Page 16 of Secret Match
She closed her door and locked it. “Both. Your designer clothes and confidence reek of class. But she raised me and I want her to at least meet you once.”
As they walked down the hall and toward her elevator, he said, “I’ll win her over.”
The elevator opened the moment she pressed the button. As the doors closed she bounced on her lime green heels. “I won’t get upset if you can’t.”
He laughed softly, smoothing his light blue short-sleeved dress shirt over tailored white pants. “Kiwi, now that I know you want more passion, I’ll happily step up my game.”
He inched closer to her and the erotic idea of the two of them in this elevator rocked through her. “Are you still dating Piper Lacey?”
“I’ve not seen her in over a year.”
“Good.”
He tugged her waist. Every cell in her body craved his touch.
Maybe pregnancy messed with her hormones and it wasn’t just a reaction to him. She put her finger on his lips and said, “Wait a second.”
He kissed her finger and palm and then arm and shoulder until the elevator dinged that they were on the first floor. He quickly said, “Admit you want me.”
“Yes, Gio.” Kiwi couldn’t hide that if she wanted to. She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm and directed him to exit. “I’m attracted to you, but I don’t know if there is more. What if the best we ever get is what happened that night in Paris?”
He held the lobby door open for her and then guided her toward the visitor parking lot. “If I can charm your mother today, promise me you’ll come with me to Milan. I want to show you my home. I don’t want to lose you again.”
Italy? What if it was a repeat of Paris? And if so, was that bad? Her lips pursed as he opened the passenger car door of a yellow Ferrari the same color in her dress. She stilled as she said, “I don’t know.”
He motioned for her to get in and after a slight hesitation she did. “Take a chance, Kiwi. Open up.”
He closed the car door and she watched his hard muscular body pass the front of the car and then walk over to the driver’s seat. No man had ever captured her attention so intensely. And perhaps he was right, at least a little. It was time to live fully. As he slid in beside her, she said, “Okay. If you can convince my mother you’re a good man and will be a good father, then I’ll travel to Milan with you.”
“Consider it a done deal.” He winked as he started the engine, and it roared to life.
The women in the Washington family stuck to their guns. And her mother was always opinionated. Kiwi took her sunglasses from her clutch and pushed them on her nose to avoid the bright sun. “We’ll see about that.”
He gently squeezed her hand before reaching for a gear shift, but then must have remembered his rental was an automatic.
In Italy, he must speed on those roads. Perhaps she’d see it in person though she always stuck to speed limits. The Kiwi next to him already felt freer than normal. Perhaps it was the thrill he sent through her with those dark eyes and strong shoulders made to protect her. And it was time to at least see what he offered that might work for them. Anything was possible.
Chapter 6
Kiwi’s skin buzzed with nerves as they drove onto the grounds of the senior community in West Palm Beach. Her mother always said that men weren’t necessary and to never depend on one, but learning a skill would last a lifetime. Her mother would have opinions on Gio that she might not want to hear. The freshly cut green lawns outside the small townhouses itched her nose, but she pointed Gio inside the community to park his car right outside her mother’s door.
The moment he parked, he hopped out of the car and ran for her side. She half-waited until he offered his hand, but then stood on her own, fixing her bird pendant. She took his hand after and walked beside him.
If she really meant to give him a chance, it had to start now which meant compromise on her part.
Maybe that would be easier once this visit was over with. She clenched her hands at her side and promised herself she’d try.
As she rang her mother’s doorbell, she fixed any wrinkles in the dress sitting in the car might have caused—her mother didn’t like messy.
Her mother checked the window and her eyes widened as she saw Gio next to her.
In her mind Kiwi could already hear her mother talking about staying in her lane to get ahead in life and to study more, as life was about learning. Her stomach flipped, but Kiwi kept her mouth shut and her chin high.
After unlocking multiple locks, her mother finally showed her face. Gio bowed and took her hand immediately, kissing it as he said, “Mrs. Washington.”
Her mother’s eyes widened as she shuffled them both inside the front door. Once she closed and bolted the door like she lived in some hood instead of a five star community with security guards, her mother folded her hands and asked, “This is the father of your child, Kiwi?”
Mom rushed into the living room expecting them to follow behind her without question as Kiwi said, “I told you he was Italian.”
