Bedding the Fake Boyfriend: Bedding the Bachelors Book 10

by Virna DePaul

  A very fond memory.

  But so far, she was everything he remembered and more.

  “Let me give you a hand.”

  Gio looked up with a start to find his dad standing beside him.

  “I got it,” Gio said, grabbing the rest of the bags.

  His father snagged two from his hands with a snort. “Stop making me feel like an old man, kiddo. I don’t want your mother to think I’ve gone soft.”

  They walked in side by side, chatting amicably about the upcoming wedding events.

  By the time they stowed the suitcases and returned to the great room, Rose was jogging lightly down the stairs, cheeks shining, curls still damp from the shower.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Esposito, so nice to see you again!”

  His mother and father leapt to their feet to embrace her, and he tried to recall if he’d ever seen that with any of the other dates or girlfriends he’d brought around.

  Nope. Just Rose.

  “Stop that! Call us Bob and Sheila,” his mother said as she stepped back to give Rose the once over. “Cute as ever, isn’t she, Bob?”

  “Sure is,” his dad agreed with a nod. “Rose, we wanted to tell you how sorry we were to hear it when your parents and then your brother passed.”

  Rose’s smile dimmed a little, taking on a melancholy edge. “Thank you. And thanks for the cards you sent at the time. It was lovely of you to remember us.”

  His parents had sent cards? How had he not known that?

  As he considered it now, he realized that, no matter how things had ended and her insistence on a clean break, he should’ve done the same.

  The next few hours went by without a hitch as they showed his parents around the grounds and then shared the wine Nana Ginger had packed them for lunch along with a crusty loaf of bread and a collection of meats and cheeses the housekeeper had left for them.

  But despite how easily things seemed to be going, he couldn’t help but notice that Rose was as jumpy as a cat.

  By the time they’d settled in the great room with snifters of brandy, the sun was already beginning to set. Rose had wound up directly beside him for the first time, and he instinctively curled an arm around her.

  She stiffened for an instant but then melted against him like she belonged there.

  “So what else have you been up to since we last saw you, Rose?” his mother asked, beaming at Rose. “Gio mentioned you started a charity for Michael, that’s so lovely.”

  “It’s been a great way to help me through the grief and makes me feel close to him. I think he’d be proud, and we’re really doing some good for these young people,” Rose replied.

  As Rose continued to talk about Michael’s Way with his parents, he couldn’t help but notice Nana Ginger giving him the eye.

  She jerked her head a few times pointedly and then stood. “I need Gio to help reach something high up in my closet. We’ll be right back.”

  “What the heck? There’s nothing high up in our closet, Ginger,” Aunt Alice said with a frown.

  Nana shot her a death stare, which quickly morphed into a smile as she met his gaze again.

  “Gio?”

  He bit back a grin and nodded. He wasn’t sure what it was about, but clearly, his grandmother required his undivided attention.

  And if he was a guessing guy?

  He’d be guessing it was about Rose.

  As he trailed behind her toward the stairs, he could hear Aunt Alice murmuring under her breath.

  “Crazy old bat. She’s really losing her marbles, I think. The other day I saw her answer the television remote instead of her cell phone.”

  “I can hear you!” Nana called back over her shoulder.

  “You two are hilarious,” Gio said as they made their way up to the second floor. “Like an old married couple.”

  “No way,” Nana said with a snort. “She’s family, but if she wasn’t, I’d have divorced her crabby ass years ago.”

  For all their arguing, though, Gio knew the truth. They couldn’t live without each other and they’d be bored to tears if they weren’t bickering.

  “There was only one person in my whole life I didn’t think I could live without, and it was your grandfather,” Nana said, her face turning serious as they stepped into the bedroom.

  “Pop was the best,” Gio agreed, his chest going tight. He missed the old man a lot. He could only imagine how hard it had been on his grandmother after fifty years together.

