“Sure. Someday.” I shrugged. “I loved growing up at Abelard and think it would be a great place to have a family. I want to teach my kids all the things I’ve learned about farming the land and family history. I want to take them on trips and cook with them . . .”
“You’d be good at that,” he said, nodding. “Teaching them things.”
“Thanks.” I paused. “For what it’s worth, I think you’d be good at it too.”
“You do?” He seemed genuinely surprised.
“Sure. Look at the way you took care of me when I hurt my foot today.”
“Yeah, but you’re a grown adult. I mean, you’re small like a child, but you’re not a baby.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m trying to say something nice about you.”
He laughed. “Sorry. I just meant that taking care of you is not the same as being responsible for a baby. When I walked out of here, you were fine.”
“It is true that you cannot walk out on a baby.”
He cocked his head. “But I do sometimes think it would be fun to teach little kids to cook, like my dad taught me. I need some nieces or nephews or something.”
“You should do classes,” I suggested, “although they’d probably fill up with women hoping you’ll cook shirtless.”
He grinned. “Is that your way of requesting I get naked right now?”
“No.” I hit Winnie’s number. “Keep your clothes on, please.”
Gianni turned around again, whistling “Fever,” and I shook my head. It was actually good to hear him say all this stuff—it confirmed my opinion of him as the kind of guy who was never going to be right for me. I wanted commitment, he wanted freedom. I wanted a family, he wanted independence. I wanted deep roots, he wanted to be a tumbleweed.
When we left here tomorrow—and please, God, let it be tomorrow—he’d accept that TV show offer and tumble on back across the country to Hollywood . . . and from there, who knew? But I probably wouldn’t see him much once he was gone, and even if that tugged at my heart in a way I didn’t really like, I’d be fine. Better than fine. I bet my blood pressure would even get lower without him around to raise it every day.
When I got Winnie’s voicemail, I left her a message. “Hey, Win. We’re stuck here another night, but hopefully we’ll be on the road early tomorrow. The snow is supposed to slow down after midnight, and the towing company told Gianni they can get to us first thing in the morning. I hope everything is going okay there—call me if you can. Love you, and thanks for everything.”
After I set my phone down, I watched Gianni wipe out the sauce pan for a moment, but mere seconds had gone by when I started to feel that heat rising in me again. Suddenly I had the crazy urge to walk up behind him, wrap my arms around his waist, press my cheek to his back.
What would his reaction be? Shock? Laughter? Confusion? Would he give me that cocky grin that said I knew it? Or would he be so surprised he wouldn’t even have a smart-ass response?
And what if this was my last chance to feel the way I’d felt last night? To experience that rush? To share my body so freely? To be that close to someone so warm and solid and beautiful?
I rose to my feet and walked toward him, unsteady on my one bad ankle, my hands clenched at my stomach, my pulse racing, my breath caught in my lungs.
THIRTEEN
GIANNI
“Okay,” I said, setting the clean sauce pan back on the stove. “I just need a couple minutes to—”
But then I couldn’t speak, because Ellie’s arms suddenly twined around my waist, her hands slipping beneath my untucked shirt. I went completely still.
Her palms slid over my abs, making them clench. I swallowed, still unable to find words. Was this a dream?
“Gianni,” she said, her voice low and breathy.
My cock surged to life at the sound of my name on her lips. I tried to swallow again and couldn’t. “Yeah?”
“Remember last night when you asked me if I ever wanted to just rip someone’s clothes off and go at it?”
Oh, fuck. “Yeah?”
Her hand moved down over the growing bulge in my jeans. “Now I know the feeling.”
I spun around so fast I knocked the pan to the floor, and it banged loudly against the wood. But Ellie was already dragging the shirt over my head and reaching for the button on my jeans. As soon as I yanked her sweatshirt off her body, our mouths came together in a searing hot kiss punctuated by breathless panting and the frantic tearing off of our clothing. Everything happened in a blur of hot, panicked need. Her hand around my cock. My fingers in her pussy. Her tongue in my mouth. Her fist in my hair. I felt possessed by the urge to get inside her, like the clock was ticking down those seven minutes and I was never going to have the chance again. She’d never let me do this again. I’d never be this close to her again. It was all now, now, now.