Why Gabriel kept inviting the CEO's nephew to his events was beyond him as he walked over to the couple.
"Glad you could make it Cipriani," Gabriel gave the man a stinging slap on the back masked in jovial male camaraderie.
Actually everything Derek Cipriani was, was the complete opposite of Gabriel. Nepotism and ass kissing moved Derek to the kush executive seat he resided in now. Not years of law school and full-time work at a construction company during Texas summers like Gabriel had to endure. No, this kid spent all of his time courting businessmen, showing them good times while fucking every female at the company. Gabriel was no fool, though, excluding the annoying prick and inviting others from work would gain him no favors.
Normally Gabriel could tolerate the guy but watching the prick put the same used flirting tactics he used at work on Salene in his own Goddamn house just did not sit well. The forceful slap had the desired purpose of breaking their contact. Giving Salene a warning glare, Gabriel turned to Derek.
"Yeah, I was just getting to know your friend Salene here." Derek laughed.
The doorbell rang interrupting them. Answering the door, Gabriel welcomed some more of the guys. Turning back around he noticed Salene was gone. Mentally sighing in relief he allowed himself to focus on anything but that woman.
***
Filling out the last job application Salene shut her laptop and flopped back against the pillow in exhaustion, it had been about an hour since she was forced into exile by Gabriel's accusing stare. Like she wanted to hang around and watch football anyways. Salene never could understand the zeal for the sport, especially knowing there was a much better version overseas. Now rugby was a man's sport. Smiling she thought of the wonderfully huge muscled up players who played the sport worldwide. It was almost identical to football but with less padding and short shorts on their sexy players. Yes, rugby should highly be recommended to replace American football.
Bored she decided to call it an early night, she had an interview tomorrow at noon and she wanted to be well rested. Grabbing her clothes, she walked across the darkened hall to the bathroom. Crossing the hall, she could hear the muffled noises of talking and laughter coming from the main part of the house where the den was. Since all the guest bedrooms were separated from the master bedroom and other main rooms of the house, her section of the house was pretty much deserted.
Closing the door to the bathroom she started the shower. The bathroom was actually pretty sizable. It had three doors in total, two pocket doors that led directly to the cluttered spare bedrooms and one main door to the hall. It was the perfect split bathroom for siblings. The tiny house she grew up in with her six siblings only had one bathroom in the whole house for everyone to share, so a setup like this would have been a luxury.
Stripping off her clothes Salene stepped into the hot spray. Washing her hair, she thought of her home back in Fort Lauderdale. Besides her and her sister Bianca they were the only ones to go out of state for college. Pretty much all her family thought she was a black sheep, someone who was always acting high and mighty. Naturally her memories trail back to her huge fight with her siblings last Thanksgiving. Since then she had only spoken to a few of them.
Turning off the water Salene clinched her eyes at the wave of emotions, doing her best to push them out of her mind. Pulling back the curtain she stepped over the rim of the tub onto the blue bathmat. With her hair dripping wet around her shoulders she grabbed her towel just as the door swung open.
Face-to-face with a startled looking Derek, the man she met earlier, Salene felt as if time stopped as his eyes traveled down and up the length of her naked body. Letting out a piercing scream Salene quickly covered herself with the towel.
"I am sorry," the hasty apology was followed by the door slamming shut in a whoosh of cold air.
Completely frozen in shock Salene stood stone still as she clutched the towel to her body. There was a moment of silence beyond the door before she heard raised voices. In a panic she pulled on her large terrycloth robe and cinched the belt tight around her waist, her panic rose higher when she heard heavy footsteps stop outside the bathroom door.
"Salene!" Gabriel's voice thundered through the wooden door.
Nervously she cracked open the door to look up at him, her heart nearly skipped a beat when she took in his dark look. Rage hardened his face as he looked down at her, green eyes ablaze with a furious fire as he assessed her simple robe.
"What the fuck happened? Did he touch you?" It was as if he was just waiting for her to confirm his fears so that he may act upon some lethal actions. Even from the narrow crack from the open bathroom door Salene could feel the hostility roll off his rigid body.
"No," she rushed to answer, she did not want this to go any further. "He just… He just came in as I got out." Her words came out as a whisper as she mentally replayed the events.
"As you got out?!" He repeated. "Did he see…."
"Yes Gabriel, he did." Mortified and frustrated she did not want to discuss the embarrassing situation in any further detail.
"Come here," grabbing her by the shoulders he pushed open the bathroom door and pulled her out.
Pushing her across the hall and into her room he shut the door without a word. Stunned, Salene stood by the door listening. A cacophony of male voices echoed down her hall from the living room. Despite the distance and the shut door Salene could still make out Breslin's low timber booming through the walls in anger.
