by Lula Woods
SWEET
BUBBLE RIDE
-GABRIELLA-
Curvy woman romance
By
LULA WOODS
Sweet Bubble Ride - Gabriella © 2020 by Lula Woods.
All Rights Reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.
Cover designed by Lula Woods.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
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Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Epilogue
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Chapter One
Gabriella
I hated getting up early.
It was a good thing I had an alarm clock because otherwise, I would probably sleep until noon. The only reason I tolerated being awake before five-thirty on a weekday morning was that I needed to go for my run. I listened to the alarm clock beep for a few seconds before finally turning it off. I sat up and stretched, wishing I could stay in bed a little bit longer.
But then, I heard the gate next door squeak, which meant by super-hot neighbor was ready to start his morning routine, which was enough to get my reluctant body out of bed. I needed to keep up with the training for my next marathon in ten days, and Cameron Vincent was an excellent motivator for sticking to my routine. I’d follow that body of his anywhere.
When I had moved to this neighborhood, the house next to mine had been occupied by an older couple. But a few years later, they put it up for sale, and Cameron had moved in. This was a little less than a year ago, and my obsession with the man had begun. We had introduced ourselves on that first day, and sure, he was handsome, with his sparkling gray eyes and auburn hair with a bit of silver here and there. But he was nice, too. He didn’t say much, but he always smiled if we happened to see each other at our respective gates, or passed each other when running, which I had discovered he regularly did.
It didn’t hurt that when the weather was warm, like now, he wore the shortest shorts ever, and no shirt. It was inspirational, watching his long legs eat up the pavement as he ran ahead of me. And those freckles…yummy. He probably wore a lot of sunscreen. I wasn’t as fast as he was, but I was steady and kept my pace for the miles that I chose to run on a specific day.
With a sigh, I went to the bathroom, emptied my bladder and quickly brushed my teeth before dressing in leggings, socks and a T-shirt. After tugging on my sneakers—a newer pair I had gotten from Mason, my best friend’s boyfriend who was trying out a new product—I pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail, placed my cell phone and key in my armband, and left the house to start my eight-mile route. Cameron was nowhere in sight, but I would see him at some point.
Running had always been my passion, even when I was a kid. It was my way of dealing with the stress of family expectations, and it helped to clear my head. I had started out running in the hopes of losing weight when I was growing up since I had always been plus-sized, and I had felt the pressure to conform with the “regular-sized” girls. Then, running turned into something I truly enjoyed. My size didn’t change much, but my stamina and love of running grew. It kept me fit and happy and I pushed myself to do more and test my limits.
Now, I ran marathons and half-marathons a few times a year, and it was the best feeling ever to cross the finish line and improve my time with each race. While I ran, the sky became lighter as the sun rose. When I hit the four-mile mark, which was next to a park, I saw Cameron on the other side of the road, running in the opposite direction. He was sweaty, his chest and abs glistening, his hair stuck to his face and neck, and those shorts of his clung to his perfect, slim hips. Did I ever want to lick his sweat like a lollipop!
Unfortunately, when he smiled at me as he ran by, I smiled back and tripped over God-knows-what in the middle of the sidewalk seconds later, and down I went. I landed on my ass, at least, but my pride might never recover. I looked up to see if anyone else had noticed, especially Cameron, but only the squirrels were around, and they were in search of nuts, so they didn’t count, thankfully. Cameron was long gone, and I was happy he hadn’t witnessed my embarrassing moment. I could blame his body for the distraction it always caused, but I simply wasn’t looking where I was going. Basically, Cameron was lethal and should be registered as a dangerous weapon to women everywhere.
I used a nearby stone bench as leverage to get up off the ground and brushed off my clothes before continuing my run. When I finally got back home, it was almost eight in the morning. Cameron had already left for work, which was usual for this time of day. I had no idea what he did for a living, but the few times I had seen him leaving his house, he’d been wearing jeans, a button-down shirt, and a suit jacket, so who knew?
I needed to eat, shower and get to work by nine, so I tried to focus on that instead of my wayward thoughts of my hunky neighbor. At least the bank where I worked was only seven miles away. After my shower, I prepared breakfast and ate while I checked the financial markets for trends. As the president of a small local bank, I did anything from financial product marketing to HR. I even served as a teller, from time to time, when an employee got sick. I treated the staff as my family and offered training opportunities for self-improvement. Cross-training was important and I encouraged education for advancement.
