Love by the Slice (Harbor Point Book 1) Read online

  “Have you always worked with Gramps?” I smiled at the way Gio referred to my grandpa. Everyone did. Showed how lovable Gramps is.

  “No.” I looked over at him. His eyes narrowed in on me and his head cocked to the side. “Don’t look at me like that. I spent every summer here in high school and in college but I knew I’d be back after graduation.”

  “Why?” It was an innocent question but it took me a minute to answer.

  “Lots of reasons. I love it here. Always have. You know there are pictures of me making pizza crust at four years old hanging in the office? This place is home.” I made the drop in the night depository then we turned back toward the beach.

  “What about your real home? Your parents?”

  “We moved pretty often. This was the constant. After Grams died I didn’t want Gramps to be all alone. But my parents never loved it. My mom is a local, met my dad and off they went.”

  “No brothers or sisters?”

  I shook my head. “Apparently, I was enough to handle.” He laughed loudly. “Seriously, I wasn’t an easy child. Stubborn. Except when I came here. And both my parents were only children so I don’t even have cousins.”

  His lips parted in a soft ‘o’ and his eyebrows shot up. I gave the same look back to him

  “I thought we were the only small Italian family on the planet. Yours is even smaller.”

  “I know,” I said with a giggle.

  “It’s just hard to imagine doing something because you love it instead of being obligated to it,” he said quietly without looking at me.

  “So I take it you have a wonderfully loving relationship with your family?”

  He snorted. “Not hardly. Your parents cool?”

  “They’re ok. Actually, you’ll be able to make that call yourself. They’ll be here soon. They come in every year and bug everyone to check up on us.”

  With the party already in full swing before we arrived, the summer got its kick-off in a comfortable way. This was tradition. It seemed weird that Gio, Carly, and the others had only been with us a few weeks and yet we were already becoming a family. The only negative I could think became the chilly breeze coming off the water and I cursed myself again for forgetting a sweatshirt as a full body shiver took me over. To remedy that, I did my best to stay as close to the fire as I could.

  I chattered to a couple of the girls who worked at the bookstore down the block when something wrapped around my shoulders. I glanced up to find Gio securing his hoodie over me. It was still warm and snuggly from his body heat and immediately made my body unclench. His scent lingered on the fabric. A manly aroma of musk and soap and I wanted to bottle it. The thing dwarfed me in size. The arms covered my hands and it fell to my knees.

  “Aren’t you going to get cold?” I asked but still, put my arms into the hoodie because I didn’t intend to give it back.

  “Nah, I’ll be fine.”

  “Then thanks.”

  “Want to walk down the beach with me?” he asked.

  I did. I wanted to badly but thought I probably shouldn’t. I was becoming too attached to Gio already. For once, I went with what I wanted to do instead of what I should do and agreed to walk with him.

  “It really is beautiful here,” he said once we were away from the group.

  We walked along the edge of the water. Close enough to enjoy the sound of waves gently lapping against the sand but not close enough for our feet to get wet. The inside of his sweatshirt protected me from the night breeze.

  “So, still liking it here?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” Well, he didn’t sound convincing. I nudged his arm with my shoulder to get him to give me more. “What?” He laughed. “I like it here. It’s better than anywhere else I’ve gone.”

  “Have you moved a lot?”

  “Not really moved but I’ve had to go to a lot of different places.” Gio shoved his hands into his pockets as we slowed our pace.

  “Why is here better?” His eyes locked on mine for a full thirty seconds. “I mean, I think this is the best place on Earth but I have family here. I’m not from a city like Chicago. I like the slower pace.”

  He stopped walking.

  “How do you know I’m from Chicago?” His jaw tensed.

  Damn. I did let that slip. In the moment I had to be grateful for the bright full moon not being enough to fully illuminate the beach. Because if it had, he’d be watching my entire body flush.

  “Oh, I saw your application.” I tried to cover it by adding, “I do all the filing.” Gio smirked at me. “What? It’s not a big deal.” I got myself moving hoping he’d follow. He did.

