New Leaves, No Strings (18 page)

I figured I’d better do a road test
if I was really planning on another round with him tomorrow. I leaned back on
the tiled wall and let the water cascade off my chest as I gently inserted
first one finger, then two. I winced as it stung a little, but not enough to
stop me from gently bring myself off without too much discomfort, the orgasm
that followed soon overrode any twinges of pain. I dried myself off and towel
dried my hair and climbed into my bed and stretched out. I could still smell
his scent on the pillow next to me and this time I hugged it to my face and
breathed it in. I reached out for my phone to turn it off and saw I had another
message. I really needed to check it more often.

Poor virgins? I think you’re
a closet dominatrix after bossing me about in the toilet x

I think we’d better try
again then, just to make sure Gabe. What do you think? PS I just had a very hot
and steamy shower and road tested my engine for you. You’ll be pleased to know
that the chassis is in working order and ready for a long ride tomorrow. You
may need to purchase a new silencer though. Sweet dreams :-)

I was going to have
sweet dreams anyway, but the thought of you getting off in the shower just adds
fuel to an already intense fire. I’m going to dream about fucking you again. Does
that make you feel good?

Not as good as I know you’ll
make me feel tomorrow. Put it down, I don’t want you to wear it out before I
see you

Trust me Mia, where you’re
concerned there are no worries of me wearing it out. I am titanium!

Good to know. Now leave
me alone, I’m tired and need my beauty sleep

None required Mia. You’re
the most stunning girl I’ve ever seen. You knew I thought that the first time
we locked eyes. By the way, you look even more beautiful when you’re sleeping
with that after sex glow I put on your face :-)

You watched me
sleeping?? Weirdo. Now please let me sleep Gabe “I’ve an insatiable appetite
for sex” Austin. See you in the morning!

You remembered my
surname, I’m touched, but I’m only insatiable when it comes to you. I’ve never
come this many times in a week before G x

Week’s not over yet Mr
Austin. Now leave me in peace to imagine all the things I want to do with you
tomorrow. Starting with Starbucks, then the nearest supermarket, chemist, a
good local pub…

Funny. Then stop
texting me back, I have a very steamy dream to get back to G x

I smiled and turned my phone off,
this could go on all night if I let it. The thought of him wanting to dream
about sex with me was seriously hot. I inhaled my Gabe scented pillow again and
gently drifted off to sleep.

The alarm at 8.30 jolted me awake. I hadn’t slept so
well since we’d moved here. I looked around my room, happy to realise that it
was starting to feel like home already. I pulled on my t-shirt and opened my blinds,
it was looking reasonably clear, but not hot and sunny like the last few days.
I tiptoed to the kitchen, Lexi didn’t do mornings and she was well overdue a
lie in. I made myself a coffee crept back to my room and sat on my bed cross
legged as I sipped at it, daydreaming about how Gabe and I had made it to this
point. We were moving fast, too fast?

I suddenly noticed it was nearly quarter
past nine and shoved my cup on the side as I leapt up and made a dash for the
bathroom. By the time I was showered and had dried my hair, smoothing out the
kinks, I barely had time to apply some mascara and put on my underwear before I
heard the intercom buzz. Shit, he was early. I dashed to the hall and picked up
the phone.

‘Hello,’ I whispered.

‘Are you ok? You sound very quiet,’
he asked, his sexy voice sending a shiver down my spine.

‘I’m fine, I’m just trying not to
wake up Lexi, she’s still sleeping.’

‘Are you ready?’

‘Nearly, you’re ten minutes early.’

‘I was half an hour early, I’m
getting funny looks loitering around down here. How long do you need?’

‘Give me five minutes to throw
something on and grab my bag.’

‘Ok but hurry, I’m going to get
propositioned if I hang out down here much longer.’

I pulled on my jeans, some brown timberland
boots and a black lace trimmed vest, then wrapped a black belted thick ribbed cardigan
around me. No time for jewellery, I just grabbed my purse and keys and shoved
them in my jeans pocket, gently closed the front door behind me and raced down
the three flights of stairs. I stepped out to find Gabe leaning on the wall to
my left and he gave me a dazzling smile.

‘Good morning,’ he said before
pulling me towards him by my waist and kissing me gently, it was a few minutes
before we came up for air.

‘Hmmm now that
is
a good
morning,’ I said blushing, marvelling at how quickly my body responded to him. ‘Not
managed to pick up any business?’

‘Not until now, but you were worth
the wait.’

‘Thanks. So what’s the plan?’ I
asked as I looked him up and down. He had on black jeans, a pair of black converse
hi tops and a crisp white fitted shirt that hung over his jeans, but with the
cuffs turned back and unbuttoned at the top. He looked so edible.

