She felt only the barest sting, and she moved her hips in encouragement. He started to pump in and out, his chest heaving, filling her with heated flesh until the heavenly spasms started again.
15
SHIT!
Three-fifteen.
Mike stared at the glowing red numbers on his alarm clock in disbelief. How the hell could he have fallen asleep?
“Gina?”
Her head rested on his chest, her eyes closed and her right hand curled in a loose fist near his worn-out groin. What a night. On second thought, it was no wonder they’d both sacked out.
“Gina?”
When she didn’t stir, he watched her for a few more moments. Her curiosity was boundless. So was her energy. He had never made love four times in one night before. Hell, it had been more like five hours. He’d tried to tell her they should take it easy, that she might be a little sore tomorrow. But she wouldn’t listen. She just kept coming at him like the damned Energizer bunny.
He glanced at the clock again and then rubbed her arm. “Gina? You have to wake up.”
She slowly opened her eyes. “Why?”
“Because it’s late and your uncle is going to have my head on a platter.”
She yawned and stretched, and then glanced idly at the clock. Her eyes widened and a stream of Italian rushed out of her mouth.
“My sentiments exactly. Here.” He handed her the miniscule pair of panties and her dress.
She took them and gathered the clingy red material in front of her. “Zio Antonio will be sleeping by now. He does not even know I went out.”
“Your bed…” He pulled on his boxers and reached for his pants. “You did the pillow trick again?”
When he received no response, he looked up to find her staring at his groin. He chuckled. “Honey, you know it can’t stay hard all the time, don’t you?”
She lightly punched his arm, her cheeks turning pink. And then she lifted her chin and dropped her dress. “I can make it hard.”
“Oh, man.” His gaze ran down her body and his heart started to pound. “Don’t start.”
She took a step toward him and the blood rushed to his penis. “Michael, there is something we have not done.”
He took a deep breath. There was a lot they hadn’t done yet. She just didn’t know it. “Gina.” He held both her arms. “You know what you do to me. You know I’m a weak bastard and that I’ll give in.” He smiled. “But I don’t want to do anything to make Antonio mad enough to send you home early.”
Her soft, desperate gasp got to him. “No, we must not.” She turned, scooped up her dress and pulled it over her head, wiggling and shimmying to get it on right.
He had to look away. He’d started getting hard again. After pulling on his pants and omitting the belt, he went in search of his shirt. He figured he was still in mild shock. The full impact of what he’d done hadn’t hit yet.
He’d made love to Gina. Sweet, innocent, curious. He’d taken her virginity. Sure, she’d offered it. But he’d taken it.
The weird thing was, he wasn’t really sorry. It had felt so damn right being inside her. He wished she could stay the night, wake up beside him. That put her on a very short list.
He’d never liked having girlfriends stay the night after having sex before. Not that he hadn’t cared for them. He simply liked his space.
But with Gina it was different. He wanted her around all the time. Even when they weren’t talking or doing anything special, he liked knowing she was there in the room or in his office. The feeling was odd as hell, and he didn’t understand it, but there it was.
“You do not have to come with me, Michael,” she said as she entered the living room and he’d just pulled on his shirt. “I can take a cab by myself.”
“Right.” He felt his back pocket for his wallet and then slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on.”
She smiled. The little devil knew he wouldn’t let her go out alone. “Wait, my purse. The key is inside.”
She found it on the couch, and when she turned back toward him, he noticed the neckline of her dress was badly misshapen. Thanks to him.
He fingered the stretched-out material. “Sorry about this.”
She frowned down at herself. “I do not care. I do not like this dress, after all.”
He reared his head back in surprise.
“It is too tight and too short.”
He agreed but didn’t say so. He liked the way she looked in it, but he wasn’t fond of how other men looked at her.
She locked her arm with his. “Tomorrow may we go shopping?”
“Sure.” That is, if her uncle hadn’t canned him and obtained a restraining order. The thought was sobering.
He led her out the door and to the street. They only waited five minutes for a cab, and once they were in the back seat, Gina snuggled close and kissed the side of his neck. He turned his face and their lips met, and she eagerly slid her tongue in his mouth.
Antonio’s apartment wasn’t far, and Mike was tempted to tell the cabbie to circle the block a few times. Instead, he broke the kiss before he did something even stupider. Like take her back to his place.
He instructed the driver to wait while he rode the elevator with Gina up to the apartment. It occurred to him he hadn’t planned what to say if Antonio was awake and waiting to give them the third degree.
They stepped into the elevator and something else occurred to him. “Gina, has your uncle ever seen that dress?”
The way her eyes rounded in alarm was answer enough.
“How did you expect to hide it from him?”
She shrugged. “I thought I would arrive home first. I know Zio Antonio. He will be asleep.”
“I hope so,” Mike muttered, unprepared for the way she flung herself at him and threw her arms around his neck.
“Sneak into my room with me,” she said, kissing his jaw, his neck, anywhere she could reach.
