Page 42 of And Everything In Between

“You chewed that up.”

Spirit smirked. “Always do.” She paused, looked over her shoulder. “But next time she shows up like this?”

Giovanni raised an eyebrow.

“I’m putting her through the glass. I owe her ass.”

“Giovanni, can I speak to you?” her voice piped up from behind them.

He didn’t want to. He preferred theyneverspeak again. But he turned anyway.

“Alone,” she added.

Spirit scoffed. “Hoe please. A bitch that steals ain’t got shit to say that I can’t hear. Bitch lost her morals and marbles.”

“I’ve changed, Spirit. You never liked me to begin with. Giovanni, I owe you an apology. I’m sorry for how I did you.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. He wouldn’t call her out her name, that would mean he still cared. But a bitch was gon’ be a bitch, and a hoe a hoe. There were two things he’d never seen: a UFO, and a hoe that wouldn’t go.

And he could tell she’d already sunk her fangs into Darren.

“No, you owe me thirty fucking thousand dollars. Get that and then holla at me. I ain’t interested in your lame ass apologies. What’s done is done.”

And with that, he turned and kept it moving. Spirit matched his stride, her satisfaction radiating without a word.

Back in the hotel suite, Giovanni paced the length of the balcony, the Los Angeles skyline sprawled before him. His phone weighed heavily in his hand as he scrolled through his gallery, landing on a candid shot of Paige from that night at the dragstrip. Her head was thrown back in laughter, gold hoops catching the light, completely unaware of the camera or how beautiful she looked in that moment.

The meeting had gone well despite Sienna’s unwelcome appearance, but he couldn’t focus on the business win. His mind kept circling back to Coupeville. Back to Paige.

Giovanni pulled up the website for the florist in Coupeville. He chose a bouquet of deep red and white roses with sprigs of lavender, it was elegant but not trying too hard. She loved lavender and she loved red roses. He’d learned that at the drag strip.

In the message field, he kept it brief:

‘Thinking about you too. Home soon.’ – Vanni

He paid, then stepped to the railing, looking east toward the place where his heart had unexpectedly taken root. The business was important, the show was his legacy, but for the first time in his life, Giovanni Terell Dowlen was building something that had nothing to do with engines or chrome. Something that might be the most important project he’d ever undertaken. And he couldn’t wait to get back to the workbench.

Later, after a long shower that did nothing to wash away his restlessness, Giovanni's phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Paige's name lit up the screen. And a smile graced his face.

“Hey, this is a nice surprise.”

“The roses are beautiful. A text wouldn’t cut it.” her voice came through warmly.

“Hhm that means I did a good job.”

“You nailed it. I love them.”

“Good,” he replied, settling back against the headboard. “I wanted to let you know you’d been on my mind too.”

There was a pause, and he could almost see her smile through the phone.

“The lavender's my favorite; it works so well against the red. How’d you put that together?”

“I don't know. Everything about you is perfectly in contrast. The roses are bold, but the lavenders soft. Like you,” he said simply. It was corny but it was true. Paige was both sugar and spice and he couldn’t get enough.

“Wow,” she croaked out. “Thank you, Vanni. They made my whole day”

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