Conquest of the Heart (19 page)

“Perfect timing,” said Gavin. He stood and
led her to the carriage.

Faith looked at him, “Is this for us?”

Gavin grinned. “No my lady, it is for you.”
The driver had opened the door for them to enter.

“What do you mean it’s for me?” she
asked.

“You mentioned that you hadn’t gotten a
chance to see the city. This is one of the best ways to do it,” he
said. “It’s a perfect night for it.” Once they were in the
carriage, it began to make its way from the factory toward
Manhattan. They were sitting next to each other.

“How long do we have this carriage?” she
asked him.

“As long as we need it. There’s no time
limit. Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked, carefully placing his
arm around her.

“I am. This is really great,” she said,
continuing to look around like an awestruck teenage girl.

“So do you want to talk about this week?” he
asked.

“You actually want to talk about this week?”
she asked, turning to look at him.

Gavin smiled as he leaned in closely to her,
gently kissing her neck.

“Oh, you want to
talk
,” she said, closing
her eyes as he laid her back on the seat.

Gavin ran his hands up and down her body,
caressing her, feeling her. Faith wrapped her arms around him,
allowing her hands to stroke his back. He moaned with excitement.
Gavin tried to kiss her lips, and again she turned away. They
kissed and fondled each other a little while, both finding
themselves extremely aroused. He tried to slip his hands underneath
her blouse, but she kept his hands at bay.

“Gavin, we…… should….. stop,” said Faith.

“Unh unh,” he whispered. “I don’t want to
stop.” He gently stroked one of her breasts as he kissed her where
her shirt gaped open.

Faith took a deep breath in, as she tried to
get her body to relax.

“Gav - ” she tried to say, but the words just
wouldn’t form. Gavin’s hands were sensuously caressing every inch
of her. The only place they hadn’t been was in between her
legs.

“Shhh,” he whispered. “Relax. Enjoy my
touch.”

“We.... need to …...,” she paused, “oh
my…..,” she couldn’t finish her sentences. She squeezed his shirt,
trying to contain her pleasure.

Gavin tried once again to join her lips. Once
again, she didn’t allow him to.

They rolled onto the floor of the carriage,
with Faith now on top. She sat up, playfully rubbing his chest. He
smiled at her as she did this. She leaned in to kiss his neck and
his chest. As she got more aroused, she quietly said, “We need to
stop.”

“I’m enjoying you. Don’t stop,” Gavin
pleaded.

Faith took a deep breath. “Don’t look at me
like that. You know we need to settle down.”

“No,” he said, playfully pulling her down and
rolling on top of her. The carriage they were in was enclosed and
sound proof. The driver didn’t hear a thing.

He started to kiss back and forth between her
neck and her ears again. She closed her eyes momentarily, but
snapped out of it.

“Come on, Gavin. Do you want to have to go
wake Chandler up?” she asked, assuming their evening would be
late.

“I’m not seeing Chandler anymore,” he said,
kissing her cheek.

“What? Why?” Faith was shocked.

Gavin looked Faith in the eyes and said,
“When I was with her last night and called out your name, I
realized that it was you that I wanted to be with, and only you.”
He wanted to kiss her right then, but based on his earlier
attempts, knew he would be unable to.

Faith sighed, “Gavin, you know you can’t have
me in that way. I would never be enough for you.”

“What if you would be?” he asked, looking at
her seriously.

“I can’t just give you sex,” she said.

“What if I want more than just sex?” he
asked.

Faith looked at him suspiciously. “I don’t
think you mean that. I don’t think you’re sure of what you
want.”

“I’m sure it’s you that I want to be
with.”

Faith sat up, gathering her bearings. Looking
back at him she said, “If something is supposed to happen between
us, then it will. Let’s not force it, okay?”

“Alright,” he said, stroking her arm. He sat
up and kissed her shoulder, then her neck again. Faith closed her
eyes and smiled.

“You’re not making this easy,” she said.

