Falling For You

by Nicole Taylor

  Leiliana thought about that. Her mother was right. She just had to keep things in perspective. This was a business trip. A negotiation no less. She could not allow feelings to cloud her judgment. She would have to be very formal with Gabriel. Cut all the banter and jokes and keep things professional.

  Chapter 11

  W hen Gabriel approached Leiliana outside Dublin Airport with a broad smile, he was surprised at her serious expression and rigid bearing.

  “Good day, Gabriel,” she said stiffly.

  “Good day to you, Leiliana. And might I say you look very lovely, not as though you just stepped off a plane at all.”

  “Thank you,” she said frostily.

  He was a little taken aback but decided to ignore her behavior. Maybe something had happened on the flight or at work that had put her in a foul mood.

  He was piling her luggage into the trunk of his car when he decided to make a little joke to lighten things up.

  “You do remember that it’s just two weeks you’ll be here for and not two months, right?” He looked over his shoulder and tossed her a smile. “Unless you plan to stay longer.”

  She fixed her bag into the crook of her arm and pinched in her lips like she had just bitten a sour lime. “If my luggage is too much for your car. I can make alternative arrangements.”

  Gabriel began to get annoyed. Whatever had happened to her didn’t mean she should take it out on him. Determined to get to the bottom of her churlish behavior, he turned to her as soon as he closed his car door.

  “That was just a joke. I don’t think your luggage is excessive at all. Certainly, I would never be so presumptuous as to tell you how much luggage you should pack.”

  She looked down at her lap.

  “Tell me what’s going on, Leiliana.”

  “Nothing,” she mumbled.

  “We’re not leaving here ‘til you fess up.”

  He was staring at her, his hand resting lightly on the back of her car seat.

  “I will take a taxi then.” She reached for the door handle.

  “Be warned. If you get out of this car, I’m not giving you back your luggage.”

  She turned to him, aghast. “You can’t be serious.”

  “I am. I will drive away with your luggage, and you’ll never see it again.”

  “You’re crazy!”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been called worse. So be straight with me, and we’ll be on our way.”

  She sighed long and deep.

  “I like you, Gabriel…as a person.” He was going to make a joke about being relieved she didn’t like him as a ‘thing,’ but he had gotten into enough hot water with his silly jokes as it was. He kept his face straight as she continued. “…However, we must maintain a business relationship. As I’m sure you can appreciate, I can’t allow any friendship with you to cloud my judgment. I may have to play hardball on a few things during negotiations. I don’t know. The point is I think we need to keep things between us at a formal level.”

  “Do you think I’m trying to butter you up to get a good deal? Is that it? Do you think so lowly of me?”

  She turned to look out the window at an elderly couple sharing a hug of greeting.

  “No. I don’t think you’d intentionally do any of that.” Eventually, she turned back to look at him. “I just need to be careful. So, if I’m formal with you, don’t take it personally. I just have to be careful, that’s all.”

  He tilted his head on a side and watched her. “You keep saying you need to be careful as though I’m hazardous material or something. For what it’s worth, I am confident you’re not the sort of woman who will compromise herself because she likes someone. Further, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with us liking each other. Isn’t that how the best partnerships are made?”

  Now she was looking at her lap.

  “Leiliana, please look at me.” He wanted to lift up her chin but didn’t dare touch her after that speech she’d just made. She’d probably sock him and turn around and jump back on that plane.

  “I promise that you’re safe with me. I will not attempt to manipulate you in any way, emotionally or otherwise. If it’s that important to you, I give my word that I will be very professional at all times.”

  He saw her visibly relax a little. He would have to spend some time defining for himself what keeping things ‘very professional at all times’ looked like.

  “So…are we good?” he asked tentatively.

  She gave a small nod.

  “Good. Now off to your hotel.” He checked the side mirror and pulled into traffic.

  Their ride continued in a bit of silence as he contemplated what he could say by way of conversation that would not be construed as unprofessional. It was mighty hard.

  If the last several months had taught him anything, it was that his feelings for Leiliana Lamport were not at all ‘professional’. He was attracted to her in every way. He found her physically, intellectually, and emotionally stimulating. Even after he thought that she had betrayed him, he had found it excruciatingly hard to put her out of his mind. And the moment she had asked for his forgiveness, he had granted it with a desire to resume the path they had been taking before the big blow up.

  It was a little frustrating that instead of wanting to go forward with him romantically, all she wanted to do was talk business and be ‘professional’. Unless this was only the position she was taking during negotiations. What about afterward? Would she be open to romance then? The problem was that it could take months to complete this merger. He didn’t want to wait that long to pursue a personal relationship with her. Not by a long shot.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, glancing between her and the road. They weren’t far away from the hotel by now. He had a sudden desire to whisk her off to lunch at a nice restaurant where he could spend more time exploring the boundaries of “professional” conduct.

  She laughed unexpectedly.

  “What?”

  “You know you’re always inviting me out to eat? Do I look malnourished to you?”

