by Megan Bryce
“Having a good time?”
She stuck her hand out the window, surfing the air and saying, “The only way this could be better is if we had forks.”
“If I get home with any of those leftovers…”
She chuckled softly.
“I’ll make it up to you next week, give you doubles.”
“So you’ve definitely decided I’m coming, hmm?”
“Somebody had to. It’ll be good for you, and that’s what friends do.”
His chin jerked toward her in surprise and he brought it back to the road slowly.
“Are we friends?”
“Of course we are. Now.”
“I thought maybe we were just friendly.”
This made her guffaw loudly.
“When have we ever been friendly?”
Well, he remembered one time, but he said, “That time you brought me a turkey sandwich with light mayo on it?”
She shook her head.
“No, we must have been friends already. How else would I have known to get you something healthy sounding. And if I remember right, I then gave you half of my meatball sub. That is friends.”
Friends.
Mac had coworkers, a couple of car buddies, but a friend?
Someone he could call up when he needed a hand, someone he’d help out himself?
Someone he could take a long leisurely Sunday drive with just because he liked their company and they presumably liked his…
He stuck his hand out the window, mimicking Gia and riding the air waves.
He said, “You’re right about the forks. It’s the only thing missing.”
When they finally turned down the street where the Escalade was parked, Gia had kicked her shoes off, propped her feet up on the dash, and patiently explained to Mac that it wasn’t going to damage the finish.
And Mac had agreed he would come to dinner and that she could drive afterward.
Around the block.
Slowly.
If there weren’t too many other cars out.
He pulled up behind the SUV and killed the engine.
Gia reached for her shoes, making a face at the back of the Escalade.
“It really is big, isn’t it?”
He nodded.
“It really is.”
“I don’t need something this big.”
“So you keep saying.”
“But I do need enough room for the mirror and my garment bags and anything else I decide I need to force people into wearing clothes that look good on them. Chains, whips, I don’t know.”
He snorted, making a small smile appear on her face.
And then Gia looked up at the Escalade again and wiggled her nose.
She sighed.
“What if I said I was still thinking about Annie?”
Mac flashed a grin at her.
“We could go check it out,” he said, thinking he should make Gia do it. It would be good for her, and that’s what friends did, after all
Gia said, “Maybe it’s less ugly in person?”
“Could be.”
Gia poked out her bottom lip and Mac’s eyes drifted to it.
Gia said softly, “What if I love it?”
Mac’s eyes met hers and he said, “I don’t understand why that would be a bad thing.”
“That’s because the car you loved was a Camaro. That’s a cool car, that’s a pretty car.”
“You’re being silly. If you love it, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.”
“It’s like I’ve taught you nothing.”
She opened the door, hopping out to lean against the Camaro’s hood and cross one ankle over the other, and Mac hopped out himself.
He grabbed her arm, pulling her right off his car, and said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Friends don’t let friends lean against the hood of a restored Camaro. Pop the Escalade’s liftgate, you can sit back there.”
Gia dug out her keys, the gate began to lift, and Mac watched her climb into it.
She stretched her legs out in front of her, then looked around at all the room.
“I could probably take a nap back here.”
Mac snorted quietly.
“Are you telling me that you haven’t?”
“I absolutely haven’t. Yet.”
She lay down, stretching out and making a snow angel motion.
“I bet you’d even fit back here,” she said, scooting to the side. “Come on, let’s see if you fit.”
He climbed in beside her, lying down and shifting into a comfortable spot until he was nearly diagonal.
“Huh. It is kind of impressive how big this back is.”
Gia rolled up on to her side, curling around him.
“It’s almost bigger than my old apartment in New York,” she said, making Mac wonder why anyone wanted to live there.
But he knew millions did, including the woman smiling down at him, and he said, “You miss it.”
“Little bit. Some days I worry that I’m not missing it enough.” She fidgeted, then flattened his tie against his chest. “Like today. I forgot to miss it. There was too much family and food and I just…forgot.”
He didn’t know how anyone remembered anything in that chaos. He was pretty sure he could forget everything just sitting here quietly with one Abelli, let alone all of them.
Pretty sure he was forgetting everything, just lying there and staring into her eyes, thinking how he could be kissing her.
Wondering if he should be thinking about kissing her because they’d already tried that.
And she’d said that it would never happen again.
He’d believed her at the time. And he hadn’t taken it personally.
He knew that it wasn’t because she hadn’t enjoyed the experience.
Not that Mac was conceited about his abilities or anything, it was just with Gia…well, she was very expressive.
And vocal.
And he’d known she’d had as good a time as he had.
But they weren’t going to do it again because…
They worked together? Kind of?
They were completely different kinds of people?
She wasn’t staying in Florida longer than she had to?
But…there she was, lying next to him like there was nowhere else she’d rather be.
