Pretty Packages (4 page)

* * * *

When
Kentucky
broke the kiss and carried her over to the bed, Giada fully expected him to all out ravish her now, despite how gently he’d laid her on the bed. She wanted him to ravish her. She wanted him to ravish her badly.

He did not.

Instead,
Kentucky
planted a tender kiss on her forehead and said, “Goodnight, Giada.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you just going to leave me like this?” Giada asked breathlessly. She couldn’t believe he was actually walking away from her.

From her!

No man had ever refused Giada’s goodies once they were offered.
No
man.

“I don’t have sex with women under Mama’s roof. It’s a respect thing,”
Kentucky
said, moving toward the door. He sounded only slightly breathless.

Giada was about to suggest that they go to a hotel, when she remembered that he couldn’t afford such an expense on his salary. “Can I get a rain check then?” Even as she said those words, she couldn’t believe that they were actually coming out of her mouth.

What had this mammoth done to her?

“We’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll bring that T-shirt you asked for,”
Kentucky
said at the door. Then, before she could tempt him even more, he left.

Giada punched the pillow in frustration when he left. Her body was on fire. And so was her temper. She couldn’t believe she’d actually humbled herself like that. She felt even worse for humbling herself for a man like that.

Get a serious grip, girl,
Giada told herself, punching the pillow again.

* * * *

When
Kentucky
returned with the T-shirt, Giada was suddenly very cold and aloof. Interestingly enough, he wasn’t too surprised by her change in behavior. He half expected it. And yet he still remained hospitable.

“Good night, Giada,”
Kentucky
said after placing the T-shirt on the chair by the door.

She gave him one of her brief nods and waited until he’d closed the door behind him to move from the bed.

Out in the hallway,
Kentucky
sighed heavily with relief. He knew he’d just dodged a big bullet. Had this been his house or a hotel room, he would have been all up in Giada by now. He wouldn’t have stopped making love to her until they’d both been thoroughly satisfied.

At the depth of passion he’d seen in Giada’s eyes earlier, experienced in her kisses, complete satisfaction could have taken a very long time to reach. She seemed to have the sexual appetite of two women.

No wonder she has so many boyfriends.
Kentucky
recalled how many different cars he’d seen Giada exit over the short time that she’d lived in the neighborhood.

She might be able to find her Mr. Right if she stopped shopping for pretty packages,
he surmised, deeming every man in Giada’s social life pretty in looks and/or bank account. Though
Kentucky
was up on his game in the latter, he didn’t mind being deficient in the former.

When you weren’t drop-dead gorgeous, it was easier to figure out who genuinely liked you. The same was true when one kept one’s wealth a secret.

Giada will never know my net worth as long as I have anything to say about it
,
Kentucky
decided, going into his room down the hall.

If she could go at him so hard thinking that he was broke and with him not being the prettiest flower in the garden, imagine what she would do if she learned he was a millionaire several times over.

* * * *

Though Hannah kept her word and cooked a bountiful breakfast, she was considerably less friendly to Giada in the morning. In fact, she barely said much of anything to her over their meal, which caused the younger woman to look puzzled by her change in attitude.

Kentucky
was on the silent side as well. He’d said all that needed to be said two hours ago. Not to Giada, mind you, but to Hannah as he revealed the true nature of her neighbor. Thus, when it came time for her to go to church, she was reluctant to leave her stepson alone with Giada.

“Kenny, what time did you say your locksmith friend was coming?” Hannah asked, looking at Giada’s skimpy club attire from the night before. All those revealing holes bothered her.

“
Newton
will be here within the hour.”
Kentucky
rose to his feet. “You have a good day at church, Mama. I got everything covered here,” he added reassuringly, lifting her petite frame into his arms for a warm hug.

Returning to her feet seconds later, Hannah smiled proudly at her strong stepson. Trust swelled in her heart.
Kentucky
could handle himself in any situation. That had been proven time and time again.

“Good-bye, Giada,” Hannah said politely, giving her guest a pasted-on smile in passing.

“Good-bye, Mrs. Jones,” Giada replied, continuing to look puzzled.

