Had she heard any gossip about Gideon and a woman lately? The office was ripe with gossip. All offices were, but Sabrina couldn’t remember hearing anything about Gideon dating anyone in…a while. A long while.
There hadn’t been a single pool on Gideon’s dating life in…months. A year? More? Sabrina tried to think when the last one was. That rocker chick who’d trashed his apartment? Or the socialite who trashed his bank account?
No, it was after that, wasn’t it? Wasn’t there another woman he’d dated after that? Sabrina couldn’t remember; she’d have to ask Cynthia.
Clearing her throat, she tried to move on, change the subject. She looked around the room, struggling for a subject of conversation, and made eye contact with a handsome man. A little older than Gideon, his hair graying at the temples, he caught her gaze and smiled.
Before she could do more than return the smile, Gideon stiffened even more next to her, if that was even possible, and tugged her in the opposite direction. “Oh, look,” he said in a falsely bright voice. “Haversby.”
Sabrina allowed herself to be dragged across the room. A missed opportunity, but she’d agreed to attend with Gideon for the express purpose of speaking with Rowan. The least she could do was fulfill that promise to her boss.
“Let me talk to him alone, Gideon,” Sabrina said, tugging his arm to pull him to a stop. “And I’ll report back.”
Those dark eyes focused on her again, still indecipherable, still drawing her in as always. More so tonight, and Sabrina wondered why tonight was so darn special for losing herself in Gideon’s gaze.
With a reluctance she hadn’t expected but which made her stomach flutter, Gideon nodded once and slowly, carefully, took her hand and lowered his arm. It was another heartbeat, with her blood rushing in her ears and her breath trapped somewhere in her chest, before he released her hand.
Swallowing hard, Sabrina turned toward Rowan with a bright smile. She hoped it masked her uncertainty.
She hadn’t expected her conversation with Rowan to be as successful as it was. Especially when Gideon joined her, his hand warm on the small of her back as she smiled and laughed with Rowan Haversby. Despite Gideon’s insistence that Rowan wanted nothing to do with him, the other man was charming and open. When Rowan took her hand and kissed the back of it, Sabrina felt Gideon stiffen beside her.
Even with Rowan’s agreement to sell his land to Gideon Hotels, Gideon continued to frown at the other man. The hand on the small of her back, a touch she was all too aware of during the entire conversation, moved slowly up her spine.
Sabrina tried not to shiver at the touch—really, she did. She knew she wasn’t successful.
Tonight wasn’t the business non-date she’d convinced herself this would be. It was different. Gideon was different, and it threw her. She didn’t know how to act around this Gideon. She didn’t know what to say or not to say. Her conversation was fine while Rowan was present, but as she stood there and laughed at something Rowan had just said, all she heard was Gideon’s laugh—warm as it flowed over her skin and made her ache.
She couldn’t figure Gideon out. He’d asked her tonight as his VP of Development, but from the moment she stepped into her apartment’s lobby, things had not gone as she’d envisioned. Or planned.
And when it came to alone time with Gideon, she always planned what to say. She didn’t want to ever make her own feelings obvious to him. Ever.
The gong rang, signaling the start of the opera, and Sabrina set her empty wine glass on the table. Bidding Rowan a pleasant evening, with the promise of calling him this week, she turned to Gideon.
When she looked up at him, his handsome face wore a faint scowl, and his dark eyes followed Rowan as the other man rejoined his group. Sabrina poked him in the side. What was wrong with this man tonight? Frowning as he looked down at her, that scowl still twisting his lips, Sabrina raised an eyebrow. “He’s agreed,” she said, watching him carefully.
Gideon nodded once.
“Isn’t that what you wanted?” she asked, narrowing her eyes and trying to gauge his mood. He’d been fine before she talked with Rowan. What the hell had changed?
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. But something lingered in his eyes she couldn’t quite place. Sabrina tried to decipher it, but then he smiled down at her and took her hand. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go see the opera.”
It was The Marriage of Figaro, which she enjoyed.
