“Okay. I can take a hint. Just don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” She winked at him.
It was his turn to flush. “Hey! Just how old are you, anyway?”
“I’ve been around Mom and John long enough to learn a few things”
He waved his hand toward the register. “Go! If you behave, I’ll take you for lunch afterward.”
“Okay. Can Gabrielle come with us? Please?”
His daughter’s request took him off guard. It was one thing to see Gabrielle again, to realize she still had that punch-in-the-gut impact on him. It was another to get to know her. To let his daughter get to know her.
To hear Gabrielle laugh and let the old feelings and yearnings resurface…knowing he’d have to let her go again.
CHAPTER THREE
DEREK LOOKED AT HIS daughter’s pleading expression and cleared his throat. “I’m sure Gabrielle has to get ready for her talk tonight,” he said to Holly. “She probably doesn’t have time for lunch.”
Gabrielle met his gaze and folded her arms across her chest. “Actually I’m well prepared.”
He shoved his hands into the front pocket of his jeans, hoping his discomfort wasn’t obvious. “But you can’t very well leave your friend stranded.” He knew he was grasping at straws, but he really didn’t want to navigate a three-way lunch that included his daughter. Holly was obviously smitten with Gabrielle.
Not that he blamed her. She’d been surrounded by men the past few weeks and Gabrielle’s warmth was contagious.
Even Derek was finding Gabrielle hard to resist. Though he knew all the reasons he shouldn’t get involved, he felt drawn to her. As if he were seventeen all over again.
“Right?” he asked, seeking confirmation that Gabrielle knew better than to accept the invitation.
But instead of agreeing, Gabrielle straightened her shoulders and frowned.
Uh-oh. Derek recognized that stubborn look and immediately realized his error. The girl he’d known didn’t take well to being told what to do.
Gabrielle shook her hair, let it sway in defiance. “Actually, Sharon’s having lunch with her fiancé. She won’t mind if I don’t join them. Besides, since I’ll be around for a while, she and I can catch up anytime.” Gabrielle’s fiery gaze met his, as if daring him to come up with another reason she should opt out.
He swallowed hard. “Then I’m guessing you’re free for lunch?”
“I’d love to join you,” she said, speaking past him to his daughter.
“Excellent!” Now certain she wasn’t going to lose out on time with her new idol, Holly turned her attention to the packages of sheets and pillows, grabbed as many as she could carry and headed for the register.
Derek turned to face Gabrielle, but before he could think of what to say now that they were alone, she spoke.
“You don’t want me to come for lunch.” Her glossed lips turned downward in a luscious pout.
“I’m not sure it’s such a good idea,” he admitted.
She stepped closer. A sensual whiff of what smelled like chocolate assaulted his senses, giving him a craving for so much more than food.
“Is there something wrong with two old friends catching up?” Her mouth hovered close to his cheek.
He clenched his hands into tight fists. “Is that all we are?” he asked her, his body stiff from her nearness, his defenses against her nonexistent.
“Isn’t that what you told Holly?”
“What did you want me to tell her?” he asked, his jaw tight. “That we were lovers?” The word, the thought, the reminder set him on fire.
A slow smile spread across her face. “She’s too young for the truth. I just wanted to see if you remembered,” she said in a husky voice.
His heart slammed harder inside his chest. “I never forgot.”
She inclined her head, a pleased expression on her face. “That’s all I needed to know. I really should get back to Sharon and tell her about the change of plans. Where and when should I meet you for lunch?”
He felt as if he’d been sucker-punched by the past. By her. He needed time to regroup before seeing her again. He glanced at his watch. “There’s a restaurant upstairs. How about we meet there at noon. Does that give you enough time?”
She nodded. “That’s perfect. But I’m afraid I’ll need a ride back. I left my car at Sharon’s place.”
“Not a problem. I’ll drive you wherever you have to go when we’re finished.”
“Thank you.”
Holly ran between them. “The lady started to ring up my things. I just have to grab these, too.” She swept the rest of the pile into her arms. “Are you coming, Dad?”
“In two seconds.”
“Okay. See you at lunch, right?” Holly asked Gabrielle.
“I wouldn’t miss it,” she assured his daughter, her gaze warm and friendly.
Holly darted back toward the cash register and Gabrielle laughed. “She’s a whirlwind.”
“That she is,” he said proudly.
Derek had never envisioned these two females meeting face-to-face, but now that they had, he should be amazed at the instant connection between them. But Holly was his daughter and his connection with Gabrielle had also been instant and intense.
After their breakup, he’d moved on with his life, one day at a time. He’d had no choice. But now that he was with Gabrielle again, his throat grew full with emotions too complex to separate, though he recognized a mix of desire, regrets and hope.
He took the moment to study her. From the tips of those high-heeled shoes his daughter loved, up her long, lean legs, over her hips and waist, she was really something. His gaze lingered on the cleavage peaking above her lacey, sexy top. She was better than the chocolate she’d always loved, he thought.
He reached out and touched her cheek. “You look good, Gabby.”
A visible tremor rippled through her at his touch. “You do, too,” she said.
“Dad! I need money,” Holly called to him.