“I’m not trying to,” he whispered as he
grabbed her gently by the waist and pulled her back down. They
continued to caress and fondle each other a little while
longer.

After some time, Gavin and Faith lifted
themselves off the floor and sat back on the seat. Faith made sure
that her blouse was buttoned up. She looked at Gavin and reached up
to touch his head, fixing hairs that were out of place. He smiled
and wrapped his arms around her, locking his hands behind her back.
Faith leaned in and rested against his chest, looking out the
window at the city lights.

As the carriage took them through Central
Park, Gavin couldn’t help but think about how nice it was to have
her in his arms. He didn’t allow his thoughts to go too far; he
didn’t want to get ahead of himself. He decided to do as Faith
said, let things happen if they were supposed to. The two of them
were going to be spending several weeks together. This would give
him an opportunity to see if he was truly ready for more than just
a physical relationship.

The carriage made its way back to the
restaurant, where the evening started. It pulled alongside Gavin’s
car, now the only car in the parking lot. The valet had given Gavin
his keys before they started the carriage ride so they wouldn’t be
stranded. Gavin got out first, and then helped Faith out. Gavin had
paid for the carriage rental in advance and included the tip, so
they thanked their driver and went to the car to head home.

When they arrived at Faith’s house, Gavin
pulled into the driveway. He got out, opened her door and helped
her out. They held hands as he walked her to her front door. She
still had her purple rose.

“Thanks for a wonderful evening. Although,
you owe me another dinner,” she said, smiling.

“Why is that?” he asked, gazing into her
eyes.

“Well, one, you said you’d take me to dinner
for my payback last night. Two, I didn’t get to see much of the
city. We were a little preoccupied.”

They chuckled. Gavin pulled her in close. He
gently cupped her neck in his hand, stroking her cheek with his
thumb. They gazed at each other for a moment. He kissed her
forehead, assuming he would meet the same resistance as he had
earlier to kiss her on the lips.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Another dinner on
me.”

He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her.
She looked up at him, and said, “Drive careful. Call me when you
get home so I know you made it.”

“I’ll send you a text in case you’re asleep,”
he said.

She kissed him on the cheek and said good
night. As she unlocked her door and stepped into her house, Gavin
walked back to his car. She stood at her window and sighed,
watching him drive away.

CHAPTER NINE

Faith rolled over in bed the next morning and
slid her phone from her nightstand. She gently rubbed away the
evidence of a good night’s sleep from her eyes, clearing them so
she could focus. She continued to lie in bed, propping her back up
a little with her pillow. The phone beeped at her, informing her
that a message was waiting for her.

“Made it home okay. Thanks again for a
wonderful night.”

Faith’s fingers sprung into action as she
texted back.

“Thanks for letting me know you’re okay. I
had a great time. Have a great weekend.” Her phone beeped, sending
the text.

Faith carefully plopped her phone down on the
bed and laid back against her pillow. She closed her eyes and
sighed, thinking about her night out. She smiled, her eyes
remaining closed. All of a sudden, her phone beeped again. She
picked it up to find another text.

“You too, beautiful.”

She fell back into her pillow again as she
let her phone drop onto the bed. It remained silent. She closed her
eyes again and smiled.

Faith rolled over on her side and stared out
into nothingness. After a few long moments had passed by, she
pulled herself up again. She swung her legs over the side of the
bed, away from the covers and stood up. Immediately she turned to
make the bed. There was only one side to make. Just as she was
finishing, she heard a rustling noise coming from another room. She
frowned and went to make sure everything was okay.

Another weekend was over. The office was
abuzz with preparations for the city tours. Faith came in early as
usual. She closed her door to her office, walked over to her desk
and logged on. While she waited for the system to boot, she placed
her purse in her drawer and walked over to the coat rack where she
kept a sweater. It could be a bit chilly in the building in the
mornings. She put the sweater on, crossed her arms and rubbed them,
trying to warm them up as she walked back to her desk.

As she sat back down, there was a knock, and
then the door opened. Gavin walked in and immediately came to her
side.

