“Kylie Jackson,” Kylie filled in Luca’s pause. “Luca’s fiancé.”
We took our cue to join the table. I took a seat next to Gabriel, while Kylie sat next to Luca. I wondered for a moment if these girls really cared if the men were engaged, fake or not. I was about to open my mouth when a pair of hot, wet lips crashed to mine.
For a moment, the entire room and the people inside it fell away, allowing me to taste the red wine coating his lips, noticing how plump his bottom lip really was. I whimpered slightly as his tongue dragged along the seam of my lips. A small moan escaped me.
The scent of autumn rain invaded my senses and I tentatively opened my mouth, allowing him room to explore in a slow, unhurried kiss. My hands moved to his jaw, basking in the graze of his five o’clock shadow against my palms as I pulled him closer, my tongue dancing with his.
A cough slowly broke me from under Gabriel’s spell. Opening my eyes, I found a pair of smug looks from Luca and Kylie. Damn, I wanted to slap that stupid look off their faces.
“Come on, Summer.” Autumn stood, realizing it was clearly time to leave. “We should get back to our hotel.”
Her sister shrugged, moving to place a kiss on Luca’s cheek when Kylie quickly intercepted her.
“Word of warning: if those collagen-filled lips touch my fiancé, I'll rip them from your face.” Kylie smiled sweetly, winking at a shocked Summer. With a huff, the women left the restaurant, leaving behind a clearly turned on Luca and a very smug Gabriel.
“Well, that was… interesting.” Luca smiled, his gaze roaming over Kylie. I sat back in my chair, smirking at a very lust-drunk Kylie. I think her Prince Charming may have finally caved in and asked for directions. “I think the kiss really sealed it, don’t you, Payton?”
Heat engulfed my cheeks as I glanced at Gabriel’s blank expression. That kiss was unlike anything we’d shared before; it was almost desperate. Slow and decisive, but desperate. Kylie’s earlier words invaded my mind: I was walking on a very thin line, a line which blurred with every moment more I spent with Gabriel.
“Leave her alone, Luca.” Gabriel growled, his arm moving around my shoulders.
“I’m just merely stating how adorable you guys look together.” Luca threw his hands up in mock surrender. Kylie chuckled and leaned in to whisper something into his ear.
“You’re pushing it, brother.” Gabriel grunted, his fingers flexing against my shoulder.
The movement produced a layer of goosebumps to coat my skin. I stared down at the hand resting on my shoulder, the pale goosebumps bold against the tanned skin of his hand. For a moment I wondered what would happen if I finally let go and gave in to Gabriel. What would become of us? Would we just be searching for a reason for the tension between us? Would we screw it out of each other before losing interest? Would it cost me my job?
Question after question filled my mind as I watched my best friend fall into easy conversation with Gabriel’s brother. It always amazed me just how positive Kylie was when it came to love and finding the one person who’d make her truly happy, the one she’d spend the rest of her life with. Here I was, battling my indecisiveness when she was quite happy just to let things take their course.
“You think too much,” Gabriel whispered in my ear. The act sent chills through my entire body. What the hell was that?
“Excuse me?”
“You think too much, you’re stubborn and you talk… a lot,” he said and laughed quietly in my ear.
“As opposed to being egotistical, domineering and evasive?” I countered. “Oh, and also stubborn.”
I reached across the table, grabbing his half empty glass of red wine and took a small sip. A low growl escaped his lips and I had to cross my legs from the sound.
“You aren’t making this easy, Payton,” he muttered, taking the glass from my hands and draining the contents.
“Who said it was supposed to be?” I challenged as he placed the empty glass on the table. “You know, Kylie seems to think you’re my Prince Charming.”
He paused for a moment, furrowing his brows.
“And what do you think?”
What did I think? I thought he could be. The tension between us was electric, the mere touch of his fingertips had fireworks dancing along my skin, and when we were together back at Omega, it was something completely indescribable. The only problem was the one thing standing in the way. My job.
