When she exited the bathroom, Gabe was sitting on the edge of his bed waiting for her. His eyes flared with instant appreciation, causing her to do a twirl. She turned around, hands up, and then faced him again.
“Will I do?”
“Fuck yeah,” he growled.
As he stood, her gaze drifted appreciatively over him as well. The expensive three-piece suit made her mouth water. On another man, it would be boring. Staid almost. But on Gabe? It was divine. Black slacks. Black coat. White shirt with the top button unfastened. He looked expensive casual, like he didn’t give a fuck what anyone thought, and that just made him even sexier.
“I take it where we’re going a tie is optional?” she teased.
One half of his mouth turned up. “They bend the rules for me.”
And who wouldn’t? Who could possibly say no to Gabe Hamilton? Apart from the fact that he had more money than God, he had a natural charisma that drew women and men alike. They responded to him. Some feared him, others hated him, but everyone respected him.
“Would you like something to drink before we go?” Gabe asked.
She slowly shook her head. The longer they remained in his apartment, the more likely they were never to make it out to dinner. And she was looking forward to an actual date with him. So far there had been sex and work and not much else.
He held out his hand to her and she slipped her fingers through his. He tugged her toward the elevator and they rode down to get into his car.
On the way over, she battled over whether to bring the thing with Lisa up. She was dying of curiosity but she didn’t want to open a big can of worms either.
She glanced sideways at him and he caught her gaze, lifting his eyebrows in question.
“What?” he asked.
She hesitated and then figured she may as well take the plunge. He wouldn’t leave her alone until she spilled what was on her mind anyway.
“Uhm, Lisa…”
Before she could continue, Gabe’s face became like ice and he held up his hand, halting her in midsentence.
“I refuse to ruin a perfectly good evening by discussing my ex-wife,” he bit out.
Well. And that was that. And really, she wasn’t going to complain. She didn’t want to ruin their evening either. Even if she was dying of curiosity over what Gabe thought about the whole thing. And maybe a little frightened…
At the restaurant, they were taken to one of the back tables in a private alcove. It was perfect. The interior was dimly lit but candles burned at each of the tables, and an array of Christmas lights was strung through decorative shrubs, lending a festive, holiday feel. It made her long for Christmas.
She loved the holidays in the city. Jace had always taken her down to Rockefeller Center for the lighting of the Christmas tree. It was one of her favorite memories of him and her together.
“What are you thinking of?” Gabe asked.
She blinked and focused her attention on him. He was watching her, a curious expression on his face.
“You looked very happy. Whatever occupied your thoughts must have been good.”
She smiled. “I was thinking of Christmas.”
“Christmas?”
He looked baffled.
“Jace always took me down for the lighting of the tree. It’s one of my favorite memories with him. I love all the lights and the hustle and bustle of Christmas in the city. Love window-shopping and looking at all the displays. It’s the very best time of the year.”
He looked thoughtful for a moment and then shrugged. “Lisa and I always spent it in the Hamptons, and then when she and I divorced, I just worked through the holidays.”
She gaped at him. “Worked? You work during Christmas? Gabe, that’s terrible. You sound like Scrooge!”
“Pointless holiday.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wish I would have known. I would have made you spend it with Jace and me. No one should be alone at Christmas. I assumed you’d spend it with your parents.”
She broke off, biting her lip in consternation for bringing up a sore subject.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t thinking.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “It’s okay. Apparently my father has decided he’s fucked up and now he wants my mother back. Lord only knows how that’s going to go down.”
Her eyes widened. “He said that?”
“Oh yeah,” Gabe said with a weary sigh. “Over lunch when he came to the office. The day after his date was trying her best to get into my pants.”
Mia scowled and Gabe laughed.
“So what’s your mother going to do?” Mia asked.
“Hell if I know. If I had to guess, he hasn’t yet gone to grovel or I would have heard about it by now.”
“I don’t know that I could forgive him sleeping with all those women,” Mia said unhappily. “That had to hurt your mother terribly.”
“He says he wasn’t unfaithful.”
Mia gave him an oh please look.
He waved his hand. “I have no idea what he considers being unfaithful and I’m not sure it even matters if he didn’t sleep with them. The entire world thinks he did. My mother thinks he did. It’s not humiliation she’s going to get over soon.”
“This must be so difficult for you,” she said in a soft voice. What a sucky day all around. First his dad dropping the bomb, and then his ex-wife showing up just hours later.
He looked uncomfortable with her sympathy and glanced away, his eyes lightening with relief when the waiter approached with their entrees.
The seafood smelled divine as she sniffed appreciatively. The waiter set her grilled shrimp in front of her and Gabe’s blackened mahimahi in front of him.
“Ohhh, yours looks awesome,” she said.
He smiled and forked a bite, holding it over the table to her. She closed her mouth over it, holding it for just a moment as their gazes caught and held.
It was surprisingly intimate, his feeding her just that one bite. He was staring at her mouth as he lowered his fork back to his plate.
She cut a piece of her shrimp and then offered him a sample as he’d done for her. He hesitated a moment but then allowed her to slide the bite into his mouth.
A little unsettled by how deeply affected she was by the exchange, she lowered her gaze to her plate and focused on eating her meal.
“Good?” Gabe asked several long minutes later.
She glanced up and smiled. “Delicious. I’m nearly stuffed!”
He lifted his napkin from his lap and dabbed at his mouth before tossing it down on the table. As soon as she lowered her fork and pushed back her plate, he rose and extended his hand to her.
