I shrug. “Usually.”
“Lemme guess. And if they don’t, you fire them.”
“Naturally.”
She laughs out loud, her pretty, musical laugh that makes my heart warm.
The driver opens the door. “Where to, sir?”
I nod to Miranda, and she gives him the address.
But as we go to enter the car, a blinding flash arrests me. I turn to see half a dozen photographers snapping pictures at us. My vision blurs with fury.
My bodyguard and I act as one. In half a minute, we’ve got smashed cameras on the ground, photographers running for cover. I’ve got one particularly aggressive son of a bitch by the back of his shirt.
“Just one picture! Who is she?”
I toss him, and he grunts as he hits the ground.
“I’ve got this, sir,” Mack, my bodyguard, says. He gives me a lopsided grin. “You don’t want to mess up that pretty face for the next shoot, do you?”
“Fuck you,” I say with a grin.
I get into the car, only to see Miranda’s wide eyes staring at me. She’s shaking.
“What the hell was that?”
I shake my head. “Sometimes a camera crew follows me.”
“And you just… beat them up?”
I don’t want to frighten her. I have to be careful not to push her away, but I also don’t want to lie to her. “If they don’t leave when I tell them to? Yes.”
“Do lots of press and things follow you?”
I nod.
“Wow,” she whispers, clearly impressed. “I’ve been living under a rock. I had no idea how… famous you were, owning all those fitness clubs...”
I shrug and sigh. “Fame is overrated.”
She blinks, then grins. “You’re something else, Gabriel. You know that?”
We’re driving down the runway, heading to her mom’s house. She’s the one who’s special, only she doesn’t know it yet.
She will.Chapter EightMiranda
We land at Sacramento McCallan, which is apparently a privately owned airport where one lands their private jet. If one has such a thing. Which, Gabriel does. I still can’t quite wrap my brain around that.
The flight was so luxurious, like a dream. A little taste of a lifestyle one can only dream to achieve.
I was just thinking I could get used to this.
Then I remember the crowd enveloping us. The flash of cameras blinding my eyes. The string of threats surrounding me, shocking me, as Gabriel and his bodyguard get us safely to the car.
The flashback pops my dream bubble, bringing me right back to reality.
This is a one-night stand. With a playboy daddy. To pay for my sister’s wedding.
Nothing more.
So why is he grabbing my hand? Holding it tight as we make the short drive to my mother’s house, as if to comfort me, to protect me. From… everything.
Why is he doing this?
I try to make sense of the insane trajectory my life has taken in the past twenty-four hours. One by one I go through the series of events, mentally arranging them in a neat little outline.
Gabriel is a businessman, one who meets me for five minutes then finagles my assistant to make me his escort.
He finds out I’m a virgin.
Pleasures me for hours, totally delaying taking my virginity. (A privilege that he’s paid twenty grand for, no less.)
He swoops in to save the day for me, his paid escort, helping me through a family emergency.
All on the very first date he’s ever had with me.
Rearranging his entire life at the call of my sister, whisking me home only the second time he’s ever even met me?
It’s wonderful, selfless, generous. But… strange. I sneak a glance at him out of the corner of my eye. He looks perfectly sane. Scratch that. He looks fucking drop-dead gorgeous. Almost inhumanly good looking.
Is he too good to be true?
Gazing out the window, I take in the familiar surroundings. We’re almost to my mom’s house. I give my head a shake, redirecting my thoughts to my mother. What am I going to do?
He puts his hand on my thigh. “Everything okay?”
I shoot him a smile of reassurance. “Yes. Everything is wonderful. Thank you so much for doing this.” I leave my next thought unsaid. Why are you helping me?
As if reading my mind, he tells me a story. “I think I know how you feel. My mother aged rapidly. I lost her when I was only twenty-three. Her death left a hole in my heart and when Lexi made that call, it triggered something in me. It made me want to help.”
Is he really this perfect?
I thank him, offering a tight smile in response. Settle my head back on the headrest of the plush limo seat. We’re getting closer to my mother’s house. Lexi and Mom will both be there. And I’ll be bringing Gabriel.
Inwardly, I groan. Lexi is going to make a massive deal about me bringing a man home. I’m already feeling the tangles of embarrassment knot in my stomach. And my mom—she’s never seen me with a man by my side. Will she be lucid enough to make a big deal out of this as well?