Educating Gina Page 8

  Gina mumbled something in Italian, her voice barely a whisper. Loud enough to bring Mike back to his senses. He grabbed her arm and she stumbled backward, her gaze glued to the scene.

  “Don’t go.” One of the men had come up for air, his mouth and chest slick with moisture. “Join the party.”

  The guy getting the hand job opened his eyes and stared at Gina.

  Mike gave her a firmer tug and she moved back. “Let’s go.”

  She looked at him, her face a mass of confusion. She started to revert to Italian again, but stopped and asked, “What are they doing?”

  Was she kidding? “We’ll discuss it outside.”

  She nodded but looked back, eyes wide with disbelief, as he dragged her out of the room.

  Man, he felt like a jerk. Talk about stupid. Even though he’d never been in a place like this before, he certainly knew they existed. Couples who swung used them, or singles who went for orgies. He should have figured it out immediately. The nude posters and paintings, the dirty dancing… Shit! Private rooms?

  His only defense was that New York was a city where just about anything went, including racy art in public places. Darin and his fancy threads had thrown him, too.

  They got to the stairs and Gina said, “But we have not been to the third floor.”

  Mike gave a startled laugh. “That wasn’t enough for you?”

  Her eyes met and held his. “On the next floor, the rooms are private, yes?”

  “Yes. I mean, no.” That he had even a moment’s crazy hesitation scared the hell out of him. “No.”

  “But, Mike…” She wrapped her fingers around his forearm and stroked up to his elbow. The motion inspired a totally inappropriate image.

  “Gina, we need to leave.” Dammit, he sounded as convincing as a kid turning down candy. “Now.”

  “But, Mike, I have to go to the rest room.”

  “Oh.” His gaze went to the other door. It was unmarked just like the first one. “Can you wait a few minutes? I think there’s a McDonald’s nearby.”

  She shrugged and bit her lower lip.

  He sighed. Upstairs was private. Private was better. Right? “Come on.”

  He took her hand and led her to the next floor. Unlike the large furnished landing on the second floor, the top of the stairs immediately gave way to a long hall. On either side was a series of doors, all closed, two of them with Do Not Disturb signs hanging from the knobs.

  Other than that, the doors all looked alike, with no indication that one was a washroom. He stopped and listened. It was eerily quiet in the hall. No sounds came from behind any door. Thank God.

  And then he heard a lock disengage and turned, surprised to find Gina opening one of the doors.

  “Wait!”

  Too late. She stepped inside.

  Mike followed, holding his breath, prepared for the worst.

  The room was empty. Furnished but no people. Set up like a hotel room, an attached bathroom in the corner, for which Gina immediately headed.

  A soon as she shut herself behind the door, he glanced around at the furnishings. Nothing sleazy or cheap about them. The queen-size bed was covered with a rich, royal-blue duvet, and a half-dozen matching pillows were spread against an artsy chrome headboard, the kind you saw in Park Avenue store windows.

  The floor was polished hardwood and the Oriental rug expensive. How the hell did they pay for all this? No one had hit them with a cover charge when they came in. Drinks were probably twenty bucks each. But not even the waitress had pushed them to buy.

  He heard the bathroom door open and he turned around. Gina had her arms crossed over her chest as if she was cold. Her breasts were round and high, creating a valley headed toward more hidden treasure, and to his disgust, arousal stirred in his belly.

  The tableau downstairs was not his kind of thing, but the image of the foursome lingered in his mind and did nothing to help the semi-hard state the experience had left him in. Hell, he was only human. And male.

  Gina seemed a little wooden as she came toward him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, wondering suddenly what kind of sick gadgets they had in the bathroom.

  “Fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.” The room was dimly lit and he moved around the bed to get a closer look at her face.

  “What are those?” She stared past him toward the nightstand.

  He turned and groaned. Sitting there was a collection of condoms and some kind of feather contraption. He could guess what you did with something like that, but he wasn’t about to explain it to Gina. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “I want to see.” She walked past him, her fascinated gaze glued to the nightstand.

