Pretty Packages (20 page)

“Take your shirt off, Kenny. You know how much I like to touch your chest while we make love,” Giada said, lingering near the door to remove her lacy underwear. Neither of them could get completely nude in case his stepmother returned earlier and came looking for them.

Kentucky
nodded, showing his willingness to comply with her wishes as well. Soon he was shirtless and on the bench with his pants open and pushed partly down his hips.

Giada promptly straddled him, pushing her skirt up in the process. They were going to have to make every second count while his stepmother was away.

Kentucky
promptly slid his tongue between Giada’s lips at the same time she started sliding down the length of him. They both moaned with pleasure.

When they were joined to the hilt, they began a slow climb to ecstasy. They kissed long and deep.

Their hips moved in perfect unison. Their hands roamed each other’s bodies, lingering at their favorite points of interest. Giada couldn’t stop touching his chest.
Kentucky
couldn’t stop squeezing her bottom. He needed her as close as possible.

As the heat rose in the room on that humid night, the heat between the lovers did, too. The air filtering into the shed from the open windows wasn’t enough to cool their bodies, and so sweat poured from their pores.

They didn’t care how hot it got in there. Or about the fact that they had to take longer breaks in between kisses in order to conserve oxygen. All they cared about was their driving need to give and receive the ultimate pleasure from each other’s bodies.

At this point their slick bodies were rhythmically slamming into each other. Giada had already climaxed twice, and was about to go over the edge a third time, when
Kentucky
whispered in her ear that he was about to blow, too.

“Let’s go together this time, baby,” Giada urged, thrusting her hips even more forcefully against him.

Kentucky
growled and squeezed her closer. Yet before he would release his essence into her, he captured her lips to muffle the loud scream that he knew would accompany this powerful moment. Giada clenched too tightly around him this time not to scream in pleasure.

When that scream finally came,
Kentucky
promptly swallowed it in his mouth. Giada, in turn, swallowed his loud groan. When their hips finally stopped moving, the kiss finally ended. Even so, the lovers continued to cling to each other.

For a woman who liked to have every hair in place and her clothes immaculate, Giada didn’t seem to care a thing about her appearance now.
Kentucky
liked that she hadn’t smoothed her damp hair into place yet, but rather let it remain frizzed from the humidity and her intimate exertion. He liked that she didn’t care that her shirt was damp and clinging to her bosom, that her skirt was wrinkled and rumpled to the point where it would literally scare an iron right now.

My woman is changing,
Kentucky
thought as hope for a bright future with her mounted in his heart.

“I love you so much,” Giada said once her breathing had regulated again.

“I love you, too,”
Kentucky
replied, withdrawing slightly to look into her eyes. “I want you to be my wife.”

“When?” Giada asked with eager eyes.

“A year from now,”
Kentucky
replied, pleased that she looked ready to jump over the broom right now. “I want to make sure the school is up and running good before I take on a wife and the added expenses that come along with having a wife.” He chuckled. “Especially the kind of wife I intend to have.”

Giada smiled and nodded in understanding. “So our long engagement officially begins now?”

“Yes, but I thought you might want to wait until I put a ring on your finger to make it really official,”
Kentucky
replied, hiding the trace of disappointment he felt when she didn’t protest the delay even though he was the one that suggested it. He’d wanted her to say,
“Let’s just get married now.”
The fact that she didn’t revealed how materialistic she still was.

No doubt she wants me to be wealthy enough to support her and her expensive tastes before we get married,
Kentucky
thought, recalling Giada’s dream wedding from her wish list.

“Even so, we don’t have to wait another night to tell Mama. This is the kind of news she’s gonna want to know right away. She’s gonna be thrilled to know that she’s about to have a daughter-in-law soon,”
Kentucky
continued, pushing past his disappointment.

“I feel like I’m a part of the family already,” Giada said, snuggling against his chest again.

“As you should, because you definitely are,”
Kentucky
whispered, planting a kiss on her glistening forehead as his thoughts grew somber.

* * * *

Hannah wasn’t surprised to hear the news of their engagement. But she was surprised to see Giada looking so unkempt in her wrinkled skirt and frizzy hair. The dampness of
Kentucky
’s brown locks confirmed that this engagement had come about as a result of a heavy make-out session or a culmination of the real deal.

Probably both.
Hannah walked her stepson out to his car while Giada went to shower and change for bed.

“Son, maybe you should marry Giada sooner than expected,” Hannah suggested.

“Why do you say that, Mama?”

“For one thing, she’s the first woman you ever dared to have sex with under my roof. I’m still feeling a little hot under the collar about that.” She frowned with disapproval.

