Gabriel's Rule (3 page)

She
heard his footsteps behind her – his stride was so much longer than hers that
he’d caught up to her in no time.

“You’re
not going back there.”

She
came to a stop so fast that he narrowly avoided running into her. “Are you
kidding me with this caveman crap?” When he didn’t answer she started walking
again. “I’m going back there the second that bar opens tomorrow and begging Mac
to let me keep my job.”

“So
you like it when drunken assholes put their hands all over you?”

“No,
but I like eating and having a roof over my head.”

“I’ll
help you find something else. Something safe.”

“God
Gabe, really? If it were that easy don’t you think I’d have done it already?”
She shook her head and laughed harshly. “Don’t you get it? I need a place that
won’t ask questions, where I don’t have to fill out an application. Those kinds
of places don’t just fall off trees.”

‘You
want to stay off the grid,” he acknowledged, though he didn’t press for more.

“Just
leave me alone.”

“You’re
not going back there.” When she remained mute something inside of him snapped
and he grabbed her arm and pushed her into the nearest alley. He backed her up
against the wall and snarled, “Is this what you want? A group of guys that will
gang rape you in a dark alley and leave your body surrounded by trash? Because
that’s what those guys were thinking tonight and the fact that you think mace
can stop a group of men from doing that to you means you are either incredibly
naïve or incredibly stupid!”

“Let
me go,” she demanded but she didn’t struggle against him. He saw no fear in her
eyes, just furious anger. When he didn’t back off she tried pushing at his
chest, but he grabbed her arms and pinned them next to her head, his big hands
dwarfing her wrists. He felt her body tighten as he used the rest of his body
to keep her immobile against the wall. The light from one of the street lamps
seeped into the dark alley, enough so that he could make out her features and
see the various emotions running through her eyes. Had he seen betrayal or had
he imagined it?

His
own body was responding physically to the soft curves that were pressed against
him. Every breath she took made her breasts brush his chest and even through
the fabric of both of their shirts, he could feel her nipples hardening. As
angry as she was at him, she couldn’t hide her arousal and when he brushed his
erection against her, he watched her eyes widen. His eyes traveled to her full
lips as they parted to suck in some much needed oxygen. If he didn’t stop this
soon he’d end up fucking her right up against this wall. But she wasn’t some
client and this wasn’t some messed up fantasy so he forced himself to step back
and release her arms. She shuddered and dropped them before pushing passed him
and continuing down the sidewalk towards their building. He followed but didn’t
say another word, not even when she slammed her apartment door in his face.

Riley
studied the dingy, white textured ceiling above her head and wondered how
someone even went about painting a ceiling. She’d tossed and turned most of the
night and had finally fallen asleep around four a.m., but just three hours
later she was wide awake again. Her mind kept replaying the scene with Gabe the
night before, but she was still struggling to process how everything had gone
to hell so quickly.

She’d
somehow managed to stand her ground with him up until the moment he pushed her
against the wall in the alley. It hadn’t hurt but it had caught her off guard.
He’d put that awful image in her mind of Stubby and his buddies taking turns
assaulting her and she had reluctantly admitted to herself that she wouldn’t
have been able to stop something like that. But when he’d pinned her arms and
pressed his body against hers, everything but him had vanished. Heat had
flooded her veins and pooled in her belly and when her breasts kept coming into
contact with the rock hard muscles of his chest, she’d felt her nipples tighten
to the point that she was taking deeper breaths just so she could make sure the
hardened tips kept brushing against him. When she’d felt his hard length rock
against her, all she could think about was how it would feel inside her,
pulsing and throbbing and stretching her.

Groaning,
Riley dropped her hand over her eyes. She’d never be able to face him again
after she’d shamelessly rubbed against him. He had just been trying to teach
her a lesson and when he had figured out how turned on she was, he’d dropped
her like a hot potato. Sex was something she hadn’t been good at as her ex so
often reminded her, and someone like Gabe would not want only a woman that
matched him in physical beauty but sexual experience as well. Before last
night, she had hoped they could at least be friends, but getting the cold
shoulder had been brutal. And when he had become demanding, she’d automatically
shut down inside. Her life had been controlled for far too long already, she
wasn’t about to let it happen again and certainly not with a man she barely
knew.

She
forced herself out of bed and went to the kitchen to start the coffee so it
would be done by the time she was done showering. There was only one item on
her to do list for today – beg Mac to let her keep her crappy job.