Gideon sat closer than she thought the seats allowed, but she didn’t complain. Throughout the opera, he whispered to her little comments. Simple things like how she was enjoying the show and such.
His mood had greatly improved since they’d entered the theater, and Sabrina could only chalk it up to the news that the land he wanted was now his.
So she let herself relax. Let herself enjoy his company and maybe, just a little, let herself lean into him.
As they left, Gideon slipped his hand around her waist. Logically Sabrina knew it was so he didn’t lose her in the rush of the crowd leaving the Met. Logic had no place in her head, or her heart, when his hand settled on her hip and he pulled her closer.
She forgot how to breathe. And think. Her heart raced and her skin flushed and the need she thought she’d long suppressed around him flared to brilliant life.
He didn’t let go until they reached Vince and the car. By then, Sabrina had lost all ability to speak.
“That was the most entertaining opera I think I’ve ever been to,” he said as he settled on the seat next to her. He held her hand, his thumb brushing lightly over her skin, sending sparks of electricity dancing along her arm. “And it’s not because I’m an aficionado of Figaro,” he added with a wide grin she couldn’t miss even in the darkened vehicle.
“So you’re an aficionado of tight seats and business triumphs instead?” Sabrina asked, her voice only a little breathless. What she’d wanted to say was intimate seats, but was glad she’d caught herself at the last minute.
This entire night had done nothing but lower her defenses around him, and she couldn’t help but return his grin. Relaxed and warm and in oh-so-close quarters.
“No,” Gideon said quietly. He still hadn’t released her hand, and Sabrina wondered if she should worry over her lack of worry over that. “Just of the company.”
“Better to have fun with a buddy,” she managed, “than to be forced to make small talk with a date.”
Buddy. Yes. Good, her brain was thinking again. Buddies, friends, that’s what they were, and it was good she reminded herself of that.
Gideon looked as if he wanted to dispute that, but then his smile widened again. “Want to grab a bite to eat? I know a great place.”
Yes. Yes, she wanted to have dinner with him. And why now had she decided it was a great time to break her rule over eating out with Gideon? What made tonight smash every single one of her defenses? But they did have a great time, and she enjoyed his comments during the opera. And the way his hand still hadn’t left hers.
Tonight was so very confusing. She was confused. Her brain had decided to mix her signals—this was nothing more than their usual friendly banter. Of course he’d offer her dinner. Gideon was being his normal, charming self. And Sabrina needed to remember that.
“No,” she said with a reluctance she couldn’t hide. And didn’t want to. “There’s a lot to do tomorrow morning. I want to close the Haversby deal quickly, before he changes his mind.”
“Oh, okay.” He sounded disappointed, and it twisted something deep within her. “I’ll see you home then.”
Sabrina swallowed and nodded. And then her brain decided to kick into high gear. Finally. She talked about their Napa Valley deal and Laura in Vermont with their winter wonderland deal, and the Macau property. Everything she could think of that kept her firmly on the business side of the line.
Then she wondered when she’d crossed that line. She’d never before. Tonight had tipped the scales. And she needed to tip them back in the other direction.
&nbs
p; By the time they reached her front door, Sabrina felt they’d steered firmly back into the business buddy zone. Part of her was relieved. And part of her that she could no longer ignore was regretful.
“This weekend there’s a charity ball hosted by the governor here in Manhattan,” Gideon said. “Would you mind?”
He hadn’t held her hand on the way up the elevator, and she’d missed that. He also hadn’t slid his arm around her waist again. She missed that, too. How many years had she gone without those kinds of touches from Gideon? One night, and all her hard-won resolve was shattered.
“I guess so,” she teased but smiled wide. “But let me tell you, any more of these kinds of events, and you’ll have to give me a bonus for ball gowns.”
But Sabrina winked and laughed. And if her laughter caught in her throat, along with her breath when his own warm laughter slid over her skin, she hoped he hadn’t noticed. Apparently he hadn’t, because he gave her that slow killer smile that made her toes curl and her knees weak.
