Closer_To_You (8 page)

“Oh, do be quiet Ms. Pennington.” Shoving his hands in his pockets, he looked back at Penelope and noticed that her skin color had become tinged with gray at the insinuation from Barbara. Damn, did he just put her job in jeopardy? “I simply ran into Ms. Lucas the other evening while out for dinner. We didn’t happen to discuss our employers, so it was a shock to find her here today. Isn’t that right, Ms. Lucas?”

His eyes communicated to her that she should stick with the story, which was partially true. “Um...yes, dinner. Just a friendly conversation. I didn’t realize Gabriel...um, I mean, Mr. Banks was the person I was speaking with.”

Gabriel could tell she was nervous, but things needed to move forward. He would deal with the Penelope situation later.

“Right, then. I was just surprised. But, no harm, no foul. It’s nice to see you again, Penelope. It was unfortunate that we never got around to mentioning our respective places of business during our conversation the other night. Would have eliminated any surprises today, don’t you think?”

“Yes. Yes, I agree. Unfortunate.” He watched as she finally understood the out he was giving her and latched onto that reason for her shock at seeing him. “It’s good to see you again as well.”

Looking like a gazelle trapped in the gaze of a lion, her eyes shifted around the room. He watched her squirm under his scrutiny and could only imagine the intense look on his face as he realized that he had found her and would be damned if he would let her go again. Did she even realize what her silent departure had done to him? Waking up from the best sleep he had experienced in a while, he had fully expected a repeat, or two, with the woman that had finally made him feel something more. Imagine his surprise to find her gone, with no note or other way to contact her. He had been pissed at first, but now he was very, very pleased at how things had turned out.

“So, I’ll just take a seat and we can get started.” Penelope spoke as she made a motion to go around him. Her gaze shifted from his and back to her superiors as she walked around the table to go sit at the furthest end. Away from him.

Her gait was awkward and he could tell that she was nervous. Oh well, it didn’t matter. She would get over that soon enough. Now that he knew where he could find her, nothing would stop him from making sure that they had ample time to explore this thing between them even more. Today had turned out to be an excellent day after all.

 

This day had been the absolute worst. Penelope thanked her lucky stars that she was finally home. Her first thought had been to call either Crystal or Rosalind to share this latest update, but she couldn’t bring herself to pick up the phone.

How could she have failed to make the connection? GT Banks was Gabriel Turner. The man who had fulfilled all of her fantasies only two nights ago, whom her body still craved with an intensity unlike any she had known before, if her response to him earlier today was anything to go by, was the same man trying to take over her company. He was trying to steal her livelihood. God, how could she be so stupid? Sleeping with a bad boy who also happened to be an experienced and sophisticated man had been heaven, but who knew the consequences of that one night would launch her right into hell.

Changing into her comfortable evening clothes, which consisted of sweatpants and a t-shirt, she quickly made a dinner of grilled chicken with spinach salad, and paired it with a glass of chilled chardonnay. She was bound and determined to not think about how awkward the meeting was today. It was a certainty that Gene and Barbara realized there was something more than just a dinner and light conversation between her and Gabriel. The tension rolling off of each of them during that meeting was so thick, it could have been cut with a knife. Oh yes, she was almost positive they knew exactly what had occurred over the weekend.

As soon as the meeting was completed and she had heard all of the torrid details regarding the acquisition, she had bolted. Not just walked back to her desk and tried to ignore the world. No, she had literally walked out of the building and took a stroll down the street and around the block, before coming back to the office an hour later. Luckily, Gabriel had departed the offices as well and her boss was holed up in the CEO’s office talking strategy and how to respond to the demands outlined by Gabriel at their meeting. On pins and needles for the rest of the day, she waited for that dreaded call from her boss that never came. Could they really have bought that cockamamie story about simply running into each other and having a nice conversation over drinks? Well, whatever the reason, she was spared the guillotine today and she was thankful for it.

Picking at her dinner, her thoughts continued to revolve around Gabriel and what would happen now. She could play the game with the best of them, but this was simply too much. It took everything in her to resist the urge to climb on top of the table and crawl over to him. If only they weren’t in the middle of her office and her job would not be in jeopardy if she allowed herself to just do what she wanted to do. Hell, her job was probably already in the toilet, so it wouldn’t matter anyway.

As she took another sip of her wine, a knock sounded on her front door. Looking over at the clock, she noted that it was just after six o’clock, which meant only one thing. Someone was trying to sell her something. Placing her wine glass on the table next to her forgotten dinner, she went to the door, prepared to tell the well-intentioned person to go pound sand. Opening up the door with a fake smile planted on her face, she was unprepared for who exactly it was standing on the other side.

“Gabriel?” Without conscience thought, one hand went to her hair, smoothing down the strands to try and look more presentable. Damn, he looked sexy. Now, if she could only figure what the hell he was doing outside of her house, standing on her front porch.

“Penelope.”

“What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

Pulling his coat a little tighter in the cold evening breeze, he looked around as if he were somehow unsure himself what he was doing outside of her door. “I came to talk to you. I had already started looking for you before our little encounter this morning. Considering who I am, are you really that surprised that I found you? I wanted to see you, Penelope.” He lulled into silence as he looked around her front yard. “You left without a word. No note. No telephone number. Nothing.” A small, derisive laugh could be heard coming from him. “Imagine my surprise to find that you work at the company I’m trying to purchase.”

