Loving Gigi (14 page)

One month. It had never taken that long to forget the taste of a woman, the scent of her, the feel of her lips beneath his. Kane threw a towel across the back of his neck and headed out of his office. Regardless of how he felt about Gigi, he’d made his decision. If it took six months, a year, two years, of working around the clock to end his fixation with her, that’s what he would do.

It wasn’t just about how Gio might feel about Kane dating his little sister; it was also the look Kane had seen in Gigi’s eyes each time she’d talked about her family. She’d spent a lifetime yearning for what was becoming a reality for her—a relationship with her brothers. He refused to jeopardize that in any way.

She deserved this time with her family.

But, damn, I want her.

‡

G
igi walked into
her West End Edinburgh office with Annelise’s favorite skinny latte and a thick manila folder.

Annelise brushed her wild, blonde hair out of her face and smiled. “You’re back.” She rushed from behind her desk to hug her. “And you brought lattes. I love you! How was it?”

Gigi placed the folder on a small table and sat down facing Annelise on the leather couch that had taken six months for the two of them to be able to afford. “It was crazy, but good. I’m sorry I didn’t call. A month sounded like a long time when I originally planned it, but it went by too quickly. I looked up, and it was time to come home.”

Annelise hugged her again. “I’m glad you said home. I’ll admit when you originally said you’d be staying there for so long I started to worry. One taste of the sweet life and you might not want to come back.”

“The sweet life?”

“You said your brothers have money. The way I saw it, there were only two ways that could go. Either you’d feel out of place, or you’d fit right in. If you loved it there, I imagined they’d offer to take you in and let you stay and, really, who could blame you if you did?” Annelise picked up her coffee and took a sip of it. “Outside of me. I’d hate you a little for leaving me.”

Gigi had felt badly putting her workload on Annelise for so long, but she hoped what she was about to tell her would make up for it. Gio had warned her not to tell anyone about her inheritance, but Annelise wasn’t just anyone. They’d been close from the first day they’d met at boarding school. They had chosen to attend the same college, and had built their business together. When they’d first moved to Scotland, money had been tight and Annelise had been generous with what little she’d had. Annelise was like a sister to her and would remain that way regardless of how much her biological family grew.

There was no denying, though, that Gigi’s life would be different now. She needed to work out what that meant, and she wanted to do it with her best friend beside her. She picked up the folder and handed it to Annelise.

“What’s this?”

“Do you remember when we started this business?”

“Yes.”

“And you said all you really wanted was to be able to pay off your college loans?”

Annelise nodded.

“They’re paid,” Gigi said, flipping open the folder on her friend’s lap. “Along with the loan we took out for this building.”

Annelise flipped through the paperwork, her sharp eyes missing nothing. It was one of the million reasons Gigi loved her. She didn’t doubt that, had she asked Annelise, she could have quoted the total amount paid off to the penny for each receipt she was flipping through. “I don’t want to sound unappreciative, Gigi, but I don’t know your brothers. You shouldn’t have let them pay off my bills. Yours, maybe. I mean—you’re their sister. But I can’t accept this.”

Gigi took her friend’s hand in hers. “They didn’t pay your loans off. I did. There was a third possibility that neither of us considered, Annie. I had an inheritance waiting for me. A substantial one. So don’t you dare not accept it.”

Annelise flipped through the paid bills again. Tears filled her eyes. “It’s too much, Gigi. Even if it’s from you.”

“You paid my rent for months when we first came here. I’m not doing more for you than you would have done for me if our situations were reversed.”

“I’ll pay you back. You have to be smart with money, Gigi. Even if it feels like a lot, you’d be surprised how fast it can disappear. My father used to gamble professionally, and my mother would always take half of his winnings and put it in an annuity he couldn’t spend. Otherwise he could spend £50,000 just celebrating that fact he’d won £25,000. Unfortunately, after Mum died, there was no one to stop Da, and he went through everything he had in one wild binge. That’s why I had to take out loans for my education. Da went through my money as well as his.”

“Oh, Annelise. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“It’s not really something I brag about. Da’s okay now. He’s remarried to a very nice woman who made him choose between gambling and her. Thankfully, he chose her. He might have had more money when my mum was alive, but now he sees how he got it wasn’t healthy. The wins were highs for him, but the lows that followed were hard on us all.”

Gigi thought about what her brothers had said about money changing people and the temptations that came with having it. It could be a blessing or a curse. She was beginning to see what they meant. “Have I told you how glad I am we’re friends?”

Annelise smiled broadly. “No, but I know exactly how you feel. It’s good to have you back, Gigi.”

“It’s good to be back,” Gigi answered and closed her eyes briefly. She’d gone to the States because some questions couldn’t be answered anywhere but there. And they had been. Now she was back in Edinburgh, with a new question:
Where do I go from here?
She opened her eyes and stood. “I have a project I need you to help me with.”

Annelise didn’t hesitate. “You’ll know I’ll do whatever I can.”

“I want to find all the items my mother sold off and buy them back for her. It’s the opposite of what we’ve been doing. Instead of helping people sell things, we’ll be trying to buy everything back.”

Wrinkling her nose, Annelise said, “Do you think they’ll want to part with them? You know how collectors are.”

“My mother gave up so much for me, and she shouldn’t have had to.” Gigi squared her shoulders with determination. “I need to at least try.”

“What does this mean for our company?”

“Do you remember how we said we’d hire an assistant if we could afford one? Let’s do it. Let’s get out of this office and even out of Europe. Are you game?”

“I’m in. Does you mother know about your inheritance?”

“I went to see her before I came here. I didn’t tell her how much I got, but she doesn’t care. She gave me the same lecture you did. She worries I’ll run through it.”

