right. I had given in to temptation and checked out the fit of Anthony’s jeans as he’d walked away.

Annoyed at my own weakness, I replied, “We’re just friends.” Maybe if I said it enough times I’d stop letting my thoughts stray when it came to Anthony Carboni.

Anthony was my neighbor and despite his being a pain in the butt sometimes, I had to admit I actually considered him a good friend, too. Despite all our arguing. But I wasn’t blind or dumb when it came to him. I lived next door. I knew how many girls he’d dated. Knew even better how quickly he went through them. I set my mind a long time ago never to become one of Anthony Carboni’s has-beens, no matter how nice his ass was.

CHAPTER FIVE

“What do you know,” my sister, Carla, taunted with a grin when I entered the kitchen late that morning, “the queen finally decided to leave her royal bed.”

“I was tired,” I muttered. I still was in fact, thanks to a sleepless night. One brought about by Anthony Carboni. Crossing the kitchen, I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and then walked over to the refrigerator to pour myself some orange juice.

The toaster popped and Carla walked over to grab the two slices of toast sticking up from it. “Sorry I missed your big day.”

Carla and a few of her girlfriends had gone to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “Believe me,” I said, “you didn’t miss anything.”

“So is Anthony still alive and kicking?”

“Temporarily,” I replied.

She laughed. “You two are so funny. Why don’t you just hook up with him and get it out of your system?”

I choked on the drink of orange juice I’d just taken. “What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Gina. You know you want him.”

“You’re crazy.”

“No, you’re crazy – about Anthony. I don’t know why you two just don’t get together, have sex, or whatever it takes to put an end to the constant torture you two put each other through.”