* * * *

“Did I do something wrong?” Giada asked
Kentucky
once they were alone. “Your mother was kinda cold toward me this morning. She’s usually much friendlier.”

“Mama’s change in behavior is because of me,”
Kentucky
admitted, returning to his seat after pouring himself more orange juice. “To keep her from trying to play matchmaker between us, I told her that I was way out of your league. That there was no hope for us because you liked pretty packages.”

“Pretty packages?” Giada frowned, not liking the sound of that at all.

“Yeah, men with prettier faces and fatter wallets than mine.
Much
fatter wallets,”
Kentucky
said, clearly pulling no punches with her.

Springing to her feet, Giada slapped him hard across the face. “How dare you tell your mother I’m a gold digger!”

“That’s what you are, aren’t you?”
Kentucky
said, looking unaffected by her blow. He hadn’t even spilled the orange juice in his right hand.

Giada felt her cheeks grow hot. “It’s none of your business
what
I am!”

“It is when what you are tries to spill over into
my
life!”
Kentucky
retorted, putting down his juice.

“Why you . . .” Giada began, raising her hand to strike him again.

Kentucky
caught her wrist with ease. “I let you have that first blow because I still feel guilty about making you lose your keys last night, but I’m not gonna stand for another one. So unless you want to get hit back, I suggest you sit back down and eat the rest of your breakfast while we wait for
Newton
to arrive.”

Giada trembled at the menacing look on his face. She’d never seen him look uglier. “You would really hit a woman?”

“Keep swinging on me, and you’ll find out. Now sit!” he ordered, finally releasing her wrist.

Giada plopped down in her seat. Her eyes were wide. She was scared out of her wits. She began to take deep breaths to bring her breathing back under control.

Where was the gentle giant from last night? Where was the man who had given her that tender forehead kiss?

Unable to sit still after a long, torturous minute of silence, Giada said, “On second thought, I think I’ll wait for your friend on my porch.” Then she got up and fled to her home.

* * * *

Kentucky
chuckled when the door slammed behind her. Though he knew he would never hit a woman unless it was a matter of life or death, he didn’t want Giada to know that. He wanted her scared of him. Maybe then she wouldn’t try to snoop into his business and then come after him for his money, especially since that money had already been slated for worthy causes.

* * * *

“Okay, there is something seriously wrong with me,” Giada muttered to herself as she sat on her front stoop. “The man practically threatened to physically abuse me, and all I can think about is how much I want to sex him up.”

Maybe she was so turned on because
Kentucky
was the first man who had stood up to her in years.

He was certainly the first man to refuse her sexual advances.

Maybe it was also because, now that she’d had a little time to think, Giada really didn’t believe that he would hit her or any other woman. After all, men who abused women didn’t usually have so much respect and reverence for their mothers, especially not their stepmothers.

And
Kentucky
had the ultimate respect for his stepmother. Giada could still recall his
“yes, ma’ams”
and
“no, ma’ams”
now.

So why would he deliberately scare me like that?
she asked herself.
Because I’m a gold digger
.
Giada answered her own question with blunt truth.

Suddenly, for the first time in years, she actually felt ashamed of herself. Unfortunately, it was not enough to make her change her ways. Giada had too much stuff she still wanted in life, too many places she still wanted to see to let a temporary emotion like shame stand in the way.

Chapter Four

September

Giada didn’t speak to either of the Joneses again for the rest of the summer. She was too embarrassed to say anything to Hannah. She was also still too angry with
Kentucky
to say anything else to him.

She finally broke her silence one starry Wednesday night. It was a night when Hannah was late getting home from Bible study and
Kentucky
was at work.

Giada was just getting out of the shower after a long day at work when she heard glass breaking. She sighed with relief when she realized that the sound was too far away to be one of her window panes.

But then whose windows
were
being broken?

Was it the Jones house? The sounds had resonated from that direction.

Curious, Giada tiptoed to her bedroom window. She turned off the light in the process, having learned from her years in the hood not to draw attention to herself at times like these. Slowly, she peeked through the window blinds.

Sure enough, the Jones house was being invaded. It had been invaded not by one thief, but two.

Both were men, based on their muscular builds. They moved swiftly into the house, as if it was second nature to them.