by Rich Amooi
Giovanni stared at his hand. “Okay.”
Natalie took a step, slid on the dirt, and lost her balance. Giovanni reached out and grabbed her, catching her before she fell over. He pulled her up and their bodies were now touching.
She looked down at her hand. “I guess I may need to wash too.”
“Uh huh.”
Jasmine.
She smelled even better than when he tucked her in that night. And now she was looking up into his eyes, neither one saying a word. He felt movement in his shorts and jumped back, hopefully before she noticed.
“What?” she said.
No way he was going to tell her the truth. She pushed him down a hill just because he mentioned an innocent kiss. A kiss she initiated! That’s what he got for telling the truth? He didn’t want to imagine what the crazy, sexy cop would do if he mentioned he was sporting a hard-on for her.
“Nothing,” he said. “I thought I saw a bee.”
“A bee…” she said, eying his shorts. “Uh huh.”
So much for her not knowing.
“Shall we continue?” he asked, not waiting for an answer and heading—almost running—up the hill. Fortunately Precious was just as motivated as he was.
“Not a bad idea. And maybe this would be a good time to get back to our conversation regarding your failed relationships.”
“I thought maybe you were distracted and forgot.”
“Forgot?” said Natalie. “Right. I’m a woman, remember?”
Oh, I remember alright!
“Good point,” said Giovanni. “In that case, it would be a thrill to talk about my relationships with you. What would you like to know?”
“Simple. What happened?”
Simple? Ha! He wished he knew what happened. Maybe she could help him figure it out.
He shrugged. “I don’t know…”
“Okay, quit beating around the bush and tell me.”
“Fine.” He stopped and turned back. “But let’s switch places—you walk in front of me. Precious is starting to slow down and I think she will be more motivated if she has someone to follow.”
Natalie had a suspicious look on her face.
What did I do?
Oh. Maybe she thought he wanted her in front so he could check out her ass. It honestly hadn’t crossed his mind. Until now.
Yup, now he was thinking of her ass.
She passed him and trekked upward. “Shall we continue?”
“Absolutely.”
He stared at the back of her purple tank top and it only took a few seconds before his gaze started to drop.
Shit.
That was a beautiful ass.
Wow.
No. Double wow.
How was he supposed to focus on anything now? He hadn’t planned on looking, but how could he not? Really, each cheek was perfectly positioned and her legs were absolutely edible. It was as though he was being hypnotized by them. He needed to stop looking there.
Stop it!
Okay, that didn’t work.
Natalie stopped and turned around. Shit. He pulled his eyes off of her ass and raised them to meet her gaze. He was absolutely certain she caught him checking out her ass. He looked down at her foot that was tapping the ground.
Yup. She saw.
But that wasn’t fair! Had she seen her own ass? Could she really blame him? Even a dead man would be checking out that ass! Now she was looking at his shorts again, obviously looking for clues. He dropped the hand that wasn’t holding the dog leash down in front of his shorts to hide the evidence.
She shook her head. “Are you going to answer the question?”
“Of course,” he said, thinking for a moment. “Uh…what was the question again?”
Another big sigh. “How did you meet your ex fiancée?”
“Oh, okay—that’s an easy question. My mom set us up.”
Natalie stopped and Giovanni ran into her back. She had to stop doing that.
“Your mom set you up?”
“That’s what I said, yeah. Why do you say it like that?”
“I don’t know. That sounds weird.” She turned and continued up the hill. “How long did you know her before you got engaged?”
“Three months.” Giovanni ran into her back again. “You really need to stop doing that.”
“I can’t help it! I mean, what you said is very…telling.”
“What? That we only knew each other for a short time so maybe we didn’t really know each other at all? Big deal. I’m sure we could find thousands of cases that prove that theory wrong.”
“Okay, you probably could. But three months? I think the odds are against you from the beginning. But let me ask you this: how long did you know your first fiancée before you got engaged?”
Maybe if he didn’t answer she wouldn’t notice.
He really didn’t want to talk about her. That break up was much more devastating than the last one. In fact, this last one was a piece of cake compared to the first. He needed to distract her with something. Anything.
Giovanni pointed to the sky. “Look at those ducks! I love how they all fly in formation like fighter pilots. It’s as if—”
“Nice try—I’m a cop. Remember? Not that I don’t appreciate nature and animals, but I saw your diversion coming a mile away.”
“You’re good.”
“Thank you. Answer the question.”
“I’d be happy to. But only after I race you to the top.”
Giovanni took off running with Precious following behind. He could hear the footsteps pounding the dirt behind him, which surprised him. He thought for sure that he left her in the dust, but this woman was fast!
Just a few feet from the top and Giovanni felt the burn in his legs as that sexy cop passed him like he was a statue. How could that be? He ran track in high school and even played a few years of soccer. He was no slouch.
They came to a clearing and Natalie threw her arms in the air. “Yes!”
