by Emme Rollins, Julia Kent, Anna Antonia, Helena Newbury, Aubrey Rose
Damnit, damnit, damnit!
“I’m sure he would…if he existed.”
“Excuse me?” Heat crept up my neck. Was I just that bad of a liar or did Gabriel think it was impossible for me to find a boyfriend? Either option didn’t feel all that great.
“You heard me. You. Don’t. Have. One.” He smirked. Smirked! “I checked your ringer finger, Emma. Beautifully bare. As far as anything less serious than a husband, if you did happen to have a special guy, it would’ve been one of the first things you said to me. And if by chance you actually do have one, I doubt you’ll keep him for long now that you’ve reconnected with me.”
The nerve of this man! I bristled because it was true. Most of it. A lot of it. Enough of it. Defeated, I tipped my chin up and attempted to cobble together a veneer of dignity. “Fine, there is no significant other.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Could you please not rub it in, Gabriel?”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Now, an answer please.”
I re-crossed my arms. “For how long?”
Gabriel inhaled deeply, looking over my head as if he were seriously considering the question. The tiny grin playing about the corners of his mouth let me know he already had an answer long before I asked the question.
“How about for a month?”
“A month.”
“Too short? Very well—two months.”
“I didn’t say it was—”
“Too late. Two months of lunch and/or dinner.” When I remained silent, Gabriel cajoled, “Come on, Emma. Say yes. You know you want to.”
“That’s hardly going to make me say it, Gabriel.”
“Ah, I forgot. Your pride is so damned prickly. Let go about it another way then.”
I lowered my brows and glared at him. Gabriel only laughed.
“It’s just two months, right? If it makes a difference, see it as a friendly reconciliation of two friends.”
“We weren’t friends,” I pointed out softly, unable to stop myself. “How could we be? You were you and I was me.”
“Really?” Gabriel shrugged and admitted, “I always thought of you as the only real friend I made back then.”
It felt as if the floor was crumbling beneath my feet. I never even considered he thought of me as anything other than the one irritating girl that turned him down. The conversation had suddenly taken a sharp turn into territory I wasn’t ready to visit.
Gabriel continued as if I hadn’t inadvertently insulted him. “Scratch friendly reconciliation. Think of it as two acquaintances attempting to be friends. Or maybe—”
“Stop. Okay.”
“Okay to my terms?”
“Yes.”
Gabriel straightened. “Okay it is.”
Why was I giving in so quickly? Because I wanted to. Because I always wanted to give in and now I finally could. I wasn’t a young girl on the brink of forging her own path away from near-poverty. I was my own woman and the woman I was wanted this. At least for a little while. I never realized how much I would come to miss his presence when I turned him away seven years before. This was my way of making up for lost time.
“Now onto the next point, Emma…”
I held my hands up. “No. You’ve won the food issue. Now, I really have to get back to work. I’m five minutes late as it is.”
He sighed, pouted, and then shrugged. “It’s postponed then.”
“Not postponed. Done.”
“Not a chance!” Gabriel reinserted his key into the panel. He pressed a button on the doors promptly slid open. “You’re my next campaign, Emma. I won’t give up until you say ‘yes’.”
“Yes to what?”
“To everything. Now, shall we go?” Gabriel held out his arm and waited.
It was then I realized once and for all that nothing had really changed. My heart still yearned for the one thing it could never really have. Loving him was like trying to love the sun—I was destined to burn.
I reached out and linked my arm with his. I winced as if scalded.
“Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
Gabriel’s smile simultaneously soothed my wound while making it ache.
Chapter Three
“Emma, how much longer are you going to make me wait? You’re taking forever and everyone’s already gone. Emma? Emma?”
I stared at the computer screen, intent on scanning the spreadsheet and ignoring the lounging man who was taking up almost all the space in my miniscule cubical.
Several moments passed in expectant silence.
“Emma?”
I felt my chair rock forward. He kicked the base of it with his foot! I sat up straight and drew forth all the patience in my soul. “What is it, Gabriel?” I was very proud of how calm I sounded when all I wanted to do was smack his leg. Hard.
“How much longer? It’s already six.”
I huffed and spun around in my chair. You would never guess this man was a mostly self-made billionaire by the amount of whining I’d had to listen to for the past ten minutes.
“I shouldn’t have let you walk me to my desk. In fact, I shouldn’t have let you walk me inside period.”
“Why not?”
“Then you wouldn’t be here right now and I’d be able to work in peace.”
“That’s not a nice thing to say,” he pointed out, wounded frown inexplicably tugging at my conscience. Before I could mutter an apology, a wicked grin made him out to be a naughty boy indeed. “Besides, you didn’t ‘let’ me do anything. I was coming in here regardless. I own the building, remember? I can go wherever I please.”
“Yes, but I still regret it nonetheless.”
Earlier, I gathered several curious stares from the females populating Med-Tech when we both walked in from lunch. A few recognized Gabriel and immediately looked between us in speculation. He took it all in stride, barely acknowledging the growing attention and instead focused on me. It was high school all over again.
When we reached my cubicle, he took one look at it and asked, “This is where you work?”
