MaleAndroidCompanion (17 page)

Four large white canopy structures had been
erected as they had been to celebrate Becka and Victor’s wedding two years ago.
If the arrangement was the same and Gia’s memory served her right, two of the
pavilions had tables and chairs beneath them. One had a makeshift dance floor
that opened up to a fountain on the property when it wasn’t in use. Even with
the windows up she could smell the delicious aroma of a barbecue in progress.
But what made her choke up was her parents standing on the steps of the house
watching them as they approached. In fact, just about everyone stopped what
they were doing and stared as they approached.

Marc rubbed his palms up and down her bare
arms. “Breathe, sweetheart.”

Easier said than done.

Still, she managed to fill her lungs before
the car came to a halt and the doors sprang open. The guards exited first, then
Marc. He held out his hand and she accepted his assistance.

“Aunt Gina.” A tight, high voice yelled her
name.

Gia turned to see Sylvia and Shelley
running toward her. The seven- and five-year-olds were as different as night
and day. Sylvia had dark brunette hair like her mother’s while Shelley’s was
blonde. Both children cleared the yard in record time, throwing themselves into
her open arms.

“Did you see me?” Shelley chirped. “I hit
the birdie.”

Gia opened her eyes wide. “I did see you.
That was fantastic.”

Sylvia shook her head, frowning. “She
missed, Aunt G.”

“
Shhh…
”

“Oh honey, I’m so glad you’re home.” Her
mother’s voice turned Gia away from her nieces.

“Mom.” A smile touched Gia’s lips. As she
folded her arms around her mother, she smelled oatmeal cookies. “I’ve missed
you,” Gia whispered, fighting back tears.

“So you must be my little girl’s new beau.
Marc, I believe.”

Gia released her mother in time to see Marc
and her father shaking hands.

“Marc Charleston,” Marc clarified.

“Paul Easton, and this is my lovely wife,
Elaine Struma-Easton.”

Gia’s mother took Marc’s proffered hand.
“Mr. Charleston.”

“Please, call me Marc.”

The loving expression on her father’s face
pulled at Gia’s heartstrings. “Come here, baby girl.”

Her feet felt as if they had wings as she
flew into his open arms. Six feet of towering strength, even at fifty-nine her
father was in shape. Yet she noted that more gray streaked his chestnut hair.
He held her so tightly for a moment she couldn’t breathe. When he released her
something close to concern raced across his eyes. A shadow that vanished almost
as quickly as it appeared.

Gia had no doubt where her acting abilities
came from as he smiled at her.

“Child, it is about time.” At the sound of
her Aunt Clare’s scratchy voice, Gia cringed. “Do you have any idea the worry
your parents have been through?”

So it begins.

The happiness Gia felt only seconds ago
deflated like a popped balloon. She hadn’t been there two minutes before the
berating of her dear old aunt started. Some things never changed.

“Well, she’s here now and that’s all that
matters.” Gia was thankful for her mother’s attempt to quiet Clare, but her
father’s sister always seemed to want the last word.

Five foot two, the old battle-ax pinned
Marc with an eagle-eyed glare. “I don’t see a ring on her hand.” Her gnarled
fingers rose, palms on her narrow hips.

Marc reached for Gia, pulling her into the
shelter of his arms. “Believe me, it’s not because I haven’t asked.”

Yikes!

Gia forced herself not to react. Inwardly
she was screaming,
shit, shit, shit
. Her plan had been for Marc to act
enamored with her, not in love.

She didn’t miss the glance her mother and
father shared or the smirk on her aunt’s wrinkled face. “Regina, you should
marry this nice young man and return home and have babies. Stop this
tomfoolery.”

“Clare,” Gia’s father grumbled.

Gia almost burst out laughing, or was she
on the verge of crying? If only her nosy aunt knew. She had just suggested that
her niece marry an android, and for children? Well, if she married Marc there
wouldn’t be little ones running about.