Looking into his eyes, she knew he had more questions than what he was saying. She gulped at the unsaid meaning behind his words, “I didn’t know you were
that
GT Banks. You told me your name was Gabriel Turner and I took you at face value. We didn’t talk about our employers.”

She watched him sigh deeply as he considered her words. He turned his gaze to her and seemed to come to a decision, “So, are you going to let me in?”

Stepping back to give him room, she watched him walk into her modest home. Closing the door, she shook her head again at her naiveté. Watching him stand in her living room, she could now see that he was more than just a normal man. He had a presence, an aura that screamed out to the world that he was something more. If she had paid more attention to that when they had first met, maybe she would have asked a few more questions.

“Have a seat. Would you like something to drink?” Her voice had a slight quake and by the tilt of his head when he turned to look at her, he had picked up on it as well. Damn him. There was nothing for her to be embarrassed about. They had both been caught up in the situation. Although they had talked for hours in his suite at the hotel, neither of them had bothered to ask for the other’s official resume. Giving him a look right back that told him not to try it with her tonight, she saw him give a slight smile as he began to take off his overcoat.

“Yes, that would be nice. What do you have?”

“I have fifteen year-old scotch, pinot noir, microbrew beer, and juice.

“Nice selection. I’ll take some of that scotch. I need something fortifying after the day I’ve had.” He looked around the living room of her townhouse, and she tried to guess what he was thinking. Her modest home was situated in the heart of Falls Church, Virginia and it was clearly the home of a middle-class worker. She was not as rich as him, and never would be, but her home was decorated with the best that she could afford. It was filled with knick-knacks and keepsakes that were important to her. It was home. But, even saying that, she wanted him to like it because it was a part of her.

Pouring them each a snifter of scotch, she walked back to the living room and handed one of the glasses to him. After a moment’s hesitation, she sat down on the loveseat across from him, trying to put some distance between them.

“Thank you. You have a lovely home, Penelope.”

“You’re welcome. Thanks. I think so, too.”

“How long have you lived here?” As he took a sip of the smooth drink, her gaze was drawn to his lips as they wrapped themselves around the glass. His Adam’s apple moved up and down as he swallowed the drink.

Mimicking his movements and taking a sip of her own drink, she wasn’t thinking clearly and took a bigger gulp than she wanted. Immediately she began to choke as the liquor burned a path down her throat. Taking a few deep breaths, she answered his question, “Three years.” Looking at him while he stared at her across the room, she wanted to turn away from the strength of his gaze. This is what got her into trouble on Saturday night. She couldn’t help but be drawn to him and the pull was even stronger now that she knew what it felt like to be held in his arms.

His long, tapered fingers beckoned her as she remembered the strong grip he had on her body. During their long night of lovemaking, his fingertips had lightly rubbed the most intimate places on her body. Those beautifully formed lips had kissed spots on her that had been ignored for years. Her own voice had screamed his name numerous times into the night as he brought her pleasure over and over again. He placed his glass on the coffee table, and she followed suit. The moment of truth had finally come.

“Why did you leave?” There it was again. His voice melted her resolve and she wanted to abandon all common sense and beg him to make love to her.

That was not the question she had been expecting. “Why did I leave? When? Sunday morning or today?”

Leaning back on the couch, his suit jacket opened and she could see his dress shirt pull tight across the rock hard muscles of his stomach. The same stomach that she had kissed and nibbled on to her heart’s content. Damn, she had to think of something else. Bunnies. Puppies. Grandma’s cookies. Not that her Grandma had ever made cookies. Her Grandma Viola was more of a snuff-snorting, tobacco-chewing hot mama, but the idea of her baking cookies was enough to briefly take her mind off of the man sitting in front of her.

“Penelope? Did you hear what I just said?”

Turning swiftly to Gabriel, she knew that her mind had wandered far enough that she had missed what he was saying to her. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. What did you say?”

Taking a long sigh, he reached for his drink and took another sip, seemingly intent on making her wait and drawing this out. “I said, both. Why did you just leave on Sunday morning? I woke up expecting to find you next to me and you were just gone.”

“Well, I didn’t want to overstay my welcome.” Which was true. The morning after a one-night stand could be the hardest. What could she have said to him, ‘thanks for the amazing fuck, it was better than anyone I’ve ever had before you’? She could only imagine how well that would have went over.

“And today?” Penetrating eyes stared at her, daring her to answer him truthfully. “How could you overstay your welcome at your own office?” He paused for a moment and looked to the side as if searching for something that was just out of reach. “I came out of the conference room and looked for you. Don’t you feel we should talk about what happened?”

Okay, this was going to be harder than she thought. “Actually, no. I don’t.”

Now it was his turn to be tongue-tied. She knew he would never have expected that response from her. This was not some fairy tale and she was no Cinderella, Princess Tiana or Snow White. Things would never fall into place so easily.

Penelope was old enough to understand the deal and she had no illusions about what Saturday night had been, and what it had not. Would she like to repeat it? Hell yes and yes, again. Realistically though, she was not going to put herself in that situation, no matter how much she hoped it could be different.

“Well, I do.” His lips had thinned out into a firm line, and she could tell he was annoyed. Too bad. She was standing firm.

“Gabriel, I walked away because what we had that night was perfect. Yes, the entire night. I have never been so caught up in the moment with anyone else, and you brought out something in me that I didn’t even know I had.” Standing up from her seat, she began pacing back and forth, as if focused on convincing not only him, but herself as well, that she was right. “You and I both know that it was cleaner that way.”