The Santinis: Leonardo, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

hair down again. His fingers had been itching to slip through the silky curls.
    “But, you’re still going,” Jack said.  
    “Yes, I am. I’m not in the mood to hang around you when you’re in such a foul mood. Go back to sleep, loser.” She rose to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “There’s beer in the fridge.”
    Then she stepped out, causing Leo to step back.  
    “Ready?” he asked.
    She nodded and smiled.
    “Hey, I didn’t get to interrogate him.”
    She smiled back over her shoulder at Jack. “Yeah, how about that, Marine? He got the drop on you and he’s Army.”
    With that she laughed and started walking down the stairs. He smiled and followed her down.
    “Be home by eleven.”
    “Suck it, Johnson.” It was all she said as she waited for Leo to finish walking down.
    “So, your brother...”
    “Is a pain in the ass. I don’t know what he’s doing here, but it makes me nervous.”  
    He opened the door and she slid into his truck. She watched him as he rounded the hood.
    “He’s making you nervous how?” he asked after he joined her.
    “Jack has a habit of being involved with women who just tear him to shreds. He usually comes to see me to lick his wounds. And by that, I mean he comes here because I will be the designated driver for him.”
    “When did he get in?”
    “Last night.”
    “But you tried to cancel earlier than that.”
    She sighed and looked across the cab of his pickup at him. “I didn’t want to want to go out with you.”
    He blinked. “Wow, that made my head hurt.”
    She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. He found himself wanting to make her smile like she had that night at dinner.
    “I’ve been involved with military guys before. It just never ended well.”
    He could tell she was skittish and he thought it had to do with their initial interaction.  
    “How about this? We’ll do dinner, call it even for you cooking for me like I said, then you can decide if you want to make it…more than platonic?”
    She cocked her head to one side. “And if I said no romance you’d be cool with that?”
    He thought about it. No he wouldn’t be. He wanted her in his bed. He had decided that the night he had kissed her. There was nothing he wanted more in his life at the moment, than this woman beneath him moaning his name. But…he could wait. For now.
    “Sure.”
    She looked out the window. “Okay, let’s do dinner.”
    *   *   *   *
    Maryanne tried not to be charmed, but she was. He took her to one of her favorite restaurants, The Alamo Cafe. As they ate he told her stories of growing up with four brothers and they compared what it was like to have an older brother who was a Marine.
    “So, all of you got into the military?”
    He nodded as he slathered some butter on his fresh tortilla. “Yep.”
    “But you didn’t go into the Marines like your father. What about the other two?”
    “Marco’s in the Navy. A SEAL. Gianni’s Air Force. PJ.”
    She sat back. “So your entire family represents the armed services.”
    He offered her one of those smiles that had her heart doing a little tap dance. “Well, we don’t have anyone in the Coast Guard, but Mom said she was done after Gianni. And, he was sort of a surprise from what I remember.”
    “How rude of your mother.”
    He laughed like she expected and she bit back a sigh. The man had an amazing laugh. There was nothing calculated about it. It did funny things to her insides. Like, having his attention only on her. He wasn’t overly flirtatious, but he had asked about her work…and just about her. And, unlike so many men, he had actually listened.
    “If my mom can’t handle four boys like us, I doubt there’s a woman on earth who could.”
    Okay, that was starting to get to her too. Any other man would sound like a Mama’s boy, but Leo didn’t. His voice was filled with admiration.
    “Where are they all stationed?”
      We’re scattered all over the place, but at least we’re all back in