Free Educating Gina by Debbi Rawlins

studied his face long enough for him to get edgy. “I embarrassed you?”
    “No,” he replied honestly. “You’re beautiful, Gina.”
    The way she blushed amazed him. Women who looked like her knew it. He brushed his thumb down her cheek. “I just didn’t want you to get in trouble.”
    “With Zio Antonio?”
    “Him, too, but you could have been arrested.”
    She frowned.
    “By the police.”
    Her eyes got wide. “But in Europe—”
    His thumb rested on her lips, silencing her. “I know about the different view most Europeans have of nudity. But in America it’s different. And would your mother or father approve?”
    The look in her eyes told him she wasn’t thinking about her parents right now. Neither was he, for that matter. He quickly pulled back his hand.
    “I have only been to the beach three times. And never with them. I do not know what they think.”
    “Gina.”
    At the doubt in his voice, she lifted her chin. “This is the truth. The beach is for swimming and making a tan. It is not the same thing as being naked with a man.”
    “Right.” Mike sighed and looked around. They were alone, and if he shielded her with his body, she could get her top back on without incident. The sooner the better. He was lucky to have one shred of common sense left.
    “Michael?”
    He looked down at her and she lifted herself on tiptoe and brushed his lips with hers. She started to lower herself, but then came back up for another soft kiss.
    Mike didn’t move. He let her experiment and control the pace. But at her soft whimper of frustration, something inside him snapped and he grabbed both her arms and kissed her hard, slanting his head and trailing his tongue over her lips.
    She tensed at first, and then slowly opened her mouth.
    He’d wanted the kiss to be gentle, but it was too late for that. His tongue swept inside her mouth as he tasted her with a greediness that shocked him. Her tentative response was the only thing that slowed him down.
    With too much reluctance, he finally drew back.
    Gina stared up at him, her eyes as round as pizzas. He’d really scared the hell out of her now. “Can we kiss some more?” she asked.
    His breathing ragged, he hesitated. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
    “Yes.” She pressed against him, the towel slipping entirely off her shoulder and bringing her bare breast into contact with his skin. “I want you to do it again.”
    He briefly closed his eyes at the incredible feel of her nakedness, at the way her nipple blossomed against his bare chest. He wanted to take it into his mouth and suck it hard, make her moan, make her ask for more.
    “Michael, please?”
    He snapped out of his trance and stared down at her. What the hell was he thinking? This was Gina, his boss’s niece. He straightened away from her, his gaze helplessly targeting her breast. He barely forced himself to look away from her. “Gina, we can’t do this.”
    “Why?” The hurt and confusion in her voice was like a slap across his face—a well-deserved one.
    “ I can’t do this. It isn’t right.”
    “You like me, yes?”
    He looked her straight in the eye and held her gaze. “Have you ever been with a man?”
    She blinked and color lightly tinted her cheeks. “Of course.”
    He sighed. “It was a rhetorical question.”
    She squinted, clearly unable to translate what he’d said.
    “I don’t think you’ve been with a man, Gina.” She started to protest, and he added, “Not the way I mean.”
    “How do you mean?”
    “I think you know.”
    She didn’t respond. She didn’t have to. The apprehension in her face gave him his answer. It turned to shame and she pulled the towel around herself, covering her breast.
    “Gina?” He lifted her chin. “You are beautiful and very tempting. Please don’t make things harder for me.”
    Hope lit her eyes. “Maybe we could just kiss.”
    He drew back his hand. “That’s the thing. It won’t stop there.”
    “It can,” she said, reaching