Her neck was hot.
Serenity then asked, “But you weren’t feeling good?”
Logic wouldn’t help this. She ached for more and thinking didn’t match how she felt. She took her blouses from the suitcase and hung them back up as neatly as before while she said, “Yeah, I thought I might throw up.”
“Like you do every morning?”
“Yeah.” Morning sickness wasn’t fun, though doctors said most people cleared up in the second trimester. Any week now that would hopefully kick in.
“Would you kiss someone who was on the verge of being sick? Damien held back a little and wasn’t as demonstrative until after I gave birth to our twins.”
Ew. She didn’t need to think about Serenity and Damien or picture them having sex ever. Serenity was like her little sister that had always needed guidance before she’d gotten married. “No, probably not.”
“Then give him a chance,” Serenity advised, “at least until after today.”
Okay. If Gio kissed her, she’d kiss him back. She knew she wanted another taste, another touch, another moment in his arms. But last night it was more like they were friends and that thought inched up her spine. “It’s not entirely about the kisses though.”
“What else then?” Serenity asked.
Good question. How in the world did he think she’d take his possessive nature last night? No one owned her, or ever would. “He told me he wanted me and our baby in his life.”
Serenity sniffed delicately. “And that’s bad?”
Because she wasn’t something he could own, even if he had more money and power than anyone ought to. Kiwi picked up her empty suitcase and put it back in the closet. “I can’t fight the Morgans. I’m on the losing side of any battle there.”
“Are you fighting him?”
Fighting showed passion too. And part of her wanted the man she’d taken to bed almost three months ago—he’d rocked her world. Her jaw loosened as she admitted, “I don’t know.”
“Open up and give him a window of opportunity,” Serenity suggested. “And my husband is a Morgan. We’ll support you if you need us.”
Good. While she never wanted to put her friend in a war zone, especially a losing one, at least Serenity had offered. “I thought Morgans didn’t fight Morgans,” Kiwi said. “That’s what Victoria says when she discusses the fashion merger.”
Serenity answered fast, “No one messes with my best friend.”
A knock sounded at the door. Her heart jumped and her body felt alive. She wanted to run and throw herself in Gio’s arms. “He’s here.” What to do?
Just as Kiwi was ready to hang up, Serenity asked, “So, are you needing an escape plan?”
Right. This wasn’t something to run away from. Kiwi needed to be calm, cool and collected. She needed to be herself when it came to Gio Morgan, but she trekked to the door a little faster than her normal speed as she said, “No. I’m nervous. I’m not ready but I have to go.”
With that she ended the call and swung the door open.
Gio’s square jaw and smile that made her warm just from one look at those white teeth melted her into someone softer. She let out a sigh as he stepped forward and kissed her hand. “Kiwi, you look radiant.”
She laughed and when he walked inside her house she didn’t step away from him—he lowered his head and kissed her.
Oh, wow. Every doubt evaporated in an instant. As he ended the kiss, her eyes fluttered open. “You kissed me.”
He raised his palms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know if you’d be offended.”
Offended? She wanted to rip the buttons of his white-buttoned shirt off his Superman-like body and have her way with him. She smiled and shook her head. “I’m not. I’m relieved. Let me get my pocketbook.”
She turned and found her bag on the coffee table in her kitchen as he called out behind her, “Relieved?”
Her right brow arched as she sashayed back to him. “You didn’t kiss me yesterday at all.”
He tugged on her hips to bring her even closer. “Is that why you left me?”
The butterflies in her stomach urged her to run her hands all over him and drag him to her bed, but she refrained. “I didn’t leave you. I went home for the evening.”
He pulled her tight against him and her heart sped up as he lowered his head. “I see. Well, I don’t have any family matters that might intrude on our outing today. I’m all yours.”
A whole day with just Gio. Well, except for the part where they went to visit her mom, but that would be over first. His lips were inches from her mouth. If she didn’t speak now, she’d kiss him again and possibly forget her plans for the day. “We’ll see. My mom won’t be happy to meet you, but it’s important.”
Then his lips met hers and steam escaped. She transformed into shapeless mush that would puddle at his feet. Once the kiss ended, she swallowed and remembered she’d never been mush in her life.
Gio had no idea her inner thoughts as he asked, “Why won’t she be happy?”
For a second she wanted to ask who, but she blinked and remembered their conversation. She let him go and headed toward the door, hoping movement would cool her libido down. “Because you represent everything she hates.”
“My name or my money?” He walked out the door with her.
She closed her door and locked it. “Both. Your designer clothes and confidence reek of class. But she raised me and I want her to at least meet you once.”
As they walked down the hall and toward her elevator, he said, “I’ll win her over.”
The elevator opened the moment she pressed the button. As the doors closed she bounced on her lime green heels. “I won’t get upset if you can’t.”
He laughed softly, smoothing his light blue short-sleeved dress shirt over tailored white pants. “Kiwi, now that I know you want more passion, I’ll happily step up my game.”
