Gio (5th Street) (11 page)

Her licking her lip the way she had, had nearly done him in. It took everything in him to laugh with her when she did but Felix better hurry his ass up and get there already. His being there might be the only thing that would keep Gio from considering crossing that forbidden line and if he didn’t know any better he was beginning to think maybe Bianca would actually cross it with him.

We’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we?

She couldn’t be serious. She was just throwing his game right back at him.
Right?
He closed his eyes as he sat there in the hot tub visualizing her licking her lips—how those eyes that at times were almost too full of innocence could look deep into his with an unmistakable reckless abandon.

Hearing the game room door open jolted him. Bianca wore a one-piece black bathing suit with a sarong that covered most of her upper legs but the neckline was low and though her breasts weren’t huge they’d do just fine.

Gio sat up a little, mentally slapping himself. What the hell was wrong with him? Not only was this Bianca and she deserved more respect than that, he was certain what was going on in his shorts would not be cool with Felix. He needed to get a hold of himself before he was stuck in the hot tub all night. This was not something he’d in any way be able to hide.

He watched Bianca walk toward him slowly with that ever-present smile of hers. His own smile when he was around her was beginning to feel like a permanent fixture on his face. “How’s the water?”

This time he made the orgasmic expression closing his eyes for a second. “Fantastic.”

“And the wine?” she asked, placing her own glass in the cup holder on the opposite side of the tub where she now stood and began to climb in.

Normally Gio would’ve been disappointed and would’ve even complained about her keeping the sarong on but in this case he was grateful she did. He was already having a hard enough time controlling the rousing in his shorts. It was annoying as shit. He’d seen girls climb in hot tubs wearing much less. On a few occasions, some had joined him wearing nothing at all and he’d never felt this out of control.

One thing was for sure, unless there was another girl there that he could blame it on, he was steering clear of joining Bianca in that tub when Felix was around. He thought it couldn’t get worse so he figured he’d indulge in watching her expression when her body sunk in the deliciously hot water. He knew what was coming. That thing she did when something tasted or felt so good. But instead she went all the way in, her head going under the surface.

When she resurfaced, Gio literally held his breath. He didn’t think it possible but the effect she’d begun to have on him was intensified a hundred times over now that she was dripping wet. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering down to her breasts. One look at her erect nipples pushing through bathing suit and his eyes darted away. He was so damn hard he was now worried she might actually notice through the water.

Taking advantage of the moment as she tilted her head back and smoothed her hair down, he adjusted himself. He felt like a fucking thirteen-year-old. What the hell was his problem? Any thoughts of doing the flirting thing they’d done earlier flew out the window. He had to think quickly before she got playful on him. If she even thought about bringing out the sexy siren act now he didn’t think he’d be able to hold back and this
could not
happen.

“So, was your mom born deaf or did something happen to her?” He was going to ask earlier but he was afraid the subject might be too heavy and he selfishly wanted to enjoy his cheerful day with her. He now welcomed heavy.

To his surprise, she didn’t seem bothered at all by the subject. “My grandmother swears she wasn’t born deaf but it’s really hard to determine because she was a preemie born way too early. So there were all kinds of complications.”

She sunk in resting her head back on the headrest of the hot tub making Gio eternally grateful that a certain distracting area of her body was now safely submerged. He only wished a certain part of his body would do some submerging also.

“My grandmother has always said it was one of the many infections my mom had before she made it out of the hospital that did it. That’s how she and my dad met. At one of the many different conferences my grandparents and my mom attended for the deaf. That’s why my parents only had one child. My dad insisted he wanted a baby and my mom was afraid I’d be deaf. So when I was born perfectly healthy my mom said ‘That’s it.’ She thanked God for the blessing but wasn’t taking anymore chances.”

Gio smiled. He would’ve never guessed someone as perfect and as cheerful as Bianca had been brought up by two parents with hearing disabilities. He was beyond impressed. “So growing up must’ve been really different for you than for most kids.”

She lifted her head slightly to look at him. “That would depend on what you call different. It was all I knew, so to me, it felt normal. And because of my grandparents being so involved and my dad only being partially deaf I never had to attend any special schools for children with deaf parents. I was speaking normally by the time I started kindergarten. Only occasionally would I sign along when I spoke, out of habit.” She smiled big suddenly. “And none of the kids made fun of me like my grandmother was afraid they might. They thought it was very cool that I knew sign language.”

They sat in the hot tub for another forty minutes or so but it felt way shorter than that. The mixture of the wine and the soothing water massage of the hot tub was really doing a number on Gio.

“We better get out now.” Bianca suddenly declared. “One thing is for sure. You’re going to sleep good tonight. So will I.”

Thankful to his heavily relaxed body he wasn’t immediately at attention when she stood. That is until she turned around and started stepping out as she removed the wet sarong, giving Gio a very nice view of her glorious ass. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the movement starting up in his shorts to stop.
Think of something else. Anything else!

“Are you falling asleep?”

He opened his eyes and she was now outside the tub pulling a bathrobe around herself. “No, I’m just gonna finish up this last glass and then I’m out.”

As soon as he heard her bedroom door close, he was up and out of the tub. He rushed to his room and changed. Suddenly he couldn’t wait to be back in the same room with her.

Once dressed he practically rushed out into the game room and even though it’d been just minutes since he last seen her his heart did this weird thing when he saw she was already there looking so fresh and in her soft pajamas.

“That was fast,” she said.

Gio shrugged. “I just threw on my pajama pants and a t-shirt.”

He had to remind himself where he was and who he was with because as he walked toward the corner bar in the game room where she stood pouring herself another glass of wine he had the incredible urge to wrap his arms around her and kiss her silly.

