The Last Santini Virgin. Maureen Child

about it, too.

      Eyes wide, she hurriedly chewed, swallowed and said, “You talked to him? When? Where? What do you mean? What did you say?”

      Davis shrugged, smiled at his wife, then looked back at Gina. “To answer your questions in order…after work, at the Staff NCO club, and I just told him you were my sister-in-law and I’d appreciate it if he’d back off.”

      “Oh, great.” She dropped her fork with a clatter and sat back in her chair.

      “Wasn’t that nice?” Mama asked no one in particular and reached out to pat Davis’s hand fondly.

      “Nice?” Gina said, staring at her mother. “You think it’s nice?”

      “What’s wrong with you?” Marie demanded. “Davis was just trying to help you out.”

      “If he wanted to help,” Gina said, glaring at her sister, “then he should have simply run the man down in the street.”

      “Oh,” Angela piped up, “there’s a plan.”

      “Run who down?” Eight-year-old Jeremy asked.

      “A nice Marine like Davis, dear,” Mama told him, and handed him more garlic bread. Unflappable, Mama let nothing interfere with dinner.

      “No he’s not,” Gina said quickly.

      “Nice?” Mama asked.

      “Like Davis,” Gina clarified.

      “What’s the big deal?” Angela asked as she poured her son more milk. “So Davis talked to him. You’re overreacting, Gina.”

      “Big surprise,” Marie muttered.

      “I am not overreacting,” Gina snapped. “How does this look? Now he thinks I went crying to my big brother-in-law wailing for help.”

      “You did,” Marie reminded her, rising to her husband’s defense like a lioness defending its den.

      “I did not,” she argued hotly, and shifted her gaze from Marie to Davis. “Did I ever ask you to talk to the man? Did I plead for your help?”

      “No, but…” Davis squirmed in his chair.

      Ordinarily Gina might have felt sorry for him, surrounded by women, the only other jolt of testosterone in the room coming from a boy too small to be on his side. But not tonight.

      “Cut it out, Gina,” Marie said sharply. “Davis was trying to help you, for crying out loud. It’s your own fault. All you’ve done since starting those classes is complain about the man.”

      Okay, so she’d complained a little. Wasn’t that one of the perks of having a family? They were supposed to let you rant and rave. She hadn’t noticed them rushing out to buy her new clothes when she complained about her wardrobe.

      “Papa would have been pleased with what Davis did for you,” Mama said. “Family takes care of family.”

      Oh, for pity’s sake, she made it sound like they were in the Mafia. What’s next? We send Nick a dead fish wrapped in newspaper?

      “But…” Gina began.

      “Davis went out of his way to find this guy, you know. He did you a favor. The least you could do is thank him.” Marie stared at her, silently waiting for Gina to do just that.

      Five pairs of eyes watched her. She could hear the ticking of the mantel clock in the living room. No one moved. Damn it. Didn’t they understand that even though he’d meant well, Davis had just made a complicated situation even more difficult?

      In an instant she recalled everything Nick had said to her after their last class. Spoiled. Pampered. Princess. Well, now, thanks to Davis’s well intentioned meddling, Nick would think himself proved right.

      Why was her life suddenly so complicated?

      Men, that’s why.

      First, there had been Richard. A lawyer she’d dated long enough to convince her to take ballroom dancing lessons in order to fit into his social sphere. Unfortunately she’d stopped dating him before her second class. Though a perfectly nice man, they hadn’t shared enough chemistry to set off a sparkler.

      Sparklers. Fireworks. Skyrockets.

      The thought of which brought to mind the new male in her life. Nick Paretti. Her blood hummed in her veins. Her stomach pitched and rolled.

      Oh, for Pete’s sake.

      “Gina!”

      Marie’s voice dragged her back to the moment at hand.

      “You could at least pay attention when we’re arguing,” her sister said.

      “Oh, I’m paying attention,” she muttered, then continued, “all I said was that Nick Paretti is a pain in the—”

      “Gina.” Mama’s voice broke in, firmly.

      She closed her mouth, sighed then said, “He’s a pain in the drain, that’s all.”

      Mama nodded, satisfied.

      Jeremy snickered until his mother shushed him. Apparently, he hadn’t been fooled by his aunt’s quick save.

      “I only meant to help,” Davis said, looking directly into Gina’s eyes.

      Instantly she regretted shouting at him. He had meant well. And if you stopped to think about it, it was really very sweet, him rushing in to play big brother. Boy, would she have loved having him around when she was a kid.

      “I know,” she said, giving him a smile and letting him know he was forgiven. It wasn’t his fault she had such conflicting feelings for Nick. Then she forced herself to add, “Thanks, Davis. You’re a good brother.”

      He grinned at her. “Yeah, I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

      Conversation flowed again, swirling around and past Gina. No one seemed to notice that she wasn’t taking part.

      “Okay, let’s have it,” Gina said as they left the dance studio.

      “Have what?” Nick glanced up at the starry sky and shrugged deeper into the windbreaker jacket he wore.

      “I’ve been waiting all night,” she said, and grabbed his arm to bring him to a stop.

      Scowling, he turned his gaze down at her. He should have known they wouldn’t be able to go an entire night without an argument. Although, up until now the evening had gone fine. They’d hardly spoken and they’d danced better than ever. Maybe that was the secret to getting along with Gina Santini. No talking.

      “Waiting for what?” he asked.

      “For you to make some smart remark about my brother-in-law hunting you down on base.”

      “Oh…” Nick nodded and immediately understood. She was wondering why he hadn’t said anything. But the truth was, he’d been doing a lot of thinking since Davis Garvey had spoken to him a few days ago. In fact, he’d been trying to figure out exactly why Gina Santini rubbed him the wrong way more often than not. He’d lost his temper more times since he’d met her than he had in the past five years. And that wasn’t like Nick at all.

      Then last night the truth had finally dawned on him. Gina reminded him—too much—of his ex-wife. Oh, she didn’t look anything like her, and if truth be known, Gina was a helluva lot nicer than Kim had ever been. But there were too many similarities to ignore, too.

      Both of them spoiled, used to getting their own ways and not above using their looks to do it. Every time Gina tried to flirt her way out of an argument, Nick’s defenses went on full alert. He’d fallen once for a woman with more looks than heart. He wouldn’t let it happen again.

      As for her brother-in-law’s visit, there was no need to say anything about that. If Nick had been in the same position, he would have done the very