Page 31 of The Sweet Life

“Thanks, honey,” Cami said, accepting the glass from Willow with a weak smile. “Don’t get upset with your mother. She doesn’t deal well with people who express their emotions openly. They annoy her. It’s not new. She’s always been a hard-ass.”

“Knock it off, Cami,” Flynn said, coming to his feet.

“What? You’re taking her side now?” Cami asked Flynn. “This is exactly why I’m upset. Everyone’s going to turn on me because of Gia, and it’s not my fault!”

Gia had had enough and got up from the chair. “I’ll leave you to it then. I have to get back to the restaurant anyway.” Despite the ball of emotion caught in her throat, she smiled at Flynn’s father. “I hope you enjoy your…”

Gia trailed off as her sister blurted, “I didn’t know the reporter was going to track him down, okay? I don’t even know how the reporter got an advance reading copy of my book. I haven’t even finished revisions.”

“Tracked who down, Cami?” Gia asked, feeling like there was a vise clamped on her chest.

“Aaron, okay!” Cami bit her lip, fresh tears welling in her eyes. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, Gia. The publisher wanted to track Aaron down to verify parts of my book, but I said no. I said I’d walk away from the deal if they did. And I was serious. They knew I was.” She blew her nose. “I’m sorry. I really am. But I’m sure nothing will come of it. It’s not like he hasn’t known where you are all this time.”

“Is Aaron your ex-husband?” Flynn asked.

Gia nodded. “And Sage’s father. Although I don’t think he qualifies as a father. Sage doesn’t remember him; neither of the girls do. He left when they were babies.”

“Say it, Gia. Just say it. I know you want to,” Cami said.

It was the very last thing she wanted to say in front of Flynn. She didn’t know anyone who’d want to look like an idiot in front of the man they were falling in love with.

But of course Cami was only too happy to share the most embarrassing time of Gia’s life with Flynn and his father. “Aaron Abbott abandoned his wife and daughter because of me,” Cami said, and then burst into tears.

Chapter Eleven

I’m fine,” Gia told her daughter and Flynn, both of whom watched her with concerned expressions on their faces as she excused herself to use the washroom. She needed a few minutes on her own to come to terms with her sister’s revelation.

Gia wasn’t a hard-ass like Cami said. All right, so she could be a bit of a hard-ass, but she wasn’t unemotional. Things hurt her as deeply as they hurt her sisters and mother. It’s just that she was a private person. She preferred staying in the background, while her sisters and mother loved center stage.

Her mother said Gia was like her father. He’d been an artist and an introvert too. She’d never known him. He’d died not long after Carmen had become pregnant with her, right before their wedding. It had been the same for generations of Rosetti women. They were cursed when it came to love and marriage. So was Gia. Cami too. Her sister had been married three times.

Gia closed the bathroom door on Cami’s sobs and then reached for the toilet paper, unraveling a long piece. As she dampened the folded wad of toilet paper under the tap, shelooked at herself in the oval mirror framed in seashells. She smiled as she dabbed the damp toilet paper under her eyes. She recognized her daughter’s design. She had a similar mirror hanging in her own bathroom. Willow was crafty. Sage not so much.

Gia’s smile faded as she thought about Sage, wondering if it was because of her that her daughter was closed off. Sage was more like her than Willow was. Gia briefly closed her eyes. Willow was more like her real… her biological mother. And in that moment, Gia realized she needed to work through her issues with her sister before they damaged not only her relationship with Willow but also her daughter’s opinion of herself given Gia’s negative comments about Cami.

Gia tossed the toilet paper into the garbage pail, pinched some color into her cheeks, tousled her long dark hair, and then opened the door. She walked into a solid wall of male muscle.

Flynn rested his hands on her shoulders, leaning back to search her face. Whatever he saw in her expression had him taking her by the hand. He walked her to the end of the hall. Ignoring her whispered protest, he opened the door to a bedroom of dark wood and a breathtaking view of Sunshine Bay, and gently shoved her inside.

“Flynn, Willow is out there, and so is my sister and your father. We can’t do this now.”

“I know. It’s just that I saw your face when I was comforting Cami, and I didn’t like the look in your eyes.” He held her gaze. “Don’t walk away from what we could have because of my past with your sister, Gia. We were kids. We’re friends now, nothing more.” He reached for her, drawing her into hisarms. “We’ve got something special here. Don’t throw it away because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared.”

“Yeah, you are, and so am I.” A slow smile curved his mouth. “Are you vibrating for me, or do you have a phone in your pocket?”

“Ha-ha.” She withdrew her phone from the pocket of her denim skirt. “It’s Sage.”

“I’ll give you some privacy. But this conversation isn’t over.” He gave her a quick, toe-curling kiss and then walked out of the bedroom.

“What’s Mom doing in your bedroom? Is she okay?” she heard Willow ask from behind the closed door.

“Yeah. She just wanted to talk to your sister in private. Let’s give her a minute.”

Flynn Monroe was everything a woman could ask for in a boyfriend—an incredible kisser, a great listener, respectful, kind, and honest—and most of all, she could be herself with him, and he made her feel special. Except for the facts that he’d dated her sister first and had a baby with her, a baby whom Gia had raised as her daughter, he’d be absolutely perfect.You couldn’t make this stuff up, she thought as she connected the call. “Hey, honey. How’s—”

“Gia, it’s Jake Walker. I’m going to preface what I’m about to tell you by saying Sage is okay.”

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