Chapter Ten
T his is a really bad idea,” Gia told herself as she stood outside the Monroes’ side door, balancing a care package on one arm while holding a container of chicken soup in her other hand. It made knocking on the door precarious, almost as precarious as visiting Flynn at his dad’s house.
She knocked anyway. She missed Flynn. She hadn’t seen him in four days, unless she counted their FaceTime calls. It was ridiculous that she missed him. It wasn’t like they’d been dating for that long. Two weeks, and they’d gone out together six of the fourteen days.
Geesh, next she knew, she’d be counting the hours.
Her brain flashed the number of hours they’d been apart, and she shut it out of her mind with a sigh.
It didn’t matter. The evidence was there for anyone to see if they bothered looking hard enough.
She was a fifty-five-year-old desperate divorcée.
At least that’s how she assumed it would look to everyone, including Flynn.
She turned and headed for her car, wincing when she heard the side door creak open.
“Hey, where are you going?”
That voice , she thought as she turned around. That face . Of course she’d be stupid over this man. He was beautiful, and not just on the outside, on the inside too, which made it so much worse.
“I brought you and your dad some chicken soup, and I picked up a few things I thought you might need from the drugstore.” She held them out to him. She’d also changed three times before deciding what to wear, only to end up choosing an outfit that didn’t look like she was trying too hard.
She should have tried harder, she decided, glancing at the white sneakers tied with chartreuse laces that she’d paired with a denim skirt and a white cotton shirt she wore tied at the waist. Flynn didn’t seem to care what she had on, though. His gaze hadn’t strayed from her face.
The man had gorgeous eyes. The azure cotton shirt he wore untucked over his tan cargo shorts highlighting just how blue they were.
She shook her head at herself. Her mother would say she was smitten, and she’d be right.
Thinking back, Gia realized she’d probably been smitten with Flynn Monroe for the past six months.
They just hadn’t had this much one-on-one time together.
He was an architect of some renown and owned his own design consultancy firm, which took him all over the world.
If they continued the way they were going, she didn’t want to think what it would be like when he was gone months at a time.
It had been hard enough not seeing him for the past four days.
Amos had come down with the flu. Flynn hadn’t felt comfortable leaving him on his own.
He’d invited her over, of course. But hanging out at his place with his dad didn’t match her idea of keeping their relationship secret.
Flynn didn’t feel the same and hadn’t been happy about her moratorium on daytime dating.
Then again, he hadn’t been happy she’d only date him secretly.
“Tell me the truth,” he said as he walked to her. Instead of taking the proffered container of soup and care package, he put his hands on her hips. “You were going to take off without seeing me, weren’t you?”
“I was thinking about it,” she admitted, glancing down the driveway while trying to ignore the feel of his warm hands on her.
“No one can see us, Gia,” he said, drawing her closer.
“Flynn,” she protested even as she held the container of soup and the care package out from her body to accommodate his tall, rangy frame.
He bent his head. “I’ve missed you,” he murmured against her lips before deepening his kiss.
It took every ounce of self-control for her to pull back, breaking the kiss. “Someone will see us.”
“And?”
She blew out a frustrated breath. “I know you don’t care, Flynn, but I do.” She could tell he was disappointed by her answer and went up on her toes, kissing the underside of his jaw. “I’ve missed you too.”
“Good.” He stepped back, taking the container of soup and care package from her. “You can rescue me from another game of chess.”
“I don’t want to interrupt your game with your dad. Maybe I should just—”
“Trust me, my dad has had four uninterrupted days with me. He’ll be just as happy to see you as I am.” He smiled. “Maybe not quite as happy as I am.” He put the care package on top of the soup container and opened the door, leaning back against it to make room for her to get by.
She looked around as she walked into the kitchen, pressing her lips together to hold back a laugh.
With its avocado-green-wallpapered walls and harvest-gold appliances, it was like she’d stepped into the 1970s.
“Have you and your dad had lunch?” she asked when he deposited the containers on the counter.
Flynn’s arms came around her waist from behind, and he nudged her hair over her shoulder with his chin, pressing his lips to the side of her neck before bringing his mouth to her ear, nibbling on the lobe. “Are you laughing at my father’s slightly outdated kitchen?”
“No, and you need to stop doing that,” she said, her breathy voice giving her away.