A tug on Gia’s shirt pulled her gaze down
to the small blonde at her feet, looking up. “Are you getting married, Aunt Gina?”

“Not anytime soon, Shelley.”

The child’s innocent gaze traveled from Gia
to Marc. “Is he your boyfriend?”

Sylvia elbowed Shelley.

Shelley frowned at her cousin. “What?”

“
Shhh…
” Sylvia frowned. “Momma said
we weren’t supposed to ask that.”

From the mouths of babes.

Marc winked at both girls. “Yes, I am.” The
two little munchkins broke out in giggles.

“Girls, go play,” Gia’s mother said before
turning her attention back to Gia and Marc. “Maybe the two of you would like to
freshen up before you face the crowd?”

“Thanks, Mom.” Gia didn’t forget to hug her
aunt.
Eww…
The woman smelled of mothballs, or was it formaldehyde?

While Gia and Marc followed her mother into
the house, Gia’s father began to speak with the four guards who had melted into
the scenery as Marc had promised.

“Marc, pay no never mind to Clare. She’s
old and crotchety.” Gia’s mother continued, “Honey, I’ll have your dad speak to
her.”

Oh if only that would squelch her aunt’s
nastiness.

Watching the interplay between Gina and her
mother as they quickly caught up on family matters was bittersweet. It had been
a while since he’d thought of his own mother and father. His chest squeezed
with a sorrow he’d thought long past.

A scream down the hall caught his attention
as well as Gina’s and Elaine’s. When a carrottop woman ran into the room, she
pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and feigned a faint. “I can’t
believe it. The famous Gia Easton—
here
—in my house.”

Unbridled laughter burst from Gina’s lips.
“Marc, this is my baby sister, Becka.”

The woman’s hand fell to her side. “Ohhh…
Nice,” she hummed, scanning Marc from head to toe.

“Becka!” Elaine yelped. A look of utter
shock stole her pleasant expression.

Becka extended her hand. “Hi.” She pushed a
pair of glasses up her nose.

“Hi,” he returned, taking a moment to
scrutinize the woman as she ran to Gina and hugged her furiously.

Young and smart. High-energy. Pretty, but
not as striking as Gina.

Gina had more of her mother’s features.
Even beneath the creases time had placed in the older woman’s face, at a
slender five-nine, Elaine Easton would have been a classical beauty in her
younger years. He smiled into the timeless glimpse of what Gina might look like
at the same age. But there was something more. Marc could see intelligence
masked behind a set of gentle cornflower-blue eyes.

“You okay?” Becka asked Gina. “Mom spilled
the beans about Doug and Mary. Oh wait…” She paused. “I heard it on the
ten-o’clock news.”

Gina rolled her eyes and shrugged. “I’ve
told you guys before you can’t believe everything you hear or read.”

Although Gina brushed off the incident,
Marc knew how much control she had to exert to manage her casual attitude. He
moved up behind her, circling her waist with his arms to lend moral support.

She flashed him a weak smile.

Becka and Elaine both stared at them.

“Let’s leave these two alone.” Elaine
linked her arm in Becka’s. “No need to hurry. The barbecue will be going for
hours.” She leaned in and kissed Gina’s cheek. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

“Me too, Mom.”

When the door closed, Gina turned in Marc’s
embrace. “Why did you have to insinuate that you’ve asked me to marry you?”

“It just came to mind.” Where it came from
he had no idea, and that was a little scary.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it
now. Uhmmm… Thank you,” she said against his lips.

Marc rubbed his nose along hers. “For
what?” He kissed her softly.

“Everything.” Before she could say anything
else, he stole a kiss.

She snaked her arms around his neck,
parting her mouth to allow him entrance. He slid his tongue along hers. She
tasted of family and a future just out of his grasp. Several hard thumps on the
door pulled them apart.

“Is everyone decent?” a man called out.

A grin crept across Gina’s face. “Parker?”

