Chapter 40
Elen a
I am not sure where Gabriel has taken us. It is definitely in the middle of nowhere.
“Are we still in Italy?” I loom around the dark sky covered with stars.
“Nope.”
I widened my eyes at him. “What?”
“I'm kidding. Of course we are. It would take hours to get out of Italy. We have only been driving around for the last seventeen minutes.”
“Where are you taking us?”
“Somewhere dark but you can still see light.” He takes his eyes off the road to look to his right at me. His lips curl into a quick smile before he faces the street again. The whole car ride he has not once let go off my hand and occasionally kissed the back of it.
“Are you taking me stargazing?”
“Smart girl.”
I feel my cheeks starting to hurt from smiling and retort back to him. “Of course I am smart.” I hold my head up high and brush my hair over my shoulder.
He smiles, shaking his head at my words. I spit out a laugh at him. “Do you not believe me?”
“Oh, I believe you,” he says just as he turns to the right and the car comes to a sudden halt and the engine dies down. He leans against the centre console, his face dangerously close to mine and his lips hover over mine.
“And I know it too,” he leans forward and places a soft and short affectionate kiss on my lips.
I just nod at his words because I am not sure what would have come out if I had said anything, and I can say goodbye to the lip gloss because it is long gone.
So Long, lip gloss.
I open the car door and step out of the car. I feel the warm presence of Gabriel approach behind me and before I can turn around to look, he covers my eyes with his hands.
I chuckle. “What are you doing?” I reach up to try and push his hands away.
“I will blindly lead you somewhere. Can’t have the fun the spoiled.”
I drop my hands back down as he just played this well. I love surprises and spoiling them ruins the fun of them indeed. “You are unbelievable.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now keep your eyes closed and give me your hands.”
I keep my eyes closed and peak my hands out of his jacket that is still draped over my shoulders. His warm hands caress mine and he slowly starts to walk forward.
“Careful, rock. Try not to trip.”
“I have you. You will catch won’t you?”
“The fact that you even question it concerns me.”
I laugh but the laugh gets cut off fast as I trip on the exact rock that Gabriel wanted on and as promised, just as I was about to fall face first, he catches me in his arms. “You did not warn me on this rock!” I lie as I laugh with my head leaned against his chest and my belly starts to slowly cramp from laughing.
“That was the exact rock I just warned you about.” he retorts back. I feel him shake as he laughs and slowly helps me back up. “You know I have a better idea.” he mumbles under his breath.
I hum at him and slightly tilt my head to the sound as his words confuse me but before I can ask, he takes both of my hands with one of his, leans down and throws me over his shoulder.
“Gabriel, what the hell?” I scream at him but he ignores me and keeps walking.
“See it that way, Elena,” he starts and I slowly open my eyes, turning my head in an uncomfortable way and look forward as his car slowly starts to disappear out of sight. “You do not have to walk and you can keep your eyes open without having to worry that you might trip.”
“I would rather walk than having to see your arse,” I start but change my mind rather fast. “Although.” I murmur.
All I get back from him is a low laugh, which makes me wonder if he heard the last bit, and if he did, that would be embarrassing.
“Are we almost there? I think the blood is slowly getting to my brain.” I complain. I am starting to feel a little woozy from hanging upside down over his shoulder.
“Almost.”
“Almost as in the next twenty seconds or almost as in the next five minutes?”
“Almost as in now,” he says and slowly kneels down to let me down. My feet finally touch the ground and I hold on to him until my head stops spinning.
“Woah,” I chuckle. Is Gabriel spinning?
He chuckles with me and runs his hands along my hair, straightening them as I probably look crazy right now.
I must admit he does have a pretty face.
He moves out of the way and I see the view of the most beautiful night sky I might have ever witnessed and a small cottage ahead of us.
“What is that?”
“My small secret place, I come here sometimes during family vacations for some alone time, Charles and Nicole can get pretty annoying.”
“No doubt there,” I reply as I keep my eyes glued to the night sky.
“How did you find this spot?”
“A friend of mine used to own this cottage but I bought it when he said he wasn’t interested in it anymore.“ he whispers into my ear, slowly massaging my shoulders.
God, I needed that.
“But what’s so special about it? Except for the view of the night sky?”
“The quiet,” he says. I look over my shoulder at him but he keeps his gaze at the cottage as he continues talking, running his arms along my arms. “It is rather empty and I must admit I like that.”
“I don’t blame you.” I mumble and turn my head back forward to the cottage. “If I had to deal with Charles every day I would surely lose my mind.”