“Yes.” I was pretty proud of my space. I was the first person in my family to have an office job. My mom had crowed in delight when I mailed her the pictures of my new space. (She didn’t believe in digital photography, preferring I send her hard copies of any important images.) I also purposely neglected to tell her I was in the building of my prom companion.
Gabriel continued to study the space with a frown. “Look how ridiculously tiny it is! You can barely move. Prisoners have more room than this.”
“Gabriel! Ssh!” I lunged forward and covered his lips with my hand. His warm mouth kissed my palm. I felt the imprint burn right through. I snatched it back, fully aware of the tingle spreading across my body. Lowering my voice, I whispered, “I work here and I happen to like it very much.”
His smirk promised it wouldn’t be for long. Not wanting to chance him bringing up the ridiculous job offer, I said, “Besides, I’m sure the cubicles on your floor are the same size.”
“No, they’re not. They’re at least twice as big.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
Gabriel stayed for another minute before promising to come back for me by six. When I asked him why, he rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten? You’re my date tonight for a fundraiser.”
I had forgotten. Formal events didn’t rank high on my list of wonderful things to do. “I’m not sure, Gabriel. I don’t really like—”
“You’ll like this one.”
I tried another angle, one that he couldn’t be mean enough to deny. “I don’t have anything to wear.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
When I opened my mouth to argue some more, Gabriel tapped me on the lips and ordered, “Get to work, Emma. I’ll see you soon. Don’t try to sneak out of the building. I’ve got eyes everywhere you know.” He walked away with a jaunty whistle, leaving me stumped and wondering how I
lost control of the situation.
That was barely four hours ago. Now all Gabriel wanted to do was get me to stop working.
“So, are you done yet?”
“No.”
“Emma, it’s practically empty around here. Nobody else is working.”
“You don’t have to stay, Gabriel.”
“But I want to.”
“Then please do it in silence.” I lifted an eyebrow and waited a beat before turning my chair back around.
As soon as I refocused on the computer screen, he complained, “You really haven’t changed, have you? You were always so damned fussy about your work in high school too. Every single time I tried to get you to cut class and join me for a better tasting lunch, you always said you couldn’t because of work.”
“And you weren’t fussy enough, Mr. I-Slept-in-Class-All-Four-Years.”
I imagined the self-satisfied grin plastered on his face when he casually remarked, “Oh, it was totally worth it. Trust me. Besides, I think I turned out alright.”
“Of course, you did. You already had a nice leg up in life, Gabriel. I can’t say the same and that’s why I have to work like a dog, understand?”
“I only came in with something like ten million or so. Barely a splash of cash. I made the other 997 million on my own,” he muttered under his breath.
“Come again? I didn’t quite catch that, Mr. Gordon.”
“Nothing.” Gabriel cleared his throat. “Can I ask one more thing?”
I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling. “Ask your one more thing and then let me work in peace, okay?”
“We really will need to leave within the next ten minutes. Can you do that for me?”
I sighed and spun back around in my chair. I glanced down at my watch, mentally calculating what I needed to finish and how long it would take. “I can be done with this in three but only if I have absolute silence.”
“Deal.” Gabriel zipped his lips shut, crossed one long leg over the other, and clasped his hands over his knee.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re such a little kid.”
“Only for you. Oops! I’ll be quiet now.”
Still chuckling, I returned to my work. I checked the final rows of figures, ensuring all the data had imported properly without any dropped fields. Everything had to be right because on Monday I was going to take the mountains of data and translate it into a series of graphs that would showcase how each of the products had performed last quarter.
I loved numbers and so I truly enjoyed my work.
Just a few seconds short of three minutes, I saved and closed the file. “Done.”
Gabriel immediately shot out of his chair. “Ready?”
“Let me shut down the computer and then we can go.”
“Hurry.”
I had barely managed to turn off the monitor when Gabriel took hold of my arm. “Come on, Emma.”
“Why are you in such a rush?” I barely managed to grab my purse before he completely hauled me out of the cube.
Gabriel looked over his shoulder at me and grinned. “We have to get you ready for the ball, Cinderellie.”
I struggled to keep up with his long-legged stride. “Gabriel, slow down.”
“No time.” He stopped and scooped me up in his arms. I cried out in surprise. Gabriel tossed me in the air and I let out a shrill scream.
“Put me down!”
“Nah, I like where you’re at. Although I think you deafened one of my ears.” He tossed me up and I screamed again. “You’d better hold on or I’ll keep throwing you up in the air.”
I put one hand high on his shoulder. It wasn’t good enough.
“Tighter, Emma. Tighter…tighter…too tight! Way too tight!”
I relaxed my grip around his neck while lecturing, “Gabriel, I work here! Someone might see us!”
“Nope. No one’s here to see you try to strangle me.” He turned in a full circle, showing me all the empty cubicles and darkened offices. “See? It’s Friday. Everyone else is out living their lives.”
“Except me, huh?”
“Well, yes, but not anymore because I’m here to save your night.”
I groaned and spoke to the heavens. “Why do I think I’m going to end up regretting this?”