  “The old bat was right, though. There’s nothing high up in the closet, but I do have something in there I’d like to show you.”

  She ambled across the room and tugged open the closet door. He watched curiously as she opened a small compartment in one of her otherwise empty suitcases and came up with a tiny box.

  “I wanted to give you something,” she said, turning toward him.

  It wasn’t until she was up close again that he saw the tears in her eyes.

  “Nana—” He reached for her but she held up a hand.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine. Let an old woman say her piece.”

  He pulled back and waited.

  “Your grandfather was an amazing man. Smart, but not too smart as to be dull. Handsome, but not too handsome to the point that he made me feel frumpy. But best of all, he made me laugh.” She smiled now, lost in memories only she could see. “I see that between you and Rose. I can’t remember the last time I spent more than twenty minutes with you where you weren’t checking your phone or stressing about work. When she’s around, you seem so much more relaxed and happy.”

  He wasn’t sure about the “relaxed” part, because being within ten feet of Rose made him feel tense as hell, but he nodded anyway.

  “She’s a great woman.”

  “If you know that, then you must know what a miracle it is she’s still single. You need to lock that up, ASAP, my boy.”

  She handed him the box, which he took reflexively.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s the ring your grandfather gave me when he proposed. He bought me another for our fiftieth wedding anniversary, and this one has been sitting in a box since. I gave your sister his watch as a wedding present for Alec, and I want you to give this to Rose when the time is right.” She flipped it open to reveal a beautiful, classic solitaire set in platinum.

  Shit. The ring was amazing and far more expensive than anything he’d been hoping to save up to buy for Rose the summer after they graduated. He’d wanted so badly to get her a ring on his own, hadn’t said a word to his parents about what he’d been planning, and he knew she’d been confused about why he was working so much. Hell, he’d often wondered if that’s how she’d met the mysterious guy she’d broken up with him for. If she’d met him while Gio was working. In the end, he’d never actually bought her a ring and for his Nan to be offering him this one…

  “Nana… I don’t—”

  “I know, Gio,” she said, patting her chest with one wrinkled hand. “In here. I can feel it when I see you together. I’ve seen you with other girls before, and never gave you this, so you know it’s not just me pressuring you the usual way I do. Rose is the one for you.”

  He wished he could argue but, fuck, he’d known it since he was 17. And if he was being honest with himself, he’d admit that he never stopped loving her. Not for even one second between then and now.

  But this whole thing was for show. She was here for the money.

  That kiss in the ocean hadn’t been for show, a voice in his head reminded him.

  True. Rose’s face was a roadmap to her feelings. And she definitely wanted him. But want didn’t equal love and she’d given him no indication that she still had feelings for him. If he wasn’t the man she wanted to commit to and be with back then, why would she want him now?

  “I can’t take this,” he said softly, closing the box with a snap and pressing it back into his grandmother’s hand. “I don’t know what the future holds for us.”

  “Exactly. So make sure you’
re prepared, all right?” She shoved the ring back in his hand and reached up to pat his cheek. “You’re a good boy, Gio, and I love you to pieces.”

  With that, she wheeled around and headed out of the room.

  The guilt was like a lead blanket as he gripped the box tight and shoved it into his pocket. He hadn’t meant to get his grandmother’s hopes up like that, and this whole little scene made him feel like a real sack of shit, so it took him a second to get his head right.

  But even as he made his way back down the stairs, a part of him couldn’t stop thinking about Rose wearing that ring. How he would ask her. Where he would take her on a honeymoon…

  “Get what she needed?”

  Rose’s voice snapped him out of his reverie and he looked up to find her standing at the bottom of the stairs.

  She still had that spooked look on her face, but she didn’t seem suspicious in any way.

  “Yeah, she’s all set.”

  “Okay, everyone sort of went their own way, so I’m going to head up and watch some TV in bed or something. See you up there soon?”

  She wouldn’t meet his gaze and he studied her profile intently.

