by Tina Martin
“All right,” Kierra said, standing, all smiles. “Looks like that’s my cue. I’ll call you later, Jojo.”
“Okay.”
When Kierra had gotten further down the sidewalk, Jojo didn’t turn to look at him when she asked, “What are you doing, Giovanni?”
“I wanted to talk to you, so I came here to do that. Besides, you don’t answer my calls anymore, so…”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Do what?” he asked with furrowed brows.
She frowned. “Pretend that you like me.”
“Who said I was pretending?”
Jojo shook her head. “Giovanni…”
“Look at me when you talk to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked you to,” he said in a firm, yet soft tone. “I want to see your face.”
“Why?” she asked, looking at him, swallowing the lump in her throat. “Why do you want to see the face of a woman you’re not attracted to?”
“Why do you think that, Jojo?” he asked, reaching to touch her face, but she darted her head away from his hand. He frowned.
“I’m sure you know the answer to that already like you know everything else about me.”
“Yeah, I do know everything about you. Like, for instance, I know you visit your childhood home, every third Sunday because the fire happened on the third Sunday of the month. And I’m going to be right there with you.”
“No, you’re not,” she said, making acute eye contact with him so he knew she was serious.
“Yes. I am. You know why, Jojo?”
She frowned, but his expression was more serious than hers was. “Why?”
“Because I love you.”
She could barely swallow at the sound of those words leaving his mouth. “What did you say?” she asked, needing clarification.
“I said, I love you.”
“But I heard what your sisters said about me. Said I’m not your type, and you were basically experimenting with me and you like girls with big hips and thighs and I wouldn’t last…just like none of the other women in your life.”
“They were partially right. Look at me, Jojo.”
She looked at him again, glancing back and forth between his lips and his mouth.
He continued, “They were partially right. You weren’t my type because I didn’t know you existed. Now that I know better, I’m here…look at me.”
She obliged.
“I’m here to let you know that I miss you. I had no ulterior motives when we met and I’m not experimenting with you. Granted, it was all about the lodge in the beginning, but then I realized I have fun with you. I love being with you and love kissing you. I love everything about you, Jojo. Everything. Not only are you my type. You’re the woman I’ve been needing my entire life.”
Stunned, Jojo just stared into his liquid-gold eyes, feeling lightheaded and dizzy. Was this a dream or—?
Giovanni smirked, showing that enticing dimple of his. “This is the part where you shed a tear and proclaim that you missed me too, and that you love me, girl.”
Jojo smiled and sent a lazy sucker punch to his gut.
“Oh,” Giovanni said, bending forward. “I hope that’s a love lick.”
She laughed, and a tear fell from her eye.
“Come get this mustache, baby,” Giovanni teased. “You know you want it.”
Jojo stood up from her seat and standing between his legs, she turned his baseball cap backwards and said, “I missed you this last week, Giovanni, and I love you.” She bent forward, pressed her lips against his, then took his bottom lip inside of her mouth as her hands settled at the nape of his neck.
His hands meandered at her waist as he allowed her to control the kiss, taking and pulling her lips gently, enjoying every sensual stroke, thinking and analyzing it for what it was – the kiss from a woman he intended on loving for the rest of his life. She was it. He could tell from the moment he decided to think outside of the box – the moment he wanted something different in a woman besides a fling here and there. The moment he realized that true love did exist. He saw it with Emory and Remington. Now, he had his own true love in the form of a beautiful, dark-skinned angel. He’d found his chocolate, and right about now, he was loving the rich taste of it. Of her.
She released him to breathe, then left several smaller kisses on his face, in the concave of the dimple she loved, at the tip of his nose and smack dab on his mustache.
“Jojo?”
“Yeah?” she said, staring lovingly into his eyes.
“You’re making a scene.”
“Do you care?” she asked him.
“Not at all, baby.”
“Me either,” she said, dipping her head to kiss him again.
Chapter 20
After leaving the restaurant, he followed her home where she dropped off her car and got inside of his car. “So, where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he said, pulling out of her driveway onto the street, then took her left hand into his right.
“No hints?”
“No.” He smiled. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
About ten minutes later, he drove up to a park.
Jojo saw his brothers tossing a football and she asked, “We’re playing football?”
“Yes.”
She spotted his sisters and said, “Do the women play, too?”
“They do. We go easy on them, although if you decide to play, I just might let you have it,” he said, squeezing her hand.
She glanced over at him and smiled as he came to a stop and parked the car. “I have to go holla at my brothers for a minute. You want to hang with the ladies for a few?”
“Um…do you think they want to hang with me?”
“They will. Listen. I know what you heard them saying about you—about us—but rest assured they understand how I feel about you, and I’m positive there was no ill intent on their part. If anything, they were taking jabs at me because they know me.”
“They know your wild and crazy ways, huh?”
He smirked. “They do. Come on. Let’s go.”
