Taking advantage of the moment as she tilted her head back and smoothed her hair down, he adjusted himself. He felt like a f**king thirteen-year-old. What the hell was his problem? Any thoughts of doing the flirting thing they’d done earlier flew out the window. He had to think quickly before she got playful on him. If she even thought about bringing out the sexy siren act now he didn’t think he’d be able to hold back and this could not happen.

“So, was your mom born deaf or did something happen to her?” He was going to ask earlier but he was afraid the subject might be too heavy and he selfishly wanted to enjoy his cheerful day with her. He now welcomed heavy.

To his surprise, she didn’t seem bothered at all by the subject. “My grandmother swears she wasn’t born deaf but it’s really hard to determine because she was a preemie born way too early. So there were all kinds of complications.”

She sunk in resting her head back on the headrest of the hot tub making Gio eternally grateful that a certain distracting area of her body was now safely submerged. He only wished a certain part of his body would do some submerging also.

“My grandmother has always said it was one of the many infections my mom had before she made it out of the hospital that did it. That’s how she and my dad met. At one of the many different conferences my grandparents and my mom attended for the deaf. That’s why my parents only had one child. My dad insisted he wanted a baby and my mom was afraid I’d be deaf. So when I was born perfectly healthy my mom said ‘That’s it.’ She thanked God for the blessing but wasn’t taking anymore chances.”

Gio smiled. He would’ve never guessed someone as perfect and as cheerful as Bianca had been brought up by two parents with hearing disabilities. He was beyond impressed. “So growing up must’ve been really different for you than for most kids.”

She lifted her head slightly to look at him. “That would depend on what you call different. It was all I knew, so to me, it felt normal. And because of my grandparents being so involved and my dad only being partially deaf I never had to attend any special schools for children with deaf parents. I was speaking normally by the time I started kindergarten. Only occasionally would I sign along when I spoke, out of habit.” She smiled big suddenly. “And none of the kids made fun of me like my grandmother was afraid they might. They thought it was very cool that I knew sign language.”

They sat in the hot tub for another forty minutes or so but it felt way shorter than that. The mixture of the wine and the soothing water massage of the hot tub was really doing a number on Gio.

“We better get out now.” Bianca suddenly declared. “One thing is for sure. You’re going to sleep good tonight. So will I.”

Thankful to his heavily relaxed body he wasn’t immediately at attention when she stood. That is until she turned around and started stepping out as she removed the wet sarong, giving Gio a very nice view of her glorious ass. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the movement starting up in his shorts to stop. Think of something else. Anything else!

“Are you falling asleep?”

He opened his eyes and she was now outside the tub pulling a bathrobe around herself. “No, I’m just gonna finish up this last glass and then I’m out.”

“Okay, but don’t go falling asleep,” she warned. “I’m gonna go change but I’ll be back to check on you.”

Feeling a little warmed by her concern he smiled. “You promise?”

It was official. He was now in love with her smile. It made him feel… happy.

“I promise,” she said softly then walked out.

As soon as he heard her bedroom door close, he was up and out of the tub. He rushed to his room and changed. Suddenly he couldn’t wait to be back in the same room with her.

Once dressed he practically rushed out into the game room and even though it’d been just minutes since he last seen her his heart did this weird thing when he saw she was already there looking so fresh and in her soft pajamas.

“That was fast,” she said.

Gio shrugged. “I just threw on my pajama pants and a t-shirt.”

He had to remind himself where he was and who he was with because as he walked toward the corner bar in the game room where she stood pouring herself another glass of wine he had the incredible urge to wrap his arms around her and kiss her silly.

He stopped just feet away from her and she turned to him. “You want another glass? I’m having just one more and then I’m done.”

“Yeah, I’ll take one.”

This was the first time he’d ever had wine and it was at her insistence that it would do wonders to relax his muscles. At first, he’d balked at her offer but now he had to admit it was good.

“Can I ask you something?”

That gleam he’d seen in her eye earlier when she licked her lips in the car was back. “Uh, yeah,” he said already trying to conjure up as much restraint as he could in case she said anything that might push him over the edge, especially now that he’d had a few glasses of wine.

“What do you say to girls that show you their tongue?” The gleam was an all out smirk now.

Their eyes locked. Did she really just go back to that? For a moment he thought it’d be better if he didn’t tell her—make something up. But the longer he looked in those eyes, the more he wanted her to know. “That if they’re going to show it to me, they better be prepared to use it.”