Educating Gina

by Debbi Rawlins

  She immediately looked up. “We are.”

  “Friends share their problems. They don’t hide things from each other.”

  She made a face. “It will sound very silly.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “I do not know why the idea will not leave my head.”

  “Maybe if we discussed what’s bothering you, you’ll be able to let it go.” He smiled when she wrinkled her nose at his wording. “You’ll be able to forget about it.”

  She sighed. “I hope so.”

  He waited patiently, not oblivious to the odd looks they were getting from passersby.

  She took a deep breath and looked up at him with earnest eyes. “Michael, are you gay?”

  16

  OBVIOUSLY HE HADN’T heard correctly. Or the language gap was at work. “You mean, am I happy?”

  She shook her head, her expression somber.

  He urged her more deeply into the alley and away from curious ears. “I don’t think I understand the question.”

  “Do you like girls or boys better?”

  Mike nearly choked on his own breath. “Where the hell did that come from?”

  “I know you like girls.” She stammered. “After last night, I think we… Anyway, I looked it up on the Internet and I found that sometimes people, how you say, swing both ways, and if—”

  “Whoa!” He raised a silencing hand. “Just whoa! I am not gay. I have nothing against anyone who is, but that’s not who I am.” This was too bizarre. He couldn’t be having this conversation. “Where did you get that crazy idea?”

  “Zio Antonio.”

  Mike couldn’t have been more stunned. Antonio and he had known each other for more than fourteen years. “You must have misunderstood him.”

  “No, he was very clear about it.”

  “He told you straight out I was gay.”

  “Si.”

  “When?”

  “This morning.”

  He shook his head. This made no sense. And then a thought occurred to him. “Did he know how late you got home last night?”

  “He did not even know I had left the apartment.” She studied Mike closely as if she still weren’t sure he was telling the truth, as if she might see some outward sign that he batted for the other team.

  Shit! Maybe he was no Don Juan, but he thought he’d done a pretty damn good job in bed last night.

  “Michael, I did not believe him.” Her cheeks got pink. “Not really.”

  “I don’t know why he told you that whopper. My only guess is that he suspected you had feelings for me and was trying to discourage you.”

  “I thought maybe there was something I did not understand. That night at the club. The one with the rooms upstairs.”

  He remembered the place. And the congenial Darin. Mike’s jaw had smarted for days.

  “There was one woman and three men.” She bit her lower lip, and then her tongue darted out to soothe it. “All naked.”

  Mesmerized, his gaze stayed locked on hers. “I remember.”

  She fisted the front of his shirt and pressed her hips against him.

  He immediately hardened.

  “Your body tells me you are excited, that you want me. I want to be the only one, Michael.” She sounded so confident, so sexy…but then doubt flickered in her eyes.

  “Gina, you are everything that I want and need.” He held her gaze, an unexpected calm descending upon him. “I promise.”

  SHE TRIED ON ten suits and bought three of them. She complained about having eaten too many egg rolls and decided to try on jeans another day.

  Mike smiled as he sat on the chair outside the fitting room. Gina made it so easy and comfortable to be with her. She didn’t hide what was on her mind, just came out and told him she didn’t like tight, short dresses anymore because men stared at her breasts and legs. She bemoaned the fact she’d had to skip meals to make sure her tummy didn’t bulge beneath the clingy knits. He felt as if he’d known her forever, as if they’d been married for a lifetime.

  Married. The thought both appealed to him and unnerved him. He’d only known her three weeks. And her family was obviously a big obstacle. They had her future mapped out. It did not include him.

  “Do you like this one?”

  She stood in front of the fitting room in a plain black dress about three inches above her knees. The neckline was a modest V. She looked like a million bucks.

  He smiled. “Very much.”

  “This one I could wear to dinner with Zio Antonio, si?”

  “Absolutely.” Mike frowned, disappointed. “Do you have plans with him tonight?”

