Read Online Love in All the Right Places (Chick Lit bundle) by Chris Mariano, Agay Llanera, Chrissie Peria - Free Book Online

when he said the coast was clear. But when she saw for herself that the other tourists were gone, she finally straightened up. He noted that her cheeks were flushed. For a moment, Gio entertained the thought that their brief contact in the dressing room had affected her as much as it had him.
    “You okay?” he asked. Before he knew it, his hand was already touching the back of her neck, like he would when he’d see Toni or his mother worried. She didn’t seem to notice either, because he was rubbing it slowly and she didn’t protest.
    Snap out of it , he told himself when he realized what he was doing. He quickly dropped the hand then cleared his throat. “Now will you tell me what that was about?” he asked as they returned the shirts back into place. “You’ve been acting strange the whole day.”
    She was quiet at first. Not being able to see her eyes, Gio couldn’t even guess what she was feeling. But at his question, she squared her shoulders. “ The scheming mother of my love rival, who wants her daughter to be part of a multi-million empire and hopes to get me out of the way,” she fired back.
    Gio rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of the whole thing, but Min Hee defended herself. “What? It can happen!”
    “And what, she traced you all the way here?” he teased.
    “That’s what she hires Special Police to do,” she added in a stage whisper.
    He let himself entertain that thought. This time he pictured Min Hee through the crosshairs of an assassin’s rifle, just as she was crossing a busy park on the arm of her rich fiance. Then he frowned. He decided that was the scenario he liked least of all.
    When the last shirt was back on the rack, she turned to face him. “But hey, do you mind if we take a rain check on that dinner? You’re right, I’m kind of tired. I think I’ll just go straight back to my room and rest.”
    Gio nodded. Despite his earlier reservations, he was a bit disappointed now. “Will you be okay?” he asked, unable to keep the concern from his voice.
    Min Hee took off her sunglasses and grinned, her charm back in full force. “I always am, Mr. Museum. What makes you think I’m not?” Then she patted his arm. “Don’t worry. Today was a good day. I mean, I don’t think you’re that boring anymore.”
     
    * * * *
     
    He was in a relatively good mood when he got home. Despite being tired from the swimming and the sightseeing, he really couldn’t complain. His Lola Lising had gone to bed earlier so it was just his mother doing the interrogating tonight. “Isn’t today your free day?” Mama asked. “Where have you been?”
    “Had to go to Boracay,” he explained, giving her a quick kiss as he entered the house.
    “Oh, Gio.” His mother sighed. “You’ve been coming home later and later. Are they asking you to go on overtime? You know you don’t have to take side jobs any more. We can get by on what we have now.”
    It made Gio feel a little guilty that he wasn’t telling her the truth. He didn’t even know why he didn’t correct her assumption. It would have been easier to assure her and admit that he’d shown a friend around, not taking on extra part-time work. It wasn’t that he wanted to keep secrets from Mama. But his mother was the family’s number one worrywart, not Lola Lising. She had, after all, taken on the task of caring for her mother-in-law and her children.
    But as with the rest of the women in his life, the less that Gio told her, the better. Telling her would have just given her another thing to fuss about.
    “By the way, Toni called,” Mama continued. “She said she couldn’t reach you earlier.”
    Gio just nodded. He leaned over and gave his mother a kiss on the forehead. “Stop worrying, okay, Ma?” he said kindly. “You worry too much about me. I promise you, I’m fine.”
    Once he had reassured her, he headed to his room and turned on his computer. Even if it was already late in the evening, he couldn’t help but check his