“Where’re you headed to? Do you want to come here?” her mom asked.
PJ blushed, thankful her parents couldn’t see her through the phone. “I’m going to Connecticut to spend a few days with Gabe Sawyer and his friends. He’s headed there and offered to let me come, just to get away from everything.”
She tried to play it off as if it wasn’t a big deal, but really the idea of spending a week with Gabe, even as friends, made her stomach do backflips.
PJ could almost envision her father’s eyebrows going up and wasn’t surprised to hear his voice coming through the phone, although it was muffled, as if he were speaking over her mother’s shoulder.
“Gabe Sawyer, as in owner of The Grand Tower…that Gabe Sawyer?”
“Do you really think that’s wise, Prudence?” her mother asked.
“Mmm hmm,”she murmured. She should have known she wouldn’t slip that by them so easily.
“Pru, don’t you think he’s, well.... He seems to love the limelight a bit much, don’t you think? Is it really wise to be seen with him right now? What if he’s just hoping to capitalize on your spotlight?” Her father must have taken the phone from her mother. His voice was coming through more clearly now.
PJ shook her head. “No, Dad. Gabe doesn’t like all the attention any more than I do most of the time. In fact, he’s managed to keep his house in Connecticut completely off the radar so far. Only his friends know he has it, so the chances of us being found there are slim to none.”
As she spoke, she tossed a few outfits into a backpack. She’d ask Ellis to swing by and have her other luggage taken to the tour bus so it would make it out to Denver and be there when she arrived to perform.
“You’re not... Well, w-what I mean is…are you two...?” Her mother, now seemingly back in control of the phone, all but stammered.
PJ rolled her eyes. “Oh for heaven’s sake, you guys. I’m not a gullible teenager anymore. Gabe isn’t looking for anything like that from me.”
She might not be a teenager, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words sex and Gabe in the same sentence to her parents. This whole conversation was a lot more than she wanted to deal with right now, but she knew they had their reasons for worrying.
“Gabe is a friend. Nothing more. He has his own money, his own fame, and his pick of any woman he wants on the planet. Believe me, there’s literallynothingGabe could want from me.”
PJ had to admit, saying that out loud hurt more than a bit. She’d had a crush on Gabe Sawyer for a long time. But the truth was, he only saw her as a friend—and that was all right. She was glad to have his friendship. It was all she could offer right now with the shape her world was in anyway. It was really all she needed…. Really.
Maybe if she kept telling herself that, she’d stop hoping for something more from him.
Chapter 5
PJ gasped as she took in the large home at the crest of the circular drive. “It’s incredible, Gabe.”
The two-story, light-gray house with black shutters had a small carriage house off to the side of the driveway, and an enormous landscaped yard behind tall stone walls. There wouldn’t be any issues about privacy here.
At least, not until the paparazzi got wind of her location and tried to climb the walls. At eight feet, they looked fairly formidable, but you never knew what people would try once the rest of the news in her personal journal broke.
PJ faltered a bit as her thoughts turned back to her journal, but she was determined to step away from all that for a while. She just wanted one week to rest before she had to face the storm that would surely hit soon.
When it did hit, she’d leave so she didn’t destroy the oasis Gabe had here.
He pulled Pru’s bag from the trunk of his car and took her arm to walk her up the steps. The contact sent a zing through her and she didn’t try to fight the attraction. She just had to keep it from showing, that’s all.
“Wait till you see the back. I bought it for the privacy, but the view of Long Island Sound can’t be beat, and the outdoor patio is amazing. I had the caretakers stock the kitchen for us, so other than going over to Jack’s house, we can hide out here.”
He pulled her through the foyer and down a long hallway that led straight out the back of the house. They ignored the formal dining room, sitting room, and living room and landed in a large, open kitchen. From there, French doors spilled out onto the stone patio in the back yard.
“Oh my gosh,” PJ said, knowing she sounded like an idiot, as she looked out onto the sparkling water of the infinity swimming pool that appeared to fall off into the ocean in an incredible optical illusion. An immaculately manicured lawn sloped to the ocean, and there were tennis courts off to the side of the patio.
Gabe nudged her shoulder and pointed to their left where a full outdoor kitchen and grill sat next to a large stone fireplace.
“Ohhhhhh.It’s a completely perfect oasis,” PJ said, and she moaned again as she looked at the teak chairs in front of the outdoor stone fireplace with the Jacuzzi tub nearby.
PJ wondered how far they’d have to go to get to the party at Jack’s house the following day. She honestly wasn’t sure she wanted to leave the sanctuary Gabe had just shown her.
“Where does Jack live?”