  “Not yet.” She leaned over and kissed him. “But we could ask him to go with us when we get back to the office.”

  “Why?” Selfish bastard that he was, he didn’t want to share her tonight.

  She laughed and started to sit on his lap.

  He swung his knees to the side. “Hey, not here.”

  Sighing, she put her hands on her hips. “I do not care who knows about us, Michael. I want the whole world to know.”

  A horrible thought occurred to him. “Is that why you want us to have dinner with your uncle? To tell him about us?”

  “Si, he will find out. He should hear it from our lips.”

  “Let’s not be too hasty. He might put you on the next plane out of here.”

  “But he likes you.” The doubt in her eyes belied her words, and then she raised her chin. “I am old enough to make up my own mind. He cannot put me on a plane if I am not willing to go.”

  Another shopper and the saleswoman assisting her gave them curious looks. Mike squeezed Gina’s hand. “We’ll talk about this later, okay?”

  “Si.” She sighed. “I am tired of shopping, anyway.”

  The saleswoman who’d been helping her approached at that moment and grinned at him as Gina returned to the fitting room. “Your wife would look good in a paper sack. She’s petite but has long legs. She’s very lucky.”

  Mike didn’t answer. He handed the woman his credit card. She was wrong. He was the lucky one. Now he had to figure out what he was willing to do about it.

  GINA INSISTED on wearing one of her new suits back to the office. Navy-blue, conservative, very professional. She looked great. Mike didn’t see the harm, except he did wonder how Antonio would interpret her new taste in clothes. Maybe it was a good test. If Antonio realized how serious Gina was about learning the business, he might relent.

  Mike sure hoped so. Like it or not, he’d put himself in the middle by becoming emotionally involved with Gina. As much as he didn’t want to piss off Antonio, he couldn’t stand to see her wasting her talent.

  Worse, he couldn’t see her going back to Italy. Yet what did he have to offer? He was still an outsider. One who had betrayed Antonio’s incredible trust by sleeping with Gina.

  The reminder chafed and he had to ruthlessly push it out of his mind as they dropped her packages off in his office and he checked his messages. With his mood heading south, he decided they wouldn’t hang around—but then he noticed the bill of lading Cori had left on his desk. An attached note indicated he needed to review the document as soon as possible.

  Curious, he scanned it and groaned. “Gina, something’s come up—a shipment’s held up in customs. I’m going to have to take care of it.”

  “Okay.” She smiled and set her purse by the computer.

  “You may be bored hanging around. Maybe you should go back to your uncle’s apartment.”

  “No, I will stay and help.”

  “I don’t think there’s much you can do.”

  She dragged the visitor’s chair around his desk to sit alongside him. “Then I will listen and learn.”

  He smiled. “Don’t let that new suit go to your head.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Scusi?”

  “Did I tell you how nice you look?” Forgetting where they were, he almost put his arms around her.

  “No.” She lifted her chin and t
ilted back her head as if she expected a kiss.

  Mike cleared his throat and glanced out his door. “Come on. We have work to do.”

  She didn’t protest, but took her seat and stared intently at the paperwork. He explained what the problem appeared to be and how he proposed to remedy it. She listened carefully, asked a couple of questions and even came up with a damn good suggestion.

  Mike was on the phone to the warehouse when he looked up to find Antonio at the door. He was frowning at Gina, who busily studied a column of figures and made notes, unaware of her uncle’s obvious displeasure.

  Mike tried to give her an eye signal, but she didn’t catch it. He asked the warehouse manager to hold and then cupped his hand over the receiver. “You need something, boss?”

  Gina looked up and smiled at her uncle.

  He smiled back, but as soon as she looked down again, the smile vanished. “Will you be picking up Robert from the airport?”

  Robert. How the hell could he have forgotten that he arrived tonight? He nodded. “I’ll get him.”

  “I’ll have my car brought out of the garage around seven.” Then, motioning for Mike to follow him to his office, Antonio disappeared down the hall.

