Purse in hand and gaze locked on the hotel’s front door so she couldn’t get flagged down by any drunk guests, Gina almost slammed right into one of the cops who’d been the source of the newly married couple’s tequila supply. Way to go, Regina.
The guy—what was his name, it was something with a G, Gerry? Gionni? No. Johnnie—had stepped away from the hotel’s reception desk and directly into her path. How she managed to stop in time, she had no clue.
“How you doin’ tonight, Miss Wedding Planner?” Johnnie asked, trouble brewing in his slightly unfocused eyes.
Great. This was the last thing she needed right now.
Okay, the real last thing was getting called back to duty by a more-than-tipsy bride, but a run-in with a drunk guest was a close second. Blowing him off wasn’t an option, though.
She had her reputation to consider, and her fledgling company didn’t need the bad word of mouth because he perceived her as being rude. Add to that the fact that her brothers, Paul and Rocco, were known to have had multiple run-ins with the cops, so giving the detective a reason to give her—or her family—a hard time wasn’t a smart move. Sure, it wasn’t like her brothers were top-level guys in the Esposito organization, but they had plans—the stupid kind of ideas she’d spent her entire adult life trying to talk them out of.
The only good part of them being the neighborhood loan sharks was the fact that they actually helped a lot of people who were struggling, much to the detriment of their bottom line. They were the softest loan sharks that ever existed. Her brothers would help anyone with a sob story and give terms that didn’t involve broken legs for late payments. It wasn’t the usual route for loan sharks and that meant their profit margin sucked. They hadn’t told her directly, but she’d heard they were trying to get a better position with the Espositos so they could get someone else to do the debt collecting. Her brothers were sofities, but they also wanted to make a buck.
So while she didn’t have anything, even peripherally, to do with the family business, pissing off the cops and making her brothers targets was not an option. Damn. Some days there really was no winning.
“I’m doing fine, thanks,” she said, using her I’m-here-to-help work voice. “Did you need help with something?”
“I’m good.” He paused, seemingly for effect. “However, there is something that I could do for you.”
There was an awkward pause as he continued to stare at her, and her brain went on the fritz when it came to coming up with inane conversation—because she highly doubted there was anything this guy could do for her. And in her experience, when someone told her they wanted to do her a favor or gave her an I’m-interested look, there were ulterior motives at play. That lovely reminder of how her life worked brought back the old familiar clammy hands and tight chest feeling that hit her hard.
It took a couple of deep breaths, but she got the anxiety under control so much faster than she had in the past. Three cheers for growing up.
“As fascinating as I’m sure the offer is, I’m gonna have to pass.” She tilted her chin back toward the closed ballroom doors, where the pumping bass for the stragglers going late after the newly married couple retired was still going strong. “That wedding tuckered me out.”
“Sure, sure,” Johnnie said, tapping a hotel key against his meaty palm. “It’s just that Ford Hartigan asked me to keep a watch out for you. You know our boy Ford, right? He was the guy you kissed tonight.”
Her cheeks flamed. “Why would he want someone to be on the lookout for me?”
“I couldn’t say for sure,” Johnnie said and then looked over both shoulders before taking a step closer and dropping his voice to a low whisper. “But he asked me to watch out for the hot chick from the Kiss Cam. I think he’s interested, if you know what I mean.”
Gina stiffened. In her entire life, no one had called her “the hot chick.” Absolutely no one. She wasn’t pretty, let alone hot, and denying that fact wasn’t ever going to do her any favors.
Keeping her chin high and her breathing steady—thank you, hours of yoga training—she put on her neutral smile and took a step toward the door. “I gotta go.”
He held up the hotel key card. “Room two-oh-five.”
That stopped her. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s his room number,” he said. “Ford wanted to see you, but he’s stuck in his room waiting for a report to get delivered.”
“Why does he want to see me?” Her natural cynicism warred with the hope for something different this time. He had offered to buy her a drink. She’d been the one to spurn him. And that kiss… Maybe he was hoping for another chance? Could that be possible?
The detective continued, “Look, you’re a smart woman. You know the Kiss Cam was a setup. Ford had been watching you all night, and you may not believe it, but he’s kinda shy and didn’t know how to approach you. The guy’s married to his job. I mean he never dates. I was just trying to do a friend a solid.”
“Really?” She didn’t bother to keep the yeah-sure look off her face even as the quiet voices urging her to believe got louder and louder.
“I know, he’s not the most, shall we say, emotive guy out there, but he’s interested in you, ya know?” Johnnie shrugged. “But if you don’t feel the same, I can pass that message along. He’d just hoped…”
The cop shrugged and let the rest of what he was going to say fade away.
None of this sounded right, but a helium balloon of hope filled her chest anyway. “No offense,” she said. “But why should I believe any of this from you?”
He smacked his hand against his chest over his heart. “Right in the ticker.” Then he held out the key. “Look, you don’t know me from Adam, but I swear I have my buddy’s best interests at heart here, and you seem like a nice lady.” He held up his free hand to stop her from interrupting. “I hate that I put you on the spot with that Kiss Cam thing. Ford feels like shit about it, even though he had no idea what I was up to. He wants to make it up to you. Wanted to at least apologize in person. No one’s forcing an independent, smart woman like you to do anything. Take the key and go talk to Ford or don’t, it’s your choice.”
Gina stared at that key card. Maybe this was a sign that life for her was about to change. That’s what her grandfather would have said.
He would have told her to take this opportunity and seize adventure whenever she could. Spending the night—because they were all grown-ups here, and even though no one was saying it, they all knew that’s what they were talking about—in an overpriced hotel room with a seriously sexy man? That wasn’t something offered to someone like her every day, not even every five years. Who knew if the opportunity would ever come again? And what kind of giant chicken would she be if she walked away from this chance—especially when she wanted him as much as he seemed to want her?
“Fine. I’ll at least let him apologize in person.” She plucked the key from his fingers, pivoted direction, and headed toward the elevators, ready to give opportunity, adventure, and a night of steamy sex with a hot cop a shot.
…
Hot beads of water pounded down on Ford’s shoulders, taking away the tension that had been building there since the disastrous kiss with Gina. Gina. He liked the sound of her name. It rolled off his tongue like a mix between a groan and a wish—especially while his eyes were closed and his hand was wrapped around his cock, giving it a slow, tight stroke.
He hadn’t been lying downstairs. She may not be what anyone would call a beauty queen, but there was something about her, something tempting and challenging, that had caught his attention and made him wonder about…everything. Just how soft was her skin at the dip in her waist? Was her laugh low and dirty or a warm soprano? Would she moan when he unzipped that green dress that had clung to her every curve? What would make her call out his name?