He stopped just feet away from her and she turned to him. “You want another glass? I’m having just one more and then I’m done.”

“Yeah, I’ll take one.”

This was the first time he’d ever had wine and it was at her insistence that it would do wonders to relax his muscles. At first, he’d balked at her offer but now he had to admit it was good.

“Can I ask you something?”

That gleam he’d seen in her eye earlier when she licked her lips in the car was back. “Uh, yeah,” he said already trying to conjure up as much restraint as he could in case she said anything that might push him over the edge, especially now that he’d had a few glasses of wine.

“What do you say to girls that show you their tongue?” The gleam was an all out smirk now.

Their eyes locked. Did she really just go back to that? For a moment he thought it’d be better if he didn’t tell her—
make something up
. But the longer he looked in those eyes, the more he wanted her to know. “That if they’re going to show it to me, they better be prepared to use it.”

Her eyes widened a little but he saw something else in them that scared him, making his heart thump—excitement. If she licked her lips again he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions because he was going for it. His breathing accelerated now and he was completely lost in her eyes.

She blinked then her eyes pinched and she looked away as if she was trying to figure something out. “Is that…”

Gio didn’t know what she was talking about at first then he heard it too—music. He focused on it as well. It was Spanish music and it was coming from outside. It got even louder now. Bianca walked to the window that faced the front of the cabin and Gio followed her as it became apparent that the music might actually be live.

Her hands went to her mouth when she reached the window. She spun around and darted past him toward the front door. Gio glanced back at her confused then looked out the window. There was an entire ensemble of mariachis out there. Standing with them—Felix. He held a huge bouquet of flowers. Gio watched until he saw Bianca who now wore her snow boots over her pajama pants fly into his arms. Felix hadn’t been blowing her off again. He’d wanted to surprise her and in a big way.

Gio wasn’t sure what he was expecting but what he felt the moment he saw Felix kiss her, was not it. He swallowed hard, reminding himself maybe this was a good thing. Maybe Felix making such a production to surprise Bianca meant he really did care about her.

The decision was the fastest and easiest one he’d ever made. The short amount of time he’d spend with Bianca was all he needed to know she was special—too special to have her heart torn apart. If Felix didn’t have the sense to see that Gio would make sure he did, even if he had to beat it into him.

Focusing on the excitement of seeing Felix—feeling his arms around her—Bianca pushed aside any nagging feelings of guilt. Curiosity is all it was. She’d been curious about Gio’s comment ever since he first made it on the slopes. The wine had just given her the courage to ask. That’s all it was.

“What happened?” she asked, pulling away from him so she could see his eyes. “I thought you said you wouldn’t make it up tonight.”

“Babe, I was waiting for my driver when I called you.” Felix’s playful smile warmed her. It’s what she loved most about him. She always told him she could totally picture what he looked like as a little boy. Despite his rugged features, he still had such a baby face. “I was this close to just telling you but I knew how disappointed you were about me not making it up yesterday. I wanted to do something special.”

Bianca turned to the mariachis who hadn’t stopped playing. One moment she was smiling so big she nearly laughed, then just like that the feeling was gone and her stomach dropped.

Andy, Felix’s publicist, waved at her from where he stood near the back of the car talking on his phone. She turned back to Felix fighting the scowl that threatened to replace her happy face. “Why is he here?”

“He’ll only be here for a couple of days. Just so you know, the media knows I’m up here and they’re already on their way. In fact there was already one van parked outside the gates when I drove up.” Felix wrapped his arms around her waist and she couldn’t help smiling and touched his lips with her finger. He kissed it then continued, “He’s here to handle the first few exchanges with the media and tomorrow morning I’m scheduled to make an appearance at some local charity thing.”

Bianca couldn’t help feeling disappointed and apparently she was no good at hiding it either. Felix kissed her forehead and then quickly began explaining. “It’s in the morning. I’ll be back before lunch and then we’ll have the rest of the day together. I would’ve said no but Andy thinks it’s best if I voluntarily do photo shoots for all these vultures. Says they’ll be less persistent about getting that first photo of me up here if I offer it up front.”

Bianca shivered. In her haste to get to Felix she’d run out in only her pajamas, barely stopping to put her snow boots on.

“C’mon, let’s go get you a jacket,” Felix said.

She wrapped her arms around his big arm leaning her head against him and for an instant had a flashback of touching and holding Gio’s arms on the slopes when she was first showing him how to stand. Again, she tried shaking the thoughts away until Felix brought them right back. “So, did Gio get the hang of snowboarding?”

“Yes,” she smiled. “He got pretty good actually. He wanted to race.”

Felix laughed. “Aw, shit! Were you guys out there all day?” Gio stood just inside as they walked in making Felix’s smile even bigger. “Hey, brotha!” He pulled away from Bianca to reach out and clap Gio on the shoulder then shook his hand. “Sorry it took me a minute to get here but I hear you had fun on the slopes today.”

Gio glanced at Bianca with a smile. “Yeah, she got me up there. And did she tell you what a badass I was?”

Bianca laughed now. She was glad there was no awkwardness. She didn’t know what she was thinking. These two had been friends for years.

Gio assured him he would. Bianca walked away to grab her heavy jacket, beanie and gloves. She wasn’t sure how long the mariachis would be there, but it was freezing out there.

They stood out on the porch having another glass of wine and listening to the musicians play a few more songs. Felix held her close whispering again and again how much he’d missed her. Then Gio joined them as promised after Felix had insisted he have a few drinks with them before going to bed.