On their final day in Paris, they visited the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and several other great works of art, Notre Dame to admire its Gothic style and its stained-glass window and then took a cruise on the Seine River.
They were back in the hotel to change for dinner and Gabrielle was brushing her hair into soft waves when Shane came up behind her, admiring her in the mirror.
“Hey, you.” She smiled. This had been a beautiful getaway and one she’d enjoyed immensely. It was amazing how much more romantic Paris could be when you had someone to share it with. Outside of a few friends like Mariah, she’d always been alone. She’d hoped Mariah would be able to meet Shane, but she was out of town on a photo shoot.
“You look beautiful.” Shane twirled her around so he could have a better look. Gabrielle was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress of crinkled iris silk with a defined waist, and her hair was swept in a loose French roll. She looked stunning.
“You’d look even better with this.” Shane slid a platinum teardrop pendant necklace around her neck.
“Shane, what’s this?” Gabrielle asked, fingering the beautiful gift. Although to some it might seem like a simple gift, it meant everything to her that Shane knew just the kind of thing she would wear.
“Just a little something to remember me by.”
“You didn’t have to do that.” Gabrielle doubted she would have any problems remembering Shane. Snapshots of them making love in the multijet shower this morning or the enormous marble whirlpool bathtub they’d shared two nights ago flashed in her mind. Oh, yes… Gabrielle would have a hard time forgetting Shane.
“I wanted to,” Shane said, stroking her cheek. “C’mon, I have something special planned for our last night in Paris.”
A chauffeured car took them the short trip from their hotel to the Eiffel Tower. Shane exited the vehicle first and came around to help Gabrielle out, wrapping her arm around his.
“Are we having dinner here?” Gabrielle asked, looking up at the Eiffel Tower in all of its brilliant splendor. She loved the way the tower was all lit up at night.
“I know it might seem a little cliché, but when in Paris…” Shane said, walking toward the entrance of the tower.
A short elevator ride later, they arrived at the Le Jules Verne restaurant, and the view offered them the entire city of Paris at their feet. The maître d’ sat them in a secluded alcove, and they feasted on a contemporary Parisian prix fixe meal, starting off with escargot and ending with a cherry soufflé.
Afterward, Shane hated to see the evening end, but they had to get back to the States. He’d already extended the trip to give them some alone time. But the more time he spent with Gabby, the more he wanted to be with her. He already knew they worked well together in the lab and in the bedroom, but this long weekend had been different. He’d discovered new facets of Gabrielle—that she liked museums and art, but didn’t care to spend her entire afternoon there. And unlike most women, she didn’t enjoy clothes and shoes, but she loved collecting handbags. They’d stopped at a half dozen stores, so she could see what was new in the shops. She’d even surprised him at the Moulin Rouge, when a couple of the cancan girls asked for people onstage and she volunteered. He’d loved seeing her shake her hips onstage and when her eyes had connected with his, it had been as if she was dancing only for him.
It was hard to find anything he didn’t like about Gabrielle. It scared him at first, but he tried to chalk it up to the early stages of infatuation. Once he got her out of his system, he would move on to the next woman.
“What do you say we get out of here?” Shane asked.
“Not without going to the top and taking a picture!”
Several photographs later, with the city of Paris as their backdrop, they were back in the car and headed back to the Le Meurice’s royal suite.
Shane was a generous lover that night, making sure Gabrielle’s every need was taken care of. He’d slowly undressed her, taking time to place tiny, nibbling kisses all over her body. When she was naked, he’d pushed her back to the bed and she’d watched as he removed his clothes with as much finesse as was possible, seeing that his erection had been pressing hard against her when he’d kissed her.
Nobody she’d ever been with had ever made her feel weak at the knees, but that’s exactly how Shane made her feel with every stroke of his tongue on her lips, inside her mouth, between her breasts. When he reached the dusky nipples and sucked hard, Gabrielle grabbed fistfuls of his hair and urged him on.
“I’m going to enjoy every single inch of you,” Shane murmured. He rocked back on his haunches and gave her a wicked grin before he lowered himself between her thighs. He took his time, idling his way along her thighs before finally coming to her sex. He gently nuzzled her womanly lips and then she felt the moist stroke of his tongue working its way around her before finally coming to her clitoris. He gave her exactly what she wanted by varying the rhythm and flicking his tongue from side to side. Gabby opened up to him like a flower in the morning sun. He knew the moment she climaxed because she arched off the bed and babbled his name. Shane tongued her further and soon she was having another orgasm.
Time blurred for Gabrielle, and she closed her eyes, eager for the pleasure to continue. She didn’t realize Shane was poised above her until she felt the tip of his penis at her entrance, pressing forward.
He felt so good and so right that she easily accepted him. He began moving inside her, in and out, in and out, driving them both mad. He jammed his mouth over hers, kissing her hard and bringing them both to a tumultuous climax that had Shane shouting and Gabrielle crying out.
Afterward, Shane held her close and stroked her hair. “That was truly beautiful, Gabby.” He tangled his fingers inside her now-damp curls and stole another kiss.
“I know,” she whispered.
