Some Like It Hotter (Sweet Life in Seattle #3) (44 page)

She obliges and hears him turn off the opera. There are some clicking sounds of him manipulating his iPod. A few moments later, she hears a familiar rhythm guitar, a rolling drumbeat, and then Elvis singing.

“Burning Love!” She opens her eyes with a shriek of delight.

“Our song,” he says in a dry tone. And then he leans in toward her. “I’ve decided to finally give you that wedding dance you wanted.”

“Are you serious?” Lindsay claps her hands. “I finally get to see Frankenstein’s monster?”

“God, help me,” he mutters. “I hope I’m not ruining any chance of you ever sleeping with me again.”

“What? Don’t be silly.” She’s already rolling her hips to the music. She loves to dance and rocks out regularly with Natalie and her two nieces.

As the music pulls her in with its irresistible beat, he starts trying to dance too, teetering from one foot to the other.

She’s already slipping into her groove, grinding her hips and swinging her hands overhead.

“Woohoo!” She laughs, dancing around him then trailing her fingers lightly across his chest as he starts bobbing his head. His foot-to-foot teetering seems to be increasing in intensity.

“I love this song,” she says, letting her hair fly. She shakes her hips and spins a couple of times. “Nice!” She nods at him with encouragement.

His hands come up in front of him, and he starts shaking them like they’re on fire. It’s so bizarre that she’s never seen anything like it. His teetering is still going strong and appears to have morphed into a stomp, while his head bobs up and down like a giant ostrich.

“Yeah!” She sings to him as she waves both her arms in the air, still dancing around him.

His expression is intense, but he’s grinning at the same time. It appears he’s in full Frankenstein mode. His arms are swinging all over as his whole body rocks wildly back and forth.

Lindsay is clapping and laughing as she gives him room to do his thing. She hopes he doesn’t knock any of the furniture over but figures it’s worth it to see this glorious sight.

By the time the song starts winding down, they’re both laughing and out of breath.

Giovanni has stopped doing the Frankenstein and is grinning at her with affection instead. “Come here,” he breathes, swooping her into his arms.

“And you claimed you can’t dance,” she teases as she presses herself against him. “That was incredible.”

“Incredible is a word for it, all right.”

She grins. “Well, I
loved
it. I sure hope you don’t hide your light under a bushel anymore.”

He rolls his eyes, the flush on his face going deeper as he laughs with embarrassment.

“What made you finally decide to dance with me?”

He gazes down at her, still grinning, and shrugs. “I don’t know. I realized I can be myself with you, that you can handle it.”

She nods, her heart ready to burst with joy. Their eyes stay on each other, and in that moment, she’s completely and utterly in love. There’s no other way to describe it. She’s never felt like this before, never wanted so many good things for someone with her whole self. Never found anyone who moves her so deeply.

“I can definitely handle it,” she says, stroking his jaw.

His eyes go soft before he bends down and brings his mouth to hers. “Forever,” he murmurs before kissing her gently, licking her lips as he plays around. But Lindsay’s breath is already coming fast, and she tightens her arms.

“I love you,” he says, drawing back to take her in. “All the way, every day.”

“I know,” she whispers. “Me too.”

And then they’re kissing again, but it’s not gentle and playful—it’s full-on out of control. Reckless, with tongues and teeth. She whimpers into his mouth, gripping his neck because she wants him inside her now.

Giovanni reaches down and grabs her ass with both hands to hoist her up, and she immediately wraps her legs around his waist.

He starts making his way toward the bedroom, still kissing, bumping into the wall.

“Hurry!” she insists, her mouth pressed against his. “I can’t wait!”

Somehow, they get through the doorway and make it onto the bed, both of them panting and pulling at each other’s clothes, with Lindsay on her back as Giovanni hovers over her.

She grabs at his cords and then his bare ass when they’re finally shoved out of the way. “What’s taking so long?”

His breath is harsh and desperate as he tries to get her jeans off. He yanks one pant leg down and doesn’t bother with the other because she feels him big and hard right at her center, pushing her thong aside.

“Oh, God,” she gasps when he shoves his full length inside her, none of his usual preamble of trying to take it slow. It’s intense, over-the-top, and incredible in every way.

He’s already groaning and moving out of control. He grips her thigh. “Wrap your legs around me tight,” he says coarsely. “Yes,” he breathes as soon as she complies. “That’s it.”

It’s all so hot she already feels the beginning of her climax. His mouth is smoldering on hers, and she’s moaning into it, but then he breaks the kiss and pushes up her shirt, his hand under her bra. She claws his back, groaning and biting his shoulder through his cotton T-shirt as her release overtakes her like a storm.

Almost from a distance she hears him coming too, and then it’s all up close. His body is relentless, his hand still on her breast as he shudders and groans low and long.

When he finally collapses on top of her, she tries to catch her breath, both their hearts still hammering.

“Damn,” he says as he tries to breathe. “I think we’ve got sizzle.”

She giggles then bites his ear. “We sure do, Olaf. ‘Burning Love’ is the perfect song for us.”

Eventually, Lindsay pushes Giovanni off her. They both strip the rest of their clothes away and scoot up on the bed. He lies on his side with his head at her breast while she plays with his hair.

They stay this way for a while, both of them drowsy, until they fall asleep. When she wakes up, it’s nightfall with the hall light shining through the open door. Giovanni shifts a little, and she senses he’s awake too, though neither of them speaks. She thinks about the myriad of things that have brought them to this moment.

For some reason, her mind wanders back to what he told her last night about Olivia and the shark.
What a gruesome way to go
. She has a hard time finding any sympathy for her, though, not after what she did.
What kind of woman gets involved with an underage teenage boy?

