Abby nodded jerkily. ‘I’m aware of that. Of course I’m not going to spend my time scowling and making snide comments. There’s one more thing—I’m not going to be sharing a room with you.’
Gabriel burst out laughing and looked at her with open amusement. ‘What do you think we might get up to when the lights go down?’ The casualness of his voice was belied by a tightening in his groin, the same shocking surge of his libido that had afflicted him when he had imagined her sprawled naked across his bed.
Abby tilted her chin defiantly.
‘I don’t think there’s any danger of that happening, Abby,’ he said.
‘No, of course not! I didn’t say that there would be. I’m your PA, and I suspect we both know very well that we could share the same bed and nothing would happen! It would be ludicrous to think otherwise! But I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that sort of situation, even though—and I can’t stress this enough—nothing would happen in a month of Sundays!’
Her skin burned and she was tingling all over. The silence that greeted this fiery outburst built and built until it was a solid, throbbing weight between them.
She’d seen this ploy a thousand times, the silence that stretched like a piece of elastic pulled to breaking point until whoever was with Gabriel was prompted into saying stuff he or she might not have planned to say.
Now, as the silence grew, she found herself doing the very same thing, and she could have kicked herself when she heard herself telling him that he wasn’t her type, but that that was hardly the point.
‘I think you know where I’m going with this...’ She came to a stumbling halt.
‘Oh, completely.’ Gabriel waved one hand. ‘Actually, what I meant was that my grandmother would no more think of throwing us into the same room than she would think of hot-air ballooning over the Ivory Coast. Don’t forget that she’s in her early eighties. She harks back to an era when men courted young ladies and the most outrageous thing a courting couple could do would be to hold hands.’
‘Surely she must know that those women you date are slightly more adventurous, maybe looking for a little more than holding hands?’ Abby said snidely and Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up.
‘“Those women”?’
Abby caught herself and remembered just who he was. She didn’t think she’d ever passed judgement on any of the women who had entered and left his life with precious little breathing space between them.
‘You mentioned that she had met a couple of them...’
‘Those women?’
‘Okay.’ She shrugged and slanted a sideways glance at him, which was a mistake, because he was looking directly at her and, once their eyes met, she found she couldn’t unglue hers from his face. ‘Maybe I’ve put them into a box but everyone has opinions. I’m no different.’
‘I would never have guessed that you had opinions about anything, aside from what might be happening on the work front.’
‘That’s insulting,’ Abby said coldly, stung because in that throwaway remark he had somehow made her seem dull and uninteresting.
‘No, it’s not. It’s the persona you’ve spent two years being at pains to cultivate,’ Gabriel told her with equal cool.
‘I didn’t think I was employed to shoot my mouth off about everything under the sun.’
‘Nor were you employed to be a saint.’
‘Would you have appreciated it if I’d told you what I thought of some of those women?’
‘Quite possibly not,’ Gabriel murmured softly. ‘But, now we’ve strayed onto the subject, why don’t you get it off your chest?’
Abby bit down what she wanted to say. He was being provocative. He did that extremely well and she wasn’t going to take the bait. She wasn’t going to let the sultry warmth over here, the fact that she was no longer in her comfort zone, go to her head.
‘Perhaps we should head inside,’ she said primly and Gabriel laughed softly.
‘Running scared?’
‘Scared of what, Gabriel?’ Her heart was thumping inside her and the palms of her hands were sweaty. If it wasn’t so shadowy, she knew he would be able to see just how much he was getting to her.
‘Speaking your mind.’
‘Not at all. I just think your grandmother might be waiting for us.’
‘With simmering excitement... Naturally she won’t be expecting us to rush inside after I’ve put the ring on your finger, but far be it from me to keep you out here against your will.’ He vaulted upright and then held out his hand to help her to her feet. It was a perfectly normal gesture which Abby pretended not to notice.
Walking ahead of him, she had the advantage of being able to create some distance between them, but that was instantly wiped out by the fact that she was very conscious of him watching her from behind. She’d no curves. Not like the women he dated. Would he be making comparisons?
