A knock sounded on the door, and since she was closer, she opened it to let the server to come in with the breakfast cart. The man went into the kitchen and set everything up before Gio signed the check. The waiter nodded his head respectfully and left.
“Come,” Gio said as he sat down. “Eat while we talk.”
“Okay.”
He had ordered a little bit of everything, and she took a few pancakes and fruit before filling a cup with hot coffee. She left enough space to add lots of cream since she liked her coffee more white than dark.
She poured thick syrup on the pancakes and dug in. She didn’t usually have time for breakfast, or if she did it was only a yogurt that she practically inhaled. It was rare she could sit down and enjoy food, but boy, she was sure enjoying this!
“Well, I’ve just signed a deal with MacGordon Pictures,” he told her casually. “So I’ll be in Los Angeles for many years. I thought we could see each other more.”
She stared at him, not sure if she heard him correctly. He wanted to see her? Like, dating?
“I’m having a house renovated as we speak, and I’d like to be able to call you more often.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Good,” he said with smug satisfaction. “What are you doing Tuesday evening?”
Her brain was having a hard time moving from the fact that he wanted to see her. Then she racked her memory trying to figure out what her schedule looked like. Tuesday night? She had an early shift at the diner and whatever homework John Henry had.
“I think I’m free Tuesday evening. I’ll have to double check that.”
“Of course. I have a cocktail party I need to attend,” he said. “Low key. President of the studio. We should be out of there in a few hours.”
“All right,” she murmured. Part of her was thrilled with the idea of seeing more of Gio. The other part was having a heart attack.
He didn’t know who she really was. He thought she worked for the studio in some capacity, and she had never corrected his assumption because she never wanted him finding out the truth, finding out she had a six year old son and that she had once been homeless. Men like Giovanni Macari only knew two things. Money and status, two things she didn’t have. For two years she’d been stealing moments with him, pretending to be someone different, and it had been enough. She’d been content.
But now, he was changing the rules.
“Would you like for me to go with you?” he asked, shaking her out of her thoughts.
“Go with me where?”
“To visit your grandfather.”
He had this look about him that he expected her to say yes. “No. Why would you want to go with me?”
“To learn more about you.”
“You know plenty about me.”
“I don’t know your favorite color.”
“Red. What’s yours?”
“Blue. Like your eyes.”
Her cheeks warmed, and she looked down at her plate.
“I love how shy you can get sometimes,” he murmured. Her heart stuttered at the words. “Sometimes you seem … so innocent.”
She took a deep breath and leveled an unblinking gaze at him. “Since we’ve been sleeping together for two years I thought that question had been answered.”
He chuckled. “That’s not what I meant,” he said. “Do you know how much you’ve asked of me in the two years we’ve known each other?”
“I haven’t asked you for anything,” she protested.
“Exactly. Nothing. You’ve asked me for nothing.”
“I don’t want anything,” she said softly. “I only want you.”
He sat his silverware down and drained his coffee. Then he sat back in his chair and regarded her. Lexy felt her appetite disappear.
“I want to propose something,” he said.
“What?”
“Exclusivity.”
She blinked. “What does that mean?”
“It means we’ll be exclusive to each other. You know my policy. When I date I’m exclusive, and I’d like to date you.”
Her heart started that stuttering thing again, but now it was accompanied with the butterflies dying in her stomach because how was she to explain John Henry at this point in their relationship? Lexy had always been the on-call lover, not the steady girlfriend. He raised an eyebrow at her hesitation, and she realized he was still waiting for an answer while she tried to temper down her body responses.
“I don’t know if this is going to work, Gio.”
He narrowed his gaze, and she saw the stiffness return to his shoulders. “Are you sleeping with someone else? Because I demand fidelity.”
“There’s no one else. There’s no one but you.”
“For how long?”
“What?”
“How long has it been only me?”
She hesitated, suddenly wishing she hadn’t said anything. But he sat there waiting, cocking his head and frowning, waiting for an answer.
“You’ve been my only lover in almost seven years.”
Now it was his turn to blink. “Seven years?’
“You sound surprised.”
“Il mio dio! Are American men blind? You’re beautiful and sexy and one helluva lover.”
She felt her cheeks warming again, but this time it was because she was pleased by his outburst.
“I have a very busy life,” she said. “I haven’t had time to meet anyone, which is why this arrangement suits me.”
“What makes your life so busy? What do you do for a living?”
“I’m trying to become a costume designer,” she said, opting to go for the less detailed explanation. “That’s what I was doing on the studio that day we met. I’d just come from a meeting.”
He was silent for a moment as he regarded her. “You’ve never asked me to see your work. I’m a potential foot in the Hollywood door.”
She cocked her head. “You’re my lover. That’d be like asking for money for sex.”
“Since I know you’re not using me for sex, I would love to see your portfolio.”
“All right.”