She broke into a little victory dance, if that’s what you wanted to call it. It was like a mix of moves from Vanilla Ice, Michael Jackson, and Usher. She was all over the place.
Giovanni laughed and gestured toward the bench. “Okay, okay. You kicked my ass.”
“It wasn’t that bad. Well, okay, maybe it was.”
She laughed as they both sat down. Precious laid underneath the bench, now panting a little. Giovanni opened up his water, poured some in his hand, and dropped his hand under the bench where the thirsty dog started licking.
Giovanni looked over to Natalie who was waiting. “I’m not ignoring you and I will answer you. Please stand by…”
“Of course.” She reached under the bench and pet Precious who was drinking another serving from Giovanni's hand.
Giovanni wiped his hand on his shirt and said, “I knew my first fiancée two years before I asked her to marry me.”
“Oh…”
“That’s what I’m saying—they are two completely separate cases.”
“But getting dumped on your wedding day two times in a row…that is not so random. What happened with the first one? Did you ever find out why she decided not to show up to your wedding?”
Giovanni nodded.
“And?”
He shrugged.
“Sorry. You don’t have to talk about it.”
“No, no, it’s okay. I’ll tell you.” He let out a big breath. “I was head over heels for her and we had something very special, but—let’s just say she didn’t see eye-to-eye with my mom about certain things.”
“Your mom caused your breakup?”
“My mom can be intense. Too intense. And she placed certain demands on Mandy that ended up being just too much. I really don’t blame her for not showing up. But it broke my heart.”
“What types of demands?”
“My mother is obsessed with having grandchildren. Always has been. When Mandy and I were together that’s all my mom would talk about. She even wanted us to give her an exa
ct date as to when she should expect the first baby. Down to the week.”
“Oh God.”
“But wait, it gets better! My mother wasn’t going to be happy if Mandy and I had a girl. It had to be a boy.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“She wanted a boy to carry on the family name after me. When she found out that Mandy had a long history of girls in her family she flipped out. She bought us books on how to make sure the baby was a boy. What to eat and what to drink every day. Lifestyles, sleeping patterns, thoughts. Even sexual positions. Can you believe that? My mom bought me a book on sexual positions!”
“Sorry, but it sounds like your mom belongs in the nut house.” Natalie got up and stretched in front of Giovanni. Then she bent down to pet Precious who looked like she was almost asleep. “So the same thing happened with the second fiancée, then?”
“No. After what my mom did with Mandy, I told her I would disown her if she ever did it again. I have no idea why Patricia didn’t want to marry me.”
“Maybe you should ask her.”
Giovanni nodded. He got up and stretched alongside Natalie. “Maybe, but does it matter now?”
“Sure it does. It will give you closure.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I know one thing…Patricia changed. She wasn’t like that at the beginning. Not so materialistic. We both wanted kids and—”
“Are you sure she changed? Or maybe you just didn’t see her real personality? Sometimes when we start relationships we ignore the flaws because we want it to work, without realizing that the things that we are ignoring are the red flags that we should be paying attention to.”
“Are you talking from experience?”
Hell yes. “No comment. But you should probably call her. To find out for sure.”
“I think you’re right. I’ll give her a call. And hopefully she’ll talk with me after what I did with her stuff. Thanks for the talk. It was nice.”
Natalie pointed to herself. “I could be your psychologist!”
He laughed. “You probably could. Although I heard psychologists can’t see their own problems. Make sure you pay attention to the red flags in your relationship!”
“Uh…of course. But right now I need to pay attention on the way back down.”
Natalie was amazing. And Giovanni realized he was starting to have feelings for her.
Some would say these were just two friends getting together for a hike, but this felt like a date. He wasn’t an idiot; he felt a connection with her and he was almost certain that she felt it too. And if she was so in love with Jacks, how come she hadn’t mentioned him even once?
Giovanni pointed down the hill. “Okay, here we go.”
“Arf!”
“See? Even Precious agrees.”
“Arf!”
Natalie laughed and pointed to an older woman approaching with a poodle. “I have a feeling she was barking at the poodle and not answering you.”
“Ha! I know Precious pretty well now and I know for a fact that she is not into poodles.”
“Right.” Precious pulled hard toward the poodle and sniffed it where dogs like to sniff. “Doesn’t like poodles, huh? Right.”
“She was being nice and saying hello. Didn’t want to appear like a bitch to the general population.”
Natalie laughed. He loved her laugh. It always ended with a little snort.
They headed down, Natalie first, and Giovanni only waited a few minutes before he decided to pry a little. “Now that you know my entire life’s story, tell me about you and Jacks.”
“What do you want to know?”
“How long have you known each other?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure.”
“I seem to remember that you are a woman and you remember everything. Spill it.”
“Six months.”
“Seriously? Didn’t you give me shit earlier for jumping into marriage too quickly with my second fiancé?”
She crinkled his nose. “I don’t recall giving you shit.”
“For a guy, my memory is not too bad and I recall you saying that the odds would be against me if I only knew her for three months before getting married.”
