"I'm starving!"
He growls and then grabs me from behind. "You can have the food but I need my daily dose of Sasha." Then he buries his face in my neck and plants a soft kiss behind my ear.
Just like that, I melt. Oh the things this man does to me!
Suddenly breathless, I clutch the bag tighter. "Thank you for bringing me lunch. You didn't have to do that."
He circles one of the tables. "I wanted to see you. And I wanted to see your new stuff. It looks good."
"Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Sit down, try it out."
He obediently takes a seat, stretching his long legs beneath the table. Excitement bursts through me again. Somehow having someone else here makes it all seem real.
Gabe unpacks the food, which turns out to be sub sandwiches and little containers of potato salad. While we're eating, he listens to my ideas for decorating the club once all the furniture has been delivered.
"I wish I had a magical team of genies to build the stage." There's an intense satisfaction in doing things on my own but after the time and effort it took to unpack today's delivery, I’m starting to think it's going to take a miracle for me to pull this off. It's not just the money, it's the sheer physical effort required to put everything into place. I thought I was in decent shape but I'm already exhausted!
Gabe gives me a measured look. "If you want, I could probably do it. I'm pretty handy."
"I bet you could. Is there anything you can't do? No, don't answer that."
He grins and finishes off the last bite of his sandwich. As he wipes his hands on a napkin, I suppress a little pang of sadness that our lunch date is almost over. After this, it'll be back to assembling the rest of the tables on my own. The one thing I hadn't counted on was how lonely it can be doing all of this by myself.
After gathering up the wrappings and empty containers from our lunch, Gabe grabs my hand. "Seriously, Sasha if you need anything, I'm more than happy to help."
"I know. But I really want to do this on my own. It’s my project and I need to feel like I'm doing it on my own steam."
"Stubborn girl. Stubborn beautiful girl." But he squeezes my hand in understanding.
"Besides, maybe I don’t need a stage. Maybe my performers will move throughout the crowd and sing directly to the audience. It’ll be an interactive show. Kind of like those cool flash mobs you see online where everyone is singing and dancing together." I do a little turn and spin away from him like a ballerina.
When I turn around, Gabe is watching me with the strangest expression. "You are remarkable. Nothing keeps you down for long, does it?"
The open affection in his voice warms me through and through. He doesn't seem to expect an answer, just pulls me into his arms. He holds me for a long time and I have the sudden urge to clamp my arms around him. To never let him go.
But then he just kisses me on the forehead and says, "Lock up behind me, okay?"
* * * * *
About ten minutes after I get home that evening, the doorbell rings. I was all geared up for a night of conditioning my hair and eating leftovers since Gabe already warned me he's working late tonight. We’re supposed to be casual so I hadn't let on that I was disappointed. But I was. And worried that maybe I'm more into this than he is.
Taking my sister's advice and presenting Gabe with an offer he couldn't refuse was always a risky prospect. Pretending that I'm okay with a casual thing hasn't been easy. But the way he acted today, the way he held me … wasn't so casual. I shiver remembering. Maybe he's been thinking about me all day, too? I skip to the door. Maybe he decided to ditch work and come over anyway!
But when I look through the peephole, I see the last two people I was expecting. I yank open the door.
"Kay? Eli? What are you guys doing here? Were we supposed to meet?"
Usually I'm not the forgetful type but with everything that's been going on lately it's possible that I spaced when we were making plans. I'd noticed a missed call from Kay earlier today but I’d been so exhausted that I'd figured I'd call her back this evening.
"No, I just wanted to come by." She doesn't meet my eyes as they come in. I shut the door behind them and turn around. Usually Kay comes right in and gets comfortable on the couch. Today she's standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room and hasn't even taken her coat off.
Something is wrong.
"Okay, what's going on?"
Kay wrings her hands. “I came by your new space around noon today. I wanted to take you to lunch."
"You did? Why didn't you come in?" Then it hits me that I was busy at noon. Having lunch with Gabe. Suddenly her discomfort makes sense. Depending on when she came by she could have seen something completely innocent or something completely … not.