Romancing Sal Gabrini 2: A Woman's Touch by Mallory Monroe Page A

you?”
    “Hated
my guts,” Reno replied.   “Couldn’t stand
me.   Especially her mother.   That woman called me everything but a child
of God.”
    Trina
laughed.   Reno, she knew, had heard her
say that many times before.
    “But
now,” Reno added, “she’s my mother too.   She’s my biggest supporter, and I’m hers.   I love her to death, and she loves me.”
    Sal
smiled.   “Really?”
    “Hell
no,” Reno said.   “But it sounded good,
didn’t it?”
    Trina
hit Reno on the arm. “Don’t listen to him, Sal,” she said.   “It is true.   Mom adores him.   Dad does too.   But it took time.   Don’t expect any miracles this weekend.”
    Miracles
weren’t what Sal was after.   He was just
praying they didn’t completely turn Gemma against him.
    They
continued to talk and pour drinks, and listen to the band, until Gemma finally
arrived.   Reno saw her first, and then
Sal and Trina looked too.
    “Oh,
Sal,” Trina said, “she’s so lovely, isn’t she?”
    “Every
time I see that girl,” Reno said, “she looks even more breathtakingly
beautiful.”
    Sal
stared at Gemma, at her svelte form, at her deep dark skin and short, bouncy
hair, at the way every man she passed gave her double takes.   And although he felt proud, he felt concerned
too.   What on earth possessed him to
think he deserved a woman like her?   “Think she’s beautiful, hun?” he asked Reno.
    “Know
so,” Reno said.   Then she looked at
Sal.   “You don’t agree?”
    “Hell
yeah,” Sal said.
    “But
she’s got nothing on you,” Reno said to Trina.
    Although
Trina knew he was lying, she smiled anyway.   And Gemma continued to walk with her long, straight-back strides until
she was walking up to their section.
    “Hello
everybody!” she said as she arrived.
    Sal
and Reno both stood. “Hey, babe,” Sal said as he moved aside to let her
in.   When they drew close, he kissed her
on the lips.   As she rubbed against him
to get past him, and he smelled her familiar, perfumery scent, he became even
more concerned.   He was falling so hard
for her! This kind of do-or-die love was so new to him!
    Gemma,
who was about to sit next to Trina, thanks to Sal’s move, leaned down and
hugged her friend and business partner, and squeezed Reno’s hand.   But Reno, being Reno, leaned over and kissed
her on the lips.
    “How
are you, dear?” he asked her.
    “I’m
good,” Gemma said, sitting down beside Trina.   She was still getting accustomed to Reno’s affectionate nature.   Especially since it was in stark contrast to
Sal’s considerably less-affectionate nature.
    “This
is so nice,” she said, looking around.    “And the music is dope.   Love it,
Reno.”
    “Thank-you,
thank-you,” Reno said as he and Sal sat down too.   “I knew we were making the right move when I
was approached with the idea.   A
straight-up jazz club at the PaLargio.   It was long overdue.”
    “Amen
to that,” Trina said, sipping more wine.  
    “Want
a drink?” Sal asked Gemma.
    “Not
just yet, but thanks,” Gemma replied.   “What I really need is to freshen up.”
    Trina
began to stand.   “And since I need to use
the little girl’s room, let’s go.”
    Gemma
and Trina stood, Sal and Reno stood again, and the ladies left.   The men sat back down and watched them.
    “That’s
a good looking woman you have on your hands, Sal.”
    Sal
nodded.   He couldn’t help but notice the
men giving her and Trina the looks.   “Yup,” he said.   “And to think,
when I first met her, I couldn’t decide if she was the most beautiful woman in
the world to me, or the   ugliest.”
    Reno
looked at him.   “Get the fuck out of
here!   Ugly?   Gem ?”
    “I
told you it was nuts.”
    “Nuts
my ass!   You had to be out of your
fucking mind!   That woman is
gor-gor-gorgeous!”
    “I
know,” Sal said.   “I know!   I guess she was the kind of beautiful I had
never really paid attention to.”
    “You
mean