She shook her head again, and he kissed her. Kissed her hard and long and deep. Kissed her until his lungs were clamoring for air and his head was swimming and still he kissed her. He felt her surrender to him, and the moment she opened her mouth to him and he entered her warmth, he groaned at the sheer pleasure of the moment.
This. This is what he’d been needing all day.
His arms tightened around her, lifting her off the ground and holding her to him with a fierceness that staggered him. His hands fisted in the soft, fleecy feel of her sweatshirt. She wrapped her arms around his neck, lifted her legs and locked them around his hips.
Mouth to mouth, soul to soul, they clung to each other in the night. Neither of them wanted what they’d found together, yet neither of them could walk away, either.
His body throbbing, his blood pounding in his ears, he wanted to carry her back into her apartment and make love to her again. To find that exquisite moment of pleasure he’d known so briefly last night.
But in the next instant a door slammed across the street, and Gina jumped in his arms, tearing her mouth from his and staring at him blindly.
Her breathing as harsh and labored as his, Gina pushed free of his grasp and stood shakily on her own two feet.
Then she took one long step backward, lifting one hand to her mouth.
“Gina…”
“No.” She shook her head and moved even farther back. “Go away, Nick,” she said, and he heard the slight quaver in her voice. “Please go away.”
Eight
Gina wistfully glanced at the stairs leading to her apartment. But she couldn’t go back to her own place. Not yet. She’d told Jeremy she would be right back, and she didn’t want anyone in the house thinking something was wrong.
Because nothing was wrong. Right?
Nah, even she didn’t believe that.
Despite the cold, damp air, Gina felt as though she was on fire from the inside out. From the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair, invisible flames licked at her. His fault, she told herself. He shouldn’t have come here. Shouldn’t have kissed her.
And oh, man, what a kiss, she thought, recalling the hard, solid feel of him pressed against her. The strength of his arms, the tension pounding through his body and into hers.
Her breath came in short gasps, and Gina slapped one hand to her heart. She was in some very deep trouble, here. Things looked grim when just thinking about a kiss could arouse her.
What she needed was time. Time to think. Time to kick herself for being such a wimp that the moment she saw him again, she was in his arms.
But what she had was an ice cream date with an eight-year-old.
Muttering under her breath about wishy-washy women and overbearing men, she opened the kitchen door and found not her nephew, but her older sister waiting for her.
“Where’s Jeremy?” Gina asked, noting the two empty ice cream bowls still on the table.
“He’s watching TV,” Angela said as she picked up the bowls and carried them to the sink.
Okay, then, she didn’t have to stay. She could go upstairs to her apartment and sit in the dark and think about what an idiot she was. Oh, goody. But she didn’t even get to take a step toward the door when her sister’s voice stopped her.
“So who’s the hunk?”
Gina snapped a look at her sister and noticed the interested gleam in Angela’s eyes.
“Hunk?” she stalled, shifting her gaze to a spot just above Angela’s head.
“Real smooth, baby sister,” the other woman said with a shake of her head. Leaning back against the counter, Angela crossed her feet at the ankles, folded her arms over her chest and tipped her head to one side. “But one small suggestion. If you’re going to pretend you weren’t just lip locked with that guy, you might want to lose the bedazzled expression in your eyes.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” Gina grumbled, pulling out a chair and dropping into it. “Who are you, Sherlock Holmes?”
“Yeah,” Angela agreed wryly. “It takes a real mastermind to look out a window and see your little sister climbing a man built like a mountain.”
Oh, swell. This wasn’t embarrassing or anything.
“You saw?” she asked unnecessarily.
“Enough to jump-start hormones I thought died two years ago.” Angela gave up her casual pose and crossed the room to take a seat opposite Gina.
“How about Mama?” Ridiculous, she knew, to be twenty-four years old and worried that her mother had seen her kissing a man. But, there you go.
“Nope. Mama was too busy counting stitches in her new afghan to notice her youngest daughter scaling Mount Gorgeous.”
Gina groaned.
“Come on,” Angela coaxed. “Spill. And I want details.”
Gina looked at her oldest sister and not for the first time, wondered why in the heck Angela had allowed herself to become such a hermit. Ever since her husband died, she’d acted as though she’d buried her heart along with the jerk who’d treated her and Jeremy so badly.
At twenty-eight, the eldest Santini daughter was tall and too thin. Her brown hair dusted her shoulders, and her dark brown eyes held a hint of sadness that Gina used to think would disappear with time. Now she wasn’t so sure.
Angela had let herself slide into a rut so deep and so comfortable; she’d probably never leave it willingly.
On the other hand, while she was hiding here at home, she wasn’t running into the kind of problems Gina had found. And speaking of problems…
“His name’s Nick Paretti,” she said finally.
“The dancing Marine?” Angela asked with a short laugh.
“The one and only.”
Still smiling, her sister leaned toward her, resting her forearms on the tabletop. “But all you did was complain about him. Apparently there’s been a change in attitude?”
She sighed. “Yeah, I know,” Gina said glumly. “Confusing, isn’t it?”
