Granted Wishes (The Granted Series Book 1) (4 page)

SLEEP IS
OVERRATED.
Tossing and turning in his bed, Gio can’t sleep. He can’t stop thinking about this stranger who calls to him on some crazy level. Hell, even Holly likes her. It’s strange and the most amazing thing, especially since she didn’t like any other women at all, except for Lizzie. One thought of Lizzie and he tears up, forgetting all about the beauty in his home.

* * *

Gracelynn struggles to fall asleep as well. The queen-sized bed isn’t the issue, but how Gio made her feel. She grips her necklace and tells Angelo about this sexy, amazing, kind-hearted man named Gio, and about how this cabin makes her feel. At peace, like she’s meant to be here. Ever since Gio told her about what happened to him on the road, the whisper telling him to go home and get his present… she knows miracles can happen but that anyone would consider her a present baffles her. She came for a vacation…not to find a sexy man.

Get it together, Gracelynn!
She gets out of the bed and glances at the clock, noticing it’s seven thirty a.m. She grabs her bags and finds her favorite pair of dark skinny jeans, a blue, long-sleeved shirt and UGG boots. In a hurry, she styles her hair in long waves and then puts on some light makeup. She doesn’t want to be checked out, but she just wants to look good for a change.

A change. She needs one. Desperately. Not just on a physical level, although a new haircut might help. She finishes with her makeup when a loud yell shatters the silence of the room. She drops her blush, and turns around.

“No, please don’t leave me. Why can’t you stay? I don’t want you to go. I need the truth….”

Gracelynn panics. She leaves her room and follows the noise to Gio’s room. His door is ajar and she sees Holly standing at the side of Gio’s bed. Holly looks over to Gracelynn like she knows she’s the woman who will help her master. Then the dog turns back to Gio and licks his face.

Gio sobs. “Why can’t you tell me the truth?”

Gracelynn slowly enters his room and approaches the dark canopy bed with navy blue, masculine bedding. As she moves towards him, Gio pulls her into the bed and kisses her straight on the mouth. “Oh God, you’re here, Lizzie. You’re here.” He grabs her and pulls her body next to his. Then he promptly falls back asleep.

Gracelynn lays completely still, frozen. She wants to comfort Gio, help him recover from his nightmare, but how? They both have demons. He has nightmares about someone named Lizzie and she has them about her husband.

A sad smile plays on her lips when she realizes they’re more alike than she thought. Surprisingly, that doesn’t freak her out one bit. After that last thought, she falls asleep as well.

* * *

Giovanni wakes up, sensing a warm body beside him. He looks at the beauty next to him, completely dressed as if ready to head out, and wonders why she’d enter his bedroom. He lays on his back, stretches his legs and wipes his eyes. His body starts to remember what it’s like to be near a woman. It scares him, but he can’t help but wonder what it’d be like to be with this woman. He leans on his side and glances at Gracelynn. He lightly brushes the bangs from her porcelain-colored face. Her full, pouty lips make him want to kiss her. The thought of kissing her leaves him wanting more. He leans forward and lightly kisses her cheek just as she wakes up.

“Gio, what are you doing?” she asks sheepishly, a blush creeping up her cheeks.

“Um, I.. I… you had something on your face. I didn’t want to disturb you, but I had to get it off.” He smiles nervously, hoping his excuse sounded legit.

“Why thanks again for helping me. You seem to be doing that a lot.” She starts to sit up, leaning on her elbows.

“You’re welcome. Now, may I ask what you’re doing in my bed? Not that I mind but…if you wanted to fool around all you had to do was ask, doll.” He gives her a mischievous wink.

Gracelynn laughs. “I’m here because you grabbed me. I heard you call out in distress and came to see if you were okay. You pulled me towards you and called me Lizzie.” She pauses, blushing. “I couldn’t leave. You gripped my body so tightly that I couldn’t break free and… I wanted to comfort you as you did for me.” With those words, she rolls away from him, leaving him saddened by the sudden loss of contact.

Gio sits up against the canopy headboard, showing off his washboard abs. “I…I… did what? I’ve never talked in my sleep before. What did I say?” He hopes it wasn’t anything too personal.

Gracelynn lies on her side and starts to explain. “You were calling for Lizzie and wanted to know the truth. I was scared for you and wanted to stay close in case you had another nightmare.”

A long silence stretches out between them, in which Gio struggles to find a good way to respond to what she just told him. He can’t tell her about Lizzie…it would be too hard, too difficult.

