Chapter 32
Gabrielle
As I towel dried off from the much-needed shower to remove the sand, some of which was lodged in places I didn’t think it could penetrate, I glanced in the mirror.
I thought I looked different, but didn’t know what it was.
Nothing I could really pinpoint. I felt a little different.
Relaxed for one, but that’s not usually something that shows up in the mirror, is it?
Maybe it was the grin that I couldn’t seem to contain.
I couldn’t believe I had kissed Brodie on the beach and that he had returned the kiss.
Following it with another, then another.
Wow. I never imagined he could feel that good.
I must have been nuts to be so upset with him last year, but it had been such an unexpected development at the time.
This time though, he never let his hands go wandering places where they weren’t welcome.
I’m not entirely sure they would have been unwelcome anywhere on my body this time.
I’d gotten to know him much better. We’d become friends.
Having his hands on me felt … well, absolutely wonderful.
I finished drying off and put on a clean pair of shorts and a white, button down sleeveless shirt that tied at my waist. I glanced in the mirror briefly before leaving, thinking all I needed was a pair of cowboy boots and I’d look like a dark-haired Daisy Duke.
Not quite the look I’d been going for, but too late, all my other clothes were out in the room in my suitcase, and this is what Brodie would see me in as I came out of the bathroom.
No hiding until I got a chance to change. Sheesh.
Brodie sat on the edge of the bed, just turning around after hanging up the phone. “I ordered some burgers.”
“Great! I’m famished.” Smiling, I added, “Getting dunked in the ocean seems to have spiked my appetite.”
He rose and pulled me against him, tilting my face up to his. He still smelled of saltwater, and he was still a bit sticky and sandy, but I didn’t care. I liked being against his hard body. “How about kissing. Did that have any effect on you?”
I grinned. “Yes. A great deal.”
“Good? Or Bad?”
“While being dunked in the ocean raised my hunger, remembering the kisses has only put my appetite into remission with the prospect of more.”
“Really?” He laughed. “That was most profound, Miss Demeres.”
“Hmmm … if you’re going to start being so formal and calling me by my last name, I don’t think we should be so close together like this.”
“Just showing my respect. I’ll call you anything you want. I like Gabrielle though.”
“Gabrielle is fine.” He held me so close I thought I would fall over if he let go.
When he lowered his lips to mine, I forgot about names, burgers, or even Daisy Duke attire and let my mind escape to that spot it had on the beach; just enjoying the softness of his lips, his tongue as it melded with mine.
When he stopped kissing me, I groaned a little.
“I need a shower,” he said and kissed me on my forehead before turning to walk into the bathroom.
When I heard the water start, I went to my suitcase and pulled out another top that didn’t look quite as hoedown as the white shirt. A simple t-shirt with black and white roses on the front.
As I pulled the shirt over my head, my phone rang. “Hello?”
There was silence at first, then a strange, deep voice, “You’re a slut, after all. I knew it.”
I didn’t recognize who it was. The voice sounded muffled, almost like the person had a towel over the receiver of the phone. “Who is this?”
“You can’t hide from me. I’m always watching.”
Click.
My heart pounded in my chest. I didn’t know who would be calling me and saying those things.
I thought of Jeff. I suppose it was possible, but how would he know where I was?
My hands were shaking as I checked the number.
It was blocked. My eyes welled up with tears and I was suddenly overcome with fear.
Fear that it was Jeff or someone from my past. Could it be?
After all these years? I shook my head. That was preposterous.
Spying on me? Away from home? Whoever it was had to have followed me down here.
“Gabrielle?” Brodie’s voice sounded urgent, filled with concern.
I turned to look at him, still clutching the phone in my hand.
He walked over to me. His jeans hanging low on his waist, revealing the awesome v cut below his stomach.
His chest as well as his feet were bare.
Once again illuminating that Greek god appearance the way his hair fell over his forehead, damp with a slight curl.
“What’s wrong? I called you four times and you didn’t answer me. ”
He had? “I guess I didn’t hear you.” I glanced down at the cell phone.
“What happened?”
I handed him the phone. He took it, his eyebrows knitting closer together. “What?”
“Someone just called me.”
“Who?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“Well, baby, what did they say?”
Darting my eyes to his at the “baby” comment, trying to refocus on the phone call, I shook my head. “They said… um… they called me a slut and said that I couldn’t hide from them. That they were always watching.”
“What? That’s crazy! Wait, do you think it was Jeff?”
“I thought that, but how would he know I was down here?”
“Did he say he saw you here?”
“Well, no. Not exactly. He said he was always watching though, and that I was a slut. I just wondered, why now? Why right after you and I … whoever it was must have seen us.”
Brodie came to me and took me in his arms. He pulled me close, stroking my head gently with his hand.
“I doubt whoever that was, saw us. Even if he’d heard that we were coming down here for this gig, I seriously doubt the bastard would waste his time and money to follow us.
Besides, we never told anybody where we were staying.
Derrick knows, but he also knows not to give that information out to anybody.
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that he called after we’d kissed on the beach. ”
The knock on the door startled me and I flinched in his embrace. “That’s just room service. I’ll get it.”
After the waiter wheeled in the cart and set up the table with the food, Brodie tipped him and let him out. The burgers looked yummy. Plump and juicy.
Brodie pulled out a chair for me to sit. “Don’t worry about it right now. Whoever it was can’t possibly find you. When we get home, I’ll check into it.”
I sat down, but didn’t move; only stared at the hamburger.
“Gabrielle, please don’t let this get to you. The guy’s a douchebag. I’ll make a call after we eat and let Jackson know. I’ll also call Doc and ask him to check to see if the jerk is still around up there. Will that help?”
I nodded, gave him a weak smile and smothered my hamburger and French fries with ketchup.
“Whoa, honey.” Brodie laughed.
“What?” I eyed him over the top of the hamburger I was taking a bite out of.
“Have a little hamburger with your ketchup, why don’t ya? For a girl who won’t eat green sauces, you sure make up for it with ketchup.”
“Oh. A hamburger’s not worth eating without ketchup, and as for the French fries, well, let’s just not go there.” I grinned.
“How about mustard?”
“I like mustard.”
“But it’s green.”
“Technically, regular mustard is yellow. It’s the other variations that have a greenish tint to them. I don’t eat those.”
Brodie was right. No sense getting all worked up over that asshole. I was safe here with Brodie and the rest of the band. Except, what if it wasn’t Jeff?