Read Online Loving Gigi by Ruth Cardello - Free Book Online

was at myself for not realizing how young you were.”
    Gigi gulped again. Three years was a long time. The feel of his kiss shouldn’t be so easy to remember. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t dated anyone since. When she’d first moved to Scotland she’d gone to dinner with several men. Her pride had been hurt, and she’d had something to prove to herself. But she hadn’t slept with anyone of them.
    This is why.
    Sorry, Annelise, you were wrong. The zing was, unfortunately, very real.
    There were so many things she wanted to say to him, but they didn’t matter in that moment. She was lost in his touch, his gaze, in the tantalizing scent of him. “I was twenty-two, not a child.”
    He dropped his hand and stepped back. “Just because something isn’t legally wrong, doesn’t make it right.”
    His withdrawal hurt even though she told herself it was what she wanted. “Can we stop talking about the past? I’d rather forget it.”
    Kane’s eyes flashed with a challenge. “Would you?”
    Gigi glared at him. “I don’t like you.”
    His smile was twisted with irony. “That’s probably for the best, but not why I’m here. I know why you went to the wedding even if you’re not brave enough to tell me.”
    Gigi pursed her lips in irritation, and glared at a place halfway up his chest.
    “You want to know your brothers, but you’re too damn scared to get out of your own way and let it happen.”
    “I’m not—” She stopped before voicing the lie. “Even if I am, who are you to come here and judge me? You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through. I went to that damn wedding in a moment of weakness, and it didn’t make it better. It made it worse. What you call hiding, I call making healthy choices. If I know something hurts me, why would I do it again? I have a life in Scotland where I am perfectly happy. I have a career I love. Tell me, why I should risk that?”
    Frowning, Kane softened his voice. “You really are scared.”
    Gigi turned away. She’d already told him more than she’d meant to. More than she’d ever said to anyone.
    His voice was gentle and from a spot right behind her. “Do you know why I’m here?”
    Without turning, Gigi answered tightly, “For my brothers.” She didn’t add the part that hurt even though it was ridiculous. Not for me. He wouldn’t come for me.
    “Gio’s wife, Julia, actually. She’s pregnant, and she wants you in her child’s life.”
    “I’m sorry, but—”
    With a hand on her arm, Kane swung Gigi around. “You’re not sorry at all. Julia is one of the kindest, sweetest women I know. You’re lucky she cares enough about you to send anyone for you.”
    Gigi struggled against his hold. “Lucky? Which part of this should I feel good about? The fact that no one respects my wishes to be left alone or your manhandling?”
    His nostrils flared and his hand tightened on her arm before he released her roughly. “You’re three years older, but you haven’t changed at all from the angry little girl I met on Slater Island.”
    “And you’re still as condescending and full of yourself.”
    They stood there, nose to nose, in a heavily charged stand off.
    From the doorway, Leora chastised both of them. “The two of you could wake the dead with your arguing.” She walked into the room, took a seat, and picked up her espresso. “I was hoping your talk would go better.”
    Kane shook his head, folding his arms across his chest arrogantly. “She’s impossible.”
    Gigi folded her arms in a similar fashion and planted her feet stubbornly. “Me? Mamma, I told him to leave, but he’s too thickheaded to go.”
    Keeping his eyes on Gigi’s, Kane growled, “I’ll leave the moment you agree to go with me and not before.”
    Gigi leaned in and growled back, “Then I hope you enjoy sleeping in my mother’s parlor because I’m not going anywhere with you.”
    “Gigia,” Leora said in a softly authoritative tone, “come sit with