“I slowly am. The whole reason I bought this.” I feel his body behind me vibrate as he laughs with a deep voice.
“Great choice.” I say.
He moves forward, holds his hand out for me to take and leads me to his cottage. The moment we step inside we get graced with the ceiling looking exactly like a night sky, the light on the ceiling shining like small stars and the inside might be the cosiest looking place I have ever set eyes on.
He takes the jacket off my shoulders and hangs it up by the door, locking it before we walk inside the small room.
There isn’t much here but somehow that makes this place even better.
How plain, small, and cosy it is.
“Want to change out of your dress?” His voice behind me catches my attention and I nod.
Gabriel opens the small closet by the small sofa and takes a white sweater along with a pair of grey joggers out.
“Sit,” he orders in a low voice and I do as told, taking place on the soft couch that has a fuzzy blanket draped on the back.
I lean my back as Gabriel leans down and starts to unclasps my heels, freeing me from the torture of them.
As he finished those, he sat down next to me with the clothes in his hands. “Turn,” he says.
I sit up and turn my back to him. The chill air hits my back as he slowly drags the zipper down until it hits the curve of my arse. The straps fall from my shoulders along with the top until I am bare at the front. My breath hitches and I hear Gabriel let out a strained breath behind me as he moves his index finger along my shoulder blades.
Before I know it he pulls the sweater over my head, putting a stop to the hot tension. I slip my arms inside the sweater’s sleeves and pull it down, covering myself up.
I look over my shoulder, Gabriel’s expression seems natural but his eyes give him much away this very moment. They wander up and down, as if he is not sure where to look first.
I roll my eyes as I look back forward and just then a very good idea comes to my mind.
I get up from the sofa, the dress falls to the ground in a thud and the sweater of Gabriel’s reaches my thighs, covering me up for the most part.
The sweater rides up my thighs as I walk up to Gabriel who is leaning back with both of his arms on the back of the couch and a smug grin on his face.
I still want to rip it off, a smile of his makes me nervous as hell and I do not need him to have such power over me.
I place my hands on his shoulders, lean into him until my lips ghost over his. I smile to myself when he grins and shifts in his seat and a low grown escape his lips.
A breath passes between us.
“Confession,” he says out of nowhere and I find myself intrigued in his confession. “I know I would have fallen for you, even if we hadn’t met in Monaco.”
I blink. Once, then twice.
“How come?” I try my best to keep my knees from buckling, but my shallow breathing gives me away. I move my head back when he leans forward and wraps his arm around my waist.
“I just know it,” his palm is on my cheeks and he whispers the words to my ears.
I pant into his mouth, my hand still on the cushion of the sofa, holding myself up. A smile curls up on Gabriel’s lips and he grabs me tighter by the waist and kisses me like the night might become ours.
And it did.
This night makes me realise I have stopped falling.
I love him.
Chapter 41
Elen a
Paperwork after paperwork. God, I wish to still be in Rome.
But reality strikes and I have work to do. Proofread shitload of paperwork.
By now I already have my routine down to how my work in this office goes. Print the paperwork that needs to be proofread once in Ariel and once in Times New Romance. Correct the Ariel one and then mark the mistakes on the Times New.
I push my glasses up the hilt of my nose with my elbow as my eyes continue to scan the document in front of me for mistakes. Whoever wrote this document needs to learn grammar because how the hell are there so many mistakes in this? This might be the worst document I have ever had to look over.
My eyes avert from the document to the door when I hear it crack open. I knew who it was before I looked up but that didn’t stop my stomach doing a strange flip.
“Hey,” I greet him as he walks up to me and stands behind my chair. He places the coffee he got from Renee’s bakery down on my desk and slowly runs his hands down on each side of my face and hooks a few fingers under my jaw. He pushes my head back and I laugh, letting my pencil drop on the desk. He places a soft kiss on my lips.
Upside down kiss - not so spiderman style.
His lips hover over mine and he greets me back with a smile. “Hey.”
I let my head drop forward again when he lets go of it. I watch him with intrigued eyes as he looks through the papers on my desk.
“Why is everything printed out twice?” he asks as he flips through a file that I finished this morning.
“Well, I-'' I stutter, not sure if I should tell him that I struggle to read the original one. “I struggle reading the original one, so I change the font and print the original and the one that is easier for me to read.” I confess. I look down to my lap, fidgeting with my nail polish. I probably sound stupid that I struggle to read the original one.
“Then change the original to the font that is easier for you.”
His answer surprises me and I twist my head up to him. “What?”
“Send out an E-Mail that we will change fonts on the documents from now on. Whichever one is easier for you.”
