Conquest of the Heart (14 page)

Carter was quiet for a few moments. Gavin
stood watching, waiting for him to come to his senses.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I just want her to
like me.”

Gavin was relieved for the moment, but wasn’t
completely convinced that Carter was clear in his thoughts. Carter
could be deceiving when he wanted to be. He decided to leave it
alone for now. It was almost time for their meeting.

“Look, I don’t want either of us to be
uncomfortable dealing with this situation. Faith is not the only
woman on the planet. Let’s stop acting silly, okay?” Gavin believed
if he smoothed things over between them a little bit, that Carter
would back off for a while. It worked.

“You’re right. We’ve been acting kind of
stupid, huh?”

Gavin nodded, “Let’s get
ready for the meeting, okay? I’ll see you in the conference room.”
Gavin went next door to his office to get his things.
‘Phew,’
he thought. He was
going to have to put Carter on a tighter leash
.

At the meeting, Gavin hoped that Faith would
be more direct in her responses and reactions, with little playing
or joking. He didn’t like that she would have to be this way, but
it was too soon after his conversation with Carter. He’d made the
decision to have two short meetings throughout the day. This meant
that he would have to meet with Faith after the workday, which he
knew she was prepared to do.

All went as Gavin planned in the early
meeting. As they wrapped up with one city, Gavin told them how
their day would go.

“Yesterday was a little tiring, with such a
long meeting in the morning. Let’s go ahead and keep our afternoon
meetings this week. This will give us a chance to take a break, get
other work done, whatever. Our minds will be more alert this way. I
think sitting in this room over the next two weeks is going to be
very grueling. Do you both agree?”

“Sure,” said Faith.

Carter just nodded. He was still thinking
about what Gavin had said earlier.

Gavin dismissed the meeting. He followed
Faith to her office to discuss his plans for that evening.

She walked into her office unaware that he
was behind her. He spoke up as he entered. “I need to talk to you
about this evening.”

Faith turned around, startled a little bit.
“Hey. I didn’t know you were behind me. What about this evening?”
she asked, as she sat her things down at her desk.

“We won’t be able have our meeting to work on
next week’s outlines until then. Are you okay with that?” Again, he
knew that she was, but he didn’t want it to be a surprise.

“I’m prepared to work three nights this week.
So, yes, I’m okay with it.” Gavin didn’t seem normal. He was antsy.
“What’s wrong?” asked Faith, noticing right away.

“What do you mean?”

“You look agitated, and it’s not normal for
you to cut our meetings short when we have the opportunity to
finish early. What’s bothering you?”

“It’s nothing I want to talk about right now.
I’ll be okay.”

Faith looked at him, not believing what he
said.

“I’m fine. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

She sat down, saying, “Alright.”

Later that afternoon, they met as agreed, and
finished before the day was over. As usual, Gavin took all of their
notes to Agnes so they could be typed up when the week was done. He
went back to his office, closed his door, and lied down on his sofa
in silence for what seemed to be an eternity. He closed his eyes,
to rest his mind. A lot had gone on during the day and he didn’t
want to think about Carter. He thought about Faith instead, which
was more pleasant. He didn’t realize how tired he had been until he
woke up almost two hours later. It was five o’clock. Sitting up and
stretching, he let out a deep sigh before he finally stood up. He
opened his door to find that most of the team had left for the day.
He walked down the hall to see Faith.

“Hi,” he said groggily.

She spoke without looking away from her
computer screen. “There you are. I stopped by to see you earlier
but you had your door closed. I didn’t want to bother you.”

“You should have. I fell asleep for two
hours.”

“I’m glad I didn’t then. You must’ve needed
the rest.”

“I haven’t had a chance to eat. Do you want
something?” he asked, still sleepy from resting so long.

“No, I’ve got something here that I can warm
up. I’ll get things ready so we’re not here that long tonight.”

“Thanks. I won’t be long.” He walked back to
his office to get his wallet and his phone. He never went anywhere
without his phone, not even down the street.

