Page 10 of Secret Match
He waited for her to look at him again. Once she did he said, “We can do something alone after.”
Since her son or daughter was now a Morgan, they’d expect far more than she’d ever be able to give on her own. She slowly nodded. “On one condition.”
“What do you want?” He kissed her hand again.
If he continued to do that, she’d probably give herself to him. Normally she was such a cold fish with men, but Gio had some sort of magic touch that made her act all out of character. She needed grounding so she took her hand back and lifted her chin. “I’ll go with you on one condition.”
“What’s that?” He bit into his salad.
“You return the favor.” She quickly ate her green vegetables since they were good for the baby.
The waiter must have been hovering out of sight as he sprung in and picked up their plates the instant their forks were down. How would Gio take her news? Her heart stilled. The waiter left and she said, “I want you to come to my mother’s house with me tomorrow.”
“Your mother?” His eyes widened.
Those strong muscles of his didn’t move, though they’d once sent her into a heaven she’d never experienced before, and there had been nobody since. The waiter returned with their main courses. She sipped her non-alcoholic fruit wine and waited. Once the waiter disappeared, she said, “Yes. I’d like her to meet the father of my child for herself.”
“Wait. What?” Gio’s brown eyes stared at her without blinking.
She drank the bubbly fruit juice and wished it was alcoholic for a moment so it might make her numb enough to forget how she felt, but she put the glass down. “I’m three months pregnant. I came back from Paris carrying your child.”
He was quiet. Her heart beat faster, wondering what in the world he’d do or say. She could tell her friends and family that she’d not only found Mr. Sexy, she’d told him everything. Her baby’s father now had a name and wasn’t just an erotic memory. Her heart wished he’d say something, anything really. She wished they were in love and happy because her child deserved the best.
Chapter 4
All afternoon, Gio's mind was a fog. Kiwi, after dropping her bombshell, had acted like everything was still completely normal and spoke about the merger and her plans for next year’s designs. When he checked into his hotel, found his room and took a shower with his mind in a fog.
Even now, his mind reeled.
She was having his baby.
Kiwi was having his child, and this was the first he was hearing about it. It wasn’t her fault—he’d been the one to suggest that stupid game where they didn’t tell each other their names.
Gio had walked around the House of Morgan tense and apprehensive. And even here, he walked through routines without one thought in his mind.
Suddenly his back pocket vibrated and he took out his cell phone to peer at the caller ID. Piper Lacey. He quickly answered, “Hello?”
“Gio.” She repeated his name.
But again, like last night, she didn’t say anything else. He sat on the edge of his hotel bed and said, “Piper, tell me what’s going on?”
Instead of an answer, she hung up.
He pocketed his phone and shook off all thoughts of Piper.
He focused on Kiwi and when he’d see her again.
The thought of her smile kept zipping through his mind that he could work here in Miami, with Kiwi, every single day.
She acted like things were the same, but she’d soon have to accept what he already understood. Kiwi was his and he intended to keep her.
He dressed for dinner and took an extra few minutes to choose the perfect navy blue tie with pink thread to embellish the curlicue designs, then he had his limo bring him to Kiwi’s condo near the beach.
The humid air was tinged with salt when he stepped out of the back to greet Kiwi as she exited the lobby wearing a silk pink and purple dress.
Without intending, he’d chosen a matching tie—the shade of blush pink was identical.
With her hair pinned in an updo, her cheekbones shone and she was even more breathtaking tonight than he remembered from Paris. The air around her smelled clean and fresh with a scent of her rose perfume as she slid into the limo beside him.
