“Oh yeah, Sabrina,” he rasped close to her ear. Sabrina shivered. “We’ve been looking at you.” She twisted to find his eyes brimming with the naughty things he was thinking, but thankfully, he didn’t say any of them aloud. Sabrina flushed in embarrassment as Joy smiled.
“Oh my dear girl, you mustn’t let them get away. And I noticed both you and this fine young man checking Jimmy out over there as well.” Joy sounded positively gleeful.
Joy pointed at Jimmy, and Gabriel smirked openly at the two women. Sabrina flushed at the look on Gabriel’s face, half teasing, half desire. It was really quite extraordinary how easily he’d fit into her life with Jimmy.
“Caught,” Gabriel replied, placing his hand over his heart. “How can I help it? They’re both so delectable.” His voice dropped very low as he looked at Joy, who smiled gleefully. Joy pulled Sabrina along while she struggled to recover from what his voice had done to her. When she caught Jimmy looking at her quizzically, she realized that only a minute or so had passed during the exchange. And why, suddenly, was Gabriel flirting so openly? After days of hiding everything?
* * * *
Two hours later Sabrina was ready to throw the light diffuser at Angelina and her friends. Or maybe the lights—they were harder and would do more damage. The four girls giggled and simpered at Jimmy and Gabriel, who ignored them. Unfortunately, the girls’ behavior did not go unnoticed by the four guys who were their dates in the Fourth of July court.
Angelina’s boyfriend, Mike, openly glowered at Gabriel, while Sabrina tried once again to adjust Mike’s pocket handkerchief so that it could be seen more clearly in the photograph. He kept craning his head around to see what Angelina was up to, pulling on the small piece of fabric until she wanted to scream. To her disgust, Joy took the antics in stride, laughing openly at how ridiculous the girls and guys were behaving. Every time Sabrina glanced at the older woman, she smirked. Of course, she’d been a photographer in New York and this little studio was her retirement job, so she could afford to find amusement in others’ misery, Sabrina thought darkly.
Adding to her frustration, Jimmy and Gabriel, in their own perverse way, had suddenly decided that a bit of open flirting with her would only add to the fun atmosphere in the studio. They winked at Sabrina while she adjusted the lights and positioned the boys, and studiously ignored the other people except for Joy. Angelina and her little posse didn’t notice at first what was happening, but once they did, trying to get them to pose correctly and smile caused Sabrina no end of irritation. Of course, as soon as Mike snarked at her about how badly she used to dress, Jimmy and Gabriel began paying even more attention to her, stroking her arm when she walked past and calling her “babe” and “darling.”
She sighed, trying to pretend exasperation, but as embarrassing as it was, she loved it, even if it made the shoot next to impossible. Sabrina felt like they were photographing puppies. Non-housebroken puppies, she muttered to herself. All she wanted to do was go home, strip off her clothes, and sink into a relaxing bath, which was ironic considering how badly she had wanted to leave the house just a few short hours ago.
“Honey, that’s perfect, right there,” Joy said and Sabrina stepped back, brushing a piece of lint from Mike’s jacket. He stood behind Angelina for the “King and Queen” shot while the rest of the court wandered around the studio, touching things and generally making a nuisance out of themselves. Joy looked from her computer to the couple, took a few photos, then moved her camera to shoot from a different angle. They only had a few more left to take before the final group photo.
Sabrina rubbed her aching eyes, but even with her hands over her face, she saw Angelina glaring at her. She ignored the girl and stood next to Jimmy near the exit. She sighed as he slung his arm around her neck companionably, leaning over to kiss her behind her ear.
“Man, I will be so glad when this is all over,” Sabrina said to him, staring flatly back at Angelina. If looks could kill, I’d be dead, she thought.
“They always so hostile?” Jimmy whispered, kissing her again. Joy was trying to persuade Angelina to smile while Mike picked at the handkerchief Sabrina had just arranged, to her irritation.
“Yeah,” she replied, rolling her head around to loosen the kinks. “I’m used to it.”
Jimmy frowned, and then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Gabriel checking them out from across the room. She nudged Jimmy and inclined her head to indicate the other man’s gaze. Gabriel deliberately hitched his jeans a bit lower on his hips when he saw he had their attention, adjusting himself and not at all discreetly. Sabrina choked on a gasp, while Jimmy froze.
