Love Love (16 page)

She touches the bracelet with a shy
smile. “Kyle gave it to me.”

My mouth drops open. “What?
When?”

“
Last night,” she says,
with a blast of color making her cheeks rosy.

I can’t seem to close my mouth. “Fran,
it’s beautiful.”

She moves closer to me in the booth.
“He’s really something, Gabby. He really gets me, you know, and I
can be myself with him. When I told him about my dad he was so
understanding and supportive. He didn’t say a word…he just held me.
And for the first time, I’m not embarrassed about my scars. He’s
always kissing them and telling me that they’re a part of me, and
he loves all my parts.”

I do a double take. “Did you just say
love?”

She sighs heavily. “It’s just a figure
of speech, Gabby. You know what I mean.”

Wrapping my arm around her shoulder, I
pull her to me. “I’m so happy for you, Fran. That’s exactly what
you deserve.”

We finish our drinks and start to
leave when I pause. “Fran, give me a second, okay?” I motion to
Brad. He walks over and my eyes meet his. “I just wanted to say
thank you for…holding my hair back yesterday.”

Brad’s sincere eyes caress my face.
“Gabby, you don’t have to thank me.” He smiles. “I enjoyed it,
actually, and I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”

“
Well, I am, and I really
appreciate you coming over and you know, not being grossed out by
my vomiting and all.”

He laughs. “I didn’t say I wasn’t
grossed out. Besides, I’m starting to notice we have this bonding
thing over toilets.”

The corner of my lips turn up. “Gee,
thanks for that reminder; I appreciate it. I’ll see you later.”
Brad’s expression changes instantly. His eyes look a bit sad and
I’m not sure why, I did just thank him and all. “You alright,
Brad?”

He slowly turns away, waving the back
of his hand at me as he starts for the back of the shop, his voice
sounding distant. “Yeah, fine. See ya, Gabby.”

Fran and I leave the shop and I can
see the wheels spinning. “What was that all about?”

I start twisting the ends of my hair
and shifting on my feet. “You knew I was home sick yesterday. When
you were at Kyle’s last night, Brad came over and took care of me.
I just wanted to thank him.”

With raised eyebrows, Fran responds,
“Reallllly?”

“
What?”

“
Gabby, you’re doing that
twirling thing with your hair, and you’re fidgeting.”

“
Yeah, so?” I choke out, a
bit frustrated.

“
Nothing. Nothing at
all.”

Robby’s in rare form today. He’s
practically skipping around the office, raving about happy clients
and fabulous new furniture. “Good morning, Gabby
dahling.”

“
Good morning,
Robby.”

“
How are you?”

“
I’m okay, you?”

He shakes his head back and
forth. “When am I going to hear
great
come out of those fabulous lips
of yours? I want to hear that you’re doing fantastic, splendid,
marvelous!” Robby’s always so optimistic–he wants everyone to be as
happy as he is.

“
I’m working on
it.”

“
Well, as long as it’s a
work in progress, sweetheart, it’s all good.”

I go back to dealing with the
overwhelming sticky note parade marching across my desk. My cell
phone rings and quickly transports me from post-it hell.

“
Hello, beautiful,” a low,
husky voice calls from the other end.

“
Hey, Dane.”

His voice springs up. “I’ve been
thinking about you all day and wondering if I could see you
tonight?”

“
Sure, that sounds great.
What did you have in mind?”

“
Why don’t we go over to
the Sky Bar and have a couple of drinks first, and then come back
to my hotel? Sound good? Do you want to meet up at say
seven?”

Ooh, we’re actually going somewhere
other than his hotel! “Great, Dane. See you then.”

Immediately, I call Fran.
“Hey!”

“
Hey, sweetie! What’s
up?”

“
Dane and I are going to
the Sky Bar tonight. Do you and Kyle want to come?”

“
Kyle’s taking me to
dinner, but maybe we’ll swing by after.”

“
Cool. Hope to see you
later.”

I’m pacing nervously around my room
trying to get dressed for tonight. It’s kind of ridiculous since
we’ve already had sex many times, and I should be broken in by now,
but I still want to impress the guy with something besides my
sexual prowess. Meeting in public is exciting and a little scary. I
mean, couples go out for drinks…oh well, I know we’ll end up in bed
anyway. I try and shake my anxiety when my phone rings. I smile;
it’s Brad.

“
Hey!” He sounds so
enthusiastic and I can actually see his dimple.

“
Hey!” I respond with the
same level of excitement.

He chuckles. “I just said
that.”

I’m laughing inside. “You’ve got
jokes, I see.” Grabbing my heels, I sit on the bed and slide them
on, then walk over to my dresser and dig in my jewelry box for my
gold earrings. I shoulder the phone to my ear and walk to the
bathroom to brush my hair. I’ve become very good at multi-tasking.
Must be all those sticky notes.

“
Always. So whatcha
doing?”

“
I’m getting ready to head
out.” In ten minutes.

“
Where to?”

