Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Erin
“Why did you go to the restaurant with your friend if you didn’t want to?”
We are walking down the street’. I’m grateful I brought a cardigan with me as a brace against the chill because for some reason, my crazy mind is conjuring scenarios… with Gabriel’s arms around me. Keeping me warm.
“I owed Richard a favor,” he says, and I keep my mouth shut, waiting for him to keep talking. “Last week, my car battery died. He helped me jump-start the car. Hence why I’m here.”
“You aren’t close friends?”
My mother says you can tell a lot of a man from the company he keeps.
“No,” he laughs a little. “Not at all. We met at work.”
“So, I’m free to say he’s an idiot.”
“He is,” Gabriel accepts. “But I don’t want to talk about him. Tell me about you, Erin.”
I tell him about my flower shop. I’m a little chatterbox, and in his favor, I should say, he listens to me attentively.
“Here we are.” With his hand on the small of my back, Gabriel guides me to a small restaurant with brick walls and a low ceiling.
The intimate touch burns my skin through the thick wool of my sweater.
What’s happening to me?
Why is my body reacting this way to him?
“Now it’s your turn, Gabriel. Tell me about you.”
We are at a table for two on the restaurant patio. Lamps hanging from the branches of a tree illuminate the stone-floored place. The setting is very romantic, intimate. But this isn’t a date, this is two people seeking food after a fiasco.
Nothing more.
“My family owns a mango orchard in Sunny Hills. My mother’s family put down roots here generations ago after coming from Mexico.
My father arrived in his twenties, met the love of his life, and never looked back.
The orchard, the land—it all became part of our story.
” he answers and then tells me about his parents, three brothers, and only sister.
“My brothers and I decided to make our lives elsewhere. We all went to college. I studied here in Berkeley, then found a job in finance, and here I am. I’m doing decently for a farmer’s boy. ”
With every word, he casts a spell over me. I want to keep listening to his baritone voice, his laugh, and the stories about growing up in a big Latino family.
“What did your parents say when you announced you weren’t taking care of the orchard?”
He thinks a little before answering, his long fingers stretching on his strong jaw.
Oh, those hands. My mind is conjuring ideas again.
“I guess they were disappointed, of course. But my family is amazing. They support all of us no matter what.”
My heart warms listening to his words. I have a supportive family too. Mine is smaller than his, since I only have a younger brother, but my parents love us fiercely.
“You drive over there often?”
“As often as I can.”
I sip the last of my red wine. We have been in this place for the last two hours. And I don’t want the night to end, but it must.
Tomorrow, I have a lot of flower arrangements to deliver.
“Do you need an extra pair of hands?”
This man. He makes me smile and dream at the same time.
“Don’t tell me you have experience with flowers?”
He laughs, and I do the same.
“No, but I’m a good driver. And I’m excellent at fetching take-out and lifting heavy stuff.”
Gosh, those dark eyes, they seem to look at the bottom of my soul.
What a crazy night. I accepted going out with my roommate, and then I met a man I can’t stop looking at.
I don’t want this night to end.
Ever.
“I’m going to walk you home, Erin Nichols. We’ll end the night with you giving me your phone number, but in my head, I’ll be kissing you.”
My entire body heats up, fire inside me, alighting my very soul.
“Guess what?” I whisper. “I’ll give you my phone number. And in my head, you’re kissing me.”
The waiter comes with the tab, and Gabriel insists on taking care of it.
“My father taught me well.”
“He raised a gentleman,” I give him some praise. After the scene in the Japanese place, this is a refreshing change.
This city is full of assholes. Gabriel isn’t one of them.
“I have my moments,” he replies. I’m looking forward to seeing more of those moments, and maybe some not-so-gentlemanly ones.
“Are you sure you want to walk? You left your car over…” I tell him.
“Don’t worry about my car. I’ll fetch it later. I want to walk with you.”
We do that.
We walk slowly, taking our time to talk about movies, music, and the immersive Van Gogh exhibit that just announced it’s coming to the city.
“I’m sure I could get us tickets.”
“Gabriel, the exhibition is coming later this year…”
“So what? Are you planning to get rid of me already?”
I fix my gaze on the floor, but my feet aren’t touching the ground. I feel like I’m walking on a cloud.
“Of course not.”
“Good,” he says.
The silence between two people doesn’t have to be uncomfortable, I’m discovering so much tonight. Even if this doesn’t work, the hope is still there, shining in a hidden corner of my heart.
I’m not a lost cause.
“This is the building,” I inform him as soon as we reach the threshold.
“I’m going up with you,” he whispers, and a shiver runs across my entire body.
At the front of my door, I fumble in my clutch for my apartment keys. After opening the door I ask, “Do you want to come in for a drink?”
He closes his eyes as if it’s painful. “I want to, but you’re tired and have to work in the morning. What time do you need me to come?”
Several times tonight. Oh, wait…not that kind. He’s talking about his offer to drive my old van around the city tomorrow.
“Early,” my answer is a bit vague. He doesn’t have to come to my rescue. I’ve been doing this every weekend for a while.
“See you at six thirty, and I’ll bring breakfast.” he says before leaning over me to kiss my cheek.
Except… he doesn’t really kiss my cheek; he kisses the corner of my mouth. His lips are so warm, my skin is tingling…
I want more.
“Too much for the gentleman,” I scold him because he’s playing dirty.
“Good thing I never said I was one.”