Conquest of the Heart (29 page)

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said, walking
to the side of the bed that she had slept on.

“Hi,” she said sleepily, smiling. “What’s
this?” she asked, sitting up against a pillow behind her. Gavin sat
the tray down in front of her.

“Breakfast in bed, of course,” he smiled. He
leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she said,
amazed at how sweet this man could be.

“I was up, and I wanted to surprise you.
Besides, you need the nourishment, even if it’s just a little
fruit. I figured you wouldn’t want to eat much more than that.”

Faith nodded. “You would be correct. Are you
going to eat with me?”

“I will sit with you, sure.”

“I’ll share,” she said, smiling.

Gavin sat down and allowed Faith to enjoy her
breakfast. She shared her fruit with him, though he wanted her to
eat most of it.

Sipping on her tea, she asked, “Are you going
in to work today?”

“Not really. I need to go talk to Adrian this
morning, but that’s it. I have a few errands to run after that.
I’ll be back before lunch.”

“Okay,” she said.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m sore, and still a little tired,” she
said, nodding. “I’m doing okay, though.”

“Good,” he said, gently stroking her cheek.
“I want you to rest today, alright? Don’t try to move much. I put
some ibuprofen on your tray to take when you’re finished. That will
help with the soreness. The chamomile will help you relax. If you
find you can’t sleep, the sleeping pills they prescribed at the
hospital are in that drawer.” He pointed to the nightstand. “You
only need one. If you can help it, try not to take them. They’ll
throw your sleeping patterns off.”

Faith nodded in agreement, thankful that
Gavin was there to take care of her.

“The remote for the television is in the same
drawer, and there are magazines and books stored on the shelf below
it if you want to read or preoccupy your mind,” he continued.

Faith finished everything on her tray,
including taking the ibuprofen. “Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” he gently said. Gavin stood
up, taking the tray with him. He took it to the kitchen and
returned to say goodbye.

“I don’t want to be away from you long, so
I’d better go. Don’t be stubborn,” he said, glaring at her sternly.
“Get some rest. We’ll get you out of this room when I get
back.”

“Alright,” Faith said disappointedly. She was
planning to get up as soon as he left.

He kissed her on the cheek again and
left.

Gavin stopped at Agnes’ desk before going in
to see Adrian. He didn’t want to interrupt any meetings he might be
engaged in.

“Hi, Agnes. Is Adrian free?” he asked.

“He is Gavin. He’s expecting you,” she
nodded.

Gavin knocked on the door and opened it at
the same time.

“Gavin. I’m glad you’re here. Come in. Sit
down,” said Adrian, motioning him in.

Gavin sat down and said, “There are some
things we need to discuss.”

“Yes there are. What would you like to talk
about first?” asked Adrian.

“Carter. What do we do about him?”

“Well, he definitely should be fired. As far
as I’m concerned, he is fired. However, Faith still needs to decide
whether she’s going to press charges or not. She has a very
forgiving heart. I think we should wait to see what she wants us to
do.”

“Forgiving or not, he can’t be around here. I
almost killed him,” said Gavin, getting angry just thinking about
it.

“I understand. I’m angry about this, too,”
consoled Adrian.

“No, I don’t think you’re hearing me. I was
one punch away from killing him. I don’t think he should come back
here.”

“Oh, I see. Well, how about we tell him to
take three weeks leave of absence to give Faith time to heal and
tell us what she wants us to do?”

“Six,” said Gavin flatly. “She needs more
time than that.”

“Alright, six it is,” Adrian agreed.

“Without pay,” Gavin continued.

“Six weeks without pay. Are you sure?” asked
Adrian.

“Positive,” Gavin stated.

“Okay. What’s next?” said Adrian, moving
on.

“We need to replace the carpet in Faith’s
office. We’ll also need to have the wall by her door repaired and
painted. Anything that might remind her of last night needs to be
removed,” Gavin said.

“I already started working on that. Building
management will be sending someone up this afternoon to look at the
damage and give us a quote for everything. I figured you might be
bringing that to my attention.”

“Thank you,” said Gavin.

“How is she doing?” asked Adrian,
concerned.

