The Santini Collection 1-4 (26 page)

His mother frowned but she nodded. She gave him a hard hug. “You get hurt again, I will beat the hell out of you.”

He laughed. His mother had a twisted sense of humor and he loved her more for it.

“
I’ll make sure to remember that.”

It took him more than ten minutes to get out the door. By the time they were heading down I-66 to the airport, Gee was exhausted.

“
You’re lucky Mom doesn’t have direct access to reports.”

He glanced at his brother. “I take it you do.”

Vince nodded. “How bad was it?”

“
To tell you the truth, I’m not sure. I remember the distress call, then flashes after it.” He shrugged as some of the memories washed over him. “I woke up in the hospital.”

Vince whistled. “Damned glad Mom can’t read those things. She would freak.”

“
Did you ever tell her you broke your leg in three places?”

Vince snorted. “What am I, crazy?”

He chuckled. “No more than any other Santini.”

“
That’s true. Glad you made it back in time for the wedding. We have a month to plan a bachelor party.”

He rolled his eyes. “You know Marco won’t do anything like that. Hell, Leo’s was sad and pathetic.”

“
That’s true.” He took the exit for Dulles but said nothing for a few minutes. Gee knew there was something coming up. You just never knew when it came to Vince.

“
So, you gonna tell me who she is?”

He shouldn’t be surprised his brother figured out his reasons for rushing back to Moody. Still, it didn’t mean he had to give into the questioning. “She?”

“
The woman you want to get to see back in Valdosta.”

He sighed. Close to ten years separated them, but Vince was the same with all the brothers. Hell, Leo and Vince were less than two years apart and Vince did the same thing to him.

“
Just a woman I met the last day before I left.”

Vince’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”

“
Not like that. I met her at that sweet shop I go to. We hit it off and we spent the day together. We’ve been emailing.”

“
Name.”

Gee smiled amused at the command. “Is this an inquisition?”

“
I just want to know what to call my future sister-in-law.”

Gianni rolled his eyes. “We barely kissed.”

“
Gee Santini, who never lasts more than two months with a woman has been pining for one for almost three. And you haven’t even slept with her. Damn, I am going to be the last Santini standing.”

“
Yeah, old man, why is that?” he asked with a chuckle.

“
I’m smart.”

Gee grunted but said nothing else.

“
And, you’re not talking about her. That tells me more.” He shook his head as he took the final exit for Dulles. “Last Santini standing.”

Gee smiled but said nothing else. All he cared about was getting back home. Once he saw Kianna, everything would be right in his world.

Kianna was nervous. She always was before a date, but this was worse. It was like they had dated for months on end, over the Internet. Still, it was different that she was going to see him face to face. He knew things about her that she hadn’t shared with other people.

At first, it had been just a few little funny emails, then…they had changed. It had progressed to something she looked forward to every day. Until she didn’t hear from him for two days. She closed her eyes trying to ignore the panic when she got the email from him saying he had been injured. They had sent him home, well to Virginia. But he had only five days before he left and his replacement was already there, so he assured her it wasn’t anything big.

Her doorbell rang and her body lit with fear and excitement. It made her slightly sick to her stomach.

She walked to the door, trying to calm her nerves and dragged in a deep breath and opened the door. Suddenly, she felt lightheaded. Damn, he hadn’t changed a bit other than the small bandage on his forehead.

“
Hey,” she said. She couldn’t come up with another greeting. Her brain had shut down. Majorly shut down. Like not allowing her basic things like communication to work.

“
Yeah, hey.”

Stepping through the door he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. It was like the one they had the night before he left. Hot and wet. He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue and she willingly opened her mouth.

His mouth slanted over hers again and again. He pulled her against his body. His fingers danced down her spine, then cupped her ass. There was no ignoring the erection she felt, or the way he moaned when she slipped her tongue into his mouth to tangle with his.

He pulled back, then hesitantly let her go. “We have to go or I’m going to tear your clothes off.”

She shivered.

“
Oh, good God, don’t do that.”

She smiled. “Sorry.”

“
No problem. Well, there is a problem, but I can deal with that. Are you ready to go out?”

“
I made you dinner.”

He blinked. “What?”

“
I made dinner. I thought you would appreciate some home cooked food.”

“
Uh, not to be rude, but it would be bad to stay here.”

“
Naw, come on,” she said delighted with him. She had never made a man that crazy in her life and she was thankful for it. It made her feel much younger than her thirty-three years.

“
Now, you have a seat. You want a beer?”

He nodded.

“
I’ve got to check on the lasagna, then I’ll be back.”

He smiled. “I’ll be here waiting.”