That thought had never crossed her mind but crossed it now, and she was burning all over when she pushed open the kitchen door to find Ava sitting at the kitchen table. Simmering excitement sprang to mind.
‘I thought of coming outside but I didn’t want to disturb you love birds...’
Abby grimaced and then, shocking her to the core, she felt the weight of Gabriel’s hand slide under her hair to cup the nape of her neck. He stepped towards her and dropped a kiss on the side of her neck.
In a whoosh, the breath left her body and her legs turned to jelly.
‘I’m too old to be a love bird,’ Gabriel said wryly, absently trailing a finger along Abby’s collarbone. Her hair was as soft as silk as it brushed against his knuckles and her skin was just as soft. ‘That’s for teenagers.’
‘Love keeps you young at heart,’ Ava responded, positively glowing with satisfaction. ‘Wouldn’t you agree, Abby? Men can be so practical, especially that grandson of mine! Women love to be romanced. Maybe,’ she chided, ‘That’s why you’ve taken so long to settle down! Now, let me see that ring on your finger. You have no idea how happy it makes me knowing that I won’t be going to my grave thinking that Gabriel hasn’t settled down.’
Abby quailed and then clasped her hands together. ‘It has taken a while,’ she murmured snidely. ‘Probably because he does lack a romantic soul. In fact, I would say that he’s just the sort who would let his long-suffering PA arrange his love life for him because he can’t be bothered to make an effort. If that isn’t lacking in romance, then I don’t know what is.’
Subtly she moved away from that disturbing hand on her neck and went to sit next to Ava on the sofa. Unless Gabriel decided to sit on her lap, at least she would be free from any further suffocating expressions of phoney tenderness. She added with saccharin sweetness, payback for being plunged into unknown territory by her charismatic, unpredictable and altogether way too charming boss, ‘Some might even say that he can be a bit of a bore with his emphasis on work, work, work...’
She couldn’t resist a sidelong glance at Gabriel who raised his eyebrows and grinned.
‘Which is why,’ he purred, ‘I’m a lucky man to have found just the right woman to take me away from all that.’ Instead of doing what he should have done, which was to sit on the single chair on the opposite side of the coffee table, he strolled towards the back of the sofa so that he was standing directly behind Abby.
Still smiling at Ava, she stiffened and was hardly surprised when he rested both hands on her shoulders and kneaded her tender skin. Held captive with nowhere to go but to remain seated and endure the pressure of his fingers, Abby zoned out as Ava chatted about Gabriel, about how pleased his parents would have been, that they were looking down now and would be thrilled, and about wedding ideas.
Her entire brain, her entire being, was focused on what those long, clever, bronzed fingers were doing to her.
Electrical currents she hadn’t known existed were zinging responses through her body. She was burning up and between her legs a treacherous pool of liquid heat was forcefully reminding her that she was a woman.
Her breasts felt heavy. She was appalled to think that what she really wanted to do was relax into Gabriel’s devastating touch. Thank goodness the man couldn’t get into her head and read her thoughts.
Her head was spinning but it cleared with surprising speed when she heard Ava say brightly, reaching out to place a small, warm hand on her arm, ‘I’ve got my girl to get the room ready for you. It’s the blue room, Gabriel. I’ll walk up with you both.’
CHAPTER FIVE
GIRL? WHAT GIRL?
Alvira, apparently, the daily help who appeared to be as efficient as she was inconspicuous and who had been hard at it getting their room ready.
For a few seconds after Ava’s announcement, Abby had somehow misunderstood what had been said. Or maybe she’d siphoned off chunks of the conversation because her nerves were all over the place.
Ava was an elderly woman with old-fashioned values and, as Gabriel had confidently pointed out, would be horrified at having her grandson share a bedroom with a woman under her roof.
That misconception skidded to an abrupt stop the minute the bedroom door was pushed open and Abby’s eyes were inexorably drawn to two cases on the king-sized four-poster bed.