“She says she’s fine, but I don’t think it’s
really hit her yet. She’s sore, from the bruising,” answered
Gavin.

“She still hasn’t talked about it yet?”

“No. I won’t press her to do so. She’ll talk
when she’s ready. We always do,” said Gavin.

“Besides being angry, how are you holding
up?” asked Adrian.

“I’m trying to be strong for her, but I’m an
emotional wreck. My mind is a warzone.”

“The two of you have gotten close since the
Denver trip. I could tell when we had our meeting earlier this
week,” Adrian said, raising his eyebrows.

“You’re the second person who’s noticed. Are
we that obvious?” asked Gavin, astounded that their secret was no
longer a secret.

“I wouldn’t say that you were trying to be
obvious. I could see it in your eyes, and from the way you
interacted with each other in conversation,” responded Adrian. He
leaned forward in his chair and looked directly at Gavin.

“I don’t understand everything I’m feeling
right now. I hurt for her, I’m angry this happened to her. I’ll do
whatever I can to protect her. I’ve never felt this way before
about anyone. Not even-,”

“I know,” Adrian said, nodding. “Do you love
her?”

“I’m not quite ready to say that yet. Not
because I don’t want to, I just want to be sure.”

“When you know that you love her, tell her.
She’ll need to know,” said Adrian.

“I will. We’ve always been honest with each
other, unless we’re not ready to talk about something,” replied
Gavin.

“Speaking of which, have you told her about
what happened between you and Carter?” asked Adrian in a serious
tone.

“No. I’m going to tell her this afternoon or
tonight. It’s time she knows.”

“I agree,” said Adrian. “Faith is a
remarkable woman, Gavin. I hope that things work out between you
two. It’s good to see you happy.”

Gavin sighed deeply. “Thanks.”

“What’s that all about?” Adrian frowned.

“What if I hadn’t forgotten my phone?” asked
Gavin, shaking his head and looking into his lap.

“Gavin, son, you can’t look at it that way.
You were here when she needed you the most. You kept the worst from
happening,” said Adrian.

Gavin nodded.

“You know, you’re getting ready for another
trip in a week. The repairs on Faith’s office probably won’t be
complete until you get back. Why don’t you take next week off?”
suggested Adrian. “Faith will need you. I’ll cover any meetings you
have scheduled.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to her about
it,” Gavin said. He stood up to leave. “Thanks.”

“Sure. Keep me posted on how she’s doing,”
Adrian said.

“I will.” Gavin turned and left. He ran
several errands before returning home.

Faith was sitting on the living room sofa
when Gavin got home. He walked in with several bags. She quickly
laid down low in the cushions, and under the pillows. She was
supposed to be in bed.

“Someone is not where they’re supposed to
be?” he said, smiling as he sat the bags down.

She tried to hide, but it was too late.

Gavin moved the pillows she was covered with.
“You are so stubborn,” he laughed. “I told you to stay in bed until
I got back.”

“I cannot stay confined to four walls. What
fun is that? Besides, my legs aren’t broken, they’re just sore,”
she smiled. “I like your house. It’s nice.”

“You walked around?” Gavin asked, stunned.
“You should have been resting.”

“I was bored. You were gone forever. I didn’t
want to watch any ‘baby mama’ shows, and there are only so many
surveys I can take from the magazines you left. We’re compatible,
by the way. At least that’s what one survey said,” she giggled.

He chuckled. “It’s good to see you smiling.
How are you doing?”

“I’m good,” she said, nodding.

“Faith, are you sure? It hasn’t even been
twenty four hours,” said Gavin, raising his eyebrows.

Tears were building in her eyes. She looked
away, trying to find a way to change the subject. She eyed the bags
on the floor.

“Where did you go?” she asked, wiping her
eyes.

‘That’s what I
thought,’
Gavin thought. “I went shopping.
I have a question for you,” he said.

“What is it?” asked Faith.

“Well, you’re already staying the weekend.
Adrian and I would like you to take next week off. Then, we’re
scheduled for our next trip on Friday. Would you like to spend the
week with me before we leave?”

“Meaning you’d take the week off?” she
asked.

