by Shayla Black
will feel as casual to me. I’m a girl who usually thinks with her heart.”
He turned her to face him, his blue eyes gentle. “Baby, I can get sex from a lot of women. I don’t mean that to be crass, but last night was more than sex for me. I felt more connected to you than I’ve felt to anyone in a long time. I wasn’t lying. I can’t have a romantic entanglement right now so I’m going to be selfish and ask you to stay with me. The next few months of my life are going to be a challenge professionally and personally. Maybe it’s not fair for me to ask, but I want to spend a few days with you so I’ll have something to remember.”
Connected. Yes, she’d felt that, too. Somehow despite their lack of words, she’d felt connected to this man by a force more than the physical. Their chemistry was something she’d never felt before. Was she really ready to let it go? Last night, he’d given her a reprieve from all the difficulty in her life, so she could relate to his troubles. He’d offered her the opportunity to forget again. She could be Eve for a little while longer.
“First, I’m going to need a shower.”
His smile lit up the room. Then he loomed over her. She drank in the sight of his muscled body before he plucked her off the mattress. God, she would never get used to that. When he picked her up, she felt light and delicate. Not words that she usually used to describe herself. “I have a better idea.”
• • •
Ten minutes later she lay back in the tub, warm water caressing her body. From behind her, Gabriel folded her into his arms. His erection poked against the small of her back, but he seemed more than content to simply sit with her now.
“So if we’re going to spend the weekend together, are we exchanging last names?” he asked.
Everly shook her head. Though she probably shouldn’t, she found herself negotiating the weekend with him, setting rules together. Their verbal volley somehow made the moment seem like a very sexy game. “No last names. And no work talk. I don’t want to even think about that.”
He hummed with a long, satisfied sigh. “I’m all for not talking about work. I think politics and religion should be off the table, too. Boring subjects. We can find more interesting topics to talk about. You liked the movie we were ‘watching’ last night?”
While their bodies had been tangled together. “I did. Key Largo is one of my favorites. My dad and I used to watch movies all the time. He never liked TV. I think it was too violent for him.”
“My parents were very strict about TV and movies,” Gabe said. “I didn’t actually realize movies had colors until I went to a friend’s house during a break. We had TV at the academy in the game room, but it was set to one of those stations that played documentaries and ‘classic’ shows. I think the headmaster believed that if we didn’t have cool shows to watch or video games to play we would study more. That did not happen.”
“You went to boarding school?” She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d known he was wealthy.
His legs slid along hers. “From the time I was seven. I spent nine months out of the year at various boys’ schools in Connecticut. How about you? All girls’ school? Maybe a Catholic school with a little skirt and pigtails.”
“Squash the Britney fantasy. Definitely no private schools for me. I grew up in a small town upstate. There was a combined elementary and middle school. It was a little rural. It’s safe to say I didn’t fit in. I was the only kid in my class not in 4H.”
He caressed his way over her skin again, brushing her breasts as he kissed her ear. “You didn’t want to raise prize pigs? I’m trying to see you on a farm.”
Everly laughed, feeling oddly content with him. No, what she felt went beyond that. She felt as if she belonged with him.
She’d come to the city almost a year before and she’d found a few friendships, but things felt so weirdly right with Gabriel. It was as if they’d created their own cocoon and nothing could touch them. “No farm for me. My father was a police officer.”
“Seriously?”
That was the reason he’d hated modern TV. He dealt with police procedure all day. He hadn’t wanted to come home at night and watch actors do it—often badly—on TV. “Yes. I was not the best daughter in the world for him. While everyone else was busy showing off farm animals, I got into computers.”
His chest moved with his chuckle. “Tell me you’re a sweet little black hat hacker.”
He might love old movies, but it was obvious he’d seen some new ones, too. She sat up and swiveled, settling against the side opposite him and took in the gorgeous sight of Gabriel relaxing, his big, muscular chest half out of the water. He still hadn’t shaved and that burgeoning beard made him look gloriously masculine. “First, there’s no such thing as a sweet black hat. They’re called that for a reason. They’re mostly anarchists or criminals. I was more into civil disobedience. Oh, and I really was into Lord of the Rings. I might have hacked into Peter Jackson’s company trying to find the early trailer. I was fifteen. You could say I was a little bit of a late bloomer.”
His eyes lit with mirth. “Now that is fascinating, Eve. You’re a nerd goddess. Computers and hobbits. Is there a sci-fi fan somewhere in there?”
She felt herself blush. Maybe she should have been a little less honest. She was supposed to stay away from Everly. Why couldn’t Eve have been into fashion and art?
“Hey.” He leaned toward her. “Baby, I wasn’t really making fun of you. I was teasing you a little. I find you completely fascinating. I would never have guessed that you were into computers.”
“What would you say I am into?”
He studied her for a moment. “If I had to guess, I would say you work in counseling of some kind. You’re the person everyone talks to and relies on. You’re responsible. Thoughtful. I would also bet that you’re lonely because you don’t shift your burdens to other people. They can talk to you, but you don’t want to drag your friends down with your problems.”