Chapter 10
“You didn’t get Gerard to sign the exclusive contract?” Kayla asked when Shane walked into her office on Monday afternoon.
“No.” Shane was in no mood for a go-around with his sister. He’d only intended to come into the lab to check on things when he’d been summoned to his sister’s office. He’d had very little sleep on the plane, and then he hadn’t been able to sleep at the loft. Had it been because Gabrielle wasn’t there? She’d said she had to take care of some personal business, and so he’d had to spend the night alone. He hadn’t realized he was getting used to having her in his bed until she wasn’t there.
“Well, why not?” Kayla asked. “Was that not your express purpose in going?”
“My express purpose,” Shane returned, “was to get the prototype and the design of the bottle that Gerard created. Getting him to sign that exclusive agreement was secondary. And I have the prototype.” He held the bottle up in his hand.
Shane leaned over the desk and handed it to her. “This is great, Shane. It’s vibrant and eye-catching, even more so in person than the photographs. Add your delicious scent and consumers will go wild for this.”
“I know, Kay, which is why I wasn’t about to push Gerard.”
Kayla nodded. “Ethan still isn’t going to be happy about this. He doesn’t want other companies to find out about Gerard and snatch him up.”
“Gerard is his own man. He will never work with a huge conglomerate. Trust me.”
“Well, I guess we’re going to have to bank on your gut instincts,” Kayla snapped.
“Why did that sound like a dig?” Shane asked. “Have I ever steered this company wrong before?”
“Of course not. And I’m sorry, Shane. I’m just a little hormonal these days. This little one has been keeping me up nights, either kicking or giving me heartburn.”
“I hear you. I didn’t get much sleep myself last night.”
Kayla raised a brow. “Oh, really. Was that because Gabrielle was over?”
“Kayla!”
“C’mon, you didn’t really think I was that daft, did you?” she asked. “When you want something or someone, you usually go
after it. And you wanted Gabby. Plus, Courtney filled me in on everything.”
Shane rolled his eyes upward. “Our little sister is a gossip and needs to mind her own business.”
“True, but we know she never will. You remember how she was about Ethan?”
Shane laughed. “I do, but she had a good reason. Dad hated his guts.”
“And Gabby is your employee, which could complicate the situation.”
“There is that.” Shane nodded in agreement. “Listen, I have to get going, but I’m going to put this—” he reached for the prototype “—in the lab safe until marketing is ready.”
“Jax Cosmetics won’t know what hit them.”
“They sure won’t.”
* * *
Gabrielle was shocked when she’d turned on her phone during the layover from Paris and heard a message from her father. She’d thought he would have gotten the message that she wasn’t about to do his or Andrew Jackson’s dirty business.
She’d returned the call only to tell him where to go, but he’d been apologetic and asked if he could see her when she returned. She’d decided not to spend the evening in Shane’s arms, where she would have liked to have been, because visiting her parents would take a lot out of her mentally and she needed the night to regroup after a long flight.
Shane had generously given her the day off. She would have liked nothing better than to be at work instead of meeting with her father, but she’d agreed to see him anyway.
“Daddy, why are you here?” she asked when he came to her apartment that afternoon.
“Nice digs,” he commented, glancing around her fully furnished one-bedroom apartment. She’d liked the apartment because of the arched doorways, track lighting, deluxe crown moldings and ceramic-tile floor. It also came with a gourmet stainless-steel kitchen and a garden bathtub, which was her favorite feature.
She’d found the place a couple of weeks ago, and just in the nick of time because the hotel was becoming expensive. She’d arranged for the rest of her belongings to be shipped from Paris, and the boxes were now stacked up neatly against the wall.
“Thanks, but I’m sure you’re not here to comment on my decor. So why did you come?”
“I tried calling you the last few days. Where were you?” he asked.
“I was in Paris.”
“You thinking of going back?” he asked. “I thought you were finally home to stay.”
“I was there on business.”
“For Adams Cosmetics?”
“Yes, Daddy, for my employer. And if you’re here to call me a traitor, you can leave, because I won’t be berated for doing the right thing. What you asked me to do was wrong. Just plain wrong.”
“I know that, baby girl. That’s why I’m here.”
“You are?” Gabrielle was shocked.
“I’m here because I wanted to apologize for asking you to bail me out. You didn’t get me into this mess. I did.”
A lump formed in Gabrielle’s throat, and she wanted to swallow but couldn’t. “Thank you.”
“I’m going to get me some help.”
“I think that’s a great idea.” Tears sprang to her eyes. If he was ready to recognize he had a problem, then she was willing to support him. “And I can help. Give me a minute.” She briefly left the room to get her checkbook. When she returned, her father was standing by the window near her briefcase. Her briefcase held all her important papers from her Paris trip, including a picture of Gerard’s bottle for Ecstasy, but her father would never search through her things.
“Daddy?”
Her father glanced up, but his eyes barely met hers. “Yeah?”
“I can help get you into a good rehab program, and you wouldn’t have to worry about the cost. I would take care of it.”
“Uh, that’s not necessary.” He looked down. “Um… We can mortgage the house to, you know, to pay off the debts.”
