by Lucy Score
He instinctively put his hands up. “Whoa.”
“I am not a horse!” She drilled a slim finger into his chest and glared up at him. She let out a hiss of exasperation and turned back toward the bag. “Get out!” Her small fist plowed into vinyl, making the chains above jingle.
Beckett decided to take his life in his own hands. He stepped further into the shed and nipped her around the waist.
Swinging her around, he pushed her back against the plywood wall and held her in place by the shoulders. “Take a breath,” he ordered.
“I’m a yoga instructor. I know how to breathe,” she hissed.
She was spectacular. Her flaming curls escaping their confines to frame her face. Those green eyes crackled with energy and anger. A flush tinged her ivory skin. Her chest heaved with every breath.
“Now I know what ‘she’s beautiful when she’s angry’ means.”
She growled at him.
Beckett had meant to keep those words to himself. But having the spitfire in his arms was making him careless.
Gianna tried to shrug out of his grasp, but he merely tightened his hold. When he saw the glint in her eyes, he stepped in closer so she couldn’t kick him.
“Talk,” he said.
“Why should I talk to you? Dr. Jekyll Mr. Pierce.” She struggled against him and then stomped her foot. Gianna closed her eyes and took a deep breath and then another one. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. I shouldn’t be taking my mood out on you.”
“I came here to apologize to you. Not the other way around.”
“Still, I shouldn’t be venting negativity on anyone.” She paused and frowned up at him. “Even you.”
He thought it wise to contain his laughter. “That’s very kind and mature of you. Now, I’d like to apologize for being a horrible ass the other day at the gym. I was upset and I targeted you unfairly. I’m very sorry for what I said and the way I treated you.”
“Apology accepted.”
“Just like that?” Most of the fight seemed to have left her. But it had been replaced with resignation.
Gianna tried to shrug her shoulders under his hands. “It’s fine. It happens.”
“It’s not fine and it shouldn’t happen. And I want you to know that I’ve felt like crap about it since Monday morning.”
Her lips quirked. “That does make me feel slightly better.”
“I also want you to know,” Beckett said, leaning in slightly to look into her eyes, “that it was completely out of character for me.”
“I know,” she sighed.
“How?” he asked, brushing a curl back from her face and tucking it behind her ear.
“I know you.”
“We just met,” Beckett argued.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t know you,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Are you trying to convince me that you’re not the good, solid, thoughtful man I thought you were?”
Beckett frowned. “No. I just expected that I’d have some proving to do to make you believe me.”
“What does it matter what I think of you?” Gianna asked, tilting her head to the side. The skin of her neck was dotted with tiny beads of sweat. Some joined together to trickle lower, winding their way down her chest to the valley between her breasts.
“I don’t know, but it does,” Beckett told her. He gave in and traced that delicate line from her neck to her shoulder before brushing a finger over her collarbone.
She didn’t stop him, merely watched him curiously.
“I knew something — besides me on an elliptical — must have upset you Monday,” she said, drawing his attention back to her face, her mouth.
“It was my father’s birthday, and, at the time, I thought I was the only one who remembered.”
He saw it then, the rush of compassion in her eyes, the softening of her face. “Oh, Beckett. I’m so sorry. That must have hurt.”
“It was a false assumption that had me remembering how lucky I am to have my family. Now, let’s talk about you. What brings you to the shed today? And don’t think that I’m going to let the irony of the yoga instructor beating the shit out of a punching bag slide by.”
Gianna sighed again. “If I were a camel I’d be covered in straw.”
“An interesting way of saying lots of little things upset you?”
“Leading the witness,” Gianna teased. Her wry smile loosened some of the knots he’d carried in his gut for the past few days.
“I’m a good listener. You can tell me and I won’t judge — because I can’t, I’m just a lawyer. I won’t tell anyone either, because I think this counts as attorney-client privilege.”
She took another deep breath and he thought she might be brushing him off again, but she surprised him by relaxing in his arms.
“I was upset already by a conversation with the kids’ dad this afternoon. And when I brought them home, Aurora announced that So-and-So’s mommy lets her have a cellphone and an iPad and by that logic I’m mean and she hates me because I’m not running out to the store to buy expensive technology for her five-year-old self. Then I get an email from Evan’s teacher who tells me he hasn’t bothered turning in his homework two days in a row. And this is after he’s told me that he finished it in school and that ‘everything at school is going fine.’”
“Monsters,” Beckett said, shaking his head. She rewarded him with a small smile.
“So I put Aurora in time out and gave Evan a homework assignment that he has to do for me before he can start on his school work, which I will now be checking every night. And then I came out here to release my aggression so I don’t maim my children.”
“Do they know they have a heavy bag to thank for a life free of maiming?”
“They think I’m meditating.”
Beckett chuckled. “Do you want to talk about your conversation with your ex?”
Gianna shook her head. “It will all work out. It always does.”
She closed her eyes and took another slow, deep breath. Beckett was so close he could see the freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose.
“Ready to go back in?” he asked her.
She shook her head again and kept her eyes closed tight. “No.”
“What if, as part of my apology, I order pizza and you and the kids can join me for dinner?”