The door sprang wide and a brown-haired man
in his late twenties entered.

Gina ran to him and he plucked her off her
feet, twirling her around the room. “Gina, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”

Behind the athletically built man a
blonde-haired woman waltzed in. Faith was her name if Marc remembered correctly—Parker’s
wife. Where he was tall and muscular, his wife was small and delicate, a wisp
of a woman that a strong breeze would blow away. She came to stand beside Marc.

“Hi, I’m Faith.”

“Marc Charleston.” He chuckled as Parker
set Gina down and then pulled her hair and she shrieked playfully. “They’re
close?”

“On good days. Remember, they’re siblings.”
Faith moved toward Gina. They hugged and immediately started chatting.

“So you’re Marc Charleston?” Parker’s large
hand jutted out to meet Marc’s. The man’s forehead furrowed. “Have we met?”

Marc froze midway through the handshake. “I
don’t believe so.”

Parker grip tightened as he took Marc’s
measure. “Hmmm…” He eased his grasp and then he grinned, watching his sister
and wife with something close to pride in his eyes.

“Hey, I heard we had a celebrity amongst
us,” the low baritone voice met them before another man entered. This one
looked a lot like Parker, but where Parker appeared warm and welcoming, he did
not, his gaze carefully sweeping the room, taking in everything all at once.

Gina met her brother at the door and he
swallowed her up in a big bear hug. “Scottie.” She tweaked his side and he
jumped, releasing her. “Getting a little thick around the middle aren’t you?
What is Carrie feeding you?” She hugged him again.

At the mention of her name, the man’s
dark-haired wife sauntered through the door. “Now don’t you be teasing him. Not
everyone can be slim and trim and the darlin’ of the silver screen.”

If there was any jealousy in the woman’s
tone, Marc couldn’t detect it. Carrie moved close to her husband and
sister-in-law and was welcomed with open arms. In fact, they all seemed to get
along quite well.

As Carrie drifted toward Faith and Parker,
Scott leaned down to Gina. “You okay, sis?” His quiet tone told Marc that he
meant the words for her ears only.

“Yeah.”

“Not real convincing for an actress.” His
keen gaze examined her as though she were beneath a microscope.

“Hey.” She quickly stepped away from him.
“I want you to meet someone. Scott this is Marc Charleston. Marc, my eldest
brother, Scott Easton.”

The tender expression the man had for his
sister disappeared. Marc extended his hand and for a moment he thought Scott
would refuse him. Gina nudged her brother into action and he took the proffered
hand.

Once again, Marc found his character
scrutinized, but this time he read a warning in the intense blue eyes of Gina’s
older brother as his hand closed with a death grip.

“Honey?” Carrie placed her palm on her
husband’s biceps and he released Marc. “We need to check on Sylvia.”

Scott slung an arm around his wife and one
around Gina. “Come on. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Gina flashed Marc a look that he took as an
apology. Then she wiggled out from beneath her brother’s protection, moving to
Marc’s side.

“We’ll be down in a little bit. I need to
change.”

“You look fine to me,” Scott grumbled
before glaring at Marc. Marc, on the other hand, smiled in return.

Carrie shook her head. “Come on, big
fellow. Let’s see what delicacies await us.”

As they all filed out the door, Gina turned
to Marc. “I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. Your brothers
are looking out for your welfare.”

Her brows tugged together. “I’ve never seen
Scott like that before, so rude.”

“Protective,” Marc clarified. “With all the
headlines about you, your entire family is probably wondering what the hell is
going on, and then you show up with me.”

Gina snuggled close to him, her hands
smoothing up his chest, stirring every nerve in his body. Through feathered
lashes, she gazed up at him. Marc cupped the back of her head and leaned in to
capture her mouth. The whimper she released thrilled him, but he knew exactly
what she was doing when her tongue slipped between his lips. Gently, he took a
step back, breaking the caress.