CHAPTER 12
Arianna
The one thing I could say with certainty is that my life had become an emotional rollercoaster ever since Giovanni Romano entered it. I’d gone from being enamored with him, to hating his guts. And somehow, I’d managed to sleep with him twice already within two weeks. It was nonsensical, and so utterly unlike myself. As I’d stated time and time before, I simply wasn’t that kind of girl. Before two weeks ago, if someone had told me that I would have slept with a virtual stranger twice in two weeks, I would have assumed they’d had me mistaken for someone else.
Yet, the warm tingling sensations and the remnants of the deep pleasure coursing through my body was a solid reminder that it had definitely been me who’d done those deeds.
I just didn’t know what it was about Giovanni that caused me to behave so irrationally.
Nonetheless, I figured that since I'd dared to be intimate with him twice already, I could at least be reasonable and allow him to take me out on a regular date that didn’t involve taking our clothes off.
We were moving backward, but after the impromptu lovemaking session we’d just had, I finally decided to let him take me out to dinner.
He was waiting downstairs for me as I showered and got dressed. My parents still weren’t home, but I knew they’d be more than happy to know that I was out with him. He and his family had managed to thoroughly charm them both at dinner last week. Each day since they had been asking me if I’d spoken with him and when I had plans to meet with him again.
“He’s such a handsome and polite young man, Ari,” my mother had said. “I hope you’re pleased.”
It felt weird to stress about what to wear out to dinner with him, but as I stood before my closet, wrapped in a bath-towel, I agonized over it nonetheless.
“I was under the impression we were going to dinner today still…” Gio had shouted from downstairs.
“Oh, shut up!” I yelled back, although I did feel somewhat guilty for how long I’d had him waiting.
Finally, I settled for a casual sundress and a pair of open toed sandals. I kept my makeup light, tossed on a jacket, put on some earrings, and combed my hair straight down. I then grabbed my purse and cell phone and headed back downstairs.
The way Gio looked at me made me blush all over again.
Perhaps that was part of what made him so appealing. No matter what inner turmoil I felt toward him, whenever he looked at me, he made me feel as if I was the most beautiful woman in the world. Maybe that was why he always managed to make me behave so irrationally.
“You look stunning,” Gio said, still eyeing me appreciatively. “Now I feel under-dressed.”
“Are you afraid that I’m showing you up?” I asked.
He laughed. “You would do that regardless, no matter how you dressed. And trust me—that’s a hard feat to pull off.”
Again, I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d never met someone who succeeds in being so modest and cocky at the same time, but Gio had such a contradiction perfected. I supposed it was all for my benefit though, for he was so good-looking that it felt like a chore making myself presentable enough to be in his presence.
As I stared at him, it struck me again how ridiculously handsome he was, with his long hair, amber eyes, and deep dimples.
“Any place in particular that you’d like to go?” he asked as we approached the front door.
“This was your idea. Surprise me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
* * *
Either he thought I had extravagant tastes, or he was trying really hard to impress me. Whatever the case, we wound up at a fancy and expensive restaurant with things on the menu I could hardly pronounce.
The most troubling thing, however, was that I couldn’t tell if he was succeeding in impressing me. A part of me still felt guarded around him, as if he couldn’t be trusted for some reason. I too keenly remembered how he had made me feel the night after we first met—that emotional blow was proving difficult to move past, even though I’d learned the truth about why he had initially treated me that way. On the other hand, there was another part of me that had a hard time continuing to hate him.
There was just something about him that made it impossible to not feel warmth creeping into my face and in other areas of my body…
He glanced up from his menu, likely feeling me staring at him.
I lowered my gaze, feeling yet another blush spreading across my face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Not your kind of place?”
I glanced around the restaurant—at the dimly lit chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings, the candle-lights lining the decorative walls, and the wealthy older couples scattered about at the tables around us. “It is a little much,” I admitted.
“I just thought I owed you something like this.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And why is that?”
A devilish smirk slowly spread across his face, putting those adorable dimples on display. He leaned across the table to me. “You were making me feel cheap. You’ve thoroughly rewarded me twice already, and I hadn’t even taken you to dinner.”
I averted my gaze, feeling as if someone had just lit a match over my face. With shaky hands, I reached for my glass of water.
Gio’s chuckling drifted across the table. “I’m just messing with you. But still—it’s true.”