  “I don’t think so. Uh, Gina I wouldn’t touch that….”

  She picked up one of the foil packets and squinted at it. “A condom, yes?”

  “Yup.”

  “I have never seen one before. What a pretty color.”

  She looked at him, excitement dancing in her eyes. “May I open it?”

  “I’m guessing tonight you’ve seen a lot of things you haven’t seen before.” The blush that climbed her face made him regret the remark. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what kind of place this was.”

  “I asked to come. It is not your fault.” She returned her attention to the foil packet.

  “Did you know…?” The sudden suspicion was ludicrous. “Well, I’m sorry you had to see all that.”

  Her head came up and uncertainty clouded her eyes. “I am not sorry.”

  Mike swallowed. “You’d better put that back on the nightstand.”

  She seemed nervous, but she wouldn’t look away as she approached him. “Watching those people gave me a funny feeling here.” She pressed a palm to her belly and then slowly let it slide lower. She stopped before getting to her crotch.

  His mouth got so dry he wasn’t sure he could speak. His first attempt failed. He cleared his throat. “What you saw is not normal lovemaking.”

  “I know,” she said quickly. “And I would not want to—” she gave a helpless shrug “—do anything like that. But it makes me want to kiss you.” She moistened her lips. “It makes me want your—” She covered her face.

  “Ah, Gina…” He didn’t know what to say. “Don’t be embarrassed.”

  She still wouldn’t look at him.

  “Hey.” He took her hands away from her flaming face. The temptation to ask what she’d been about to say was nearly too much. But it wouldn’t do either of them any good. “You got excited. It’s a perfectly normal reaction.”

  She gazed at him with trusting eyes. “Did you get excited?”

  He wanted to lie. He wanted to press her hand to his swelling penis. “Yes, I did.”

  Desire flared in her eyes. An experienced woman could have hidden the response. Or used it to her advantage. Damn, he wished she weren’t so young and naive. Maybe then they could have had a thing for the month. Two mutually consenting adults enjoying each other’s company—

  “Michael?”

  He realized he had hold of her hands. One of them grasping the foil packet. He promptly released her. Hurt darkened her eyes.

  “Gina, look…” He exhaled slowly, at a loss for words. “You know I think you’re beautiful and smart and sexy but—”

  He didn’t know what hit him. Her untutored lips pressed hard against his. She briefly put her hands on his chest, her fingers curling into him. And then she backed away.

  “We can go now,” she said, her voice unsteady, her gaze wavering.

  He pulled her to him. Her brief resistance came from surprise, and then she relaxed. He tilted up her chin and lightly kissed her lips. When he tried to withdraw, she moved with him. He kissed her again, this time using the tip of his tongue to part her lips.

  Shyly she touched her tongue to his. Heat shot to his groin. What the hell was he doing? He couldn’t…not with Gina…and not in a place like this…

  She found his tongue again, somethi
ng so sweet about her tentative exploration that his resolve weakened. One more kiss wouldn’t hurt a damn thing.

  He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her so thoroughly he left no doubt as to how much he wanted her. It was agonizing to finally pull back. The effort was almost too much. “Now,” he said, trying to regain his breathing, “we can go.”

  She slowly opened her eyes, and then blinked. “But Michael—”

  He put a finger to her lips, took the foil packet out of her hand and tossed it back on the nightstand. He wasn’t even sure he hit his target. He didn’t look back. He got them outside to the hall and down the stairs before he did something really stupid.

  They’d barely made it to the first floor when Darin appeared. He held out two champagne flutes to them. “I hope everything is satisfactory.”

  “No, thanks.” Mike declined the champagne and was surprised to see Gina accept hers.

  She sniffed it but didn’t take a sip.

  “May I get you anything else?” He signaled the waitress. “We have a very fine twelve-year-old scotch if you prefer, or perhaps a cognac.”

  Mike took the flute from Gina’s hand and looked around for someplace to set it. The waitress came and he placed the glass on her tray. “Actually, we were on our way out, but thanks, anyway.”