“I think...” I paused, taking a large gulp of air as I suppressed my true answer. “I think she might be a nut job.”
GABRIEL DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING after I pretty much evaded his question with a lie. Instead, he threw down what looked like at least three hundred dollars on the table before turning to Luca.
“I’m going to take Payton home.” He stood, pulling me with him. “You good?”
“We’re fine.” He smiled, winking at me. “Watch out for that one, G. I think the tiger might just bite.”
“You have no idea.” I snickered as Gabriel pulled me from the table and out of the restaurant.
The moment we stepped onto the sidewalk, I ripped my hand from his.
“What are you doing?” I asked, completely confused as to what had gotten into him.
“I’m taking you home, what does it look like?” He growled, pulling me into the town car. I hadn’t noticed Leo or the town car when we’d stepped out. Where the hell did he come from?
“Gabriel, have you lost your mind?” I asked as I slid to the other side of the seat.
Getting into the car, he pressed a button and told Leo to take us to my apartment building.
“I lost my mind the minute you stumbled into my office, Payton. You know that.”
I was becoming more and more self-conscious the closer we got to my apartment. Gabriel hadn’t taken his eyes off me from the moment we sat in the car. I had no idea what he was thinking; his facial expressions really gave nothing away. He was so private, so secretive and it only intrigued me more. He was dangerous to my mind and, as much as I hated to admit it, to my heart.
I kept my gaze on the city out the window, trying my hardest not to look over at him sitting dominantly in his seat. The one time my gaze did lock with his, I felt the instant urge to remove my belt buckle and jump on him faster than the idea popped into my head. I knotted my hands in my lap instead and decided to concentrate on something more structured, more stable. I concentrated on New York City.
The car came to a halt only a couple of minutes later outside my apartment building and I turned to finally look at the man who wouldn't leave my mind.
“Do you want to come up for coffee?” I blurted out, not able to stop my mouth from moving and sounds coming from it. Why the hell had I invited him up? What was wrong with me?
He merely nodded and we exited the car and made our way up to my apartment, the elevator ride silent and filled with tension so thick, I could've cut right through it with a knife. The doors finally opened on my floor and I exited the elevator quickly, trying to get a rush of air that wasn't filled with the scent of autumn rain. Why did he always smell like autumn rain?
Shaking my head slightly as if to rid my mind of its thoughts, I unlocked my door and stepped inside. Gabriel followed closely behind, his proximity becoming a little too much to bear. Throwing my purse down on the sofa, I turned to Gabriel, whose hands were in his pockets as he stood in the hallway.
“Take a seat, I'll make us some coffee,” I said, moving to the kitchen as quickly as humanly possible just to try to get my bearings.
Why was I suddenly so freaking nervous around him? My usual tactic with him had always been to fight fire with fire. He was stubborn and quick witted and I'd always prided myself on being able to match him word for word. But now? Now I was a mess whenever he stepped into a room, never mind my personal space, and having him in my apartment only made me all the more nervous.
I got to work on the coffee. Flicking on the machine, I let it brew while I walked to my room to remove the restricting fabric of my
skinny jeans and tank, along with the flats I’d thrown on. I rifled through my closet for something comfortable yet sexy to wear.
Comfortable yet sexy? Was there such a thing? And why on Earth was I wanting to wear something sexy? It’s not like I wanted to impress him or anything. I groaned. What a mess.
Rolling my eyes, I threw on a pair of sweats and a hoodie that said "Cinderella can kiss my ass" and on the back "Fairy tales are for morons." If it wasn't a statement to say I didn't believe in all that shit, I didn't know what was. Quinn had given me the hoodie as a present for Christmas one year, thinking it was a hilarious gift. But, much to his horror, I loved it and wore it at any chance I got.
I walked into the living room to find Gabriel having a look at some of my family photos that sat on my fireplace. Deciding to leave him to explore, I grabbed the brewed coffee and poured out two cups before taking them into the living room. I set the them on the coffee table and sat down while I watched him investigate one photo in particular.