“I don’t recall. Anyway, six months is double the time you date your ex.”
“You’re not in love, are you?”
She came to a halt and Giovanni ran into her back.
“If you were taller I would have a broken nose by now.”
She turned around. “You calling me short?”
He hesitated. “No.”
“You don’t think I am in love with the man I am going to marry?”
“No. I don’t. You don’t even talk about him. And when I saw you two at the barbecue you barely talked to each other. I saw no connection whatsoever between the two of you. I’ll tell you one thing…if you were my girl, I would show you how much I love you every single day. That guy doesn’t know what he has. And why doesn’t he kiss you?”
“He kisses me!”
“Well, if he does it’s not enough. I didn’t see him kiss you one time at the barbecue.”
“Is that your new job? Kiss Counter?”
“Maybe it is. Kissing is good. Healthy. Enjoyable. Necessary.”
“He’s just preoccupied at work.”
“If you say so. You can never be too busy to kiss. And you have amazing lips. They need to be kissed regularly.”
“I—”
He reached down and plucked a purple flower from a bush on the side of the trail. He moved to Natalie.
She looked suspicious. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I think this belongs right here.” He placed the flower in her hair just above her ear. “There. Since it’s your favorite color, I just thought…”
Natalie looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t speak. Maybe Giovanni's eyes were playing tricks on him, but it sure seemed like her eyes were watering. Was she crying?
“This is not right,” she said. “Not right at all and it needs to stop.”
She turned and headed down the hill.
Not another word the entire way down.
Not good.
He overdid it. Why did he have to stick that flower in her hair? It wasn’t planned or anything. He just all of a sudden felt like sharing something with her. It was completely spontaneous. She drew that out of him so it was her fault!
At the bottom of the hill she gave Precious a pat on the head and reminded Giovanni to wash with mild soap and lukewarm water. She hadn’t even left yet and Giovanni was already wondering when he could see her again. And also wondering what the hell he had got himself into. He liked her. A lot. And that most likely meant one thing on the horizon.
Another case of heartbreak.
Chapter Eleven
Natalie sat on the back porch with a cup of coffee for the second morning in a row. The big difference was she didn’t have a hangover this time. She did have something that was much more disturbing.
Her thoughts.
More specifically, her thoughts about Giovanni. She enjoyed the hike with him yesterday. A lot. He was a good-looking, fun, and intelligent man. Maybe the emphasis should be put on his intelligence and kindhearted nature. He certainly was smart enough to notice that she and Jacks weren’t connecting very much lately.
She scratched her hand and came to the realization that it wasn’t the first time she had scratched it. She slowly raised it, hoping that it was nothing at all.
Fudge!
She didn’t have to be a medical expert to know she had poison oak. She checked her other hand and her arms and couldn’t find any irritated areas. Good thing she washed the area well just after it happened; it could have been a lot worse. But if she had it there was a good chance Giovanni had it too.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of music. Beautiful music, actually. It was faint, but she could hear acoustic guitar and make out a few of the words, like ‘love’ and ‘destiny’ and ‘my heart is singi
ng.’ It was coming from the other side of the fence. From Giovanni's studio, of course. He obviously was playing his stereo a little loud for so early in the morning.
Natalie felt like a cobra—and Giovanni the snake charmer.
With the music beckoning her, she stood up and walked to the back of the yard, through the gate, and to his studio. She slid the door open with the back of her hand and stepped inside. Precious got up from what appeared to be a makeshift bed made out of a bedroom pillow and made her way to Natalie, her tail shaking along the way. Natalie stroked Precious’ silky ears and smiled.
Natalie blinked twice. The song wasn’t coming from the stereo.
It was Giovanni!
Giovanni played his guitar and sang what was perhaps the most beautiful song she had heard in a long time. His voice contained so much passion as he belted out the lyrics about love and finding someone special. His fingers worked the strings in magical ways.
Nice hands.
She suddenly had a déjà vu. Something about Giovanni's hands. She looked a little closer and noticed he had a little bit of redness on one of them.
Fudge! Poison oak!
She wasn’t going to mention it if he didn’t. It was her fault since she pushed him into it and Natalie felt slightly guilty.
Giovanni's song snapped her out of her thoughts and she was amazed how talented he was. He finished the song and she couldn’t help but clap.
“Wow, bravo!” she said.
Giovanni turned around and smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. Didn’t smell you either.”
“Ahh. No perfume this morning.”
“My loss.”
She smiled. “I was going to knock, sorry. It was beautiful.”
He set the guitar on the stand against the wall, stood up, and scratched his hand. “Thank you.”
She reached down and rubbed the dog’s head again. “Who’s the original artist of the song?”
Giovanni smiled again. “Giovanni Roma.”
She blinked. “Really?”
“It still needs a little work.”
“I have to disagree with you.” She looked around the studio, not sure what she was looking for. Maybe just admiring things. Like the guitar with the reddish tones on the table.