And that sounded pretty good to him. There was nowhere else he’d rather be either.
But this time, before he kissed her, he’d take his time.
And think about it.
Which lasted for about a minute before she whispered, “What?”
He kept looking at her, until finally saying slowly, “I think I’d like to kiss you.”
She blinked.
“Okay.”
That hadn’t been quite as encouraging as he’d hoped, so he kept looking at her.
Trying to decide.
And she said, “We have kissed before.”
“I remember. But that was spur of the moment. It just happened,” he said. “I’m thinking about this one.”
“Are you…,” she started, then narrowed her eyes. “Are you making a cost-benefit analysis of kissing me?”
He might have chuckled but it died quickly when she popped up to straddle him.
She grinned down at him.
“You want to cost-benefit analysis this?”
He shook his head no but his stupid mouth said, “You said we weren’t going to do any of this again. You were very convincing.”
“Well, it’s a bad idea. I work for you… Maybe I work for your sister?”
“So, that’s a no?”
“No, it’s not a no,” she said with a shrug. “Sometimes bad ideas sound really good. At the time.”
“How about this time?”
Since her thighs were pressed tightly against his and she could almost certainly feel how good an idea he thought it was, her slow smile made all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
She bent toward him and Mac’s hands went to her waist, her sof
t lips met his, and then she pulled back.
“Wait, let me just…,” she said, reaching for the keys in her pocket.
She pushed a button and they watched the liftgate close, Mac pulling his feet up and out of the way.
The overhead light turned off, plunging them in sudden darkness, and Gia’s body melted into his.
Her nose went to his throat, kissing her way to his ear, and she said softly, “Why do you smell so good? I get close to you and I just…like it.”
Mac’s hands slid under her shirt and he murmured, “You smell like lasagna.”
Gia tugged at his tie, chuckling.
“That can’t be good.”
“I love it.”
She ripped the tie from his neck and threw it over the seat.
“I hate that tie. I want that tie to die.”
He popped the button on her skinny jeans and tried to push them down her hips.
He pushed and she wiggled, and Mac muttered, “I hate these pants. I want these pants to die.”
She tried to help, lifting up and wiggling and kicking and jerking her legs, and kneed him right in the face.
“Ow!”
Mac rolled over, holding his nose and saying words Gia would swear he’d never heard before let alone said.
Gia crawled off him, making him groan again, but he sat up, tilting his head back.
“You don’t have any tissues in here, do you?”
“Is it bleeding? Here, I’ll find your tie.”
He snorted, then groaned when she turned on the overhead light.
Gia rolled up onto her knees, still half trapped in her pants.
“You poor baby.” She grabbed for his face, leaning in close to see. “I didn’t realize what a dangerous sport this is.”
She ran her thumbs over his eyebrows and kissed beneath each eye.
Mac whispered, “With you it is.”
She laughed softly and Mac tugged at her pants with his free hand.
“Really? You want to try this again,” she asked. “You’re still bleeding.”
He nodded.
“My nose’ll be better before you can get those pants off.”
“Are you going to try and help me again?”
“No.” He sat back. “I’m gonna stay over here and watch.”
Gia fell onto her back, kicking and wiggling and saying, “You’re right. These pants must die.”
Mac watched her wiggle and shake with her legs in the air and said, “Well… Let’s just say my relationship with these pants is now confusing.”
She laughed, finally peeling them off and tossing them into the front with his tie.
She crawled back to him.
“How’s the nose?”
“Almost fine. The wiggling helped quite a bit.”
She popped one button open on his shirt.
“Did it?”
“Yes, very distracting.”
She popped another button, her hand sliding down to his pants.
They both jumped when a bare-knuckled knock banged on the outside of the SUV and a female voice shouted, “Gia!”
“Oh, shit! It’s my sister-in-law,” she whispered, and then yelled, “Hang on!”
Teresa did not hang on.
The back door began to lift, and Gia went flying over the seat before she mooned her sister-in-law.
Mac closed his shirt with one hand, his other hand still pinching his nose, and Teresa stared at him with her mouth hanging open.
“What the hell— What are you doing? In the back of my Escalade?!”
“Um…” Mac began but Teresa looked behind him.
“Gia! I can’t believe you! In my car! With your client!”
Gia’s head popped up behind the seats and she said, “Um, Mac, why don’t you go on home.”
That seemed like a really good, and a really bad, idea and Mac understood what Gia had been trying to say earlier.
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. See you tomorrow.”
He looked between Gia and Teresa, not entirely comfortable leaving, but Gia leaned towards him and whispered, “It’s okay. Really. But I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear any of this.”
He nodded, scooting out the back with as much dignity as he could.
Gia and Teresa watched as he got in his car, shirt still open and flapping.
He waited a minute, watching, but Gia waved him away and started pulling on her skinny jeans.