The ice-water was too cold going down my throat, and I had to suppress a cough.
“Am I being tactless?”
“Yes,” I said, setting the glass back down.
“I’m sorry.”
“So, what are you getting?” I asked, flipping through the menu and wanting to change the subject.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Gio looked back to his menu as well. “Chicken parmesan sounds nice. At least it’s something I can pronounce.”
A grin flashed across my face, and I held back a laugh. My nerves, at least, started to subside again. “Next time, take me somewhere that you can pronounce everything on the menu then, wise guy.”
Gio nodded. “Will do,” he said. “I promise. So, what are you getting then?”
My eyes scanned over the dinner entrees, in search of something familiar that I could comfortably eat. “Maybe I’ll try to the grilled salmon and mixed vegetables.”
“Sounds like a winner.” With that, Gio raised a hand in the air and waved over our waiter.
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked politely.
“Yes,” Gio said. “Grilled salmon and mixed vegetables for the missus, and chicken parmesan for me.”
“Coming right up. May I offer you a bottle of wine and appetizers while you wait?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
The waiter returned with a bottle of red wine and a loaf of buttered bread and assorted cheeses.
I pinched off a piece of bread. “The missus?” I said. The sound of the phrase leaving Gio’s mouth rang in my ears. It was disorienting to know that it had referred to me.
Giovanni shrugged his shoulders and then took a sip of wine. “Well, you are, aren’t you? Or are you going to call things off with me?”
I pursed my lips and swallowed the piece of bread with some difficulty. “No…”
“You sure?”
“My parents would kill me.”
“But what do you want? How do you feel about it, Arianna?”
When I refrained from answering right away, Gio lowered his head and gave a little whistle. Somehow, his figure seemed to deflate right in front of me, and I felt a certain pang in my chest, not at all liking the expression on his face.
“I’m that bad, huh?” he said.
I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just…It’s all so…strange. I mean, I knew this time was coming but…”
“It’s not something you can easily prepare for.”
I nodded. “Yeah. All my life, I figured I’d be ready when the time came, but now, I’m not so sure anymore.”
“Well, let me ask you this—do you think it would be easier for you if you had been matched with someone else?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I honestly don’t know anymore. Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“With you, it just feels…”
“Wrong?”
I sighed. “I just feel that we did things backward, that’s all. And I’m not sure how I feel about that. It makes me feel indecent, as a woman. My mother didn’t raise me to…”
“Give yourself away before marriage?”
I swallowed nervously and nodded. “I don’t know what it is about you that makes me go against everything I’d been taught.”
“I guess it’s my good looks. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Most women would have a hard time resisting me.”
I looked up at him and blinked.
He burst out laughing. “Relax, Ari. I’m just joking.”
“No, you’re not,” I said, laughing regardless. “You are the cockiest person I’ve ever met.”
He grinned slyly. “Let me hear you say that again.”
My face flushed again. I shook my head. “Stop it,” I said.
Giovanni laughed heartily. “You are so hot when you’re embarrassed. It’s adorable, really.”
“How am I supposed to put up with you?”
“Just keep doing what you did to me before we left the house. That’ll work for me.”
“Gio, stop it!” I said through an uncontrollable laugh that was steadily building up inside of me.
“Stop what?” he said, feigning innocence.
I was spared from having to answer him when our food arrived.
“Thank you,” I said to the waiter as he set my plate before me.
“Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“No, thank you,” Gio responded.
The waiter nodded and left our table.
“For the record,” Gio said, after we’d been eating in silence for a while, “I think this can work out fine. You and me.”
“Of course, you do,” I said. “You believe you’re God’s gift to women, don’t you?”
“No, but I do think it was a gift for me to get matched to you. At this point, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Luck was certainly in my favor.”
“Do you say that to all the girls?”
“Not at all.”
He stared at me from across the table again, and my body began to tingle. I started to think about the feel of his body, and suddenly desire almost suppressed my appetite. As I tried to focus on eating, I couldn’t help wondering if he could sense the direction of my thoughts based on the way he suddenly seemed unable to take his eyes off me.
I suppose it really could have been worse. My parents could have paired me with someone a lot less appealing, which made me feel that it was perhaps time to accept things the way they were. I had been paired with a handsome man with a decent family, who was just as attracted to me as I was to him. So maybe Giovanni Romano had a point—this could work out.