  Shit.

  The rest of the conversation with the guy at the warehouse was a bitch to keep up with, knowing Antonio was about to blast him. He did his best to wrap things up, made an excuse to Gina and then hurried to his doom.

  At Mike’s brief knock, Antonio looked up from the newspaper spread across his desk. He scowled. “Close the door.”

  Not good. Mike did as he was asked and advanced into the room. “Sit down.”

  Mike shoved a hand through his hair and sank into the black leather chair facing his boss. “What’s up?”

  “What’s up?” Antonio glared. “I had hoped you would tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” No way was Mike going to offer any information. Who knew what Antonio was pissed off about?

  Antonio waved a frustrated hand. “Why is my niece wearing men’s clothes?”

  That stopped Mike. “What are you talking about? She has on a skirt and jacket.”

  “A suit. Nice women do not wear suits.”

  A laugh escaped Mike. “Our women distributors often wear suits.”

  “That’s different. Nice Italian girls dress like young ladies, like future mothers.”

  Mike shook his head. Antonio didn’t have a problem with the tight jeans, but nixed a nice conservative suit. “This isn’t like you.”

  Antonio sighed. “I’ve been in this country too long. I have let go of too many of the old ways. It’s not good.”

  Mike wondered if this melancholy had to do with missing his wife. For as long as Rosa had been in New York, she’d adhered to old customs. “Gina is an adult, Antonio, and wearing a suit is not exactly a crime against womanhood.”

  “Go ahead, make fun. You don’t understand our tradition. You’re not family.”

  That stung. It shouldn’t have, for it wasn’t news. “I’m not making fun. You’re upset and I’m just trying to lighten your mood, that’s all.”

  Antonio took a cigar out of his pocket and a bottle of aspirin out of his desk drawer. “She sits next to you reading paperwork, asking questions… Why does she want to know about the business?”

  “Because she’s a bright, educated young woman. Why wouldn’t she be curious about the family business? She’s grown up in the middle of it.”

  Antonio made a sound of pure disgust. “So did her mother and cousins. They do not have crazy ideas in their heads. She should not have been allowed to go to college.”

  Mike shook his head. Unbelievable.

  “You.” Antonio pointed a finger at him. “I told you I did not want her involved in the business. I put trust in you, and you stab me in the back?”

  “Wait a minute.” The word trust resonated in his head. Guilt robbed him of conviction. “Come on, you don’t believe that.”

  “Now you’re telling me what I believe?”

  Mike hesitated. Antonio was obviously in a lousy mood. Maybe he had too much to drink again last night. If Mike was smart, he’d leave this conversation alone. Wait until Antonio’s disposition improved.

  “What? You have nothing to say?” Antonio muttered something in Italian, lit his cigar and then took a big puff. “Because you know I’m right.” He blew out the disgusting smoke, which seemed to make an irritating beeline for Mike. “I’m very disappointed in you, Mike. Very disappointed.”

  The magic word. Disappointed.

  Mike’s chest tightened. “You’re overreacting, Antonio,” he said quietly.

  “Enough.” Antonio held up a hand. “You are only making matters worse. You stop filling Gina’s head with foolishness, and we can forget this.”

  The trouble was, Mike didn’t want to forget this. But he still thought this wasn’t the time to make Antonio see reason. Maybe if he waited for Robert to get back… He knew his father’s quirks. Together they could convince Antonio that Gina was a smart woman who deserved a place in the business.

  “What is with this long face?” Antonio frowned at Mike. “You think I will hold a grudge? I am a bigger man than that. Have I even mentioned anything about this—” he waved a hand “—this new development I’ve just discovered?”

  “What new development?”

  “About you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Okay, so it’s not new, but it was news to me.”

  Mike was starting to worry. Antonio looked like hell. He was making no sense. Thank God Robert would be back tonight. “Antonio, I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

  Antonio cleared his throat and gave him a long, silent look. “About your personal business.”

