Strange, but I never thought I’d see the day when I’d feel pity for Gibson, but suddenly I had. Although, from what I knew of him before, it could have been part of his game plan. Previously, he wasn’t beyond using pity as a way of flirting with girls, and it had paid dividends.
Unsure of what to say, I stared back at his beautiful but angry face, wondering if I should continue with this whole thing. However, I was sitting at God knows how many feet in his jet, and I had no clue where I even was. Once I thought about that, I had to fight the panic again that I was being controlled by a guy who would do whatever he wanted to get his own way.
Three muffled dings on a bell broke the silence and the stewardess appeared and strapped herself into a drop down seat right at the front of the plane. Elegant and leggy, she crossed and uncrossed her legs, puffing her chest and pulling her jacket down, all flirtatious and all the while smiling at Gibson, who glanced over and gave her a bright smile.
She then turned her attention to me, eyeing me from head to toe. She met my glance and gave me a sarcastic looking sneer.
“I know what you’re thinking, I’m not fucking him so you can stop thinking that I’m his next easy lay you hear me?” Reacting badly, I shocked myself with my outburst. Embarrassed that she might think that was why I was with Gibson.
After the way Kace had made me feel about myself I felt sure that she would think that’s why I was with him. Gibson looked at the stewardess and scowled. “Enough of the attitude, Laney. Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Laney’s facial expression changed immediately to one of worry, knowing that she’d overstepped her position. Gibson turned to me and I’m sure he saw how angry I was, but I guess he wasn’t used to women rejecting him and he reacted to the way I was looking at him by laughing.
“What? What are you laughing at?” Folding my arms across my chest, I continued, “I’m glad you think it’s funny, because I definitely don’t.”
Throwing me a knowing smirk, Gibson ran his hands through his hair and looked first at me, then at the stewardess before giving her his full attention. “She’s right, Laney, I’m definitely not fucking her.” Gibson’s tone sounded harsh.
Just like that, Gibson Barclay had humiliated me for the third time in my life. And this time I couldn’t run and hide.
CHAPTER 22 – TRUCE
Chloe
Bristling in in my seat like my pants were on fire, I really didn’t care how I was getting home. I had already decided I was getting away from him as soon the plane touched down. Gibson may have been able to do whatever he wanted with most women, but I was not ‘most women.’
Thinking we couldn’t have gone far, because it had only been forty minutes since we’d taken off, I thought it couldn’t be that difficult to get back to Ruby and the others at the hotel.
When I realized I only had my driver’s license and virtually no cash with me, I felt gutted that I had let my guard down and left myself in such a vulnerable position. What was I thinking, going with him into the unknown like a lamb to the slaughter? I decided I was going to ring Ruby when I got to the airport, and ask her to hire a car to come get me.
Closing my eyes, I could feel my ears popping and stomach lurch with the plane’s descent and my stomach was already feeling acidic from the lack of food. The exchange between Gibson and the cabin crew girl made me feel so…jealous?? And I wondered if Gibson had been with her before. Stupid really, of course he had. That hadn’t mattered because he had humiliated me by putting me down and that had made me feel stupid.
Swallowing hard, I fought back the feeling of being inadequate to Gibson. Mainly because of the way that Kace had conditioned me and how he made me feel so undesirable over the past year. My gut twisted and the threat of tears choked me, making my throat close. I struggled following that to keep my composure.
Still sitting with my eyes closed when the plane landed, I wished that he would just leave and I could save face and slip away quietly. Reality told me that was definitely not an option, but I had managed to get my feelings in check before I opened my eyes and was relieved to see that the stewardess had gone.
Gibson was still sitting with one leg crossed with his ankle resting on his knee, his face with a grim expression on it. His elbow was resting on the plane window, and his head, resting in his hand. The lap belt buckle was undone and the arm rest nearest the aisle was pushed up.
