Free Rules of Engagement by Tawny Weber Page A

nose. “Why would I cry
about that?”
    “ I wouldn’t think anything
as traditional as a wedding would be your thing,” Rico
admitted.
    Right. Gina’s tears dried
up and tension slid over her shoulders. Because girls like her,
girls with a tattoo or two, a few piercings and a penchant for
experimenting with hair color weren’t the marrying kind.
    So wasn’t crazy that her
secret dream was so normal she was almost ashamed of it. She wanted
a home she could paint wild colors, a garden to grow organic
vegetables. She wanted kids she could guide and a father for them
who drove her wild, saw her heart and loved her
completely.
    Yep, crazy, she
sniffed.
    The kind of guys who went
for girls like her would freak over that kind of thing. Besides, no
one she’d dated gave her the feeling. They might get her hot and
wild, but it never lasted. And none of them ever inspired an urge
to live out her secret dream of spending the rest of her life
having wild, kinky sex and playing house.
    Nope, she slanted a glance
at the man next to her again and sighed. For some insane reason,
her sub-conscious had slated that dream exclusively for
Rico.
    Every time she shoved aside
her craving for Rico and settled for someone else, it just didn’t
work out. Like the last guy she’d dated, the minute she even so
much as thought about settling, and trying to settle down and doing
the traditional thing, his wienie-radar went off, and he’d run so
fast all that’d been left behind was a smear of guy-liner. Artsy
goth types didn’t seem to be into anything traditional.
    A different life than what
she’d grown up with, the daughter of a wild teenager who hadn’t
been ready to give up her life and settle down. Not even for her
kid.
    Rico was right. What did
she know about traditional? Gina sighed. Wishing for it was crazy,
but she couldn’t get it out of her mind.
    According to the wisdom of
Sophia, traditional was what Rico wanted, too. A wife. Kids. Maybe
even a picket fence, although the fence in Gina’s dream was
two-toned, decorated in a black diamond pattern and the kids
homeschooled and doing yoga.
    Probably not what Rico had
in mind.
    Because he wasn’t her
type.
    Or, more to the point, she wasn’t his.
    She’d seen his type. Blonde, busty and
sophisticated. The kind who threw cocktail parties and had future
PTA-mom written all over their perfect face.
    Which was so not Gina.
    With that reminder front
and center, she released his arm as soon as they reached the end of
the aisle and stepped away.
    “ Where are you
going?”
    Why? Did he want her to
stay? She stared up at him, the familiar sexual tension she always
felt around him sliding through her system. Dark eyes stared back,
lashes so lush she could barely resist touching them. He wore his
usual, intense look, the one that made her wonder if he was trying
to see into her soul.
    Or better yet, wondering what she looked
like naked.
    Despite the crowd of wedding guests milling
around them, Gina’s mind immediately reciprocated, images of what
Rico might look like naked dancing through her brain.
    She knew he was buffed and
tight, his body honed to perfection. But she wanted to see the rest
of it.
    Yes, oh yes she
did .
    Did his lips taste as good
as they looked? Were his hands gentle, even in the throes of
passion? Or did he throw caution and that gentlemanly façade out
the door and grab a woman for some rough and wild
craziness?
    Gina’s heart pounded so
hard, she was surprised her dress didn’t rip. Face flushed, she
glanced away trying to remember what he’d said.
    “ Sorry, what?” she finally
asked with an apologetic smile.
    “ Where are you going?” he
repeated, that ever-so-familiar impatient furrow in his
brow.
    “ To help Sophia get ready
for photos.”
    “ You’re not going to
explain that crying thing?”
    For a second, the wild side
of her wanted to share everything. Why she’d been crying, what
she’d been thinking, and just exactly how often she’d