He glanced back through the glass doors and saw the guys still drinking by the bar. They all held shots up in the air but Bianca was nowhere to be seen. Feeling a little hesitation, he answered anyway. Who the hell was he kidding? He was suddenly dying to hear her voice. “Hello?”

“Meet me out front in the parking lot,” she whispered rapidly.

“What?” he asked, already headed for the front exit. His heart sped up with every long eager stride.

“Just do it,” she urged.

“I’m on my way.” He nearly broke into a sprint, her voice alone vanquishing all the negative thoughts he’d so recently been thinking.

Yep, there was no question about it. God help him. He was in love.

CHAPTER 21

Pushing through the front door Gio’s eyes scanned the huge parking lot. His eyes zeroed in on Bianca waving at him over by a van. Gio skipped down the stairs in the front now in a full sprint to get to her. When he reached her he didn’t even ask. They could talk later the first thing he did was take her in his arms. He kissed her with a hunger he’d only experienced since the first time he tasted her mouth.

He hadn’t even given her time to remove the mint and it was now in his mouth as he pulled away grinning and holding it between his front teeth, then pulled it back in his mouth and kissed her again. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips, his eyes closed, afraid of what she’d say but more of what she wouldn’t.

As usual, she surprised him. She pulled back and he opened his eyes. Her big eyes stared at him very determinedly. “Before I say this, I want you know that even though this may or may not matter to you, it’s still important to me that you know. I care about Felix but I’ve never loved him. I know you heard me say it to him but I know now what it feels like to be utterly and completely in love. What I felt for Felix… feel for Felix doesn’t even come close to what I feel for you. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, Giovanni Bravo, but I love you so much it hurts.”

He let out a slow breath and felt his heart start up again. “Jesus, Bianca. You scared the shit outta me for a moment there. I wasn’t sure where you were going with that.”

He slid his tongue in her mouth not caring that they stood in the middle of a parking lot where anyone could see them. None of that mattered anymore. He loved her and she loved him. Nothing would keep him from her now.

From the moment he first kissed her she’d kissed him back just as eagerly as she did now. She pulled away, licking her lips then glanced around before turning back to the van and sliding the door open. “Hurry up. Get in.”

“Whose van is this?” Gio glanced around as he climbed into the small cargo van.

The back was completely empty, no seats at all and no cargo of any kind. He glanced back at her as she slid the door closed. Gio about to ask how the hell she scored this when she sat on her knees looking very serious. “It’s Toni’s boyfriend’s,” she said, the apprehension in her eyes as if he’d actually disapprove confused him. “Her car broke down,” she said as she caressed is face now, staring in his eyes. “I just wanted a moment with you alone. I was desperate Gio. It’s what you do to me.”

Feeling the enormous relief of once again having confirmation that he wasn’t in this alone—he wasn’t the only one feeling this maniacal. She was too. He’d never seen anything so clear in another person’s eyes.

He kissed her deeply wanting to assure her he understood completely stopping in between kisses only to tell her again how much he loved her. If there was any doubt about it earlier it was completely gone now.

With that certainty another unrelenting urge had begun to surface. The need to claim her—make him his but it couldn’t happen here.

He pressed against her as she moaned into his mouth. “I want you like I’ve never wanted anything in my life,” she whispered barely able to catch her breath. The flavor of her mint had been pretty strong but it didn’t entirely conceal the taste of wine in her mouth. He had to wonder if this was the alcohol talking.

“I want you, too.” She sucked his neck, making him nearly lose it. Breathlessly, he asked the question that begged for an answer now. “But here?”

She stopped kissing him, staring at him the emotion in her eyes so real, so indisputable no way could there be any truth to Noah’s theory. She was as afraid as he was that this thing between them could never be.

“Do you have protection?” her hushed words fell on him like precious water droplets in the mouth of a man dying of thirst.

“I do, but this is not how I wanted our first time to be. Not in a van. You deserve better, Bianca. You—”

Her fingers touched his lips as her tongue swept over her own lips. “I’ve never done anything like this. It would be a first for me.”

Gio stared at her swallowing hard. The thought of being her first anything had him fighting the urge to rip off her dress. Even with everything her eyes were saying to him, that she loved him just as desperately as he loved her and that she wanted her first reckless sexual experience to be with him, something still nagged at him. He had to know. “Just tell me this. Has anything changed? You didn’t respond to my last text this morning.”

She brought her hands to her mouth her eyes widening. “Oh my God. I did respond but I accidentally sent it to Felix instead.”

Gio sat up. “What?”

She shook her head quickly, placing her hands on his chest. Tracing his lips with calming kisses, she spoke quickly. “It was nothing bad. All I said was that I could hardly wait but he called me on it because it still made no sense to him. I was able to cover up saying I meant to send it to my mom.”