Harlow eyed Antonio, wondering who the guy was that got her brother drunk and was talking to her in a language she had no idea what he had just said. All Antonio could do was smile at her, he felt he's seen many beautiful women in his lifetime, but thought she was different. He never saw a woman with such green eyes before, that it had his heart melting.

"Is that all you can do is stare, and smile?" Harlow asked, reaching for Ethan. "Do you even know how young he is? You do realize, I could have you arrested!" she snapped.

Antonio chuckled while helping her place Ethan into the backseat of her car. He stood back up and turned to her, standing in front of her and smelling the sweetness of her perfume from the breeze passing through. "Before you go calling the police, let me introduce myself," he says slurring, holding out his hand, wanting to shake hers.

"I'm not sure I care who you are." She looked down at his hand and crossed her arms.

Antonio chuckled. "Are you always this stubborn?" he asked smiling and swaying side to side.

"Get in the car before you fall over. If you happen to fall, I'm just going to leave you there, then you're on your own." She opened the door for him anyway and shoved him onto the seat. Ethan sat in the back of the car laughing after he watched her shove him inside and how he hit his forehead on the roof of her car while she shoved him in.

"Feisty we are, I see." Antonio chuckled, rubbing his forehead. He turned around and looked at Ethan. "You weren't kidding."

"I told you," Ethan laughed.

She got inside and started the car, then looked over at Antonio, demanding he put his seatbelt on.

"Better do it, she drives like a maniac," Ethan blurted out.

Antonio placed his seatbelt on and looked over at her smiling. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Harlow." she said, looking at him curiously. "Where am I bringing you tonight?" she asked as she started to head out of the parking lot, then stopped when Antonio's mouth opened.

"How about, you take me to your place." he said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Oh snap!" Ethan said, laughing hard. He leaned into Antonio's ear and whispered, "Careful, she might take you up on that offer, take you home and kill you."

Harlow turned around after hearing what Ethan whispered to him, smacking him on the top of his head. "You just sit back and be quiet," she hissed.

Antonio placed his hand on her arm. His touch sent electricity throughout her body, hitting her at the core. She snapped her head towards him, surprised he had an effect on her just from his touch. He reached his hand up and touched his finger to her lip, hushing her before she could speak. "I was only joking, I don't live far from here, if you could drop me off at my place, that would be great."

She started driving after he gave her directions to his place. He then turned his head and looked at her while she drove, curious if she was single. "I think we started off on the wrong foot, my name is, Antonio Russo. I hired your brother a couple weeks ago and I would like to apologize for getting him drunk. I was impressed with the work he had accomplished these past couple weeks, that we began celebrating. Again, I do apologize."

Ethan leaned forward holding onto Harlow's seat, looking at Antonio. "I forgot to tell you something that happened earlier. I thought I was going to get my ass kicked by a girl today... I went to the bank to cash my check and the teller behind the counter tried getting money from me. She had the nerve to tell me that my bank account was overdrawn, I took one look at her and said, so are your eyebrows."

Antonio busted out laughing as he looked at Harlow, then turned to Ethan. "Are you being serious?"

"I'm serious! They were literally painted on, and huge. I couldn't help myself. She looked like Ursula from The Little Mermaid, then the look she gave me afterwards, I thought the demons inside her came out."

"Are you always a smartass?" Antonio asked.

"No, not when I'm asleep." Ethan replied, sitting back in his seat.

Harlow remained quiet and just drove. She wanted to laugh at Ethan and his remarks, but didn't want him thinking she thought he was being funny and wanted him to think she was still upset with him. Ethan sat in the backseat laughing, telling jokes to Antonio and getting him to laugh. "Is he always like this?" Antonio asked, looking at Harlow.

"For as long as I've known him."

As they were getting closer to Antonio's place, he started directing her where to turn, until they pulled up to his house. "Thanks for the ride," he said, opening the door. "You wouldn't happen to be available in the morning, so I can go back and get my car, would you?"

She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly as she turned to look at him. "What time?" she asked, not sounding too enthused.

"Seven, or eight in the morning? I'm not sure what time you awake."