“Gina, you’re going to get us both in trouble.” He pried her arms from around his neck just as the elevator doors opened. Her lipstick had long ago worn off, but her lips were still a soft, tempting pink and he couldn’t resist a quick kiss.
“Stay with me,” she whispered. “I will miss you.”
He glanced down the corridor before stepping out of the car. “Where’s your key?”
She already had it in her hand. “Zio Antonio does not know I was with you tonight. Leave now. I will call you later.”
He smiled and pushed a tangle of hair off her cheek. “If he’s awake, I may be able to help explain.”
“He will be asleep,” she said with total assurance, and inserted the key. She opened the door slowly, stopped and listened.
Coming from Antonio’s den was a stream of halting snores. The guy was as loud as a foghorn.
Gina turned with a mischievous smile. “You can come to my room.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
“Please.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Call me later.”
“Michael?”
He’d started to back away, but stopped so she wouldn’t raise her voice. The dreamy, earnest look in her eyes did a number on his resolve, and he hoped she wouldn’t ask him to stay again.
“I love you,” she whispered, and slipped inside.
GINA STUDIED her made-up face in the bathroom mirror, and then added a little more concealer under her eyes. Zio Antonio would not like that she wore so much makeup, but with so little sleep last night, there was evidence to hide.
She finished brushing her hair and wondered what Michael was doing. She could barely think about him without getting that funny feeling in her stomach, kind of warm and anxious and excited. Was he at the office already? Was he thinking about her?
For the past week, she had thought about little other than Michael. How he made her laugh and think and feel very sexy. Love was such a wonderful feeling. She wished it for everyone.
“Gina.” Zio Antonio’s impatient voice came from ju
st outside the bathroom door. “You’d better hurry if you want to go to the office with me. I’m leaving in five minutes.”
“Coming, Zio.” She adjusted the collar of her blouse and fluffed out her hair.
He looked her up and down when she entered the living room. “All you wear are jeans now. You know your mother will not allow it once you get back home.”
She bit her lip, tempted to announce she would not be returning to Italy. At least not permanently. But it was not yet the time. Instead, she gave him a noisy kiss on his fleshy cheek. “You have been so good not to criticize. Thank you for such a wonderful visit.”
His face grew a little red. “It has been nice having you around, Gina. I will miss you.”
She smiled and picked up her purse. “Maybe not.”
He gave her a suspicious frown. “Your face. You wear makeup now, too?”
“Oh, Zio, do not be so old-fashioned.” She linked her arm with his, but he was no longer in a hurry to leave.
His frown deepened as he studied her face. “You are in a good mood today, cara.”
“I am always in a good mood,” she answered, releasing his arm and turning away to hide the flush staining her cheeks.
“That is true.” The worried look stayed in his eyes. “Mike, he is a nice boy.”
“Si.” Why did he bring this up now? He could not know about last night. She spotted his umbrella standing in the corner near the door. She hurried to get it. “On the news it said it might rain today.”
His shrewd gaze followed her nervous movement. “He has been good to you?”
“Who?”
He laughed.
She looked down at her tennis shoes. “Si.”
“He is a nice, good-looking young man, and you are a young lady who notices.” He shrugged. “I shouldn’t be surprised. But, cara, didn’t you wonder why I allowed him to be your escort?”
She looked up, wary, curious.
His expression softened. “Mike is—” he waved a hand “—how shall I say…taken.”
“Taken? What does this mean?”
He sighed, looking uncomfortable. “Mike likes boys, Gina. Not girls. You understand?”
She gave a startled laugh. “No.”
“Si.” Sympathy entered his eyes. “Your cousin Robert will tell you.”
Gina shook her head. It was not possible. She knew. Still, thoughts of how he had avoided her in the be ginning tumbled through her head. She had pushed and he had backed away. Until last night.
She shoved the crazy thoughts aside. Her zio was wrong. Even now a pleasant ache between her thighs reminded her of how Michael had made love to her over and over again. How he had put his mouth on her breasts and teased her nipples with his teeth and tongue. How his hard length had sunk into her, burying deeply, making her moan.
Zio Antonio was wrong.
She swallowed hard. Unless there was something she did not understand…
MIKE SPENT THE MORNING returning several phone calls and straightening out his desk. He ended up with three piles. One pile of papers, mostly shipping documents, had to be handled by tomorrow. The second pile needed his attention today. The third pile was a stack of invoices that should have been approved and forwarded to accounting yesterday.
What the hell was happening to him? His concentration sucked. Unless, of course, he was thinking about Gina, and then not even a nuclear blast could have broken his train of thought. And now he had even more to worry about in regard to Gina. She thought she was in love with him.
The idea sent a shiver down his spine.
Because, dammit, he might feel the same way.
Of course, for her it wasn’t love. He knew the risk he’d taken by being her first lover. It was inevitable she’d confuse her feelings for him. He’d have to deal with it—except all he wanted to do was take her back to his bed. Make love to her some more. Listen to her soft moans of pleasure.
He glanced at the phone, wondering if it was too early to call. He hoped she’d been able to get some sleep. He sure as hell hadn’t.