“You didn’t look confused when you were with him,” Angela said. “You seemed to know exactly what you wanted.”
Did she ever, she thought. A new rush of heat swamped her, and Gina tried valiantly to tamp it down. But her blood still simmered and her body still tingled, so she gave up the fight and accepted the fact that Nick had an effect on her.
“That’s the problem,” she admitted on a sigh. “I want him, I just don’t want him.”
“Well, sure,” Angela assured her. “Now I get it.”
“I didn’t say it made sense.”
“Good thing.”
Well, nothing like having your big sister love and support you in your time of trial.
“You know something, Angela,” Gina said, pushing up from the table, “it’s really easy to sit in a cave and tell everyone outside how to live. Why don’t you crawl on out and join the rest of us sometime?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her sister asked, standing up to face her.
“Just what you think it means,” Gina snapped. Even though a part of her knew that she was only yelling at Angela because she was furious with herself, Gina couldn’t seem to stop. “Your husband’s the one who died, honey. Not you.”
Angela hissed in a breath as if she’d been slapped. “You don’t know anything about it. What it was like.”
“Your marriage? You’re right, I don’t. But I do know it’s over,” Gina countered.
The other woman looked furious enough to do battle, but all at once the fight died out of her expression and she shook her head. “You can’t understand, Gina. Not until you’re married yourself. Then you’ll know what it’s like to pin all of your hopes and dreams on one man, only to see them splintered.”
Gina didn’t think it was wise to pin your hopes and dreams on anyone but yourself. But then, she would never know, would she?
Gina sighed and shoved one hand through her tangled hair. “I’m sorry, Angela,” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. It’s just…”
“It’s okay.” He
r sister smiled. “Like I said, when you get married, you’ll—”
“I’m not getting married.”
“Well maybe not now,” Angela conceded.
“Not ever.”
Her sister smiled. “You can’t know that.”
“Yes, I can,” Gina said, remembering a quiet night two long years ago and a whispered conversation with her father. And a vow she’d made that had changed the way her future would go.
“Gina?” Her sister’s voice sounded different now. Concerned. “What is it?”
She shook her head. She’d never told any of them about the promise she’d made to Papa, and she wasn’t going to start now. “Nothing. Look, uh, say good-night to Jeremy and Mama for me, will you?”
“Sure.”
Gina turned for the door, and when she’d opened it, Angela’s voice came again.
“Are you sure you’re all right?”
She forced a smile she didn’t feel and heard herself say, “I’m fine. Really.”
Then she stepped into the darkness and closed the door behind her. Lifting her face to the star-sprinkled sky, she whispered, “If you’re watching all this, Papa, I could use a little help.”
“Did somebody shoot his dog?” A gasping, perspiring private whispered to the man running beside him.
“Hell, the dog probably shot itself just to get away from him,” the man countered.
The private chuckled until Nick came up behind him.
“Something funny here, Private?” he bellowed, never breaking stride, never slowing the rhythm of the run.
“No, Gunny,” the Private yelled, gasping for breath.
“I don’t have a dog, kid,” Nick shouted, not the slightest bit out of breath, “but if I did, he’d be a Marine dog. Too tough to shoot, too mean to die. Just like me.”
“Yes, Gunny,” the private agreed, as loudly as he could, considering he was out of breath now and running on instinct alone.
“Now shut up and run before I get mad!” Nick called out.
The kid’s eyes widened until Nick thought they might pop out of his head. But strangely enough it didn’t make him feel any better at all to know that he still had the stuff to terrify Privates.
But then, nothing had made him feel better since leaving Gina’s house two nights ago. He’d kept himself as busy as he could, yet thoughts of her still intruded, making his body ache and his head pound.
Even taking the platoon on a five-mile run hadn’t helped clear his head. No, instead he’d found that he could run and think of Gina at the same time.
The thunder of dozens of feet pounding against the dirt track seemed to beat out a single phrase in his mind. Call her, call her, call her.
But what the hell good would that do? He wasn’t looking for a permanent relationship, and nothing about Gina was temporary. So maybe it would be best all the way around if he did just what she wanted and stayed away from her. In three weeks he could give her a call and find out if God had a sense of humor or not and then they could go on their separate ways.
Yeah, he told himself, and gritted his back teeth. That’s what he would do. Even if it killed him. Or the platoon.
“Double time,” he shouted hoarsely, and ignored the chorus of groans lifting up from the tired troop as he picked up the speed of their run.
“Thanks for coming,” Cecelia Thornton said, and poured Gina a glass of iced tea.
“Are you kidding,” Gina said, “this’ll be fun.” She’d just spent the last hour going over details of the coming barbecue, and her head was bursting with ideas that would make this outdoor party a huge success.
“Thank Heaven you think so,” Cecelia countered. “I’m just no good at this party-organizing thing.”
“Hopefully,” Gina replied, “lots of people will feel like that.”
The night they’d met outside the dancing class, Gina had mentioned that she did party planning, and presto! Cecelia had snatched at the opportunity to avoid having to arrange her party alone.
