Ace-High Flush (3 page)

"I told Ace I'd go, Mama. And Mrs. Riley from down the hall is going to come check on you a few times. You like her."

Anita sniffed. "Yeah, she's okay. Is he going to come upstairs and meet me before he drags you away?"

Maybe agreeing to it would help her mother cope with being left alone two evenings in a row. "Is it important to you?"

"Yeah. I want you to be safe. You don't know this guy well."

If her mother knew what she'd experienced with Ace already, she'd try to forbid Gabby from ever seeing him again. And there was the age issue. Ace and her mother were the same age, since her mother had had her at only eighteen. Anita was not going to like that one bit.

"I know him well enough for a date, Mama. There might not be time for an introduction."

"Make time, Gabby."

Gabby made a non-committal sound and went back to the bathroom to finish brushing her hair. Her mother persisted, hollering through the apartment. "Where's he taking you?"

"Hoboken. To Fanciful."

"I read a review of that place in the Times. It's damned expensive. Is he trying to buy some pussy?"

"Mama!"

"Well, let's be honest, Gabby. You don't have more than that to offer."

That stung. Couldn't she offer conversation, a sense of humor, something pretty to look at? But maybe her mother was right. Maybe she should call and cancel before her fantasies were destroyed utterly.

She answered more defensively than she intended. "That's not what he's after. I know a creep when I meet one."

The woman was stubbornly persistent. "Why don't you let me make my own judgment?"

Gabby ground her teeth together. "Alright! I'll invite him up."

Anita relented a little. "I don't want my baby to get mixed up with the wrong sort of man, like I did."

"I know, Mama. Ace is nothing like my father. But I have to warn you, he's older than me."

Anita dismissed the warning. "Older is okay. It means he's getting established in his career. If he can afford Fanciful, he must be doing alright for himself."

Gabby remembered Ace's ranch and the fact that he was in New Jersey to investigate an investment and came to the same conclusion. She was not about to be bought like a streetlamp whore, though. "I doubt we'll get into Fanciful, Mama."

"Come help me up so I can fix my face and hair. Every step is agony for me these days."

Putting down her hairbrush, Gabby hurried over to her mother, like always. She reminded herself that her mother had made many sacrifices for her when Gabby was small and no father was around. But from the time she was twelve, Gabby had been doing the cooking and cleaning, the shopping and financial management. Her mother had been too depressed to do any of it, and her health had been deteriorating steadily. Gabby knew she was going to have to hire a day nurse to attend to her mother while Gabby was away at work. And it was going to have to be soon. But where would the money come from?

She made no excuses for herself. She wasn't great at modeling and didn't get the plum jobs because she didn't like it much. It was all she knew how to do to make decent money, though, and no other options presented themselves.

It wasn't long after her mother was coiffed and reseated in her chair Ace arrived. Gabby rang him in and waited on the stairs.

* * *

The inside of the apartment building was little dingy. He had not forgotten the bill collector comment from his brief conversation with Gabby's mother.

Seeing Gabby all dressed up in a black sheath dress and high heels pushed mundane financial issues out of his head. Her hair was silky-looking, dark and shiny, held back by rhinestone combs. Her curvy figure was enhanced by the fabric of her dress, and she hadn't been afraid of giving him some cleavage to look at. A bright silver cross hung above her breasts. Ace grinned from ear to ear with delight. He'd be mighty proud to take her out on the town.

"Aren't you the prettiest thing?"

Her cheeks went pink and she smiled. "Thank you."

He walked up a few steps toward her and offered his hand. "Ready to go?"

She didn't take his fingers. "Um, not quite. My mother wants to meet you."

Not unexpected. "Ah. Well, that can be arranged."

"I'm sorry." Her eyes went everywhere but to his face.

"Don't be sorry, li'l girl. I don't mind meetin' your mama."

Gabby turned and started to climb, her gait measured by the treads. "Try to keep an open mind, please. My mother has some...issues."

He followed her up the stairs. "I'm sure it'll be okay."

Sighing, she went down a dimly-lit hallway, stopping at a door marked 330. She paused with her hand on the knob. "If you don't want to do this—"

"Don’t worry, sweetheart. I'm fine with it."

