by Rye Hart
The corner of Penny’s lips curved up. “I’m sure that Alyssa would very much agree with me when I say it’s aggravating.”
“It’s not meant to be pleasant,” I said, grinning. “In all seriousness, Penny. I don’t want you to push your mother away because of a minor disagreement. You are obviously welcome here at any point in time, but don’t push your mom away. Once your parents are gone, they are gone. You know that.”
“I know,” she said. Picking up her coffee mug, she hopped off the bar stool without spilling an ounce of liquid this time. “Well, have a good day at work. Thank you for this inspirational morning chat.”
Her coyness tugged at me as she walked out of the kitchen in the direction of the living room. I watched as her perfect ass swished while she walked and nearly slapped myself to break the spell. Blue morning light was pouring through the windows now. I glanced up at the clock above the stove before pouring the rest of my coffee in a to-go cup. I needed to get the hell out of here before my thoughts got me in big trouble.
The private underground garage was frigid, as I expected it to be, when I took the private elevator down. Frost covered the front windshield of my car, so I sat in the driver’s seat with the heater on blast while I scrolled through a few work emails that were waiting for my attention.
An unfamiliar number from New York popped on my caller ID halfway through an email I had been reading over. I answered the call with a frown.
“This is Gabriel Bradley.”
“Gabriel. It’s Nikki Lewis.”
I sat back in my seat, surprised to hear Nikki’s voice for the first time in years. She didn’t sound different on the other end of the phone.
“Nikki,” I said. “It’s been forever. How are you?”
“I’ve been good,” she said, and I heard a smile tug at her lips. “And I’ve heard amazing things about you from a few people in New York.”
“Amazing things, huh?”
“Amazing things,” she repeated with a laugh. “I don’t want to cut our conversation short, but I just want to make sure that my daughter is okay over there with you. I know that she had taken a private flight back to Chicago to spend Christmas break there.”
The hurt in Nikki’s voice was unmistakable. I ran a hand through my hair nervously because I didn’t want to get in between the two of them, but I understood Nikki’s concerns at the same time.
“She seems fine,” I said. “She arrived over the weekend with Alyssa. The two of them have been shopping and sight-seeing together.”
“Has she mentioned anything to you about me?”
“Not really,” I said, thinking back to our conversation in the kitchen. “I get the sense that she is upset about something.”
“When did our daughters become so complicated, Gabriel?” Nikki asked with an exasperated sigh. “I’ve tried everything to get her to come back home to talk, but she wants to avoid me like the plague. I don’t understand it.”
“I have no idea what’s going on, Nikki, but I made it clear that I don’t think she should push you away. Whatever is happening between the two of you, it isn’t worth your relationship with one another.”
“Try saying that to Penny. She is hardheaded, like her father.”
“More like you,” I corrected with a small laugh. “I’ll keep an eye on her if she does decide to stay here. Meanwhile, I’ll encourage her to consider going back to you for Christmas.”
“You’ve always been such a good friend, Gabriel. Bless you.” A male voice cut through the background suddenly. “I better go, but let’s catch up soon. I’m heading into the city right now for a meeting.”
“Talk with you soon.”
I spent the drive to the office in silence while I tried to wrap my head around the conversation with Nikki Lewis. Something had happened, all right. I doubted Penny’s reasons of just wanting to live her own life, but I wasn’t sure it was my place to push any further. I would make myself available if Penny wanted to talk more, but other than that, I wouldn’t get involved.
I parked in the parking garage next to the building my office was situated in. Huddled against the snowy wind, I hurried into the lobby to take the elevator to the tenth floor. Neil Morrison greeted me when the elevator doors slid open.
“Surprised to see me?” he asked wryly.
I stepped out of the elevator with a shrug. “A bit. I didn’t think you were going to be coming in today.”
“I thought we could celebrate your new research,” Neil said.
We crossed the lobby that was still quiet and dark. A few of my employees, the early birds like me, nodded in acknowledgement when I passed by them.
“Celebrate?” I repeated and unlocked my office door. “How do you propose we do that?”
I set about opening the blinds to my office windows, even though there was no warm sunlight to come through.
“Yes,” he said. “I have some VIP passes to an exclusive new club on Wednesday night. What do you say?”
I was tempted to remind Neil that Alyssa was home for Christmas break, but I remembered that Alyssa had mentioned in passing that she would be busy on Wednesday night with Penny. Getting a few drinks did sound good. Maybe I could find a woman’s company to enjoy and get my mind off the troubling feelings Penny awoke in me.
“You’re on,” I said, nodding. “Wednesday night it is.”
CHAPTER FOUR - PENNY
“I told you that my dad would pay for a day at the spa,” Alyssa said.
I rolled my eyes, but I was too relaxed to even come back with a biting response to that. Seated side by side, with our feet in warm water that smelled of rosemary, I was confident that my body consisted of jelly. I didn’t know how Alyssa planned on dragging me around downtown Chicago to shop after spending the past three hours in a relaxing massage and hot steam room.
“I’m glad that he was okay with it,” I said. “Remind me to thank him later for letting us do this on his dime.”
