“It’s a different life, that’s for sure,” she said.
It was an easier life. One with less expectation of disaster hiding around every corner. And I couldn’t have wished anything better for my sister.
Hollie took a seat at the head of the table and I sat on a chair right at the other end. This was a close-knit group of friends, and I didn’t want to just crash into the middle of everything.
Gabriel and Dexter were the next to the table. Dexter took a seat next to my sister and to my surprise, Gabriel sat next to me.
“You okay?” he asked in a half whisper, his gaze only meeting mine for less than a second.
Goosebumps scattered across my body like dropped change onto marble. To an outsider, it was such a barren question, but from Gabriel? To me?
It was all intimacy.
All I could do was nod. How could I be anything but okay? He was sitting next to me.
The spell was broken as the rest of Dexter and Hollie’s friends took seats around the table and a waiter came around with wine. At least he knew which glass he was using, because that was at least three levels above my paygrade.
As the evening went on, the waiter in charge of the wine managed to use each of the six glasses. My glasses—and Gabriel’s—were the only ones that remained mostly untouched.
“You’re not drinking,” he said, without looking at me. It was the first time he’d spoken to me since he’d first sat down.
“You’re not drinking,” I replied. The rest of the table seemed oblivious to our conversation as they continued to banter and laugh.
“I have Bethany to think about,” he said, still staring straight ahead. “You’re off the clock. You should be able to enjoy your evening with friends.”
My evening with friends? Is that what this was? I didn’t really know anyone around this table other than my sister. “Are we friends, Gabriel?”
His chest expanded as he pulled in a breath, and as he exhaled, he pressed his thigh against mine and left it there. This was no casual brush of hands or inadvertent nudge of my knee. He was pressing his body against mine in answer to my question. And it was as erotic as if he was trailing his tongue over my breasts. My breathing grew shallow, my pulse drummed in my wrists, and the heat rose in my cheeks like he’d worked his fingers into my underwear.
I couldn’t control my body’s reaction to him when we were both fully clothed. What would become of me if Gabriel Chase and I were ever naked together?
Five
Gabriel
I rehearsed the conversation I’d have with Mike in my head as I sat in the back of the cab heading home. We were going to have diametrically opposing views on how we wanted to spend this weekend. I wanted to hang out with Bethany. Mike would want to work. I peered out of the raindrop-speckled window, fascinated with the people milling about on the streets. Where were all these people headed at just gone three on a Friday afternoon? Was I one of thousands heading home early? Was it what the rest of the world usually did while I stayed chained to my desk?
Before I left the office, I’d gotten to the end of the draft contract I’d received overnight on one of the Mike Green deals. Other than a couple of drafting issues and a correction on a tax point, I knew this was where we’d end up. I also knew Mike was going to try to make me negotiate it for the next sixty hours straight. If I lost our battle, I wouldn’t get to go home for two nights and kiss my sleeping daughter. I’d miss the entire weekend with her, and I’d risk Autumn being pissed off. So I’d jumped in a cab before Mike had a chance to call me. That way, at least I’d get to see Bethany this afternoon.
My phone buzzed in my hand. Mike could fucking wait. I flipped it over to see Gillian Jones’s name flashing on the screen. My stomach sank to my feet. I wasn’t expecting a call from her. She was my personal lawyer, and I hadn’t spoken to her for months. There would only be one reason why she’d call.
“Gillian, what can I do for you?”
“I’ve heard from her lawyers.”
She didn’t need to tell me who her was.
Her was Bethany’s mother, my wife, and the woman I’d thought I was going to spend the rest of my life building a family with. When she’d walked out nearly three years ago, I’d been devastated, blindsided. Heartbroken that our family was shattering into pieces and that Bethany had been left without a mother.
Now I was just numb.
“Her lawyers have sent over the paperwork to start off the divorce proceedings.”