love.” She didn’t like the tone he’d taken or how the easy smile he always wore had dropped a fraction. Gia moved, kicking her packed bags aside looking for something to do with herself that would make Joe think she wasn’t uncomfortable about his declaration. “Months of me wanting…more. Me, who never wanted more from any woman.” He shook, leaning on one elbow as he watched Gia return to her dresser with a small leather pouch in her hand. “You don’t remember how many times I asked for dates or weekend trips?”
“I never counted,” she admitted. It wasn’t a lie. Gia had never kept track, but she would admit that he’d been persistent. She grabbed a small pair of diamond earrings and added them to the gold bracelet she stuffed into the pouch.
“You’re like a man, you know that, love? The way you carry on. How casual you are about sex.” She slipped him a glare and Joe held up his hand. “I know. I sound like a right pig.”
“A little.”
“Six times,” he said, tugging on a pair of black shorts, looking beyond tempting as he stood from the bed. He came to Gia’s side, watching her profile as she abandoned the pouch and picked up the Polaroid of Joe she’d just taken. He glanced down at the image, only half formed, indistinct shapes darkening, coming together in muted colors. “Six times it took me to stop asking after you for dates and things I wanted beyond this bedroom.”
He’d understood, Gia thought. At least, he’d promised he had. No commitment. Nothing at all but the occasional dinner and most of them had been served right in this room, that’s what they’d agreed to. So where was this coming from?
Gia felt a small ripple of irritation burn in her stomach. “Do you want me to apologize?”
“No, I don’t.” He touched her temple, brushing away the flyaway hairs that had loosened from her clip. “I’m just realizing, I’m too old for casual. I want to settle. I want…more.”
She stopped his fingers as they rested against her face and pulled his touch away. “I can’t help with that.”
Joe laughed, but Gia didn’t think he was amused. “How’d I know you say that?” He moved behind her, chin on her shoulder as they both stared down at the Polaroid photo in her hand coming into focus with the white border around the picture of himself sleeping, naked chest exposed as he rested under her white sheets. “I’m name in your contacts, I get that, but I also get the feeling one day, love, someone will come along and make you forget you don’t count the times they ask more of you.”
“That’s not gonna happen.”
She wanted to push him away, even moved her palms over the hands that rested against her waist but didn’t follow through. Joe’s body was warm against hers as he held her, his arms strong, touch comforting and because it would be the last time she saw him, she didn’t mind so much his complaining or how tightly he held her as the image on the Polaroid paper became clearer.
Joe left a soft, warm kiss against her cheek. “It’ll happen, love, trust me. And when it does, when it’s the right fella that makes you count every second, every look, every deep, sweet touch, then you’ll be in a right mess.”
“What kind of mess?” she asked, curious what ridiculous cliché he had ready for her.
But Joe paused for one final kiss. It lingered, that kiss, his searing mouth, melting against hers, the demand of his tongue working something old and sweet and blistering deep inside her as he kissed her.
He took all that heat from her as quickly as he’d set it blazing. “The kind of mess you never want to be out of.”
She watched him dress, the slow movements he made reminded Gia just what had drawn Joe to her. He was feline in his gestures, strong and powerful even as he slipped his jeans over his hips and fastened his casual button-up. A mock salute and wink and Joe left Gia’s room.
She felt…relieved? Melancholy? A little disappointed? She wasn’t sure what to make of the jumble of thoughts and the burn of emotions that ran through her head just then. She did know it was good he’d left without much fanfare. Any passionate arguing or fruitless efforts to convince her to stay in New York would have been out of character for Joe; it would have been out of