Before he could speak, I got in first. “Don’t say a word. Just tell me how to get home. I think you’ve done your job and I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me to be, so let us stop the pretense and just let me go home. All I need is to call Ruby to come and get me or someone can drop me at a bus station and I’ll make my way back. Where the hell am I anyway?”
Sounding much more assertive than I felt, I tried to stare at him, but I lost my nerve and turned away from him to look at the window on the opposite side of the plane. Inside my body was trembling and I had to dig so deep down to suppress the panic that was rising inside me.
Gibson dropped his knee and pushed himself up straight in the leather seat. Leaning forward he placed his elbows on his knees and his hands together between his open knees. Lifting my head, I was met with his face close to mine, staring intensely, his eyes searched my face.
“Fuck, Chloe, that came out wrong, but I could see how upset you were so I wasn’t going to take it back while you were starting to get emotional about it I figured you wouldn’t believe me and I’d just succeed in hurting you more.”
Pursing my lips, it was a good argument but he was always so plausible when he wanted to win people over. Gibson obviously didn’t know just how much I knew about him. My confidence was growing more the angrier I got at him.
“Seriously? You expect me to believe that crock of…? I saw that smirk and the venom you used to put me down in front of that Barbie doll of a woman.”
Suddenly he began to laugh loudly at me, and I lashed out incensed that he was so insensitive, but my seatbelt held me firmly in my seat. Fumbling with the buckle, I eventually managed to break free from my chair and lurched forward at him, fists clenched.
Gibson’s reactions were like lightening and he grabbed both of my wrists, pulling me onto his lap. “Whoa! STOP. What are you doing? Where is this violence coming from?” Strong arms engulfed me and held me firmly on his lap.
Stopping instantly, I was ashamed that I had lashed out, but his behavior was reminiscent of how Kace had made me feel sometimes. Whenever I had expressed a concern or needed reassurance, he would do something just like that to keep me off kilter.
As soon as I stopped struggling, I expected Gibson to relax his hold on me. Instead, he held me firmly and all at once it felt comforting. There was no way I could hold back after that. A sob caught in my throat as I began to cry. Of all the things I expected to happen at that point, what Gibson did was the last thing I’d have expected from someone like him.
Shifting me slightly on his lap, he cradled me in his arms and began to rock me back and forth. Dipping his head to mine, he brushed my hair tenderly from my temple and kissed it gently. It wasn’t a sexual kiss but one of comfort. “Chloe, you don’t need to do anything, honey. Take all the time you need. I’m here. I got you.”
Normally if Gibson, or any guy like him, had said something like that to me, I’d have run a mile, wondering what ‘I got you, darlin’ entailed, but the feeling he gave me was one that I hadn’t felt before, even in the early days with Kace. Safe.
Wrapped in his arms, his soothing embrace cocooned me and an emotion I had been missing began to surface. Shaking my head, I tried to sit up because it was a feeling of trust, and at that point I had almost forgotten what Gibson was all about. Clever, how he was just exactly what I needed, yet the whole sorry episode had started because of his horrible words.
Initially, he was reluctant to let me move, then I felt him relax his grip and I moved off his lap. Before there was any awkward exchange, Gibson stood up and hugged me close
to his chest again. My cheek landed between his strong pectoral muscles, right over his heart. There was no way I could ever explain how I felt when I stood there listening to his strong, steady heartbeat.
Overwhelming emotions washed over me, my senses becoming aware of just how amazing Gibson was, physically. His touch, when his hand splayed on the small of my back, was exquisite, softly; yet firmly caressing it with just the right amount of pressure to make me feel safe. The faint scent of body wash and his manly scent was an addictive combination and Gibson’s body was attacking my hormones, giving me feelings, which both set alarm bells off and incited intense feelings of lust.
Feelings that were vaguely familiar and I had experienced only once before, when I had shared myself with Paul on the phone the night when he had been drinking. I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks, recalling the most intimate parts of that call as I thought about Paul but being touched by Gibson.
After a short while Gibson started to talk and his low timbre rumbled in his chest, vibrating against my cheek. “You okay? I want to take you for some food. You must be starving, honey.”