He inched closer to her and the erotic idea of the two of them in this elevator rocked through her. “Are you still dating Piper Lacey?”
“I’ve not seen her in over a year.”
“Good.”
He tugged her waist. Every cell in her body craved his touch.
Maybe pregnancy messed with her hormones and it wasn’t just a reaction to him. She put her finger on his lips and said, “Wait a second.”
He kissed her finger and palm and then arm and shoulder until the elevator dinged that they were on the first floor. He quickly said, “Admit you want me.”
“Yes, Gio.” Kiwi couldn’t hide that if she wanted to. She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm and directed him to exit. “I’m attracted to you, but I don’t know if there is more. What if the best we ever get is what happened that night in Paris?”
He held the lobby door open for her and then guided her toward the visitor parking lot. “If I can charm your mother today, promise me you’ll come with me to Milan. I want to show you my home. I don’t want to lose you again.”
Italy? What if it was a repeat of Paris? And if so, was that bad? Her lips pursed as he opened the passenger car door of a yellow Ferrari the same color in her dress. She stilled as she said, “I don’t know.”
He motioned for her to get in and after a slight hesitation she did. “Take a chance, Kiwi. Open up.”
He closed the car door and she watched his hard muscular body pass the front of the car and then walk over to the driver’s seat. No man had ever captured her attention so intensely. And perhaps he was right, at least a little. It was time to live fully. As he slid in beside her, she said, “Okay. If you can convince my mother you’re a good man and will be a good father, then I’ll travel to Milan with you.”
“Consider it a done deal.” He winked as he started the engine, and it roared to life.
The women in the Washington family stuck to their guns. And her mother was always opinionated. Kiwi took her sunglasses from her clutch and pushed them on her nose to avoid the bright sun. “We’ll see about that.”
He gently sq
ueezed her hand before reaching for a gear shift, but then must have remembered his rental was an automatic.
In Italy, he must speed on those roads. Perhaps she’d see it in person though she always stuck to speed limits. The Kiwi next to him already felt freer than normal. Perhaps it was the thrill he sent through her with those dark eyes and strong shoulders made to protect her. And it was time to at least see what he offered that might work for them. Anything was possible.
Chapter 6
Kiwi’s skin buzzed with nerves as they drove onto the grounds of the senior community in West Palm Beach. Her mother always said that men weren’t necessary and to never depend on one, but learning a skill would last a lifetime. Her mother would have opinions on Gio that she might not want to hear. The freshly cut green lawns outside the small townhouses itched her nose, but she pointed Gio inside the community to park his car right outside her mother’s door.
The moment he parked, he hopped out of the car and ran for her side. She half-waited until he offered his hand, but then stood on her own, fixing her bird pendant. She took his hand after and walked beside him.
If she really meant to give him a chance, it had to start now which meant compromise on her part.
Maybe that would be easier once this visit was over with. She clenched her hands at her side and promised herself she’d try.
As she rang her mother’s doorbell, she fixed any wrinkles in the dress sitting in the car might have caused—her mother didn’t like messy.
Her mother checked the window and her eyes widened as she saw Gio next to her.
In her mind Kiwi could already hear her mother talking about staying in her lane to get ahead in life and to study more, as life was about learning. Her stomach flipped, but Kiwi kept her mouth shut and her chin high.
After unlocking multiple locks, her mother finally showed her face. Gio bowed and took her hand immediately, kissing it as he said, “Mrs. Washington.”
Her mother’s eyes widened as she shuffled them both inside the front door. Once she closed and bolted the door like she lived in some hood instead of a five star community with security guards, her mother folded her hands and asked, “This is the father of your child, Kiwi?”
Mom rushed into the living room expecting them to follow behind her without question as Kiwi said, “I told you he was Italian.”
Her mother then pushed a financial article forward on her coffee table as she sat down and picked up her teacup. The front page was about the House of Morgan merger and how everyone assumed the merger was a done deal. Gio’s picture was profiled right next to Victoria. Her mother sipped her tea while Kiwi sank into a side chair. “You didn’t mention he was a Morgan from the family you’ve worked for years with, or that he’d been dating that actress.”
Fair enough. But the truth was she hadn’t known. Kiwi probably should have looked up the competition, at least once, because then she’d have known the company he kept. Keeping her nose out of the House of Morgan drama had seemed a safer bet. She wrung her hands together. “I didn’t know his last name, until recently.”
“I see,” her mother said while holding that cup up like she was the Queen of England.
Gio coughed and entered the conversation. “I stopped seeing Piper last year, long before I met your beautiful daughter, who clearly took after you.” Her mother put her cup down as Gio motioned toward the sofa between her and her mother and asked, “Mrs. Washington, may I join you on the couch?”
Her mother nodded and waved him toward her as she said, “Of course. I’m sorry I lost my manners, Your Highness.”
And that sarcastic wit her mother had, presented itself—it was why they weren’t closer, Kiwi thought with a pang.
Gio slipped expertly between Kiwi and the coffee table. She really should have moved faster, but he was focused on her mother as he took the seat. “I’m not royal, ma’am, though I wanted to assure you that I intend to treat your daughter like a princess.”