‘I’m going to introduce some of Westhampton
to you. Do you have comfortable shoes on? It’s a bit far for me to carry you
again.’

‘Yes I do,’ I laughed. ‘So your
arms can have the day off.’

‘Great, let’s get going.’ He held
out his right hand to me and I eyed it suspiciously. ‘Really? We can fuck,
bathe together and naked toothbrush but you won’t hold my bloody hand?’ he
exclaimed as he grabbed it, interlocking his fingers with mine so I couldn’t
let go. He pulled me with him as he started to walk and talk and explain some
of the history of my neighbourhood and what lay in what direction.

I listened attentively, I could
listen to him talk all day, his voice was smooth and husky and I could feel his
thumb caressing my hand as we walked. I felt like a school girl with a crush
again and had to keep biting my lip to stop myself from grinning inanely. His phone
rang a number of times, but he kept pressing the ignore button and put it back
in his pocket.

He pointed out Starbucks, the local
newsagents, a chemist and office licence, great for Lexi’s fags and our wine and
beer supplies, and M&S outlet which he told me would have more than enough
fresh or microwave meals so that we wouldn’t have to cook from scratch. He took
me to a fresh fruit and vegetable shop and purchased a crisp pink apple from
which he took a bite and then offered a taste to me. As I took a bite from it
he smiled and continued on his tour whilst he demolished it and deposited the
core in a bin.

He grabbed a loaf of bread from a
small bakery and just smiled at me when I asked what it was for, he seemed full
of smiles this morning. We walked off the main path and down to the river into
the park, then along the embankment, ducking under the weeping willows that
blocked our way and the reason for the bread became clear. We took a seat on a
bench at the edge of the river and quaking hoards of ducks appeared from
nowhere sensing food was on offer. Gabe tore chunks off the bread offering it
to me to throw and I laughed as they climbed over each other trying to make it
to the front of the queue.

‘You really have the most amazing
smile and laugh,’ he murmured as he leaned back on the bench and spread his
arms across the top.

I glanced at him quickly, he looked
so confident in himself, which was such a turn on. He tugged my hand, pulling
me onto his lap and kissed me before letting me continue to try and spread the
food out evenly to excited feathery group at our feet. When all the bread was
gone we continued through the park, where lots of people were walking their
dogs, cycling or running. As we exited through the main black iron gates, we
reach Queen Street, which he told me was the main area for all the best day to
day eateries in town. It was a quaint old cobbled street, with black and white
buildings that hung over us as if trying to meet each other in the middle. We’d
been out for just over two hours and I was already starting to feel hungry.

‘Ready to eat?’ he asked.

‘I am.’ I nodded vigorously.

‘What’s your favourite food?’

‘Has to be Italian. Pasta, pizza
how much better can it get?’

‘Then this is the place to go,’ he
said as he steered me through the door of a busy trattoria. We were shown to a
small table for two. It was so typically Italian, with red white and green
checked clothes on the table and a bottle of olive oil for drizzling on the
basket of bread that was quickly produced with I took no time in attacking.

I choose a pasta dish of tagliatelle
with ribbons of courgette, fresh green beans and new potatoes in a pesto sauce
and Gabe asked for same and ordered a bottle of still water. As we ate I asked
him about his swimming. He told me he’d started at a young age, encouraged by
his dad and soon discovered he was good at it and started competing locally and
nationally. He explained it was a good way of keeping fit, along with his black
belt in Jiu Jitsu and that he also loved long distance running.

He didn’t mention his mother and I
knew better than to ask again. He’d made it clear, by avoiding the question
last time, that this was an area that was off topic. I could empathise and was
equally evasive when we discussed my family. I left out the complicated issue
of my relationship with my father, instead focussing on my mother, step father Gerry,
sister Georgina and the town where I’d grown up.

‘So you and Lexi have been friends for
a while then?’ he asked sitting back and putting his napkin on his empty plate.

‘Yes, seven years now.’

‘You seem an unlikely match.’

‘You think? I think we’re quite
alike actually.’

‘How so?’

‘We’re both fiercely loyal and
protective of those we care about, honest sometimes to our own detriment. We
share a love of film and books. We’ve been through lots of crap and good times
and we’re always there for each other.’

‘She’s fierce alright,’ he observed.

‘Underneath that tough exterior you
all see is a warm generous person who I trust with my life. She’s more like a
sister to me than my own sister.’

‘Then I’m glad that you have
someone like that in your life.’

‘Don’t you have a Lexi?’ I asked
surprised as I finished my meal.

