March (Calendar Girl #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

hands at his sides. “And you can call me Tony. If you’re going to be my pretend fiancée we may as well get that one straight right off the bat.” He moved forward and maneuvered his giant frame onto the small stool. Well, it only seemed small when he sat on it. I waited and watched the wooden legs to see if they were going to break under the pressure of all that male muscle. 
    Hector clinked his shoulder with mine breaking me from my stupor. “Hey, eyes on your sandwich, missy. All that hunky hotness,”—he tipped his chin at Tony and then back to me—“is mine and mine alone. You get that, we’ll be just fine.”
    I opened my mouth to say something but instead let out a breath and nodded.
    “So, what’s my first assignment?” I bit into the sandwich and looked from one side to the other where the guys caged me in. In only three bites, Tony finished half of his sandwich. Damn, he was big.
    He wiped his mouth with his napkin. “Tonight, the three of us get to know each other. Tomorrow morning, you meet Ma.”
    I’m pretty certain my entire face flattened like a pancake the way that information slapped me upside the head. “Tomorrow? After one night, you expect me to act like I’m in love with you and fool your mother. As in, the woman who gave birth to you?”
    Both Hector and Tony nodded. Then Hector spoke. “Your description said you were an actress. We figured that was a plus for us. Besides, tomorrow’s Friday night dinner and we always meet Ma and the family for dinner.”
    “The family?”
    Tony smiled and took an alligator-sized bite of his sandwich pushing the remaining bit into his mouth. Renaldo set another sandwich on his plate and glass of milk in front of him. Tony sucked down half the milk in one go.
    “Impressive,” I said.
    Hector bumped my shoulder again. “I know,” he waggled his eyebrows and grinned.
    I shook my head and focused on the matter at hand. Turning my chair so I was facing Hector, I laid it out. “You want me to not only pretend to be his fiancée but make his mother and extended family believe it too. All in one shot?”
    Hector’s brown eyes twinkled. “ Si . I knew you were a smart one.”
    “Impossible.”
    “Nah,” Tony clapped me on the shoulder and rung my body as if I was one of the guys. “You’ve got this. I can already tell. You’re gorgeous, down to Earth, and you’ve got a bit of an edge. Italian’s like that. Can you cook?”
    “I do all right.”
    Tony licked his lips, leaned a forearm on the counter top and encroached on my personal space. “Like Italian food?”
    “Is the Pope Catholic?”
    He glanced at Hector next to me then back. “Are you easily intimidated…”
    I pressed my chest forward, straightening my spine and got into his space. “Do I look the type that intimidates easily?”
    “You didn’t let me finish.” Tony moved a bit closer and I tried not to flinch but couldn’t help myself from pressing back. That pushed me into Hector who steadied me at the biceps. “Are you intimidated by strong women?”
    “Look, I can handle myself against a bunch of tiny Italians.” 
    Tony and Hector smiled so wide it was if they were mirror images of the other. “Fair enough. Then, let’s get started on the specifics.”
    “Oh, snap. We’re going to need a truck load of wine for this,” Hector sighed and left the room, presumably to get a bottle of wine.
     
    ***
     
    “Oh my god! You did not do that!” I screeched almost sloshing wine onto the carpet. Instead just a few drops tagged the table. Hector face planted into my lap laughing so hard I could feel the heat of his breath against my knees.
    Tony wiped up the spill and refreshed my glass.
    “We did. Stark assed naked. Ran the entire length of the football field all wearing helmets and nothing else. We’d painted a different letter on our chests and when the last goal was made, we rushed onto the field. Most of our fraternity. We spelled out “L-O-S-E-R-S…S-U-C-K…