Conflict of Interest (Employee Relations Book 1)

by Teresa Michaels

  “There’s over eight million people, Gabby. We’re still getting acquainted but I assure you my brother isn’t that popular.”

  “It’s a brilliant idea,” he agrees.

  Chapter 21

  Gabby

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  Sunshine pours through the open blinds, welcoming a new day. Birds chirp outside and horns honk in the distance. Small things that have gone unnoticed for the better part of my life suddenly stand out and I’m fairly certain it has to do with the snoring beauty sprawled out before me.

  “Come on, you need to get up.”

  I set down her coffee and stand at the side of her bed.

  “Up,” I repeat, pulling the blanket up enough to smack her luscious backside. “Caffeine and carbs are waiting.”

  Gabriella groans and covers her head with a pillow that I swiftly pull away.

  “Lucas,” she protests. “We've looked at condos every day this week. Let me sleep.”

  “Can't. Leo told me this is the one and it's not even on the market yet. I need to act quickly.”

  “You act quickly. I’ll be here when you get back.”

  She grips the comforter in her hands and tugs it over her head. Just as quickly I yank it off the bed, completely exposing her naked body.

  Christ, I’m a lucky man.

  “Lucas,” she exclaims, glaring at me.

  My tongue darts out to wet my lips and my pants become unbearably tight against my erection, something Gabriella doesn’t miss. She pushes up on her elbows and as she bends her knees she grins. As obvious as my physical reaction to her is, the way the wheels are now spinning in her mind of how to take advantage of it is even more apparent.

  “If you come back to bed I’ll make it worth your while,” Gabriella says in a sultry voice and slightly parts her knees.

  I groan, fisting my hands at my side.

  Well played.

  She bites her lower lip and lifts her gaze to mine.

  “I know what you’re doing, love. It’s not going to work.”

  “It’s not?” she pouts.

  Smirking, I grab her ankles and drag her down the bed.

  “Hey!” she shrieks.

  In quick succession I drop my boxer briefs and climb between her legs.

  “You can make it worth my while but you’re still coming with me.”

  “I’ll come with you now, as in here in my bed.”

  “This isn’t up for discussion.”

  “Why do I need to go?” she protests.

  She runs her hands up my abs, to my chest, and links them behind my head.

  Swallowing thickly, I focus on her slightly parted lips before meeting her gaze head on. It’s a fair question. One I hadn’t given much thought to, yet has a simple answer all the same.

  “Because you’ll be spending a lot of time there. I want to make sure it’s a place you can see yourself in.”

  She bites her lip, attempting to hide her excitement and casually replies, “Oh.”

  Weeks ago an admission like that would have caused me to double over with panic. She hadn’t been in my plans yet here I am mentally factoring her into every detail of my life whether I consciously realize it or not.

  I press up onto my forearms and look her in the eyes wanting her to know the extent of my sincerity.

  “I like waking up to you,” I continue. “In fact, once I find a place of my own and get you in my bed there’s a good chance I won’t let you leave. Ever.”

  It’s not a proposal or an invitation to move in but it might as well be given my history.

  Excitement flares in her eyes despite her continued attempt to mask it.

  “Oh,” she says again.

  I chuckle. “Yeah, oh. So what do you say?”

  Pulling me closer she murmurs against my lips, “You win. I’ll come with you and then we’ll go house hunting.”

  An hour later we arrive to the condo, faced with a pissed off Leo. Gabriella gives him some excuse about traffic and he immediately backs down. For such a tough guy he’s certainly wrapped around his sister’s finger and if I weren’t in the same boat I’d give him shit for it.

  “Take your time looking around,” Leo says as he opens the door. “It’s completely empty. The owners relocated a couple of days ago.”

  Beyond the front door a two-story entryway greets us, leading to the living room on the right, an office to the left and down the center a hallway that hugs a large, curved staircase.

  “Wow,” Gabriella exclaims. “The living room is amazing.”

  She’s not wrong.

  Large enough to hold a dozen or so friends comfortably, the room is easily the size of her entire apartment. For the near-term it’s more room than the two of us need, but down the road it would be perfect for a family.

  I stop dead in my tracks.

  Never before have I entertained the idea of having a family. Fuck, until recently I had never considered having a relationship. The notion that I could somehow turn into a version of my own father has prevented me from wanting that life. Far more repulsive is the idea that I could marry a woman who turned out to be as callous as my mother.

  A cold sweat breaks out across my forehead.

  I turn and look at Gabriella. Scanning her from head to toe I pause at her stomach, which in turn sends mine flipping with a combination of dread and exhilaration.

  Picturing her becoming detached is unimaginable. That’s not her. If I was honest my mother had always been reserved, bordering on cold. She loved me, or so I thought, but it was superficial. In contrast, Gabriella is warm and affectionate.

  Still, thoughts like ones I’m having imply permanence.