  Mike stared back. This was not good.

  Antonio looked sheepish, which was totally out of character. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

  “Well, you did.” Mike’s curiosity soared. “What personal business?”

  “You know.” Antonio shrugged and looked away. “About batting for the other team.”

  “What?” Mike heard him. He just didn’t believe it. “I’m sorry. Robert told me not to mention it.” Mike shook his head. That’s why Gina thought he was gay. Antonio had really told her that. There was no misunderstanding, no language breakdown. But why would he think something so crazy? And Robert… At a total loss, he demanded, “What did Robert tell you?”

  Antonio sighed. “I shouldn’t have opened my big mouth.”

  “But you did.”

  Temper flared in Antonio’s eyes. “This isn’t important. We were talking about my niece. Don’t try and change the subject.”

  “I wasn’t the one who…” Mike shook his head. It wasn’t worth it. He’d talk to Robert and find out what the hell was going on. “Yes, we were talking about Gina. And frankly, since she’s of legal age, I don’t think you’re going to have much say in the career she chooses.”

  “Career?” Antonio half laughed, half growled. “There is no such word concerning Gina.” He pointed to his temple. “Capice?”

  Mike understood, all right. Antonio looked really angry, and Mike knew it was long past time to back off. He would accomplish nothing this afternoon. All he wanted to do now was get out of here before his temper ignited.

  “I’m going to tell you only one more time,” Antonio continued. “No more is she to be in your office, or using your computer, or looking at your mail and asking questions.”

  “Look, I let her use the computer to keep her busy. It was a distraction, that’s all.” Mike stood. “Don’t worry. She’s not really interested in the business.” The lie tasted awful, and made him grimace.

  Antonio puffed on his cigar, clearly still disgruntled. “And no more suits. She can buy dresses. Pretty pink dresses.”

  “Fine.” He tried like hell to keep from scowling. “Whatever you say.”

  MICHAEL DID NOT think she was smart or capable of lear
ning the family business. He had only wanted to distract her.

  Heartsick, Gina listened outside the slightly open door to Antonio’s office. She had gone looking for Michael and heard angry, raised voices. She had thought her zio might have been upset with Michael because of her.

  But she had not expected that Michael had lied to her.

  He did not think she was special. He had only been doing the job Zio Antonio had given him—baby-sit her. Nothing more.

  She wrapped her arms around herself to chase away the chill that had crawled down her spine. How could Michael have said those things? Zio Antonio sounded very angry. Maybe Michael had no choice but to give in.

  No, she would not make excuses for him. She would not be…

  She backed away from the door. Michael’s voice had gotten closer suddenly. She hurried down the hall toward his office and sat at his computer. The screen was blank, but she stared at it anyway, too devastated to care about anything. What would she say to Michael? She did not want to accuse him unfairly, but then, she had heard him herself. She simply did not want to believe he was like the other men in her family.

  Worse, he had lied to her. Her father and uncles were at least honest about their opinions.

  Michael walked into the office and glanced at the computer screen. “What are you doing?”

  She swallowed back the hard lump of hurt and anger lodged in her throat. “Where were you?”

  “Down the hall.” He averted his gaze.

  “Where?”

  He gave her a funny look.

  “Were you in Zio Antonio’s office?”

  He looked as if he wanted to deny it. “Yes, for a while. Why?”

  She shrugged and stared at the computer screen.

  “Gina, I work for him. Sometimes I go to his office five times a day. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said, refusing to look at him. “I thought maybe he wanted to talk about me.”

  She looked at him then, in time to see his gaze flicker nervously down the hall.

  “Nah, it was just business.” He gave her a smile she could not force herself to return.

  “Did you ask him about dinner?”

  Michael shoved a hand through his hair. The habit usually made her warm and happy. Now it left her cold. “I don’t think dinner is a good idea.”