“That’s what I mean by spend the week with
me, yes,” he smiled.

“I don’t have any clothes. I have nothing but
what I’m wearing,” she said, pulling on her shirt.

“Well,” Gavin said, standing up and going to
get the bags, “I took the liberty of finding out what size you are,
shoes and all. I’m pretty familiar with the style of clothes you
like to wear, so I bought you a few things.” He sat the bags down
next to her so she could look.

“
This is a lot of stuff. No
wonder you were gone so long. You didn’t have to do this. Besides,
I normally don’t pack this many things. I usually recycle my
clothes after a week.”

“Then you’ll have clothes you can leave
here,” he said, hinting that he would like her to visit more often.
“So, how about it?”

“It does make sense, and it would be nice,
and easier. Let me think about it, okay?” said Faith.

“Alright. I’m going to start lunch while you
look through everything. Are you hungry?” he asked, standing and
going to the kitchen.

“Starved.”

“I can keep it simple, or I can get
sophisticated. Which would you like?” he asked.

“Let’s keep it simple for lunch. Are you
actually going to cook?” she asked, surprised.

“Of course. I cook all of my meals. I have a
degree in culinary arts. It kept me busy for a while after college.
I was still pretty low on the totem poll at C&A,” he said, as
he searched the refrigerator for what he wanted.

“Wow. That’s pretty amazing,” she said. She
had her arms crossed on the back of the sofa, with her head resting
on her arms, looking into the kitchen.

“Do you like cheese?” he asked, looking back
at her.

“Love it. It’s my weakness,” Faith
smiled.

“I thought I was your weakness?” Gavin
flirted.

“That’s a given,” she giggled.

Gavin pulled several types of cheese from the
refrigerator, sliced some focaccia bread, and took out a pan from
the cupboards. He sprayed the pan lightly with oil and sprinkled
some garlic pepper and parmesan cheese inside, then covered it with
a slice of bread. On top of the bread he placed a slice each of
cheddar, provolone, and mozzarella cheeses, added a few sun-dried
tomatoes, and covered everything with a second slice of bread. Once
one side was grilled, he sprayed the pan again, repeating the
garlic and parmesan steps, and flipped the sandwich. He cut up some
strawberries and put them on one side of a plate, cut the sandwich
in half, and then prepared another one.

“What do you want to drink?” he asked.

Faith was pulling clothes from the bags that
Gavin brought home. He knew her better than she thought. Each item
she looked at was something she would have chosen.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having. What are
you making? It smells delicious,” she said sniffing the air.

“I’m almost done. I’ll be there in a second,”
said Gavin.

He put their plates, drinks, and napkins on a
tray and carried them over to the table sitting in front of the
sofa.

“This is the best grilled cheese you will
ever eat,” he said, sitting the tray down.

“Seriously? It’s cheese and bread,” she
teased.

“Take one bite and you’ll be begging me to
make you another one,” he grinned as he sat down next to her.

Faith had her legs crossed and was sitting
sideways. He handed her a plate and a napkin. She took a bite of
her sandwich to see what all the fuss was about. She chewed slowly
as she enjoyed every second and every flavor contained in that one
bite. With her eyes closed, she smiled dreamily as if she had just
found heaven.

“Gavin, this is awesome!” she exclaimed.
“You’re right. This is the best grilled cheese sandwich I’ve ever
had.”

They finished their lunch and talked for a
while. Faith was getting tired from all of the excitement of the
afternoon. The ibuprofen she had taken that morning was beginning
to wear off, so Gavin gave her a couple more. She laid down on the
couch and rested as Gavin cleared their plates and cleaned the
kitchen.

“Did you like the clothes I picked out for
you?” he asked.

“Actually I did. You know me pretty well. I’m
not going to ask how you knew my bra and underwear sizes,” she said
sleepily, moaning, yawning and stretching all at once.

He chuckled. “Are you falling asleep in
there?” said Gavin, looking out over the countertop. He didn’t
address the bra and underwear issue.

“Almost. I can’t believe how tired I am,” she
said, closing her eyes.

“Your body has been through a lot. You rest.
I’ll hang your clothes up when I’m through in the kitchen,” he
said.