Gianni - The Santinis (5 page)

“
Daydreaming,
professor?” he said breaking into her thoughts.

She lifted her head
and found him leaning against the doorjamb. Was there ever a more
beautiful man who’d been in her bed? She didn’t think so.
Luck was rarely on her side, but it seemed for right now, she had her
share and she wasn’t going to waste it. “No, not really.
Just thinking how much fun last night was.”

It wasn’t a
big lie. It was part of what she had been thinking about.

“
Fun?”

She nodded.

He gave her a
brilliant smile and she felt her heart lodge in her throat. No one,
man or woman, should be that pretty in the morning.

“
I would call
it one of the best nights of my life,” he said.

Then he walked into
the room and leaned over her. He brushed his lips over hers. “Good
morning, Kianna.”

“
Good morning,
Gianni.”

He shuddered. “Damn,
I love the way you say my name. That southern accent of yours makes
me so fucking hot.”

She slipped her arms
around his neck to pull him into bed. “Then come back to bed.”

He shook his head
and untangled himself. “No, I will resist you because I have
made you breakfast. Get dressed and I’ll set the table.”

She frowned.

“
Oh, don’t
look that way. I promise you will be rewarded.”

He gave her another
intense kiss then left her alone. She sighed. It wasn’t as if
they hadn’t had enough time together in bed. She lost count the
number of times they made love. She grabbed her kimono and slipped it
on as she stood and made her way to the bathroom. It had been a long
time since a man slept over. She hadn’t had many lovers. Timing
and well…she was selective. Respect was as important to her as
passion. Gianni had that in spades.

She rinsed off her
face realizing she knew more about him than she did men she dated for
months. Their emails had started out as simple back and forth’s.
But in those few weeks he was gone, they had grown closer and she had
learned so much about the man.

As she brushed her
teeth, she thought about why she was so attracted. Well, except for
zero percent body fat and that gorgeous face. He was so pretty—but
it was more than that. She could tell he was kind, he loved his mama
and the rest of his family, and he liked curvy woman.

There definitely was
a God she thought with a chuckle.

“
You better
hurry up in there, Kianna or I’m going to eat this all myself.”

Happy with him, with
spending the day with him, she decided to heed his warning. She
definitely would need some food to keep up with him.

* * * *

Gianni was setting
the plates on the table when his phone rang with Leo’s ring
tone. “Shouldn’t you be busy with that cute wife of
yours?”

Leo chuckled. “Right
now, Maryanne isn’t in the mood for anything in the mornings.”

“
Ah,” he
said immediately understanding the situation. Maryanne was in her
second trimester and the morning sickness had been pretty bad.

“
So, what are
you calling me for?” he asked.

“
Just checking
on you. No vision problems?”

He rolled his eyes
at the question. “Leo, I’m a PJ and I have medic training
just like you do.”

“
I know you
have the training.” Gianni heard Maryanne’s voice in the
background. “My wife just pointed out that Santini men are
notorious for ignoring an illness.”

“
Yeah, well,
I’m fine. Better than fine.” It was then he realized he
was smiling. He had the same goofy smile on his face all morning.

There was a beat of
silence. “Damn. I owe Vince money.”

“
What do you
mean you owe Vince money?”

“
He said you
wouldn’t last twenty four hours. You’re not even in your
apartment are you?”

If there was a way
to lie and make both his brothers lose money on the bet, it would be
worth it, but Gianni didn’t see a way. “No, I’m
not.”

Something caught the
corner of his eye and he turned to look at Kianna. Right then, the
air backed up in his lungs as every thought seemed to dissolve. She
was fresh faced but her eyes were still sleepy. Her hair was still a
springy mess, as usual. The emerald green kimono made her skin glow.

How did he get so
fucking lucky?

“
I hate that
he’s going to win,” Leo said, breaking into Gianni’s
thoughts.

There was more from
Maryanne. “I know you told me not to take the bet, but I
thought Gianni had more resistance.”

Without thinking,
speaking from his heart, Gianni asked, “How long would it have
taken if it had been you and Maryanne?”

“
Ah, so that’s
the way of it.”

“
I think. But,
see, I made a wonderful breakfast for my lovely lady, so I am going
to go eat and enjoy the morning with her.”

“
Damn, you
made that custard French toast didn’t you? Oh, shit. Gotta go,”
he said not waiting for Gianni to sign off.

“
That was one
of your brothers?”

“
Yeah, Leo.
Maryanne still has morning sickness.”

He was staring at
her again but he couldn’t seem to help it. She mesmerized him.
It had taken all of his control not to wake her up earlier. They had
been up most of the night making love, so he felt a little guilty.
Okay, not a whole lot—but he wasn’t an animal. Maybe.

“
What?”
she asked.

“
Nothing.”

She shifted her
weight from one foot to the other. “You keep staring at me.”

“
I like you.”

“
Really? I
could never tell.”

He chuckled and
walked to her. He had to kiss her again, had to reassure himself it
wasn’t all a dream. He cupped her face and did just that.