“We didn’t have sex under your roof, Mama. We had sex in my shed out back,”
Kentucky
replied, being as honest as he usually was with his stepmother.

Hannah shook her head. “Okay, that was really
too
much information.”

Kentucky
chuckled. “Maybe so, but it was necessary to let you know that I didn’t disrespect your home.”

Hannah smiled, despite herself. She never could stay angry with her stepson for very long. He looked too much like his wonderful father to ever let ire linger in her heart.

“Either way, that’s just another sign that you need to marry that girl sooner rather than later. Especially since y’all can’t seem to keep your hands off each other. Plus, I really think Giada loves you enough to marry you without all the disposal income.”

“Giada might love me enough to marry me right now, but I need this next year of waiting to confirm that she will
stay
by my side for the long haul. I figure if she can hang in there with me when all I can offer her is my love, dinner at home, a simple movie, and the occasional trip out of town, then she deserves to stay by my side when I can offer her dinners at fancy restaurants, tickets to movie premieres, and trips around the world.”

Hannah nodded in understanding. “I think Giada is really going to pass this test.”

“I hope so.”
Kentucky
sighed, looking back at the house. “Our future together depends on it.”

Chapter Eighteen

Kentucky
got down on one knee and officially proposed to Giada on Wednesday evening. He had a ring and everything. He’d dipped into his retirement fund to buy that ring because he wanted Giada to have something they both could be proud to show off.

Kentucky
’s stepmother was there as he slipped the large ring on Giada’s trembling finger. Mercedes was also. Hannah smiled with approval as the couple sealed that moment with a kiss. The small dog leaped upon Giada’s lap and tried to get in on that smooch by licking the sides of their faces.

“Mercedes, no!” Giada said, abruptly breaking the kiss to address her pup.

Kentucky
chuckled. “It’s all right, Giada. The baby just wants in on the love.” He patted Mercedes on the head. “Is that better, baby? Do you feel loved now, Mercedes?”

In answer, Mercedes licked his face again. The humans laughed.

Giada laughed and cried. She was so happy about being engaged to
Kentucky
. She was elated that he seemed to love her dog just as much as she did. Giada floated on a cloud for the rest of the night.

* * * *

The next evening,
Kentucky
took Giada to meet a couple of his friends. They were Sal and Beverlyn Delfino, owners of the club that gave
Kentucky
his first job as a bouncer.

Giada had been instructed to bring along a swimsuit since they were going to enjoy the Delfinos’ company, pool, and a little barbecue. The first thing she noticed about the Delfinos was how rich they were. Their house was a mansion, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings of every room, and they had a fleet of expensive cars in their multi-car garage.

The second thing Giada noticed was how happy they were. The Delfinos still seemed to be in love with each other after over twenty years of marriage. Yet it was the third thing that Giada noticed that made the greatest lasting impression upon her—Beverlyn’s protective nature when it came to
Kentucky
.

Beverlyn was like the big sister he never had, though much, much shorter at only five-six. As the big-sister type, she wasted no time cornering Giada in the guest bedroom that she used to change into her swimwear.

About what?

Kentucky
, of course.

“Do you love him?” Beverlyn boldly asked after closing the door behind herself.

“Yes, I do. Very much so,” Giada replied, not even blinking an eye. Fortunately, she was already in her swimwear and thus didn’t have to deal with trying to change in front of her bold hostess.

“I hope so, because Kenny definitely seems to love you. Not only does that big rock on your hand say a lot, but the fact that you’re even at my house speaks volumes.” Beverlyn came forward and sat down on the edge of the exquisite gold-trimmed sleigh bed.

“Kenny hasn’t brought women here before?”

“No. He never needed to. As a seasoned matchmaker, I usually have women waiting here to meet him. So imagine my shock when he up and called us with the news that he had not only fallen in love with someone, but was also poised to marry this mystery woman,” Beverlyn replied. “My question now is, how did you do it? How did
you
hook Kenny when none of my friends or associates could? Mind you, they were all just as beautiful as you. Some even more so, in my opinion.”

Giada shrugged. “I really don’t know. Though I was physically attracted to Kenny from the start, I didn’t pursue him since I was heavily into pretty boys with fat wallets at the time. In short, I was a superficial gold digger and proud of it,” she said, being extremely honest as usual with people who she wanted to see the real Giada.

Beverlyn’s brows rose. “So you changed your mind about the pretty and decided to settle for the fat wallet instead?”

“Actually, I didn’t know Kenny had any money when I met him. I thought he was just a struggling bouncer who lived with his mother since he was always over there. By the time I found out he was rich, we had already slept together, and I was already in love.” Giada moved to put her regular clothes in the tote bag she’d brought along.