Page 13 of Hot Fake Husband
No man had ever intimidated me before and I’d dealt with a lot of rich and powerful men in my business. I always felt I could hold my own, but Mike still made me feel like I was ten years old. “Yes, sir.”
“Hmm, does she know how you feel?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And she wants to marry you too?”
“She does.”
If only he knew the reason she was so eager to get hitched. I had no doubt he’d let her have it for defiling the institution of marriage for the sake of the almighty dollar. But he didn’t understand how hard it was to build a business from the ground up these days.
“I’ll need to talk to her first, you understand. Make sure she’s ready for this step. I know she’s always talked about wanting to get married and have a family, but I’d never want her to settle just because she’s getting a little older.”
Okay, now I was getting pissed. “You think she’d besettlingfor me?” I’d been told for years that I was a catch, and I’d never had a shortage of women wanting to date me. Who the hell was he to imply I was beneath his daughter?
He raised a hand. “I didn’t say that, son.”
Son? Did he really just say that? No one had called me that since my old man died. I didn’t know if Mike could ever become a father-figure in my life, but I wanted us to get along, for Gia’s sake.
“Then what are you saying? You don’t think I’m the right man for Gia? ‘Cause I can promise you, no one can love her and take care of her the way I can… and will.”
He nodded. “I don’t doubt that. And you’ll get my blessing…afterI talk to my daughter.”
ChapterFive
Gia
I could tell Joel was on edge after his talk with my father, and while he manned the grill and I poured two glasses of my favorite wine, I decided to go on a little fishing expedition.
“Okay,” I said, handing him a glass. “What did my dad say to piss you off?”
He scowled as he took a deep swallow of wine. “Nothing, it’s not important. After talking to you he gave us his blessing, so mission accomplished, right?”
I knew my dad could be a bit much. He’d scared every guy I’d ever dated, and enjoyed it, but Joel had known him forever. I didn’t think he, of all people, would get bent out of shape if my dad gave him a hard time.
I hip-checked him. “Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad. I know my dad likes you. If he was posturing—”
“It’s not like that.” He set his glass down before lifting the lid on his man-size stainless-steel grill. “Okay, maybe it is. He kind of implied I wasn’t good enough for you. And it pissed me off.” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “But what you think, that’s all that really matters to me. You think I’m good enough for you or what?”
Since this wasn’t arealrelationship, I didn’t think it mattered, but since Joel’s delicate male ego seemed to be at stake, I indulged him. “You’re better than any of the other guys I’ve dated, so I’d say… yeah.”
“You can’t say that yet.” His full lips tipped up in amusement. “But I can promise you I’ll be hands down better than all the rest.”
No doubt.I took a sip of the chilled white wine to cool off when that wicked promise started making me all tingly. “Hands down, huh?” I bit my lower lip as I zeroed in on his hands. Tanned, powerful… long, thick fingers. When I thought of all the ways he could make me feel good, after the longest dry spell of my life, I wondered what the hell we were waiting on. Would jumping into bed with Joel be such a bad idea? If it ruined our friendship it would destroy me. But there was no way we could live under the same roof indefinitely and take a vow of celibacy. It wasn’t fair to expect that of him… or myself.
He turned to face me, his gaze sliding to my mouth, before he licked his lips. “Hands. Down.”
I was dying to kiss him, to know if his kisses could possibly live up to my toe-curling expectations, but I didn’t trust myself to stop after just one kiss, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself by coming off as needy and desperate.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.
“Just that it’s crazy that we’ve known each other so long and have never even kissed.” I felt my cheeks grow warm, but I could blame it on the heat from the grill if he called me out. “I mean, not even when we were drunk, back in high school.”
His voice was husky when he dipped his head and whispered, “Probably because I knew I’d never be able to stop after one kiss. You make a man want more, Gia.”
He made me feel irresistible, and it had been a hell of a long time since any man inspired those feelings in me. “Is that so?” I tipped my head back, and our lips were only a few inches apart when I asked, “What do you want from me?”
He set the tongs and his wine down before closing his hands around my waist. “I want it all, G.”