“Lexy, I’m asking for an exclusive relationship with you. I would expect you to use me for the status. So tell me, what’s the real reason why you’re hesitating?”
She took a deep breath. There was no going around this. She would have to come clean. “I’m busy all the time because I work at diner to make money because I can’t really afford to go after my dream with two feet running. I live with and take care of my grandfather, who spends his days between a wheelchair and his bed. He helped me out back when I … well, I made some bad choices when I was younger.”
He bridged his fingers and stared at her over them. “What type of bad choices?”
This was it. She had always known that she would have to tell him about John Henry one day. She’d tried to put it off for as long as possible because she knew as soon as she told him, he’d be showing her the door, the offer of exclusivity off the table. In fact, the whole on call sex would be gone as well, and she’d lose him. Staring this moment in the face, she finally admitted to herself how much she loved him.
Her heart ached for what was about to happen.
“I … I got pregnant at seventeen,” she told him softly. She didn’t lower her eyes or hang her head because she loved her son and was proud of how great he was. But it took all her courage to watch the shock pour over his face. “I have a six year old son, Gio, whose needs trump everything and anything I do.”
Shock turned to confusion, and then finally his features evened out even as his eyes narrowed.
“And yet you meet me every time I text you,” he said thoughtfully.
She didn’t reply to that. She couldn’t. If she did he might figure out that her feelings for him ran a little deeper than sexual.
“What’s his name?” Gio asked.
“John Henry, named after my dad and granddad.”
“And his biological father?”
“Didn�
��t want him,” she said immediately. “He signed over all rights before he was even born. John Henry is mine.”
Gio was tense and frowning, and everything screamed at her to leave, that this was over. She rose and left the dining room, heading into the bathroom to grab her tote bag. Her heart was hurting, and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and bawl her eyes out because she’d seen the recrimination in his dark eyes. Yes, she had been foolish to believe a boy who promised to pull out, but she’d done her best by her son, and she couldn’t, wouldn’t, be with someone who looked down upon him. Even if meant her heart would break.
“Don’t worry, Gio, I understand,” she said. He simply looked at her. She forced her tears away because there was no way in hell she’d let him see her cry. “Good-bye.”
And she left, with her head held high and her heart shattered. She would not cry, at least, she would not cry here. Heartbreak was best left alone and in the dark recess of the night.
Chapter Five
Gio brought his drink up to his mouth and took a deep drink of the aged scotch. It wasn’t often he drank early in the morning, but after the morning’s revelation he needed it. Christ, he’d had it all worked out so clearly in his mind, and the plan fit so perfectly into his new life that he wasn’t sure how to proceed. It made him feel … out of control, and he didn’t like being out of control. That was one reason why he had become a director. He had a vision, and he wanted to stick with the how it worked in his mind. Lexy was his. She was going to move out of the maybe shadows of his life to be a permanent fixture.
But she’d lied. Well, technically, she hadn’t lied. Or she’d lied by omission. He was slightly confused by that part. She’d let him believe one thing, and come to find out she was someone completely different. Not that he was a snob. Christ, his own mother had worked in a restaurant when he was a boy. She’d worked from sun up to sun down to provide him with food and a roof over his head, and he’d vowed one day to give her a better life.
Thoughts of his mother temporarily had him remembering his childhood, of all the floors he’d swept helping her after closing. How he’d vowed to make life better for her, and he’d done that through acting. His mother now lived in a seaside villa on the Amalfi coast. His father had been a lothario who’d seduced his mother and then moved on, leaving behind his seed to take root. She could’ve taken the easy path and given him up for adoption, but she had decided to raise her baby, much to the shame and horror of her conservative Catholic family.
Had the same thing happened to Lexy? She’d said the biological father hadn’t wanted her son, which made him less of a man in Gio’s eyes. Because of his own past, he condemned every man who took the easy path of walking away from responsibility. It was easy to make a child, but it was damn hard raising one. Only a person with strength and conviction could manage that, and it showed Lexy in a different light. His anger slowly faded as he realized she had made the decision his mother had made. She’d gone against convention to embrace her love for her child, no matter the consequences.
His cell phone rang, and he glanced at it, surprised his private investigator had come through so quickly. He’d just hired the man a couple of hours ago, but he supposed money talked and he’d just paid the man a shit-load.
“Yes?”
He listened intently to everything the man told him, but one thing that stuck out was the fact that the little boy had a soccer game today. Of all the mundane things, a soccer game seemed so … normal. He loved the game and used to play it when he was younger. The PI said he’d text the information, and Gio thanked the man and hung up. Seconds later, the address of a park came through, and Gio stared at it for a long time.
Yes, Lexy had omitted the most important part of her, but he’d been with her for two years. Perhaps she hadn’t told him about John Henry because she was protecting her son. She said he’d been only her second lover in her life, which blew his mind because she was so generous, so sexy. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a partner.