“Okay,” she said, opening the door, getting out of the car and standing there. Giovanni brushed a kiss across her temple before watching her slowly walk towards his sisters.
Emory met her halfway and said, “Jojo, I want to apologize if I offended you.”
“Me, too,” Davina said.
“Me, three,” Jessalyn added.
“It’s okay,” Jojo said, smiling.
“No, it’s not okay,” Emory said. “We were joking around about Vanni, and—”
“Emory, it’s okay. I know what happened. Giovanni explained it to me.”
Emory threw her arms around Jojo and said, “Then come on. Let’s strategize on how to whip these boys in a game of flag football.”
“I see you got your girl back,” Kenton said as the men turned to look in the direction where Jojo was standing.”
“Yep. I got her,” Giovanni said, looking at her.
“Looks like Emory has smoothed everything over,” Remington said.
“Looks that way. Listen, I know I went off the other night…meant no disrespect. I was just—”
“In your feelings because you fell in love,” Drake said with the football tucked underneath his arm.
Remington smiled. “Hey, I know the feeling.”
“You thinking about making her a Lennox?” Spencer, Remington’s best friend, asked.
A smile came to Giovanni’s face. “I already got the ring.”
The clamor of the guys hooting and hollering caught the women’s attention and as if his eyes had summoned hers, Jojo looked over at Giovanni, feeling a vibration snake down her spine just at the intensity of his gaze.
Chapter 21
“Ready?” Kierra said after Jojo sat in the passenger seat. She’d picked up Jojo today, as she did every third Sunday, to take her to her childhood home.
“Yes. I’m ready.”
>
“So, how did it go yesterday after Giovanni showed up at the restaurant?”
Jojo smiled. “He told me that he loved me.”
“That’s good, right, because as much as you tried to pretend yesterday, I know you love him, too.”
“I do…just can’t believe it happened so fast. I—I didn’t expect to fall in love with a man who annoyed me so much, but I love being with him. It’s crazy.”
“I’m happy for you, Jo. You deserve happiness.”
“Yeah, well, he wasn’t so happy when I told him I didn’t want him to drive me today.”
“Oh. He wanted to take you?”
“Yeah. Said he wanted to feel what I felt. I have a feeling he’s going to show up, anyway.”
Just as Kierra made a right turn on the vacant country road, there was Giovanni’s Porsche parked on the shoulder of the road.
“He’s so freakin’ hard-headed,” Jojo said. “I told him last night I didn’t want him here.”
“Looks like you have to tell him again because he’s getting out,” Kierra said as she turned into what used to be the driveway of the house.
Jojo beat him to the punch. She went ahead, got out of Kierra’s car and stood in the unkempt, abandoned front yard, staring at the fire-gutted, unsafe home but remembering the good times she shared with her family. She closed her eyes. She could remember playing in the backyard with her sister as a child – remember backyard family gatherings and late night movies on the sofa with her mother.
Giovanni walked over to Kierra as she waited in the driver seat of her car and said behind a pair of silver sunglasses, “Hi again.”
“Hey, Giovanni.”
“Hi. I hope I don’t come across as rude, but you can go. I got it from here.”
Kierra raised her brows. “You got it from here? I’ve been coming here with Jojo every month for twelve years.”
“I realize that and I mean no disrespect, but I love Jojo and as her man, I feel it is my responsibility to take over from here.”
Kierra smiled. “Do you really love her, because she’s been through a lot and she deserves nothing but happiness?”
“And that’s what I intend to give her.”
“And you know that after you’ve known her for less than a month?”
“Yes. I know you may find that difficult to believe, but—”
“Please don’t hurt my friend. She’s been through enough.”
“I love Joelle, and I would never hurt her.”
“Okay,” Kierra said, satisfied with his direct answer.
Kierra started her car, drove away then Giovanni walked closer to Jojo. Her back was to him as she stood in the front yard of the home. When she felt his loving embrace, she pulled in a breath, sniffled and batted tears away from her eyes.
“Can I ask you something, Jojo?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
“Why do you come here?”
“You know why.”
“Tell me.”
“I feel close to them when I’m here. Even though I have to endure the bad memories, I still feel close to them. I know it sounds crazy.” She sniffled. “But this is all that’s left. I have no pictures. No old voicemails to reminisce over. This is it.”
“Sweetheart, you have your memories—memories that come to mind even when you’re not here. Am I right?”
She nodded.
“And you keep them here,” he said, moving his hand up to her heart. “Right here in your heart, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s where they will always be.”
She smiled at the thought. They would always be there. Kierra told her the same thing, but hearing it from him took on a new meaning because it meant he’d given it some thought. He’d come here when she told him not to. And he held her in his arms like she was his – like he didn’t want to let her go.
“Giovanni,” she said, turning to face him.
“Yes?”
“Why did you come here?”
“Partially because you told me not to,” he said, brushing a tear away from her face.
She smiled. “And what’s the other reason?”