He glimpsed green through her lovely, long lashes as she opened her eyes and studied him. “You’re lucky that I’m avoiding complications for the foreseeable future, because you’re very tempting right now,” she told him in a husky whisper.
“Temptation is bad,” Beckett said, stepping in until his shoes brushed her bare toes.
“This would be such a bad idea,” Gianna said, bringing her hands to his chest. But instead of pushing him away, her fingers gripped the lapels of his jacket. “I have kids.”
“I’m your landlord.” He lowered his face to hers stopping just a millimeter above her fully, rosy lips.
“Our parents are —”
He cut off her reply by bringing his lips to hers. Softly, sweetly, he felt her mouth come to life under his. Experimenting, tasting, teasing.
Beckett brought his fingertips to her neck, cupping her face he tilted her head back. She opened her mouth for him on a sigh and he took advantage of the invitation. His tongue swept in to taste her and the second it touched hers, the playfulness disintegrated.
He was hungry for her. Starving. Beckett didn’t realize he was shoving her back against the plywood wall, didn’t know that the hands that gripped her slim, strong arms were bruising.
Those sexy little whimpers Gianna was making had him fully hard in the space of a heartbeat. She tasted exotic, dangerous. Addicting. He flexed his hips into her, and groaned as she instinctively pressed back against him.
Beckett felt a growl rumble low in his throat and pulled back. He had to hold Gianna against the wall to keep her from following his mouth. Her hands were fisted in his jacket. Her lips were swollen from the aggressive assault on her mouth.
And those eyes with all the depths of the oceans were glassy and dazed. Even more tendrils had escaped the hair band to hang down, tempting him.
He was honest enough to admit that he wanted her more than he could ever remember wanting any woman.
“What was that?” she whispered, trying to catch her breath.
“That was a mistake,” he said, dropping his forehead to hers. A shed. He’d kissed her in a shed. Where had his moves gone? He was king of the seduction. But with Gianna he was dissolved into a man with a hard-on in a garden shed.
A man with a hard-on in a garden shed kissing a woman he had no intention of seducing, he reminded himself.
“We can’t do this,” Gianna said, shaking her head to clear it.
“No. We can’t.”
He would have stepped back, would have released her from his grip, but she brought her mouth to his. Again, twin passions ignited and flared. His hands traveled from her shoulders to her hips. Cruising over those dangerous curves, they moved higher, skimming her ribs to rest under her soft breasts.
He was losing himself in the heat. “Baby,” he whispered against her busy lips. “We have to stop.”
“Mm-hmm,” she murmured, stealing his breath without backing off.
“Gianna.” Beckett brought his hands to her face and gently forced her back.
“I’m sorry. What were we talking about again?” she asked breathlessly.
Beckett yanked her against him for a hug, crushing her to him. “We were talking about how we aren’t going to do this.”
“Right. I forgot,” she said, snuggling into his chest. “I have kids that I need to think about. I’ve made too many mistakes already and they’re depending on me to make this work.”
“Too many complications for both of us,” Beckett agreed, dropping a soft kiss on the top of her head. Her hair smelled like eucalyptus and lavender. “I’m not looking for anything serious.”
“And two kids means serious. They’d get attached.”
“The town would be booking wedding space if we started dating. Blue Moon would take it harder than the kids if we didn’t work out,” Beckett sighed.
“And it wouldn’t work out. I’d do something stupid or —”
“I would say something stupid and then we’d end up seeing each other all the time and it would be horribly awkward and —”
“I’d have to break my lease with you so I wouldn’t have to watch you mow the lawn shirtless, because that’s what you do in my fantasies. Plus, you don’t like my father and that’s a deal breaker.”
“I may have slightly misjudged your father, but that doesn’t mean I like him dating my mother.”
“That makes us practically brother and sister,” Gianna said. “That’s gross.”
“Really gross,” Beckett agreed.
She sighed and tilted her head back to look at him. “This doesn’t mean I’m not insanely attracted to you,” Gianna clarified.
“Right back at you, Red. If those two kids weren’t next door, you’d already be naked.”
“Well, that’ll keep me up tonight.”
Beckett leaned down and gently kissed the tip of her nose. “You should probably get back in there before they decide to see who can fit in the microwave. They looked pretty miserable when I stopped in.”
“It’s a trick. Don’t fall for the puppy eyes. Especially Rora’s. She’s got them down to a science.”
“I’ll say. I felt like my guts had been ripped out and then trampled.”
“I’m suddenly in a much better mood,” she said with a slow grin.
“Happy to help. I’d say anytime, but if we do this again it won’t stop at kissing.” It was a dark promise.
He turned her around and pushed her through the door in front of him.
“What’s this?” she asked, spotting the glass globe on the ground.
“I forgot. It’s your housewarming slash apology-for-being-an-asshole gift,” Beckett said, picking it up and handing it over.
“Beckett!” She peered through the glass. “It’s a fairy garden. I’ve always wanted one — how did you know?” She looked up at him, wonder and surprise written all over her beautiful face.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he said gruffly.
“Like what?”