“You should go to her. I need to tell Sharon about my lunch plans.”
He nodded. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”
She inclined her head and turned to walk away, then pivoted back. “Derek?”
“Yes?”
“You owe me a proper hello,” she said, then turned, her high heels clicking as she walked.
He closed his eyes and exhaled hard, trying to let himself think. But only short spurts of thought penetrated the haze of surprise and desire clouding his head.
Gabrielle was back.
And she definitely wasn’t ready to leave the past where it belonged.
GABRIELLE CAUGHT UP WITH Sharon, who had cornered a salesman into demonstrating various coffeemakers. She found Gabrielle and quickly turned back to the salesman. “I’ll take that one,” she said.
“Are you sure?”
Sharon nodded.
“I’ll go get it from the back,” the man said.
“Thank you,” she said, then whirled on Gabrielle. “Well?”
“Well.” Usually not at a loss for words, Gabrielle splayed her hands in front of her, unable to express what had just occurred. She needed time to digest it herself.
“Are you okay?” Sharon asked, her voice filled with concern.
“He called me Gabby,” she said, admitting what had sent her into an emotional tailspin.
Nobody but Derek had ever shortened her name. Hearing it again on his lips had brought back a flood of memories, some good, some bad. Like the late-night phone calls, whispering so she wouldn’t wake her parents, and the long nights tossing and turning afterward, fighting the urge to call him just to hear his voice or the sound of his breathing while she fell asleep.
Whenever she had good news, Derek was the first person she’d tell. And when something went wrong in her life, he was the one she’d turn to for a shoulder to cry on. She didn’t always do as he suggested, and she recalled his frequent frustration at her single-minded determination to do what she wanted.
But he’d always supported her.
She’d loved him for that.
She’d loved him. Period.
Sharon placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m here if you want to talk.”
Gabrielle smiled. “And I appreciate that so much. Listen, they invited me to stay and have lunch with them. Derek said he’d drive me back later to pick up my car.”
The salesman strode through a set of double doors with a large box in his hands.
“Did you pick that one in a rush? Because I don’t want you to have to come back and return it later,” Gabrielle said.
Sharon unzipped her purse and pulled out her wallet. “I was killing time waiting for you, so I made him earn his commission,” she whispered.
Gabrielle laughed. “You are too much.”
With a shrug, Sharon followed the salesman to the register nearby. While he rang up her sale, she focused on Gabrielle.
“Are you sure spending time with Derek and his daughter is a good idea?”
“I’m sure. Holly invited me and she seems like a great kid. One minute she’s rambling like an eleven-year-old and the next we’re talking about designers,” she said, laughing. “Besides, Derek and I have a lot of catching up to do.”
“Do I need to remind you how badly he hurt you? It might have happened a long time ago, but from the look in your eyes, it might just as well have been yesterday.”
Gabrielle shook her head. “No, you don’t need to remind me.” She remembered it all too well.
The morning after their senior prom, he’d taken her off guard by announcing their relationship was over for good, breaking her heart. “A lot has happened since then. Maybe he’s over the curse thing.” She wondered who she was trying to convince, Sharon or herself.
“I’ll take that to mean I’m right and you aren’t over him.”
“Exactly.” Why argue the point? Her friend knew her too well.
Gabrielle came from a family of females who were academics on the surface but passionate romantics at heart. Even at seventeen, she’d had a deep appreciation for things that made her feel good. Sex and chocolate had been two of those things. Sex with Derek had been even better.
“Oh, sweetie, listen, you can’t let yourself go back there. From what I’ve seen over the years, not much has changed with the Corwin men,” Sharon said as she handed the salesman her charge card.
“Maybe not, but you haven’t kept up with Derek personally, right? He could have decided the curse was nothing more than an old family story. I mean, he did get married.” Much as she hated to think of him with another woman.
She’d been with other people, too, but she hadn’t fallen in love with any of them. She hadn’t had their child. She swallowed over the painful lump in her throat.
“A lot has gone on in his life,” Sharon reminded her as if reading her mind.
“True.” But he still looked at her with that intense expression that said he only had eyes for her. His feelings were still there. Whether he’d allow himself to act on them was the question.
Gabrielle was determined to push him hard enough to find out. “I have to get to know him again. I need to know if there’s hope.”
“Okay,” Sharon said, but her tone implied she clearly didn’t agree with her friend’s choice. “You know where to find me.” She signed the credit-card slip, accepted the receipt and put both it and her wallet back in her handbag.
Then she picked up the large box holding the coffee machine.
“Need help getting it to the car?” Gabrielle asked.
“I’ll be fine. Will you?”
Gabrielle smiled. “Yes. I will. Because this time I know the worst-case scenario ahead of time. I dealt with it once and I survived. Besides, I’m older and wiser now.”
Sharon frowned. “Then why are you going back to hit your head against the same brick wall?”
“Because some walls can be moved with the right kind of force. Quit worrying. I’ll see you tonight.” She turned and started to walk away. She’d just do some browsing before she had to meet up with Derek and Holly for lunch.
“Richard has some nice friends he can introduce you to,” Sharon called out.