Not able to listen anymore she turned away from the door. Hastily throwing on her underwear and pajamas she avoided her reflection in the new floor length mirror they got at the garage sale. She did not want to see what that man saw. Just thinking of how a stranger saw her completely nude was nearly unbearable. Past boyfriends have never even been allowed to see her body in such exposing light. Salene had always made sure to keep the lights low and the groping of her breast to a minimum. Now some stranger had seen everything.
Crawling under the sheets she closed her eyes to the noise from the hall. Too many things had happened to her in such a short amount of time, being kicked out of her home, fighting with Breslin nearly every day, and now some strange man has seen her at her most insecure state. Why was this happening to her, she had followed all the rules in life but things still were not working out? Tears of frustration fell into her pillow as she shut her eyes.
Lost in an abyss of sleep Salene tried to open her eyes at the movement of shadow and light above her. What was that? Was it already morning, was that the sunlight coming in through the window? Struggling past the fatigue she opened her eyes just a crack to see a shadow over her bed. The figure was very tall. Wanting to say something she tried to open her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Closing her eyes again she felt the bed dip at her feet just as soft familiar fur nuzzled into her hand. Opening her eyes again the figure was gone. Looking down she caught a glimpse of Bishop's black eyes staring back at her while resting his head on her stomach. Clutching gently at his fur she relaxed back into the pull of sleep.
Chapter 8
The ringing of her cell phone jarred her awake, swiping it off the nightstand she answered it without looking.
"You sound like shit," Gabriel's deep voice drawled languidly on the other side. "Didn't you tell me you have an interview today at noon?"
"Oh shit," her stomach dropped in fear as she sat up looking at the time on her phone.
It was half past ten. Dear God, she nearly overslept.
"Oh my God Breslin, thank you." Holding the phone with one hand, she quickly changed into the clothes she laid out for the interview.
"Yeah, no problem." He sounded as if he wanted to say more.
Noticing her door was ajar she remembered the dream-like figure last night. Should she mention it to him?
He began again, "hey… about last night…"
Strapping on her sandal, she paused. God last night. Why could that have not just been a bad dream?
"I'm… I took care of Derek, a
nd I bought some new hardware for the bathroom door."
Took care of it? What did that mean, she wanted to ask but glancing at the clock she knew she did not have time.
"I want to try and forget that ever happened." Clipping her hair into a simple bun, she swiped on some pink lipstick and grabbed her bag. "Okay wish me luck."
There was a silent pause, for a minute she thought he had hung up, but glancing at her phone she saw that they were still connected.
"Hel..." She began, but he spoke up.
"Good luck Salene." The line beeped in her ear letting her know he disconnected.
Tossing her phone into her bag, she headed out the house locking the door.
***
It was fifteen minutes before six, Salene and Bishop just spotted Breslin's black truck pull down the driveway. Waiting at the garage door in the kitchen, they waited eagerly for the door to open. Stepping through the threshold Gabriel paused in the doorway his green eyes slightly surprised by the small welcome committee.
"Guess what?" Doing her best to contain her excitement she bit her lip to keep from smiling.
Removing the expensive leather cross body attaché briefcase, Gabriel tossed it on the counter neatly before putting his hands in his pockets. Giving her a patient look he waited.
Today he was wearing a different suit than his usual traditional suit and jacket. Instead of the jacket, he wore a charcoal vest and matching slacks with a crisp white long sleeve shirt. Standing there with his hands in his pockets he looked like a hipster Norse God with his gold beard and hair.
"I got the job!" She squealed no longer able to contain her joy.
A slow, lazy smile spread across his face at the news.
"That is good news. So you think you can be out by tomorrow?" He teased cruelly.
Not giving him the satisfaction of an argument she spun on her heel to walk away.
"Wait a minute I was just joking," fingertips danced along her flank as he tried to catch her to pull her back.
Laughter erupted from her mouth as she stumbled forward trying to escape the ticklish feeling. Gripping the back of the dark blue sofa she turned back to him bracing herself against the furniture. The shock on his face told her he did not intend for that to happen, but the growing smile alarmed her deeply. The ticklish reaction was not what he expected, but it was clear he wanted more.
"Gabriel," she warned as he gave her a large maniacal grin.
Faster than she could react he lunged at her.
"Gabriel no!" She screeched in fear imbued laughter as his rough fingers strummed in unison up and down her sensitive flanks.
The gauzy white blouse did nothing to shield his attack, each press of his long fingers along her ribs made her cry out. Salene tried to push away, but he would not budge. Not able to take the torturous attack her knees buckled weakly beneath her causing her to slide to the floor.