“I need to get up and figure out what I’m doing today,” Gracelynn says, breaking the silence. “I’m starving. Would it be okay if I made you breakfast like you did for me yesterday?” She smiles at him, beaming with radiating joy.

How did he find this amazing, loving woman and persuade her to stay in his home? She’s marvelous and he wants nothing more than to have breakfast with her again. “That would be wonderful, thank you.”

* * *

Gracelynn leans in and places a kiss on his cheek. She breathes him in before leaving the room. As she exits the room, she touches her cheek as Gio did. She can’t help but wonder why he lied about touching and kissing her while he thought she was asleep.

GIOVANNI WATCHES
GRACELYNN
leave his bed, in that sexy outfit. He looks down at himself, noticing that he’s worked up. A man is always slightly worked up in the morning, but with Gracelynn next to him, it seems his manhood decided it was time to play. But that’s not going to happen. Nothing has happened with another woman since Lizzie, and Gio doesn’t want to change that.

Yes, he kissed Gracelynn, touched her cheek and would love to do more, but he knows he can’t and so he won’t. Not only for himself but for her, too. It seems they’re both fighting demons of the past. Gio gets up from the bed, quickly uses the facilities and changes into his casual, blue jeans and tight-fitted, black, long-sleeved shirt.

* * *

“Knock, knock. Gio, can I come in?” Gracelynn’s voice resonates from the other side of the door.

Gio smiles to himself as she uses the exact words he used on her last night. “Yes, you can.”

Gracelynn enters the room, looking as ravishing as when she left, except now Gio is wide awake and has time to appreciate her looks. She brings his breakfast on the bed and when they look at each other, pure lust tingles between them.

“I know it’s not much, but I hope you love eggs, bacon and toast. I also brought orange juice and milk. I’m not a very good cook, but I hope you’ll enjoy it,” she states while she places the tray on the bed. “Thank you for the breakfast, sweetheart. Would you mind watching some TV while we eat?” He needs something to distract himself, so he doesn’t stare at her during breakfast.

“Sure, I’d be happy to.” She grabs her plate of food.

“What would you like to watch?” He glances at his watch, his eyes growing wide. “Oh God, it’s eleven already? You must be my lucky charm because I never sleep past five thirty, six.

“I could say the same for you. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep like I did while I was sleeping next to you in a long time,” she states boldly while she eats her eggs.

Gio swallows, trying not to get too worked up about what she just said. “How about we see if the Food Network is on? We can learn some new cooking ideas.”

“Sure, sounds good to me.”

They eat their breakfast and watch several cooking shows and even laugh at who they think are the better hosts and chefs. Gracelynn thinks Alton Brown is fantastic whereas Gio agrees but thinks Bobby Flay is much better. They continue their banter until Gio realizes it’s three in the afternoon and he still hasn’t fed Holly.

“Holly, where are ya, girl?” he yells out. The dog runs into his room, wagging her tail. “I’m sorry girl,” Gio says while he scratches the dog behind her ears. “I forgot to take you out and feed you. What a bad daddy I am.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, daddy, I took Holly out and fed her while making our breakfast. I hope that is alright.”

He beams at her, showing off his pearly white, straight teeth. “Thank you for taking care of her.” He glances at Holly laying on the floor.

Just then Holly jumps on the bed. She lands in Gracelynn’s lap and whines out loud. Gracelynn pats her head. The dog turns rigid, unmoving, and stares at Gracelynn’s necklace. Then she snaps her head closer and bites the necklace right off Gracelynn’s neck. Without hesitating, the dog jumps off the bed and runs out of the room.

“Holly, get back here. Bad dog!” Gio yells after Holly. He struggles to get up, and Gracelynn follows suit.

They chase after Holly until they find her in the spare bedroom where Gracelynn’s been sleeping. Holly drops the necklace on top of the package Ben and Cassie placed in Gracelynn’s car. Then the dog starts barking at both of them.

“What are you doing? Holly, you’re a naughty girl. You don’t do that to Gracelynn.” Gio points at Holly and she lowers her head and whimpers.

“I got it! Gio, I think she wants us to open the package,” Gracelynn states. Holly looks at Gracelynn and barks again, louder this time.

“Okay, okay let’s see what we got here.” Gio is about to pick up the present when he stops, pulling his hand back as if he got burned.

He turns to Gracelynn, hate and anger burning in his eyes. “Why does the package say
Giovanni
on it? I thought you didn’t know me or where I lived!”

