She wished the girls back at school could see him. They would all be jealous. Especially Maria Scalia, the nasty witch, who had nicknamed Gina Virgin Mary, as if Maria knew all about sex. How Gina would love to see her mouth drop at the sight of Mike and his beautiful green eyes.
She slumped back against the bed and pictured herself casually mentioning to her graduating class how Mike would be her personal escort for an entire month. Of course she would refer to him as Michael. That name suited him better.
The fantasy made her smile as she applied the second coat of polish. She wondered what Mike would say when she told him she wanted to lose her virginity.
With him.
THREE-THIRTY AND STILL no sign of her. Mike began to wonder if she’d fallen asleep. Not that he’d knock on her door to find out. The longer she stayed in her room, the better for him. He lifted the phone to return another call he’d picked up from his voice mail.
In the short time since he’d gone to lunch and arrived at Antonio’s apartment, four messages had been left for him. What the hell would happen when he was out of the office for most of the month? This was going to be a disaster.
Robert wouldn’t be leaving for vacation for three more days. He’d have to step in and entertain his cousin. Melanie or Melody or whoever his newest love interest was would just have to wait until the cruise for his undivided attention.
His last call returned, Mike hung up the phone and heard a door click. He glanced over his shoulder down the hall but saw no sign of Gina. Relief and disappointment washed over him in alternate waves. Part of him wished she’d stay out of his face for a while and give him a chance to regroup. The other part of him wanted to get lost in her seductive eyes.
It was the accent, he told himself. That’s what turned him on. His first major crush had been on his French teacher. He’d been thirteen and she had probably been in her early thirties. She was pretty enough, but it was her accent that had him reaching under the covers at night.
He sat at Antonio’s desk and flipped on the computer. He was surprised his boss even knew how to use a computer, much less have one at home. At Mike’s touch, dust flew off the keyboard, and he shook his head. He should’ve figured Antonio didn’t actually use it. Knowing him, he probably thought it made him look in touch with the business.
He had only two new e-mails to answer and had just finished signing off when he heard Gina clear her throat. Taking a deep breath and wondering what the hell he should do with her now, he pushed back from the desk.
He turned toward the doorway and his jaw went slack. His mouth opened. Nothing came out.
“You like?” she asked, skimming her hands down the sides of a red dress that fit like a second skin. Her long thick hair was down. Dark and glossy with chestnut-colored streaks, it reached just past her shoulders.
She had put on makeup, not a lot, but enough to accentuate her eyes and cheekbones. Before she was pretty; now she was a stunner.
“Mike?” Worry lines formed between her brows.
“Um…” He had to say something eventually—when his mouth worked. Instead, he made the mistake of checking out her dress again. Made of some type of stretchy material, it left no doubt where every curve started and ended. The neckline wasn’t too low, but Gina’s breasts were so full that…
“You’re not going out like that.”
She frowned, her red-tinted lips forming that sexy pout again. “Why not?”
“Why not?” His gaze automatically ran down her body. If her dress was two inches shorter… “Because women don’t dress like that here.” Most of them couldn’t get away with it—and look that good.
“Yes, they do.”
“Not in the daytime.”
Gina folded her arms across her chest, pushing everything into the right place, and Mike had to look away quickly. “I have seen them.”
“You’ve been to New York before?”
She shook her head. “I have seen Sex and the City. Twice. At my friend Lucia’s house.”
“Sex and the City?”
“On the television. It is—”
He sighed. “I know what it is, Gina. But women don’t really— What?”
“That is the first time you said my name.” Her lips curved in a smile that made his chest tighten. “I like very much the way you say it. Please, say it again.”
“Don’t try to distract me.”
She blinked, confusion clouding her eyes. “I do not understand.”
How was he going to explain? Admit that just looking at her gave him a hard-on? Thank God he was already sitting down. He grabbed the edge of the desktop and pulled the chair and himself closer to the desk.
He forced his thoughts back to last Sunday at the grocery store when he’d splattered a ripe juicy plum at the feet of a pretty blond shopper. Recalling the embarrassment of her shocked scream and accusing eyes barely did the trick. He was still pretty damn hard. At least he had the desk for protection.
“Ah, I understand,” Gina said after a discomfiting silence. “Distract. It means I take you off the subject.” She looked pleased. “I do that?”
He groaned. “You have to change your clothes.”
Her eyes got dark and wounded. “Because I look fat.”
That startled a laugh out of him. “No, trust me, you do not look fat.”
She shrunk back, her shoulders hunching forward, and then hugged herself.
“Come on, Gina, you look terrific.” He started to get up and thought better of it. “You look absolutely beautiful.”
Guarded pleasure lightened her eyes. “You say that not to hurt my feelings.”
“Wrong, and you know it.”
She blinked a couple of times, fret drawing her brows together and doubt so plain in her face, that he got it. She really didn’t know that she was a stone fox, built like a brick house, the object of men’s fantasies.
Unbelievable! She had no friggin’ idea. Not a clue. She really had been sheltered. Probably had worn a conservative schoolgirl uniform most of her life. This was all experimentation to her.
But heart failure for him. “The reason I want you to change has nothing to do with how you look. I’m worried about what your uncle will say.”