  He didn’t have to look at her lovely, curvaceous figure to be reminded that she looked far from malnourished. He chose his words carefully, however, not willing to get into more hot water. “You look to be just the right size, milady. But I know you’ve got to eat, and it is around lunchtime now.”

  “Well, thank you, Gabriel, for being so considerate. The truth is, though, I was up late last night and only got a few hours of sleep this morning before having to prepare for my flight, so I’d really love to check into my room and take a rest.”

  “Dinner? You should be rested by then.”

  She smiled and slowly shook her head at him. “You do not give up.”

  He had just pulled up outside the hotel, and he turned to watch her seriously. “No, I do not.”

  Their eyes met and held, and as he was beginning to get mesmerized by her lovely gaze, she glanced away. She tried the door, found it locked, and looked over at him with an arched eyebrow.

  He smiled. “That was deliberate. Allow me to get your door.”

  When he reached her side, he opened the door, and she alighted as regal as a queen. He took a moment to admire the way she smoothed down her dress and fixed her handbag in the crook of her arm before he headed for the boot to offload her luggage. As he was removing the first of the five pieces, the doorman came beside him to take over.

  Unable to resist as he watched the pieces being stacked to one side, Gabriel said, “Are you sure you have enough clothing?”

  Her mouth twitched, but she refused to give in to the smile playing at the corners of her lips. “Thank you for the ride, Mr. Walsh. Do have a good day.”

  “What time’s good for dinner?”

  She turned back to him and slowly smiled. “Eight o’clock is fine.”

  He resisted the urge to pump a fist in the air and instead bowed at the waist.

  ~*~*~*~

  “How’s your meal?” Gabriel asked Leiliana as she sat perpe
ndicular to him at a Mediterranean restaurant called Mr. Fox. Housed in the basement of a prominent Georgia house in the heart of Dublin, it was a light-hearted, easy dining restaurant that Gabriel had told her he frequented.

  “Delicious,” she said truthfully. It was spelt risotto with fresh vegetables. She had never had spelt risotto before, but Gabriel had encouraged her to try it, and to her surprise, she found it quite good. “Yours?”

  “Esquisito,” he said, kissing his fingers.

  She laughed. “You’re a fast learner. I might just make a linguist of you yet.”

  “So, what do you think of the place?” he asked eagerly. “Is it meeting with your expectations so far?”

  “Exceeding them. This place is delightful. So warm and homey. The location, the service, the food. All wonderful. I just love it, Gabriel.”

  Gabriel smiled shyly, and it almost melted her heart. That little boy smile of his really did something to her insides.

  “Glad to be of service,” he said in that delightful Irish brogue that she found got deeper the more relaxed he became. “I wasn’t sure if you would appreciate it. I know that a girl like you is used to the finer things in life. I thought something a little more rustic would be good for a change.”

  “You know very little about me, Gabriel Walsh.”

  “This is true. And I’m aiming at fixing it.”

  “Are you?”

  He nodded and took a sip of his tonic water. “Absolutely! I want to get to know you better, and the next couple of weeks will be dedicated to that.”

  “Hang on. I thought the point of the next two weeks was to hammer out the details of this merger as you put it?”

  “Of course! But does it mean I can’t get to know my business partner? And it will be a two-way street. You can also get to know me better. Starting right now. Ask me anything you want.”

  “Anything?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Why haven’t I ever seen you take an alcoholic beverage?”

  This seemed to have caught him off guard. He stared at her for a full minute. Then he laughed uncomfortably.

  “I guess I walked right into that one, didn’t I? Well, here it is laid out for you. I was on the verge of becoming an alcoholic. It took me a while to admit it, but the Holy Spirit convicted me of it soon after I got saved. I acknowledged that at the end of each day, I needed to have a drink in my hand. Furthermore, I realized that when I got hammered, I was very likely to lose my cool. A few brawls in my past stand as testimony to that. I decided that neither being a drunk nor being a violent drunk aligned with my new saved self. So, I stopped drinking cold turkey, and I’m now a teetotaler.”

  Leiliana was sorry she had asked. Not because the knowledge of Gabriel’s past addiction made him look weak. It was because his admission had made him grow tenfold in her eyes. It would be so easy if he was simply a vain peacock of a man, but instead, he was a fantastic human being. She really admired his strength and humility. She silently prayed. “Lord, I really don’t want to fall for this man. I need you to protect my heart. Help me not to develop feelings for him.”

  “I think you’re very strong,” she said after a while.

  He shrugged. “I’m not really all that. It’s the Holy Spirit that gives me the strength to do what God desires of me. One of my favorite scripture verses is ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’”

  “Philippians 4:13,” she said softly. “That’s one of my favorites too.”

  Just then, the waiter interrupted them to clear their dishes and ask if they wanted to try any of the desserts.

  Leiliana was about to decline when Gabriel said, “You’ve got to try the Walnut Whip. It’s a house specialty. Unless you have nut allergies.”

  “I’ll only try it if you share it with me. I don’t have much room left.”