Teresa’s head swiveled back to glare as she watched Gia wiggle and jimmy her pants up.
Totally not sexy.
Teresa said, “I thought you brought him to dinner because you felt bad for him. Everyone thought that.”
“I did feel bad for him. He needed feeding.”
“And you know he wouldn’t have had such a nice welcoming if anybody thought he was more than that.”
Oh, yes. The patented Abelli older brother welcome.
Touch her and we’ll break your legs.
She’d thought they grown out of it but it was just that they hadn’t realized Mac was a threat.
Her pants finally in place, Gia crawled back over the seat.
“He’s not more than that. I just can’t seem to keep my pants on around him.”
Teresa sucked in a breath, looking behind her quickly and then crawling into the back of the SUV. She waited for Gia to press the fob and they watched in silence as the door finished its slow glide down.
Teresa finally said, “What do you mean you can’t keep your pants on around him?”
“I mean…he smells really good. Is that an acceptable defense?”
Teresa said slowly, “He smells good—”
“Really good.”
“—and your pants magically disappear.”
“Poof. Like magic.”
Teresa didn’t look mad anymore. She looked concerned.
She said, “He’s not-Italian.”
“Well, that’s okay. Because I’m not-dating him. We’ve just eaten together a few times and he’s helping me buy a car and I’m helping him choose paint for his condo and we almost slept together…again… We’re just friends.”
“Right. Friends with benefits is what it looks like to me.”
“Maybe it’s friends with lasagna benefits.”
“Did you eat lasagna in my Escalade,” Teresa screeched and then closed her eyes. “I don’t want to know. Really. Don’t tell me.”
“No, we didn’t.”
Probably only because they hadn’t had a fork but Gia kept that to herself.
“Anyway there weren’t any of those kind of benefits, there was just an accident that wasn’t going to happen again. And then this time.”
Teresa sucked a deep breath in through her nose.
“Well, I’m glad he’s helping you buy a car because you’re done defiling mine. And you’re lucky it was me who found you. Everyone was wondering where you’d gone to. What if it had been one of your brothers or one of the kids?”
“Um, I don’t know. I’m glad it wasn’t?”
“Yeah, you’re glad. You should be crying to me right now and saying, Thank you Teresa for saving the life of my boyfriend!”
“I’m definitely sure he’s not my boyfriend.”
“Are you definitely sure none of your brothers would’ve killed him?”
Gia sucked in a breath.
“I am sorry. So, so sorry for defiling your Escalade. Thank you for finding us?”
“Do better than that.”
Gia opened her mouth and then just sat there.
But that was okay since Teresa had already thought of a suitable punishment.
“You’ll be babysitting Friday and Saturday night for the next month. And you’ll be paying for our dates, too.”
Gia closed her still open mouth and jutted out her chin and Teresa said, “In the back of my Escalade. You know what I’m going to think about every time I look in the rearview mirror? And you know what I’ll have to replace my SUV with? A minivan.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Stay out late?”
“Until the wee morning hours.”
“Hop your kids up on sugar before I get there?”
A laugh escaped Teresa’s lips and some of the homicidal rage left her expression.
“That’s a good one. Thanks for the suggestion,” she said and Gia nodded sadly.
“You’re welcome.”
Megan BryceThe Tie’s The Limit
Twenty-Three
Monday morning dawned bright and early.
Gia had work to do, a Mac to see, and no car to do it in since Teresa had stolen her keys and the Escalade.
Gia called him as soon as she figured he was in the office and said, “Soooo…”
“I shouldn’t have left you last night.”
“It was fine. Just more of How could you! and My Escalade! You didn’t need to be around for that. But you do need to be around for today,” she said with as much bubbly in her voice as she could. “I am bringing you to the clothes.”
“You want me to go with you? Shopping? I knew you were mad at me for leaving.”
“I’m not mad at you. I’m without a car. Henceforth and forevermore banned from the Escalade.”
Mac said, “Oh. Then why are we going shopping for clothes when we need to go shopping for a car?”
“Because unless you’ve found something this morning, all you have to offer me is Annie.”
“Last night you said you were still thinking about her.”
“That was said in the heat of the moment. I was wearing lasagna goggles.”
“We should at least give her a chance.”
When she said nothing to that, he added, “At least that’s what you tell me when you bring me a suit I’m obviously going to hate.”
She sighed.
“Yes. Okay. I’m desperate.”
“That’s the spirit. I’ll pick you up.”
Gia stood in front of a red bulbous SUV with her arms crossed while Mac prowled around, crawled under, and looked inside.
He lifted the back, then glanced at her.
“Well?”
“It’s a decent size.”
“You’d have to manually close it,” he said with what Gia would call a twinkle in his eye.
Glad he was enjoying this.
She said with a sigh, “That’s fine. The automatic closing thing is cool but it takes forever.”