Educating Gina (5 page)

“What do you mean? Are there stairs we haven’t checked?”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Mason.” The older man glanced at the notes he’d taken so far. “We have a good description of her. We’ll find your daughter. How old did you say she is?”

“Twenty-three,” Mike muttered.

“What?”

“I never said she was my daughter.”

The man closed his notebook and glared. “Is this some kind of joke? We’re talking about a grown woman, not a
kid?
”

Mike shook his head. “No, definitely not. She’s new to the city—”

“So are a third of the people in this store.” The security guard crossed his arms over his big round belly. “I ought to have you arrested.”

“That’s absurd. On what charge?”

“Anything happens in this store, like a theft or something, while you have us distracted, and I gotta believe you were in on it.”

Mike groaned. The guy had one hell of an imagination. “Look, I’m telling you the truth. She’s Italian and she doesn’t speak much English.”

“Guess what, pal? Half the people who live in the city don’t speak English.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Mike!”

At the sound of her voice, he spun around.

She ran to him and threw her arms around his waist, burying her face in his chest.

“Gina, are you okay?” He held her tightly and stroked her back when she refused to release him.

She mumbled something in Italian but wouldn’t look up.

Another security guard, tall and lanky, walked over and stood beside them. “She’s fine,” he said, exchanging a look with his paunchy co-worker then glancing around at the gathering crowd. “She just had a little fright, is all.”

“Those two guys have anything to do with it?” Mike asked, a fury rising in him he didn’t know he possessed.

She looked up. “They said you sent them to find me. That you had an accident.”

Mike stared down at her pale face. “Did they hurt you?”

She shook her head. “I punched the short skinny one.”

He swallowed a startled laugh and then glanced at the taller security guard. “Did you catch them?”

The man’s grim face was answer enough. “If you want to file a report, let’s go to the office.”

“No.” Gina straightened and stepped away from Mike. “We are going to Central Park.”

“But, Gina—”

“They ran. You will not catch them. And if Zio Antonio finds out what happened, I will be on a plane back to Italy.”

She had a point. Mike looked at the security guard again. The man shrugged. The other one was trying to break up the interested group of onlookers.

“I want to go now, please.” Her accent was heavier, probably because she was upset. In her eyes was an odd mixture of pleading and determination. Her mind was clearly made up.

“Okay, but you stick close to me. Got it?”

She nodded enthusiastically and slipped her arm through his.

He pulled her closer still, unsure of what he was more afraid of—her or the unknown.

She wrinkled her nose. “Why?”

“Because you’ve already had two Cokes, a hot dog
and
popcorn.”

“Yes, and?” She passed the vendor her money and then doused her hot dog with mustard and relish.

She had the most incredible appetite for a woman, especially one her size. Of course she did a good job of burning off calories. He got winded just watching her play Frisbee with the two twelve-year-old boys they’d met earlier. She ran and dove for her catches as if the free world depended on her.

No wonder she was in such excellent shape. The woman could move. Hell, she’d even gotten him off his ass to catch a few throws.

She took a big bite of the hot dog and ended up with mustard on the tip of her nose. He got it off with his thumb. She smiled and took a gulp of Coke. Not Diet Coke, but the real stuff.

That was another thing he liked about her. How she did everything with such gusto, totally unselfconscious. There was no worrying about how she looked or acted. When she got excited about something, the whole world knew it, and she didn’t seem to care.

And God knows, she got excited a lot. Her accent would get thick and she’d throw in a few Italian words. Mike understood some of them from listening to Antonio and his two brothers-in-law, Augie and Lorenzo, talking at the office.

“Let’s go find some shade.” He carried the bag with her skirt and the other pair of jeans they’d bought.

The sack with her lingerie purchase got lost in the scuffle she’d had with the two men, and Mike had to ruthlessly push the reminder aside. There was nothing he could do except get angrier than he could remember ever getting in his life.

It wasn’t only about being responsible for her welfare on Antonio’s behalf. But the idea that her trust and innocence could be stolen by two low-life jerks made his blood boil. That it could happen practically under his nose made him feel guilty as hell.

But to her credit, she was resilient. She hadn’t let the incident affect her mood. When Mike had mentioned how admirably she was handling things, she’d looked at him with round trusting eyes and said she’d never be frightened with him near to keep her safe.

Fool that he was, his ego had inflated like a balloon. And then headed straight back to guilt. What if something had happened to her? What if—

“We will sit here?” She stopped at an oak tree, its roots bulging from the ground. But that didn’t stop her from finding a narrow spot in the grass.

She plunked down and then patted the area beside her. He didn’t have much choice. He settled in close. Too close.

