She shook her head. “But I get it. You two are funny. There’s nothing you can say that will weird me out. I promise.”

The teasing smile was back and she braced herself.

“You’re making a lot of promises today.”

That confused her and she searched his eyes then he laughed. “God, those eyes of yours, Bianca.” This time he shook his head. “Back there, you promised I’d be sore tomorrow.” She started to smile remembering but then stopped when she was caught in those molten eyes of his again. “I’ve made that same promise a few times.” He stared at her a bit longer and harder before his lip lifted into a sexy crooked smile. He finally turned away with a soft chuckle leaving Bianca no choice but to laugh along nervously.

By the time they were in the car, she managed to appear cool and collected on the outside but her insides were out of control.

Gio rolled his neck and massaged his shoulder with his hand. “You know soaking in the hot tub is starting to sound real nice now.”

“You should. It’d do you good.” She smiled innocently, pushing away the visual of Gio near naked in the hot tub.

“Will you join me?”

Was it possible that he knew blinking in that slow motion sort of way had a hypnotic effect on girls? Maybe it was just her weak resolve. She nodded, not looking away and praying her voice wouldn’t crack. “Sure. I’ll be sore tomorrow, too, you know.”

The second her words left her mouth, she saw that evil twinkle in his eye and she fought the flush already creeping up her nape. “You promise?”

Damn him. She wouldn’t squirm and he wasn’t winning this one. Throwing out the mental note she made earlier she licked her bottom lip and his eyes were immediately on her tongue. “We’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we?”

His startled eyes were back on hers and she smiled, hoping she looked as smug as she felt. Got ‘em.

~*~

Unquestionably, what Gio was doing was technically against the man-code between him and his friends. They’d never actually discussed one but was still firmly in place. Coming on at all to one of his friend’s girls was clearly breaking all kinds of rules. Rules he never would’ve dreamt of breaking before Bianca. Not only had he just come on to her, he came on strong. He meant to rattle her. He loved what it did to her. Her reaction to his teasing had completely thrown him.

He couldn’t have planned it better if he’d tried. She’d walked right into all his comments but she’d practically challenged him to try to weird her out. He heard it in her voice—saw it in those eyes. She could go from Bambi to bewitching siren in a second and he was hooked. He never would’ve thought it about sweet little Bianca but she had it in her. She probably didn’t even realize she was even doing it and damn it if that didn’t make it an even bigger turn on.

Her licking her lip the way she had, had nearly done him in. It took everything in him to laugh with her when she did but Felix better hurry his ass up and get there already. His being there might be the only thing that would keep Gio from considering crossing that forbidden line and if he didn’t know any better he was beginning to think maybe Bianca would actually cross it with him.

We’ll just have to wait and see, now won’t we?

She couldn’t be serious. She was just throwing his game right back at him. Right? He closed his eyes as he sat there in the hot tub visualizing her licking her lips—how those eyes that at times were almost too full of innocence could look deep into his with an unmistakable reckless abandon.

Hearing the game room door open jolted him. Bianca wore a one-piece black bathing suit with a sarong that covered most of her upper legs but the neckline was low and though her br**sts weren’t huge they’d do just fine.

Gio sat up a little, mentally slapping himself. What the hell was wrong with him? Not only was this Bianca and she deserved more respect than that, he was certain what was going on in his shorts would not be cool with Felix. He needed to get a hold of himself before he was stuck in the hot tub all night. This was not something he’d in any way be able to hide.

He watched Bianca walk toward him slowly with that ever-present smile of hers. His own smile when he was around her was beginning to feel like a permanent fixture on his face. “How’s the water?”

This time he made the orgasmic expression closing his eyes for a second. “Fantastic.”

“And the wine?” she asked, placing her own glass in the cup holder on the opposite side of the tub where she now stood and began to climb in.

Normally Gio would’ve been disappointed and would’ve even complained about her keeping the sarong on but in this case he was grateful she did. He was already having a hard enough time controlling the rousing in his shorts. It was annoying as shit. He’d seen girls climb in hot tubs wearing much less. On a few occasions, some had joined him wearing nothing at all and he’d never felt this out of control.

One thing was for sure, unless there was another girl there that he could blame it on, he was steering clear of joining Bianca in that tub when Felix was around. He thought it couldn’t get worse so he figured he’d indulge in watching her expression when her body sunk in the deliciously hot water. He knew what was coming. That thing she did when something tasted or felt so good. But instead she went all the way in, her head going under the surface.

When she resurfaced, Gio literally held his breath. He didn’t think it possible but the effect she’d begun to have on him was intensified a hundred times over now that she was dripping wet. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering down to her br**sts. One look at her erect ni**les pushing through bathing suit and his eyes darted away. He was so damn hard he was now worried she might actually notice through the water.