Acquiring Hearts (13 page)

She looked at him and said, “I’ll take the car to the supermarket.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

She laughed and rolled her eyes. “If you want to.”

He playfully kissed her nose. “You need to be less independent and let me take care of you”

“
I’ll work on it.” She jumped up off the sofa to put her shoes on. He threw her the keys to his SUV.

“Take my car. It’s in front of yours in the garage. Here’s my credit card too.”

“You don’t have to give me your card. I have my own.” He looked disappointed. She knew she hurt his feelings. “Ok, I’m working on it. I’ll be back in an hour.”

I guess he’s not coming…

Gia worked on dinner for most of the day. She made her homemade gravy aka spaghetti sauce. Depending on where you’re from, some Italian people call it gravy. It was a secret family recipe. She fried the meatballs and sausage and then added them to the large pot of gravy. While she was out earlier, she stopped at the bakery and bought a loaf of bread.

She loved to dip the hot Italian bread into the pot. She broke the spaghetti in half and added it to the boiling water and prepared a side salad as an appetizer.

“You’re going to fatten me up with all this cooking. I love spaghetti sauce.” Brad teased her.

Gia looked at him and threw her hands in the air. “Oh no, no, no… Don’t ever call it Spaghetti sauce in front of my parents. It’s a crime. In
South Philly
, Italians call it gravy. Remember that and you’ll survive fine in my family.” She laughed at him as he set the table and gave her these cute glances over his shoulder.

“We ate like this all the time growing up. Dinnertime was very important in our home. My mother didn’t work, so we had a home cooked meal every night, except Friday. We ordered pizza. It was a tradition.”

Brad felt a little sadness creep over him because he didn’t really have the family closeness that Gia had growing up. With his father being a businessman and his mother being a doctor, he ate most of his meals with the nanny. “I barely saw my parents for dinner some nights.”

She felt a little sorry for him. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to not have a close family. “Well as long as I am living here, we can make it a tradition to eat Sunday dinner together.”

He spun her away from the stove and kissed her. “You got it, baby.”

Gia prepared all the food and set it on the table. They sat down and enjoyed their first home cooked meal living together.

“This is the best Italian food I have ever eaten.” He was actually being honest with her. “I love it. You can cook anytime you want.”

“Oh… Now you trust me to cook. A couple hours ago you wanted your chef to cook.”

“I never said I didn’t trust you.” He gave her his, I’m sexy-hot and I never lose smile.

She was starting to get emotional. “This is very nice. Thanks for letting me stay with you.”

“Gia, I don’t want you to leave. I’m hoping this is permanent, but I can’t force you to stay forever.”

“Forever is a long time. What if you get sick of me and you need to have one of your other women?”

“Really… There are no other women. You’re the only one for me. Do you feel the connection between us because I feel it very strongly?”

“I feel it Brad, every day that we’re together and every day we were apart. I was hurt in the past and I never thought I’d be able to move on. All these years, I was afraid of reliving the pain.”

“I’ll never hurt you. All I want to do is make you happy. You never have to worry. I promise you.”

“Thank you. Just thank you for saying that.” Gia knew she could trust him completely but there was always that shadow of doubt lingering about.

They cleared the table and washed the dishes. Since they both had work tomorrow, they were going to relax and watch their Sunday night shows on TV. Gia was a sucker for
The Kardashian’s
and Brad just watched it because he said the girls on it were cute. He was more of a sports kind of guy, but he had to make sacrifices now that they were living together.

Chapter Thirteen

The following Monday Brad and Gia left for Miami. Rachel and Vinnie returned the previous day. They called Gia when they landed at Philadelphia International Airport. She picked them up and dropped them off at their house where she grabbed the rest of her belongings she had left there from her stay with them. They looked happy again, at least Gia thought so.

“I really hate flying.” Gia proclaimed to Brad while they were on the plane.

“We could’ve driven but it’s faster to fly,” he explained.

“I know it just freaks me out.” She had hated flying since she was a kid. As an adult she flew a lot more, but she never grew to like it.

“Take a nap and before you know it we will be there. Plus, I’m here with you. I’ll keep you safe.”