"Gabriel stop," by now her scream came out as a desperate plea as her body could no longer process the assault as funny anymore, just torture. When his is fingers finally granted her peace Salene noticed their position. Lying flat against the cold tile floor, she was in complete disarray. The white blouse had come un-tucked from her black pencil skirt, which was hiked up around her thighs. Thighs that were currently being straddled by much larger, muscular thighs. Inhaling the scent of his cologne, Salene watched as his green eyes darkened as he looked down at her from his position.
Opening her mouth to break the silence, he pushed himself up to a standing position. Holding out a hand he gave her a small smirk. For some reason, she felt like breathing a sigh a relief at his smile. Taking his hand, with one strong pull, she was back up on her feet.
"Come on, I am going to take you out to eat." He turned back towards the garage door.
Salene half expected to be taken to a drive-through, so when she found herself being seated in the small but upscale Italian restaurant she was glad she stayed in her interview clothes. Seated at a table tucked away in an alcove, they had a perfect view of the large display fish tank.
Thanking the waiter that poured her water she looked over the menu with a frown. The prices were completely out of her price range, even the appetizers were too high, all she had to spare was a ten.
"What? Do you not like Italian food?" Snapping his menu shut Gabriel gave her a hard questioning glare.
For a moment she was confused. "Oh no I love Italian food, almost too much really," she sighed, carbs were her enemy. "No, I was frowning because it is a little expensive. I really like every…"
The waiter appeared beside them interrupting her explanation, he was ready to take their order. Snatching the menu from her grasp Gabriel handed it to the waiter along with his.
"We will have two pasta Bolognese and a bottle of the black label Cabernet."
Everything in her wanted to tell him off over that high-handed chauvinistic stunt, but Salene refrained.
"What kind of men have you gone out with that invite you to dinner and make you pay?" He questioned, there was a slight laughter in his tone that suggested he was being derisive as usual.
Steeling her back she sat back in her chair and gave him a calm frosty smile. A smile she knew for a fact that enraged him to no end. Brilliant green eyes narrowed as he awaited her response.
"My daddy always said, never order something you cannot pay for when you are on a date." Taking a sip of her water, she did not break eye contact. "Besides you and I are not dating are we?"
With a breathtaking smile, he replied. "We sure as fuck are not."
Not able to look at his annoying smile she turned to look at the fish tank. The waiter came by with the wine and stemware. The sound of the wine rushing into the glass was distinctly clear at the quiet table. Movement underneath the table caught her eye, looking down she noticed expensive shoes on either side of her legs as Breslin stretched his legs out underneath the small table. For some reason the sight of his long legs encasing hers in the tiny hidden alcove made her feel utterly trapped. Glaring at him, Gabriel simply returned a mean smile.
"So tell me about the new job." He said, setting his glass down.
The subject change to her new job made her smile.
"Well it is a little ironic, and I know you are going to make a joke out of it," Salene was more than a little apprehensive to share all the details of her good news, especially with someone who only wanted to laugh at her misfortune. "So if you do not mind please spare me any ridicule, at least for tonight."
Seemingly giving it some thought he agreed. "For tonight."
Figuring that was as good as she was going to get she relaxed in her chair.
"I actually got a job as a manager at Starbucks. And no it is not the one down the street from your house." Knowing full well he would not miss the opportunity to ask. Salene did not miss his large grin in response, she chose to ignore it. "It's the one on the other side of the highway only about a ten-minute drive from your house."
"Wow manager, isn't that kind of a jump?"
"Well not really, I used to be an assistant manager at a Starbucks in college believe it or not." Though she was excited about getting the job Salene inwardly cringed at the severely early-morning shifts she had to work.
Nodding his head at the sense that made, there was a couple of beats of silence between them. It was odd trying to make conversation with someone you generally despised.
"What date do you start?" Gabriel's tone was a mixture of forced obligatory politeness and boredom.
Looking around the cozy little restaurant, Salene immediately experienced an overwhelming tide of sadness. She wished she was here with a nice guy on a date. The intimate alcove lit by the bright aqua blue fish tank was a perfect spot for a date.
Doing her best to hold back a depressed sigh she replied. "I start work this Monday, I…"
The arrival of their food cut her off, the waiter sat down two steaming plates of matching pasta. The sight and the delicious smell of the food made her stomach growl. Today
was such a hectic day she forgot to eat.
"Oh my God Gabriel, this looks so good, thank you again." Forking some of the pasta she took a bite.
It was so good she nearly groaned.
"Yeah well don't tell Tobias I am eating this." He did groan when he took a bite causing her to laugh. "That bastard seems to be obsessed with me only eating meat and vegetables."
Salene covered her mouth as she laughed and tried to swallow her food at the same time. "Well, we all cannot be as god-like as Tobias."
"No shit, that guy is beyond obsessed with his body.”
The tension between them seem to dissipate minutely, it was not much, but it made eating with him a little bit more comfortable.
Desperate (A Contemporary Romance) Page 5