After donning the sweater she withdrew from her luggage, she followed Marla downstairs. Her knees wobbled as she took each step. She could feel Gael’s presence down there. Something had changed during the course of the last few hours. Those moments they were in the bed together had awakened her in a way she had never experienced.
Marla pushed the swing door that led to the kitchen, and she hesitated to follow. When Marla was inside, she held the door for her and beckoned her to enter. There was nothing more she could do but face him.
“Merry Christmas,” David’s cheerful tone greeted her.
“Merry Christmas to you too,” she replied in a low tone while her heart backflipped all over the place.
“Merry Christmas, Unicorn,” she heard from beside David, followed by a chuckle.
She cast her eyes on the table, avoiding making eye contact with him. “Merry Christmas,” she replied in an undertone.
“Come sit,” he bade her, pulling out a chair.
“Have a seat.” David was nodding and smiling as Gael held the chair for her. “Dig in; there’s plenty, and you need to eat.”
“Dad’s right. You haven’t eaten since I met you in the café yesterday.”
As she moved to sit, she whispered to him, “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?” he whispered back.
“Why are you being so nice?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he replied. “Enjoy your breakfast.”
The table was a four seater, small and cozy. Gael took the seat to her right, his father to her left and Marla facing her. The aroma of the green chili casserole reminded her of just how long she hadn’t eaten. Her appetite seemed to have returned now that the fever was gone and the sneezing had stopped.
Though still achy in her limbs from the flu, she much preferred that to having a cold. Otherwise, she’d be laid up in bed for another week or two. That drink David gave her last evening did do some serious damage to her ailment. She woke up feeling much better.
Her mouth watered at the thought of digging into the food. Orange juice and coffee accompanied the casserole, along with a fruit salad.
“You look much better than before,” Marla said. “You look mighty familiar as well. I think I’ve seen you before.”
Zoe lowered her eyes and reached for her juice. “I don’t think so. I’m just a nobody.”
“A nobody doesn’t sign autographs and take selfies with strangers,” Gael chimed in.
Her head jerked up, and she glanced his way. He was dishing some of the casserole onto his plate. What was she to say? He saw those kids approach her. She’d never thought herself as famous, but as her career grew, her face became a popular staple, especially in New York. She was on three billboards, in one commercial, and of course, appeared in several magazines.
Three and a half years ago she’d appeared in the magazine called ‘21’. It’s a magazine that featured young women on the cusp of adulthood. That issue sold five million copies worldwide within the first six weeks. At the time, she’d already made it to Vogue, and her face was well known. Her hair had been longer and of its natural auburn color.
“Why not?” she asked. “Why can’t a nobody take autographs and selfies?”
“Yeah, why can’t they?” David asked, his baby blue eyes twinkling.
Gael gave her the plate he’d been dishing and took the empty. “Don’t indulge her,” he said to his father.
He had the uncanny ability to intimidate, even when he tried to sound casual. David quickly refrained from saying anything and hungrily dug into his breakfast. Zoe took a small bite, as Gael’s presence made her stomach quiver.
Somehow, he’d managed to chip away some of her defenses earlier by being nice. In addition, she was still embarrassed from the early morning incident, and the only reason she knew he wasn’t rubbing it in was because they were at the table.
Those weren’t the only things causing her to lose her nerve. Under the table, Gael’s thighs kept brushing hers. There was nowhere else to put her legs; therefore, she gritted her teeth and tried to eradicate the sensations running up and down her leg. Each time she tried to inch it away, his would find hers.
He shifted, and she let out a little breath, thinking he was leaving the table. Not to be so. He leaned in close, so much she could feel his heat and his hot breath on her left cheek.
“Do you need anything?”
Her heart started that annoying backflip she hated so much. Swallowing hard, she replied in a hoarse voice. “I’m good.”
“We’re probably gonna have to spend a few days together. Let’s get along, huh?” Why did his voice sound so smooth to her?
She nodded rather vigorously, hoping he’d draw back from being so close. Why was she reacting in such a way? She shook her head and blinked, pushing her nervousness behind her.
With a cheerful smile, she turned to him. “Truce then?”
It was a bad idea facing him because he hadn’t yet retreated. Their eyes locked, faces inches apart. Zoe learned soon enough that looking into his eyes was dangerous. They were like a hypnotic whirlpool. The longer she gazed, the more mesmerized she became.
Someone clearing his throat broke the spell. She blinked, her face changing color and matching the cranberry sauce Florine served at Thanksgiving.
“Marla and I are volunteering to help serve Christmas meals to the less fortunate. We’re hoping we can get there and back before the storm hits,” David announced. “We’ll be back early afternoon.”
“Can I come with you?” Zoe asked without thinking.
Her heart had started going at an erratic pace the moment David mentioned leaving her alone with Gael. The man frowned, his disapproval evident.
“That’s not a good idea for various reasons, my child,” he replied, affectionately patting her hand. “You’re not well, and I don’t want you getting worse. Also,” he paused and glanced at his son, “I don’t think my son would approve.”