‘I’m a guy, I’ve got plenty of male
friends. Doug’s my best friend, but we don’t do the sharing thing to the extent
you girls seem to do. How much exactly
do
you share?’

‘O pretty much everything. She
knows most of the details of Friday night.’

‘Seriously? Great,’ he replied
rolling his eyes.

‘I warned you Gabe. Lexi’s been the
most important person in my life for a long time. I’ve no intention of cutting
her out, or not sharing stuff with her, just because a guy comes into the
picture.’

‘I wouldn’t ask you to do that, I
can see how important she is to you.’

‘Good, because there have been a
few guys who said they were cool with it and they weren’t and they didn’t last
the distance,’ I said giving him a warning glance. ‘Guys come and go, Lexi and I’ll
always be there for each other.’

‘Guys come and go? Wow,’ he
exclaimed with a surprised shake of the head. ‘What’s your longest
relationship?’

‘Three months with Kai.’

‘And yet you didn’t sleep with him?’
he said looking puzzled.

‘No. Are we really on this topic
again?’ I looked at him confused, we’d already covered this yesterday.

‘I just can’t get my head around it
Mia. Didn’t you love him?’

‘No, like you I’ve never been in
love with anyone either.’

‘What was wrong with him?’

‘Nothing, other than the occasional
temper, he was a decent guy and he deserved to be treated better. I told you, I
just wasn’t feeling it.’ I was starting to feel like I was being interrogated,
that he was running a check on my mental or psychological stability.

‘Have you ever felt this elusive “it”?’

‘No, not until,’ I took a deep
breath, ‘not until now. This is getting a little intense Gabe,’ I commented as
I drank some of my water.

‘Sorry, I’m just trying to
understand you better.’

‘It’s not something we can fit into
a quick lunch date, stuff like that takes time.’

‘And I’m willing to invest that
time Mia. I just want to be sure that you are too.’

‘Wow you
really
feel the
need to define this don’t you. I thought we’d agree to just see how it went day
by day.’

‘We did, but you need to know that I
don’t do things half-heartedly. I commit to anything I start.’

‘You were hardly committed to Julie,
you dumped her the minute you thought I was a done deal,’ I pointed out.

‘I thought I’d explained that. We
were doing fine. We spent a lot of time together other the years with our
swimming and we got on well, so it seemed a natural progression to start dating.
She’s attractive, the sex was ok, I thought that was as good as it got, until I
laid eyes on you. Seeing you made me aware that if I could have such intense
feelings for someone, by only looking at them, then what I’d had with her, or
any other girl before that was never real.’

‘So you’re basically saying you
thought you were happy with her, until a different new exciting model came
along? So if I let this become something more, I could be standing in her shoes
in a few months’ time too?’

‘I could say the same about you.
What are you scared of? Falling for a guy and them leaving you?’

‘Maybe I’m not ready to talk about
that yet.’ I was starting to get irritated at the in depth grilling I was
getting.

‘Well I’m right there with you. There
are things I’m not ready to talk to you about too, but I can tell you I don’t
like people leaving me. The thought of you walking away terrifies me and we’re
only on our second date.’

‘And it was going so well up until
now,’ I sighed.

‘It was?’

‘Yes of course it was Gabe. You’re very
easy to be around. Other than my mother, I’ve never felt comfortable with
anyone else but Lexi, but you’re ruining it with these incessant deep questions.’

‘Ok, how do I make it better again?’

‘I could think of a few ways,’ I
said with a nervous smile and bit my lip.

‘You don’t want dessert?’

‘No. Do you mind if we go now?’ I
asked, looking at him thinking he’d be a perfect dessert.

‘Not at all. Are you happy to walk
back? I need to pick up a few supplies.’

‘Condoms?’

‘No, I already have some of those
as instructed,’ he laughed. ‘If I’m going to have the odd sleep over, you need to
get some food in other than cereal and popcorn. I have to eat healthily for my
training and physique.’ He signalled the waiter over for the bill and I dug my
purse out of my jeans. ‘You can put that away, this is on me,’ he said with a
frown.

‘Don’t be stupid, you’ve gone out
of your way to show me around, I owe you.’

‘You don’t owe me anything. I asked
you out for lunch, I don’t expect you to pay.’

‘Well I insist.’

‘No
I
insist,’ he responded
firmly with a glare.

‘That’s not fair, I don’t want to
be in your debt,’ I responded with an equally fierce glare.

‘In my debt? Christ it’s just lunch
not a loan.’

‘I like to pay my own way.’

‘God you’re infuriating Mia. I’ve
never had a girl argue with me about paying.’