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“How much is that hat?” They kept the hats behind the register to keep customers from trying them on.
“This one?”
“No, the blue cowboy one with the pheasant feather.”
The clerk pulled it down and examined the price tag. “Nine-ninety-nine.”
Erin smiled. “I’ll take it.”
She paid the bill and waited for Giovanni at the front. He was taking a while and she wondered if that was good news for her or bad news.
Finally, he appeared at the front with a cart full of items and a grin cracked wide across his face. “No looking!” He skipped past her, giddy, and let out a maniacal laugh.
Erin chuckled. He was having a blast.
Once he paid and had his bags in hand, he met her by the door. “Ready?”
She lifted a chin to his haul. “What did you get?”
“You’ll see.” He snickered.
They decided to go to the restaurant and change in the bathrooms there before ordering. Both in the mood for Italian, they drove to Vincenzo’s and carried their bags inside.
The restaurant was run by Vincenzo’s three daughters, each distantly related to Giovanni through the marriage of one of his McCullough cousins.
“Hey, Giovanni! I heard you were back in town.”
“Hey, Nikki. You remember Erin.”
The second the waitress recognized Erin, she did a double take but said nothing. She took their drink order and dropped two menus on the table. “I’ll grab your drinks then give you some time to decide.”
Once they were alone, he grinned at Erin. “Shall we?”
Now that they were in public, she was having doubts. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Are you kidding? I’ve never been more ready in my life.”
“Okay, but you have to do it, too.”
He chuckled. “You can’t scare me. I love being the center of attention and I live for laughter. This is going to be hysterical.”
They traded bags and disappeared into the restrooms. Once locked inside, Erin opened the bag and burst out laughing. “I’m going to kill him.”
Nikki returned with their drinks and stopped in her tracks at the sight of him. “Um…What the hell are you wearing?”
Giovanni grinned proudly, loving Erin’s selections. “It’s a long story.”
“You look like Elton John and Liberace’s love child—if he were an extra on the Sopranos.”
His grin doubled. “I know. It’s fabulous.”
“You’re…proud of this look?” She slid the drinks onto the table.
“Hell yeah. Erin picked it out.”
“About that—” Nikki’s words cut off as the door to the women’s restroom opened.
Giovanni forgot the waitress as Erin’s scintillating presence demanded every ounce of his attention. His stare traveled from her platform glitter boots, to the teal, windbreaker track pants tucked inside, over the thick, snakeskin belt to the fitted emerald green body suit with a plunging neckline. When he met her stare, she wore the hottest blush he’d ever seen and she could hardly contain her laughter.
