Gia gives no fucks whether I’m going to come or not, and damned if it’s not the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. This is entirely about her pleasure. Her body is slick with sweat when she cries out and grinds against me, coming hard, I come with her.
After a few breathless seconds, she pulls off of me and drops to the bed with a sated smile. I turn my head and meet her gaze.
“I want this, Gia,” I say. “I want this every day. We’ve waited a long time. I know the timing could be better, but I’d rather find a way than not be with you. You already know I have to travel a lot for hockey, but you’re an independent woman. You don’t need me by your side every minute.”
She runs her fingertips over my chest and says, “I want this, too.”
“You do?”
“You know I do. This connection building between us is more amazing than anything I could hope for.”
I kiss her softly, wanting to jump out of bed and do a victory dance.
“Don’t move out of my house,” I say against her lips. “Forget about what happened in the past and enjoy the future with me.”
She stiffens against me, pulling away, her brows narrowed. “I can’t forget.”
“That was a poor choice of words,” I admit. “I don’t mean forget it happened or forget your dad. I just don’t want you doing something stupid and getting yourself killed.”
“Stupid?” She sits up in bed, leaning on her hand. “Who the hell are you, calling my plans stupid?”
Whoa. The tone of our conversation just took a complete one-eighty in about five seconds flat. I cringe at my choice of words yet again.
“I shouldn’t have used the word stupid, babe, but honestly…going after some guy who sounds like a seasoned criminal and is unafraid to kill people—how do you think that’s going to end?”
“The only end I care about is the end of Will Roan. I’ve got enough money to bribe my way into a private game with him and get close enough to do the exact same thing he did to my dad.”
My heart stutters. Even though I knew she was probably planning to kill Will Roan, I still hoped it was something else. That she wanted to have him arrested or take his money in a game. This is the downside of loving a headstrong woman.
“And then what?” I ask her, trying to keep my cool. “You think nothing will happen to you? It’s either death or prison, and the end of us.”
“This isn’t about you.” She slides out of bed and turns on a bedside lamp. “And it’s not about me. It’s about my dad. He was a great man who had a longer life to live. Will Roan treated him like he was worthless and disposable.”
She picks up her panties from the floor and pulls them on. I sigh deeply, not wanting our first night together to end in a fight.
“Your dad didn’t deserve that,” I say. “But what would he want you to do? Would he want you going after this guy, or would he want you to live a happy life?”
She narrows her eyes at me as she reaches behind her back to clasp her bra. “You didn’t know my dad. You don’t know how it felt to know he was about to die. Or how it felt to lose him, or to skip college so I could work as a waitress to help support my brothers. You don’t have any idea what my dad would want.”
“I do, though.” I slide out of bed and pick up my boxers, unable to keep up the empathy for someone being so careless with her life. “If he loved you, and I think he did, he wouldn’t want this.”
“I want it,” Gia says fiercely. “I want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything. For eight years, I’ve fantasized about seeing the look in Will Roan’s eyes the second he realizes he’s about to die. The world will be a better place without him in it.”
“It won’t be a better place without you in it, though. Don’t you give a shit about that? About me?”
She slides her red dress over her head and down her body, her tone icy. “I told you I couldn’t do a relationship from the beginning. You just didn’t want to hear it, so you ignored me.”
I walk closer to her, frustration and anger coursing through my body.
“I figured it was because you had commitment issues or a husband who wouldn’t give you a divorce, not that you have a death wish. It’s insane, Gia.”
Fury lights her eyes as she points at me and says, “You of all people should understand. Why did you go after Hunter Paul like you did the other night?”
“It had nothing to do with Alana.”