“What’s there to regret? We’re two high school acquaintances who happen to work in the same building—”
“Which you own.”
“A pesky detail that has no bearing on the story, Emma. So there.” He strode down the hall and out a side door I’d never noticed before. Gabriel correctly read my surprised expression. “You see, this really proves my point that you’re just too serious. You need to get out more. Explore. Live. Learn all the doors to your office space. Don’t let the man hold you down, girl.”
“Gabriel, honey, you are the man. And I still say you’re not serious enough.”
“We’ll just have to agree to disagree, won’t we?” Gabriel whisked me into a thankfully empty elevator. “The Girl from Ipanema” played overhead. He hummed along, really getting into it. I started humming too which encouraged him to sway from side to side with me still in his arms.
God, I didn’t want it any of it to end. Gabriel made me feel alive and connected to the world around me. He was the color to my colorless, passion to my passionless.
The song ended too quickly. Although I loved feeling his body against mine, somebody had to be the grownup. It probably wouldn’t do well for his reputation or mine to be seen this way. Still, I wished I could keep playing with Gabriel a little longer. “I think you can put me down now.”
“Do I really have to?”
Okay, screw being the grownup.
“You can carry me later when my sore feet refuse to take another step.”
He considered it for a scant moment. “Deal.”
Gabriel set me down gently. I already missed his touch. I made myself stand upright next to him. I didn’t allow myself to lean my head against his arm. I didn’t take the beautiful hand that dangled mere inches away from mine.
He’s so dangerous especially because he doesn’t act like it. If only he knew what a mess he made of me…
As if he had heard my secret wishes, Gabriel grabbed my hand when the doors opened. “Let’s go, Emma! We’re going to have so much fun tonight—I promise.”
His boyish enthusiasm was infectious. I tossed aside my worries, knowing there was nothing for it but to see where all this was going to take me tonight. Relieved by my impulsive decision, I found myself hurrying alongside, appreciating his smaller stride, but breaking free from it until I was pulling him along.
Gabriel called out a farewell to the security guards as we breezed right past their desk. “See ya, Bobby! Keep it cool, Mr. Jackson!”
“You too, Mr. G.” they replied in unison.
“Mr. G? I like it!” I whispered.
Gabriel laughed and hurried us through the turnstile door. We hit the crowded sidewalk, hand in hand, breathless and giddy. Gabriel wound us through the living throng until we arrived at a limo waiting by the curb. A black-suited young man promptly exited the vehicle. He nodded to us both as he opened the door.
“Emma, this is Waylon. Waylon, this is Emma.”
“It’s really nice to meet you, Miss Emma.” The driver flashed his teeth, a crinkle of a smile really, but friendly nonetheless.
“Likewise, Mr. Waylon.”
“Just Waylon, ma’am.” He tipped his head so I tipped mine in return.
“Now that the introductions are over…” Gabriel tugged me inside where the door closed behind us. Collapsing against the leather seat, I looked over at the beautiful angel playing at being human. “Convertibles no longer your thing so you get a limo? That’s your ride to work?”
“Yes, well, I’m lazy. I counteract it with daily workouts, but I still don’t want to walk far.”
“You live close by?”
“A couple of blocks away.”
“So you live a couple
of blocks away and still drive to work?”
Gabriel grinned unabashed. “Don’t judge. I told you already—I’m lazy. Even if I wasn’t that lazy, there’s still the weather. Winters are brutal and summers are just as bad. No way am I walking to and from work during those times.” He shuddered comically.
“Remind me to talk to you about living green.”
He bit his lip and mumbled, “Living green. Ah, sure.”
I rolled my eyes dramatically. “You’re incorrigible and I can’t believe I’m here with you!”
“Fate is a lovely lady.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“Aww, be nice.” He tickled my chin and laughed when I batted at his hand. “Feisty as always…I love it!”
I scooted away when he reached for me again. Safely out of his long arm’s reach, I crossed my legs. “So where are you taking me?”
“Off to the shops.”
“Shops?” Discomfort sheared the edges off my bliss. I really didn’t want to put a big dent in my savings account. I hadn’t thought about cost when I grudgingly agreed to go. Shoot!
“Don’t give me that look, Emma. You said you didn’t have anything to wear. I’m fixing that.”
“All right, but keep it within reason. No couture or super-expensive gowns. If that’s what’s expected, then you might as well drop me off back at the office.”
“Don’t worry. We’re not going to the Met Ball. Tonight’s fundraiser will only require something pretty. Nothing super-expensive. I promise.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
“I’m sure you will.” Gabriel patted the space right next to him. “You’re very far, Emma. A little too far. Why don’t you come this way a bit? The seat is much nicer in this spot than the one you’re at now. That spot is lumpy you know.”
“Lumpy?”
“Yep. Terribly lumpy. It’s apt to bruise you. I’d hate to have that on my conscience.”
“Right.” I slowly slid back towards him until we were almost thigh to thigh. “You know I don’t remember you being like this.”
“While I remember you being exactly like this.”
I cocked my head, curious to hear what he thought of me. “Like how?”