On his way back from picking up dinner, he
made one extra stop to get some coffee for Faith. He figured if she
didn’t want it, he could drink it. He could use all the caffeine he
could get.

When he got back, Faith was sitting at her
meeting table. He handed her the coffee. “Here you go. I remembered
what you ordered yesterday.” She was impressed. Her combination of
ingredients was hard for her to remember sometimes. Gavin got it
right on his first try.

“Thank you. Are you sure you don’t just want
to go home? You look really tired. We have all day Friday if we
need it.”

Gavin had forgotten about that. He was really
beat. “Let me get some food in my stomach, and we’ll go from there,
okay?” He sat down on her sofa, sitting his bag on the coffee
table.

She decided to ask him again what was going
on. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” he said quietly. She almost didn’t hear
him. “I don’t even want to think about it. The only good thing I
could come up with to think about this afternoon was you. That’s
when I fell asleep.”

“Wow,” she said. “Must’ve
been a really rough day. I won’t pry. Keep eating.” She stood up
and walked towards the window, sipping her coffee. After staring
out for a few moments, she stretched, and turned back around
towards Gavin.
‘He’s not as focused when
he’s tired,’
she thought.

It was unusually quiet. Gavin usually had so
much to say. “Can I ask you something?” he said. “I know you’ve
already told me, but I have to be sure that I’ve understood you
correctly.”

“Shoot,” she said.
‘Anything to break this horrible silence,’
she thought.

“Are you, in any way, attracted to Carter?”
He stopped eating, too exhausted to look up. He just leaned back on
the sofa, staring off into space.

“Of course not. No. He’s seems like a nice
person, but he makes me uncomfortable sometimes. I told you, I’m
not trying to date anyone or sleep with anyone. Why?”

“I just needed to know.”

This was not the Gavin she had come to know
over the past few weeks, and concluded that they both could use a
break. “Gavin, you’ve barely eaten, and you look like you’re going
to fall over any minute now. Let’s go home. You need to rest.”

“Will you come home with me? I’d sleep much
better if you were there,” he said jokingly and sleepily.

Faith replied, “Never too tired to joke, huh?
No, but if you need a ride home, I’d be happy to take you.”

“I can always call a limo to come get me. You
go ahead.”

“How about I call the limo for you,
guaranteeing that you go home?”

“That’s fair. Thanks.”

She called the front desk and requested that
the limo be brought around for him. She got her purse and keys, and
waited for him to get his things together, then they walked out
together. As he was getting into the limo, she said, “Tomorrow will
be a better day.”

He smiled and said goodbye. Things would be
better if he knew that Carter was going to stay away from her. He
would have to make sure that he did.

The following morning, Gavin decided he would
go see Faith first, rather than everyone else. Maybe a new routine
would help this day be better than the previous. He had gotten her
coffee again, having noticed that she had a cup every morning.

Her door was closed, so he knocked before
entering. He walked into her office and sat the coffee on her desk.
“For you, my dear.” He went back to close the door again. He
figured it was closed for a reason.

“Thanks,” she said looking up. “You look a
hundred percent better. You sound better, too.”

“Yes, I am. Thanks for making sure I got home
last night. If you had left, you probably would have found me here
on your couch this morning.”

“I figured as much. I’m glad you got some
rest,” she smiled, taking a sip of her coffee.

“You know, caring for me like you did last
night only makes me desire you even more. You’re not doing a very
good job of getting me to back down.”

“Last night was not about getting you to back
down, it was about making sure you made it home safely. And you’re
right. I’m not doing a very good job.” She took another drink of
her coffee and said, “Don’t worry. Since you’re more alert, I’m
sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to tell you ‘no’ or ‘leave
me alone’ today.”

“You would enjoy that, wouldn’t you?” Gavin
asked coyly.

“And so it starts,” she smiled.

“You’ll get it double today because I missed
out on yesterday.”

“Oh yippee! I can’t wait,” she said
sarcastically.

