28. Chapter 28
”Stop flirting with her,” I warned Devon.
Aurora had stepped away to use the ladies” room while we were having dinner at Forte dei Marmi after a long day of meetings and walk throughs of the existing hotel in Miami Beach that we were going to convert into a Rhodes property.
”You”ve got your head up your ass.” Devon didn”t hide his amusement.
”And what the fuck was that about how you”d like to show her your suite?” I demanded.
”Because she”s staying in a single room, and she could see the layout of a suite in a Rhodes Hotel. For Pete”s sake, Gabe, get a fucking grip, will you?” Devon shook his head as if disgusted with me. ”She”s being professional. I”m being professional.”
”And what am I being?”
”Insufferable.”
I drank some of my after-dinner espresso. It had been a long day. I wasn”t involved in the type of meetings I had today—but I did it to spend time with Aurora. I loved seeing her in work mode. She was smart, intelligent, and charming. She was also tough as nails. When one of the hotel directors had been rude to her, making a veiled sexist comment, she”d neatly and nicely put him in his place without breaking a sweat or alienating the rest of the room. I was ready to punch him while she”d been the fucking epitome of grace.
”I want Nathan out on his ass as soon as possible. He doesn”t get to talk to women like he did with Aurora,” I told Devon, whose team Nathan was in.
”On it.”
My phone beeped with a calendar alert. ”Fuck, I have to go. I have a meeting with the Bangkok team in thirty minutes.”
”What I don”t understand is what you”re doing here in the first place? I”ve never seen you get involved in a project this early on,” Devon commented.
”Fuck if I know,” I replied honestly.
Aurora came back then, and I felt my heart stutter. She”d been working all day, and even now, while I was so tired, I felt like a creek bed in August, all dried up and cracked; she looked fresh as a daisy.
Her dark hair was tied up in a ponytail with a few wisps of hair around her face. Her lips were devoid of lipstick, but she”d put something glossy on them when she”d gone to the restroom. Her face looked dewy. And her brown eyes were full of energy.
”Thank you so much for dinner.” She smiled at me, it wasn”t one of the smiles she used to give me when we were together; this was her professional smile.
We”d reached a sort of détente after we”d talked the other night on the phone when I”d told her she”d been amazing at the project kickoff meeting. I”d stopped apologizing for being a jackass to her and stopped telling her that I was still madly in love with her, and she was treating me like a client. I fucking hated it.
Aurora had chosen to stay at the Rhodes Hotel on South Beach, whereas I was at the family home. Although I extended an invitation for her and Devon to join me, they politely declined. Devon preferred to maintain a suite at the hotel during week, going to his home in Key Largo for the weekend.
”Your car picking you up?” Devon asked as we went out of the restaurant.
”Yeah.” It was a good thirty-minute walk to the house, while the Rhodes Hotel was only a couple of blocks away.
”Well, goodnight then,” Aurora said to me.
”I can drop you both off,” I offered when the car and driver arrived.
”It”s a short walk Gabe, and I need it.” Devon patted his stomach. He was wearing shorts, leather thongs, and a Hawaiian shirt. He had that whole beach bum vibe going for him. The way Aurora looked at him made the green-eyed monster inside me roar.
Was she into him?No fucking way!
”Actually, I need to talk to Aurora for a minute, so I”ll make sure she gets back.” I had no idea what I wanted to talk to her about.
Devon looked at Aurora as if waiting for her to assent, and when she did, he walked away whistling Air Supply”s Lost in Love.
Aurora folded her arms.
”Should we get into the car?” I gestured to the Cadillac.
”I prefer to walk.”
”It”s late, and I said I”ll drop you off.”
”I”ll walk,” she said stubbornly.
”Get in the fucking car, Aurora.” The woman was driving me up the wall.
”No,” she replied calmly. ”What do you want to talk about?”
”Stop flirting with Devon. He”s a total man whore.”
The shock on her face was almost comical, and I knew she wanted to knee me in the nuts.
”You”re out of your ever-lovin” mind, Gabriel Rhodes.”
You have no idea, darlin”.
”I”m just saying that—”
”What is wrong with you?”
”Me?” I leaned to bring my face close to her. ”I”m fucking jealous of every man you talk to. And working with you is driving me crazy.”
She swallowed. ”That sounds like a you problem.”
”I want you,” I admitted.
She closed her eyes and when she opened them, the fight was gone. ”You can”t do this. Is this why you”re here today? Devon mentioned you never get involved in a project this early on.”
Son of a bitch. He had to tell her.
”Baby, I have a chance here to see you on the regular and you think I”d let that opportunity go?”
”Why? We”re never happening. Don”t you get that?” The pain and desperation in her voice all but killed me.
”Baby, give me a chance.” I was ready to plead. To beg. Hell, I”d do anything if she”d just let me try again to show her how much she meant to me.
”Why?”
”Because I love you,” I snapped. ”And you love me.”