“I like Central Park very much.” She smiled at him. “We can come again, yes?”

“I don’t know. You wear me out.”

She frowned.

“I’m kidding.”

“Oh.” She took the last bite of her hot dog and wiped her mouth.

His gaze lingered on her lips. Moist and peach-colored, they alone got his adrenaline pumping. Her tongue darted out to swipe a tiny crumb from the corner of her mouth, and he had to look away.

“What kind of exercise do you do?”

He brought his gaze back to meet her curious eyes. “Exercise?”

She nodded. “Everyone needs to exercise.”

“I get enough running around the office.”

She made a face. “That is not the same thing.”

“I work a lot of hours. I don’t have time.”

“Does my uncle work you that hard?”

Mike snorted. “
I
work me that hard.”

“That is not good,” she said, shaking her head with concern. “Do you swim?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t for a while.”

She extended her hands behind her and leaned back. The reclining position showed off her flat belly and made her breasts jut out. “Tomorrow, we will swim.”

Amused at her confidence, he asked, “Where?”

“You do not know of a place?” She frowned, and then her eyes brightened. “Coney Island. I read about it on the airplane.”

He hadn’t been there in years. “Maybe.”

“Why maybe?”

“Because I have a lot of work to catch up on. I thought you could go to the library for the morning and—”

She groaned. “I can go to the library at home. I want to see New York.”

Great.
“We can’t go out every minute.”

“Why not?”

He laughed. “Look, how about if you go to the office with me and use my computer while I get some paperwork out of the way, and then we’ll spend the afternoon out.”

“At Coney Island?”

“I was thinking a museum. The Guggenheim?”

“Oh, yes, that is on my list.”

“Oh, great, you have a list.” He sighed. “You have any rest time on that list?”

She laughed. “Come,” she said, sitting up straight and then scooting backward until her back rested against the tree trunk.

“Where?”

“Here.” She tugged at his sleeve until he leaned toward her. “Closer.”

What the hell was she doing? Knowing it was trouble, he shifted his butt a foot closer.

She put an arm around his shoulder and urged him to put his head on her lap. He resisted, but she gave him a smile that sent his resolve floating off in the warm breeze.

“What? You think I’m too old to keep up? I need a nap?”

“Yes.”

“Hey.” He started to lift his head.

Laughing, she splayed her fingers through his hair and gave it a small tug, forcing him to rest his head on her thighs. He complied, but she left her fingers in his hair and gently massaged his scalp.

He briefly closed his eyes at the soothing sensation.

“This is not a good idea,” he finally said, yet made no move to get up.

“Why not?”

He opened his eyes. She looked down at him in innocent confusion, her fingers continuing to work their magic. “You don’t know?”

She blinked. “Papa used to like when I rubbed his scalp. He said it relaxed him.”

Mike snorted. Obviously her mind wasn’t in the gutter with his. God, he was a dope.

Her fingers stilled. “But I never got a funny feeling in my stomach with Papa.”

Mike sat up.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, her eyes filled with genuine concern.

He shook his head as he got to his feet. Was she really this naive? “We’d better start back. In another hour it’s going to be tough to get a cab.”

She held out her hand and he pulled her to her feet. Without warning, she kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for the nice day.”

“Don’t mention it.” He quickly backed away.

“Scusi.”
She made a sound of impatience. “Excuse me, I do not understand. I did something wrong?”

He smiled. “It’s a term that means what I did was nothing. Don’t give it another thought.”

“Oh, but that is not true.” She slid her arms around his waist and looked up into his eyes. “You have given me the perfect day.”

“Yeah, well, I’m glad you liked it.” He tried to disengage her arms. “I don’t think you should be doing that.”

She held on tightly. “Why? Because you make my stomach, um, what is the word? Jump? Flutter?”

“Gina.” He drawled her name into a warning she ignored.

“Mike?”

“Yes?” He took a step back. She moved along with him.

“Can I ask for one more thing?”

“What?” he asked slowly, his gaze hopelessly tangled with hers.

“Will you kiss me?”

His gaze stayed locked with hers another moment, until he realized he was actually thinking about giving in. “Holy shit! Gina, don’t even think about stuff like that.”

She blinked. “Why?”

“Because.”

“You have a girlfriend?” She slackened her hold.

“No.”

“Good.” She tilted her head back farther and closed her eyes. “You can kiss me now.”

The sun shining on her lips made them glisten. He swallowed. “No kissing.”

She opened her eyes again, hurt gathering like storm clouds. “You do not like me. You think I am too much trouble.”

“Of course not.”

She dropped her arms and moved back. “That is all right. I understand.”