  “Yeah…but you’re sure you’re feeling all right? You would tell me if you felt sick or something?”

  “Fine. Yup, totally fine!” she said with a too-wide smile as she hauled ass up the stairs. “See you in a bit.”

  He made the rounds, saying good night to his parents who were out on the back deck talking, and then gave his Aunt Alice and Nana kisses on the cheek, but his mind was squarely on one thing.

  Rose Whitman and her strange behavior.

  As he made his way back upstairs, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to make him stand by the “bet” they’d made on the beach and make him sleep on the floor.

  But as he pushed open the door, that thought sizzled away, along with all the rest of his brain cells as he took in the view in front of him.

  Rose was perched on the end of the bed, bathed in moonlight, wearing nothing but a tiny pair of black panties. Full, bare, pink-tipped breasts sloped down to a narrow waist before blossoming out to those curvy hips that he loved to dig his fingers into.

  “Jesus, Rose,” he hissed, blood surging to his cock in a violent rush.

  She wet her lips and then slowly rose to her feet. “N-Nana Ginger said these walls were pretty thick…What do you say we test out that theory?”

  He could tell she was nervous and unsure of his answer, which seemed insane. But that worry did explain her strange behavior after the beach.

  Did she really think he would deny her…anything?

  If so, she didn’t know him at all anymore. Apparently, it was high past time to change that.

  “No strings, Gio. I don’t need promises or declarations. This is just a woman and a man acting on their attraction to each other.”

  Her words stung, like little barbs, but he shoved them aside to deal with later. Because the way he felt right now?

  An oncoming freight train couldn’t have stopped his legs from propelling him toward her.

  Chapter 12

  Rose trembled as Gio prowled toward her, tossing his shirt onto the floor as he went. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth at the sight, but before she'd gotten her fill, he was up close, dark eyes drilling into her.

  "Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?" he demanded, his voice low and thick with need.

  She shook her head, a sudden wave of nerves rolling over her.

  "I'm just a regular looking woman, Gio. Nothing like you and all..." she gestured to his gorgeous muscles, "this."

  "Feel this, Rose." He drew her up to stand, took her hand and laid it over the long, thick ridge in his shorts. "You're fucking perfect. I can't even look at you without imagining you on your back, legs spread, chewing on that juicy lower lip like you do."

  He laced his fingers with hers and squeezed, hissing at the pressure against his cock.

  "Do you think I'd be this hard if I didn't think you were beautiful?"

  He had her there. She might not believe it herself, but there was no question in her mind that he did. Couldn't that be enough, at least for tonight?

  She swallowed hard and shook her head.

  “I’ve always thought you were beautiful. Years ago and even more so now,” he insisted.

  A blast from the past ran over her like a ghost walking over a grave.

  "He’s so hot and cool, and she’s so awkward."

  But as she contemplated the hungry look in Gio’s eyes again, she forced those voices to the back of her mind and focused on the now.

  She’d been insecure back then. She was still insecure when it came to Gio and how much he seemed to want her. But she’d come this far. There was no way she was backing out now. Who knew if she’d ever have this chance again?

  Come next week, it was back to reality.

  Right now? It was all fantasy, and damn it, she deserved it.

  As he bent to take her mouth with a groan, she rolled up onto her tiptoes to meet him. His firm mouth and the sweep of his tongue tasted like home. She plastered herself against him, humming deep in her throat at the contact of his chest against her bare breasts.

  She’d never fit so perfectly with any other guy. They were like lock and key…two perfect puzzle pieces meant for each other.

  Just one night, Rose. Don’t lose your head.

  Before the anxiety could drag her under again, though, Gio was pressing her back against the mattress, looming over her.

  He reached for the tiny scrap of lace that covered her and gripped it in his fist. With a sharp yank, the straps snapped and she gasped.

  “I owe you a pair of sexy panties,” he muttered, a second before he wedged himself between her thighs until his face was just inches away from her pussy. He traced his fingers over her aching center.

