“If you say so.” George chuckled.
“We’ll talk about it later, Gina,” Mike said.
“Oh, yes.” She sighed. “I was so worried the distributors would be upset with the new catalog. But now I see there is no problem as it has nothing to do with your decision. Everybody will be happy.”
“What catalog?” George looked from Gina to Mike, his eyes growing angry. “I didn’t hear about any catalog.”
Shit. Mike hadn’t, either. Had he been left out of the loop again? What the hell was going on?
Gina’s eyes widened. “Perhaps I should not have said anything. My proposal has not been approved yet.” She shrugged. “But it makes sense to me to ship direct to retailers. We have been established for a long time. Our wine sells itself.”
“What are you guys trying to pull?” George’s eyes blazed at Mike. “You can’t cut out the distributors. We have a contract.”
A contract the idiot was trying to weasel out of, but Mike didn’t point that out. He leaned back in his chair. “I frankly don’t know enough about the plan at this time to discuss it. But considering your reason for being here, it’s a moot point, isn’t it?”
“I said I was thinking about going with Mondavi.” George abruptly stood. “I haven’t made up my mind yet. Until I do, I expect you to have my normal shipment ready each week.”
He stormed out of the office before Mike could say another word.
“Mondavi. Ha!” Gina grunted, and then rattled something off in Italian.
He turned to stare at her. She looked awfully pleased with herself. Calling George’s bluff didn’t give Mike the same satisfaction. A catalog business could screw up his West Coast plans. The real bite is that it made sense. “You want to tell me about this catalog proposition?”
Her triumphant look promptly faded. “There is nothing to tell.”
“Right.”
She folded her arms across her chest and he tried not to get distracted by the way her shirt pulled across her breasts. “When I was in school I did a paper on such a plan, and I got a very high grade.”
“But you haven’t presented it to your father or Antonio yet?” he pressed anxiously.
Her eyes got wide. “No. I have not.”
Mike sighed at his own paranoia. Still, when Gina did implement her plan, he would undoubtedly be affected. The crazy thoughts started to spar in his head when he abruptly realized what had happened with George.
“Gina, you could have really pissed the guy off. We can’t afford to chase away business.”
She frowned. “I am sorry, but he made me angry. He comes in here speaking of Mondavi as if—”
“Gina.” Mike waited for her to chill out. She lifted her chin but gave him her attention. “When you do get involved with the business, you’re going to have to hold on to your temper, be a little more tactful. Even if a distributor or a supplier does make you mad, and believe me, there’ll be plenty of times when some of those idiots will drive you up a wall.”
She gave him a funny look. “What do you mean, get involved with the business?”
“When you go back home and take your place at Scarpetti Wines.”
She blinked, looking utterly stunned. “I have no place in the business. No Scarpetti woman does.”
“Of course you do. You studied business in college, right?”
She nodded, her expression grim. “It does not matter.”
Mike shook his head. He knew the family was old-fashioned, but Gina was from a new generation. Surely they wouldn’t hold her back. “What a horrible waste of talent.”
Her eyes lit up. “Me?”
“You obviously know more than enough about wine making and sales. Maybe you’ll be surprised.” He locked his desk, mostly out of habit, and then stood, suddenly anxious to get the hell out of the office. “Maybe you’ll get back to Tuscany and your father will have a job waiting for you.”
The sadness returned to her eyes. “The only thing waiting for me will be a wedding.”
SHE TALKED HIM into taking the subway. But Mike was so damn dazed she could have talked him into just about anything. A wedding? Gina married? To some stranger?
No, of course the guy wasn’t a stranger. But he was to Mike. Which made no difference in the entire scheme of things. Except he had this damn proprietary feeling going on. He didn’t understand it, but there it was.
“Are we almost there?” Gina turned her big, almond-shaped eyes to him. She looked all of fifteen.
But he knew that once she got up, with the tight jeans and snug shirt hiding nothing, the illusion would be gone. “About ten minutes,” he said, and quickly looked the other way, out the opposite window.
Still, she was too young to be married. Dammit. She was inexperienced. She had to ask to be kissed. Most women nowadays took what they wanted. He wondered if she ever had been kissed. A real tongue-sweeping, down-your-throat kind of kiss. The kind that made a guy so hard he thought he might explode.
Hell, he wanted to be the first one to show her what it felt like to press bare skin to bare skin, to make her wet and needy. To make her mindlessly grope for him, to make her part her thighs and welcome him inside.
She was getting married. Shit. She was forbidden fruit. Damn, but he suddenly wanted a taste.
He had to get his mind off this dangerous track. Bad enough they sat so close he could feel her body heat. With each bump of the train, they seemed to get closer. “Gina, I know you don’t want to talk about it, but tell me about this guy you’re going to marry. You said he’s your neighbor?”
Her face immediately darkened, which cheered him considerably. “He is old and boring.”
“So why marry him?”
“I do not know that I will.”
That information shouldn’t have made his heart soar. It was immaterial to him what Gina did. “Earlier you sounded as though the plans were all set.”
She sighed. “My family thinks so.”