Pushing me at arms- length and stepping back to look at me, he made eye contact and we were locked in a moment, each of us unable to tear our eyes off the other until I lost my nerve and looked down at his chest.
“And while we’re here I want to clear the air again. The reason I sounded so pissed about what I said to Laney? It wasn’t because I didn’t want to do that to you. I was pissed because there was nothing I wanted more, than to be with you that way.”
Dropping his hands from me altogether, he smiled softly. “Sorry, I know that’s probably the last thing you wanted to hear or expected me to admit to. I’m a lot of things, Chloe, and there is a lot that is written about me that isn’t strictly true, but…I am an honest man. Sometimes that honesty pisses people off. And the reason I was laughing was because of the Barbie doll comment. You wouldn’t know about this but my best buddy Toby calls her that as well. ”
I wasn’t sure that I believed him but I was smart enough to figure that it was better to be on speaking terms until I got back to the others, so I gave him a half smile.
“Truce?” Gibson gave me a small smile, his concerned eyes searching my face for approval. When I nodded, I saw his shoulders drop in relief and his smile stretched wider. “Good girl. Let’s go get some food, I’m hungry.”
Leaving the aircraft, a dark grey metallic Mercedes was sitting on the tarmac, with no driver. “You’re driving?” Everything he did threw me. Maybe I had been reading too many rock star gossip columns, but the way Gibson’s team and handled his travel arrangements, how he lived and all the other stuff, made me wonder what other surprises I was going to come across.
Smirking knowingly, Gibson walked over and opened the passenger door, “I am. Is there a problem with that?” Looking around I wondered where everyone else had gone. There was only us out there. Gesturing at the plane, the door flap steps still down, I asked, “Aren’t you going to lock that?” Gibson chuckled mischievously and shook his head.
Puzzled, I slipped into the passenger seat and he closed the door softly once I was in. Wandering around to his side, he opened the door and connected his call at the same time. “She’s all yours, dude.”
Hitting the call end button Gibson turned and looked at me, then crooked his fore and middle fingers under my chin, raising my head so that my eyes met his again. “The guy with the keys to the bird,” he said, gesturing at the cell sitting in the cradle on the dashboard. Exhaling heavily, Gibson gave me a slow smile. “I promised you dinner. I hope you have a big appetite, because I’m ready to eat the table as well as the food on it.”
Part of me was scared to be in the car with him, partially in terms of my proximity to him, but mainly because of the feelings he was bringing out in me, because the Gibson Barclay I remembered did everything with an extreme attitude. So it wasn’t surprising that I was nervous sitting next to him, when he was behind the wheel of a powerful machine.
After a about mile, I had to take my prejudged idea about his driving back. Gibson was extremely attentive to the roads and drove at a steady forty miles per hour. “Do you mind some music?” When he asked that, I really welcomed those words because the silence between us was becoming awkward and I was racking my brain for something to say.
Tuning in to the station, “Superheroes” by The Script was playing. The song was about people going through hard times and learning to deal with that, and it was completely right for me, but looking at Gibson, I had no idea if he even knew what a hard time was.
I pulled out my cell to text Ruby to tell her where I was, but I’d used up the battery taking pictures at the concert and my battery was flat, I considered asking Gibson to use his, but I remembered that I didn’t know Ruby’s cell off by heart.
Seeing the road sign for Carmel-By-The-Sea, I realized we were about three hours from LA by car. There was no way I could ask Ruby to drive that far anyway and I doubted there would be any buses at this time of night back to LA, so I resigned myself to making the most of the dinner and getting the hell out of LA as soon as we got back.
“If the directions are correct, we should be there in five minutes.” Gibson’s head turned briefly to address me, and then turned back to face forward. I had naturally turned my head to look at him, and then continued to watch him even after he looked back at the road.
“What are you thinking, Chloe?” Gibson’s head turned and gave me brief eye contact and he looked ahead again.