She shook her head. ”I”m not walking into the kind of pain you subjected me to.”
”I”ve sorted things out with Sophia and—”
”This isn”t about your daughter; this is about you,” she cut me off. ”You didn”t respect me, Gabriel. I didn”t see it then because I didn”t want to, because I was so blinded by how much I felt for you. I don”t have blinders on anymore. You ignored me when it wasn’t convenient for you. You came to me when it was. The minute I didn”t conform to whatever it was you wanted, you dumped me. You don”t deserve a second chance. You didn”t even deserve a first.”
A group of people came out of the restaurant, and I took her hand in mine, leading her silently to the car. I opened the door and waited.
She got in, obviously exasperated, but understanding that we were not going to hash this out with an audience.
”Carlos, we”re going to the house,” I said to the driver before I raised the privacy screen.
”Gabriel, it”s late, and we have early meetings, so—”
”You think I don”t know that I don”t deserve you? Fuck, Aurora, I was just as blind as you. But I don”t have blinders on now either, and what I know is that for the past ten years, the only happiness I”ve had is with my daughter and you. Real happiness. The kind of joy that makes me want to get the fuck out of bed in the morning.”
”Like I said, Gabriel sounds like a you problem.” She was looking out of the window.
I put a hand on her chin and gently turned her face to look at me. ”Say you don”t love me.”
Her eyes went glassy. ”Fuck you, Gabriel.”
She hardly ever cursed, and the fact that she was, told me the depth of how much pain I”d caused her.
”Baby, say the word,” I joked.
Her eyes flashed anger. So, maybe my timing was off.
”We”re done. Don”t you get that?”
”Say you don”t love me,” I challenged again.
She licked her lips. Her arms were still crossed as if she was holding herself together. ”I don”t.”
”Say, Gabriel, I don”t love you.”
She closed her eyes. ”Stop it,” she hissed.
”Say it, god damn it, because I haven”t slept in months because I ache for you. Whenever I fucking smell lavender, I get hard. I pick up my phone at night and want to call you, talk to you. I want to fuck you, make love to you, be with you. So, say you don”t love me or say you”ll give me a fucking chance,” I bellowed.
The car stopped. We were at the family house. I didn”t know how I was going to maneuver her inside. I knew there was no chance I”d get her into bed, and the truth was, regardless of how much I wanted her, sex wasn”t going to solve our problems. It would feel damn good, but I wanted her to trust me again, believe in us again. That meant I couldn”t just take advantage of her desire for me.
Her eyes were wide, and I knew she was holding back tears. ”What does giving you a chance mean?”
Her voice was so low that I almost wasn”t sure she”d said what she had. My heart, which had all but stopped, began to slam against my ribs.
”I”d like for us to date. Go out. Spend time with one another.”
She just kept looking at me.
”No sex,” I added, ”Not until you trust me again.” I was an idiot. I wouldn”t be able to last with her smelling like she did. Even now, the need to bury myself inside her was debilitating. But I”d just have to curb my libido and rebuild what I”d destroyed.
”Why are you doing this? You can have any woman. Just—”
”I don”t want any woman. I want you. Only you.”
”How do you know?”
”Because I tried. Last time I was here with Beau…Beau Bodine,” I explained, and she nodded, ”I tried.”
The flash of jealousy in her eyes made me feel better, made me feel there was hope.
”You tried?” The words seemed to have been choked out of her.
”Yeah. I didn”t want anyone, not even for a quick fuck. I can”t see anyone but you.”
She looked at her hands. ”I wanted to fall for Callum.”
”Pierce?” The son of a bitch!
”I couldn”t. I tried as well.”
I wanted to ask how far did it go. Did he kiss her? Touch her? Where did he touch her? Jesus! I”d never been a jealous or possessive man. Even when I was young and dating, I wasn”t an alpha male asshole. But with Aurora, I had this Neanderthal inside me, beating his fucking chest and roaring, ”My woman.”
”Give us another chance, baby.” I was enough of a businessman to know when I had someone where I wanted them.
She looked at me. ”What will dating do, Gabriel?”
”It”ll show you that you can trust me. That you can believe in me. Give me this one chance, and you”ll never have to give me another.”
She licked her lips, and I had to stop myself from pulling her into me and devouring those glossy, cupid bow lips.
My phone beeped with a calendar alert, and I sighed.
”You have a meeting.” She knew the different sounds my phone made.
”With the Bangkok team.”
”Go for your meeting. Your driver can drop me off.”
I stroked her cheek with the back of my hand. She didn”t move away, but she didn”t give me a sign that she wanted more. Usually, she”d nuzzle my hand and kiss my knuckles.
”Goodnight, Aurora.”
”Goodnight, Gabriel.”
As the car drove away, I felt the band around my chest that I”d been wearing since we ended, become just a little looser. She was giving me a chance, and I wasn”t going to fuck it up, come hell or high water.