“These are your parents?” he asked, pointing to the photo frame.
The photo was of my parents after my mother had just graduated high school and my father, who's a year older, had gotten his job at a local garage. My mom, unbeknown to her, was nearly three months pregnant with me at the time the picture was taken.
“Yeah, they were really young when they had me. They were high school sweethearts and have been together ever since,” I replied, taking a sip of the burning coffee.
“Do you miss them?” he asked, turning and taking a seat on the other end of the sofa and grabbing his coffee.
I hadn’t put cream or sugar in his. I realized I hadn’t asked him if he wanted cream or sugar so I made it how I made mine. Black and steaming hot.
“Every day,” I replied, blowing the steam from my mug. “I really should call them tomorrow. I haven’t spoken to them in a while, I've been… distracted.”
I don't know why I told him that last piece of information, but in reality it was true. I made a mental note to call my parents soon.
“When was the last time you saw them?” The question caught me a little off guard.
“Erm, maybe a year. A flight to NYC from Kentucky isn't cheap so our visits are few and far between.”
He nodded silently, taking a sip from his coffee.
“Have you got any cream and sugar?” He cringed a little. “I may live in New York now, but coffee in the UK is usually white with sugar.”
“Sure.” I smiled, standing from the sofa. “I thought the British drank tea, not coffee.”
I moved into the kitchen to retrieve the cream and sugar. Placing them on the coffee table in front of him, he added a drop of cream and two heaps of sugar. Gross.
“It’s a common misconception. I actually really hate tea. Don’t get me started on cold coffee, that’s just not normal.” He chuckled, taking a sip of his doctored coffee and smiling.
It was refreshing seeing him like this: comfortable, normal, happy.
“Cold coffee is the devil.” I smirked. “But I love tea. In the South we drink sweet tea. It’s just tea packed with sugar but it’s the best tea you'll ever drink.”
“Maybe I should try it sometime. I have a real sweet tooth.”
I smiled as we fell into a comfortable silence. We always did, no matter what was happening or whether we’d just fought over something, we’d always fall into a silence that didn’t need to be tainted with words. Yet today I needed words.
“Can I ask you something?” I said, placing my coffee on the table and turning my body to face his. He nodded slowly.
“What’s your favorite movie?”
His brows furrowed at my question, they always did that when I caught him by surprise. It was one of the things I lov- liked about him.
“Why would you want to know that?” he asked, placing his coffee beside mine. “It’s The Notebook, by the way.”
I balked back a little. The Notebook? Was he playing around with me?
“Wait, you’re telling me that you, Gabriel Black, CEO of Black Enterprises and all around pain in my ass, has not only watched The Notebook but it’s your favorite movie. Are you serious?”
He sat back against the sofa, placing his fingers beneath his chin, a grin drifting slowly across his face.
“I blame my mother for my poor choices in movies.” He chuckled softly. “What’s wrong with The Notebook?”
“Everything,” I answered honestly without a second thought, deciding not to elaborate further.
“Are you going to tell me why you hate it so much or am I going to have to take a stab in the dark?” He arched his brow when I stared at him blankly. “You, Payton Miller, are afraid of love.”
Nail. On. Head.
“What makes you say that?” I whispered, picking up my coffee, in need of a distraction.
“You prioritize your job over everything,from your clothes to visiting your parents. The minute anyone gets close enough for you to feel any kind of emotion, your walls are thrown up instantly, not to mention the hurt I see in your eyes every time I move close to you. That kind of reaction only comes from being hurt in the past. Who hurt you, Payton?”
The conversation had taken a complete one-eighty within seconds. How had we gone from talking movies to the reason why I don’t believe in love or a fairy tale ending? Gabriel could read me better than I could ever read myself and that alone scared the living shit out of me.