He pulled back
before he lost control. “So, I hope you like custard French
toast.”

“
I don’t
know if I’ve ever had it.”

“
Well, you are
in for a treat.”

He led her to a
dining chair and waited for her to sit.

“
Coffee?”
he asked.

“
I can get
that.”

He waved her back in
her seat. “No, you sit, relax. You cooked last night.”

He grabbed a mug,
filled it then grabbed the cream and sugar. It was odd that he knew
more about her than he’d known about most of his girlfriends in
the past. When someone is your lifeline, the one person you can be
honest with during a deployment, you get to know that person really
well.

He shook away any
deep thoughts today. It had been a long two months and he planned on
making up time. He grabbed the plate of French toast and brought it
to the table.

“
Prepare to be
wowed.”

She laughed. “You
would have to do a lot to top last night.”

He smiled. Sunday
morning, French toast and a sexy woman to share both with.

Life just couldn’t
get much better.

I have three
downfalls: Sugar mixed with cinnamon, antique jewelry and books.
Actually, I could probably do without the first two if I had an
unlimited supply of books. –Kianna

Kianna sighed as she
slipped another bite into her mouth. Cinnamon, sugar, hazelnuts and
maple syrup danced over her taste buds. She moaned on the second
bite.

“
Oh, Lord, and
I was ready to be nice about it. I mean, men always think they can
cook, and it turns out that they can’t. But, there is no reason
for lies on this one. That was magnificent.”

Gianni glanced down
at her plate. “You didn’t finish it.”

“
You gave me
enough for five people.”

“
I gave you
about half of what I ate.”

She frowned. “You’re
younger and you’re a man. What do you have, zero percent body
fat?”

He shook his head
smiling. “Of course, I did work up an appetite last night.”

She wanted to tease,
but she wasn’t ever really good at it. Besides, he was making
her uncomfortable the way he was watching her. He had been doing that
since she’d joined him in the kitchen. He looked like he wanted
to just eat her up.

“
I don’t
think I can eat anymore.”

“
But you liked
it?”

“
No, it was
horrible. I gagged on each piece.”

He laughed. Every
time he did, it tripped her heart up just a little.

“
So, did your
mother teach you how to cook breakfast like that?”

“
First, my
mother would point out that is sexist, but since Dad is useless with
anything but a grill and chili, she would give you a pass. We all
know how to cook. Mom thought it was important that we know how to
fend for ourselves. She jokes around that my father was living off
junk food and canned meats when she met him.”

“
I bet you’re
the best. I don’t know if any of them could make something that
good.”

“
I would like
to say I am but Vince is the best cook. He really loves to spend time
in the kitchen.”

“
The Marine?”

He nodded.

“
Hard to think
of a Marine in the kitchen cooking. But I guess that would be a case
of me stereotyping.”

“
I have to say
even after meeting him you would think the same thing. We are more
than the rank and the uniform.”

“
I think you
proved that last night, PJ.” Then she felt her face heat.

He threw his head
back and laughed. The happy sound bounced off the walls of the
kitchen. God, he was so damned pretty, so wonderful.

Stop it, girl
.
He’s not going to stay around. He’s younger and military.
She needed to remember she had rules about men in uniform. Especially
this. For the first time in her life, she was going to have an affair
with a man just to have the affair. Don’t worry about what
happens next, just live in the now.

She sighed and
looked over the table. “I guess it’s my job to clean up.”

He shook his head
and took her hand. Without a word, she knew what he had in mind.

“
Gianni, I
need to clean up the kitchen.”

“
I need to
taste you. I think my needs come first…at least in this case.”

He pulled her up out
of the chair and lifted her into his arms.

“
Gianni,”
she said with a squeal.

“
What?”

She rolled her eyes.
“I know I’m not an easy load to carry.”

He stopped at the
doorway of her bedroom. “Now that’s just silly. Of
course, you are a handful, but that’s what I like in a woman.
And seeing that I’m trained to carry men who weight a lot more
than you do, you’re nothing for me to pick up.”

He walked into the
room, and set her on her feet.

“
I’ve
always been kind of big for my age.”

She snorted.
“Definitely.”

He laughed again,
that wonderful sound that filled her bedroom. She would never be in
her bedroom without being able to think of that.

“
I was just
always tall, more muscled, comes with trying to keep up with all my
brothers. Little women make me nervous. I don’t trust a woman
who deprives herself of food because other people tell her she
should.”

“
Oh…wow.”

“
I know, I
sound like a freaking commercial, but I like you the way you are.
Here,” he said walking her to the full-length mirror. He
slipped behind her.

“
Do you see
what I see?” he asked, his breath feathering against her flesh.

She barely noticed
that he’d slipped his hands to the sash of her robe. It parted
revealing some of her skin. She had been a little lazy and only
pulled on a pair of panties. Kianna thought he would pull it all off.
Men usually went for all or nothing. Instead, he let it hang showing
a hint of her breasts and belly.