"I'll be here at nine in the morning," she sighed. "Will that work?"

"Sure, that'll work... thanks girlie," he says, winking at her.

Antonio walked away, feeling as if he were in love. He walked into his home and sat on his couch, thinking about Harlow and remembering what she looked like. She was pure heaven he muttered under his breath. He then became excited when he thought about what she'll look like in the daylight, thinking if she looked anymore amazing than what she did with the lights shining down on her, he wasn't sure what he would do, or how he would act.

The next morning, he awoke to someone loudly knocking on the door. Shit he said after looking at his watch. He got up from the couch and quickly went to the door, opening it partially. There she was, heaven standing at the door, staring at him. He smiled. "Ah, come in," he said opening the door wider. He ran his hand through his hair and stared at the beauty walking past him and into his home. "Sorry, I overslept."

"Doesn't surprise me," she said, looking around his home. "You two were pretty wasted last night."

"If you want to sit on the couch, you're more than welcome to. If you don't mind, I could really use a quick shower, then we can leave."

"Please do, get all of that whiskey smell off of you, my car still smells like a damn brewery," she said, sitting down on the couch. Antonio chuckled, leaned over the couch and into her ear. "It wasn't whiskey, it was bourbon," he said softly, sending goosebumps down the side of her body of the side he spoke into.

He stood back up and walked away, smiling as he headed to take a shower. "I'll be quick."

While he showered, she sat on the couch looking around her, curious as to what kind of person he was. She noticed some pictures he had up on the shelf against the wall and got up to look at them. She picked up each picture, studying them. Antonio finished getting ready, walked into the living room, saw she was looking at his pictures and walked over to her.

"Those are my parents," he said, looking at the picture she was holding in her hand.

"This is a nice picture, where was it taken?"

"Italy."

"Vacation?" she asked.

He took the picture from her hand and set it back onto the shelf. "No, not vacation, it's where I'm from. I just recently moved here. They moved to Paris and I chose to move here, to the United States."

"Oh," she said quietly, surprised. "I suppose I should take you to your car now." That'll explain the sexy accent he has, she thought to herself. They left to get his car and while she drove, he decided to start telling her more about him and how impressed he was with Ethan. "I can't believe you got him drunk like that." she said turning to look at him.

"Sorry about that, we did get a little carried away."

"A little?"

Antonio laughed, "Are you hungry at all?"

She shrugged her shoulders. She was hungry, but wasn't sure if she wanted to tell him that.

"I'll buy breakfast if you are. Go wherever you would like, I'm sure you know this area better than I do," he tells her. "Please, it's the least I can do for having you picking up our drunk asses last night and for picking me up this morning, to take me to my car."

She pulled into a diner and parked. "This place always has a good breakfast," she said, feeling her stomach growl.

"Good, because I'm starving and by the sounds of it, you are too," he chuckled.

They walked inside and over to the hostess station. "Two please."

"Follow me," the hostess said, grabbing a couple menus. He placed his hand on the small of her back and followed the hostess to their table. It surprised her with him placing his hand on her and looked at him nervously, then smiled when he smiled at her. The way he touched her, had her feeling warm inside, then kept telling herself to knock it off, that she had no clue who this guy was. All she knew of him, was that he was the one who got her brother drunk as a skunk.

"Waitress will be with you shortly," she tells them.

They both looked at their menus and after deciding what they were having, they set the menus down and waited for the waitress to return. He couldn't stop looking at her, or erase the smile he had on his face. She was looking around the busy restaurant, trying to avoid him and once she felt him looking at her, she tried avoiding looking at him and started wondering where their waitress was. "You're doing the same thing as you were last night," she said, finally looking at him,

"What's that?"

"Staring at me, smiling away."

"I can't help it, you're a sight for sore eyes and since they're seeing you, it feels like you're healing them," he smirked.

"Please...." she said, sounding unimpressed. But on the inside, she had to admit to herself that she thought it was funny.

The waitress finally came back and took their order.

"So, what made you move out here?" she asked, after the waitress left.