It was a small apartment, barely big enough for two people. An unpleasant smell like a combination of camphor liniment and women's perfume hung in the air. A few bookshelves lined the walls and an older-model TV took a prominent position. There was a cheap pedestal in a corner, with a statue of the Virgin Mary on it, and a small votive burned nearby. In the center of the room, sitting bundled up in a throw-blanket, with an expression reminiscent of a queen bee, sat Gabriella's mother. She was overweight and round-faced, with slightly sagging jowls, and dark hair turning gray. A smile formed and unformed as she looked Ace over.

Ace tipped his hat politely. "Good evenin', ma'am. I'm Ace Journey." He strode forward to offer his hand, but she peered at him through watery brown eyes and a sneer formed on her face. He withdrew his hand.

"Ace, this is my mother, Anita Appleby."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Appleby."

"I'm not a missus anything, Mr. Journey. And you're not welcome here."

Tension pinched his shoulder blades together. He must have heard wrong. No one would be that rude. "I'm sorry?"

"Get out." Her voice had a nasal quality and a New Jersey accent. "Gabby, you're not going anywhere."

"Mama, you're embarrassing me."

The woman's dark eyes turned to her daughter. "You
should
be embarrassed. What were you thinking to get mixed up with a man so much older than you? He's got to be old enough to be your father."

"That's not your business, Mama."

"If it concerns you, it
is
my business." She turned back to Ace, who watched the exchange with growing ire. "Are you still here?  Cradle robber! You should be ashamed of yourself, you pedophile. Find someone your own age!"

Ace didn't quite know what to say, faced with Anita's viciousness. He felt sorry for Gabby and had greater understanding of the pressures the young woman must be under. He didn't want to be rude, but he wasn't about to be so disrespected. "Your daughter is an adult, old enough to make her own decisions on who she'll date, ma'am. I realize you care about her deeply and want the best for her, but I'm not a man of low moral character, and don’t deserve to be spoken to that way. I assure you, I have the greatest respect for Gabby." He tipped his hat at Anita once again, then looked to Gabby. A calico cat was snaking its way around her ankles, purring. "Will you be comin' with me, Gabriella?"

She glanced at her mother, Ace, and back to her mother. "I love you, Mama, but this is my life. It's not about you." Gabby looked at the cat and snapped her fingers. "Mr. Sonny, sit."

Immediately, the cat sat down at her toes and stared up at her.

She reached into a small jar on the coffee table and held a morsel above Mr. Sonny's head. "Sit up." The cat lifted his front feet off the floor and sat back, eyes still focused on Gabby. "Good kitty." She gave him the treat and he gulped it down. "Go lie down, Mr. Sonny." The cat delicately stepped toward a carpet-covered cat tower in the corner and crawled into the dark interior. One little mewl and he was silent.

Ace was more than a little impressed. He'd never seen a trained cat before. Gabby had some hidden special talents.

She gathered up a small purse and a soft burgundy wool wrap and turned to Ace, her jaw set. "Let's go."

"Gabby!" Her mother's voice was loud in the small room. "I said I forbid it."

Gabriella didn't turn to look at her mother, but instead, made her way to the door. "I'll tell Mrs. Riley that I'm leaving, Mama. Don't wait up for me."

Ace opened the door for Gabby and stepped aside so she could exit. Her mother had to get in the last word. "Slut!"

Gabby's little gasp and stiff posture as she crossed the threshold told Ace a lot about their relationship. He respected Gabby more for keeping a positive attitude though faced with such vicious derision.

Ace had rented a Lexus for the evening, determined to drive them to Hoboken himself. With GPS navigation, he figured it wouldn't be too tricky. Except for the computer's bland voice, the ride to Fanciful was silent. He reached for the satellite radio once, but thought better of it. There  was silence, but at least it was honest.

He reached out and took Gabby's hand for a few minutes, giving it an affectionate squeeze. She didn't look at him, but squeezed his hand back with cold fingers.

There were valets aplenty at the restaurant, and they held the doors to the car and opened the large, carved wood doors to the restaurant. Inside, the design was chrome and glass, with mahogany accents. The smell of rich foods wafted into the foyer, accompanied by muted sounds of laughter and glassware from the bar nearby.