“I’m sure he knows we are thankful,” Alyssa replied as she sighed in contentment. “We need to find some dresses for tomorrow night.”
I opened my eyes to look at Alyssa, whose eyes were closed with a smile stretched across her face.
“What’s going on tomorrow night?” I asked.
“Nothing major. Just a club that I want you to see.”
“No,” I said shortly. “You know that I hate clubs, Alyssa. Why did you plan that?”
Alyssa opened her eyes to look at me. “Because you need to get out and have some fun. I told you that we weren’t going to stay cooped up in my dad’s condo the entire winter break.”
“Why is that such a bad idea?”
“You know, I love my dad, but I don’t want to stay home with him the entire time.”
I sighed anxiously. I hated the idea of going to a club. I had spent the entire four years of college holed up in the library that was open day and night, just to avoid the parties. I rarely drank, and was secretly afraid that I’d end up picking up guys like my mother attracted. The thought made me shudder. The thought of staying in and spending time around Gabriel, however… I shook the thought out of my head.
“How are you even going to get in?” I asked her. “You’re only nineteen.”
Alyssa smiled and shot me a look. “I know the bouncer who will be working the door. He has a thing for me.”
I shook my head and closed my eyes.
“Don’t get all anxious over it,” Alyssa said, rolling her eyes. “It’s just going to be for a few hours. Come on, just humor me.”
“All right, fine. I know you’re going to drag me by the hair, no matter what I say.”
Alyssa grinned excitedly. “You know me so well. After the spa, we are going to go downtown to do some shopping. I promised my dad that we’d pick up some lunch for him, too, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
My conversation with Gabriel replayed over again in my head. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but it felt strangely intima
te. I hadn’t expected to tell him as much as I had, but the way he had looked at me, with a mixture of genuine concern and something else I couldn’t quite name, had brought it out. He was so easy to talk to, not at all like most parents. Not to mention he was hot as hell and just being around him did all sorts of things to my body. I tried desperately not to think like that, but I couldn’t help it. When he had brushed past me in the kitchen, a jolt of liquid heat and shot right to that sweet spot between my legs. It was going to be a long two weeks if I didn’t get ahold of myself.
We finished up at the spa an hour later. I followed Alyssa around the boutiques in downtown Chicago while we searched for the perfect dresses to wear for tomorrow. It felt nice walking arm-in-arm with Alyssa through the crisp winter air. It was much better than going back home to New York City for an entire break of awkward interactions.
“Perfect,” Alyssa said when I pulled out a black cocktail dress off the rack in a small corner boutique. “Look at it, Penny. That will show of your killer legs!”
I held it up to me to take in the length. It was short, much shorter than I was comfortable with, but it didn’t show a ridiculous amount of cleavage, either. It was a simple, little black dress meant to stun, but I doubted it would look stunning on me.
“It’ll show off my pale legs, you mean,” I said with a grimace. “I’m going to put it back. I’ll just wear leggings and a nice blouse.”
Alyssa snatched the dress from my hands. “Fuck no. This dress will look amazing on you. We’ll buy some stockings if you’re worried about it.”
“I am worried about it. I haven’t tanned in months.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Alyssa said, sighing and leading me up to the dressing room. “Come on. Try it on, you are going to look amazing. I already bought my dress.”
I glanced at the bag that she held in one hand. A shimmery pink dress that barely reached the top of her thighs was folded neatly in the bag. That was the beauty of Alyssa’s athletic body, though. She could slip into the skimpiest dresses or anything in reality, and pull it off because she spent hours at the gym working out.
I undressed in the privacy of the dressing room. I was taller than Alyssa and thin, but my hips were curvier and my breasts were fuller than hers. I pulled the dress up and it was unforgiving, hugging every curve I had.
“Come out,” Alyssa said. “Let me see how you look.”
I opened the dressing room door. “It’s horrible, Alyssa. I am not buying it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You look sexy as hell. Go look in the mirror.”
I walked barefoot to the room full of mirrors at the end of the hallway to gaze at myself in disbelief. The tiny dress hugged me tightly, but there was still enough room to breathe comfortably. Nothing was spilling out, either. It was a modest dress compared to the one Alyssa had bought. And she was right - I did look pretty good in it.
Alyssa’s hand skimmed my bare shoulders as she tossed a few strands of my hair over my collarbone. “See? You’re going to get a lot of men drooling over you. Maybe we should buy some bras and underwear at Victoria’s Secret, just in case—”
“That is not going to happen tonight, Alyssa! Don’t even drag me into that store.”
Two hours later, I followed Alyssa out of Victoria’s Secret with a bag of bras and panties tucked neatly inside a bright pink bag. I scowled when Alyssa grinned triumphantly at me.
“I hate you,” I said. “Don’t look so smug.”
“You’re going to look hot beneath that dress. Which reminds me.” She leaned in to point to a small outlet store that said, “Brazilian Waxes Fifty Percent Off.”
“Oh, hell no,” I said.
“Either shave down there, or I’m taking you to that place,” she said, laughing.
I nudged Alyssa in the ribs hard as she burst out laughing even harder.
“Very funny,” I said. “I don’t shave down there if I’m not trying to impress anyone.”