He took a drink of his water and set it back down on the table. "I was looking for more of a challenge and was looking for more ways to make as much money I possibly could. I then started buying properties out here, wanting to manage, buy and sell. I'm also an attorney, specializing in civil and criminal cases. I felt I could do more here, than I could back home in Italy."

Harlow was intrigued listening to him speak, hearing about him and his dreams. She was also fascinated by his sparkling bright blue eyes and how they mesmerized her whenever he looked at her.

"For you being Italian, you speak English very well."

"After graduating from school, I knew that I wanted to move here, to America. While I was in law school, I also took English classes."

"I see," she said looking at him confused. By the way he talked, she thought that he was older, yet, he looked so young. "I'm sorry, how old are you?" she asked, trying to figure it out.

"Twenty-two, I'll be twenty-three in a few months," he said, laying his napkin on his lap when he saw the food coming towards them. "In Italy we graduate at sixteen. I see here, in America, you graduate when you're about eighteen years old, so I can see where you look confused."

The waitress set their plates down in front of them, smiling and asking if they needed anything else. "Coffee, please." Antonio smiled, flipping his cup over.

During their meal, Antonio kept noticing Harlow sneaking a peek at him every now and then. "I keep seeing you looking at me, is it my charm?" he asked smiling and winking at her.

"You wish," she smarted off, finishing her last bite.

He chuckled, "I know you want to ask me something, so what is it?"

"Last night, you said something to me. What did you say?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," he smirked. He was loving it; he could sense that she was curious about him. She may have been giving him attitude, but he could tell it was only an act and could sense she wouldn't mind getting to know him more. "Tell me, are you single?"

She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, looking at him with a smile. "That's for me to know, and for you to find out," she repeated back, figuring two can play this game.

Antonio chuckled, wiping his mouth and throwing his napkin on top of his clean plate. He leaned forward and smirked. "Well, if you won't tell me, I know someone who will," he winked, waving the waitress over to them.

She shrugged her shoulders. "That's fine, I'll just tell him if he says anything to you, he'll be finding himself six feet under."

Antonio laughed.

"I'm very, very curious as to what you said. Whatever you said to me, it sounded extremely sexy."

He smiled at her. "Now you think I'm sexy, anything else you would like to tell me and admit to?"

Harlow stood up, trying to hold back from smiling and laughing at him. "No wonder you get along with my brother, you two are so much alike, it's scary."

"I know you like me, quit trying to hide your feelings," he said, picking up the bill and leaned into her ear. "Admit it, you want to get to know me better. You think I'm sexy, funny and one who could blow your mind, don't you?" She shook her head and started walking towards the doors. She thought he was very attractive and didn't like how he was making her feel tingly inside. She was still upset for what he did to Ethan and didn't want him to see what he was doing to her and had to get to her car for a breather. Antonio paid the bill and caught up to her, following her and getting into her car.

"Thanks for breakfast," she said quietly once she started driving.

"You're very welcome," he said, looking at her and smiled. "Maybe you'll let me take you out on an actual date sometime."

"Maybe, but you still don't know if I'm single, so, it may never happen."

He laughed from the inside. He could tell by the way she was acting and talking, she was single and was having fun messing with her, enjoying how stubborn she was trying to be with him. Maybe that's what was drawing her more to him, her stubbornness.

She pulled into the parking lot and parked next to a car she assumed was his, being it was the only one there. "I take it, this is your vehicle?"

"Yes, it is. Thanks for bringing me to my car, and going to breakfast with me."

"You're welcome."

He placed his hand on the door handle and looked at her before opening the door. "I'd really enjoy it, if you would accompany me on a date sometime, possibly tonight?"

"I don't know, maybe if you tell me what you said last night, I'll think about it."

He chuckled and looked at the door handle, then opened the door and stepped out. He was about to close the door, then thought about what she was asking. He peeked his head back inside as he held onto the door, grinning widely. "If you must know, I said that I think I'm in love."

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's the start of the beginning.❤❤❤❤

Will she agree to go out with him? Or will she make him keep begging to take her out?

Hope to see your wonderful comments, and if you could vote, that would be greatly appreciated.😊😍😊😍😊😍😊😍

Edited 3/7/2020

( Previous word count 2457
New word count 2739)