Page 9 of And Everything In Between (Love By Any Means #3)

“Yeah, and I’m good at it. About to run things while my boss is on maternity leave.”

“They lucky to have you.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly at the realization that she hadn’t told him what she did for a living. “You’ve been asking about me?”

Giovanni didn’t deny it. “I told you; you been calling out to me. I didn’t want to come at you wrong. I can tell in the way you carry yourself you know your worth and you on your shit. You gotta come to that correct or not at all.”

A comfortable silence fell between them as they ate.

Paige watched him, the careful way he separated the bones from his fish, how he savored each bite instead of rushing.

He licked his curved thumb, and her thighs quivered under the table.

A man who knew how to appreciate things would always be her weakness.

“So, what’s the deal with your shop?” she asked finally, needing to get back to the conversation at hand. “Emon mentioned something about custom work. Blakes Bronco was fucking fire.”

Giovanni’s face lit up, and for the first time that night, his cool demeanor cracked to reveal genuine excitement.

“Aww look at your cheeks. You love it.”

“I do. Not gonna lie.” He grinned. “It started with me and a small garage ten years back. First it was fixing cars until I realized there was so much more to do. I could infuse my love of art and vehicles. Now we have the best custom shop in three states. We do more than trick out cars, we build art.” He pulled out his phone, swiped through a few pictures of gleaming vehicles.

Paige leaned in, genuinely impressed. “That’s big shit. Self-made?”

“Every inch,” he confirmed. “My pops taught me the repair side, but everything else...” He gestured to himself. “Trial and error.”

“Your daddy still around?”

The question brought a subtle shift in his expression. “Nah. Lost him six years ago. Cancer.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice softening. “That’s hard.”

“It’s life, baby. He got to see me start the place,” Giovanni replied. “Would’ve loved what it’s become, though.”

“My daddy’s sick,” she found herself saying before she could think better of it. She didn’t know why she shared that with him, but she felt like only he could understand. “Dialysis three times a week.”

Giovanni didn’t offer sympathy. Didn’t tiptoe around it either. He nodded, eyes holding hers like he saw something familiar.

“Yeah,” he said, his voice low unwavering. “I get it now.”

“Get what, Giovanni? You swear you can read me.”

“I can.”

He didn’t rush the words.

“Peace feels foreign. Stillness makes you itch. You’ve been holding everything together so long, you forgot what it feels like to be held, if you’ve ever known.”

His eyes dropped on her phone, then back up.

“You keep checking your phone not because you expect anything. Just habit. You said it was on Do Not Disturb… that was a lie. Let that be the last one.”

Her brow lifted, lips parting slightly. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I don’t need lies.”

He let it breathe, then continued, voice lower now. Not backing off—just reaching in deeper.

“I know what that kind of tired looks like. My mom cared for my pops when he was sick. It wasn’t sponge baths and soft music—it was chemo, decisions, watching the person you love slowly disappear. She stopped checking in on herself just trying to keep him breathing.”

He leaned in, elbows on the table.

“And you got that same look. Like rest feels like a setup. Like if you sit still too long, something bad might happen. But it’s not just about the night out. You needed stillness. You needed somebody who’d show up and not ask anything from you. Just be there.”

He sat back slightly but didn’t break eye contact.

“I can be that. And not just for tonight.”

Paige blinked, her throat tight. She turned toward the window, letting the streetlights blur.

He didn’t push. Didn’t prod. Just watched her, silence didn’t scare him.

She inhaled slowly. Her reflex was to pull it all back in. To be fine. To be composed.

But something about him felt like a quiet room after a storm.

She wasn’t ready to enter, not yet—but she wanted to linger by the door.

But the fact that she even considered it? That shocked her. She smiled until his voice called her back to the moment.

“You must be close with him?” he asked, not pushing, more curious than anything.

She hesitated. “It’s complicated. But I’m all he’s got right now.”

Giovanni nodded again. “That’s all I needed to know.”

He made a quiet mental note to figure out how to take something off her plate, whether she wanted him to or not.

Ms. Leah appeared at their table, refilling their drinks. “Y’all look too serious for a Saturday night,” she chided. “Giovanni, are you boring this beautiful woman?”

He laughed, leaning to the side. “Ms. Leah, I’m trying my best to make this a good first date.” Paige smiled and tilted her hand back and forth, saying he was doing okay. He winked at her as Ms. Leah continued.

