Free Stay by Chelsea Camaron Page A

was subconsciously twisting all of this in my mind to make it more than it was, but after everything life had given me, the very best was Giano. So what if I took it a little farther than I should have? Nothing ever happened beyond the daydreams in my mind.
    Thinking of my life with Giano did nothing to help me fall asleep. Tossing and turning, I tried to sleep; only, it didn’t happen. Going to the kitchen, I tried to remain quiet to avoid waking Giano. I was at the stove, warming milk, when the back door opened, and Giano entered the kitchen.
    He’d been out.
    Well, of course he has , I told myself. He was a thirty-something-year-old man. He didn’t bring women home, but if the talk from teen boys in high school was enough to go on, the man had needs. He was probably out, taking care of those needs … with some woman. My gut clenched at the thought of sharing my stranger with anyone. He meant so much to me in so many ways.
    I turned my attention back to warming my milk so Giano couldn’t see the hurt in my face.
    “Hello, angel, trouble sleeping?” he greeted.
    I simply shrugged my shoulders in reply.
    I shouldn’t feel this way. My goodness, look at how we came to be. I still had more questions than answers, and I had no claim on him. Then why did I feel such … jealousy?
    After adding honey and a splash of vanilla, I poured the contents of the saucepan into a mug. Then I began to move out of the kitchen.
    “Stay,” Giano called out, causing a tingle to run through me.
    I turned and made my way back into the kitchen. Sipping my milk, I then rested the mug on the island and leaned into it as I looked at the man in front of me.
    He was in black pants, a black button-up shirt, and there was a menacing look to him tonight that spiked my adrenaline.
    “What is bothering you?” he questioned as if he had read my thoughts.
    “Nothing. Just couldn’t sleep.”
    “How many years has it been? I know you. I won’t ask again; what is bothering you?”
    I peeked up at him. “It’s stupid, really.”
    “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
    “Will I ever be allowed to date?”
    He smiled his Giancarlo smile at me before cupping my chin in his hand. I closed my eyes tightly and leaned my face into his grip.
    “Have I ever told you that you couldn’t? Have I ever really denied you anything?”
    “Well, no, but everyone says you won’t let me.” I tried to justify my now very stupid question. It wasn’t like I had boys lining up at the door to ask me out, anyway.
    “You are a beautiful young woman.”
    Without opening my eyes, I whispered, “I don’t feel very beautiful. Virgin lips, remember? No one wants to kiss me.”
    “Ah, you are wrong, my angel.”
    I blinked my eyes just in time for his lips to brush softly against my own.
    “Virgin lips no more. Now rest, my angel, and give not a second thought to your friend’s comments from today. Save everything else for a man who deserves such treasures.”
    Before I could gather my thoughts and before the tingling against my lips could end, he released me and pushed off the island, brushing past me as he exited the room.
    I brought my fingertips to my lips as if the ghost of his still lingered there . Virgin lips no more. I touched my lips just as briefly as his lips had touched mine. A man who deserves such treasures. My stranger no more, he deserved to be treasured after all he had given me .
    Making my way to my room, I climbed into bed as my mind replayed his soft, all too quick kiss over and over again as I fell into a dreamless sleep. What was it about Giano that always kept the nightmares away?
     

Chapter Eleven
     
    After another day had passed me by, I slammed my locker closed. Looking up, I jumped when I saw Paul standing in front of me.
    He reached out and rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “Sorry, Lina, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “I wasn’t paying attention. No worries. What’s up, Paul?” I asked, feeling the nervous