“But if—”
She laid a hand on his arm. “Please. It is not a subject I like to discuss.”
“No problem.” He covered her hand with his, intending to reassure her, but the casual contact was like a jolt of awareness that jump-started parts of his body better left dormant.
He quickly retreated, lifting his hand to plow his fingers through his hair, and then inched away until his thigh no longer touched hers. She dropped her hand from his arm and slanted him a wary look. Was she reacting to his abruptness, or had she felt something too?
For the next five minutes it took to get to Coney Island, they didn’t speak. Mike kept telling himself he shouldn’t be so damn glad she didn’t want to marry this guy. What she did was none of his business. After a month, he’d probably never see her again.
He almost missed their stop. He jumped up and pulled Gina to her feet just as the doors started to close. They made it outside without a second to spare.
Gina sagged against him. “You frightened me.”
“Sorry.” Her body molding to his was not a good idea. He took the tote bag she carried and used it as a shield. “I’ll carry this.”
She didn’t let go but smiled, looking slyly at him. “Today when we are not in public, we will kiss, yes?”
“The beach is public.”
“Ah, but we can go in the water.”
Man, she was going to be the death of him. “Are you going to let go of this?”
She made a face and released the tote. “If you do not want to kiss me, Michael, you can say so.”
“You haven’t called me that before.” He liked it.
“I am upset with you.” She lifted her chin and started to walk away.
“Uh, Gina, wrong direction,” he said, reluctant to give up the great view of her backfield in motion. He’d been too young to understand the song the first time he heard it. He sure got it now.
She turned around and headed in the opposite direction. He caught up to her and, grabbing her shoulders, steered her to the left. He
didn’t ask why she was upset with him. He didn’t want her to bring up kissing again.
The beach was crowded for a weekday, beach towels and mats occupying much of the sand. Lines had formed for both the roller coaster and Ferris wheel already. The crowd and water quality were two of the reasons Mike never came here anymore, but in spite of that, an unexpected excitement churned in his gut.
He’d had some memorable times here as a kid. Behind the carousel he’d gotten his first kiss from Dee Adams. His gaze immediately went to Gina. Man, why did he have to think of that now?
“Let’s go find a place to sit.”
Gina blinked at him and then went back to gawking at the throng of people in a multitude of shapes and stages of undress.
Clearly she’d forgotten her annoyance with him.
He took her hand and led the way toward the water, torn between snagging a safe public spot in the middle of everyone or finding a more private area off the beaten path. Weak bastard that he was, he headed for the most isolated patch of sand way off to the side.
It wasn’t as if anything could happen with all these people around. A kiss, maybe, or—
No. No kiss. No nothing.
Gina was so busy looking over her shoulder at something she nearly tripped over an unattended beach chair. Mike pulled her out of harm’s way, and she gave him a smile that made him swallow hard.
“May we ride the roller coaster and carousel?” she asked, tossing another glance behind her.
Man, he hated roller coasters. “Later, maybe.”
“And have a hot dog?”
He laughed. “After your ride.”
She gave him another one of those sexy smiles. Amazing how she could look young and innocent one minute and cut him off at the knees the next.
Using his foot, he smoothed the surface of the sand and then spread out two beach towels about two feet apart. He kicked off his shoes, along with a spray of sand he’d collected under his soles.
He pulled off his shirt and heard Gina’s clothes rustling behind him. His chest tightened in anticipation. What sort of swimsuit would she be wearing? Probably nothing too racy, but on her anything looked hot.
He took a deep breath and turned around at the same time she dropped her shirt onto the towel.
Her breasts were totally bare.
6
MIKE STARED for a moment, unable to look away. She was perfect. Round and firm. Large pink areolas and nipples that stuck out like—
“Gina!”
He dove for her shirt, but grabbed his, instead, and then dropped it when he tried to cover her up. Their nearest neighbor, an older couple about four yards behind Gina, were shading their eyes and squinting.
Mike threw his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. Her skin was silky and warm, her hair fragrant with a flowery scent. Her firm nipples beaded against his chest.
“Michael?” She tilted her head back, her startled eyes searching his face.
He glanced past her at the couple. The woman scowled in their direction. “Gina, this is not a topless beach.”
“I do not understand.”
“Work with me here.” Just what he needed—Gina to get arrested. Antonio would do more than kick his ass. He’d be calling his friends, the kind who wore shoulder holsters. “We’re going to slide down to the towel together, okay?”
She frowned, and then understanding flickered in her eyes. She slid her arms around his neck. “We’re going to kiss now, yes?”
“Yes. I mean, no. Put your arms down.”
Hurt darkened her face as she slowly let them fall to her side. No time to explain that he simply wanted her covered as much as possible. He cocked his head to the side and saw the woman who’d been watching them march toward the lifeguard stand.
“Shit.” Mike let go of Gina long enough to grab their towels. He threw one around her shoulders and snatched their discarded clothes and bag, and then drew her along with him down the opposite side of the beach where the shoreline wasn’t so nice and the crowd considerably thinner.
“Mike, I do not—” She stumbled.