And that was what it really boiled down to. Lexy was what he wanted. He picked up his phone and called for his driver before hurrying to brush his teeth. The last thing he wanted was to show up at a child’s soccer game with scotch on his breath.
****
Sunday was hard to get through. She drove from the hotel to Tilden’s house and picked up a bouncing John Henry, ignoring Tilden’s concern for her wounded bear look. What could she say? That the man she loved wanted her to but she had to say good-bye? Giovanni wanted a fantasy, which was obvious by the age of the girls he dated. Lexy Carmichael came with a heap of baggage and a ready-made family that most men didn’t want to deal with. She may not have fucked anyone, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t dated, only to be dumped like a hot potato when she mentioned the word “son”.
Lexy bundled all the hurt and sorrow inside, like she always did, because John Henry demanded all of her attention. She was his whole world and he was hers, so she pushed Giovanni Macari into the back of her mind for when she’d be alone in bed. Then she could cry as long and as much into her pillow as she wanted.
The soccer game was hilarious and helped pull her out of her funk. Some kids actually played, but once again, John Henry was off in his own little world. She kept having to scream at him to run, to catch up, to kick the ball until she was hoarse. When the match was over, the kids shook hands with one another and got pizza, which the coach provided every Sunday.
The rest of the day was devoted to cleaning house and getting ready for the coming week. Lexy made spaghetti for dinner, noting the irony of cooking Italian. That night, after she’d put John Henry to bed and had kissed her grandfather goodnight, she lay in bed and let the tears fall.
The next morning her alarm went off at five A.M., and she’d never wanted to hit it more with a sledgehammer than at that moment. Her crying fest had left her feeling drained, and she knew it was going to be a long day. She got up and got John Henry’s lunch together, and then she woke him up, which was like trying to wake up the dead. To save time she showered with him, which wasn’t the best idea since he decided that they were pirates and liked running through the waterfall. Lexy hadn’t wanted to wash her hair but walked out of the shower with wet strands sticking to her face.
She kissed her grandfather good morning and hugged John Henry good-bye and went running out of the door, damp hair and all. Tilden would be by to pick John Henry up for school.
The diner was in full swing when she got there with a lot of construction men eating breakfast before getting to the jobsite. Lexy liked the construction men because the more she flirted the better they tipped. Once the breakfast rush was over, her feet were aching and her face hurt from smiling so much, but she knew she’d made good tips. She was behind the counter, filling the salt shakers when her nerves suddenly hummed alive and her heart missed a beat. And she knew, without looking up, who had just walked into the diner.
But she did look up and caught Gio’s intense gaze, and he made a beeline for her. He slipped into the counter chair right in front of her, and all rational thoughts in her brain fled except one question.
What is he doing here?
“What’re you doing here?” she asked breathlessly.
“I came here to see you. You left yesterday without giving me a chance to say anything.”
She bit her lip. “I didn’t think you’d have anything nice to say to me. You had that look on your face.”
“What look?”
“Deer in the headlights.”
“Maybe because I was damned surprised to learn my girlfriend has a child,” he said.
Her eyes went wide. She opened her mouth to say something, but all the saliva had dried up in her mouth. She swallowed thickly to get her words back.
“Girlfriend?” she squeaked.
A faint smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Do you know the real reason why I decided to take the contract with MacGordon Pictures?”
She shook her head.
“But that Stacia girl—”
“A mistake,” he interrupted. “Sowing my last oat, I suppose. I knew I wanted to be with you, but I was testing myself. That may make me sound like a cad, I don’t know, but from the very first moment I looked into your eyes I knew I was a sinking ship.”
She needed a moment to compose herself so she got him a cup of coffee and took a desperately needed deep breath.
“I have a son,” she told him coolly.
“Yep. He’s terrible at soccer. I’m going to have to dribble with him a little.”
“How … how do you know that?”
He gave her that sexy grin that always made her panties go up in smoke. “I was there yesterday at the soccer game. Lexy, I’ve been trying to tell you I want you, and you happen to come with a family, and so, I want a family. A family with you.”
He crooked his finger at her in a come here gesture, and feeling like her heart was going to jump out of her chest, she hurried around the counter and made a flying leap into his arms. He hugged her tightly and kissed her hungrily. Vaguely, she heard the clapping behind her and realized they must be putting on quite a show.
“Your grandfather is a very nice man,” Gio murmured when they finally came up for air. “I met him today when I came to find you. I see where you get your generous heart.”
“Is it too soon to tell you I love you?” she whispered.
He shook his head. “No, because I love you right back.”
The End
www.bethdcarter.com
Other Books by Beth D. Carter:
www.evernightpublishing.com/beth-d-carter
If you enjoyed this book, you may also like:
Three’s a Crowd by Kassandra Cox
Through the Dom’s Lens by Doris O’Connor
Shane by Vanessa Devereaux
On Call Mistress Page 3