  “You checked up on me.” It wasn’t an accusation and I could hear the smirk in his voice. He wasn’t mad. But it was like the time he caught me watching him in the breakroom. Embarrassing.

  “Shut up.” I laughed because I couldn’t help it. He caught me and I couldn’t do anything about it.

  We made a U-turn to head back toward the crowd of people which had grown since we left.

  “Is it always like this?” he asked nodding toward the group.

  “Mostly. I mean I don’t come that often but there are always a lot of people.”

  “This is a great group you’ve got.”

  Nudging him with my elbow, his big brown eyes met mine. “It’s your group too if you want it.”

  Right then, with his gaze heavily on mine, he licked his bottom lip and took a step toward me. My breathing kicked up a notch and without meaning to, I stepped toward him. Anticipation swirled low in my stomach. That sweet tingling engulfing my entire body, followed by the pounding of my heart so loud I’d swear everyone around us could hear it. The kind of feeling that only comes right before a first kiss…or right before the promise of an amazing first kiss. As he leaned in, at the very last moment, reason returned and I took a step back while Gio snapped back to stand pin straight.

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  He grimaced, glanced away and scratched his jaw.

  Sighing, I wished I hadn’t let things get this far. He was as confused as I was torn between what I wanted and what was appropriate. That look didn’t belong there. The angel architects who decided this face would be planted on Earth didn’t intend for their masterpiece to ever be this blemished. I couldn’t date someone from work no matter how much I wanted to.

  He grimaced. “Wow, don’t even have to think about it, do you?”

  “No.” The flirting, the heat whenever our eyes locked. It was real for the both of us. “You work for my grandpa. It wouldn’t be right.”

  The excuse had made sense in the past. But not when he moved toward me slowly, an intense almost feral look in his eyes. He cupped my face, fingers teasing behind my ear and brushed his lips against mine. My breath faltered. The feel of his skin against mine went all the way to my toes. My heart stuttered then sped up erratically from his warmth. His lips touched mine again, this time firmer. Heat raced through my veins when his tongue nudged at the seam of my mouth. My body relaxed against him as I opened my mouth just enough for his tongue to lightly stroke mine. His mouth absorbed the moan that I didn’t mean to release and my toes curled inside my shoes. All I knew was Gio. The smell of his soap and the feel of his muscles…it was all him surrounding and consuming me. My chest expanded and felt like it was going to burst wide open. I had never been kissed like this but then I pulled away. We were getting to the point where I wouldn’t want to stop. Hell, I didn’t want to stop now. The feel of his lips still burned my skin even after we parted. My entire body was warmer with desire brimming right at the surface. I wanted more.

  Our chests heaved as we tried to catch a breath.

  “At least let me walk you home,” he said.

  I nodded and then held up a finger to ask for a minute. My ability to speak may have escaped into his mouth while we were connected because my voice didn’t work. I couldn’t form words that would make sense. I paused just long enough to make sure my legs would work and I could tell Carl
y I had to leave then I led the way toward my apartment.

  Chapter Four

  “You live with Gramps?” Gio asked once we could see Gramps car in the driveway.

  “Yes and no. When I was in college he had the garage remodeled into an apartment. When I came home for the summer we both still had our own space. It made sense to move back in when I came back for good.”

  “That sounds nice.”

  Unable to respond due to his fingers threading through mine, I nodded my agreement. He acted as if holding my hand was the most natural thing in the world, and though I should’ve pushed him away, I couldn’t find it in me.

  “It is.”

  “When are you parents coming out?” he asked.

  “Next week.

  In my mind, I was obsessing about the kiss but he kept talking about my parents. He didn’t always respond the way I thought most people would which is part of what I liked about him. I liked the unexpected.

  “What if I quit?” he asked out of nowhere.

  “Huh?” I jerked my head toward him as my stomach grew heavy like a giant tight knot was forming.

