Shutter by Rhonda Laurel Page B

is no doubt you and I would be saying our bittersweet good-byes by now. I don’t think, in the end, you can make a relationship work with someone just because we have great physical chemistry together. You don’t know it yet, but you want more than that. And the basis of our relationship is ill equipped to provide you with something you deserve. How about we try friendship instead?”
    Monica nodded. Antonio kissed her ever so lightly on the lips and led her to the door.
    “Take care, you,” she said sweetly.
    “You too.”
    And then she was gone.
     
     
     
    When Lucy heard the wind chimes, she reappeared. “Thank you for whatever you said to that she-devil to get her out of my store.”
    “She’s not so bad,” he quipped.
    “Getting misty already and she isn’t even down the block?” Lucy laughed.
    “Monica and I belong to the same club.” He held up his hand to stop Lucy from speaking before he was finished. “This club is filled with lonely, sex-obsessed people who would rather have casual relationships than take a look inside and find happiness there. Monica learned early on that her looks and sex appeal could get her whatever she wanted. I learned very early on that women are attracted to me and will usually fall for whatever bullshit I tell them. I know that makes me sound like an asshole, but it’s the truth. I can flash a smile and some woman within a three-mile radius will come over and ask how they can help me. That shit is intoxicating sometimes. How people are willing to give up their free will to another human being just because they think he’s handsome. And then I met you and never had a snowball’s chance in hell. Thank you for bringing me to my senses.”
    Lucy stood there, not knowing what to say. She got a full confession from the most self-centered man she knew. The most astounding part was he knew, in great detail, why he was the way he was.
    “It’s a family trait, by the way. My father had that charisma and that’s how my mom ended up on his fishing hook. My brother has it and it took almost losing the love of his life to understand why it wasn’t working for him anymore.”
    “The funny thing about being human, Antonio,” she said quietly as she walked toward him, “is that we are not obligated to be any one thing. The only thing you can’t change in your life is being human. Everything else is just clay. We can make a masterpiece, smash it, and start all over again.”
    “Lucy, I can’t make any promises to you. I wish I could. I know I’m not too thrilled about who I am right now, but I know there is a better man somewhere in here.”
    She smiled. “Well, that’s a start.”
     

Chapter Nine
     
     
    The weeks seemed to fly by. Each day Antonio greeted Lucy with a cappuccino and a big smile. He managed to help her get control over the inventory in the store and took some stunning pictures to be featured in the local newspaper.
    After viewing his portfolio one night after dinner at Felix’s house, she asked him if he’d mind her selling some of his photographs in the store. He brought her the prints and she found interesting antique frames to complement his work.
    By the end of the week, she’d sold three of his framed photos for a pretty hefty sum, thanks to Felix and his artistic pricing skills. Word was traveling about Antonio’s photographs and soon there was a demand for them. When she tried to give him the commission check for the sales, he refused to take it and informed her it was his contribution to her remodeling fund. He gave her ideas about how to make some things more visible in the store and she marveled at how he understood her artist’s way of thinking.
    Amazingly neither tired of the other’s company. They worked in the same groove. Sometimes quiet, sometimes boisterous, sometimes arguing, sometimes resisting the sexual tension that was building between them. One day Antonio came up behind her to help her with a big piece of glass she thought she