“No, you don’t.” He hated the hurt look on her face. What had she been told by her parents? Or maybe it was the nuns who’d undermined her confidence. “It’s just that it’s too public here.”

She stared at him, her eyes growing wide, and then her lips curved in an expectant smile. “You must be planning some kiss.”

Mike groaned. She’d probably been asking for a peck. Now she’d expect much more. Gee, no pressure here.

Mike followed, but stopped at Augie’s office when he noticed the door was open. “I didn’t know you were in already. We could have had a coffee together.”

Augie shrugged and stared down at the newspaper spread across his desk. “I had a lot of stuff to catch up on.”

Mike frowned. Yeah, Augie looked as if he were really busy. What the hell was going on? Augie always had time for coffee with him, even if only to find out what was happening with sales so he could try to stay on top of things.

“No problem,” Mike said. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Augie looked up briefly and went back to his paper. Mike continued to the kitchen, his concern growing, but waited until his friend poured a cup of the strong black brew. It was pretty early. For Robert, anyway. “Your office or mine?” Robert asked after he’d taken a sip.

“Mine. My coffee is sitting on my desk.” Mike led the way back down the hall. At least Robert didn’t seem to be avoiding him. Although he still hadn’t volunteered anything about his trip to Jersey either.

“What’s up?” Robert sprawled in the chair opposite Mike, cradling his mug in his hands.

“I was hoping you’d tell me.”

Robert’s eyebrows shot up. “Come again?”

“What’s with this trip to Jersey?”

Robert made a dismissive sound. “Nothing. You know Pop. The warehouse lease is up for renewal and he thinks the rent is going up and he’s panicking.”

Mike frowned. Not good. A move would mean a delay in opening the West Coast distribution center. “It probably will be raised.”

“I don’t think so. Pop’s been doing business with the Einsteins for over twenty years. He pays promptly.” Robert took a slow sip and then studied Mike over the rim of his mug. “You didn’t think I was doing anything behind your back, did you?”

“No, but I don’t understand why you didn’t mention going to Jersey.”

“Pop asked me to go at the last minute.” He shrugged. “Probably trying to keep me busy so I don’t seem totally useless.”

“Knock it off, Robert. Nobody thinks that.”

“Right. I need more coffee.”

“You got another minute first?”

“Don’t worry, Mike.” He rose to his feet. “The West Coast distributorship will be yours. Unless Pop doesn’t think I can handle things at this end.”

Guilt nudged Mike. The thought had crossed his mind. Not because Robert wasn’t capable. He simply didn’t seem interested. “Since when do you give a rat’s ass what your dad thinks?”

“I don’t,” Robert said without conviction, “but I overheard him talking to my cousin.”

“Which one?” Three of them worked at the warehouse.

“Gina.”

“About you?” he asked when Robert didn’t expand.

“Forget it. What did you want to talk about?”

Mike didn’t want to forget it. He knew Robert, and something was really eating at him. Maybe he regarded Gina as a threat. Maybe she wanted… No! Did she want to work at the New York office? Even if she did, she’d hardly be qualified to do anything more than entry level work while she learned the ropes.

Oh, man, he couldn’t talk to Robert about Gina now. If things got political or messy, Mike didn’t want to end up in the middle.

“I bet it’s about Gina,” Robert finally said after a lull.

“What about her?”

“That’s what you wanted to talk to me about, right?” Robert grinned. “What? She’s boring you to death already?”

“Not exactly,” Mike murmured. It felt wrong discussing her with anyone. And not just because of the possible business aspect. It was more about her, about not betraying their relationship. Crazy thinking since they’d only known each other for two days, but there it was.

Robert frowned and studied him closely. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking about how much work I have to do.”

“Ah.” Robert nodded thoughtfully. “And Gina’s taking up all your time.”

Mike shrugged, suddenly worried that Robert might want to step in and take Gina off his hands. He blinked. But that’s what he wanted, right? “She’s good about giving me time to get caught up. We’re working it out.”

Robert rubbed the back of his neck, his brow furrowed. “Look, I know you guys are supposed to go to Coney Island today. I could take her.”

It was obvious that was the last thing Robert wanted to do, so Mike knew he wouldn’t get an argument when he declined the offer. “You leave for vacation tomorrow. Go home and pack and get your last-minute stuff done.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t ask.”

Mike snorted.

Robert gave him a sheepish grin. “When I get back I promise I’ll take over.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mike got up for more coffee. He had at least another hour to sort his mail, dictate a couple of letters, and then brace himself for another day of hurricane Gina before he had to go get her. “I have everything under control.”

“I hope so.” Robert nudged his chin in the direction of the office lobby. “Look who Pop brought with him.”