“Jimmy, I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” she whispered when she could breathe again. Gabriel smiled at them. Sabrina glared at him but he just grinned wider. The rest of the girls were staring back and forth from Jimmy and Sabrina to Gabriel, while the boys stood sullenly in a corner, looking for all the world like a group of six-year-olds in time-out.
“You know, I think I completely understand where you’re coming from.” Jimmy gave her one last kiss before straightening up and winking at Gabriel. “Goddamn, he’s fucking hot,” he breathed. Sabrina watched Gabriel’s pants slip lower on his hips, revealing a strip of skin between his shirt and the top button as the other man moved around the perimeter of the room toward them. Sabrina felt Jimmy’s hands twitch against her waist and she knew he was staring at Gabriel, too.
Sabrina nodded distractedly, agreeing with Jimmy, unable to take her eyes off the delicious man coming closer. The three girls of the court stood a few feet to their left. Gabriel would have to walk past the girls to get to her and Jimmy. As he neared, a bead of sweat rolled down his face. She wanted to lick it off. It was hot in here from the lights, and he was wearing that leather jacket. He was probably roasting.
“Why doesn’t he take the jacket off?” Sabrina whispered to Jimmy.
“Doesn’t want to scare the civilians,” he answered, watching as Gabriel stepped around the girls. Sabrina glanced at Jimmy just in time to watch him lick his lips. She stared for a moment, then looked at Gabriel again. She couldn’t move. Disaster neared, but it was a beautiful kind of disaster. She wanted it. Of course, just her luck, as soon as Gabriel reached her and Jimmy, Joy waved to come help her again. As she turned to go, Gabriel tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She smiled at him and strode away, leaving the two men standing next to each other.
“You going to be able to keep your mind on work?” Joy asked when Sabrina came over.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Sabrina rolled her eyes at Joy as the older woman laughed. Then Angelina gasped and Sabrina sighed to herself. What now?
Sabrina had already beckoned the rest of the court over so she could place them in the shot, but on their way to the mark, a few girls stopped to ogle Jimmy and Gabriel. Then one of the guys tripped and all of them almost ended up on the floor in a mess of hideous taffeta. Sabrina looked back to see what had caused the traffic accident. When she saw that Gabriel had taken off his jacket, she rolled her eyes again. He and Jimmy stood very close to each other as Gabriel adjusted his holster. Their shirts outlined their sleek muscles, and she watched Gabriel’s biceps flex as he tried to reach behind and adjust the straps. Even Joy stared when Jimmy reached around Gabriel to help reseat the leather. Sabrina heard him say something about it twisting, then saw him smooth his hand up and over Gabriel’s shoulder. She coughed uncomfortably, remembering those hands on her, how it felt to touch those shoulders.
“Damn, girl, I’m an old lady and those two are distracting me,” Joy said, helping sort out the girls as Sabrina tugged on skirts to settle the folds correctly against the floor. “How the hell are you living with both of them without going nuts?”
Sabrina laughed, ignoring the incredulous looks the girls were giving us. “Who said I wasn’t going nuts?” She thought how yummy Jimmy and Gabriel looked at home, tousled from sleep, then shook her head. Focus!
She moved one of the boys
into the correct position for the camera a little more harshly than she intended, but he wouldn’t cooperate. She looked up to see what the problem was and found him staring at Gabriel’s gun. This was ridiculous! She sighed. “For god’s sake, just stand behind Melissa and put your hand on her shoulder and don’t move,” Sabrina said clearly.
He blushed, then did as she said while Joy snickered. If she’d known getting a little cranky was all she had to do to get people to listen, she would have snarled at them a long time ago! Sabrina huffed and the other guys in the shoot looked at her before posing obediently. At school she’d been mostly quiet, so it was probably a shock to them to discover that she could speak at all.
“So, you’re living with the two of them?” Angelina asked, looking up at Sabrina from where she sat on the stool. “Oh wait, I forgot, Jimmy likes guys. They probably don’t even know you’re around, huh?” She grinned evilly at Sabrina, who ignored her as she tried to pose the rest of the group. Sabrina knew from experience that a battle of words with Angelina never ended well. And she didn’t particularly feel like talking to the girl who’d once smeared mashed potatoes down her blouse in tenth grade. Ignoring them always worked for me before, Sabrina thought, then cringed as she heard Joy snark from behind the camera.