Gina’d never bothered to mention the arrangement to Nick, and now she was glad she hadn’t. Being here on base, she would no doubt have had to see him if he’d known she was coming. And she wasn’t ready to see him again yet. The last two days had been hard enough.
She’d been living in a constant state of expectation. Always waiting for the phone to ring or to hear him knocking at her door. And when he’d done neither, she wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
“So what do you think?” Cecelia asked, interrupting her train of thought.
Gina snatched her mind out of the clouds and forced herself to stick to thoughts of business. If she did a good job for Cecelia, maybe other Marine wives would want to hire her, too. She could be looking at the start of the business she’d wanted for so long.
“I’ve got a few ideas I’d like to talk to you about,” she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. “Your patio is gorgeous, and I think with a few extra touches the party will be great.”
Cecelia grinned. “I can’t tell you what a relief it is to hear you say that. You know, I want to make a good impression.”
“That’s natural, I guess,” she said, taking a sip of tea.
“My husband thinks I worry about it too much,” Cecelia said. “But you know men.” She sat up straight, wrinkled her forehead and deepened her voice. “‘Throw meat on fire. Party good.’”
Gina laughed and relaxed for the first time in two days. She still felt a little guilty about being here under sort of false pretenses…after all, Cecelia did think that Nick was Gina’s boyfriend. But after the barbecue they could have a pretend breakup and no one would be the wiser.
Yeah, she thought. This would work out just fine.
A knock at the front door made Cecelia smile. As she stood up from the table, she said, “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Hmm?” A surprise? Gina watched her walk across the living room, and when the other woman opened the door, all the air in the room seemed to disappear.
“Mrs. Thornton, ma’am,” Nick said, wondering why the Colonel’s wife would ask him to drop by the house. Still tired from a lack of sleep and that five-mile run, he had planned to stop by the NCO club for a drink and then go home.
“Come in, Gunnery Sergeant,” the woman said, and stepped aside, inviting him into the house with a sweep of her arm.
“Thank you, ma’am, I…” his voice trailed off as he spotted Gina, sitting at the Colonel’s table. For one brief, horrifying moment, he wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not. After all, why would Gina be here? On base? With the Colonel’s wife?
But in the next instant he knew she was real. She looked far too dismayed to be a hallucination.
“Surprise,” Cecelia said with a grin. “I thought you two might like the chance for a moment or two together, since Gina was on base, anyway.”
Nick kept his gaze on the woman who’d been haunting him day and night. Rubbing one hand across the back of his neck, he tried to summon a smile, but the best he could manage was a baring of teeth. “Gina,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“She didn’t tell you?” Cecelia interrupted, then turned to look at Gina. “I’m sorry. Did I spoil something? Were you planning on keeping this a surprise until the barbecue?”
“No,” Gina said quickly, standing up and rushing to put Cecelia at ease. “I must have forgotten, that’s all. We’ve both been so busy.”
Busy, Nick thought grimly. Yeah, busy avoiding each other. For all the good it had done. He’d used every ounce of his willpower and self-control to keep from driving off base to see her—and suddenly, here she was. On his turf.
And looking as if she belonged there.
“Well,” Cecelia said, looking from one to the other of them. “Why don’t you two go out and enjoy the sunset? I’ve got a couple of things to do in the kitchen before Jim gets home.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nick said, and moved across the room. He didn’t wait for Gina t
o agree or disagree. He just took hold of her arm and dragged her along behind him as he headed for the brick patio beyond the sliding glass doors.
Once they were outside, he kept walking, not stopping until they were at the fence bordering the wide lawn. Far enough away from the house that they wouldn’t be overheard, Nick asked, “What in the hell are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too, Sergeant Charm.” She pulled her arm free of his grasp and started walking along the edge of the short wall.
He fell into step beside her. “Answer the question, Gina, what’s going on?”
She shot a look at the house, then lifted her gaze to his. “Cecelia hired me to plan her barbecue.”
“You plan barbecues for a living?”
“No. I work for a catering company now. But I’m starting my own business soon. Party planning.” She lifted her chin defiantly as if waiting for him to make some sort of derisive remark.
Hell. Planning parties didn’t sound like a fun job to him, but maybe that’s because there wouldn’t be any grenade tossing allowed. What did he know?
“Okay,” he said slowly, “you plan parties. But how did you happen to end up here, planning the Colonel’s party?”
“That night…when we met Cecelia outside dance class?”
He nodded, remembering it all too well.
Gina shrugged. “We talked, I gave her my number and she called.”
Nick scowled to himself as he thought back. He did seem to recall the two women chatting while he was busy trying to find a way to keep his dancing lessons a secret. Man. He’d daydreamed for a couple of minutes and had missed all that?
“I thought you were a college student.” He distinctly remembered hearing her say she had class on Friday nights.
“I am. But I also have a job. And a business I want to start.” She glanced up at him and smiled too sweetly. “I’m a woman of many talents.”
That’s for sure, he thought, and wasn’t even counting her jobs and school. She just kept surprising him. So much for his notion of her being the little princess. It sounded as though she put in as long a day as he did.
The Last Santini Virgin Page 8