He grasped her hands. “Well, I know your connection to this place, and I know you feel their presence here. Your family. So, I thought I’d come here and ask for your father’s permission.”
“What?” Jojo asked, frowning.
A smile grew on his face. “Gerard,” he began, talking in open air. “I love your daughter very much.”
Jojo’s lips trembled, listening as he said her father’s name.
Giovanni continued, “She taught me how to love. How not to be rude.” He grinned. “She showed me that I could trust again and I’m asking for your permission to make your daughter my wife.” He took a ring from his pocket and dropped to his knees in front of her. Looking up at her, he said, “Jojo, when we met, I didn’t know how special you were or how much you would mean to me. How much joy you would add to my life. But here I am, on my knees, asking for you to be my wife because I can’t imagine my life without you. You’re in my head, in my heart and there’s no way I can let you go no matter how many times I told myself that marriage isn’t what I wanted. I want you and only you. So, in the presence of your father, Gerard, your mother, Susie and your sister, Lindsay, I’m asking for your hand in marriage. Will you marry me?”
“Giovanni,” Jojo said with her hands touching his stubbled face. “We haven’t known each other for a long time.”
“So what? I want you.”
“And you know that after a month?”
“Yes. I know that after one month.”
“And you want to commit yourself to me?”
“You and only you,” he responded.
“Why me?” she asked, lowering herself to her knees, joining him. “Why me, Giovanni?”
“Why are you asking me that like you haven’t chosen me too, Jojo?”
“I have, but let’s be real here. You’re a Lennox. You’re a man that women throw themselves at all around here. Every woman in Bryson City wants a Lennox and you’re choosing me?”
“Yes, Jojo. I choose you. Now give me your hand so I can put this ring on it.”
Jojo laughed while more tears fell.
Giovanni slid the ring onto her finger and said, “Joelle Elizabeth Bannon, will you marry me?”
Jojo smiled. “Aren’t you supposed to wait until I say yes before sliding the ring on my finger?”
Giovanni leaned forward, kissed her lips, then embraced her in a tight hug. “You know I don’t play by the rules, Jojo. Even still, I would like to hear you say it.”
“Yes,” she whispered in his ear. “I will marry you, Giovanni.”
Chapter 22
[Three Months Later]
The day couldn’t have been any more perfect. Giovanni had taken Jojo to Pigeon Forge for a day of fun, including riding a ski lift to get a better view of the mountains, but they missed the view altogether since they were busy locking lips the entire journey across. Then they had lunch, enjoyed the sights and took pictures – things she liked. Him, not so much, but he had to make a habit of doing activities she liked. He planned on spending the rest of his life making her happy. What better time to start than now?
A three-month engagement afforded him the opportunity to get to know her in more detail – including her likes and dislikes. He was aware that he was more outgoing than she was, which he said was a good thing because it would help to balance them out. He was also aware that she missed her family – that the fire took a big part of her life and he would try his best to lift her spirits when those sad days came.
Jojo got to know who Giovanni was under the surface. He wasn’t the flashy womanizer that everyone made him out to be. Underneath those expensive clothes was a sweet, kind, hardworking man with a good, solid heart. With her help, he was learning to be even more gentle and tactful. Skip the people-skills seminar – she was the only teacher he needed in that regard.
&n
bsp; Jojo still had issues about him seeing her body and touching her. He took things slow, eased her mind and her fears. He told her that after they got married, though, her body was his – a bold admission that made her cringe.
During the three months, Jojo also took the time to get to know his sisters. She realized she had a lot in common with Jessalyn and Emory. Davina, the youngest – not so much. Still, she accepted her and looked for ways to get along with her – even if it was a trip to the salon together or Emory’s girl nights.
___________
On the way home around four in the afternoon, Giovanni looked at Jojo. “Are you okay?”
“I am,” she said with the breeze from her window flowing through her hair.
“Sure? I know your tired look now.”
Jojo yawned. “I am a little tired, but I’m good for the dinner party tonight,” she told him. Remington was having a bunch of people over to his house for a barbecue and Jojo was looking forward to it because she hadn’t been to a barbecue in years. Plus, she would get to meet even more of their friends and acquaintances.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, have you given any thought to our discussion about the lodge?” he asked her.
The lodge – she was comfortable being there now without completely freaking out. Just last month, she hosted an employee appreciation event there and assisted Giovanni and Kenton with setting up the breakfast bar again.
“Jojo?”
She glanced over at him and said, “Oh…are you talking about our discussion regarding me working there again?”
“Yes.”
“But since I gave you tips on what I did to make it a success, it’s been performing well again, I thought.”
“It has.”
“So why do you want me to work there?”
“Because it meant something to you. It was a distraction when you lost your family and I know you’re attached to it.”
Jojo thought quietly for a moment, remembering how she’d poured her heart and soul into the lodge. She smiled just barely. She did like it – no, she loved working there.