“I’ll take care of it with Audrey,” he promised.
“I didn’t really mean it,” she protested, caught between laughing and panic. He knew she’d been teasing. Right? He had to have known.
Gideon leaned down, and Sabrina couldn’t move. She was frozen in place as his lips brushed her cheek. “Good night, Sabrina.”
He winked at her, before her limbs remembered how to move, and was gone.
Odds:
0-14 days—100:1
15-30 days—50:1
31-40 days—20:1
41-50 days—15:1
51-55 days—10:1
56-60 days—8:1
61-63 days—7:1
64-69 days—6:1
70-80 days—5:1
81-90 days—4:1
91-100 days—2:1
100+ days—1:1
Chapter Four
Sabrina sat at her desk and debated whether she had the energy to get up for another cup of coffee. She needed the caffeine boost. Badly. But the whole idea of getting up drained what little energy she had. What she really needed was to invent a robot coffee butler who poured her a fresh cup every time she mentally told him she needed more.
She’d make a mint.
Instead she sighed and tried to telekinetically make the coffeepot rise up and float to her, but gave up when even that took too much energy. Rolling her shoulders, she stretched her arms high over her head. What she needed was more sleep.
Three weeks ago it had been two charity events in a row, including dinner and dancing. Then it had been a week’s worth of late dinners in exclusive restaurants, where he’d wanted to discuss Napa Valley and Vermont. Sabrina tried to reason that they could’ve discussed that during normal business hours since they worked in the same office, but he’d brushed that suggestion off with a wink and a smile.
The smile had melted her resolve and made her toes curl. When had she become so weak?
It was after that week when she hadn’t seen him in the office once. Instead, she received phone calls from Gideon. Every day, several times a day. It got to the point where if she hadn’t talked to him in a few hours, Sabrina missed the sound of his voice.
Which was stupid and clingy and certainly not the relationship she’d set up for the two of them. Friends. They were friends and friendly and worked very well together. And she could keep her stupid crush and her unrequited feelings to herself, thank you very much. She’d been doing it a long time. Why stop now?
But he’d called every day and invited her to dinner and a Broadway show and this charity event and that charity gala and some other something.
Honestly, she hadn’t even realized how many charities Gideon cared about; it was everything from save the arts to save the historic buildings, to save the sage-grouse or the Tahoe stonefly from extinction, or protect the wolves in Idaho.
Fun nights dancing. Food that made her mouth water and a barely-formed diet fly right out the window. Bright conversation about music and movies and books, and about food and travel; which inevitably turned to whether or not they should put a Gideon Hotel there. About where they’d love to spend a week hiking or where they’d rather not visit. About whether or not they’d ever have flying cars or vacations on the moon.
And Gideon was extremely serious about whether he could purchase property rights on the moon beforehand.
Everything but real business.
She’d tried to get him to open up about who had broken his heart, but Gideon remained tightlipped with that half-smile on his face she’d always associated with avoidance. The last few weeks had not changed her mind. He avoided opening up to her. Sabrina had no idea why; the man made no sense.
No, it’d been longer than a few weeks. A month? Sabrina squinted at her day planner. She flipped through the weeks, trying to pinpoint the first time she and Gideon had gone out. Was it dinner at Penny’s? No, before that.
When her feelings on the matter had been crystal clear and easy enough to compartmentalize, when she hadn’t worried about falling too deep.
Last night he’d rented out Rye Playland in Westchester County for the employees of Gideon Hotels and their families. She’d half expected him to bring a date, but he’d only offered that half-smile and said, “I thought we could go together, Sabrina.”
And of course she’d said yes.
She’d never had so much fun in her life. They’d enjoyed the wooden Dragon Coaster and the 1928 kiddie ride, and they’d had a mock race with the Derby Racer horses. They’d played miniature golf on the course by the water. The course was lit with glass lanterns and made her feel as if she stepped back to 1928 when Playland opened. A live band had set up near the course and played big band music.