***

Sweat
dripped down Gabe’s back as he punched and kicked the heavy weight bag
violently. He couldn’t get the image of the men grabbing Riley last night out
of his mind and visions of them violating her had tormented him most of the
night. That, combined with his growing confusion about his body’s reaction to
her, had had him taking his aggression out on the bag for more than an hour
now. He didn’t consider himself a violent man, but last night when the man
whose kneecap he’d broken had touched Riley, he’d lost all control and only
Riley’s soft touch and soothing voice had pulled him out of it.

If
she hadn’t done what she’d done, he’d likely be sitting in a prison cell right
now. When he’d turned his frustrations on her, instead of being frightened or
intimidated, she had stood toe to toe with him. Few men and certainly no women
had ever done that before, and in addition to stoking his anger, it had also
turned him on. Pushing her against the wall in the alley had been an impulse
but when she had softened against his hard body and all of her curves had
dipped into his hollows, his arousal had skyrocketed. None of the women he’d
been with professionally had ever driven him into the state that Riley had.

Gabe
gave the bag a few more good hits and then stripped off his gloves. He grabbed
a glass of water and paced back and forth as he drank it. He knew he owed her
an apology for his rough treatment of her in the alley, but he wasn’t sorry for
what he had done in the bar. If he was smart he would just put her out of his
mind and let her go on about her business – they were nothing to each other and
even if he had wanted more, he knew he couldn’t give her what a woman like her
deserved.

He’d
only had two actual girlfriends, one in college just before he’d begun
escorting and one about two years into his career. The first girl had been 18,
a sorority type girl who liked to party and drank just a little bit too much.
He’d been reluctant to date her, but she had been persistent and her bubbly
nature distracted him from the difficulties in his life. The sex had been okay
but nothing mind blowing and he had ended the relationship after two months
because they were just so different and it had begun to feel like too much work
to try and keep up with her.

He’d
met his second girlfriend by chance, they’d hooked up after meeting in bar.
They’d both been drunk and he honestly couldn’t even remember their first night
together. The relationship had been mostly physical and the truth was that he
had used her to try and figure out his sexual hang ups. He was two years into
escorting and had still struggled to have any kind of connection with his
customers and had never actually been able to find sexual release with any of
them. Knowing that his buddies like Shane hadn’t encountered that same dilemma
had made him wonder if there was something wrong with him sexually, so he had
used his second girlfriend to try and build an emotional connection in an
effort to find the act of sex more comfortable.

To
his shock, he faced the same problems with her that he did with his clients.
She hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared. Growing desperate, he had come clean to his
girlfriend about the type of work he was doing in the hopes that if he wasn’t
lying about that part of his life then maybe everything else would fall into
place. She’d been surprised, then curious. Then she’d wanted a demonstration.
She hadn’t insisted he quit, hadn’t carried on about being betrayed; she just
expected the same from him that he gave his customers. He’d dumped her two days
after telling her the truth about his job.

After
that, he had given up on building any kind of personal relationship with a
woman and he just numbed himself to what he was doing with his escort clients.
The emptiness kept growing with each woman he fucked for money until he no
longer felt anything at all. Giving a woman an orgasm had become the same as
hanging up a piece of drywall, but at least after a long day of busting his ass
on a construction job he could still look at himself in the mirror.

He
was so fucked up and now somehow Riley had been thrown into the mix. He didn’t
understand why he was drawn to her. They’d barely spoken, she hadn’t pursued
him in any way and she didn’t look anything like the women he’d tried
relationships with in the past. They’d all been tall, skinny model types that
wouldn’t leave the house unless they were dressed to the nines and were in full
make-up. They went to tanning salons, got fancy manicures and haircuts that
cost more than his truck payment and ate salads even when he took them to a
pizza joint. He had yet to see Riley with any makeup on and besides the bar
uniform, he’d only ever seen her in simple jeans and plain, long-sleeved tops.
Her hair was always tied back in a ponytail or braided. He suddenly wondered
what it would feel like loose and flowing down around them both as she rode
him.

“Fuck!”
Gabe muttered as he caught himself. Why did random thoughts like that keep
popping into his head? He sucked down the rest of the water and headed to the
shower. He had some amends to make today and after that he was going to stay as
far away from Riley Sinclair as he could.

***

Riley
checked her watch as she left the bathroom and went to the kitchen to grab her
keys and purse. The bar would be opening soon and she was hoping to catch Mac
before any customers got there. She swiped up her keys and swung her purse over
her shoulder before rushing out the door. In the hallway, she locked her door
and then searched through her purse for her mace. After Gabe’s rant last night
about what could happen to her walking the streets at night by herself, she’d
decided that it would be safer to drive to work going forward. She’d have to
leave a bit earlier to try and find parking but Gabe had been right that she’d
been putting her safety at risk. But it was the middle of the day and she could
use the exercise. She would just make sure to keep the mace within easy reach
in her pocket.