The maitre d' spoke before Ace could. "Mr. Journey?"

Either the man was psychic or Carl Fennerman had let them know that Ace was a fellow Texan, and his hat and boots had given him away. "That's right. We have a reservation."

Unsmiling, but cordial, the maitre'd nodded. "Mr. Fennerman's table is ready for you, sir." He turned to Gabriella whose eyes were wide and mouth slightly ajar. "May I take your wrap, Miss?"

She seemed to come to her senses. "Uh, no. I'll keep it for now. Thank you."

He nodded again. "As you like." Another man in a tuxedo walked up and smiled. "Gregg, take Mr. Journey and his companion to Mr. Fennerman's table." Turning to Ace, he said, "I'll send the sommelier to you directly, sir, with a list of Mr. Fennerman's wines."

Ace nodded and offered his hand with a folded up hundred dollar bill ready for exchange. "Thanks." The money subtly made its way into the man's pocket.

They followed Gregg through the restaurant to a small table near a wide, tall window overlooking the Hudson River. It offered a magical view of Manhattan. Ace watched Gabriella's face as she sat in the chair drawn back by the headwaiter, Gregg. She was agog, though she tried to appear nonchalant. He was glad that her surprise with the arrangements was taking her mind off the ugly scene with her mother.

* * *

Gabby stared out the window, watching the golden lights glinting off the skyscraper windows as the summer sun began to set.

"It's beautiful."

"I agree," he told her. "Almost as beautiful as you."

She turned to him, smiling, but the smile was forced. "I can't believe you're there, across from me. After the scene with my mother, I wouldn’t have been surprised if you’d run away and never looked back."

He grinned. "I’m not the runnin’ away sort, sweetheart, and I never run away from a fight."

She watched his face as her temper sparked. "Is that what this has become? A fight between my mother and you, with the prize being me?"

"I don't think it's that cut and dried. But, li'l girl, you are most certainly a prize. And it's purely my pleasure to be sittin' here with you."

She looked down at the table, her temper slipping away. "Thank you. Thank you for not running away."

He reached for her hand and she grasped his back. "Is that what usually happens? Men run away?"

She wasn't sure if she should tell him the truth. "I don't introduce many people to my mother. In this case, she insisted."

"I see."

Gabby doubted that he could understand just how embarrassing it was to expose people to Anita, especially people she cared about, so she changed the subject and encouraged him to talk about himself. It turned out that he'd called in a favor from his old college buddy, Carl Fennerman, who was a star player on the Jets football team until recently. With Fennerman's local celebrity and connections, it hadn't been a problem to get them into Fanciful. Ace was nothing, if not full of surprises.

The conversation migrated to how and when they'd met. Gabby found the whole thing embarrassing, and wondered how she'd ever gotten embroiled in a scheme to harm Liv's career. Thinking about it later—after the spanking—she realized how stupid it had been. She wouldn't have helped her own career if Liv's took a downturn. Gabby was not Liv's peer and couldn't have just stepped into her shoes even if the scheme had worked.

"I deserved that spanking," she told him. "I'm lucky Liv and Trey didn't get me blackballed. It was generous of them to let me off with a physical punishment."

Ace nodded, and the waiter approached with more coffee. They were quiet while being served.

As the waiter walked away, Ace spoke up. "Never been spanked before that, hm?"

"No! God no. My mother was never home to punish me. I was on my own, and I was hardly going to spank myself."

"Some people like spanking during sex." His voice was bedroom sexy, and a shiver ran through her middle.

"Well...I..."

"Not, you, hm?"

"I never tried it." She sounded so unsophisticated. "I mean, it never came up."

He sat back. His look was unwavering. "How many men have you been with, Gabriella?"

She gasped. He would find her childish and anything but sexy if she told him the truth—one. The more she was around him, the more she wanted to take him as a lover. If she did, she could clear her mind of him by discovering that he farted in bed or had hair that stood up like a fright wig in the morning. Her one relationship hadn't worked out well, and although men had been interested in her since then and she'd been on dates, she had been focused on her career and her mother. She didn't want complications. Things with Ace could be simple and easy. A little sex and bye-bye, Tex.