  “If I quit. Would you go out with me then?”

  “No.” Gio groaned as he dropped his head back in frustration. “Gio, seriously.” I cupped his face to pull it down eye level. “If you quit then I’d have to pick up the hours because there’s no way I’d let Gramps work that much, all I’d be doing is working. No time for dating.” I hoped he’d see the logic as I did. “Why are you so determined about this? We’re friends, right? Why isn’t friends good enough?”

  “I like you. You’re beautiful.”

  My face burned at his answer. Thankfully, the darkness meant he couldn’t see the brush of color across my skin. Below the surface, my insides jumped for joy. Actually, I think my insides may have done a backflip and high fived themselves.

  Gio thought I was beautiful.

  We approached my apartment. After getting the door unlocked, I turned back to find Gio leaning, one arm over his head on the edge of the doorjamb. His shirt inched up exposing a small sliver of taut skin and I swear there something dark marked him there, too. Gah, how many tattoos did this guy have? I shouldn’t want to know the answer. Gio without his shirt had to be spectacular. The curve of muscles with clothes on would be nothing compared to the beauty of his perfectly sculpted olive masterpiece. In my imagination, he had more tattoos than I could see but not enough to completely cover him. That would be a travesty. My fingers ached to touch him—see if his body was as hard as he looked. He had to be.

  “Well…goodnight,” I said tearing my attention away from an olive colored piece of heaven teasing me from under his t-shirt. Looking away didn’t help. Averting my eyes only accomplished a search of the tattoo covered arm pushing against the building. Man, I wanted to know how far up it thing went.

  He watched me intently, I started to squirm at the smirk on his face, I’d been attracted to guys before but with him it was different. Gio looked and acted as if someone said ‘let’s create exactly what Bianca wants’ and bam Gio appeared.

  “Night, Bianca.”

  Instead of turning away he pinched my chin between his thumb and finger. His eyes lingered on mine with enough heat to make desire flooded my body. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop my stomach from tightening or my skin from flushing. I willed myself to turn away—get a little distance between us—but my body wouldn’t cooperate. As he leaned in, my heart somersaulted. His lips brushed against mine—the faintest trace—before he turned and walked away leaving a chill in me that had nothing to with the night air.

  I tossed and turned in bed, and although I wanted to blame the clammy air for the lack of sleep, his kiss haunted me, keeping my body on high alert and my brain awake. I twisted against the sheets, imagining his hands sliding up my thighs. Gah! Stuffing my face in the pillow, I stayed that way for most of the night, slipping into sleep every now and then only to be woken up by the memory of his lips on mine. When the sun began to rise, I tossed the covers aside and headed to the beach to clear my head.

  I couldn’t remember a time when I thought about a guy as much. The chemistry between us came alive whenever we were near each other but I knew better than to date someone I worked with and I mentally added up the number of days until he left at the end of the summer, which was too many, yet not enough. The days were going to be torture.

  I also found myself admiring his moxie. He wasn’t self-conscious when he admitted he liked me. For him, it seemed like the easiest thing in the world, but people usually didn’t do that and there’s something about a guy who did. Confidence to the level Gio had added to his sexiness, something he didn’t need any help with.

  Successful avoidance helped for the first few hours of work. Mostly, I hid in the office trying to tame the pile of paperwork amassed on Gramps’ desk. Gio was scheduled to work the early shift with Joe and I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing him right away. Being around Gio was about to get infinitely harder now that I knew what his lips felt like, what he tasted like. I’d never had to fight against something I wanted this hard in my life.

  The way he kissed me wasn’t like any guy I’d been with. Better and his technique dripped with experience. I wasn’t a blushing virgin but this guy…he knew what he was doing. His kind of knowledge came with lots and lots of practice. I absolutely did not want to be thinking about how much practice he’d had right then, or ever really. Thinking about Gio with other woman annoyed the crap out of me, however, it made no sense. He wasn’t mine. Even if he was, we all have a past. It wasn’t something to get worked up over. I had to remind myself of those things.

