Free Gianni's Pride by Kim Lawrence Page B

sweep of her supple curves before he swallowed and added with a nod in the direction of her skirt ‘… feminine.’
    Miranda saw through this supposed interest in her outfit. ‘You don’t have to change the subject.’
    ‘I didn’t know I was.’ Making a fool of himself was another matter; on that score, he thought irritably, he had no doubts at all.
    His jaw tightened as he considered his behaviour. He had not struggled to think above waist level since he was a teenager, but for some reason he was unable to look at this woman without thinking of her minus clothes. This was a long way from the harmless appreciation of an attractive woman’s shape. Given he was a mature, moderately intelligent male able to control his appetites, he could only assume that his continuing fixation was connected with their extremely unconventional meeting.
    It wasn’t a mystery: he’d seen her naked and he wanted to again.
    ‘I understand. I really do.’ She lowered her gaze and looked up at him through the mesh of her lashes. ‘My dad lost his job two years ago.’
    His dark eyes narrowed fractionally at this seemingly disconnected piece of information and he allowed himself a cautious, ‘Sorry.’ He tipped his dark head and wondered where this was going. It crossed his mind that she might see him as some sort of potential employer for her father … but realised almost immediately that didn’t work unless she knew who he was …
    ‘He was so ashamed that he didn’t tell a soul.’ A shadow crossed her face. It was still hard to speak about a time that had been really hard for the family. ‘It was as if his self-esteem was wrapped in what he did. When he lost his job I think he kind of lost his identity …’
    Not quite sure how to respond to this additional information, and wondering about the entire hidden-message thing she had going on, Gianni gave a non-committal grunt.
    ‘We didn’t have a clue. He got up every morning and put on his suit, kissed my mum goodbye and went, or so we all thought, to work as normal.’
    Gianni felt a stab of sympathy for the man he had never met. ‘What did he do?’
    ‘He actually went to the library. Of course, it wasn’t quite the same for him. He was nearly pensionable age. It was not so much about loss of income as he felt he’d been put on the scrap heap. I suppose if something like that happens when you’re younger,’ she said, fixing him with a steady look, ‘and used to having … nice things, it must be hard to … readjust. But there’s no shame in being unemployed. You just have to remember it’s only temporary and children don’t care what car you drive—they care about the love and attention they receive.’
    It took a few seconds for Gianni to realise that this earnest little morality tale was aimed at him. She actually thought she was talking about him. His incredulity gave way to annoyance that almost immediately tipped over into amusement.
    The question of why she had suddenly thought it was a good idea for him to stay was solved—he was a charity case.
    ‘And you’re bound to make a few mistakes at first but look at all the things you’re doing right.’
    ‘There are things I am doing right?’ Coming clean was the right thing to do, but not the most convenient thing to do.
    ‘Well, you didn’t lose your temper when he was playing up. A lot of people would.’
    ‘What are you doing?’ he asked, watching as she pressed her knee into the bulging case on the bed.
    Perhaps, Gianni reflected, it was a question best directed to himself.
    What was he doing?
    He had a healthy libido, but he also had the ability to compartmentalisehis life. The fact was he could not remember the last time he’d had such a strong physical reaction to a woman, though even had the circumstances been different he doubted he would have acted on the attraction. While he was not looking for a soul mate—if such a thing existed—in his bed, neither was he looking for the sort of