Page 7 of Gio

“What? I’m staying here, Gio. I paid for this place.”

I smiled. “You’re more stubborn now.”

She crossed her arms angrily. “Yep, and not so easy to sway.”

“Fine,” I growled. “You think you can stay here?”

“Yeah, I do.” She lifted her chin in defiance.

“Okay, I understand but you’re wrong. The front door is hanging by one single hinge and half the windows in the living room are shattered. You stay here and you’re a sitting duck.”

“Shit.” She nibbled her bottom lip and then narrowed her big blue eyes into a glare aimed at me. “Turn around.”

I turned back towards the mirror.

“Close your eyes,” she demanded with a laugh.

“Why? Don’t be shy, Harper. You’re lookin’ good. Really good.”

Her cheeks flushed as she changed into a pair of jeans that hugged all of her curves and then I did close my eyes because she was temptation personified. And my best friend’s little sister.

Chapter 5

Harper

Life had a twisted sense of humor, that was the only explanation for why I was alone with Gio Lombardi, the objection of all my teenage fantasies. The universe must’ve gotten a good laugh, sending him to save me in nothing but a towel. Being around him made me feel like the scrappy little girl who followed him and Cole everywhere they went until they got too big for me to keep up.

But Gio was here now, and he was bigger and hotter. His thick black hair was shorter now and I kind of missed those thick black waves but the close cropped looked was sexier, dammit. His arms were covered in tattoos, some colorful and some black and white, all of them were gorgeous works of art. The one thing that hadn’t changed? Those golden hazel eyes were still so expressive, making most of his thoughts easy to decipher.

Why, oh why did he have to be the one to come to my rescue? And why in the hell was he so fucking hot?

“Thanks for coming, Gio.” Even if I was embarrassed and even if I might still have a tiny niggle of a crush on him, I was grateful.

His lips curled to a one-sided smile. “You already said that, Harp.” His gaze took a long, slow journey of my body, heating up every spot along the way.

I turned away and finished packing my bags.

“You can leave those here. Take just one that you need the most.”

“What?” I stood up straight and turned back to the annoying handsome man who’d swooped in to save me. “I’m not leaving my bags here.”

“Yeah,” he sighed and got in my face. “You are.”

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m not leaving my luggage. It goes where I go.”

“Agreed.” He grinned as if he’d just won something. “It’s coming with you but just a little later. You’re coming with me, right now.”

If I was younger and stupider I might have gotten lost in the colorful swirl of his smiling eyes, but I wasn’t. Not totally, anyway. “I’m not leaving my bags or my car, Gio.”

“Sure you are. I’ll have one of the prospects pick up your bags and your car and bring it to the clubhouse. Where you’ll be.” His gaze darkened and his smile faded, giving me my first glimpse of grown-up, badass biker Gio.

His words finally clicked. “What? I’m not getting on that deathtrap with you.”

His lips curled into another smile, sexier and darker. His eyes sparkled with a challenge. “Wanna bet?”

“What are you going to do, Gio?”

He licked his lips and Lord help me, but my gaze tracked that pink tip, and my breath hitched. “I’m bigger now. Stronger too. I can toss you over my shoulder and put you on the back of my bike, no problem.”

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