He put an arm around her. “I’ll explain in a minute.”
He didn’t look back until they’d passed the last group of sunbathers and made it to an old abandoned concession stand. No one had followed.
They stopped on the far side of the building where no one could see them. One side of Gina’s towel had slid down her shoulder, revealing the top swell of her left breast.
Mike swallowed and sank back against the wall. His gaze lifted to her confused face. He should adjust the towel and cover her up. What he wanted was to take the damn towel and bare her.
Gina shifted, gripping the towel more tightly. “Mike, you are frightening me.”
“I’m sorry.” He straightened, but there was nothing he could do about his racing heart. God, what kind of suggestive looks had he given her?
She moved closer and splayed a hand on his chest. “Why were we running?”
He relaxed. It wasn’t him she was afraid of. Maybe she should be. “You have to wear a swimsuit.”
She blinked. “I am.”
“Not just the bottoms.”
“But in Europe—”
“This isn’t Europe.”
She pursed her lips in a pout. “Americans. They worry too much about their bodies.”
Mike laughed. “Most of them should.”
She studied his face long enough for him to get edgy. “I embarrassed you?”
“No,” he replied honestly. “You’re beautiful, Gina.”
The way she blushed amazed him. Women who looked like her knew it. He brushed his thumb down her cheek. “I just didn’t want you to get in trouble.”
“With Zio Antonio?”
“Him, too, but you could have been arrested.”
She frowned.
“By the police.”
Her eyes got wide. “But in Europe—”
His thumb rested on her lips, silencing her. “I know about the different view most Europeans have of nudity. But in America it’s different. And would your mother or father approve?”
The look in her eyes told him she wasn’t thinking about her parents right now. Neither was he, for that matter. He quickly pulled back his hand.
“I have only been to the beach three times. And never with them. I do not know what they think.”
“Gina.”
At the doubt in his voice, she lifted her chin. “This is the truth. The beach is for swimming and making a tan. It is not the same thing as being naked with a man.”
“Right.” Mike sighed and looked around. They were alone, and if he shielded her with his body, she could get her top back on without incident. The sooner the better. He was lucky to have one shred of common sense left.
“Michael?”
He looked down at her and she lifted herself on tiptoe and brushed his lips with hers. She started to lower herself, but then came back up for another soft kiss.
Mike didn’t move. He let her experiment and control the pace. But at her soft whimper of frustration, something inside him snapped and he grabbed both her arms and kissed her hard, slanting his head and trailing his tongue over her lips.
She tensed at first, and then slowly opened her mouth.
He’d wanted the kiss to be gentle, but it was too late for that. His tongue swept inside her mouth as he tasted her with a greediness that shocked him. Her tentative response was the only thing that slowed him down.
With too much reluctance, he finally drew back.
Gina stared up at him, her eyes as round as pizzas. He’d really scared the hell out of her now. “Can we kiss some more?” she asked.
His breathing ragged, he hesitated. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Yes.” She pressed against him, the towel slipping entirely off her shoulder and bringing her bare breast into contact with his skin. “I want you to do it again.”
He briefly closed his eyes at the incredible feel of her
nakedness, at the way her nipple blossomed against his bare chest. He wanted to take it into his mouth and suck it hard, make her moan, make her ask for more.
“Michael, please?”
He snapped out of his trance and stared down at her. What the hell was he thinking? This was Gina, his boss’s niece. He straightened away from her, his gaze helplessly targeting her breast. He barely forced himself to look away from her. “Gina, we can’t do this.”
“Why?” The hurt and confusion in her voice was like a slap across his face—a well-deserved one.
“I can’t do this. It isn’t right.”
“You like me, yes?”
He looked her straight in the eye and held her gaze. “Have you ever been with a man?”
She blinked and color lightly tinted her cheeks. “Of course.”
He sighed. “It was a rhetorical question.”
She squinted, clearly unable to translate what he’d said.
“I don’t think you’ve been with a man, Gina.” She started to protest, and he added, “Not the way I mean.”
“How do you mean?”
“I think you know.”
She didn’t respond. She didn’t have to. The apprehension in her face gave him his answer. It turned to shame and she pulled the towel around herself, covering her breast.
“Gina?” He lifted her chin. “You are beautiful and very tempting. Please don’t make things harder for me.”
Hope lit her eyes. “Maybe we could just kiss.”
He drew back his hand. “That’s the thing. It won’t stop there.”
“It can,” she said, reaching for his hand and pressing her palm to his.
“You give me way too much credit.”
She got that puzzled look on her face again, as if she wasn’t quite sure what he meant. “You will not hurt me, Michael. I know that.”
“Certainly not intentionally.” They had to get out of here. She might trust him, but he wasn’t sure he trusted himself. Especially with her looking at him the way she was. “Come on, put your shirt on and let’s go ride the Ferris wheel.”
He started to turn around to give her privacy, but she tugged at his hand.
“Michael, I lied.”
He got a bad feeling. “About what?”
“I want to do more than kiss.” She pursed her lips in that irresistible pout.
Educating Gina Page 6