As
she searched the contents of her bag, her fingers brushed against something
unfamiliar. A business card. But it was unlike any business card she’d ever
seen before. The front just said “Shane” in plain black, bold print. Shane had
gotten her purse for her last night – he must have put the card in it before
giving it back to her.

She
flipped the card over and saw there was a single phone number and email address
on the back. But it was the handwritten note that immediately caught her
attention. It looked hastily scrawled and said ‘
Don’t give up on him
.’ What did that mean? Was he talking about
Gabe? Give up on him? How could she give up on someone that wasn’t even a part
of her life? Confused, she studied the card for a few more seconds and then
shoved it back in her purse. What kind of work did Shane do that warranted a
card with just his first name on the front and a phone number and email on the
back?

She
shook her head and put it out of her mind as her fingers closed around the
mace. At the same time she heard the door behind her swing open and she spun
around to see Gabe watching her. His gaze fell to the mace in her hand and she
didn’t miss the twitch in his jaw as he realized what it meant. Gabe pulled the
door closed behind him but didn’t move any further. Riley turned back to her
own door, confirmed it was locked, and then headed for the stairs.

“Riley.”

“Don’t
start with me Gabe.” She trotted down the stairs but didn’t slow when she heard
him behind her.

“I
wanted to apologize,” he started but she ignored him and kept walking. She
heard his footsteps stop and she sighed in relief.

“Please.”

Riley
stopped when she heard the longing in his voice. She guessed that he wasn’t the
type of man to ever ask for anything and “please” probably wasn’t a word he
used often. She remembered Shane’s note. Stopping at the end of the walkway,
she debated for a moment and then finally turned to face him. He seemed
relieved and it only took him a few long strides to close the distance between
them.

“Last
night…” he began and then seemed to consider his words for a moment. “I can’t
say I’m sorry for what happened in the bar.”

When
she started to turn away from him he moved so that he blocked her path. “But I
am sorry for making you leave…I should have asked you if that was what you
wanted.” She had relaxed her stance somewhat so he continued. “And after, in
the alley, I shouldn’t have done that. I was trying to make a point and I went
too far. I’m sorry.”

Riley
studied him for a moment and then finally nodded. He seemed sincere. “Let’s
just forget it, okay?” She started to walk again.

“I
was wondering if you’d come take a ride with me somewhere.”

She
was quiet for a moment before finally saying, “Where?”

“A
friend of mine owns a diner not far from here and she’s looking for a waitress.
I told her about your situation with needing to keep things under the table for
a while and she said that would be okay with her. It’s a decent place, safe
neighborhood, good food, good people. You wouldn’t have to work nights at all.
If you don’t like the place or Nell then I’ll drop you off at Mac’s myself.” He
seemed to almost be pleading with her.

Riley’s
insides were doing a happy dance at the thought of a job where she could work
days and not have to dodge groping hands and sweaty, stale smelling bodies. But
she hesitated because she couldn’t let him think it was okay to manage her.

He
seemed to sense her thoughts because he said, “I swear, after today we’ll just
go back to being neighbors who occasionally nod to one another politely in the
hallway. I won’t bother you again.” Part of her ached at the thought of that
being all there was to their relationship. Even after last night’s fiasco, she
still found herself wanting more with him, especially now that she knew how
much trouble he’d gone through to try and help her. But he didn’t want that and
she had to stop convincing herself that things could be different.

“Okay,
I’ll go.”

“Great,
my truck’s parked right over here.” He led her to an older model, navy blue
Ford pickup truck. He pulled open the passenger door for her and held out his
hand to help her up, which she appreciated since the truck was huge. It had
running boards but even with those, it would have been awkward to climb into
the cab without Gabe’s help.

Once
she was in, Gabe shut the door and she buckled up. She was sitting on a bench
seat and when Gabe slid into the driver’s seat, she couldn’t help but imagine
how easy it would be to slide over just a bit so she could be sitting right
next to him, their bodies touching. She shook herself from the wayward thought
and watched Gabe start the truck and pull away from the curb.

He
was a confident driver which didn’t surprise her – it was like he owned
everything he did and never second guessed himself. She envied him that – the
majority of her life was about battling the self-doubt that would creep up on
her. She was too fat, she wasn’t smart enough, she didn’t dress well enough,
didn’t have enough friends, didn’t have the right kind of friends…the list was
endless. Add to that an ex who had fed each doubt with a heap of criticism and
you had someone who sucked in praise like it was a drowning person’s last gasp
of air.