I chuckle, not believing his words. “Excuse me, what?”
“Or should I?”
“You want to send out an email to all employers and demand them to change the font on future documents?”
“You’re right. It is better if I do it.”
“Are you mocking me?”
“I mean it. I will send out an E-Mail later after I am back from the meeting.”
I groan. I do feel bad for Gabriel because the last three days he has been stuck in countless meetings. “Again?”
“It annoys me at this point but meetings are meetings.”
“I know but the past days you were gone before I even woke up. Once I want to wake up next to you.”
“As soon as those meetings are over, you will. And when they are done we will take a weekend trip wherever you would like to.” I pout at his sweet words and the kiss on the crown that follows.
Before I know it, he is out of the door.
***
I shift in the bed and turn to find an empty spot where Gabriel is supposed to be. I let out a breath, a little of my heart breaks seeing another empty bed for the fourth time this week.
I push myself up to get ready for work. I follow my usual routine. Wash my face and teeth, get dressed, have breakfast (I have started to have breakfast regularly in the morning since Gabriel has been cooking for me and I cannot seem to let go of that habit anymore.)
I straighten my trousers as a few wrinkles appear and make my way to the kitchen. I open the fridge only to find that the strawberries that I bought yesterday were gone.
Right, I ate them last night.
I close the fridge and lean against the counter with my phone in my hands and shoot a text to Gabriel.
@ elena.ferreir a : Weird request but do you mind getting strawberries when you get home.
My text remains unread for the next half an hour where I spend the time making myself a cheese omelette. I hear the key on my door lock open.
“Gabriel?” I call out his name and just then in that moment he steps into the kitchen with a plastic bag on his hand.
“Morning, my love.” A smile is spread across his face as he takes out a pack of strawberries out of the bag.
“Morning,” I stare at him in shock. “Don’t you have a meeting?”
“I had one but cancelled it.”
My mouth gapes open at his answer. “I’m sorry, I think I heard you wrong.” I chuckle nervously, moving my hand in weird circular motions in the air. “Did you just say you cancelled the meeting?”
He gives me a quick glance. “Yeah.”
I let out a laugh but it quickly dies down when I realise he was not joking. I blink rapidly and reach for the note I found earlier on the kitchen counter. “You wrote it was an emergency meeting. See, you even signed it.” I point to his signature on the letter. He snatches the letter from my hand and rips it onto a million little pieces before he throws it in the bin.
“And now it is as if it never existed.”
“Gabriel you had a meeting to get to.”
“I did but then I remembered spending mornings with you is way more important than some meeting.”
A smile curls up on my lips and I chuckle. “You are unbelievable and an idiot. Do you have any idea how unprofessional it is to schedule an emergency meeting at the last minute and cancel it at the last minute? Your employees will be vexed with you.”
He hums and leans in, running a finger along my jawline before he cups my cheeks with his large hand. “Let them be, my company, my rules.”
“God, I would hate to be one of those employees right now.”
“It is a good thing you aren’t because then I wouldn’t be able to do this,” he finishes his sentence by smashing his lips to mine in a savoury long kiss.
I melt into his kiss, literally. My whole body melts into the ground and my arms down my body as I have no sense of strength to hold myself on the counter.
My lips part and he takes the moment to slip his tongue inside my mouth and as if I am being doused with coffeein, I move my lips on his. Our tongues fight for dominance and dance like the sweetest melody with each other.
I push him, and somehow I have enough strength to push him against the counter. Our tongues continue the dance as I lean against his front, feeling a poke against my stomach.
Oh shit, I am doing it again.
I pull away from the kiss and press my palms against his bicep. Gabriel stares at me with a look of disbelief. I smile awkwardly as I pat his bicep and turn my gaze to the strawberries.
“Do you want a smoothie?”
“You are a fucking tease, Elena.” He murmurs, his lips ghost mine as he has pulled my face to his.
I shrug my shoulders, teasing him immensely. “Maybe, but do you want a smoothie?”
“Want I want, has nothing to do with the kitchen.”
“Oh,” I whisper.
“Yeah, oh,” he mimics me.
“Well, sorry to inform you that we have to leave for work in half an hour.”
“You and I both know how much I can achieve in that short amount of time,” he teases, his free hands running along my back over my freshly ironed blouse until it reaches my arse, and he gives it a light squeeze.
I shake my head; butterflies corrupt my stomach. “Hm, totally.” I blur out, not sure how else I am supposed to answer that statement of his.
I swallow the clump in my throat.
Long story short, we got to work late and I hate myself for falling for his charm over and over again.