“The Brothers Grimm.” Gabriel’s brows pinched as he stared at me, waiting for some kind of explanation why the woman he was next to had suddenly lost her mind. “The creators of Cinderella? They created a story that is now something of a legend, although slightly misconstrued, along with other folk tales they recorded. They unknowingly set the bar too high for men and portrayed women as damsels in distress. What they did was promise every little girl that one day she'd be rescued, because apparently, we all need rescuing, by Prince Charming or a knight in shining armor. Then they’d kiss and ride away into the night and live happily ever after.”
He paused for a long moment. I wasn't sure what he was thinking. I was of the mind that he had two options: bash me over the head with the coffee mug and make a run for it, or laugh in my face and call me mentally unstable while a strong pair of men threw me into a straightjacket. Then, Gabriel surprised me.
“Your Prince Charming broke your heart.”
I stood from the sofa and walked to my room, pulling the book of fairy tales out from under a pile of clean laundry on the floor where I had left it when I thought I was about to lose my job. Holding it to my chest, I walked back into the living room and sat down next to Gabriel.
“Cam was my high school sweetheart. We both moved to New York to go to Columbia but a few weeks into our first year I found him tongue deep in someone else’s vagina. It was safe to say he’d turned from my Prince Charming to the villain in disguise. I haven’t believed in love or fairy tales, even Prince Charming, since that day.”
I wondered what the hell he was thinking, then he caught me off guard with a question I knew would change our relationship, business or otherwise, forever.
“What’s your biggest fear? What’s the one thing you’re afraid of?”
“You.” I paused, looking up at him through my lashes. “I’m afraid I'll fall in love with you.”
He leaned forward, his eyes on mine as he pulled the leather-bound book from my grasp and placed it on the table next to our discarded coffees. The more he stared at me with those eyes I could get lost in, the more I found myself unable to find a way out. I was lost up shit creek without a paddle.
“I’m not the big bad wolf, Payton. I’m not a fairy tale villain but I’m not Prince Charming either. There’s no reason to be afraid of what your mind is telling you.”
“What about what my heart is telling me?” I asked, a little breathless from his proximity.
“You’re already following it, otherwise I wouldn't be here,” He countered, shrugging his right shoulder
.
“Why are you here, Gabriel?” I asked, my mind going back to his comment about wanting to do something since we’d first met.
“Because I’m already falling for you.”
HE’S FALLING FOR ME.
No. No. No. No.
This can’t be happening.
Standing from the sofa, I turned to him, his expression blank and completely unreadable as always.
“Gabriel, you’re my client,” I whispered, the hurt in my voice audible.
“I know.” He stood, stepping towards me, a growl rumbling in his throat. “This wasn't supposed to happen.”
The huskiness in his voice sent shivers throughout my body, as it always did. A small gasp escaped my lips as he threaded his fingers between mine, pulling me towards him. His lips moved to the sensitive flesh beneath my ear as he placed a soft kiss against my skin. I felt the burn instantly, as if he’d left his mark on me.
“Prince Charming doesn’t exist, Payton,” he whispered against my neck. “But I do.”
He kissed my neck softly one last time before releasing my hands and walking right out my door.
After a beat, I threw myself onto my sofa with a deep sigh. What the hell just happened? He’s falling for me and I knew, I knew I was falling for him too. Fear gripped me. This couldn't happen. Even if my job wasn't standing in the way, my heart was. I didn't want to allow myself to be weak again but Gabriel was breaking down those walls that had been impenetrable for years.
The apartment door opening pulled me out of my own head as Quinn walked in, looking at me expectantly.
“What?” I groaned.
He laughed softly, joining me on the sofa.
“Nothing. I was just wondering where lover boy went to in such a hurry.”
I groaned again. This was a mess.
“He’s falling for me,” I whispered, unable to look at my best friend.
“And you’re falling for him.”
My head whipped around at his comment. I stared my best friend in the eyes and tried to find something to throw back at him, to deny it and tell him I was incapable of loving another person after my heart was already scarred from Cam.
Once Upon A Time Page 14