  Darin drew his head back in surprise. “Leaving so soon? The action won’t start for another hour.”

  “What action?” Gina asked, her eyes wide and curious.

  Mike took her arm. “I think we’ve seen enough action for one day.”

  “Pity you’re in such a hurry.” Darin smiled and clasped his hands in front of him. “But there is one small matter we have to address.”

  “Which is?”

  “Your bill.”

  The champagne Gina took, of course. Well, here went the twenty-dollar drink. No problem. Mike would pay fifty for it just to get out of here. He withdrew his wallet and pulled out a couple of bills. “How much?”

  “Let’s see. Since you were here for less than an hour—” Darin thought for a moment “—I’ll give you a break. Three hundred should cover it.”

  Mike’s jaw slackened. “Dollars?”

  Darin nodded, his smile still intact.

  “For one drink?”

  The man frowned. “That was complimentary.”

  Shit! He didn’t have that kind of money on him. A hundred and twenty or forty maybe, but that was it. “What the hell is the three hundred dollars for?”

  Darin gestured toward a small plaque at the entrance with a patience that annoyed the hell out of Mike. “Like the sign says, anything upstairs goes for two hundred on up. Go look at the price list if you like. You’ll see that I’m really giving you quite a deal.”

  “But we didn’t do anything. We only looked.”

  Darin shrugged, his pleasant smile beginning to fade. “I only enforce the club policy.”

  It wasn’t worth arguing. Mike pulled out his American Express card. “Here.”

  “Sorry, we don’t take credit cards.” Darin pointed to the obscure sign again.

  Mike muttered a curse. “I don’t have enough cash on me.”

  “Then we have a problem.”

  “I have some money.” Gina dug into her tiny black bag and produced three twenty-dollar bills.

  Darin looked at Mike. “I guess we still have a problem.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. You won’t accept almost two hundred dollars for basically nothing?”

  The man’s shrug was far from apologetic. “I don’t make club policy.”

  Mike’s temper started to flare. “Looks like you’ll have to make an executive decision, pal. Because that’s all the money we’ve got.”

  Darin looked from Mike to Gina, his brow furrowed in thought. “You have no other solution, huh?”

  “Nope.”

  The big man turned toward the bartender. “Larry, call the police.”

  8

  GINA LET OUT a string of angry-sounding Italian. Then, in English, “You are going to call the police for a matter this silly? Do they not have enough to do in a city this big?”

  Darin seemed as surprised as Mike at her outburst. The guy hesitated and then said, “If you consider a hundred dollars so silly, then cough it up.”

  She frowned, obviously unfamiliar with the term.

  “How about I bring the rest of the money back within an hour?” Damn, now he wished he had an ATM card. He’d always shunned the idea, figuring he’d never keep his checkbook straight.

  “And I’m supposed to believe you’ll do that?”

  Gina gasped. “You think we would lie?”

  Darin laughed. “Imagine.”

  The bartender called out to him. “What do you want me to do, boss?”

  “It’s up to these good people.” Darin’s smile was really pissing Mike off.

  “We don’t have a lot of options,” Mike began. “Either you let us bring back the money or you call the police.”

  “No.” Gina took the cash from Mike’s hand and shoved it into Darin’s, along with two of her twenties. She held back the third. “This we need for cab fare. You will take this money and this ring.” She pulled off a small diamond ring from her pinkie finger.

  “Gina, no.”

  She put it in Darin’s meaty hand. “When we bring back the money, you return my ring. It is done.”

  Mike touched her arm and looked at her meaningfully. “I’m not going to let you do this.”

  “Michael, I said, it is done.” The anger and determination in her face gave him pause.

  Darin studied the ring, looking for the gold stamp inside the band. He held it up to the light. “Okay, you have a deal. But you only get one hour.”

  “I would like a receipt, please.”

  He glanced at Gina with amusement. “You’ll get your ring back, lady. All I want is the 120 bucks.”

  “And I am supposed to believe you?”

