Page 39 of His Fantasy Bride (Things To Do Before You Die)

Besides, he’d wanted to see her.

He glanced at his watch. She was five minutes late. But punctuality was not Gabby’s strong point—whereas Gabrielle had always been on time. He looked across the table and caught his father’s eye.

“I take it this girl is important to you,” his father said.

“Why do you say that?”

His father smiled. “I’ve never seen you this nervous.”

“Yes, I like her. And I hope you like her as well.”

“It’s serious then?” His stepmother asked. She was a beautiful woman, in an understated way. It occurred to him that she reminded him of Gabrielle. In fact, she reminded him of all the women he’d dated over the years.

“It is for me, and I’m hoping for her as well.”

He glanced from her to his father. They’d been happy together. She’d turned his father’s life around. Had that been what he was subconsciously looking for? The equivalent of what his father had found. A good woman to keep him on the straight and narrow.

But he’d passed that test. He’d been tempted by the billionaire lifestyle, but in the end he’d chosen his path on his own, without anyone else to prop him up. He didn’t need the love of a good woman to save him. He was quite capable of saving himself.

“What’s she like?” Lucy asked.

“She’s…” How did he describe her? She was hard to explain.

At that moment the door opened and a woman stepped inside. Shock slammed him in the gut as he recognized her. She spoke to the hostess for a brief minute and then turned toward him.

“Holy shit.”

“Vito!”

The reprimand hardly registered; his attention was all on the woman in red.

His father and stepmother had their backs to the door, and now they both swiveled in their seats to see what he was staring at.

He stood up and Gabby caught sight of him, a slow, seductive smile curving her lips. She sashayed across the floor. She was sex on legs, and his mouth went dry as the rest of the room faded from his consciousness. The dress clung to every curve of her luscious body, and the high heels caused her hips to sway. Her hair was tousled, her eyes dark, her lips scarlet. She was the embodiment of every wet dream he’d ever had.

He hurried across to greet her, and she went up on tiptoe before he could speak, kissing him lingeringly on the mouth, her hand curling at the back of his neck.

Finally, she stepped back. “Vito, darling, I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Cara mia, you look…bellissimo.” He swallowed. Why did he think the next bit wasn’t going to go down too well? He cleared his throat. “Gabby, I have a surprise for you.”

She smiled. “You do? I love surprises.”

He was betting she wasn’t going to love this one. “My parents flew in early. They’re joining us for dinner.”

…

His words weren’t quite making sense. Gabby could have sworn he just said his parents were joining them for dinner. “Your parents?”

He nodded.

This wasn’t happening. Her stomach churned. In fact, she could feel a serious case of stomach flu coming on. No way could she stay for dinner…she was probably highly infectious. Time to go before they turned up. “They’re coming heretonight?”

“They’re already here.”

She shook her head. “No. You would have told me.”

Because if he’d told her, that would have given her the chance to dress respectably, as you do to meet your boyfriend’s missionary parents, rather than dressing like the whore of Babylon in order to seduce said boyfriend.

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