Defiance flashed in her face. “I am doing nothing wrong.”
“No, you aren’t. But would he approve?”
She sighed heavily and paced to the window.
Mike clenched his jaw. He hadn’t seen the back of her until now. Or had gotten down far enough to notice how the black spike heels made her legs look longer and shapely. That wasn’t even the best part. She had the most perfect rear end known to man. He tried to look away. He couldn’t.
She stared out the window long enough for him to give himself a thorough mental shake, and then she undid his hard work by turning around and meeting his eyes. “I do not want to displease my uncle, or my mother. That is not my intention.” She shoved her fingers through her hair, letting the thick strands fall in a curtain of silk. “I am just trying to have fun, to be like other girls, to enjoy life before…”
She pressed her lips together and turned back toward the window. “You are very kind to worry, Mike, but how I dress is not your problem.”
The hell it wasn’t. He was going to get fired over this. All the accurate forecasts and tight budgets he’d produced weren’t going to mean squat to Antonio if he thought Mike wasn’t doing right by his niece.
In the back of his mind, Mike recalled how Antonio liked to play up his Italian heritage, make references that he was related to a godfather in Sicily. Some of the guys at the warehouse chuckled about it behind his back. But maybe it wasn’t a joke. Maybe he’d have someone whack Mike and make it look like an accident.
“Look, Gina, since I’m your guardian…”
Her eyes blazed.
“I mean, escort, while you’re in New York, I kind of am responsible.”
She smoothed her palm over her hip and down her thigh. His gaze helplessly followed. “
I am not a child.”
“No, you definitely aren’t.” He swallowed, cleared his throat. “Will you excuse me a moment?”
He had to talk to Robert. This arrangement was not going to work. No way. Not without Mike ending up with his butt in a sling.
Gina stood there looking uncertain, and Mike realized she was waiting for him to get up and leave. That could be a problem, yet he couldn’t very well make the call in front of her. He shifted in hopes of loosening his pants.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, moving toward him.
“No.” He shot off the chair. “Nothing. I need to go make a phone call.”
She followed him out to the hall.
“In private.”
Her eyes narrowed and she drew her lower lip into her mouth. “Is it about me?”
Mike hesitated, fascinated with the new contortion of her lips. “Sort of.”
She stepped closer. “What have I done?”
All she had to do was glance down at his fly and she’d know exactly what she’d done. He backed up toward the living room. “Nothing. I have to go.”
She followed. “But, Mike…”
Thinking he heard something, he held up a hand for silence.
“But I—”
“Wait! Did you hear that?”
She stopped short and listened.
A click broke the silence.
“The door.” Mike cursed under his breath. “It’s your uncle.”
3
“MADRE DIO.” Gina’s gaze flew toward the living room. For all her brave words, she did not want her uncle to see her like this.
“Go to your room. I’ll tell him you’re napping.”
Not anxious to be sent back on the next plane, she started to obey when the door opened.
She would never make it to her room before Antonio saw her. To her left was a closed door. She grabbed Mike’s sleeve and pulled him into the dark room with her. Only, it was a closet.
“What the hell did you do—?” Mike cut himself off at the sound of her uncle calling for her. He muttered a word she did not understand, his warm breath gliding across her cheek.
The closet was small and crowded and they were pressed so close together, Gina could hardly breathe. She moved her right arm and her breast rubbed against him. At his sharp intake of breath she froze.
Only one other time had she been this close to a boy. Diego was a classmate’s brother and he had been all hands. It had been fun and exciting at first, but then he scared her by reaching between her legs. When he would not stop as she had asked, she had bitten his arm.
But Mike’s hands were nowhere near her. She wondered what he would do if she placed her palms on his chest. She smiled when she realized there was nothing he could do. Not without alerting her uncle. And Mike would not do that.
“Mike?” she whispered.
“Shh.” He put a finger to her lips, missing at first in the darkness, but then finding her and making her heart race like a runaway horse.
She parted her lips ever so slightly, and he let his finger trail away, dragging across her lower lip as he withdrew. A warmth spread over her body, and she closed her eyes and snuggled closer, pressing her breasts lightly to his chest.
His heart beat wildly against her. She swallowed hard. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to put his arms around her. She wanted—
Her uncle coughed, and she jumped. It sounded as if he was just on the other side of the door.
Mike’s arms instantly came up to hold her still. She laid her cheek and one palm against his chest. He didn’t move at first, and then he tightened his hold. Not much, but enough to make her knees weak.
Tentatively she splayed her hand on his chest. He jerked slightly and then stilled, and she did not think she imagined that his hand moved down her back. Just a little, and not in an obvious way, but it was enough of a caress to cause goose bumps to march down her arms.
She stood on tiptoe so she could get close to his ear and whispered, “What are we going to do?”
Mike wished like hell he knew. If he wasn’t so damned aroused, he’d be angry as all get-out. Gina hiding in the closet was one thing. The two of them—together—could he explain that to Antonio?