  It was almost torture having him finally touch her there after the past few days of almost constant arousal. She squeezed her eyes shut and gripped the sheets as he ground the heel of his palm against her clit.

  “I can’t wait to taste you again. To slide my tongue over that sweet, wet pussy over and over.” His massage grew rougher as his voice grew huskier, harsh with want. “Slide your legs open for me, babe. Let me see all of you.”

  She let out a moan as she spread her thighs wide.

  “That’s my girl,” he murmured, a second before her pressed his magic mouth to her.

  “Oh my god,” she groaned as little shocks of pleasure rocketed through her. Every nerve was lit up like a starry sky as he explored her with his tongue, licking and rubbing her clit in a dizzying rhythm.

  She speared her hands into his thick hair, pressing him closer, wondering how she was going to hold onto her sanity. Then, he began to suck and lick in earnest, and she didn’t care about her sanity. Gio’s oh-so clever mouth worked her into a frenzy. Her knees buckled, her hips bounced, and spasms shot from her center, radiating outward like wildfire.

  She bit down hard on her knuckle to stifle her scream as, with one last suck, he sent her careening off the cliff.

  “Ahh, Gio!”

  As Rose shuddered beneath Gio, clit still pulsing against his tongue, he could feel cum leaking from the head of his cock as it pulsed and twitched.

  Rose Whitman was the sexiest woman on the planet and her pussy tasted like peaches and cream. He'd never get enough.

  Her tremors had finally begun to ease and she relaxed her death-grip on his hair. "I'm sorry, did I h—"

  He pulled his mouth away with a growl of regret and stared up at her. "Don't ever apologize for being so responsive that you can't control yourself. It's sexy as fuck, Rose."

  Always was, he had to stop himself from adding.

  Because bringing up the past would only interfere with the now.

  And now was fucking awesome.

  She tugged on his hair gently and smiled. "Are you coming up here, or are you planning to pitch a tent and sleep down there?"
<
br />   "I'm already pitching one hell of a tent," he said, grinning back at her. "But I think I'll hang around down here for a few more minutes."

  Her eyes narrowed as he dropped low and ran his tongue along her slick seam again.

  He watched her face intently, sucking, licking and tugging on her still swollen clit as her mouth parted and she gasped.

  So beautiful.

  His cock throbbed against his belly insistently, demanding attention, but he ignored it as he rubbed his tongue over that sensitive bundle of nerves over and over, until her thigh muscles began to tighten against his cheeks again.

  He pulled back and she let out a low moan of disappointment, but as he replaced his mouth with his fingertip, she held her breath.

  "I can't wait to slide my cock into your tight little pussy, Rose."

  Mimicking his words with his finger, he slid it deep, flexing it upward to press against her g-spot.

  She froze, her eyes popping wide.

  "You like that, babe?" he muttered, blood pounding in his head as he drew back and repeated the move, plunging his finger back into her tight channel.

  Her hips flexed as he began to fuck her, long and slow, with his finger. Soon enough, she flopped back against the pillow, her thighs falling wide open as she rolled her hips in hypnotic counterpoint to his movement.

  "Fuck, yeah," he grunted as he buried his face into her again, closing the edge of his teeth lightly over her clit in the softest of nibbles as he worked it with the tip of his tongue.

  "Oh my God," she muttered, tossing her head back and forth on the pillow. "Please, Gio. I want to feel you inside me."

  With one last, long suck, he released her, letting his warm breath wash over her.

  "I am inside you, babe," he reminded her hoarsely as he plunged his finger in deeper and then added a second. Her pussy pulled at his digits, and the need to feel that around his dick was literally killing him.

  "All of you," she breathed, rolling her hips more restlessly now. "I want to feel your cock inside me, filling me up."

  His blood surged at her words, making his cock pulse and jerk against his shorts. He'd wanted to make her come over and over until the last fifteen years between them was seared from her mind.