“Are you sure?” Gabrielle asked. “I may not be able to help you in the way you wanted, but I can certainly help you get clean.”
“Yeah… I’m sure. Uh… Listen…that’s all I came to say,” her father said, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.
“Okay.” Gabrielle attempted a smile. “I’m so glad you came.”
Her father paused, as if looking for his words. But instead of speaking, he came over and gave her a quick hug and then rushed out, leaving the door open.
Gabrielle was stunned by the tiny act of affection and burst into tears. She couldn’t remember the last time one of her parents had hugged her, much less said they loved her. She hadn’t realized just how much she needed it or them until now.
* * *
Shane was distracted. He had already messed up several experiments in the lab before finally deciding it was time to call it quits for the day. He handed the experiments over to one of the other chemists and hopped into his Jaguar.
He hadn’t been able to get Gabby out of his head all day. Even though they maintained their professionalism in the lab, he always knew Gabrielle was there, but today he’d felt disconcerted because she wasn’t there. And he’d gotten used to having her around. He missed her.
Before he knew it, he was driving to Gabrielle’s apartment. He was surprised to find the door to her apartment slightly ajar. He was instantly concerned, and when he heard crying, his heart stopped. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Injured?
“Gabby?” Shane asked, walking inside and closing the door. The living room was empty, but he could still hear sobs. He followed the direction of the sounds and found her lying on the side of her bed. “Gabby?” he asked, coming to squat in front of her. He brushed away her hair and saw her tearstained cheeks and red eyes and immediately wanted to the beat the crap out of whoever had hurt her. “What’s wrong, baby? What happened?”
Gabrielle merely shook her head. She couldn’t speak. Her family, the situation, was all too much.
Shane rose and scooted beside her on the bed, pulling her into his arms. Gabrielle circled her arms around his waist and just cried. It was hard for him to see her in that much pain and not know how to alleviate it.
When she finally quieted, he asked, “What can I do?”
She was quiet for a long moment and Shane wondered if she’d heard him, but she finally whispered against his chest, “Exactly what you’re doing.”
They lay in bed together for a long time with Shane just holding her. Eventually Gabrielle was calm enough to finally talk, so Shane pushed the pillows behind her and she sat up. “Better now?” he asked.
His gaze was focused so intently on Gabrielle, and she felt embarrassed. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
“There’s no need to be sorry.”
“I guess I didn’t realize how much I’ve been holding in.”
“Did something happen when we got back?”
Gabrielle shook her head.
“Before?”
Gabrielle nodded. “It’s my parents, we haven’t been close since…since…”
Shane’s large, masculine hand covered hers. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”
“Maybe that’s the problem. I haven’t talked about it and it’s been eating me up inside.” Gabrielle swallowed several times and finally told Shane what she had never told anyone. “My parents and I haven’t been close since my brother, Seth, died. They blamed me for his death…. Because he died saving me from drowning and he… He ended up drowning himself.”
“Oh, God, Gabby, that’s terrible.” Shane was stunned by the revelation. “How old were you?”
“I… I was fifteen and my brother was seventeen. Seth was my big brother and the light of my life. It hurt me as much as it hurt them, but they could only see their own pain. They never comforted me; they never hugged me after he died. It was as if I died too right along with him. We’ve been estranged ever since then, which is why I stayed in Paris after school. And today, out of the blue, my dad hugged me. After all this time…”
“Shh, it�
�s okay.” Shane gathered her in his arms and stroked her hair. “It’s okay.”
“We’ve been at odds since I got back, so it was just so unexpected…”
“And long overdue.” Shane wished Gabby could have had the happy family life he had growing up. He wished he could take away all the pain that she’d ever felt or still felt, but he couldn’t. “But whenever you need a hug—” Shane squeezed her tighter in his arms “—you just let me know.”
Gabrielle wanted it to be true, wanted to know she could rely on Shane, but deep down she knew it was a passing fancy, and that one day, one day soon, she would have to let go. But for now, she basked in the knowledge that, at that moment, Shane wanted to be with her and no one else.
* * *
“What?” Shane yelled from his office door a couple of days later. Everyone in the lab looked up.
Gabrielle was stunned by Shane’s outburst and watched him come barreling out of his office. “Is something wrong?”
Shane didn’t answer. “Gabrielle, come with me, please.”
Gabrielle dropped what she was doing and immediately followed behind him. “Where are we going?”
“Emergency meeting,” Shane said, slamming through the lab’s double doors.
Gabrielle trotted to keep up with his long, purposeful strides. He was silent on the elevator ride up to the executive floor. She tried to read his expression and could tell that whatever had happened was dire, because his eyes were cloudy and unreadable. When they made it to the conference room, Ethan, Kayla, Courtney and several marketing executives were already gathered.
“Close the door,” Ethan spit out. Gabrielle knew it was bad. She watched Shane take a deep breath but do as requested. They both took a seat at the long table, and Gabrielle ended up next to Courtney.
“You want to tell me how the hell something like this happened?” Ethan yelled, his wrath directed squarely at Shane.
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