  Is this permanent?

  “I’m gonna check out the kitchen.” Gabriella skips off toward the back of the house while I give myself a minute to gather my thoughts.

  What the hell has gotten into me?

  “Lucas, you need to see this!” Gabriella’s excitement echoes throughout the first floor.

  When I get to the kitchen I understand why. State of the art appliances and brand new granite countertops are just a few of the features that make the kitchen stand out. Again, images of the future…our future, take over.

  I’m not looking at a kitchen; I’m looking at the possibilities of what this room could hold. Holiday’s with friends and family. Late nights talking about our hectic days over a drink at the counter. Lazy weekends sipping coffee.

  “Did you see the size of that wine fridge?” she asks.

  I nod because I did see it. But right now watching her is far more captivating.

  “What do you think?” Leo asks.

  A slow smile graces Gabriella’s lips. “I love it.”

  Leo smacks the counter. “Then it shouldn’t matter what Irish thinks.”

  I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close.

  “We haven’t even seen the upstairs.”

  She spins in my arms and kisses me chastely. “Let’s go.”

  Leo curses under his breath. “I’ll wait down here.”

  Pulling on my hand she leads me through the upstairs, bypassing the other bedrooms in search of the master.

  “Oh, my God!” She extends her arms out and spins in the middle of the room. “This is humongous!”

  Slowly she walks the perimeter of the room, assessing the aesthetics until she finally finds a spot and lowers herself onto the ground. She settles on her back and pats the ground next to her. Curious, I lie beside her on the plush carpet.

  Turing to me she takes my hand she asks, “Can you imagine waking up here every morning?”

  Watching her at least one thing become clear—if she ever left me I’m not sure how I’d
recover.

  It’s terrifying.

  “Well?” she asks expectantly.

  I yank her on top of me in our imaginary bed. “The image I had included a mattress and you naked but I can definitely work with this.”

  “I’m serious,” she laughs the words while smacking my chest. “What do you think?”

  “That I wish your brother wasn’t here.”

  I push my hands under the seam of her shirt, lightly skimming the bare skin of her stomach and growing hard as she leans into my touch, allowing me to cup her breasts.

  The words I love you rest on the tip of my tongue but for the life of me I can’t get them out.

  “Promise me this is how you’ll wake me up our first morning here.”

  Laughing, she leans down and kisses me. “Promise.”

  She presses her lips to mine, urging them open. If it weren’t for my phone ringing I might not care if Leo was in the room, let alone the house.

  Gabriella groans and pushes off me to allow me access to my phone. “House rule number one. No phones in the bedroom when I’m here.”

  Upon seeing the number I send it to voicemail. “Couldn’t agree with you more.”

  “Your father?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He hasn't called in a while,” she says. “I thought maybe he was done bothering you.”

  “Wishful thinking,” I mutter.

  I changed the setting on my phone to block his calls but apparently my father has changed his number or gotten a new one.

  Her lips twist as she considers her words. “Do you think if you talked to him it would give you both closure?”

  “I have closure; I could give a shit what he needs.”

  Gabriella averts her gaze.

  “Say what’s on your mind.”

  “You may think you have closure but a lot of your goals and actions are driven by your need to prove him wrong, not because they’re things you actually want.”

  “That’s not entirely true. He’s influenced me, sure. But no matter what I want to be successful.”

  She nods though I’m certain she wants to press. Then she takes another tactic.

  “You never did tell me what he wanted at the hotel in London.”

  I cringe at her invitation to open up. Continuing this conversation is the last thing I want to do. And although my instinct is to brush off her question I’m smart enough to realize I need to give her something.

  “He asked me to take over his company.”

  She schools her expression and watches me carefully for a several seconds.

  “And?”

  “And I have no interest in doing that. I told him no and I have no clue what he wants, nor do I have any desire to find out.”

  Gabriella nods slowly and drops her hands.

  “Because it’s his company or because you love what you do?”

  “Both.”

  She tilts her head to the side and then wanders to the walk in closet. “Have you ever thought about doing something else, professionally I mean?”

  I consider this though I already know the answer. “Nothing I’d change my career for. I’ve been in the same industry since graduate school. Doing something different now wouldn’t make sense. Why do you ask?”

  She shrugs. “Just curious.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’ve thought about it a lot recently,” she admits. “Facilitating your assimilation was fun and I like putting programs together but…I don’t know. I got into HR wanting to help people but lately it doesn’t have the same appeal. Who knows, maybe I’m still shaken up by what happened with Randy.”

  I try to not to appear too excited by this. If she wanted to do something else I’d have no reason to the leave the company.

  “If you wanted to pursue something different I’d support you.”

  “I know.”

  “Not just figuratively. If you wanted to leave the company I have money. I could pay for your grandmother to get into another top facility if Recollections didn’t have space to keep her. She could even have full-time home care if your family preferred that.”