It’d been romantic and made her want to sway to the sultry beat of the music. How Gideon had known she wanted to dance, she didn’t know. Up until last night, she’d have bet he hadn’t been telepathic, but given his uncanny ability to read her mind these last weeks, Sabrina was rapidly revising that belief.
“If I get a hole in one, dance with me,” he had said as they’d begun their game. There had been a gleam in his brown eyes that made her want to agree to anything. She’d had to swallow hard and bite her lower lip to stop those words.
No one else had wanted to play golf, which Sabrina found odd but supposed it was only logical. How often did any of them get to have the entirety of Playland to themselves?
“And if I get a hole in one?” she asked. The words came out soft and low and despite her attempts to curb her unrelenting desire of this man, and with more than a hint of insinuation.
Damn but she needed to stop that.
“Anything you want, Sabrina,” Gideon had promised.
The words slid over her skin in a hot caress, and she forgot how to form words.
She’d wanted to tell him something fun—a witty quip designed to make him laugh and break the tension throbbing between them. But she didn’t have Audrey’s way with quirky quips or any of Eliza’s caustic comments. Hell, she’d had to clear her throat just to make her voice work.
“I want to go first in no-rules backgammon,” she’d finally said. And she’d laughed and bumped her hip against his and gone first.
Sabrina had managed to get a hole-in-one before Gideon. She’d crowed and did a silly dance of victory while he’d laughed with her. Then he’d redoubled his efforts. In the end, she hadn’t managed another hole-in-one—but Gideon had managed three.
And had demanded three dances. Her body fit with his in a way Sabrina hadn’t noticed before last night. One of Gideon’s hands held hers, the other rested on her hip as they swayed to the music. Somehow her head had found his shoulder, and despite their closeness, despite her racing heart and dry mouth, Sabrina had relaxed into his embrace.
He’d leaned down and his lips brushed along her neck, and Sabrina had forgotten all her rules and reasons and every shred of thought as to why being so close to him was a bad idea.
Even now, sitting behind her
desk as she tried to catch up on work, her skin pricked with electricity at the memory. Arousal shot through her, and Sabrina needed to bite back a moan of need.
What was wrong with her? She’d wanted Gideon for years and had managed quite nicely to keep her feelings, and her arousal, in check.
One dance with him—well, three dances—had destroyed all her carefully built walls. What the hell had happened?
It was fun. Last night had been fun and sexy and open. And confusing as hell. But Sabrina didn’t want it to be confusing, and that was the problem. Maybe she should talk with Cynthia and find out who else in the office Gideon could use as a business date for his seemingly endless charity events and business dinners.
Sabrina ignored the twist in her gut at the thought of Gideon with another woman. Even if it was for a charity event. Or a business deal. Or a night at Playland with the families of Gideon Hotels. Even if he might end up dating the other woman.
Her fingers pressed hard against her desk, and Sabrina needed to consciously unclench her jaw. No, she absolutely did not want to see another woman on his arm—business associate or not. A tall, slender woman with a winning smile and curves in all the right places. Instead of her shorter, nothing-but-curves body.
She didn’t want that. But maybe she needed that. Needed to step back a pace or five and regain her perspective when it came to Gideon. When it came to her feelings about Gideon. Not that there was a she and Gideon, despite what she may have liked.
It was a lot safer to care for Gideon Marquez from a distance. Messy feelings didn’t have to get involved.
She swallowed hard, energized and motivated to speak with Cynthia about a platonic date for Gideon if only to get some rest. Yes. Rest. That was it. She wanted to find someone else for Gideon to escort so she could rest.
Her heart felt tight in her chest and her lungs ached, but she resolutely stood and exited her office in search of Cynthia.
The administrative assistant sat behind her obsessively neat desk, her fingers flying over her keyboard as she typed out a letter. Her short black hair hung in gentle waves around her cheeks, her blue eyes riveted to the pages by her desk. Several rings adorned the other woman’s fingers as they raced over the keys.
Boss Likes Curves: A Curvy Girl's Billionaire Page 3