“You know you like it. I don’t know why you
don’t just admit it.”

“Oh yeah. I love that my sex crazed boss
makes it a point to tell me how much he wants to have sex with me
every day, because that’s just so awesome. All the girls are
jealous, I just know it. I’m special because he won’t stop until he
has me. Isn’t it just peachy?” she said in a Sandra D. like voice,
batting her eyes at him.

“You’re extremely sexy when you’re sarcastic.
You know why I think you like it? I think you like that I’m
pursuing you. You like that I want you, and you like the game. For
whatever reason, you won’t admit it. You know what else?” he asked,
getting closer to her.

“I bet you’re going to tell me,” she said,
grinning from ear to ear.

“You like that I won’t give up. You know that
the more you say no, the more I’ll keep trying until you say yes. I
like that, because I can be around you. Being with you is the
highlight of my day.”

“Well good. I’m glad I can make you happy.”
She sat back in her chair and sipped her coffee. “Would you like to
talk business now? We’re on the clock.”

“No. I want to keep talking about how much
you want me, but won’t admit it.”

“You really did need some rest. You’re in
rare form this morning. Okay, sure. What the hell. How much do I
want you?” Her blood pressure was rising.

“You tell me,” he sat down, staring right at
her. He loved to make her uncomfortable.

“You seem to have such a good idea. Why don’t
you answer for me?”

“You’re avoiding the question. Why does this
bother you so much?” Again, she was playing along, which he found
intriguing.

“Because I don’t like the idea of being used
for something that means nothing,” she stated, irritated that she
had to explain again.

“What makes you think it would mean
nothing?”

“Oh come on, Gavin. You haven’t had a serious
relationship in years, maybe not ever, who knows. You expect me to
believe that you want more than just sex? You haven’t offered up
much more than that.”

“Lauren is great isn’t she? I see she’s
filled you in on a little bit of history about me. Well, she
doesn’t know everything.” He was sitting back, with his hands
clasped together. “You always try to turn this around. This isn’t
about me. This is about you. I have never denied wanting to be with
you.”

“I haven’t denied anything. You know how I
feel.”

“Do I? Every time I tell you that you want me
as much as I want you, you avoid it like the plague. You’re like me
when it comes to being honest. You don’t lie about anything. What
you will do, is avoid talking about something if you don’t want to
deal with it. So, I’ll ask you again, how bad do you want me?” His
arrogance was beginning to show. He enjoyed watching her
squirm.

She didn’t answer. Instead she looked away
from him, nervously took a sip of her coffee, and said nothing for
a moment. He waited, and could tell he had struck a nerve.

“Are you going to answer me?” he asked with a
menacing grin on his face.

“No,” she said flatly, holding onto her
coffee like it was her last cup on earth.

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t have to.”

“Or because you don’t want to?”

“Is it time for our meeting yet?” she picked
up her cell phone to see what time it was.

“We have another hour. We can keep going in
circles if you like. All you’re doing is proving me right. That
excites me. So please, continue. I believe you were avoiding a
question.”

“I don’t want to play anymore. Let’s talk
about what happened to you yesterday. Why were you so agitated?”
Faith asked.

“Let’s not, and say we did.” He would leave
her alone when he knew she had had enough. She was pretty vocal
about that, but she hadn’t shown any signs of surrendering. “Tell
me.”

“Tell you what?” She no longer had her coffee
to hide behind. It was all gone. She would have to find something
else pretty quick.

“How much you want me. It’ll make things so
much easier on you. Yes feels so good.” He was beginning to get
aroused. You could cut through the tension in her office with a
knife.

She stood up, walked away
from her desk and went to look out the window, as she played with
her necklace. She didn’t like what he was doing. He was grilling
her harder than he ever had.
‘He’s had a
little too much sleep,’
she
thought.

Turning her back on him was a big mistake. He
liked to sneak up behind her. He got up from his seat, quietly and
slowly, moved in close to her, and whispered in her ear.