“Can I ask you something?” She runs her fingers through his soft curls.

He grunts then draws back from her. “Sure.”

“What did Olivia look like?”

He takes in her face and hair. “She was a brunette with brown eyes.” His gaze travels down her body to where the sheets have been kicked aside. “Tall and slender with long legs.”

Lindsay watches the way he lingers on her own long legs, and a flicker of unease passes through her.

He shrugs. “To be honest, she was beautiful. At least on the outside.”

Her unease gets much worse because a queer sort of comprehension is dawning on her. “Do I
look
like Olivia?”

Giovanni freezes. His eyes widen and flash to hers.

“My God.” Her head swims when she sees the alarm on his face, the mistake he realizes he’s just made. She pushes away from him. “I
do
, don’t I?”

“It’s not how it sounds. I’ve always had a penchant for brown-eyed brunettes with long legs. That’s my
type,
” he insists. “Before I ever met Olivia.”

She swallows, tries to calm the sick feeling in her stomach, the fear that’s started to take root. “When I first saw you in Berlin, you told me I reminded you of someone.” Her voice gets stronger as she remembers it. “
That’s
who you were talking about, isn’t it?”

He sits up on one elbow. He doesn’t answer her right away, and she can see he’s being more careful now. “Yes, I admit you reminded me of her a little. But only in a very superficial way.”

Her fear not only takes root but starts to bloom. She should have put this together much sooner.
Or maybe I didn’t want to see it
.

“How did you and Olivia break up?”

He blinks at her then looks away, letting his breath out like he’s accepted the inevitability of this conversation. “I asked her to marry me, and she said no.”

“Was she cruel about it?”

He nods. “She laughed and told me I was just a kid. She said she didn’t love me, how she was only having fun and I should do the same.”

It hurts Lindsay that someone used him like that. It doesn’t help her fear, though—just the opposite because now it’s bearing fruit. “That’s why you were so freaked out when you asked me to marry you, isn’t it? Because I reminded you of her.”

He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to because she can see on his face it’s true.

She sits up with a jerky motion and moves away from him. She can’t move away from the fear, though. “Why is it you never told me I look like her? You should have told me.”

“Because I didn’t want this reaction. And as I said, it’s only on the surface. You’re nothing alike on the inside.”

“Is it possible our relationship is just your way of reliving the whole thing with Olivia again?”

“
What?
” Giovanni’s expression grows thunderous as he sits up too. “That’s absurd.”

She reaches for the sheet to cover herself. She doesn’t want to believe any of it. It’s like poison, but she can’t dismiss it either. “How do you know?”

“Because you’re
nothing
like her. I fell in love with
you
.” There’s panic on his face.

Somewhere inside her, a voice is asking why she’s so surprised.
You honestly thought you could fix him? Don’t you know better?

“Is it all just a lie?”

Giovanni moves closer to her on the bed. “Listen to me, Lindsay. I love you. How can you even doubt that? What’s between you and me has nothing to do with anybody else.”

“So it’s purely a coincidence that you fell in love with a woman who looks like
her?
”

He tries to reach for her hand, but she pulls it away.

“I have a type,” he continues. “So what? I already told you that. A lot of people do.”

She doesn’t reply as she tries to figure out if her fear is groundless.

“I want us to create a life together,” he says. “I
love
you.”

Her eyes go to his, and she decides maybe it’s time to test that love. “I need to tell you something. It’s something I should have already told you.”

“What is it?” He seems frustrated. “Another secret? I thought we were past all that.”

“Do you remember when your mom said we’d make beautiful babies together?”

He nods, and she can see he’s confused about where this is going. “Yes, of course.”

Lindsay closes her eyes for a long moment then licks her lips. “That won’t happen. Not with me, anyway. There won’t ever be any babies.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t have children.”

His eyes widen with surprise. It’s only for a second, but she sees it. “Why do you assume that?”

“Because I tried years ago with both of my husbands. I finally went to a doctor and discovered children are not in the cards for me.”

Giovanni goes quiet. She’s doing her best to read him but is having difficulty. “So you lied about having an IUD?”

“I didn’t lie. I just . . . evaded your question.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I’m infertile. Does that still fit in with your plan to love me ‘forever’?”

He doesn’t answer her and instead appears to be deep in thought.

She studies him, her heart sinking. “I didn’t think so.”

“Christ, give me a minute here, will you? Let me take this in.” His brows furrow. “Why
exactly
do you think you’re infertile?”

“I had an infection when I young, probably in my teens, and it left a lot of scar tissue. I can’t conceive.”

“That doesn’t sound impossible. There are probably ways around it.”

Her eyes sting and her chest goes tight. She’s not having any difficulty reading him now. He wants children of his own. Of course he does. Why wouldn’t he?

“Maybe,” she says. “But maybe not. They weren’t too encouraging years ago.” She thinks about how she tried to get pregnant in the past, and as difficult as it’s been, she’s had to accept the truth.

“It doesn’t matter,” he says, finality in his tone. “I don’t care. I still want you.”

She studies him, and she can see he wants to believe it, but she knows it
does
matter. And that’s when she realizes this isn’t about testing his love—it’s about testing
hers
. Because she could never force him to give up having children for her.

“Talk to me, Lindsay.” His blue eyes look worried. “What’s that expression? You’re scaring me.”

“This is all so complicated between us, isn’t it?”

“No.” His voice is deep and adamant. “It’s very simple. We belong together. It’s changed both of our lives.”

Lindsay takes in his handsome face. And it’s true what he’s saying—her life has changed. Giovanni’s strength has helped her, and she’s helped him too.
But that doesn’t mean it’s forever
.