  In spite of everything, Mike chuckled at the look on Darin’s face. “She’s got you there, pal.”

  “Don’t push it,” Darin warned, and motioned to the bartender.

  The young man gave him a piece of paper, and Mike watched Gina watch Darin write out the receipt. She constantly surprised him. The ease with which she had just taken charge blew his mind. No way she’d be happy being a housewife. As worthwhile a position as it was, Gina wasn’t cut out for the job. Nor would she be content being some man’s trophy. She was an innocent when it came to sex, but not about life in general.

  It occurred to him this was the second time she’d jumped in and helped out. Man, his ego was taking a beating.

  “Here.” Darin passed her the piece of paper. “One hour.”

  She took her time studying his messy scrawl. Finally she nodded and grasped Mike’s arm. They walked out and he immediately hailed a cab. They didn’t have time to waste. If traffic was bad, an hour might cut it close.

  Gina slid in, stopping halfway across the seat. When Mike got in, she didn’t budge even though their thighs pressed against each other. She didn’t seem to notice. Her distracted gaze wandered out the window, but he noticed her hand shook slightly.

  “Hey.” He sandwiched it between his palms. “We’ll get your ring back. I promise.”

  “I know. But he made me so mad.” She let out a sound of exasperation and then lapsed into Italian, not even stopping to take a breath.

  The cabdriver’s head came up and he stared at her in the rearview mirror. Great. All they needed was for the guy to think she was a nutcase and kick them out of his cab.

  “Calm down.” He squeezed her hand, but she kept rattling off. “Come on, Gina.”

  The driver pulled over to the curb.

  Mike cursed under his breath. They were going to get thrown out. “What are you doing? We’re in a hurry.”

  The man ignored him. He turned around in the seat and directed his dark gaze at Gina. And then he said something in Italian.

  She answered, he
r voice rising, her hands waving excitedly.

  Mike squinted at the man’s license posted near the meter. Luigi Caliguri. Great. Just great. “Gina, we’re in a hurry, remember?”

  Luigi gave him a curious glance, then went back to talking with Gina. In Italian. And so fast Mike couldn’t understand a word of it. All he knew was that Luigi looked pretty steamed. At whom, Mike had no idea.

  When the guy jammed the cab into drive and made a perilous U-turn and headed back toward the club, Mike had a clue.

  LUIGI HADN’T LOOKED so big sitting in the cab. But nose to nose with Darin, his size was damn impressive. He had two scars on his chin and jaw, battle scars, no doubt, and his untamed black hair made him look like someone Mike would avoid in a dark alley. Hell, any alley. He’d never been in a fight. Had no desire to be in one.

  “Gentlemen,” he began, “I’m sure there is no need for any bodily contact.”

  They both ignored him.

  So did most of the customers who’d wandered into the club. Two couples barely spared them a glance as they headed directly upstairs. A group milled around the buffet table. The bearded guy sitting alone at the bar seemed to be the only interested spectator.

  “Gentlemen, please…” Mike started again.

  Gina tried to pull him out of harm’s way. “I did not mean for this to happen. I was only talking. I did not know Luigi would do this. I am so sorry, Michael.”

  “You taka this poor girl’s ring,” Luigi growled. “What kinda pussy boy are you?”

  Darin clenched his fist. “The kind that’s going to smash your face into the wall.”

  “Come on.” Luigi started to dance around like a boxer while he made hand signs for Darin to come get him. “It will please me to breaka your nose.”

  Gina grabbed the cabbie’s sleeve and said something in Italian. Distracted for the moment, he didn’t see Darin’s fist before it crashed into his face. He stumbled backward. Darin was about to take another jab at him, but Mike stepped in to break it up.

  The blow landed on the side of his jaw. His head whipped to the side. The punch hurt like a son of a bitch. He saw Darin draw back for another swing at him, but Gina swung her purse into Darin’s face. The bag was too small to do any damage, but it momentarily stunned him. Long enough for Mike to grab his arm and yank it up behind his back.