“I know, I know. And I’m sorry I was late. But I did have everything with me. Hopefully we’ll get everyone on board with this project better than last year.” I looked over the numbers myself, too, and last year, whoever was heading the project hardly gave a damn enough to put much effort into it. I wanted to change it around.
Dad nodded, giving me a small smile. “Yes, and I appreciate that, Gabi. I hate to chat and run, but I know I have a meeting in about 15 minutes and don’t tell anyone this, but that pot of coffee in the break room isn’t worth a damn if you ask me. I better get going so I have some time to get to the bathroom and back.”
I laughed, shaking my head at him. “Okay, gross, Dad. I’ll see you later?”
He pulled me in for a hug, squeezing me tightly before heading toward the door. “Of course. Love you, sweetheart.”
I gathered up my file and smoothed down my skirt, wondering if I had enough time to make it to Les Bourgeois’s breakfast menu still. I was craving a hot buttered croissant like nobody’s business.
I headed back out into the main hub, but when I stopped for a moment to let old Mr. Powers by in his wheelchair, I wasn’t paying attention when I started walking again and literally ran smack dab into somebody’s chest.
“Ouch, oh my God, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t even—” I looked up just in time to meet the gaze of a certain wannabe doctor who I’d basically been obsessing over. It was Jacob, right there in the middle of my dad’s office. What the hell were the chances?
He was just as equally surprised to see me. “Gabi?”
I tried to smooth over the look of shock on my face. “Jacob, hi. I… wasn’t expecting to see you here. What are you doing here, anyway?”
Oh… He wasn’t… following me or anything, was he? I didn’t want to think that my new obsession led me into the direct path of a psycho stalker. I mean sure, it was fun to fantasize about, but in reality… Not so much.
He ran his hand through his hair, the other hand holding a white bag that smelled absolutely delicious. “I was actually bringing my mom some lunch. You work here?”
I shook my head. “No, actually I don’t. My dad works here, he’s… the mayor.” I knew it was going to come out sooner or later, so I figured I might as well just get it out of the way.
Jacob’s jaw expectedly dropped. “The mayor? You’re Mayor De Leon’s daughter? Oh wow, I had no idea.”
I nodded, feeling awkward still standing in the middle of the hub. People around us were starting to look. “Yeah, that’s me. So your mom works here, too, huh? What’s her name?”
At this Jacob laughed, searching my face, completely amused. “Jennifer. Jennifer Alder… Or as you may know her—”
“Wait! My dad’s secretary? You mean your mom works for my dad? Okay, is it just me or is this all really weird?” I couldn’t help but laugh, because in such a big city like L.A., things like this just didn’t happen.
“There you are,” a familiar voice called out from behind us. Both of us turned around to see Jennifer headed our way, a big smile on her face.
“Oh, I see you’ve met my son, Jacob.” She pulled her arm around Jacob, slipping the other one into the bag and pulling out what looked like a pot of soup. “Jacob, this is Gabrielle De Leon, Mayor De Leon’s daughter.”
We both chuckled, but she didn’t seem to catch on. “Yeah, she was just telling me that.” Jacob smiled even wider at me.
And just like that even with his mom standing there, all those feelings and thoughts from the other night came rushing back. I was suddenly thinking about his face over mine, his cock deep inside of me. It probably wasn’t the best idea to be thinking about any of those naughty thoughts with his mom standing there. I silently thanked God that no one could read my mind.
“Well your father has a meeting coming up in just a few minutes, so I need to go grab my notebook. Thank you for the lunch, baby,” she said as Jacob leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. It was alarmingly sweet the way he was with his mom.
I’ve never been a believer in fate, but it was almost as if Jacob standing there in front of me was just that very thing—fate. As I took him in, cataloging every single detail to my memory the best I could, from his tousled hair to his dark soulful eyes, I could feel him doing the same with me. We barely knew each other but it felt like it was way more than that. It was almost scary how much I was drawn to him, attracted to him. I wanted to reach out and trail my hand up and down his bicep, just to make sure he was real.
“I don’t suppose you know a place where we can… grab a bite to eat?” he asked, the words sounding innocent enough. But the way he said it in that velvety tone… I knew there was more behind them the what he was just saying.
“I know a few places… Why don’t you follow me?”
I wracked my brain to think of where we could go. And because I knew for damn sure that Jacob was not hungry for food. Not if he just came from wherever he picked up a delicious pot of soup, anyway.
We were nonchalant, and he followed loosely behind me as went over to the elevators. It was only a couple of floors down, the place I was thinking of, and my heart had already started racing in my chest just thinking about it.
When the elevator doors opened, I searched the hall to make sure no one was around. I said a little prayer silently in my head as we turned right and headed down one of the smaller hallways until we reached the end. On the left side was a door that read ‘STAFF ONLY.’ My hands shook as I tried the door knob, and I had to laugh when it opened quietly in my hand.
Jacob closed the door and I flipped on the lights. It was an old supply closet that was never used anymore, not after the new one was constructed upstairs and everyone else downstairs had their own closets on each floor. In other words… No one would be bothering us there.
“But just for good measure,” I mumbled to myself, locking the door.