Annelise stood and walked to the door with Gigi. “Want to go for breakfast? I want to hear all about New York. Names. Descriptions. Everything. Especially about the part you tried to gloss over earlier. Did you really see your Mr. Zing again? How was that?”

Gigi’s smile wavered. “Breakfast sounds perfect, but I don’t want to talk about Kane.”

They stepped out of the building together. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s not good or bad, it’s nothing. Which is why I don’t want to talk about it. Okay?”

Annelise linked arms with her as they walked. “Gotcha, but we do need to discuss something that’s bothering me. Who comes back from a vacation thinner? Don’t rich people eat? I looked at a scone yesterday, and my pants are tight today.”

Gigi laughed with relief and felt the tension that had filled her at the mention of Kane’s name melting away. This was Annelise; there was no reason to hide anything from her. They hadn’t made it more than a block from the office when Gigi said, “I kissed Kane again, and it was better than I remembered, and I remembered it being really, really good.”

Annelise gave a skip of joy beside her. “I’m so glad we’re not talking about him. Wait. Kiss? That’s it? You didn’t sleep with him?”

“Not even close.”

Annelise let out a whistle. “Look at you, all flushed and giddy over a kiss like we’re in high school. You do have it bad for this guy. So, you had enough time to get to know him while you were there. Did you date? Are you a thing now?”

“It’s complicated . . .” Once Gigi started talking she couldn’t stop until the whole story poured out. And because Annelise was someone who knew her better than anyone else in the world, she told her everything from how Kane had brought a date to her dinner to what she’d almost done in the coat closet that night. They both laughed until their sides hurt as Gigi described how mortified she’d been when Julia had found her.

It wasn’t fun recounting how Kane had disappeared after the dinner. How she’d waited for him to contact her and had run to her phone each time it’d rung, only to be disappointed. He not only hadn’t called, but he’d made himself so scarce she’d grown tired of hearing people ask where he was. Especially as her stay in the States had come to a close. Most of those who had come to welcome her had gathered again at Gio’s for her goodbye dinner. Not Kane, though. Although Gigi had no proof he was deliberately avoiding her, a part of her hoped he was. She preferred to imagine him confused and holding himself back by avoiding her rather than face the much worse possibility—that he had forgotten she was even there.

By the time they found a table at a local coffee shop, Gigi forced herself to move on to happier subjects. She described how her brothers had taken time away from their work to spend time with her. How proudly they’d introduced her to more people than she could ever remember the names of. It was impossible not to smile while describing the warm welcome the entire Andrade clan had given her. Or how much they’d tried to feed her.

“So why don’t you look like you ate your weight in pasta?”

“Nerves? Funny, everything was exactly what I used to dream it would be . . . in some ways even better. But I was so afraid I’d do something to mess it up or wake up and discover none of it was real.”

“Good things are possible, Gigi. Statistically, they have to happen to someone eventually.”

“I like the way you look at this. Not as a nearly impossible occurrence, but as somehow destined if enough bad shit happens to everyone else.”

Annelise smiled. “That’s not exactly what I mean, but close. So, aren’t you glad you finally broke down and met your brothers?”

Gigi swirled her coffee around her cup. “I am. We’re still figuring each other out, but I’m not angry anymore. At least, not with them.”

“Do you wish you’d gone earlier?”

“No. I wasn’t ready. I don’t think they were either. I get the feeling things with them weren’t always the way they are now. They want me to be one of them, but they don’t want me to ask questions. I know them, but I don’t. Does that make sense?”

“That sounds about right. At least, in my experience. People have secrets, Gigi, and the older I get the more I’m beginning to think it’s better not to know them.” Annelise gave Gigi a long look. “There’s more, though, isn’t there? Something is bothering you.”

Gigi looked down at the paper napkin she’d been absently folding and creasing in her hands. “When I told you about Kane the first time, you said connections like that aren’t real. That’s not the way it felt, Annelise. I can’t stop thinking about him, no matter how much I tell myself I should stop. Why would he kiss me the way he did and then walk away? I don’t understand.”

“Have you considered calling him?”

“And saying what? Hello, is there any chance you like me and haven’t gotten around to acting on it yet? If he had any interest in me, he’d call me, right?”

“How good was that kiss?”

“Un-fucking-believable.”

“He’ll call.”

“Three weeks ago, I would have agreed with you. Now, I don’t think so.”

“I’d say you have a ninety-seven-point-three percent chance of hearing from him again.”

Gigi laughed. It felt good to make light of something that had weighed heavily upon her thoughts for weeks. “Not one hundred?”

Annelise smirked. “When it comes to men, you always have to leave a small margin for the possibility of utter stupidity.”

*     *     *

“Well, at least
you’re still alive,” Nick Andrade said from the doorway of Kane’s office a few weeks later.

Kane turned with a groan. “What do need, Nick?”

Nick plopped down in one of his office chairs and propped his feet up on the table in front of it. “Rena sent me. She’s worried about you. No one has seen you in a while.”

Kane walked over and knocked Nick’s feet from the table. “I’ve been working a lot. It looks like we’re adding a new satellite office in Europe.”

Nick put his feet back up on the table and grinned in challenge. “I know, your father told me at dinner on Sunday. The dinner you said you’d go to but didn’t.”

Kane took a deep breath. “I don’t have time for this. Tell my sister I’m fine. I’ll come to dinner this weekend.”

Nick folded his arms across his chest. “Rena thinks you’re sulking over Gigi. Is that true?”

Kane glared at him, but said nothing.

With a widening grin, Nick stood. “You are. And I love the poetic justice of it. You gave me a lot of shit for falling for your little sister. I hope Gio is more understanding than you were.” When Kane still said nothing, Nick snapped his fingers and pointed. “He doesn’t know, though, does he? Please let me be there when you tell him.”