God. What had she been thinking? She had guilt and just-had-sex written on her forehead. She was an adult, a mother, a business owner. She should know better.
She heard the front door slam and angry footsteps in the hallway. Ignoring the greetings from his family, Beckett burst into the kitchen in a cloud of pissed off. His gaze locked on to Gia’s still pink face and he started toward her with the purpose of a charging bull.
She backed up a pace and was debating about skirting around the other side of the island when he caught her. His warm hands closed like clamps on her arms.
She shook her head. She wasn’t ready for this, was he?
He dragged her to her toes and kissed her fiercely on the mouth. The thoughts flew out of her mind, breath leaving her body. He kissed her and she tasted anger, possession, and something else. Something dark and sweet.
Before she realized what was happening, he’d pulled away.
“Gianna and I are seeing each other,” he announced briskly without taking his eyes off of her.
Gia caught a glimpse of the reactions around the kitchen. Jax was frozen with his beer halfway to his mouth. Franklin looked dazed holding the spatula while Phoebe’s mouth formed a perfect “o”. Carter and Summer were grinning like idiots.
Joey strolled in from the powder room and surveyed the scene. “What did I miss?”
Beckett towed Gia toward the door. “We’re telling the kids. Enough with this sneaking around.”
It was quiet enough in the kitchen to hear the spoon that Phoebe dropped strike the floor as the door slammed behind them.
“Beckett, what the hell was that?”
He rounded on her. Toe to toe in the drive he was braced for battle. “I’m tired of sneaking around, Gianna. And you should be, too. What we have isn’t some fling, some secret affair. It’s fucking real.”
“I know it’s fucking real, Beckett.”
She saw the beginnings of a smile play across his lips. “But damn it, it’s our decision to make whether or not we tell people about us. Not yours.”
“Don’t you want to tell the kids?” Like the flip of a switch, he was back to angry now.
She threw her hands up. “Of course I want to tell them. I’ve been dying to tell them. I’ve started to tell them a hundred times this week alone. They’re starting to think I’m even crazier than they already do.”
“Then why are you so mad?”
“Because I wanted to be part of this decision. I was working on a speech to convince you. With logic and everything. And you ruined it by going all lone cowboy in there and kissing the crap out of me.”
“Red,” he cupped a hand to her face. “Sweetheart, you don’t have to convince me. I already know.”
“What do you know?” she asked stubbornly.
He stepped in on her and brought his forehead to hers. “I know that you care about me.” He clapped a hand over her mouth when she started to protest. “And I know that I’m head over heels for you, Gianna. You are never out of my head. I want us to be an official us.”
“What about Evan and Aurora?” Gia didn’t want to leave anything left unsaid before she let her hopes rocket into the stratosphere.
“You’re a package deal and a damn good one. Your kids are one of the best pieces of you.”
“You want to be with me … with all of us?” Gia asked breathlessly. Her mind was spinning.
“Yeah. And you want to be with me,” he nodded. “I’m tired of playing hide and seek, ducking around corners. I want everyone to know that you’re mine and I’m yours.”
“I’d still like to have been part of that decision before you devoured my face in front of our parents.”
Beckett smiled down at her, his hands stroking her back. “I’m sorry for that. In the future we’ll be partners in decision-making. But I still want to tell Evan and Rora today. Now preferably. Can we?”
She heard the giggles of her kids wafting on the night air. Her heart swelled and her eyes stung. Beckett Pierce wanted to be a part of the family she’d built. “I’d like that,” she said on a little hiccup.
“Don’t do that, Gianna,” he said, bringing his hands to her face. “Don’t cry or you’ll freak them out.”
“I’m just really happy,” she sniffled.
“Me, too, Red. Me, too.” He brought his lips to hers in a warm, gentle kiss, sealing the deal. They were oblivious to the faces pressed against the glass behind them.
27
She was going on a date. An honest-to-goodness, freaking date. Whatever the hell that meant. Gia held up the short red dress in the mirror and then tossed it on the bed in favor of the soft forest green with elbow-length sleeves. When was the last time she’d been on a date?
Paul, probably a few months before she got pregnant, she thought, tugging the dress over her head. Subtle on top with its criss-cross fabric gathered over the bodice, it went sexy with the short, swingy skirt that ended several inches above her knees.
She paired it with her favorite heels in a creamy-gray snakeskin pattern.