He lowered his head to her ear. Soft silky strands of hair brushed his jaw. Her exotic scent briefly robbed him of all thought. She was so close she had to feel the erection that wouldn’t quit. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
“We’ll have to sit tight,” he finally managed to whisper, and when she abruptly tilted her head back, he realized she probably didn’t understand the phrase.
He didn’t bother trying to explain. She’d keep quiet. That was what counted. He had to think. Which wasn’t easy with her breasts rubbing against his chest. He shifted, hoping for more distance, and her hip stroked his arousal. Sucking in a breath didn’t help. It only pushed him in harder against her breasts.
Like a flash of lightning, it occurred to him that he still had his arms around her. He loosened them and his hands fell to the curve of her backside. Fighting the temptation to cup her to him required every ounce of his willpower.
Gina was like the girls in high school he’d watched from afar but never had the nerve to ask out. They were the cheerleaders and song leaders, and God forbid they’d go out with anyone who didn’t throw a football.
“Mike?” She touched his chest to get his attention. Yeah, that did it, all right. “I think my uncle has gone into the bathroom,” she whispered, her warm, intoxicating breath another nail in his coffin.
Dammit. He should have been listening for Antonio.
“Mike?”
“Wait.” With his thumb, he touched her lips. They were moist, and he had the insane urge to lower his head and kiss them.
Her hand moved restlessly against his chest. She had to be able to feel his heart pounding—pounding so hard he thought it might explode. That wasn’t the only thing about to explode, and he knew she could feel that, too.
He straightened, listened and thought he heard a water faucet. That was enough for him. He disengaged himself from her tempting hands, carefully turned the knob. A quick glance down the hall assured him the coast was clear.
“Go to your room. Now,” he said, and took off out the apartment door as though the devil himself was on his heels.
MIKE WAS THE FIRST one in the office the next morning. He got there early, about six-thirty, after a nightmare woke him before the alarm went off. In the dream, Antonio and his brother-in-law, Augie, had chased Mike with butcher knives. They had nearly caught up to him when he’d bolted upright in bed in a cold sweat.
The memory made him look over his shoulder as he turned on the office lights. After he got the coffee started, he emptied his In box and started to sift through the reports and invoices that required his attention.
His mind kept wandering to Gina. She wasn’t easy to figure out. Did she have her family fooled? Or had she really been that sheltered? He couldn’t deny the unguarded innocence in her eyes or the uncertainty in her voice when she tried to assert herself. Don’t judge a book by its cover was one of his mother’s favorite sayings. Gina made a good case for that old adage.
“Hey, Mike.”
At the sound of Antonio’s voice, Mike jumped and dropped his pen. It rolled toward his desk clock. Seven-fifteen. “What are you doing here so early?”
Antonio grunted and reached into his pocket for a cigar. “It’s Gina.”
Shit! He was going to get fired. Or worse.
“I couldn’t go out last night,” Antonio said. “I had to stay home with her and got too damn much sleep. Where were you?”
“Me? Home. I, uh, figured she was too tired to go anywhere.”
“Tired? She drove me crazy. She has a list this long of places to go.” He held his hands an exaggerated distance apart. “I told her she has to wait for you to take her. I don’t know these young people’s hangouts.”
“I thought she liked hanging ar
ound libraries and computers.”
Antonio snorted. “Her mother likes her hanging around libraries and computers. Sophia is too old-fashioned. Gina should go to a dance or a movie sometimes. She should do what other young girls do.”
Mike didn’t think so, but he kept his mouth shut.
Antonio eyed the stack of paper in front of Mike. “You are not planning to work today.”
“I have a few calls to make and—”
“No. Gina is at home eating breakfast. She will be ready in an hour. Today I want you to take her to Central Park.”
“Maybe Robert can—”
Antonio gave his head an emphatic shake. “Robert is going to New Jersey to check a location for a new distribution center.”
“In Jersey?” That didn’t make sense. Not if they were looking into a West Coast site. They couldn’t afford two new locations at once.
Antonio shrugged. “It’s close and cheaper than any of the boroughs.”
“Why didn’t I know about this?”
“No decision has been made.” Antonio waved an impatient hand. “Worry about Gina. Your work can wait.”
Mike bit back a curse. What the hell was going on? Was the West Coast proposal just a carrot to keep him placated for a while? He had to talk to Robert. “I’ll take care of your niece.”
“Good.” Antonio reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash stuck in a gold money clip. He threw a couple of large bills on Mike’s desk. “Tell her to buy something nice, huh?”
Mike watched him leave. He’d always liked Antonio. The man had been good to Mike’s mother, paying her a more-than-reasonable salary and being generous with bonuses for Christmas and her birthday. He’d been generous with Mike, as well. But he didn’t like the way Antonio ignored Gina. For all his talk about family being everything, he sure didn’t have much time for his niece.
Of course the Scarpetti men’s attitudes toward women were not always admirable. Not that they overtly disrespected them, but they coddled them too much, failed to give them enough credit for having any sense outside the home.
It surprised Mike that Gina had attended college. Made him wonder what she planned to do with her education. Probably enter the family business on the Italian end, where they made the wine. It was logical she’d stay there where her father and Antonio’s older brother Guisseppi ran the vineyard and harvested the grapes.
Educating Gina Page 3