Once I finished my meal and stuck the dishes in the dishwasher, I made myself some coffee to carry in a thermos and left the house, driving the short distance to the bank. I unlocked the front door and headed inside, greeting the banking officer on duty—Jermaine—and the two tellers who would work with the customers today.
“Morning, Gabriella,” Thomas said as I walked by his window.
“Morning! Ready to start the day?”
“Absolutely!” His enthusiasm was something I appreciated.
“Great.” I greeted the other teller, Christine, in a similar fashion, then said, “You both know where to find me if you need anything.” I smiled and headed back to my office to prepare for my phone call with the CEO and the Board of Directors.
****
At one in the afternoon, I walked to the strip mall nearby to grab some lunch. I chose Panera Bread and quickly ordered a meal and a bottle of water to take back with me to the office. As I left the restaurant, I heard someone call my name.
“Gabriella!” I looked up, and there was…my neighbor. Well, that was unexpected.
“Hi Cameron,” I said, once he jogged over to me and stopped. “What are you… are you getting lunch here, or something?”
“No, I ate already. I just saw you and thought I’d say hello.” He was dressed in a blazer, shirt, and jeans, as usual. Damn it, did his clothes have to fit him that well? It was so unfair.
“I see.” I cleared my throat and tried to remain co
mposed. “You are heading back to work?”
“Yeah. Local community college. I teach finance. You?” Oh, a professor. I would now have a new fodder for my fantasies.
“Me? Oh, I work at a local bank.” I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. “Uh, did you have a good run this morning?”
“Yeah. It’s the perfect time of day, don’t you agree?”
I smiled ruefully. “I’m not a morning person, so no, it’s not perfect. But I enjoy running, and it’s the best time to get in all the miles I need while I train.”
“What are you training for?”
“The Sunny-Davis marathon. It’s in two weeks.” This was the longest conversation we’d ever had to date. It was a little bit surreal.
He looked at me in pleased surprise. “Hey, me, too! Is this your first?”
“Oh, no. I do a few marathons every year. But I’ve never done this one before.”
“Me, neither. Maybe we can carpool that morning if you want? No sense both of us wasting gas.” I almost dropped my water bottle in shock.
“You…really? You don’t mind?” I couldn’t have imagined this conversation in a million years.
“I’d love to. We can motivate each other on the way.” He winked. “You would be just the inspiration I need to make it through all those miles.” Wait, what? Did I hear him right?
I blushed and tucked a loose strand of hair behind an ear. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine, Cameron, but it’s always nice to have someone around to motivate you, right?”
“Absolutely.” And the slow smile he gave me as we stared at each other on that busy sidewalk made me realize that yes, I had heard him right. Cameron Vincent was flirting with me. My inner Gabby was doing a fist pump.
“I’ve got to get back to work,” he added. “I’ll see you on your next run?” All I could do was nod. “Great. Bye!” He waved, and I watched as he jogged over to his pickup truck, got in and drove away, leaving me confused and mildly turned on.
What the hell had just happened?
Chapter Two
Cameron
Gabriella Ortiz was perfect in every way, and that dark red suit she had been wearing matched her lipstick and pumps, and I just wanted to taste her from head to toe.
I’d had my eye on her ever since I moved into the neighborhood almost a year ago, and she had introduced herself as my next-door neighbor. She was stunning, with ample curves in all the right places, and her light-brown skin and black hair were the perfect foil for big brown eyes that displayed every thought in her head. When she smiled at me, it was shy but welcoming, and I really wanted to get to know her better, on every level.
I knew she was shocked at my flirting, just now, but I couldn’t help it. I’d finally had a decent conversation with her, aside from the brief greetings as we passed each other on our runs or left for work in the mornings. I loved how focused she was while training, the frown of concentration I glimpsed as I passed, the sweat on her brow, her ponytail swinging back and forth.
She didn’t know this, but sometimes, when we passed each other, I would turn around and run backward for a while, just to watch her as she ran. Man, what I wouldn’t do to get my hands on those hips. Now, I just had to figure out how to get her to go out with me on a date. Maybe we could do something after the marathon in two weeks, though we would both likely be too tired to do more than collapse afterward.