She sucked in a shocked breath. He was surprisingly insightful.
“I’ll be honest with you, Gabriel. Right now I don’t have many friends. I’m fairly new to the city and all I do is work.” The closest friend she’d had in the Big Apple was now gone. “This weekend is absolutely the most exciting thing that’s happened to me since . . . maybe ever, and I might have wrecked it because I told the hot guy what a nerd I am.”
He reached for her hand, and the water sloshed around her as he dragged her into his lap. The tip of his cock probed her pussy. How did this man manage to take her from feeling insecure to aroused in an instant?
“You are the sexiest nerd I’ve ever seen,” he murmured. “I want to hear all about your life as a hacker. Tell me every story.”
“I thought we were staying away from personal details.”
“Screw that. I only agreed to no last names. I want to know you. I want to know everything about you.” He dragged her down for a hungry kiss. “Later.”
Everly gave in and let him take her where only he could.
• • •
Gabe couldn’t help but watch her. Sure there was a movie on the big screen, but Eve was naked and splayed across the bed. She lay on her stomach, her chin propped on her hands and her ankles crossed. Her ass looked plump and round and so sweet he couldn’t help but reach out and caress it.
She looked back at him, wearing a mysterious smile. Her skin appeared luminous in the evening light. “You are an insatiable man.”
He was completely crazy about her. He tried to remember when he’d ever spent this much uninterrupted time with a woman, and he couldn’t.
Eve. She made him feel a little like Adam. They’d shared two days in their own private paradise, and with the singular exception of ordering room service, they hadn’t seen or talked to anyone. His phone was filled with messages, but he didn’t care. Sara hadn’t called and she was the only one he might allow to interrupt this time with Eve. Maybe.
“Come here. I promise I’m utterly sated. I don’t think I could get an erec
tion if I wanted one.” He was lying. His dick was as crazy about her as the rest of him, but right now he really wanted to hold her. It was getting late and he would have to leave in the morning. He’d shirked all his meetings this weekend, but that’s why he paid his lawyers. They’d be prepared for tomorrow. Right now, he could only focus on how much he’d hate saying good-bye to Eve.
Last night after she’d fallen asleep, he’d lain awake while his brain whirled, trying to craft a new way to persuade Eve to stay. For the first time, he understood why Mad had strung the press along in the last months of his life. His old friend had been trying to protect the woman he’d truly cared for—whoever she was—but Gabe had seen how those games had hurt Sara. He couldn’t put Eve up in some swanky building, then pretend to date other women to keep the press off her. But if he didn’t, those vultures would be on her the instant they discovered the two of them were involved, especially given all the interest in Mad’s death and the uncertainty with Crawford Industries.
She got to her knees, his nerdy goddess. He wondered briefly if he had a position open at Bond Aeronautics, his company. He hired programmers all the time. He could wait a few weeks, then see if this euphoric craving for her wore off. If it didn’t, he could find her and hire her and persuade her that, oh baby, the boss needed a little attention. They could keep the whole thing under wraps until the press died down.
Hmm. If he wanted her to say yes, he’d probably have to work on his presentation.
She settled against him, cuddling his right side. She was a perfect armful. “I’ve always loved this movie.”
Casablanca was playing on the television, but he’d mostly been watching Eve. She fit perfectly against his side. In the last two days, he’d had her often and well, but he’d found the one thing he liked even more than making love was talking to her. He’d avoided talking about his sister, his friends, or the parts of his past that would enable her to identify him. She didn’t seem to have any idea who he was, and he liked it that way. She seemed to think he was just another guy, not a man who had reporters hounding his every move, who regularly showed up in gossip rags. He kind of liked being a regular Joe and not Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor. Eve had agreed to stay with him with no strings, no promises of presents or favors or hopes of being seen with him.
Eve liked him. Just him as he was.
“Did you used to watch this with your dad?”
She nodded against his chest. “Oh, yes. He would play it at least once a year. We would eat Chinese food and watch this along with North by Northwest. He said it was the perfect double feature. Romance and adventure. The Chinese food was made by refugees from Jersey. The Pollizzi family. It was awful. They liked to say it was fusion. Chinese and bad Italian should never go together. Although the Kung Pao lasagna was legendary.”
She made him laugh. Being with Eve showed Gabe how grim he’d become.
The offer to fly her to Beijing so she could experience true Chinese food sat right on the tip of his tongue. He could show her the city’s most impressive restaurant. He could fly her there himself or take the private jet with a pilot so he could make love to her for the whole fourteen-hour flight.
Instead, he simply squeezed her tight. “I hope you’ve found some good spots here.”
Her face lit up. “I love the city. So much good food. I think I’ve gained twenty pounds from trying everything.”
Most of his previous female companions didn’t eat a lot, much less show such enthusiasm. Eve was unabashed in her joy. She’d eaten every bite of her Belgian waffle that morning and relished in the fries served with their steaks this evening.