“Let’s dance,” he murmured.
Feeling as fluttery as a teenager on her first date, Mia allowed him to pull her to her feet and lead her through the maze of tables to the area reserved for dancing.
He turned her toward him and tucked her tightly against him. There wasn’t an inch between them, and his hand splayed wide on her bare back, settling possessively just above where the material rested.
She let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes as Gabe rested his cheek to her temple. They were barely moving. Softly swaying to the strains of the music, wrapped up in one another. She could stay this way forever. She could fool herself into thinking that Gabe was truly hers. That their relationship transcended just sex.
It wouldn’t hurt to pretend for a little while. It may hurt later, but right now she was determined to live the fantasy.
His hand didn’t remain still just above her behind. He stroked and rubbed, caressing as they danced, his body molded tightly to hers. She turned her nose toward his neck, inhaling his scent. She was so tempted to nibble at his ear and at the column of his neck. She loved the taste of him and she hadn’t had many opportunities to indulge because Gabe was always solidly in control when they had sex. Oh what she wouldn’t do for one night to explore him at will.
One song bled into another and they remained locked together, neither willing to break the intimacy that surrounded them, concealing them in the small space the two occupied.
She closed her eyes dreamily, swaying along with the music as Gabe held her tightly, his hand roaming her body. They were practically making love on the floor. Not sex. Not this torrid, all-consuming obsession that gripped them every time the clothes came off.
This was sweeter. Softer. More intimate and she loved every second.
She could fall in love with this Gabe. Was falling.
“I wonder if you have any idea how much I want you right now,” he murmured next to her ear.
She smiled and then lifted her mouth to whisper in his ear. “I’m not wearing any underwear.”
He stopped right in the middle of the dance floor, not even making an effort to make it look like they were dancing. His hold tightened on her and his body went rigid against hers.
“Jesus Christ, Mia. What a thing to say right here in the middle of the goddamn restaurant.”
She smothered another smile and blinked innocently up at him. “I just thought you’d want to know.”
“We’re getting the hell out of here,” he growled.
Before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and hauled her toward the exit, his other hand reaching for his cell phone. Thank goodness she hadn’t brought a purse or it would have been left at the table!
In terse tones, he told his driver they were ready.
Outside on the sidewalk, Gabe retreated closer to the building, holding her protectively against his side, away from the passersby.
“Gabe, what about the bill?” she asked, mortified that they’d just walked out.
He gave her a patient look. “I have an account with them. I’m a regular here. I even have a standard tip added to each of my bills. So don’t fret.”
The car pulled up and Gabe hustled her inside. As soon as the doors were closed and the car pulled away, Gabe pushed the button for the privacy screen between the front and back seat.
Anticipation fizzed in her veins until it felt like she was a shaken-up bottle of carbonated soda.
He reached for the fly of his slacks, rapidly unfastening it. A second later, he pulled out his long, beautiful cock and stroked it to utter rigidity. Her gaze was glued to him, the masculine ruggedness of his body.
“Pull up your dress and get on my lap,” he said, reaching for her hand.
Maneuvering up into the seat, she hiked up her dress, baring most of her thighs, and then Gabe scooted to the middle of the seat so she could straddle him.
He reached underneath her dress and slid his hand up the inside of her thigh to her bare pussy, and he smiled in absolute satisfaction.
“That’s my girl,” he purred. “God, Mia. I’ve fantasized about fucking you in this dress and those killer heels ever since you walked out of the bathroom at my apartment.”
He slid one finger inside and then pulled it back out and up between them. It glistened with her wetness. Slowly he slid his tongue up one side of his finger and she nearly came on the spot. Holy shit, but the man was lethal. Then he put his finger to her mouth.
“Suck it,” he said huskily. “Taste yourself.”
Mortified but morbidly curious, she tentatively parted her lips, allowing him to slide his finger inside and over her tongue. She sucked lightly and his pupils dilated. His cock surged upward, touching the mouth of her pussy in an impatient gesture.
He reached down with his other hand to grasp his dick, and then he withdrew his finger from her mouth so he could grip her waist. Then he lowered her down, guiding his erection into the very heart of her.
Oh but it was decadent watching Manhattan fly by, the glow of the lights, the noise of traffic, while Gabe was fucking her in the backseat of his car.
Positioning both hands at her waist, he began to thrust upward, holding her in place as he arched up and then withdrew. Faster. Harder. It was a race to see if he could get them both off before they arrived at his apartment.
She came first. A frenzied, bright flash that blew over her with the force of a hurricane. She was left panting as he continued to plunge into her over and over. She gripped his shoulders, holding on for dear life. And then the car began to slow.
Gabe erupted inside her, hot, spurting deep into her body. He pulled her all the way down onto his cock until there was no space separating them as he flooded into her. The car halted in front of his apartment and Gabe hit the intercom.
“Give us just a moment, Thomas,” he said quietly.
Gabe sat there a long moment, his cock still pulsing and twitching inside her. He raised his hands to cup her face and then he kissed her. It was a direct contradiction to the frenzied way he’d just taken her. It was long and sweet. Warm and so very tender. As if he conveyed by actions what he could never say in words. Would never say in words.
He pulled her to him and held her against his body as he stroked her hair. For several long moments she lay against him as he softened within her.
Finally he lifted her upward and angled her into the space beside him. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and pressed it between her legs before cleaning himself. Unhurried, he tucked himself back into his pants and refastened the fly, straightening his clothing while she pulled her dress down.