“What are you talking about?” Gracelynn rushes forward and looks at the package. “The package came from Ben and Cassie. I swear, I had no idea it mentioned your name. I didn’t know anything about you, not until you saved me and I wound up here.” She shakes her head and grabs her shirt. “I’m just as confused as you are.”

“Well, let’s open it and see what we have going on, shall we?” His voice is laced with menace, and he backs away, nervous that this would be some kind of trick.

“Afraid of opening a present? Thinking I’m going to bomb your house?” she grumbles. “Fine, I’ll open it, you big baby.” Holly looks at Gracelynn and then turns to Gio, barking at him.

Gracelynn laughs. “Looks like Holly wants you to open it yourself first, after all.”

Gio mutters to himself, gives the dog a nasty look, but then slowly opens the present. When it opens up, Gracelynn gasps and starts trembling all over.

“Gracelynn, what’s the matter?” A hint of concern rings through Gio’s voice, and he can’t help but feel worried about her, no matter how angry he got just a minute ago.

“That…that’s my husband’s handwriting.” Gracelynn lifts a hand to her necklace, clutching empty air since Holly stole the necklace. “I’ll need your support, Gio. I’m afraid.”

“I’m right here, doll,” Gio says despite himself. Then, before he can do anything else, Gracelynn faints. She slumps over, falling into his arms. He barely manages to grab her.

“Doll, come back to me. Can you hear me?” Giovanni calls to her.

“Oh my God, did I faint again?” She holds on to him with an iron grip.

“It’s okay, doll. I think you like me holding and catching you. Don’t worry though, I enjoy it as much as you do,” he mocks. His eyes sparkle with mischief and he hopes she gets his sense of humor. He wants to cheer her up, make her laugh, especially now that she seems so upset.

“Let’s get back at it, shall we?” she mumbles, leaving his embrace.

“Oh, what shall you like us to get back to? Us snuggling, me holding you, checking out your
gals
, what would you prefer?”

That gets a reaction out of her and she slaps his arm playfully. “Okay, lets’ get back to the present, shall we?” She points to the package.

“Just don’t faint again. I’d hate for you to fall on the floor this time,” he grumbles, hoping she won’t hurt herself.

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” Gracelynn shakes her head at him and he watches as her hands tremble with the contents of the package.

Dear Giovanni,

Years ago, you were stolen from Angelina and Thomas Calhoun. You’re my brother. We’re fraternal twins and you were taken from the hospital the day we were born. Mom and Dad searched for you for years. A year ago, I got sick and told Mom and Dad. I needed a family member’s match for my illness, but our parents weren’t a match. I was devastated, then they told me about you. I went my entire life never knowing about you. If I would’ve known, I would’ve searched for you sooner.

“Can we stop for a minute; I need to use the bathroom,” Gracelynn asks him as she cries in front of him reading the note.

Without another word, Gracelynn runs into the adjoining bathroom.

Seconds later, Gio hears her bawling uncontrollably through the wall. The news about having a brother upsets him, but only slightly. But when he hears Gracelynn cry, distraught guts him.

He gets up and opens the door to find Gracelynn sitting on the tub, looking out the large window. Tears pour down her beautiful face. Her eyes are puffy when she turns to him.

“How could he? How could he, Gio? He never told me about his illness, didn’t mention a word about it.”

Gio goes over to the tub and leans his body behind hers, holding her in a comforting embrace.

“Sweetheart, we don’t know what else the letter has to say. Let’s go see what else Angelo has to say, before we get too worked up.”

“You’re agreeing with him? You believe your dead brother over me?” The words spill out of Gracelynn’s lips before she can stop herself.

Gio pulls back, shocked and appalled she would even think like that, considering how he’s treated her so far.

“You don’t know me well enough to judge me, Gracelynn. But if I agreed with my dead brother, I would still be in the bedroom reading the note and not in here with you. And for your information, this isn’t just about you. I had a brother I never knew existed. That news shocks me as well. ” And with that, he leaves the room.

* * *

Gracelynn gets up from the tub and wipes her eyes. Giovanni is right. She’s not the only one suffering from this news. When she leaves the bathroom, she finds Giovanni sitting on the large window seat, looking towards the beautiful lake. Seeing him this upset breaks her heart—knowing she’s been rude to him. She hopes they can get through this together, without a fight.

“Gio, I was selfish and should’ve thought of your feelings,” she says. “Whenever you’re ready to continue reading the letter, I’ll be here waiting and ready to read it with you.”