“But I’m feeling better,” she protested.
“Do you want to give those poor homeless people your virus?” Gael cocked a brow, staring pointedly at her.
She pouted. “No.”
“Don’t worry, Dad,” he said. “I’ll take good care of her.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, pushing her chair back.
Her stomach was full, but she knew she hadn’t eaten much. The prospect of spending even a few hours alone locked in a house with Gael wasn’t sitting well with her. She needed to dredge up her courage, and one way to do that was to go hide in her room for a few minutes.
“You haven’t finished eating,” he observed.
She shot him a cutting look, but he didn’t seem affected by it.
“I’ll finish when I return. I won’t be long.”
Marla rose from the table and picked up her husband’s empty plate. Gael had eaten a huge chunk of his casserole while hers was still sitting on the plate. It was delicious, but she found she could hardly enjoy it with him sitting so close.
“We’ll get going now,” David said. “Come, honey. Leave the dishes until you get back.”
Before David and Marla could leave the kitchen, she headed through the door and up the stairs. She was in the room within a minute. Her heart was beating heavily as though she’d been running. She placed a hand on her chest and took several deep breaths.
“Why am I scared?” she asked herself.
For the last thirty something hours that she’d spent with Gael, she’d not felt anything but contempt for the man. But since he brought her home, something had changed. Her confidence had slipped, and she was scared to be around him, especially now that they’d seen each other.
His torso flashed before her, and she closed her eyes. Bad idea. Emerging before her was the man complete in his birthday suit. She’d never seen a man so magnificent. Even the models she’d worked with could not compare. The beating beneath her ribcage increased, and she stopped breathing.
&nb
sp; But it wasn’t seeing him naked that scared her the most; it was the way he’d cared for her. Underneath the scruffy jerk was a decent human being. There was a gentle caring person somewhere hidden inside the hard shell of a man.
From the moment he picked her up from the floor at the airport until now, she’d been pondering the situation. He could have left her there as she’d been nothing but mean to him. Even now, she hadn’t even told him her name.
Someone knocked the door, startling her from her thoughts. “Unicorn, are you okay?” Gael asked through the door. His voice again was surprisingly gentle. Not the commanding intimidating tone he’d used before.
She’d never been so wrong about anyone before. The Gael she met at his shipping company, the one who screwed a complete stranger aboard the aircraft was somehow different from the one checking on her. Something was off. The realization then hit her. He was putting on a show, trying to seduce her.
She was a challenge to this man, and he wanted to prove to himself that no woman could resist him. She grinned as the realization dawned on her. Two could play at this game, she thought.
“Are you in there?” he asked when she didn’t answer.
“Yes, I’ll be out in a minute,” she replied sweetly.
She needed a plan. He would certainly not get away with this game of his. But what if she was wrong? She’d just have to find out, wouldn’t she?
Chapter 11
His plan was beginning to backfire immediately upon its execution. Should he backtrack? He’d planned to bring on the charm the best way he knew how. Smile, be nice, lower his voice, and try not to frown, that was the way to charm a woman. He’d listen to her when she spoke and respond by nodding and offering his own two cents when necessary. That’s what women liked.
The moment she came down to breakfast, his heart did that darn thing it did before. Not only did it skip one beat, it freaking well flipped all over the place like a fish needing water. For the life of him, he could not remember it ever doing such a thing.
Breakfast, that was a disaster to his plans. Their thighs kept touching, and there wasn’t a fracking thing he could do to prevent it. The table was too small for them all, but his father insisted on keeping tradition and eating breakfast at the kitchen table.
Each time their thighs brushed, heat traveled up to his limbs and settled in his belly bottom. By the middle of the meal, his balls were all tingly and his cock swollen. The icing on the cake had been when she turned with that smile of hers, and their eyes connected. His breath had stopped.
“What the hell?” he asked himself after he saw his father and Marla through the front door. The unexpected kindling between himself and the Unicorn unnerved him.
“Take care of your friend, son. We’ll be back later,” his father said, patting his shoulder as he zipped his winter jacket, after putting on his boots.
Curious about how he would get through all that snow, he waited at the door until David went to the carport. He raised his brows and widened his eyes as his father brought out a couple of snowmobiles as their ride to their destination. He thought they’d probably walk the couple of miles since the road was covered in the snow from the night before.
As they rode off, he’d closed the door and leaned back against it, rethinking his strategy of dealing with the girl. The need to know about her was definitely different from the curiosity before. He wanted to know her, the woman beneath the rainbow hair and the skinny jeans. He didn’t care about her name or where she was from. Whether they’d met before. All he wanted was to know her … really know her.
A few minutes ran off, and she hadn’t come back down. Had he scared her? Taking the stairs two at a time, he found himself knocking on her door.
“Are you okay?” he asked, but no answer returned. “Are you in there?”
“Yes, I’ll be out in a minute,” she replied in a sugary tone.
“Okay, the cell service is back on in case you need to call home,” he informed her.