I got back to the community college just in time to teach the finance course to the afternoon freshman class. It was rewarding, working with students of such disparate ages and experiences because it brought diversity to the classroom and was a good training ground, especially for the younger ones.
Two hours later, I was back in my office, doing research for some new material online that I could share with the class in addition to the required course readings. As I bookmarked a potential source, there was a knock on my door. I looked up to see Wendy Collins, a pretty African American woman, smiling at me.
“Got a minute?” she asked.
I waved her in. “Sure, have a seat.” Wendy and I had known each other in college and even dated, for a while, before we lost touch after graduation. We had finally met up again three years ago when I had applied for this position at the college. She was now the Dean of Business and happily married with three kids. I envied her contentment.
“Thanks.” After sitting in the chair before my desk, she continued, “How’ve you been? I know we haven’t had a chance to talk lately, as busy as we both are.”
“Oh, I’m fine. I love teaching, though you know how much I hate grading tests and essays.”
She laughed. “I do, but you’re not the only one, never fear. I usually get my TAs to do the dirty work.” Wendy taught two Business Psychology courses a semester.
“You’re an evil woman.”
She grinned. “I know. Look, the reason I’m here is, we need one more participant in our Career Day Fair since someone pulled out at the last minute. I know it’s next week, but I’m checking with everyone to see if they have any contacts I can use or people who might be interested. Do you?”
I immediately thought of Gabriella. “We don’t have any banking institutions represented, do we?”
She shook her head. “I had tried to get one of the big banks to participate, but they were tied up on the date I suggested.”
Oh, this could be perfect. “I might know someone who could help.” It would also give me a chance to have another conversation with Gabriella.
She smiled. “Based on the twinkle in your eye, you look like you might want to help yourself to that someone, too.”
I grinned. “You know me too well. Let me get back to you?”
“Please do!” She stood and walked to the door where she stopped and looked back at me. “I can’t wait to meet this woman. I’ll have some great stories to share with her about you in college.”
“Don’t even think about it.” She laughed and waved before heading back down the hall.
I went back to my previous task, bookmarking more links to use in class, while in the back of my mind, I was looking forward to seeing Gabriella again.
****
“Hey, there,” I said as Gabriella stepped out of her SUV once she’d parked in her driveway.
Startled, she dropped her bag and keys on the ground before she looked at me over the hedge that separated our houses. “Hi, Cameron,” she said, her face a little red as she picked up the items on the ground.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to alarm you.”
“It’s okay.” Settling her bag on her shoulder, she walked closer to the hedge. “How are you? Good day at work?”
“Sure. You?” She nodded. “Hey, do you have a minute? I wanted to ask if you could help me with something for the college. They’re having a Career Day next week, and they need one more participant. You said you worked at a bank. Do you think they’d be interested?”
She smiled brightly. “Absolutely! We love taking part in those kinds of events. We do it all the time for high schools, too. Let me give you my card, and you can have your contact call me? We can set it up. Next week would be fine.” She dug around in her purse and handed me a business card. “My cell phone number is on there, as well. You can call me if you need anything.” I smiled when she realized what she’d said as she backtracked a little. “I mean, whoever my contact is can call me.”
I grinned. “Well, I might need to call you, too.”
She cleared her throat. “Um, sure, if you need me for, you know, anything.”
“I’m sure I’ll think of something.” I really should stop teasing her, but I couldn’t help it. Gabriella was adorable. I looked at the card and then back up at her, incredulous. “You’re the bank president? Why didn’t you say anything?”
She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, to me. The title is just the name of the position. I prefer to be known for how I do my job than simply by what my job title is, you know? I’ve worked in bigger banks, and much prefer a smaller, more i
nclusive and family-like atmosphere. Less ego, more action.”
Could this woman get any better? “I can understand that.” I pocketed the card. “I’ll give the card to Wendy Collins, our dean, and she’ll contact you, okay, Ms. Bank President?”
She closed her eyes briefly. “Please don’t call me that.”
“I’ll think about it. Have a good night.”
Sighing, she said, “You, too.” I watched as she walked to her front door, her hips moving sinuously, and when she unlocked the door, she looked back briefly over her shoulder and caught me staring.
All I could do was smile helplessly as I turned to head back inside my house. Gabriella and I couldn’t get together soon enough.
Chapter Three
Gabriella