All he had to do was feed the girl and she was putty in his hands.
“Does your father miss you?”
She went still, and he knew he’d stepped into something.
“I’m sorry, Eve. He’s gone, isn’t he?”
The question seemed to rattle her, and she sighed. “I lost him not too long ago. I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like yesterday. Sometimes it feels like forever ago.”
“How about your mom?” He asked the question cautiously. He was so curious about her background, but she’d been serious about the no-last-names thing. He didn’t want to scare her off.
She remained quiet for a moment, then turned her face his way. “She left when I was young. It was just me and my dad. How about you?”
He was more than willing to discuss his background if it kept her talking. “Well, you know I grew up wealthy.”
Her nose wrinkled in that cute way that let him know she wasn’t impressed. “Yes, I think being able to afford this super expensive suite for three nights is proof that you’ve got some bank, Gabriel.”
He went still. “Wait. Um, I thought you were paying for this. I told them it was all you.”
Her mouth fell open, her eyes widening in shock.
Gabe let her off the hook with a laugh. “I was joking, baby.”
“Jerk,” she huffed, but settled back in.
He loved teasing her, too. “So like I was saying, grew up rich, but that is not a guarantee of happiness.”
“Why did they send you to boarding school?” she asked.
He was sure the concept was foreign to her. Eve’s father probably had been very protective. He couldn’t see her dad letting her reside in a different state nine months out of the year. “Because every male in my family for the last hundred years has attended Creighton Academy, and I wasn’t going to be any different, according to my father. My family came over on the Mayflower. My many-times-great grandfather was one of the first official US prisoners of war. Him dying in a Redcoat jail was a serious point of pride to my father.”
She frowned, her brow creasing sweetly. It made her look like a grumpy kitten, though a sexy one. “I’m pretty sure I’m related to John Wilkes Booth.”
“That is unfortunate. My mother would surely have forbidden me to see you.” He kissed her forehead. “Again, I’m joking. I’m merely pointing out that I had a reputation to live up to.”
“That must have been rough. You weren’t allowed to be a kid, were you?”
“No. I had to represent my family. My father was raised a certain way and he passed that on to me. He was distant, though I believe he loved me deep down. It’s funny how our perspectives can change as we age. Now I see he tried to connect the only way he knew how.” He hadn’t discussed this in years, and never with the honest insight he was sharing now. He and Sara spoke about their parents, but he never wanted to criticize them to her, so he hadn’t been completely open about his feelings. Maybe because he’d spent so much time naked with Eve, it felt so natural to open himself up. It seemed right to talk to her.
“And how was that?”
He smiled with the memory. “We flew. He started taking me up in puddle jumpers when I was six. Scared the hell out of my mother, but I loved it. I got my pilot’s license at seventeen but I was flying long before that. I was lucky I never got caught.”
Eve caressed his chest, her touch soothing. “Wow, the biggest concession I got from my dad was when he let me ride in the back of his patrol car and I let everyone think I’d been arrested. I was eight. I thought it made me look tough. Then I actually got arrested because of the Peter Jackson incident and it really ruined me forever.”
“I can imagine.” He wished he’d been there for that lecture. He was sure it had been a doozy. He wondered what she would say if he told her he’d recently been at a party with the famous director.
“So your dad taught you how to fly,” she said with a little bit of wonder in her voice.
He would love to take her up. Climb about twenty thousand feet where the world receded and a man could see forever. “Yeah. He was a cold man, but he gave me that. I think of him when I fly. He died a few years back. Heart attack. I think it started earlier though. The FAA took away his license because he failed the medical exam. Once he was grounded, he wasn’t the same. My mother went a year later from cancer. I miss them. I w
ouldn’t have thought I would, but I do.”
She sat up and looked down at him, her eyes solemn. “That’s something we have in common. We’re orphans. I know it sounds silly since we’re adults, but after Dad died, I couldn’t get that word out of my head. I guess it doesn’t matter how old we are. We still need our parents. I only had one, but he was enough.”
“He did a good job.” Tenderness welled inside him.
“Yours did, too, Gabriel.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Oh, I wish I could agree. You don’t know me outside of this room. You don’t know the things I’m capable of. I am everything my father wanted me to be. Ruthless. Successful. Unrelenting. Stubborn. Arrogant.”
He was the man whose hands had twitched at the thought of Mad screwing around on Sara. He was the man who was still going to find the woman who’d fucked his sister over and ensure she did not benefit in any way from Mad’s death.
Eve straddled him, cupping his face in her hands. “I don’t believe you. I think you’re more yourself in here than you are out there. I know I feel that way. I haven’t felt as safe in months as I have the last two days. I really don’t want it to end.”
Gabe curled his hands around her hips, reveling in her curves. His cock was at full staff again. “I don’t, either. Come here, baby. Let’s make tonight count and we’ll talk in the morning. Maybe things will look different to you then.”