Gabriel’s was just the right shade of battered tan to indicate a super-wealthy guy who didn’t care how much of a beating his expensive leather holdall took.
And hers, functional, lightweight and easily identifiable because of the orange strap she had tied around it. Although anyone who mistakenly might have carried it away with them would have returned it fast enough once opened because all she had packed was an assortment of sober work clothes, with two tops that could elevate the black skirts for evening wear, and two pairs of jeans just in case she managed to get some time off from their busy schedule.
Her mouth fell open.
She tried to catch Gabriel’s eye but he had inconveniently positioned himself by the huge window and was staring out with his back to her, so Abby turned to Ava, who winked at her.
‘I may be old,’ she whispered, in a voice that easily carried to Gabriel—who still didn’t turn around, Abby was infuriated to note, , ‘But I’m not so ancient that I don’t understand the ways of the world.’
‘Ways of the world?’ Abby parroted faintly.
‘You young people naturally want to share a room and I’m perfectly happy with that. You’re going to be Gabriel’s wife. That’s enough for me.’
Excruciating guilt swamped Abby. ‘Really, Ava, I have the utmost respect for you and I wouldn’t dream of...of sharing a room with...er...your grandson.’ Just saying those words felt surreal and made her want to pass out. ‘And I’m sure Gabriel would agree with me.’ She edged towards her suitcase, preparatory to grabbing it and running for any other room that happened to have a bed in it. The house was enormous. There would be no shortage of spare bedrooms.
Eventually, Gabriel turned round and strolled towards Abby, proceeding to put his arm round her shoulders. ‘Abby’s right,’ he said gravely. ‘We are more than happy to sleep in separate bedrooms but of course, if you’ve gone to the trouble of getting Alvira to prepare this one for us...’
‘You would make an old lady very happy to use this room. You know it’s always been reserved for you, Gabriel.’ She pointed to two shelves by the door. ‘And I’ve popped some framed pictures of you there because I thought the woman you were going to marry might want to see you as a young boy. He was just so beautiful, Abby.’
Her eyes glistened and another shard of guilt pierced through Abby, who smiled and looked obediently at an adolescent Gabriel looking moody and beautiful in various different settings. As a baby, he’d been beautiful, as a toddler he’d been beautiful and growing up he’d clearly just carried on being beautiful. Every photo she’d laid eyes on thus far was testament to someone ridiculously blessed in the looks department.
He would have been breaking hearts from the age of thirteen, she thought acidly, and he hadn’t stopped since then.
‘Lovely,’ Abby said. ‘Super.’
‘Now, don’t you two go rushing to get up early in the morning! I know Gabriel mentioned something about having to work. Didn’t you, Gabriel?’
‘A bit.’ Gabriel bent to give his grandmother a peck on the cheek, towering over the diminutive Ava, yet as gentle as Abby had ever seen him. The look he gave Ava was so full of affection that a lump formed in Abby’s throat and she recognised why he had been so desperate to persuade her into this charade.
Even bustling and clearly excited, there was a frailty about the elderly woman that made sense of the warnings Gabriel had had from her doctor.
‘But not too much, I hope,’ she chided, looking at him anxiously. ‘You work too hard. It’s bad for you. I’m just glad you found yourself a good woman who’s spirited enough to tell you what I’ve been telling you for years! My dear.’ She turned to Abby. ‘You’re just right for my grandson. I could tell that just as soon as I realised that you weren’t going to lie down and pander to him. That lad sometimes has quite an ego.’
Gabriel burst out laughing and Abby said, sotto voce but still loud enough for them both to hear, ‘Tell me about it.’
She smiled and escorted Ava to the door but the smile dropped from her face the second the door was shut.
‘How could you?’ Arms folded, Abby spun round to glare at Gabriel. ‘How could you let this happen?’