  Never before have I considered using my trust fund, but if the money were used for something good I could get over it.

  She stares at me like I have two heads. “Lucas, that’s very generous but I’d never accept your money.”

  Didn’t think so.

  Gabriella sighs as if the weight of the world rests on her shoulders.

  “We need to figure out what we’re going to do. Waking up together everyday is great but I’m sick of being confined. How long do you think we can keep this up?”

  I put my hand behind my head and rub the back of my neck. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t on my mind as well. The only logical solution is for me to find a new job but I’m not ready to leave. The company has been good to me. So has Jack for that matter. It’s true we can’t keep going like this forever but for now it’s working.

  “Why do we—”

  “Ready to make an offer?” Leo strolls into the bedroom cutting me off.

  More like saving my ass.

  “You were right. This is the one.”

  “That’s what I like to hear.” Leo claps his hands. “I’ll arrange for the paperwork to be drawn up. Since you’re in such a hurry to get this over with I’ll see if the owner can rent it back to you until the deal closes.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  Leo and I shake hands and make arrangements to finalize the deal. Gabriella’s notably quiet, busying herself with her phone until we leave. I start getting nervous on the drive back to her apartment when she avoids conversation and instead silently looks out the window.

  “We’re going to figure this out, love.”

  “When?”

  I have no idea.

  “What’s the rush?” I ask.

  “The rush?” she scoffs.

  “This is still new, Gabriella. It’s only been a couple of weeks.”

  “It’s been a month,” she clarifies. “Anytime we go looking at places I worry that we’ll run into a coworker. We can’t go on a date, to the grocery store...we can’t go anywhere besides my apartment and my family’s restaurant. Our relationship shouldn’t feel like a dirty little secret but that’s exactly how it feels.”

  I park in the lot behind her apartment. “It’s not going to be like this forever.”

  “It will if we don’t talk about our options.”

  I place my hand on Gabriella’s arm. “I’m invested in our relationship, Gabriella. Next weekend we’ll go to New York City and stay with Ki. I can take you out to my favorite restaurants and we’ll see the sights.”

  “Drive three hours just so we can go out in public? Do you realize how ridiculous this is?”

  Logically, I get where she’s coming from. Company policy forbids us from being together. Yet what we have is far from the lust driven fling or favoritism the policy was intended to prevent. I’d argue that since our relationship started our partnership at work has improved. By no means does Gabriella give me preferential treatment.

  We fit together professionally and personally which is why it infuriates me that I have to choose in the first place.

  “Not being together because our jobs prevent it would be ridiculous.”

  My heart is racing so fast I’m certain it’ll explode.

  “Lucas—”

  “I promise we’ll figure it out…give it time.”

  She watches me warily for an eternity.

  In the event she plans to end things I quickly line up my defense: We’re falling for each other. The sex is amazing. I want to spend every minute with her. Most importantly, she’s quickly becoming my closest friend.

  Eventually she reaches for my hand, squeezing it once. “I guess we’re going to New York.”

  “Oh, my God! Did you see that guy?”

  “You’ve never seen the naked cowboy?” Kyra asks.

  “Never,” Gabriella confirms.


  Somehow our weekend getaway turned into group adventure when Kyra decided to join us. Not that I mind. Being with her friends makes Gabriella happy and if it distracts her enough to stop dwelling on our forbidden relationship then it makes me happy too.

  Since last weekend Gabriella’s been distant. It’s not enough to be completely alarmed, but for the next two days my goal is to show her how good things can be and reminding her that work only consumes a portion of our time. How we spend the other hours has endless possibilities.

  We get settled at Ki’s and discuss options for how to spend the afternoon and quickly decide on seeing the sights. With three women though it takes almost another hour before we’re able to leave.

  Stepping out onto the sidewalk I lace her hand in mine, squeezing her when she tries to pull away.

  “This was the point in coming here. To be us.”

  She nods. “You’re right.”

  Hand in hand we walk through the city, posing for pictures as we stop at every typical tourist attraction—the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Time Square and Katz Deli. All places I’ve been before yet doing it with Gabriella is an entirely different experience.

  I’m amazed at how freeing it is to be together in the open. Whether we kiss or embrace no one cares. Hell, she could probably mount me on the subway without causing scene. We’re publicly together with complete anonymity. It’s the best of both worlds, one that’s not limited to New York City, and in no time I’ve invented several scenarios.

  Weekend trips to various destinations. A summer house on the Cape. Weeklong vacations abroad.

  The possibilities are endless.

  By the time we head out to the newest nightclub both of us are buzzed and blissfully happy. We can have this without sacrificing the rest.

  Wearing a sleeveless pink top, black capris and strappy shoes, Gabriella grinds against me on the dance floor. Song after song I become more spellbound by her, letting the rest of the world slip away. My hands freely run up and down her sides, worshiping her curves while we kiss shamelessly on the dance floor.