The service had slowed to a snail’s pace due to high volumes of traffic. He was also certain that the power had gone out a few times, and that was why they were unable to reach anyone while at the airport.
He returned to the living room with the intention of trying to reach the outside world. After a few tries, he was finally able to reach Beth. Apparently, the signal was still weak due to the high traffic, which usually happens during snowy weather as more people resorted to using the cellular service. The landlines being down only left the cellular networks for communication.
“Hello?” Beth answered after a few rings.
“Beth?”
“Mr. Matheson, how are you?”
“I’m fine. Did that woman call you about the girl?”
“No,” she said. “Do you think she left because something happened?”
“What do you mean? Like one of the other girls said something? I doubt that. I heard she was a class above the rest.”
“I think she might have changed her mind,” she told him. “I confirmed that she did arrive, signing her signature at the front desk like all the others.”
Then she must have decided that this job wasn’t suited to her, he surmised. “That so?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
A small pain sliced through him at that. He had been hoping the girl would be the right fit, what with her credentials and all. She had come and not shown herself. So she did have some superiority issues. He’d been right; however, she should have had the guts to at least tell him to his face she didn’t like the job.
“Try convincing them,” he found himself saying. “When you get the chance, call Miss Anderson. Convince her to let that girl contact me.”
“Yes, sir.”
At that moment, his unicorn walked into the room wearing a sweater, jeans, and her hair … different. For a while, he lost his train of thought as he stared at her dark brown hair without the piece hiding half her face. The colors were gone, and her short hair was brushed back away from her face.
“Sir?” Beth’s voice brought him back to the moment.
“Yes,” he said, keeping his eyes on her as she sat on the sofa. She watched him as he continued his conversation. “Yes. Make sure you convince Miss Anderson, and if you can’t, let me know so I can go meet her in person before I get back to Santa Cruz.”
“Yes, sir. Will that be all?”
“Yes.”
“Enjoy your Christmas sir,” she replied cheerfully.
He’d all but forgotten that it was Christmas. Since he left home at the age of fifteen, he hadn’t really celebrated any kind of holiday. Therefore, it took some effort to keep in mind that it was actually Christmas.
“You too,” he returned. “See you in a few days,” he added before signing off.
“Is everything okay?” he heard her ask.
His eyes cruised her new look. He must admit he liked this better, but he couldn’t very well call her unicorn now, could he? Though she looked somewhat normal now, he missed the rainbow hair. It had given him something to tease her about. Now, there was nothing.
“What happened to your hair?”
She shrugged. “I washed it. You didn’t really think I’d walk around with a permanent rainbow on my head?” she replied.
“Who knows? You seemed like the kind,” he replied, amusement in his voice.
Taking the armchair opposite her, he could not help noticing how mature she now looked without all that hair color.
“This is much better.” The words easily rolled off his tongue.
Her eyes flew to his, widening. “You can cut out the Mr. Nice Guy routine. I promise not to bother you. I’ll just sit here and wait for your father to return. Carry on whatever you were doing.”
“I was serious about you looking better,” he said.
“Yeah, right,” she snickered.
“I was also serious about us getting along,” he added, his tone a low drawl.
They eyed each other for a few seconds before
she conceded. “Okay, I’ll keep my promise of a truce.”
“Now, don’t you think it’s time you tell me your name?”
She chortled. “Are you still wondering if and where we met?”
“Not at all. I don’t think we met; I would have remembered. I’m not that far gone to forget a pretty face.”
The moment he said it, he felt heat crawl all over his chest and neck. He was never a bashful fellow; otherwise, he’d be blushing right about then.
Throwing her head back against the cushions, she laughed. Holding her tummy, she let out a joyous sound that crackled through the silence. Her laugh was as silken as her voice.
“Pretty face?”
The heat now burned his cheek, and he knew he was actually blushing. He never blushed, and now he knew what embarrassment felt like. He shifted in the seat.
“I’m sorry,” she said, trying to reign in her amusement. “I was just surprised you even thought I was a woman.”
“Can we stop this constant bickering and start over?” He stood and walked over to her, holding his hand out. “Hello, I’m Gael Matheson.”
Zoe laughed not only because she was amused but to hide the fact that her heart had paused for a second before it took off like a runaway train. Now he wanted to start over, and she wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Starting over would mean she’d have to give him a second chance.
Earlier, it was her plan to do that, but on her terms. She knew he was playing Mr. Charming to get to her. Now the game had changed, and she needed to regroup. What if he remembered her name as the girl he rejected? Chances were he didn’t, but she needed to be certain.
Then there was the telephone conversation she walked in on. He was still hoping she’d changed her mind. A light bulb went off. What if she showed him what a real spokesperson would do for his company?
She stood, placing her hand in his. “Zoe Archer, pleased to meet you.”
“Zoe,” he said her name easily. She studied his face for any signs of recognition. Nothing happened. “I like it.”
His large hand enveloped hers warmly, sending some of his body heat sprinting up her arm. She allowed the hand to remain, liking the sensations from his touch.
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