“They’re her boyfriends,” Joy said, smiling at the group that had finally settled into position. “Now smile!”
Sabrina groaned inwardly even as she scooted out of the shot. Jimmy and Gabriel leaned against the wall, smirking. They must have heard everything. Gabriel had his arm slung around the taller man. They look like brothers, she thought. Or lovers.
“There is no way Sabrina has even one boyfriend, let alone two,” Angelina insisted cattily before smiling at the camera. Sabrina rolled her eyes again, muttering under her breath about stupid blondes. “And why does he have a gun?” she asked.
“Because he works for the FBI,” Sabrina said, unable to keep quiet any longer.
“Why the heck did you say they were my boyfriends?” Sabrina whispered to the older woman as she adjusted the tripod before shooting again. Angelina was glaring daggers at them between shots, but Sabrina did her best not to notice.
“Because they are, honey.”
“Oh for god’s sake, they’re not,” Sabrina denied, thinking how neither man would touch her. Bah. She frowned, then saw Gabriel smiling at her. He winked as Jimmy ran his hand up Gabriel’s side. Sabrina stopped breathing for a moment, feeling her nipples pucker against her tank top. She cursed herself for not wearing a bra. She didn’t have a lot of chest and didn’t really need one for support, so she often went without. She hadn’t even thought about it today except now Angelina and Mike were staring at her as she readjusted the lights. Gabriel and Jimmy just stood there, looking sexy. Sabrina wanted to jump them. Or pummel them. She felt a mix of arousal and irritation. They were doing this on purpose, she decided. They weren’t usually so blatant with their attraction for each other, or for her, for that matter. And whatever happened to cooling it? Sabrina thought, exasperated.
“How in the world did you get a boyfriend, Sabrina? And don’t tell me Jimmy is one of them because I know he was just your neighbor’s kid.” Angelina’s voice grated. The other girls giggled. Sabrina noted another one of the guys staring at her breasts but made no effort to cover herself. Damned if I’m going to give them the pleasure of seeing me cower, she thought rebelliously.
“Jimmy is my friend, not just the neighbor’s kid, Angelina, and Gabriel is an old friend of his.” Sabrina stepped back again. The stupid lights wouldn’t stay put. She prayed the screw would hold this time and signaled to Joy.
“Wait, then maybe Jimmy’s dating Gabriel! Everyone knows Jimmy is a fag.”
Sabrina grimaced at Mike. The stupid bigot said it loud enough for everyone in the studio to hear, and Sabrina could see Jimmy frowning. Gabriel smirked. Sabrina rubbed her hands over her face in frustration. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to come to work today, she thought, then reconsidered. No. She wanted to get out, spend some time with Gabriel and Jimmy somewhere other than her house. Sabrina wanted them both, together, and if she couldn’t face a little mild derision from some kids she used to go to school with, she didn’t deserve to have either man. Sabrina straightened her shoulders. She saw Jimmy eyeing her speculatively and threw him a quick smile.
“Hey, yeah, that makes more sense than nerdy Sabrina having a boyfriend!” one of the girls chimed in. Sabrina shook her head. They were acting like extras on a reality show. She drew on her newfound determination and ignored them, rolling her eyes yet again. It is all so ridiculous, she thought absently, then jumped as Gabriel grabbed her around the waist and kissed her bare shoulder. She hadn’t even heard him walk up!
“Sabrina is my girlfriend.” Sabrina looked at Gabriel, astonished. Then Jimmy slid his arms around her waist atop Gabriel’s arm and kissed her cheek on the opposite side.
“She’s my girlfriend, too.” Jimmy stared at Angelina. The girl’s eyes bugged out of her head while the rest of the group sat there looking perplexed. Gabriel laughed like a loon at the bunch of them.
Sabrina snorted. Even if no one believed them, Jimmy and Gabriel were funny. She smirked. “Guys, trying to work here?” Sabrina nonchalantly stroked first Gabriel, then Jimmy’s hand. They smiled and walked back to the doorway as Joy snickered and Sabrina rolled her eyes yet again.
“Say cheese!”