Gio exhales and walks towards Gracelynn. He has a smile plastered on his face, although it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m ready if you are, doll.” He takes her hand and they sit down on the bed to continue reading the letter.

I wanted to mention my Gracelynn. She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. Please, should anything happen to me, would you take care of her and protect her?

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her about my illness. I’m afraid of her being alone. I can’t ever imagine a life without her. She’s my angel, Giovanni. My life. My love. My everything.

I wanted to let you know… I want nothing but the best for you and look forward to finally meeting you. Fearing death makes me cherish all the things in life even more than I did before. Please promise you’ll help my Gracie move on should anything happen to me.

Your brother,

Angelo

Gracelynn drops the letter, her hands shaking like leaves in the wind. She starts pacing through the room, unable to utter a single syllable.

* * *

Gio keeps gazing at the letter. He notices one additional piece of paper behind the letter, addressed only to him. He grabs the piece of paper off the floor, folds it in half and places it in his back pocket.

“I can’t stay here! I need to leave. Why did he do this to us? How is it possible I ended up at this exact place with the brother of my deceased husband…and with a package to his brother in my car? How could he have told my friends and not me?” She shakes her head. “I need to process all of this. I can’t do this right now, Giovanni.” He watches as Gracelynn hysterically grabs her items.

“Please don’t go, Grace. Please stay with me so we can work this out together.” He doesn’t want her to go. He had a brother and that brother asked him to take care of Gracelynn. And he will do as his brother asked him. He knew he liked her before, but now he won’t let it go, no matter what it takes.

“No, Gio, I can’t! I can’t stay here right now,” she says while tears shine in her eyes. “Can you please give me directions to the nearest motel? I need to spend some time away from here.”

Her voice sounds pleading, and Gio can’t deny her wishes when she speaks in that tone. “Okay, I’ll let you go and I’ll give you directions when you’ve calmed down some. I don’t want you to leave here an emotional wreck and get into another accident.” He reaches out for her and pulls her tightly against his body, embracing her. Having her next to him makes him feel like he’s home.

* * *

Gracelynn doesn’t say a word as she allows Gio to give her a loving embrace. When he holds her she feels the same strength, passion, fire and butterflies as she did when Angelo held her. Those feelings freak her out. Trying to control her panic, she pulls away, letting go of Gio. She looks up at him with disbelief until he peers down at her with tears in his eyes. He leans forward, grasps her cheeks and kisses her slowly and passionately. They both lean back and stare into each other’s eyes, both blinking, and breathing rapidly from the kiss they both shared.

“Um, that was, wow!” Giovanni says as he steps back and rubs the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. We’re both hurting and shouldn’t be taking advantage of one another.” He pauses and looks at the floor. “I’ll be in the living room waiting for you. I’ll give you directions for the closest motel, but I’d prefer if you stayed at my hotel though.”

“You own a hotel?” she gasps.

“Yeah… I own a rather nice, upscale hotel and would very much prefer if you stayed there, rather than the nasty motel we have in town.”

His voice sounds pleading, but Gracelynn is stubborn and won’t give up yet. “I can’t accept your offer. I can’t take anything else from you, Giovanni. You’ve already given me so much and I need to do this on my own.”

“I hear you. I will give you your space for now; but Angelo wanted me to take care of you, and I will. I promise you that. I will give you your space, but I will come for you.” The words ring through the room. Then Gio lets out a low chuckle. “Or maybe you’ll come back and find me after spending time in a disgusting motel.” He walks away then, leaving her alone with all her conflicting emotions.

* * *

Gracelynn is troubled. She loved that kiss. She loved kissing Angelo, but they never kissed like that…this kiss left her breathless. It was intense and amazing and…she shouldn’t think like that. She needs to clear her head and get to the nearest motel as soon as possible.

She grabs all her belongings and heads out to the living room, where Giovanni and Holly are sitting on the couch facing the fireplace, looking as sad and scared as she feels.

“I have the directions to the motel.” Gio clears his throat. “I also wrote down a few other places you might enjoy while you’re here in New Hope. I doubt you’re reasonable enough to go to my hotel right away, but in case you get tired of the rat-infested motel, my information is on there as well.”

Gracelynn nods. “Thanks so much. For saving me, catching me when I fainted, making breakfast… and everything. I can’t thank you enough.” She reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses him on the cheek. She holds the other side of his face with her hand. She leans in and breathes him in, trying to remember the way he smells.