“You’re so cute, you hot sexy stud.”

“Hmm… on the plane?” he raised his eyebrow at her.

Oh God. I can only wish.

“I can’t pay you a compliment without you wanting sex.” Not that she was complaining about her very active sex life.

“I want you twenty-four seven.” He made her tingle just by saying those words. Of course she wanted him, but now wasn’t the right time. They would be landing shortly. She sat on his lap and put her arms around him.

“Maybe I’ll seduce you when we get settled into the condo.”

I hope I can wait until then.

“Well…it may have to wait because I have a meeting at one this afternoon.”

“Sounds like fun. I’ll probably just go to the beach then.”

I hope he won’t be working the whole time we’re here.

The view from the condo was breathtaking. She sat on the balcony watching the waves crash onto the beach. Brad still hadn’t returned from the meeting so she decided to lounge around after returning from the beach for a while. The sun was beginning to go down. After the past few weeks that she had, she needed this. It felt so good to not have to worry about anything and just sit with a clear mind. Brad had text her about an hour ago saying he would be home shortly and that he missed her so much.

She realized while living with him this week that she was in love and it was tormenting her. She knew Brad cared about her but she was hoping he felt the same way she did, and would tell her soon. She heard the sliding glass door open behind her. She knew who it was.

“What are you thinking about sitting out here?” Without turning around to see him she responded.

“Us”

“What’s wrong?” He was a little nervous with her response.

“Nothing, I was thinking good things. How was your meeting?”

He bent down and put his arms around her as she sat on the chair. “It went well, but I missed you like crazy. The good thing is a lot of the issues were resolved, so I don’t have any more onsite meetings to attend. I can work from the office if I need to. How was the beach?”

“It was relaxing.”

“Good, you need to relax after everything you’ve gone through. What do you want to do tonight?”

“Why don’t we order in, cuddle in bed and watch movies?”

“It’s like you can read my mind. Tomorrow I have a fun day planned for us. Make sure you wear your bikini.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “What did I do to deserve such a great guy?”

“Awwww, damn, you think I’m a great guy.”

“Yes, you know you are. So, what are we doing tomorrow?”

“It’s a surprise. We’re going to act like teenagers.”

“Sounds like fun. Like, Oh My God.”

“You’re crazy.”

“About you.”

* * * * *

Brad and Gia were up bright and early for their fun day together. Brad drove down by the bay and parked in the lot. He opened the door for Gia and they walked up to the little hut looking store. There was a small sign that said wave runner and jet-ski rentals.

“You want me to get on the back of a wave runner with a guy that has his own driver.”

He smirked at her joke. “No, you’re going to drive your own.”

“So you seem to think I’ve never driven one of these before.”

“I’m going to say no.” Her only response was “Ok”.

She didn’t want him to think she did this all the time, even though she had as a teenager and young adult. Her family has two wave runners at their shore house.

“Oh, by the way, my mom called yesterday and she wants us to stay at the shore house for Labor Day weekend. I believe that’s in two weeks. I told her I would have to let her know later. My mom and dad really want to meet you. Rachel and Vinnie will also be there.” She really hoped that he would want to go but she also knew her family could be a little crazy and he was definitely not use to that.

“I would love to go. I can’t wait to meet the rest of your family.”

“Be careful what you wish for. They’re crazy.”

“Just because I grew up in a white collar area doesn’t mean I was secluded. I have a lot of friends that grew up in Philly and I own several businesses there also.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” They were sitting on the bench with their cups of coffee because the rental place didn’t open for another half hour.”

“Gia, really, how bad could they be?”

“You have no idea. Rachel and Vinnie argue over dumb shit constantly. Jason and Jeffrey fight over everything. My mom drinks wine, has an online shopping addiction and gossips about everyone. My dad owns a company and works his ass off. When he is home all he does is watch television, go fishing and talk real loud. He doesn’t keep his opinions to himself and if we are in a room with all my aunts, uncles and cousins, you can’t hear yourself think. My dad doesn’t like Vinnie, not one bit and he makes it known.”

