by Cerys du Lys
He didn’t allow her to finish her sentence, lowering his lips to hers and kissing her tenderly. “Let’s get some sleep.”
He saw a flash of disappointment in her eyes, but she nodded and snuggled back up to him without another word. Five minutes later she was sound asleep, snoring softly, her limbs draped over his torso and legs.
~*~*~*~*~
“What do you want for breakfast?” Colin asked as Gabriella entered the kitchen to see him already up, showered, fully dressed and ready for the day. Both Oscar and Butch were gobbling their breakfast down, periodically looking up from their dishes to cast dirty looks at each other. She still hadn’t bothered to get dressed yet; she was hoping for a little quickie before work, but apparently he wasn’t of the same mind on that issue.
Gabriella poked her head into the fridge to survey the contents. Her body was still sore from the previous night. He’d never taken her so hard before, but she’d loved it. At the time anyhow. Her body was aching in ways she hadn’t dreamed of before.
“I have to be to work soon, I don’t have much time.” Not seeing anything in the fridge that could be quick and easy she closed the door. “I think I’ll grab something on the way.” She walked across the kitchen to him and fell into his arms; she was about to stretch up and kiss him when a knock sounded at the door.
“Oh shit!” Alarmed to have someone knocking so early she looked up at him, panicked. Both dogs instantly left their breakfast and began barking as they rushed to the door.
“It’s most likely some salesman, maybe if you answer the door like you are we might get a free subscription.” He gave her a wink as he pulled away from her. “Now go get dressed.” He gave her ass a little slap. She yelped and swatted him back before rushing from the kitchen just as he opened the front door.
“Violet? What are you doing here?”
Hearing Colin’s greeting, Gabriella skidded to a stop at the top of the stairs, just within earshot of the people in the kitchen. Who was Violet? The jealousy within her perked up.
The woman laughed. “Nice to see you too, asshole. Is that any way to greet your favourite sister?”
“Sorry.” Gabriella heard the dryness in his tone and grinned. Evidently Violet’s showing up was a surprise and one thing Colin hated was unexpected visitors.
Ohhh Violet. She rolled her eyes at herself for forgetting he had a sister named Violet. He’d told her on one of their first dates. God, she hated that she had a horrid time remembering names.
No longer concerned about the visitor, she made her way to his bedroom and closed the door behind her. She went over to the bed to grab her dress and then remembered a very important detail – her dress was in two pieces. Shit! So were her bra and panties. Double shit. She thrust a hand into her hair in aggravation.
Great, what am I going to wear now? She made a mental note to bring some clothing with her to leave at his place after work.
Grabbing her clothing from the floor she crumbled it into a ball and stuffed it into the waste can. Planting her hands on her hips, she took a deep breath in and slowly released it. Padding over to the dresser she grabbed a pair of Colin’s boxers, jeans and a belt. Going to his closet she grabbed a white long-sleeved Gucci shirt and tossed it onto the bed with the rest of the clothing she’d picked out.
Beggars can’t be choosers I suppose, she reasoned, grabbing the boxers and pulling them on.
~*~*~*~*~
“Yeah. Well. Of course I’m glad to see you.”
She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. As usual when someone – aside from Gabby – embraced him, he tensed up.
He forced himself to relax and hug her back. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s Grant. The fucker.” She tossed her purse on the kitchen counter and flopped herself into one of the kitchen chairs. She flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. She was a few years younger than Colin, and the sister who looked the most like him; tall – nearly 6’ – long dark hair and dark eyes. Her figure was slender and she’d modelled to pay her way through law school. Like all members of the Almond family she was an overachiever.
“Ahhh, the fiancé. What happened?”
“Caught him cheating. With his secretary!” She leaned forward in her chair, shaking her head in disgust. “Can you imagine?”
Colin shrugged and took a seat across from her. “I see. It happens.”
“I could have told you this all over the phone if you’d fucking answer once in a while.”
Colin grimaced. He’d been avoiding her calls. He hated drama and with Violet there was always drama. It was no surprise she went to law school and became a defense lawyer, now she got to stick herself smack dab in the middle of the drama and get paid well in addition.
“I’ve been busy.”
“Whatever.” Oscar and Butch both approached Violet, fighting each other for her attention. “And what’s with the dogs?” She hadn’t gotten the words out of her mouth when two of the kittens came strolling into the kitchen. “And cats?”
Colin thrust his fingers into his hair and sighed. “Yeah. I… ummm. Kinda became a pet owner.”
“Hey.”
Colin was relieved to hear Gabriella enter the room until he saw the odd expression on Violet’s face, as though she’d seen some mystical creature.
Raising from his chair he turned and froze as his eyes scanned Gabriella. What the fuck was with her wearing his clothes? She’d have looked cute if it weren’t for the fact she had the pant legs rolled up numerous times and it was evident the belt was cinched up as far as it could go. As soon as the question came to mind, his mind slipped to the previous night. Just thinking of the previous night caused his cock to stir in his pants and he groaned inwardly.
“Who’s this?” Violet asked as Colin grabbed Gabriella’s hand and pulled her into the room.