“Are you sure you want me to stop?” he asked, his voice low and deep as he moved his hands slowly from her waist, mapping her body with the tips of his fingers.
She arched her back, needy for more of his touch. “Flynn.”
He turned her around, lifting her easily into his arms. “Let me show you the project I’ve been working on,” he murmured, moving to the other side of the kitchen. He opened a pantry door and then walked inside, closing the door behind them, shutting them in the dark.
“We can’t do this. Your dad—”
“Is at this moment sitting in the living room watching Gotham, a YouTube chess channel on his iPad, in the hope of discovering a strategy to beat me. And before you ask, he won’t hear us because he’ll have his headset on, pretending he’s watching the PGA Tour on YouTube instead of Gotham.
” He brushed his lips across hers. “Okay?”
She wrapped her legs around his waist. “Okay.”
“Gia Rosetti, have I told you lately how much I like you?”
She smiled against his mouth. “You did. Last night when we were having phone sex.”
He drew his head back. “Is that what we were doing?”
“I think so. I’ve never had phone sex before.” Their eyes met, and she saw something in his gaze that made her groan. “If you’re going to tell me you had phone sex with Cami when you were seventee—”
He shut her up with a kiss. At first, she was annoyed, but she thought that had more to do with the idea of him having phone sex with her sister than with him cutting her off with a kiss—because Flynn Monroe kissed better than any man she knew.
“Dad, answer the side door. I have my hands full!” Willow yelled from outside the house.
Gia sucked in a shocked gasp. The dad in question stumbled, slamming Gia’s back and head into the pantry’s shelves. “Ow,” she cried, covering her head with her arms as boxes rained down around her.
“Hang on to your horses,” Amos yelled, sounding much closer than the living room. “Your dad’s got his hands full too. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Madonna santa! You said he had his headphones on and was watching chess on YouTube!” Gia whisper-shouted at Flynn, who was trying not to laugh.
Close to tears, she swatted him. “It’s not funny,” she said, then began frantically brushing fiber cereal from her hair.
“I know.” He helped her rid herself of the crumbs before taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips. He kissed it. “I’m sorry, honey. I had no idea Willow was coming over.”
The door opened, and Flynn’s father stood there, leaning on his walker. “You should have asked me. I could have told you she was coming over.”
“Don’t worry, Gramps. Cami just pulled in. She’ll let me in,” Willow yelled through the side door.
Gia made a pained sound in her throat, and both Monroe men looked at her quizzically.
“Why don’t you sit in the living room and visit with my dad?” Flynn guided her from the pantry as though he wasn’t sure if she was about to explode or break down.
“I told you this was a bad idea, but did you listen to me? Oh no, you—” He kissed her to shut her up again.
She pushed at his chest. “Flynn, you can’t keep doing that, and your father is standing right there.
” Her cheeks heated, and she gave Amos a small, embarrassed smile.
“Hi, Mr. Monroe. I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.
I, uh, brought you some chicken soup. I’m sure your son”—she gave Flynn a look—“can heat it up for you.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Flynn said, taking her by the hand and walking her into the living room. He gently pushed her into a comfortable armchair.
“Hey, Gramps. You’re looking much better today.”
Gia briefly closed her eyes and sank down in the chair.
“Have I told you lately how beautiful you are?”
“Don’t even.” Gia shook her head. “Compliments aren’t getting you out of this one.”
“I love your face.”
Unexpected tears welled in her eyes. “Flynn, don’t.”
“It’s true, and I don’t care who knows. And that includes our daughter,” he said, moving to the ottoman across from her when Willow walked out of the kitchen. “Hey, kiddo. Look who stopped by.”
“What are you doing here, Mom?” Willow said, smiling as she walked over to give her a hug.
“I made a batch of chicken soup and brought some over for your grandfather.” She stood. “I should probably get going, though. Let all of you have a visit.”
“I insist you stay and have some soup with us, Gia. You just got here,” Flynn said.
He was an easygoing man but far from a pushover, and she saw signs of that in the firm set of his jaw.
Admittedly, she found Flynn’s alpha-male persona attractive when it periodically made an appearance.
There were times when it even made her pulse race. This was not one of those times.
“Dad’s right. Stay and have a bowl of soup with us, Mom. I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”