  Everything went well until Gramps popped his head in and asked me to help in the kitchen to clear the beach window backlog. As much as I wanted to continue my avoidance techniques, I couldn’t say no to Gramps. I couldn’t say no yet didn’t want to say yes. As the good grand-daughter/employee, I headed in and asked Joe where he needed me while trying to ignore Gio but not look like I was. Somehow I felt like I time warped back to high school.

  After taking a few of the order slips I got to work, positioning myself in such a way my back remained turned toward Gio the entire time. Not by accident.

  I had no idea what the hell was wrong with me.

  I’d hooked up (once) with a random guy in college and it wasn’t even this weird the next morning. But Gio Diamati kissed me and I became the awkward teenager who can’t look the guy in the eye. But the more I looked at him the more I wanted to go beyond just looking and those thoughts were going to be problematic for me.

  “Hey, Bianca.” His voice cut through the room previously only filled with the sound of us working. No one had time for small talk or gossip when we got busy.

  “Yeah?” I turned to him too quickly whacking the end of the sauce filled ladle against a pot. The red stuff sprayed into the air, hitting me in the face, covering my t-shirt and splattering to the floor. My face burned as Joe and Gio roared. Bastards.

  “Here.” Joe threw a cloth at me while trying to tame the laughter. “I’ll grab the mop.”

  As he walked away shaking his head, I called after him, “Glad to bring you amusement.”

  While I vigorously wiped at the mess I made, Gio stalked over, picked the ladle up off the floor then tossed it easily into the nearby sink before his attention settled on me. His smirk asked, no begged to be smacked but the burning of scarlet of embarrassment on mine wouldn’t go away. I wasn’t usually such a clumsy girl.

  Pretending like it was no big deal, I tried to finish cleaning myself up but instead, he grabbed the cloth and gently wiped the areas of my face I’d apparently missed. He worked slowly, our eyes locked the entire time. When he grabbed my chin to hold me still, my breath caught in my chest at the contact. I had absolutely no ability to hide how he made me feel anymore.

  “Jumpy?” he asked.

  I shrugged.

  “Want to tell me why?”

  “Not really.”r />
  “Because I kissed you?”

  Again, I shrugged. If I didn’t admit it, it wouldn’t be true, right?

  “I won’t do it again if you don’t want me to but I couldn’t help it.”

  My stomach dropped like I’d plummeted down the first hill on a rollercoaster. He couldn’t resist me? Unlikely. I wasn’t one of those girls who walked around not knowing they’re beautiful yet all the guys want. I wouldn’t call myself beautiful but I’m a pretty girl with a nice body. But irresistible? Not so much.

  Joe returned and, gave the floor a quick wipe to make it safe again. Once the kitchen got caught up, I excused myself to change my ruined t-shirt. Tomato sauce never fully comes out, even an accidental spill meant bye-bye shirt, which sucked because it was one of my favorites. My own fault for wearing it to work, and for being spazzy around Gio. I needed to clean-up and cool-off, working in close proximity to him warmed me in ways that had nothing to do with the approaching summer weather. After five minutes of alone time, I decided to check on the dining room. It’s not like I could stay holed up by my locker forever anyway.

  “Bianca,” Gramps called, “you didn’t tell me Nicky’s back in town.” One of my two best friends stood next to my grandpa chatting like they were old friends. Which they were since Gramps knew him almost as well as he knew me. Almost as long too

  Nick had always been tall and lean but his time in the kitchen as a chef—it did things to his body. Good things. Age filled him out but the chopping and whisking created long, lean muscles in his arms and shoulders. His brown hair had grown long enough to curl around his ears. It hadn’t been that way since we were fifteen.

  He lived here while I went to high school in Michigan so we got summers together. Then we were both away at school. When I moved to The Point, he had moved away for work. It sucked. Walking over to where he stood near the office, I couldn’t keep the smile from forming on my face.