‘I had no idea my grandmother was that liberal-minded,’ Gabriel mused without, Abby felt, the right amount of horror at the fact that they had been shoved into one bedroom, a situation she had no intention of enduring.
She watched as he strolled towards his suitcase and began extracting some clothes from it.
‘What sort of answer is that?’ Abby demanded.
‘She’s always had a lot to say on the subject of those easy women who seem happy to jump in and out of bed with me. The single one time I came here with... Wait... No, can’t quite recall her name... Sexy thing—long curling dark hair, legs up to her armpits...’
‘Gabriel!’ Abby exploded with frustration and he raised both hands in mock surrender.
‘I honestly didn’t think that she would put us together, Abby.’ He looked at her with lazy, brooding intensity, his long, lean body relaxed. If she was seething, then he appeared to be the epitome of calm. ‘I could only go on past history, and four years ago she was quite Victorian in her insistence that the woman I had brought over was housed in the furthest bedroom from my own. She likes you.’
‘I have no idea how you’ve reached that conclusion but I’m not sharing this bedroom with you.’
‘Yes, Abby,’ Gabriel said calmly. ‘You are.’
Abby gaped, lost for words. All professional cool had disappeared. She was frazzled, tired and so out of her depth that she would have needed more than a life belt to save her. And through all this Gabriel was as cool as a cucumber, his dark eyes gazing at her with utter cool.
‘When I told you that we would have to be convincing, I meant it. My grandmother might be old but she’s not an idiot and you can see for yourself how much she’s clinging to this engagement. If she thinks that it’s been engineered for her benefit, she’s going to be a thousand times more upset than when she finds out that we’re no longer an item. So storming out of this bedroom with your suitcase in your hand isn’t going to happen. Simple as that.’
‘I’m afraid you can’t tell me what to do.’ But she heard the thread of desperation in her voice.
‘And I very much hate to disappoint you, but I can. We have a deal, don’t forget. You will receive a substantial amount of money for what you’ve agreed to do.’ He raked his fingers through his hair. ‘It’s a big bedroom,’ he pointed out.
‘It’s a big bedroom with just the one bed,’ Abby blurted, and he shot her a slow, c
urling smile that made the blood rush to her hairline.
‘And?’
‘What do you mean and?’
‘Do you think that we are incapable of sharing a bed without sex occurring?’
‘There’s no need to be coarse!’ Abby all but wailed.
‘I understand that you’re out of your depth and floundering...’
Abby looked away, because she couldn’t deny it. Her heart was beating like a sledgehammer and the palms of her hands were sweaty. All she could see was the threatening contours of the four-poster bed, the puffy pillows, the silk throw. It was a vision of intimacy that filled her with terror.
Out of her depth? That had to be the understatement of the century.
‘I’m more than happy to take the floor, if you would feel safer.’
Abby cringed. ‘It’s not that I wouldn’t feel safe.’
‘No,’ Gabriel said thoughtfully. ‘We’ve already had the long discussion about the fact that you could share a bed with me naked and you wouldn’t be aroused in any way shape or form.’
‘I never said that!’
‘Are you telling me that you would be aroused?’
‘Stop playing games with me, Gabriel!’ she cried, and he immediately looked contrite.
‘We could keep going over this until we bored each other into deep REM, but I’ve no idea what the point of that would be, so I’m going to have a shower. I’m hot and tired, as you no doubt are as well.’ He began unbuttoning his shirt and she looked away, horrified that her well-ordered, predictable working relationship with her boss had come to this.
‘Would you like to have the bathroom first?’ he asked, mid-unbuttoning.
Polite, she thought a little wildly. He was being perfectly polite. They had somehow ended up in an unforeseen situation and he was keeping his calm and acting like an adult while she was going into meltdown.
He was right: they were here and she couldn’t storm off with her suitcase to find herself one of those guest rooms, of which there were plenty. She wasn’t just doing this out of the goodness of her heart, which would at least have given her the right to call the whole thing off, even though she knew deep down, having met his grandmother, that she wouldn’t have.
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