* * * *
An hour later and the shoot was done. Angelina didn’t say much more as they gathered up their things, and Sabrina snagged Gabriel’s jacket to carry at his request so his hands would be free. She felt Jimmy watch her grab the jacket, and she couldn’t resist bringing it to her nose to sniff the worn fabric. It smelled like cinnamon. Jimmy’s eyes darkened when he saw, and she noticed him swallow, then look away from her.
“You know, I don’t believe you,” Angelina said from behind, startling Sabrina as she waited with Jimmy in the front room of the studio while Gabriel checked the back door a final time.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow. “Don’t believe what?” She buried her nose in Gabriel’s jacket again.
“You are not dating him,” Angelina retorted, pointing at Jimmy, who looked at her calmly, then smiled. Uh oh, Sabrina thought. When he gets that look on his face, bad things happen. She stared at him warily, savoring Gabriel’s scent as she wondered what Jimmy would do.
“What would it take to prove to you that Sabrina and I are dating?” he asked playfully. Oh dear, Sabrina thought, embarrassed but also slightly curious. Where was he going with this?
“Kiss her,” Angelina stated, looking smug. “I bet she’s never been kissed.”
“What do you care, Angelina—” Sabrina began, when Jimmy interrupted.
“Done.” He turned, pulling her into his arms. Angelina twisted her mouth with disbelief. Sabrina didn’t blame her. She hadn’t had so much as a date the entire time she was in high school or the local college. Mike hooted and the other guys began to heckle them when Gabriel walked in from the back room. He stopped abruptly as he saw Sabrina and Jimmy embracing.
“What’s up?” he asked, cocking his head while his eyes dropped to where Jimmy’s hands gripped Sabrina’s hip. Gabriel licked his lips and smiled when Sabrina gasped. Jimmy pulled her closer and Gabriel looked up, meeting her gaze. Sabrina could see the arousal on his face.
“They don’t believe that I’m your girlfriend,” Sabrina stated, a little breathless from how tightly Jimmy held her.
“Oh, you are,” Gabriel said, smiling as he quirked an eyebrow at Jimmy. Jimmy grinned and lowered his head to Sabrina’s lips, licking into her mouth. When his tongue swooped in she closed her eyes, clutching his shoulders to keep her balance. She gasped for air when he pulled back a moment later.
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Angelina retorted, looking a bit flushed.
“Oh?” Jimmy handed Sabrina off to Gabriel. She didn’t speak, too startled to think when Gabriel’s full lips tou
ched hers and she felt his tongue lapping at her lower lip. She gasped and opened her mouth as he pressed his arousal against her belly.
“Mmm, minty,” he whispered, then fit his mouth over hers more closely, sending his tongue deep.
Sabrina knew he could taste Jimmy on her tongue and she trembled, then sucked at him before he pulled gently away. When Sabrina looked at Angelina, the girl’s anger was obvious but she said nothing. Gabriel made no move to hide his arousal as he stepped back, and Sabrina saw Angelina staring at him. Sabrina slid her hands over his waist smugly. Angelina probably thought they were faking, and she supposed they were, in a way. Truthfully, Sabrina didn’t care. She could barely focus with the way her lips were tingling. She didn’t think she could stand it if Jimmy and Gabriel continued this not-touching thing they insisted on until the shooter was caught.
Gabriel squeezed her reassuringly, then called for Joy. “Joy, could I have a word with you before we leave?”
Sabrina looked at him, curious, then at Jimmy, who just shrugged and waited, hands in his pockets. After the kiss, he’d ignored Angelina and her cohorts as if they were completely unimportant. I suppose they are, Sabrina thought, smiling quietly.
“Sure,” Joy said, walking into the front room. Angelina and her court were already nearly out the front door. Angelina still seemed angry and glared at her as she crossed the threshold. Sabrina smiled at her cheekily, thinking of the way Gabriel and Jimmy had kissed her in front of everyone. Ha!
“Sabrina is going to have to take a leave of absence for a bit,” Gabriel continued once Joy joined them in the front room. Sabrina whipped her head around to look at him.
“Gabriel? What are you talking about?”
“Sabrina, it’s too dangerous for you to come here—” he began.
“I’m going to go insane if I have to stay cooped up in the house! Besides, you said it was probably fine!” Sabrina replied, angry now. How could he do this? And without even talking to her first! She was pissed. Joy looked at them, confused.
Leaf, Erin M. - The First Time is the Sweetest (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 10