Gabrielle merely laughed and waved, ignoring the suggestion. She had spent the past dozen years trying to find a man who compared to Derek, one who could fill her emotionally and physically the way he had. None had even come close.
If she was being offered a second chance with Derek, she had to take it.
DEREK NEEDN’T HAVE WORRIED about lunch being awkward. Not when his daughter and his childhood sweetheart had bonded over hamburgers and french fries. How Holly had talked Gabrielle into trying her favorite food, he still couldn’t figure out.
They had more in common than he’d ever have believed. From books Gabrielle had read as a child to current shows on TV, Gabrielle could relate to his daughter. Derek was so drawn by the animated way his daughter spoke to Gabrielle and fascinated by the serious way Gabrielle listened to Holly, he barely tasted his burger.
Holly, who’d been living with Derek for a few weeks without a female in sight, suddenly blossomed in front of him.
Although his father had introduced her to a few kids in town, the one girl Holly had hit it off with had gone on vacation with her parents almost immediately. She’d be back soon and he hoped then Holly would have someone to hang out with. But until today he hadn’t realized how starved his daughter must have been for female attention.
A short while later, Derek drove them back. Gabrielle’s car was at Sharon’s parents’ house at the far end of town. He turned onto Main Street as he, Holly and Gabrielle talked about the newest hit song on the radio.
“Dad, that’s Grandpa outside the hardware store. Look!” Holly pointed at the window where his father stood talking to a bunch of older men. “Can I go say hi?”
Derek slowed the truck down and pulled over. Rolling down the window, he called for his father’s attention. Hank waved, then returned to his conversation with Burt, the owner.
“If he’s going straight home, I’m going to get a ride with him, okay?”
“Sure. Just make sure you wave, so I know it’s okay with Dad. And remember to look both ways before you cross the street.” There weren’t many cars, but he wanted to make sure she was safe. “In fact, let me help you—”
“Dad!” she said, horrified. “I live in Manhattan. I think I can handle Main Street.”
Beside him, Gabrielle chuckled.
“Sorry. I’m a parent. What can I say?” he said, spreading his hands out in front of him.
“Actually, I think it’s sweet,” she said, her eyes drinking him in with a heat that hadn’t been there while she’d been focused on his daughter.
But Holly was now leaving, and apparently, Gabrielle took that as a sign.
“I had such a good time. Can we take that trip to Target one day soon?” Holly asked Gabrielle.
She nodded. “You bet.”
Holly’s eyes lit up. “Bye!” She leaned into the front and hugged Derek, her earlier mortification over his protective comments forgotten.
Then she was gone. He watched her look both ways before running across the street and exhaled a sigh of relief.
“She’s amazing, Derek,” Gabrielle said, not letting an awkward silence take over.
“Thank you. I like to think so, but I can’t take much credit for it.” As he watched, Holly spoke to her grandfather, then turned and waved, indicating to Derek he could leave.
Suddenly eager to be alone with Gabrielle, at least for a short time, he put the truck in Drive and pulled back into traffic. Maybe it would be easier to tell her more about his daughter while he was occupied driving.
At least then he wouldn’t have to look into her beautiful eyes and admit the truth—he’d been a bad parent. “I wasn’t there for her much,” he said, forcing the words out.
Gabrielle placed her hand on his shoulder. “I can’t imagine that. Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
He nodded. They both knew that their ending was his beginning and he drew a deep breath before diving in. “I was a mess after we broke up. I threw myself into partying at school, skipping classes…anything to forget.”
She leaned closer, her hand remaining on his shoulder. As a distraction while driving, it was a potent one, and he forced his concentration on the road where it belonged.
“And were you able to forget me?” she asked, her fingers stroking the sensitive spot at the base of his neck.
He shivered. “No,” he said, his voice hoarse. “But I wasn’t functioning on all burners, either. I met Marlene, Holly’s mother, at a party.” He swallowed hard. “She was fun and we had enough in common to stay together for a while…I eventually got her pregnant.”
“Turn left,” Gabrielle whispered, her breath warm in his ear.
He remembered where Sharon’s parents lived, but he wasn’t about to remind her and change the subject. He needed to get this story out.
“I did the right thing,” he continued. “I married her. Her mother was widowed and living in New York City, so she helped with the baby, and somehow we both finished school.”
“Turn right. Last house on the left,” Gabrielle said.
He flipped on his signal and turned. “I figured since we weren’t in love in the traditional sense, it would work out. After all, the curse was supposed to only affect Corwin men who fell in love. Only it didn’t turn out that way.” He pulled into the last driveway on the left and put the SUV in Park.
She hadn’t spoken. “Are you still with me?” He turned toward her.
She still leaned close, her lips hovering near his. “Did you just say you weren’t in love with her?” Gabrielle asked.
“That’s exactly what I said.”
She unhooked her seat belt and it snapped back into place. “Thank God.” Her sigh of relief got lost as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
He should have been surprised, but this was Gabrielle. His body had been primed since laying eyes on her, ready since she’d set her delicate fingers on the base of his neck. She’d always known just how to touch him to set him aflame.
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