Kiwi’s entire body became aware of him and her knees turned toward him as her mother asked, “So you’re not just going to ignore her or her unborn baby, leaving her to fend for herself and that child of hers?”
Her mother made her six-figure salary sound like she worked at a convenience store with that sentence. Gio didn’t say a word about that and instead took her mother’s hand. “Absolutely not. I’d marry her today if she accepted.”
Marry? This sounded like some sort of joke. Her heart beat faster and heat grew in her cheeks as she said, “Mom, don’t-”
Her mother interrupted and ignored her as she kept her brown eyes on Gio. “Your world is very different than ours. Can you protect my daughter and grandbaby from people who would hate her just because of how she looks?”
Protect? This wasn’t slavery days though the world could still be ugly at times. For the most part Kiwi stayed out of the ugly parts and focused on her work.
Her head whipped around as Gio said, “Your daughter is the most gorgeous woman on the planet, signora, and it would be my honor to keep her safe at my villa.”
Gorgeous? Her face heated and she fanned her cheeks with a paper napkin.
Her mother finally turned her attention back toward Kiwi, though she held Gio’s hand tight. “I hear Italians are different than our men here, sweetheart.”
Kiwi’s hand floated to her stomach and she wished her unborn baby moved even a little though all she felt were butterflies. “Mama, I thought you hated that I was pregnant.”
Her mother made a tisk sound and shook her head while squeezing Gio’s hand again like they were best friends. “I hated that you were alone and that you’d bring a child into this world without its father in your life. But Gio has promised me more than I could hope for with you. Kiwi, we discussed that I want more for you than I could give.”
By that Mom meant that money was always a bottom line. They needed to ensure the family prospered because “no Washington will ever be poor again” had been her grandmother’s motto—she must have stolen it from Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind years ago, ignoring the whole happy slave mythology. Kiwi jumped to her feet, not wanting to argue. She signaled to Gio that he needed to join her as she said, “Mom, we should go.”
Her mother rose from the sofa acting like she was in total control. “Yes, go and talk to this lovely man.”
Gio then kissed her mother’s cheek when they arrived at the door and promised to call.
Oh goodness. They’d even exchanged numbers. Kiwi pressed her hand to her forehead.
Outside the humidity inched up from steam to sticky sweat and she could hardly breathe until the cool air conditioner inside the car blew against her skin. Gio winked at her and said, “That wasn’t that hard.”
“For you.” He backed out of the driveway. “It’s because you’re a Morgan—but not an American. My mom worked as a loan officer in banking though never at one of the corporate owned ones your family controls.”
He gripped the steering wheel. “I see. Then my father wasn’t the smartest man in the financial world, like he said he was.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because he’d have hired that woman in there. I want to go back and ask your mother to run my accounting department.”
“She’s retired.” Kiwi saw how he turned to go east, toward the ocean, and not the highway, but she didn’t ask his plan. “Mom only knows your name by what is in the media, but it’s enough that you assured her that you would be around.”
He tilted his head toward her but kept his gaze on the road. “I promised her I’d marry you.”
Everything stilled around her. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she quickly hugged her waist. She wasn’t ready to get married. “Whoa, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” He turned into a marina and parked, shutting down the engine.
“Because all that exists between us is physical. We know nothing about each other’s everyday habits and ticks or if we can even get along.”
“You’re staying at a hotel.” She walked with him onto the pier, toward the yachts. Most of them were white or blue, all were impressive. What was he up to?
Toward the back, she saw a sleek black yacht with the House of Morgan emblem that represented his family crest. The label at work was slightly different but definitely similar. “I’m looking forward to our trip to my home in Italy so you can see for yourself just how alike we are.”
Alike? He didn’t see they were from different worlds? She was at best middle class because her mother had forced her to take education seriously, but she absolutely didn’t qualify for his world of privilege. “Why are you into fashion when the rest of your family members are kings in the financial world?”
He helped her onto the yacht and inside to where it was air conditioned. She could breathe easier when she noticed the lunch set up on the table. He led her toward the spread of breads and cheeses. “I was the most unmanly of the Morgans—I find painting and art more interesting than bank ledgers.”
Gio oozed masculinity so she must have misunderstood. He offered her a plate and they both took a few appetizers as she asked, “What does that mean?”
A chilled bottle of wine waited for them as the engine turned on. Kiwi checked the label, a white from France, but didn’t ask where they were going as his voice captivated her. “It means I seek out beauty and want only the most aesthetically pleasing people and things. I strive to ensure my clothing fits to perfection and that my customers all have the ability to outshine anyone else in style.”
And he included her in that? Seriously? She accepted a glass of alcohol-free wine and sipped it while she studied his very masculine profile. If anyone deserved to be preserved for a museum where women might flock it was him. Gio truly made his Italian ancestors proud. She ignored the thought and put her glass down as she asked, “So you consider yourself the black sheep of the House of Morgan?”
Secret Match Page 5