A Daddy for Jacoby(24)

She rinsed her mouth and tossed her toothbrush into the cup on the sink. Wiping her hands on the closest towel, she did her best to wipe the shock from her face, as well.

“You want to run that by me again?” She joined her sister on the bed, a stack of pillows at her back.

“Do I have to say it again?”

“No, but how about you tell me why you’re asking?” Gina nudged her sister’s jean-clad thigh.

Giselle offered a dramatic sigh, something she did often and with great skill, and flopped over onto her back.

Two months away from graduating high school, she’d celebrated her eighteenth birthday, along with her twin brother, Garrett, just a few weeks ago. Having left home when the twins were in the first grade to attend a private school for the gifted, Gina wasn’t close to her younger siblings. She had come back on breaks and vacations, but she and the twins were always more polite strangers than family.

When she’d returned home for good this time, she’d been determined to change that. She and Giselle had spent a lot of time together, shopping and going to movies, but this was the first time one of their girl talks had ever approached such a serious subject.

“Hello?” Gina prodded.

“I was just wondering because…” Giselle’s voice was soft, her gaze glued to the ceiling. “Well, I’m eighteen now and so many of my friends aren’t virgins anymore. I’m not…completely innocent, but I’m still— Were you a virgin when you graduated high school?”

“I was fifteen.” Gina offered a smile. “So, yeah, I was.”

Giselle snorted. “Like age means anything nowadays.” Then she looked at her. “But you’re not now, right?”

“I’m also five years older than you.”

Giselle sighed and grabbed one of the pillows, hugging it to her chest. “Stefan and I have been exclusive since the prom last year. He’s wanted to—you know—for a while, but I’ve been holding off. I’m not sure I’m ready.”

“If you’re not ready, you’re not ready. Seems pretty simple to me.”

“What if I’m ready in my heart, but my head keeps telling me to hold off?”

Gina fingered the hem of her plaid flannel pants, her standard pajamas along with her favorite University of Notre Dame sweatshirt. “Have you tried talking to Mom about this?”

Her sister’s blue eyes widened. “Are you nuts? Mom is still buying me dolls for Christmas.”

“It was an ornament for the tree and you’ve been collecting that series for years,” Gina said. “I think Mom would be understanding…and helpful.”

Giselle rolled her eyes. “Mom and I had ‘the talk’ back when I was in junior high, and it’s been a while since she was a teenager. Besides, you said I could come to you about anything, remember?”

Yes, she’d said those exact words. “Okay. So tell me again what you’re really asking?”

“How will I know when I’m ready? How did you know? I mean, you aren’t still a virgin, right?”

Gina studied her sister’s serious gaze. She saw curiosity and also a genuine need for help with comprehending the crazy world of adulthood she was moving into. “No, but it was only last summer I was with someone for the first time.”

“At King’s College in London?”

Memories from last year flooded back, more bittersweet than painful, but a tender wound still lingered. Her mother had told her things would get better when she held Gina in her arms, not asking questions while Gina cried. She’d told her in time the hurt would fade and then she’d be able to deal with whatever had brought her home to Destiny.

She’d been right, but still, Gina found herself coming to terms with the way her first love affair had ended. “I met Geoffrey my first week of classes, and he literally swept me off my feet. He looked like Jude Law, right down to the accent and he was even smarter than me.… I was in heaven.”

Giselle released a small sigh. “He sounds wonderful. So you two hadn’t dated long before you…you know.”

“No, we didn’t. It was a whirlwind romance, if you want the cliché term. He pulled me out of my shell and showed me a whole new world full of fun and laughter and…passion.” Gina pulled one of the other pillows into her lap and held it tight. “You’ve got to remember, I didn’t date much in high school or college—much meaning not at all. Most of my classmates were at least three years older than me. Studying was my number-one concern. I know now that I used studying as a way to hide, concentrating on the books instead of meeting people.”