“
I’m going to the Sky Bar.
I’m meeting Dane there.”

“
Oh, okay.” His voice
deflates and I feel a pang of guilt.

Curiosity gets the better of me. “Why,
what’s up?”

I hear hesitation, and the line is
quiet for a minute. “Nothing. Just thought we could hang
out.”

“
Can we do it another
time?” I’m starting to feel bad and try to sound upbeat.

“
Sure.” He sounds anything
but.

“
Great. Talk to you
later.”

“
See ya.”

When I arrive at the Sky Bar, I’m
greeted by the familiar smell of alcohol and body odor. My favorite
combination…not. I don’t see Dane yet, so I push my way through the
crowd of tightly packed bodies to get a drink. It’s just seven
o’clock anyway. I plant myself on a stool and chat it up with the
bartender. Sipping my drink slowly, I eye the door so I can make
sure to flag Dane down. It’s really crowded in here and I’m not
sure he’ll see me. When I see the door open, I’m sure it’s going to
be Dane. But it’s not. It’s Brad. What on earth is he doing here?
Then a tiny thought creeps in my head. You told him you’d be here;
you practically invited him!

I watch him walk in. He’s wearing
tight fitting jeans and a white button down shirt. His brown eyes
are dazzling, even from a distance it’s hard not to notice them.
Walking in further, he appears to be scanning the room. He really
is handsome and I’m finding it difficult to look away. Our eyes
meet and he smiles, walking toward me with that slow, lazy swagger.
I’ve never really thought of Brad as sexy, but tonight, he looks
the part.

When he finally reaches me, he smiles
approvingly. “Gabby, you look really pretty.”

“
Thanks. You do, too. I
mean, handsome that is.” Gosh, Gabby. Get a grip, you’re here to
meet another guy. What the heck am I doing? “So, what are you doing
here?”

“
I don’t know. I just felt
like a night out.” He looks around, obviously searching for my
date. “Where’s Dane?”

“
I’m waiting for him, he’s
a bit late.” My eyes dart to the door again.

“
Well, then you have the
pleasure of my company while you wait. If that’s okay with
you.”

I look around the room again. No Dane.
“Sure, why not?”

We sit and chat for a while. We talk
about my life back in California and he tells me some stories about
his family. I don’t chime in too much, I just let him talk. It’s
strange, though. I feel so comfortable around Brad. Much more
comfortable than Dane. And I’m actually listening to him. I laugh
to myself. I guess throwing up in front of someone kind of breaks
the ice. I like talking to him, though, so much so that I
completely lose track of the time. It’s 7:45 and still no Dane. At
this point, I kind of don’t care whether he shows up or not. My
phone buzzes. Speak of the devil.

Dane: Gabby, so sorry, got
tied up at work

Me: That’s okay

Dane: Can I make it up to
you another night?

Me: Sure

Dane: Great

I close my cell phone and throw it in
my purse.

Brad looks over at me. “Everything
alright?”

“
Yes, fine. Dane can’t make
it, he’s stuck at work.”

Brad turns away, failing miserably to
hide his smile. He seems a little too happy about it. Surprisingly,
I’m happy about it, too. I don’t mind spending more time with
him.

His dimple surfaces. “So, I guess we
get to hang out after all.”

“
Yup, I guess we do.” I
lean my elbows on the bar and sip my drink with a smile.

He buys me another drink, and then
another after that. We talk and laugh, a lot, and I’m genuinely
happy that Dane cancelled. After my third drink, I narrow my eyes
and shake my finger at him. “Are you trying to get me drunk so you
can take advantage of me?”

“
Who me?” he says with an
unassuming smile. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

The alcohol is making me brave. “You
know, when I first met you, I thought you were kind of odd.” I
stifle a giggle. “Odd, but cute.” And getting cuter by the
minute.

He blinks a few times and his face
reddens. “You know, when I first met you, I thought you were
adorable. Clumsy, but most definitely adorable.”

My face flushes, and I almost choke on
my drink.

After an hour of a lot more talking
and a lot more drinking, I’m feeling extremely giddy. Brad is
looking at me with those soft, dreamy brown eyes that, quite
frankly, are hard to resist. I take a moment to really look at him.
Everything is hazy; well, except for one thing. His lips. Pink,
lush, full. There’s only one thing on my mind. Kissing them.
Scratch that. I want to plunge my tongue into the farthest depths
of his succulent mouth. Suddenly, my life's mission is to become an
explorer. Holy crap! Where did that come from? It must be the
alcohol talking.

The more we talk, the closer he gets.
I can almost feel his breath on my face. At some point, his hand
moves around my shoulder and his fingers graze my bare skin. I feel
tiny goosebumps pop out all over. Holy crap. I hope he didn’t
notice that.

The music grabs my attention, and I
pause for a second. “I love this song.”

“‘
You and Me’ by
Lifehouse,” he says.

“
You know them?”

“
Yeah, they’re one of my
favorite bands.”

“
Seriously?”