Before he could decide, he heard Antonio’s booming voice. He looked up and saw that his boss had just entered the reception area. Gina was next to him.
Just the sight of her made Mike feel as giddy as a teenager on his first date. Her jeans were tight, but her button-down blouse was much more conservative than usual. And her smile… No one smiled like Gina.
She stopped for a moment to talk to one of the secretaries, and then headed for his office while Antonio went in the opposite direction, to his.
Mike didn’t bother to pretend he was busy. He watched her approach, his heart beating faster with each step that brought her closer. But when she entered and closed the door behind her, he jumped up from his chair. “Not a good idea.”
“What?”
“Open the door.”
She gave him a pouty look. “You want me to kiss you in front of everyone?”
“No.” He sidestepped her and opened the door.
A few feet away at her desk, Cori, his secretary, tried to hide a smile. What the hell was going on? Did everybody know about him and Gina?
He shook his head. It must be guilt nagging at him, that was all.
“No kissing in the office,” he said under his breath as he passed her and reclaimed his seat behind the desk. Having all that wood between them was a good thing.
“Were you talking to me?” she asked, all wide-eyed and innocent.
“To both of us.”
She perched her bottom on the edge of his desk and laughed, a husky, sexy sound that did not help his resolve. “I missed you.”
Their eyes met. “Me, too.” And then his gaze skittered to the door. He couldn’t see Cori or anyone else from here. “Have you had lunch yet?”
She blinked. “It is only eleven.”
“Right.”
She leaned across the desk. “Maybe you have something else in mind?”
“Gina, don’t.”
With a wounded look, she straightened. He immediately regretted his harsh tone.
“No fooling around in the office, okay?” he said in a gentler voice.
“Does that mean we will fool around later?” The uncertain look in her eyes made him uneasy.
Surely she didn’t think last night was a fling for him, a one-night stand. No, she knew better. Didn’t she? The hell with it. He got up and closed the door. And then he thought again and locked it.
“What’s wrong?” He rubbed his palms up her arms. “Are you sorry about last night?”
Her eyes widened in genuine shock. “No. Never.”
“Something’s wrong.”
She looked away, but he brought her chin back so their eyes met. She shrugged. “It is nothing. Really.”
“So tell me.”
“We should not have the door closed. You said so yourself.”
He smiled. Maybe he’d overreacted. Maybe she felt foolish about her impulsive declaration last night. “We’ll talk at lunch.”
She nodded.
“I have a couple of things to tie up here and then we’ll go to a Chinese restaurant the next block over.” A place he knew none of the office personnel cared for. “You like Chinese food?”
She shrugged. “I have never had it.”
Wow! Amazing. “Okay, we’ll try it, and if you don’t like it, we’ll get cheeseburgers.”
She grinned. “And then can we go shopping?”
He unlocked the door and opened it. “We can do that.”
“Now, I will help you with your work.”
“As a matter of fact, I have a project for you.” He motioned to his computer. “You’re familiar with the Internet.”
Her eyes lit up. “Si.”
“I think you may have hit on something the other night—a bar that serves specialty wine. I’d like you to do a search, see if there’s anything like it in the city. Not the traditional kind of setup, but one that caters to a younger crowd with live music and all that.”
/> She’d already set her purse aside and positioned herself at the computer.
“Start with Manhattan.”
She nodded, her fingers already flying across the keyboard at an impressive speed. “I know it is a good idea, Michael. All those men who prance around like proud peacocks trying to impress everyone.” She let out a sound of exasperation. “They probably know nothing about fine wine.”
Mike smiled, once again impressed by Gina’s ambition and enthusiasm, and finally started to tackle his work. Glad that after last night they could be together like this, easily discussing lunch and shopping and business.
It felt nice and comfortable. Maybe too nice.
For the next hour they worked mostly in silence. Mike got an incredible amount of backlog out of the way, and Gina came up with a list of three places for them to check out.
They left for the Chinese restaurant at the same time Cori was heading out to meet her husband for lunch. While they shared the elevator, Gina behaved, keeping her hands to herself and a respectable distance between them. But as soon as they were outside, she grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him into an alley.
“You have to kiss me right away,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing against him.
He stumbled and backed into a brick wall. At their feet a beer can and candy wrapper littered the ground. “How romantic,” he joked.
“Why are you not kissing me?” She gazed up at him with a solemn expression.
He frowned. Something was wrong. She wanted more than a kiss. She wanted reassurance. He lowered his head and brushed his lips across hers. In this instance, tender was better than passionate, he decided.
Wrong.
She stuck her tongue in his mouth and he could almost taste her desperation. Coaxing and demanding, her mouth assaulted his, robbing him of breath.
He finally managed to pull back. “Gina, slow down.”
Embarrassment flooded her face. “Do you not like kissing me anymore?”
“Of course I do. Hey.” He tilted up her chin when she hung her head. “Are you ready to tell me what’s wrong?”
Her gaze lowered.
“I thought we were friends,” he said. “More than friends.”
Educating Gina Page 16