Biting my lip, I just said exactly what I was thinking. “You look incredible.” Once I had said it, I blushed. “I mean, you are a good looking man.”
Before I could say anything else, we’d pulled by the sidewalk outside a quirky, cute looking restaurant. All of the outside tables were empty. Soft yellow lighting glowed on the rustic looking restaurant front, making it look idyllic. Old weathered bench seating and flagstone flooring with wrought iron ornamental lamp lights and arched paneled windows gave it curb-side appeal.
The heavily weathered wooden door was a truly welcome sight for to us as hungry travelers, but my feelings of anticipation were back and I wondered if we were going to be told we were too late for dinner.
Inside the door was a polished wooden desk with a smartly dressed female maître d’. Smiling, she addressed Gibson in a seductive tone with a thick French accent. “Ah, Monsieur Barclay, you arrive! Welcome! We are so ‘appy to ‘ave you ‘ere. Please come an’ sit. Wine, yes? Your food ezz prepared already.”
Walking in front of us with her catwalk posture and slender long lines, it was difficult to see how I could be remotely appealing when someone like her was around. She was the whole package. Her accent was sexy as hell and she looked so sophisticated and chic. Once I had made the mistake of comparing her to how I viewed myself, I felt myself shrink in her presence.
Confused at what was happening, I slowly sat down on the chair Gibson pulled out for me, taking in all my surroundings as I did, and falling in love with the gorgeous scene of this very intimate restaurant. Fairy-tale rope lighting was wrapped around pillars and there was a massive wooden trellis with ivy and grape vines growing up it in various places.
At the center of the outside area there was a huge tree, again covered in the string lighting. Between the twinkling lights, Gibson’s presence and the aroma of herbs and spices I felt like I had walked into paradise.
Pierre will be your waiter for z’night. Please let ‘im know what you desire and we will do our best to make your eating experience with us memorable.” Turning on her heel, she sashayed away in the direction of the desk again.
Briefly watching her walk away, I turned to look across the table at Gibson once she was in her seat once again. Serious grey eyes met mine and Gibson ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “Are you okay, now? Are we okay, now?”
Apart from his brief sleep and his outburst on the plane to ‘Barbie,’ he had actually been great. No, he’d been ama
zing, and really, I had to accept some responsibility for his temper in regards to what he said. I had been less than kind back at the venue.
Putting everything into perspective, I’d won a competition. Who was I to go laying the law down at him like that without just cause? He’d never asked me for anything.
“Sure, I’m happy to start again, if you are.” My response was rewarded with his sinfully sexy roguish smile. It made my heart flutter and melt. I’d seen Gibson smile many times, but there was something about that particular one that made him look genuinely happy.
CHAPTER 23 - UNWELCOME FEELINGS
Chloe
Dinner was beautiful. The setting, the food, the wine… the man. All perfect, except for the way Gibson looked at me sometimes. From looking like he wasn’t into me or my type, to focusing intensely on me.
Everything that had happened in my life during the past six weeks seemed so unbelievable. Being beaten badly by Kace, my inheritance, running away to a new life and the wrong phone calls from a guy named Paul.
The most ridiculous and incomprehensible thing of all that happened to me–winning a competition that led me to be sitting across the table having dinner with Gibson Barclay. There was my fantasy guy who was larger than life, stunningly handsome and smiling at me…it was all just so insane.
There were times during the meal when he unnerved me, and times when I could almost forget his past. Those charming and charismatic skills of his were out in force with me in that romantic setting. Gibson had said he wasn’t drinking but relented with the French red wine. Two and a half bottles of wine later between us and I was more than a little woozy.
Finishing the last mouthful on his plate, he replaced his knife and fork neatly as he licked his lips, hummed sexily and sat back in his seat with his hand over his abdomen. The guy even managed to make appreciating his food look and sound deeply erotic. Just watching him made me have thoughts that had no business in my mind in regards to what I would do to him.
Romance: Gibson's Legacy ( New Adult Contemporary Erotic Romance) (Last Score Book 1) Page 18