She hurried off to the kitchen, grabbing a beer before checking on the meal. She took it out of the oven and set it on the counter to cool for a few minutes. The need to see him, to keep her eyes on him battled with her embarrassment. She hadn’t been this hung up on a man since her husband…and that was saying a lot.

Charley had been the sweetest man on the face of the earth. He’d teased her, charmed her, and she’d fallen hard. A three-month courtship and a wedding at the courthouse had been crazy and romantic. Being left a policeman’s widow less than two years later hadn’t been—or the last few weeks as his wife. His job had started wearing on their relationship. It was one reason she rarely dated men in uniform…any kind of uniform. But, here she was doing it again.

She shook away those thoughts. Brooding over her past life wasn’t going to give Gianni a good welcome home.

* * * *

Gianni tried his best to control his need as he waited for his beer. He had meant to take things slowly, but the moment she’d opened the door, he had lost it. The need had been basic and primal and it had taken over him. He had to keep it under control. They hadn’t been dating for two months. They had been exchanging emails and that was completely different.

“
I hope it compares to your mother’s,” she said as she brought the pan out from the kitchen. His mouth watered for the woman and the food. She grabbed a beer off the counter then brought her own glass of water.

“
No drinking for you, professor?”

She smiled as she sat, then he followed suit. “No. I don’t drink much.”

“
But you had beer in your fridge.”

“
Well you were coming over, so I figured you might like it. If you didn’t, I would give it to my sister Zoe. It’s the brand she likes.”

“
Your sister has great taste.”

She snorted as she cut the lasagna, serving him and then herself. “Well, maybe in beer. Not in men.”

“
Oh, so the older sister judges.”

She blushed prettily. Damn, she was a delight. He knew her, knew about her family and she knew about his. It was as if they had been dating months.

When he realized he was making justifications to push things along, he decided to step back from those ideas. Vince had been right on one thing. This wasn’t one of his normal quick and crazy romances.

“
No. It’s just she always dates losers.”

“
Meaning?”

“
Guys who don’t feel the need to work, or dress for the day. Or bathe. She had one guy she dated who apparently was on some kind of water strike. My father would have shot him where he stood if he had ever met him.”

“
So, he wasn’t a high earner.”

She blinked. “Money isn’t important, but respect is. She doesn’t seem to find men who respect her much. I want her to be happy and none of them seem to even try to accomplish that.”

He couldn’t help the way his heart jerked at that. She was sweet as peach nectar. “And Etta?”

Kianna rolled her eyes. “She dates men who are more interested in what she can do for their careers than anything else. No respect.”

“
And that is important to you?”

She nodded. “My parents didn’t raise us to be mistreated. I can’t say I’ve always chosen wisely…but maybe it’s because I’m in my thirties. Zoe is only twenty three.”

“
And Etta?”

“
She’s more focused on her career so she pretends it doesn’t hurt.” Then she took a bite of food. “Oh, that was kind of personal. All that was.”

“
I don’t mind.”

“
It’s weird, but it’s like I’ve known you longer and this is only our second date.”

He smiled. “Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.”

“
Are you going to taste my lasagna?”

He looked down at his plate then back up at her worried expression. Apparently, she was worried he wouldn’t like it.

“
Of course.”

He took a bite and hummed. Tomato, basil, melted fresh mozzarella, and the hint of hot Italian sausage danced over his taste buds.

“
So you like?” she asked, a shy smile curving her lips. Damn, he wanted to say forget dinner and move straight to dessert.

“
No, I love. Thank you.”

She grinned and returned to her own plate. Right then, he felt like he owned the entire world. Just because she grinned at him.

At the end of the night, Kianna was ready to scream. Her hormones were screeching for relief. She had told herself that Gianni had kept up with her because he needed it while he had been gone. It was hard not to get excited that she was the first person he had called when he got back to Valdosta.

Still, she shouldn’t expect much. He was military and goodness, six years younger than she was.

He stopped at the opened door and asked, “So, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“
I’m not sure. I have some papers to grade.”

“
How about we go to breakfast at Anna’s?”

“
That sounds good. She might even bring the baby in tomorrow.”

She was holding the door open and he leaned in for a kiss. She felt everything in her flutter then explode. Her nipples tightened and heat danced over her nerve endings.

He pulled back then rested his forehead against hers. “I really should go.”

She sighed, regret heavy in her chest. “Yeah.”

Another kiss, this one quick but just as tempting. “I don’t want to.”

Her heart jumped. “Really?”

He gave her another heated kiss. “I really want to take you back to your bedroom and touch every inch of your flesh.”

She really should say no. It was too fast, too much. But, instead, she threw caution to the wind and slammed the door shut.