Triplets Under the Tree

Before long, the cart overflowed and Caitlyn had shared more smiles with Antonio than she’d expected, given yesterday’s kiss.

“I don’t think anything else will fit,” she announced.

“Then, I suppose we’re finished.” Antonio nodded toward the front of the store. “Unless you want to get another cart and keep going.”

She laughed. “No, I think this is enough to spoil three children rotten.”

Antonio smiled and pushed the cart toward the register. He’d manhandled it away from Caitlyn about halfway through without asking, insisting it had grown too heavy for her to maneuver. How could she argue with chivalry?

After they paid and Caitlyn got over her sticker shock, she let Antonio carry the umpteen bags.

But she didn’t make it two feet toward the door. Antonio nearly plowed into her when she stopped. ?Twas the season to spend money as if it was going out of style, but it was also the season to spread good cheer to those who wouldn’t be waking up to their parents’ overindulgence.

“I just remembered that I wanted to donate something to Toys for Tots.” Caitlyn picked up a Barbie doll and a GI Joe action figure located near the register. “I’ll pay for this out of my own money.”

Antonio’s brows drew together. “What’s Toys for Tots?”

He didn’t remember Toys for Tots? Amnesia was such a strange beast, constantly surprising her with the holes it had created in Antonio’s mind. Her heart twisted anew as she imagined how difficult his daily life must still be.

“It’s a charity sponsored by the US Marines that gives toys to underprivileged kids. Not everyone has a billionaire for a father,” she joked. “I like to donate every year, but I selfishly got caught up in my own children this year and nearly forgot.”

His expression flickered with a dozen inexplicable emotions.

“Wait here,” he instructed. “I’ll be right back.”

Mystified, she watched him thread back through the crowd and say something to the girl behind the register. Wide-eyed, she nodded and called to another worker. They spoke furiously to each other and then the second worker came alongside the first to speak to Antonio. He handed her something and then returned to Caitlyn’s side with a small smile.

“Sorry, but you can’t use your own money to buy toys for the kids without fathers.”

Kids without fathers. That wasn’t what she’d said, but he’d interpreted the term underprivileged in a way that had affected him, obviously. And many of the Toys for Tots recipients probably didn’t have fathers.

“Don’t argue with me,” she told him sternly. “I didn’t say anything about you paying for the babies’ gifts, but this is something for me to do on my own.”

“I don’t mean I don’t want you to. I mean, you can’t. I bought out the whole store,” he explained, and didn’t even have the grace to look chagrined.

“You...what?”

“I told the clerk that she should check out the people already in the store and I’d buy whatever was left.” He looked downright gleeful. “So we’re going to hang out until they clear the store and then she’s going to run my credit card.”

Her heart thumped strangely. “That’s...extravagant. And generous. What brought that on?”

He shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything for others before. That charity event you mentioned, the one where I wore the pink shirt. On the day we met,” he prompted, as if she’d ever forget. “I did that because it was part of my contract. Not because I believed in the cause. I’m a father now. It means something to me and I want to be a better person than I was.”

Tears pricked her eyes and she fought to keep them from falling. “You already are, Antonio.”

Somehow her hand ended up in his and he squeezed it tight. “You’re the one who brought it up.”

What, as if she had something to do with Antonio’s beautiful gesture? “Not so you could unload an entire toy store on the marines!”

He laughed and it rumbled through her warmly. This was what she’d dreamed of all those lonely nights when she imagined what it would be like to have a relationship with Antonio. Here they were, holding hands, standing near each other, and it was comfortable. Nice.

Not desperate and sensual and dark the way that kiss had been. Which one was the real Antonio?

His thumb stroked her knuckle and heat curled through her midsection. Okay, so he had the capacity to be both, which wasn’t an easy thing to reconcile.