“Like you want to go back in the shed.”
Her face transformed to a wicked temptress. “Oh, but I do,” she said with a slow wink.
“Gianna, get in your house, now,” he ordered.
“Thank you, Beckett. For everything.”
“Bring the kids over in half an hour. And for God’s sake, please wear something baggy.”
11
Gia decided not to tempt fate, or Beckett, and wore yoga pants and a long sleeve wrap sweater in a safe, bland gray to dinner.
When she announced they were having dinner at Beckett’s, Evan had shot her a skeptical look while Aurora immediately ran upstairs to find her shoes.
They trooped across the stretch of grass from their front door to Beckett’s back. He was waiting for them in the kitchen and let them in before Gia had a chance to knock. He’d changed too, she noticed. Gone was the dark suit she’d been tempted to wrestle him out of and in its place he’d donned a pair of chinos and a lightweight sweater with the sleeves shoved up to his elbows.
He sent her a warning look when he caught her studying the way the soft navy fabric stretched across his broad chest and shoulders. Gia gave him an embarrassed smile and slipped off her shoes inside the door.
“Thank you for having us over for dinner,” she said, politely. As her lips quirked, she was painfully aware of what her mouth had been doing half an hour earlier.
Beckett sent her another smoldering glance before answering. “Thanks for coming over. I needed help eating all this pizza.”
Evan perked up. “Pepperoni?” he asked.
Beckett’s eyebrows winged up. “Is there any other kind?”
“There’s cheese,” Evan reminded him, toying with the dishtowel on the counter he leaned against.
“I got one of those, too.”
“I want cheese, Bucket,” Aurora said, wrapping her sweet little arms around his legs.
Beckett leaned down and picked her up. “Are you vegetarian?” he frowned.
Evan snorted and Gia let Beckett explain an admittedly slanted view of vegetarianism while she scoped out his kitchen. The daughter of a restaurateur was required by DNA to place great value on that particular room in the home. Gia considered herself to be a creative, reliable cook. The kids only really complained when she went too far toward the creative side. Like with last week’s Thai coconut soup.
It was a large, airy kitchen, most of which had been modernized, but one wall of original glass-fronted cabinetry stoically stood the test of time. He’d gone with dark cabinets and glossy marble everywhere else. The upper cabinets, that at one time flanked the sink, had been removed to allow for a large window overlooking the backyard.
A worn butcher-block island, lit by a pair of oil-rubbed lanterns that hung from the tin tiled ceiling, dominated the center of the room. Judging from the stack of law journals and other mail, she imagined it was where Beckett took most of his meals.
The mosaic tile floor extended into a cozy breakfast nook on the other side of the back door. There he’d chosen a round pedestal table in black surrounded by armless chairs covered in a creamy white upholstery.
Gia made a mental note not to let Aurora and her pizza fingers anywhere near those chairs.
Beckett enlisted their help in carting plates, glasses, and utensils into the dining room. Gia tried not to gape, but every room she walked into was more magnificent than the last. The dining room had high ceilings and glass-front built-ins in two corners. A small fireplace with marble surround occupied the space between the room’s two windows. An honest to goodness chandelier hung over the long, rectangular table.
“How many fireplaces do you have?” Gia asked.
“A lot. Would y
ou like a tour?” Beckett offered.
“Yes, please,” she said, clasping her hands together.
As he led the way from the dining room into a parlor at the front of the house, Gia tried not to admire how well his pants fit from the back or remember how solid his chest felt under her hands.
The parlor had tall windows with built-in seats on two walls. There was another fireplace in the same marble. The spectacular wood trim here was painted a dark navy and complemented by blue and gold fleur de lis wallpaper. Beckett had filled it with small, comfortable couches that flanked the fireplace. A wide, cozy chair was tucked into the round turret in the front corner. Several houseplants took up residence on shelves and tables.
It was a romantic room. One she could imagine whiling away the hours with a good book and hot chocolate while snow fell outside.
They wound their way through the first floor, moving on to the three-story staircase in the foyer and then the main living room, a mirror of the parlor. Yet another fireplace here, but Beckett’s big screen TV and entertainment center were the focal point. Through the door on the far wall, Beckett showed them his office area with library and waiting room.
Gia could tell this was the heart of his home. In these rooms he served his community and his clients day in and day out, hoping to make all their lives a bit better. It was part of her attraction to him, she admitted. The pure goodness in him was turning out to be as intriguing as the bad boy vibe she’d fallen for years before.
“Pizza should be here in a minute, but I have something else I can show you upstairs,” Beckett offered. “It’s kind of awesome,” he warned Evan.
Gia bit the inside of her cheek. Going anywhere near Beckett’s bedroom would spell disaster. “How about I wait down here for the pizza and you can take the kids up?” she suggested.
Beckett’s heated gaze bored into her. He knew exactly what she was avoiding.
“Money’s on the table by the door,” he said with a wink. “You guys want to see what’s upstairs?”
Evan was already halfway up the stairs. “Is it an arcade?”
“Do you have a room for me, Bucket?” Aurora asked, grasping his hand as she took the stairs one at a time.