  As soon as he nodded in agreement, she realized what a mistake she’d made. She’d earlier told him they needed to keep things professional now she was about to share dessert with him. That was sure to present an opening for him.

  Leiliana was thinking about this so much that by the time the dessert arrived, she had lost her appetite.

  She took a few obligatory bites and then laid her fork down. Dabbing the corner of her mouth, she pushed it towards Gabriel. “Very nice. I’m full, though.”

  He shrugged and made quick work of it.

  “So tomorrow, how are we going to approach these negotiations?” she asked, determined to turn her mind back to business.

  “We need to discuss price. How many shares will I make available to you for one. Next, we have to determine the vision for the new company as well as the company culture we want to foster. We need to have a look at the current culture existing in both enterprises and discuss the elements of each we would like to retain. Which reminds me. We will need to discuss who will run the new enterprise.”

  “Jonas Judd is deceased. The current CEO at JJ Inc. is just a temporary placement, so I think it should be Roger Stevens, the CEO of Lamport Electronics.”

  “My approach is a little different. I think that once we’ve determined what we want the new company to look like, we need to examine what competencies, skill sets, and qualities the CEO will need to possess. Then we consider each man’s strengths and weaknesses as it relates to that criteria. It might be that neither qualifies, and we need to recruit someone else.”

  “That sounds fair.”

  “Those are the main areas I think we can focus on this week. Then we can start to discuss who we’ll need on our negotiation teams.”

  She looked at him pointedly. “I suggest we also discuss termination provisions. These will set forth the circumstance when either of us can terminate the merger agreement before a pre-agreed date and walk free of the transaction without penalties.”

  “Already thinking of breaking up?”

  “It’s just a contingency. It’s standard.”

  “I know,” he said softly as he watched her closely. “I just have high hopes for this merger. But I agree that we also need to be practical.”

  ~*~*~*~

  As Gabriel awaited Leiliana’s arrival at his house, he felt excited. This house was his work of art. He had designed it and then worked with his newly formed company Harper Granite Construction to have it built. Every chance he got, he had been in Howth, overseeing construction.

  It was a three-story villa set on a clifftop, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Inspired by a spaceship, the house had a geometric design that reflected the cliffside’s angular shape. It was futuristic and modern, but it was more than that. It was the fulfillment of a male fantasy. Imagine a man of 31 being able to live out his dream of living on a space ship. Or at least his interpretation of one. It really was his pride and joy, and he was eager to show it off. He was also anxious to see Leiliana’s reaction to his creation.

  He did a bit of tidying up as he cast a worried glance at his watch. Leiliana was never late. Twenty minutes had passed, and even though he kept peering outside, expecting to see her blue rental, it wasn’t there. Her hotel was only 15 minutes away, so he didn’t think that commuting would be an issue. What was delaying her? This wasn’t like her. He hoped that nothing had happened to her. That she hadn’t been in an accident along the way. Some of the bends around these mountains could be quite treacherous. Perhaps he should call her to make sure everything was all right.

  Just as he reached for the phone, he heard a car horn.

  ~*~*~*~

  Leiliana brought her car to a stop outside Gabriel’s house.

  She swung her trouser clad legs out of the car, took off her sunglasses, and stared.

  It was the sort of modern design you would see on the cover of one of those architectural magazines. It was rather futuristic looking. In fact, it looked like some kind of spacecraft. Leiliana wouldn’t have been surprised to see it lift off the ground and hover above her. She folded her arms and tilted her head to the side.

  As she was trying to de
cide what Gabriel had been thinking when he designed this house, the door opened, and the gentleman in question strode out.

  “You made it. I wasn’t sure you were still coming,” he said with a warm smile.

  “Of course, I was. It took a little time for me to get myself together today, that’s all.”

  He cocked an eyebrow, and she glanced back at the house and away from his prying gaze. She wasn’t about to confess that she was late because she had been to the salon. She’d had her hair layered, and some highlights added. It was a departure from her usual style, but she had wanted something to make her look glamorous, at least that was what she had told the stylist.

  “Can you take a snip?” the woman had asked, and she’d, with just a hint of trepidation, agreed. So now, her hair was in bouncy layers around her face. She had stared at herself for a long time afterward. She really did look chic with this fresh look. Understandably, she felt that the new hairstyle deserved a new outfit. The jeans she had thought to wear would never do so she had done a bit of shopping. In a nearby boutique, she found a pair of hot pink cigarette trousers. In a handcrafted store a few doors down, she had purchased a white and fuchsia patterned silk sleeveless top. When she had first put it on, it felt very nice against her skin. Now, though, she was questioning the wisdom of her choice of clothing. Here on this clifftop was quite breezy, and she felt a tad chilly.

  Gabriel squinted at her. “You changed your hair. You had it shortened a bit, and it looks blonder.”

  She actually tossed her head. “Do you like it?”

  He smiled lazily. “I like it very much. You look quite dressed up. Are you going somewhere else when you leave here?”

  “No,” she said.

  “So, you got this dressed up for me?”

  “No! Of course not.” She straightened instantly.