Selena winced inwardly, the insecure girl from high school rearing her ugly head. As soon as she realized what she was thinking, Selena stopped, her head tilting back slightly as she squared her shoulders. This was her world now. She didn’t cringe about anything! Never again! The two of them might get kicked out of this restaurant, but they’d go with their head held high and with a story to tell later on.
But to her surprise, the man winked at Selena, his gaze taking in her figure with obvious appreciation.
“This way,” he took Gianna’s hand and tucked it into his elbow.
A moment later, they were seated at one of the best tables in the restaurant, looking out of a floor to ceiling window that displayed the beauty of the Rocky Mountains in the distance.
“Nice!” Selena whispered after the restaurant manager had walked away with a bow. “I don’t know what you said, but I think you’re a genius!”
Gianna laughed. “I’m glad someone appreciates my brilliance,” she said.
“Uh oh,” Selena chuckled. “Who doesn’t appreciate your genius?” she asked.
Gianna rolled a shoulder as if dismissing the person who had dared to ignore her. “It do not matter,” she announced. “He is unworthy of my attentions anyway.”
Selena leaned back in her chair, admiring the woman. To an outsider, Gianna appeared to be one of those women who got everything she wanted simply by snapping her fingers. But Selena had gotten to know the brunette and had discovered that Gianna was gracious and gentle. She loved life, embraced it with both hands and wanted the rest of the world to be just as happy. There wasn’t a mean bone in her body, unless someone was unfair to another person. Then watch out! Gianna’s imagination would bring the world down around anyone who had dared to hurt another human being’s feelings.
Just the other day, Selena had come around the corner to discover one of the managers berating his administrative assistant. Later that afternoon, the man had come out of the kitchen with a coffee stain covering the front of his dress shirt, muttering curses under his breath. When Selena walked into Gianna’s office, the woman was carefully storing away a nail file, a satisfied look in her dark eyes.
“What did you do?” Selena had whispered, knowing that the spilled coffee was her doing, but not sure how.
“I grew up with brothers,” she explained with a dismissive shrug. “I learned to get back at them in unexpected ways.”
Selena had laughed and mentally vowed never to get on the woman’s bad side.
She leaned forward, curious about Gianna’s anger towards Reid’s brother. “So you have a thing for Brant?” Selena guessed.
Gianna’s dark eyes sparked and she let loose a slew of Italian that Selena didn’t even try to follow. A few more violent hand gestures and then…calm.
“Non e niente per me!” she gushed. From Selena’s knowledge of Spanish, which was similar to Italian, she figured out that Gianna was trying to convince the world that Brant didn’t matter to her. “He is just my boss. Nothing but my boss and only because my father insisted that I come to the United States to gain more experience. Pah!” She took a deep breath, centering herself once again. “Besides, we are talking about you. And why you looked like a wounded animal moments before.”
Selena wasn’t sure what to say. Gianna was too perceptive and it made Selena uncomfortable. But Gianna’s saving grace was that she genuinely cared. The beautiful woman wasn’t asking just out of curiosity. The woman wanted to save the world, Selena thought. It was sweet.
“It really isn’t anything important.”
The waiter arrived. Selena ordered a salad with roasted vegetables and all sorts of interesting berries. Gianna ordered pasta with some sort of exotic cheese that sounded delicious, but Selena knew better. The sauce would be too heavy for her to feel comfortable during the afternoon. So she wasn’t jealous in any way of the other woman’s meal.
“So, what was it?” Gianna asked after the waiter had departed.
“You don’t really give up or forget anything, do you?” Selena asked with a grin.
“Never!” she laughed, tossing her head slightly and all of her dark curls danced around her lovely features. “I’m like a dog with a…” she snapped her fingers in the air. “What’s the phrase? Stick?”