“When was the last time you even tried to impress someone?” Alyssa asked curiously. “I mean, you’re holed up in the library a majority of the time.”
I didn’t even want to think about the sad excuse that my personal life was. It had been a long time since I’d been with a guy. A very long time, now that I thought about it. I couldn’t even remember the guy’s name that I had hooked up with. “It’s been a while,” I admitted. “Not that it matters to me. I’m perfectly fine not worrying about shaving my legs and downstairs area every single day. It’s actually nice.”
“I’ll pretend that I believe you,” Alyssa said. “Let me call my dad to see what he wants to eat for lunch so we can stop by.”
We sat down at one of the benches along the second floor the mall. A stream of people walked by us while Alyssa dialed her father’s office number. I took in the holiday music and Christmas decorations with a smile while I scrolled through my own phone to check emails and texts. That sense of contentment was immediately dashed when I found six missed phone calls from my mom. No voicemails. No text messages.
I swallowed the bulge in my throat as I erased the phone calls. Don’t fall for it, Penny. Don’t give her the satisfaction of answering.
“My dad’s pulling up to the mall right now,” Alyssa announced suddenly. She grabbed her bags from the floor. “Come on. We’re going down to the food court to meet my dad for lunch.”
We took the escalator down to the main level of the mall. I followed Alyssa nervously through the Christmas shopping crowds in the direction of the food court. My stomach churned as I spotted Gabriel sitting at a small table, scrolling absentmindedly through something on his phone. He looked even more handsome today, from his charcoal gray pants and the white button-up shirt he wore, to the scarf dangling loosely around his neck.
“Afternoon, ladies,” he said smoothly when we reached the table. “I trust my credit card is going to get a lot of traveling points after today?”
“Of course, it is!” Alyssa beamed at him as she swept down to kiss him on the cheek before dumping the bags in the chair next to him. “Thank you, Dad. I really appreciate it. Don’t go peeking through some of the bags, though. Your Christmas present is in there.”
Gabriel smiled up at his daughter while he pocketed his phone. “I have to go through the bags now.” He paused to scan my bags at my side, stopping on the Victoria Secret bag. “Why don’t you get us a pizza, Alyssa? I want to have a word with Penny alone.”
“About what?” she asked.
My heart thumped erratically in my chest. I slowly deposited the bags in the chair to take a seat across from Gabriel. I had no idea what it was that he would want to talk to me alone about, but my mouth was suddenly dry and my panties suddenly wet.
“It doesn’t involve you,” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. “Just go grab a pizza, Alyssa. Give us a few minutes.”
He waited until Alyssa slowly left our table, reluctant to go. I folded my hands nervously in my lap to hide the fact that they were trembling. Gabriel gazed at me hard before letting out a pent-up breath. He leaned forward to prop his elbows on the table and threaded his fingers together in front of him.
“Your mother called me the other morning,” he said. “She has been calling for the past two days, actually.”
I stiffened in surprise to hear that. Panic clawed at my throat when Gabriel looked at me with an indescribable expression on his face.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Did she leave a message?”
“These past couple of times, no. I did, however, talk to her on the phone Monday morning. She’s a bit upset about you not being home for Christmas.”
“I know that.”
“And I also promised to try and convince you to go home because Christmas is about family, but I want you to know that I’m not going to push you out the door.” He reached across the table to grasp my forearm. Sparks of electricity went up my arms at the feel of his strong fingers against my skin. “You’re always welcome here. I can see that there’s something keeping
you back from wanting to go home. I’m giving you the chance to talk about it now. If you want to.”
I glanced down at the circle of Gabriel’s fingers on my forearm. The touch felt different. It felt nice, reassuring. It also made my blood surge through my veins. I shook that away, though, as I looked up at Gabriel with a small smile.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’d like to stay here for Christmas, if that is okay with you.”
Alyssa returned to the table with a large pepperoni pizza. She swept Gabriel up into conversation immediately, and he looked reluctant to let the topic change. I was grateful, though. I took a slice of pizza, despite the nausea climbing in the back of my throat. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about what was going on in New York City, with Gabriel of all people.
CHAPTER FIVE - GABRIEL
The nightclub was in the middle of downtown Chicago. For a Wednesday night, I was impressed by the line of people stretching around the corner of the building. The people were all huddled together in thick coats while my driver pulled up to the VIP entrance. I spotted Neil standing inside the doorway, talking with security. I hopped out of the SUV after leaving orders for my driver to pick me up in a few hours, unless I texted him before.
Cold air bore down on me as I strode down the pathway to where Neil pushed the door open for me. Music and bass thumped hard against the walls as I shook Neil’s hand with a grin.
“Nice place,” I commented, eyeing the luxuriously furnished lounge and bar inside. “I still have a feeling that you are trying to booze me up for a good reason.”
Neil laughed. “Maybe. Come inside, and let’s have a couple of drinks.”
“So, you are trying to get me drunk,” I replied as I followed him to a small booth that sat back a little way from the crowd. Chatter filled the entire lounge as we weaved our way through other tables. “If you are planning on trying to take advantage of me, I have to tell you you’re not really my type,” I said with a grin.