As he bent down to kiss her on the cheek, he
said, “Good morning, beautiful. I was running late this morning, so
I haven’t had a chance to get coffee yet. I’ll be right back.”

“No worries,” Faith smiled as he walked back
out.

Carter was coming in as Gavin was heading
toward the elevator. They barely spoke.

“Morning,” said Carter.

“Carter,” said Gavin, rushing past him,
hardly responding.

Carter noticed that Faith’s door was open as
he went to his office. He went in and put his stuff down, then
turned right back around to go down the hall to talk to her.

He knocked and stood at the door.

As Faith looked up, he asked, “So what’s
going on between you and Gavin?”

Faith frowned. “Good morning to you too,
Carter.”

“You two have been spending a lot of time
together lately. He always comes in here and closes the door.
What’s up with that?” he continued, walking in a little bit. He
stood with his hands in his pocket, looking at Faith like she was
hiding something from him.

“Did we start dating and I didn’t know it?”
she asked sarcastically.

“No,” he said. “I was just curious.”

“Oh, in that case, I would say it’s none of
your business.” She continued to move files around on her desk. She
had piles of work to go through before the trip. Since they were
leaving on Friday morning, it was going to be a short week. She
looked back up at him, with a question on her face, waiting for him
to leave or say something else.

“Did you know that he told me to stay away
from you? He said I would lose my job if I even tried to talk to
you.”

“Now, why would he do that?” she asked,
confused where Carter was going with his statement.

“Maybe he feels threatened. He wants you all
to himself, and he’ll do anything to make that happen. To do that,
I have to be out of the way,” he said.

Faith carefully said, “Carter, first, I have
a hard time believing that Gavin is threatened by anyone. Second, I
hate to say this, but I guess it’s time I did. I’m not interested
in you. You’re a nice guy, and I’m sure that there’s someone out
there for you, but it’s not going to be me. I’m sorry.”

“It would have been you, until he stepped
in,” he said, disappointed. “That’s okay. You’re obviously no
different than any of the other women he’s been with. They all want
the same thing. That’s what he counts on.”

“I’ll tell you like I told Chandler. You
don’t know what you’re talking about. Before you start making
accusations like that, you’d better know the facts. Until then, I’d
appreciate it if you’d leave,” she said, clinching her jaws.

“When you’re tired of playing his game, I’ll
be here,” he smirked as he turned to leave.

Faith rolled her eyes, huffed and shook her
head. She wondered where everyone was getting their nerve around
here. It was starting to get a little old. She shrugged her
shoulders and continued working. At least he knew how she felt
about him. That was one less thing she’d have to deal with.

Five minutes after Carter left, Gavin walked
in and closed the door.

“Here you go, beautiful,” he said handing her
coffee to her. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” he
asked as he sat down.

“Carter stopped by. He had some interesting
things to say,” she said, as she continued to plink away at her
computer.

Gavin’s face straightened. “What?”

“Yeah, did you tell him to stay away from me,
or he’d lose his job?” she asked as she stopped typing to look at
him.

“Yes I did,” Gavin said flatly.

“Gavin you can’t do that. We have to work
together. You can’t tell someone they’ll lose their job for talking
to someone else,” she said, shaking her head and leaning back in
her chair.

“I didn’t tell him you couldn’t work
together. I told him not to try to ask you out, or go behind my
back to ask you out.”

“He mentioned that, too. I broke down and
tried to nicely tell him that I wasn’t interested in him. He
responded by saying that I was like all the other women you’ve been
with,” she said shaking her head. “I told him he didn’t know what
he was talking about and asked him to leave. What’s going on with
you two? I don’t like being in the middle of it.”

“I’m trying to keep you out of the middle,”
Gavin said with tight lips. “There are some things that I’m just
not ready to explain, and you’re going to have to trust me. I’ll
take care of this.” He started to breathe deeper as his blood
pressure increased. His anger increased every second that he
thought about how Carter had disrespected her.