“Well, I don’t know if I should go. What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Trust me. He has his reasons for not liking Vinnie.”

At that moment a short older woman with dark hair opened the store. Brad told the woman they wanted to rent two wave runners.

Gia busted in the conversation. “We only want one, miss. I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t you want your own? I thought we could race each other,” Brad said jokingly.

“It would be more romantic if I could put my arms around your waist and hold you while you drive the wave runner.”

Brad turned to the woman, his face red as a beet. “We’ll take one, thanks.” The lady handed him the key and told him to wait over to the side for the attendant.

Gia looked at him shocked. “You’re never embarrassed, what’s wrong with you?”

He whispered to Gia, “I got hard when you said that to me. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to concentrate with you holding onto me while I maneuver the wave runner.”

“Maybe we should call Gary to come and drive it.”

“You’re real funny.”

“I know I am.”

The attendee came over and ensured they had their lifejackets on. He helped them both onto the wave runner. Once they were ready to go, Brad took off. Gia sat on the back with her arms wrapped around his waist. Just for fun, she moved her hands lower, between his legs to tease him.

“Are you trying to get us killed or do you want me to stop this thing and take you right out here on the bay.”

“I’m voting for #2 but I don’t feel like spending the day in prison for indecent exposure.”

“Then keep your hands to yourself.”

They stayed out on the bay for over an hour. As they were leaving Gia asked where they were going next. “It’s a surprise.”

“You and these surprises.” She gave him a sideways glance as if to say you better tell me; then she started pouting her lips.

“Ok, Ok, I’ll tell you. We’re going to the waterpark.”

“Really, I love the waterpark!”

“Yes, and afterwards we can go back to the condo around three o’clock. I made dinner reservations for eight o’clock tonight. Is that enough time for you to get ready?”

“Of course it is.”

Brad proceeded to tell Gia that he had a personal shopper coming over at five with some dresses for her to look at for their special evening. He made sure they were her style and her size. She would definitely be able to find something to suit her perfectly.

* * * * *

“That was so much fun. We have to do that again. Maybe when we go to Wildwood, we can take my nephews to the waterpark on the boardwalk.” Gia loved to do fun things with her nephews and was now excited to have Brad involved in those activities as well.

“That would be exciting. I’ve never been to Wildwood before.”

“What? Are you kidding me? Where do you go on vacation?”

“My parents had a house in the Hamptons.”

Figures… Why did I even ask?

“I actually still have it. I barely go anymore since my dad died.”

“Maybe one weekend we can go?”

“I’ll think about it,” said Brad as a dark look took over his eyes.

She didn’t press the issue but he really needed to talk these issues around his dad’s death through. He needed to come to terms with it. They would need to have this conversation eventually but she didn’t want to ruin the fun they were having.

Brad and Gia arrived back at the condo according to schedule. Her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number, so she let it go to voicemail. It was Joanna, Brad’s mom returning her call. She was calling from work and had said to call her back on her cell phone. Gia needed to talk to her in private.

“Brad, I’m running to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” She dialed Joanna’s number quickly.

“Hi Joanna, its Gia,” she whispered.

“I want to plan a formal surprise party for Brad’s 30
th
birthday and I need help.”

“Oh, that’s great. He’ll be so happy. I’ll help out with whatever you need.”

“Thanks. I called Rachel yesterday too and she is going to gather all the names and addresses for his colleagues to invite. I need you to get me a list of family members and friends that I should invite. I’ll text you my email address.

“Sure, not a problem.

“I’ll be in touch.”

She wanted to throw Brad the biggest surprise party of all, since he was always surprising her. She disconnected the call and thought about all the planning she was going to have to do in the next couple of months. She was planning the party for November 19th. Brad’s birthday is November 17th. She would have to wait on the planning process until she went back to work, which didn’t leave much time.

She went to look for Brad. He was in his office and shirtless. Seeing his half naked body made her throb between her legs. “You can’t parade around here half naked and not expect me to jump you.”

“I’m sitting in a chair minding my own business. The personal shopper should be here in an hour.”

“I could have gone to the mall and picked something out. I also have clothes that I brought with me.”