“Does she know I watched you grow up? Chile, he always had his eye on a pretty girl. Nothing’s changed I see,” she said to Paige with a wink and laugh before walking off.

Paige laughed, “She’s a trip.”

“Too many memories,” Giovanni said, watching her. “But she’s not wrong.”

Their eyes held for a second too long.

“You always this direct?” Paige asked, tilting her head.

“You always this guarded?”

That made her laugh. “Touché.”

They fell into a rhythm then, eating in easy silence. When Giovanni leaned back, arm stretched along the booth, his tone shifted again, personal now.

“You ever let anyone help you with the load?”

He hadn’t meant to ask it out loud or bring it back up but the thought of her doing it all alone was sitting wrong in his chest. Heavy. Now he was the one caught off guard.

She picked at her plate. “That’s not other people’s job. I can take care of myself. I have been for a long time.”

“That don’t mean you don’t need it. And it damn sure don’t mean nobody wants to.”

He leaned in a little, not aggressively, but with heaviness.

“I didn’t stop traffic today just ‘cause you fine as hell—though let’s be clear, you are.

” A small smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“I stopped because I saw a woman locked in. Focused. Holding back more than she’ll ever say out loud. ”

Paige held his gaze, lips twitching into a small smirk.

“Are you offering your services? Tryna be my knight in shining armor?”

Giovanni smiled. “I’m saying I see you. I’ve been you. And I won’t forget you sharing what you shared with me. I guess I’m saying I’d do it if you let me.”

The directness of his words made her dizzy. She loved a direct man because she was a direct woman. She didn’t need lines, thrills, or frills. She took a sip of her drink, considering him. This man who’d stopped traffic for her, who’d somehow seen past her carefully constructed walls.

“What made you say yes?” he asked, trying to get into her head some more.

Paige twisted the ring on her thumb and turned her head, meeting his gaze head-on. “I don’t remember it being a question, Giovanni. Or did I misread the vibe?”

He laughed at that from the chest. It rolled out of him slowly, like it had been marinating.

“I ain’t never heard nothin’ truer.” He nodded once, gaze fixed on her. “Been clockin’ you, Paige. Just waited for the lane to clear.”

His voice didn’t rise, but the intentions she was so unsure about earlier were becoming clear.

“I hear you.”

“Listen, you were either gon’ be with me, or I was gon’ be with you. And don’t let go over your head.”

Paige smirked, the old version of her, the cocky, outside, fine-ass Paige, sliding back into her bones like she’d never left.

“And let’s be real,” she added, tapping her nails against the table. “You don’t stop traffic for just anybody. Made a bitch feel special.”

“I wouldn’t,” he said simply. “Only for the baddest.”

Giovanni stood and extended his hand to help her up, “You tryna get out of here or you want more stories from Ms. Leah?”

“And then what?”

“You want to see my spot?” Giovanni asked, keys already in hand. “Got some people hanging out tonight. Good music. Good vibes. A little after party.”

Paige hesitated for a moment, but the night felt too full of possibility to end now.

“Lead the way.”

He paid the bill despite her protest, and they stepped outside into the evening heat.

Neither of them wanted the night to end.

Paige was all of a sudden feeling shy standing in front of him while he examined her all over again.

Giovanni opened the door for her and walked around to the driver's side.

Before he could reach for the handle, he saw her lean across the seat to unlock his door.

“Nah, no way,” he muttered under his breath, grinning.

Within thirty minutes, Giovanni pulled into the parking lot of his pride and joy, Customs by Giovanni.

Paige studied the place through the windshield, three buildings spread across what used to be an old warehouse complex, now transformed into something that screamed success.

The main building had the shop logo lit up against the brick, custom paint jobs gleaming under string lights that crisscrossed the yard.

But it wasn’t the cars catching her attention. The place was alive, bodies moving between buildings, music spilling out onto the lot, laughter punctuating the night air. This was more than a shop, it was a whole damn community.

“You built all this?” Her eyes grew wide as she was unable to keep the admiration from her voice.

Giovanni watched her reaction, enjoying the surprise in her eyes.

He’d imagined this moment before, showing someone special what he'd built.

But he'd never actually brought anyone here who mattered.

Seeing that look of admiration on Paige meant everything.

His daddy had always told him to build something that would make a good woman look at him twice.

This place had finally made one look at him three times.