“Gabriella,” Gabriella offered, extending her hand to Violet, who eyed her another moment longer and accepted her hand in a brief handshake. “My friends call me Gabby.”
“I’m Violet. His sister.”
“Good to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Gabriella shot his sister a warm smile while slipping on her black strappy heels. The heels looked amazingly sexy normally, but absurd with the outfit she had on. Her cheeks were glowing a deep shade of crimson; he imagined had the roles been reversed he’d have been equally as uncomfortable.
“Yeah,” Violet cocked a brow up at Colin and nodded, “you too.”
Once Gabriella had Butch on his leash and was ready to go, Colin escorted her outside, hoping to get a minute alone with her, without his sister’s watchful eyes on them.
“I’m sorry about your dress.”
Gabriella ushered Butch into the backseat of her car and closed him in before turning to face him. She smiled shyly. “Yeah. Well.” She looked down at herself and her face flushed again. “I found replacements.”
Colin stepped up to the car, pressing Gabriella up against it, and boxing her in with a hand on either side of her head. “If it’s any consolation you look extremely sexy in my clothes.”
She gave him the ‘you gotta be shitting me’ stare before laughing. “Yeah, I bet. Great way to make a first impression on your sister.”
Hooking his index finger under her chin, he tilted her face up and lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her tenderly. “My sister will love you. I promise my entire family will adore you once you meet them all.” He caressed the side of her cheek and took a moment to enjoy the sight of her savouring his caress.
“I hope so.” She opened her eyes and smiled up at him.
“I promise.” He lowered his lips to hers once more, kissing her with a little more passion, as he pulled her into his arms.
“Okay, I gotta go or I’ll be late.” She pulled away, although her hands continued to grip the front of his shirt.
“Okay.” He stepped back and out of her grasp. “You’re coming over as soon as you’re off?” She nodded and they shared a moment, their e
yes locked, before she hopped into her car and sped off.
Colin hadn’t realized he’d been wearing a goofy grin on his face until he walked back into the house and his sister pointed it out.
“I can’t believe it!” Violet exclaimed as soon as he walked back into the house.
“What?” Walking over to the fridge he grabbed a couple bottles of water from inside and sat back down in a chair across from her at the table, sliding a bottle over to her. “Can’t believe what?”
“My big brother. In love.” Her already wide grin widened and a gleam of excitement danced in her dark eyes.
Colin frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Him? In love?
“Yeah. Loser. You. In love. Oh my God, no wonder you haven’t been answering my calls, you’ve been shacked up with the girlfriend.”
He could feel his face growing warm as he occupied himself with picking at the label on the beer bottle. “I don’t know about love…”
“Oh I do.” Violet reached across the table and took his hands in hers. “And I’m happy for you. You deserve it. You’ve always been so…”
Frowning, Colin lifted his gaze to meet hers. “So what?”
She shrugged. “Distant. Robot-like. I swear to God, we almost thought you were destined to become some sort of serial killer.”
Colin’s face went from flushed to having all colour drain from his complexion. “Why would you say that?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “God, I didn’t remember you to be such a drama queen.” She released his hands and waved a dismissive hand at him. “It’s just you don’t seem to make connections with people. No girlfriends, just girls you fuck. Even your family you’ve always kept at arms’ length.”
“That’s not true.” But it was and he knew it.
“Bullshit. When have you ever told me you loved me?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“‘Cause you don’t.”
He could hear a hint of resentment in her tone and felt a pang of guilt because of it. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to… It just… wasn’t in him.
“I say I love you and you say… Okay… Or, me too. Or, sure. Or, whatever other dismissive reply that comes to mind. Have you told her you loved her yet?”
Violet was right.
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
She huffed and shook her head at him. “What’s wrong with you? I can see you love her. Any idiot with eyes could. Tell her before you lose her.”
The thought of losing Gabriella sent a jolt of fear through him. So was that love? When he gave it some consideration he had to admit he couldn’t envision his life without her.
“I’m just saying, your family has to put up with your standoffish anal attitude and refusal to acknowledge feelings for anything, but she doesn’t.”
“I don’t know…”
Violet laughed. “You hate animals, but living in a fucking zoo. If that ain’t love I don’t know what is.”
Laughing with her, Colin had to admit, she had a point. “Yeah, I’ll think about it.”
“I’m just saying. You look happy and if she’s the one to give the Tin Man a heart then I like her already.” Violet paused as if considering her next words. “But can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.” Colin leaned back in his chair, preparing himself for the next series of questions.
“What’s with her clothing?”
“You don’t even want to know…”
Chapter 18
“Late again? Seriously Gabby, doesn’t your man have an alarm clock?” Tonya scolded.
“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Grabbing an elastic band from her pocket, Gabriella quickly pulled her hair back into a high ponytail, preparing to wash out the dogs’ cages while they were in the yard for exercise time.
Things with Tonya were still rocky – at best. Why did she have to open her big mouth and hurt Tonya? She’d apologized more times than she could count. Tonya kept saying it was okay – forgotten – but it was evident in her cold demeanor around Gabby that it was far from forgotten. Tonya was more than a co-worker, she was her closest friend and it was killing her not being able to make it right.
