“I see.” He nodded, trying to appear as unfazed about this conversation as she was. How the hell did she do it? Sweet, innocent, little Bianca—but from what he was hearing and seeing and from what he’d witnessed all day maybe she wasn’t as innocent as he made her out to be. Could this girl get any hotter? “What else have I done to you in your dreams?”

She licked her lips causing Gio to straighten up with a jerk. “Don’t do that,” he blurted out.

“Oh.” She touched her lips with her fingers. “Right, I’m sorry.”

Bambi replaced the siren in an instant and Gio had to laugh. “It’s okay. Just don’t do it again. What else?”

“Are you sure you don’t wanna talk about…” She gestured toward his bedroom. “You know, what you were watching?”

Gio lifted his eyebrows amazed that just being in the same room with her watching her so closely, listening to her talk about the fantasies about him could put him on such a cloud that even the reminder of Trinidad had no effect on it. “Seriously?” He took a few steps closer to her. “You’re asking me if I’d rather talk about Trinidad than hear about the wet dreams you’ve been having of me?”

They were locked in one of their moments again. The corners of her lips began to slowly curve upward. Sexy siren was back and nothing excited Gio more.

Music once again interrupted their moment. Only this time it didn’t come in the form of a mariachi band outside. It was coming from her robe pocket, reminding Gio she wore nothing but her bathing suit underneath. He could’ve been sitting in the hot tub with her right now having wine instead of standing in the kitchen eating ice cream like the wuss that he was.

Bianca pulled the phone out of her pocket and now Gio could make out a song he’d heard somewhere before. She held up the phone showing a picture of her grandmother on the screen, as the lyrics to the song became clearer.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean.

“That’s Nana’s song to me.” She smiled, then pouted. “I need to get this and I’ll probably be a while. I haven’t talked to her or my mom in over a day. That’s unheard of.” She opened her eyes wide playfully. “I’ll have to catch them up. Plus I still have that seminar I absolutely need to watch.”

“That’s okay,” he said hiding the disappointment. “We have tomorrow.”

Bianca answered but asked her grandmother to give her a second then held the phone to her chest and whispered, “I already miss you.”

God, what he’d give to be able to kiss her that very moment. “I miss you, too,” he whispered back and those incredible eyes of her brightened. She waved her pretty fingers at him before walking away and mouthing the word, goodnight.

Gio took a very big deep breath before setting his bowl of half-eaten ice cream in the sink. Tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.

*

They lay in a meadow. It looked very different than the one Bianca had taken him to because there was no snow, only grass and flowers in every color. Gio was certain it was still the same one. He lay there next to her, his weight on his elbow while his other hand stroked her hair as he stared into her eyes. “I wanna kiss you,” he whispered.

Bianca smiled, making the day suddenly brighter, the intoxicating scent of the flowers that much stronger. “I want you to.”

Gio leaned in with anxious anticipation of tasting her mouth and kissed her—for a very long time. He didn’t need to breathe. He didn’t need anything anymore. This was all he needed—forever. To be lost in Bianca’s world, in her mouth, her kisses. He’d never felt happier in his life. Finally, he pulled his lips away from her and instantly he was lost in her eyes. She smiled again. A smile so blissful—so content. “I love you, Bianca.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered back.

The strong smell of coffee suddenly trounced the smell of the flowers.

Gio opened his eyes for a moment annoyed that he’d been awakened from such a perfect dream. In the next second, he was smiling. The smell of coffee in his nose and the noise coming from the kitchen meant only one thing. It was morning and in a few hours, he’d be holding and kissing Bianca again.

Springing from the bed, he’d never felt this eager to jump in the shower in his life. He took what was probably the fastest shower in the history of the world and even did a little dancing as he dried off and got dressed. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes between the time he got out of bed to the time he took one last look in the mirror before heading to the kitchen.

It was worse than the screeching sound of nails scraping across a chalkboard. Because it wasn’t a sound. It’s what Gio’s insides felt like when he came around the corner. Bianca’s eyes met his before Felix’s. Her eyes said it all. She hadn’t been expecting this either. Gio’s eyes were immediately on Felix’s hands. One was holding hers, the other caressed her belly as he leaned in to kiss her.

“Gio,” Bianca said before Felix’s lips touched hers.

Felix turned, realizing they weren’t alone in the dining room and smirked. “Hey, dude. I’m back.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

The disappointment Gio felt knowing he wouldn’t get to spend the day with Bianca after all, didn’t even come close to what he was feeling that very moment as he watched Felix pull Bianca in front of him wrapping his arms around her waist. He kissed Bianca’s temple and she stared at Gio, her usual beautifully intense eyes now as lifeless as he felt. “You ready to train? I lost enough time already. So when they canceled this morning’s gig I shot straight up here.”