No More Wasted Time by Beverly Preston Page A

with the breathtaking Tuscan scenery behind her. Then he stood beside
her, held the phone out, and took a picture of them together. “The first one is
for Tracy, and this one’s for JC. I think she’ll like it, don’t you?”
    “Oh yeah, she’ll love it. You do realize those pictures will
be all over her Facebook in twenty minutes? There’s no way of keeping that a
secret.”
    Tom tapped his finger on her nose. “You’re not a secret,
Tess. You don’t like secrets, remember? Besides, I think you’re giving her way
too much credit, I’ll give her four minutes to have it on Facebook.”
    “How much longer?” She asked, climbing back into the car.
    “Five minutes. Tess, relax please, for me.”
    “I’m trying.” She sighed.
    He held her face tenderly and pressed his lips to hers,
teasing her with his tongue. “Are you ready to go now?”
    “Umm hmm.”
    Ten minutes later, Tom stopped at a set of tall, ornate,
black wrought iron gates, entering a code to pass through. Towering cypress
trees lined the long meandering driveway, leading to a gorgeous villa.
    “Wow, is this their house?”
    “It is. You look amazing.”
    “Thanks.” She waved her hands in the air to dry the moisture
caused by nerves. “This place is more like an old castle.” Fuchsia
bougainvillea climbed the stone walls, highlighting the shutters made from aged
timber.
    “Actually, I think it might’ve been a castle. They just
finished restoring the whole place.”“This is incredible.”
    As they approached the front door, he clutched her hands in
his and pressed them to his lips. “Please don’t be nervous. These are my best friends. They’re my family. You just need to be yourself. Okay?”
    She nodded. “I’m always myself, hence the nervous wreck,”
she smirked with a slight eye roll.
    “You weren’t nervous when you met me,” he offered as a
comforting gesture.
    “I was mad at you.”
    “Did you want me to piss you off real quick.”
    This provoked a smile from Tess and she squeezed his
fingers. Tom rang the doorbell. She sighed anxiously once again. He bent down
to nuzzle her neck when the massive wood door flew open.
    “Tommy! It’s about time.” The handsome man shook Tom’s hand,
grasping him firmly by the shoulder.
    “Tommy!” Squeals of delight came from the gorgeous blond as
she reached up to kiss Tom on both cheeks.
    Tess couldn’t believe it. They were Hollywood’s IT couple
Benny and Lisa Levi. He could’ve warned me .
    “Hey, Benny. Lisa.”
    “Shit, Tommy, you look like you got stuck in a tanning bed,”
Lisa smirked flippantly, giving him the once over.
    “Good to see you too. I want you to meet my girlfriend ,
Tess Mathews.” Tom beamed, cinching Tess by the waist.
    The expression on both of their faces mirrored the look on
Tess’ face. Shock! Benny and Lisa recovered from the word “girlfriend” faster
than Tess did. She stared at Tom with her mouth gaping open.
    Tess reached her hand out, but was quickly pulled in for a
big squeeze by Benny and kissed by Lisa on both cheeks. “Hi, it’s nice to meet
you,” Tess squeaked, attempting to stay focused, however the word “girlfriend”
still rang like a fire alarm in her ears. She didn’t miss the unmistakable
exchange of pure shock between Benny and Lisa either.
    “Come in, get comfortable. How was your flight?” Benny
asked.
    “Jeeze Tommy, where the hell have you two been? You look
great,” Lisa said.
    “Bora Bora. We flew straight from there to here.”
    Lisa’s eyes lit up like Christmas. “Bora Bora! How was it?
I’ve been asking Benny to take me there. Did you love it?” Lisa asked
enthusiastically, throwing an eye roll Benny’s direction.
    “Oh great,” Benny smirked rolling his eyes, “You’re killing
me Tommy. I’m never gonna hear the end of this.”
    “Oh yeah, we loved it!” Tom held Tess’ hand entering into
the house.
    Tess wasn’t sure where to look first. Benny and Lisa were
both beautiful and she wanted