“We’re behind. So we have to hustle with these cages.” She turned her back to Gabby, but Gabby couldn’t take it any longer. This had to be settled.
Grabbing her friend’s arm, she stopped Tonya from getting away. “We need to talk. You need to tell me what I have to do. To prove I’m sorry.”
Tonya tensed and sighed as she turned. To Gabriella’s surprise instead of anger, there was sadness in her friend’s eyes.
Oh shit! She knew before Tonya said anything what had happened.
“It’s not you, we’re cool. Malcolm and I split.”
Gabby wanted to shout for joy. She’d always hated Malcolm. He was a royal dick, he treated Tonya more like a servant than a wife. She had never said anything like that to Tonya, but it was how she’d felt. Even now, she’d never say it. Couples who separated had a tendency to get back together and anyone who bashed the spouse became the enemy.
“I’m so sorry, Tonya.” She closed the distance between them and gave the other woman a hug. “If there’s anything I can do…”
She shook her head. “No there’s not. It was a long time coming. What you said at the fund raiser struck home for me. I went home and kicked his lying ass out.”
Gabriella pulled back, keeping her friend at arms’ length. “What can I do? A girls’ night? Go into Manhattan, get wasted, flirt with lots of men who really have nothing to offer other than a hot body?”
Tonya laughed. “Girl, I think your man may have an issue with that.”
She waved a dismissive hand at Tonya. “Oh, don’t worry about him. He puts me off and cancels on me enough. I think I can do it from time to time.”
“I don’t know…”
“Oh, come onnnnnnn! It’ll be fun. When was the last time you got yourself all sexy-fied and had some fun? It’s not like we’re going to fuck them. We’re just going to have some fun. Some drinks. Some dancing. Come onnnnnnn.” She gave Tonya a little shake. “Let’s do it.”
“Count me in,” Kent interrupted, coming in from the front of the shelter. “Girls’ night. Whoop, whoop.” He put on a little dance display for the two women before giving them a wink.
Releasing Tonya, Gabriella planted her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Oh no. I’m not going to have your girlfriend hating on me and accusing me of using a night out as a way of trying to get with you.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “She won’t.”
“She did last time.” His girlfriend had just recently stopped giving Gabby dirty looks over the last time they’d gone out together. She really didn’t want to go through avoiding the other woman again.
“She’s changed. She promised to work on her jealousy issues. This will be a good test.”
Gabriella sighed and glanced over at Tonya, hoping for backup. Sadly, it wasn’t coming from that direction.
Throwing her hands up in defeat, Gabriella conceded. “Fine. You can go.” She stepped up to Kent and wagged her finger under his nose. “But I swear to God, if that woman starts hating on me!”
“It’ll be a good test to see if she’s really serious about not going nuts when I’m around other women.”
“Yeah. Gotta love being the guinea pig in this experiment.”
~*~*~*~*~*~
This is wrong, his conscience nagged at him as Colin watched Gabriella and her two co-workers dancing among a group of hundreds of people. When she’d cancelled on him to go out with Tonya and Kent he’d actually felt a foreign emotion – jealousy. Jealousy didn’t suit him, he knew this. She’d offered for him to go with them, but he’d declined, not wanting to intrude.
Like spying on her is so much better, the voice continued to nag.
He cradled his bottle of beer in his hands, his eyes remaining on Gabriella. She was so full of life a
s she danced, so beautiful and he didn’t miss the fact that he wasn’t the only one with eyes on her. He’d noticed at least half a dozen men ogling her. A couple had already approached and she’d shot them down. That’s my girl, he’d silently praised her.
And you shouldn’t be here, again the voice nagged.
“Hey, handsome.”
Colin groaned inwardly; this was the third woman to approach him. He’d been trying his best to stay in the shadows, out of sight – alone. To him, seeing a single guy alone in a dark corner would warn him to stay away, had he been a woman, but perhaps a dark and brooding loner was what turned the ladies on these days.
“How ya doing?” Persistent, the owner of the voice moved around him to stand directly in his line of sight, blocking his view of Gabby. Shit!
He took a moment to give her a once over. He doubted the girl was old enough to get into the night club; apparently the bouncers were lax on the ID checks. She was scantily dressed, a barely there handkerchief top covering her petite breasts and a skirt so short he worried that if it pulled up even a portion of an inch her business would be on display for the world to see.
He supposed if he were there for a quick fuck then she’d be the perfect choice. But, he wasn’t. And he sure as hell wasn’t into minors. Hell, he was the one who got approached and he was feeling like some sort of pervert scoping out the high school just having her trying to chat with him.
“Wanna dance?” She placed her hand over his, squeezing lightly.
Colin gave her a friendly smile and shook his head. “Thanks, but no.”
She tilted her head to the side, her green eyes locking onto his. “Oh, come on.” She pinched her thumb and forefinger together before his eyes. “One teeny, tiny dance.”
“I’m sorry hon, but I’m spoken for.” Thinking that that was the end of it, he shifted to the left so he could get Gabby back in his line of sight.
