She didn’t skip a beat. “You never know when the urge to play musical chairs might hit. Best to be prepared.”
There’s my girl. I laughed and moved my place setting to the seat right beside hers.
Wait. Shit. My girl? What the fuck?
I cleared my throat and pushed the stray thought from my mind. “See, there. The urge hit. Good thing you were ready for it.”
Her head fell back as she laughed, exposing her long, smooth neck. The urge to kiss her there took me, so I leaned over and pressed my lips to her skin, breathing in her intoxicating smell. Despite my earlier pep talk, my cock joined the party.
Gabrielle’s breathing hitched, then she swatted my arm lightly. “If you distract me, our dinner will burn, and we’ll have to settle for something mediocre. I know how much you like good food, so down boy.” She took the command to my cock right out of my mouth.
Sorry, buddy. Food first. My stomach agreed wholeheartedly.
I smirked. “Just saying hello properly.”
“Yeah well, your hello will have to wait until after we’ve eaten.” She couldn’t hide the flush spreading over her neck where I’d kissed her, despite her outward nonchalance.
A timer went off somewhere in the house, and Gabrielle jumped up, leaving me to survey my surroundings.
Her entertainment area was open, like mine, and led to a green lawn with cacti in pots lining the walls and a sparkling blue pool. Her uncovered blue pool, the dad in me noticed.
“Come and get it,” she called from the kitchen. “If it tastes like shit, just tell me. I haven’t attempted this in a long time. I won’t be offended. I think I may have added too much salt.”
It tasted like heaven. Mrs. W.’s cooking was hearty and comforting, the fancy restaurants that I frequented were great, but neither had anything on the food that I shoveled into my mouth. Gabrielle’s food was on a whole different level. “This is amazing.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and her eyes lit up. “It actually kind of is. I think that I may have done it justice.”
“And then some. Was your mom Spanish?” I knew that her mom was a touchy subject, but the smile that played on her lips told me that she was okay with that line of questioning. Like it brought back fond memories for her.
“No, but she lived there for a few years after college. She always said that she could never get enough of their cuisine.” She sipped on her sangria. “Enough about me. How was Harper’s party?”
That unfamiliar feeling stirred in my stomach again. “It was great, if her exhaustion is anything to go by. They had a bouncy castle and ice cream.”
Gabrielle laughed. “Well, with those two things, there’s no way it could have been anything but amazing.”
“Yeah, that combination will win you the hearts of every kid there every time.” It surprised me how easy it was to talk to Gabrielle about Harper.
We kept talking as we finished our dinner and cleared the table. It was seriously the best meal I’d had in forever.
“So, you going to give me the grand tour?” I gestured to her hallway.
“Okay, so this is the kitchen. That’s the living room. And we just had dinner outside.” The girl loved her some sarcasm. I liked that about her.
I followed her down her hallway, where more personal pictures were tacked to the walls. She pointed out several rooms, but I was distracted by a picture of Richard holding a baby that must’ve been her.
No shit, Sherlock.
There were several others surrounding it. It was clear that her relationship with her father meant more to her than she liked to let on.
“James,” she called from somewhere out of sight. She had disappeared into a room at the end of the hall.
“Yeah, coming.” Hopefully soon.
The bedroom that I followed her into was tastefully decorated, with a four-post bed made up with crisp white sheets and flowing curtains that hung in front of glass sliding doors.
None of that made an impact on me. The only thing that I could absorb was the fact that Gabrielle was standing there in front of her bed.
Stark. Fucking. Naked.