Page 19 of A Diamond Deal with Her Boss
Now, as the silence grew, she found herself doing the very same thing, and she could have kicked herself when she heard herself telling him that he wasn’t her type, but that that was hardly the point.
‘I think you know where I’m going with this...’ She came to a stumbling halt.
‘Oh, completely.’ Gabriel waved one hand. ‘Actually, what I meant was that my grandmother would no more think of throwing us into the same room than she would think of hot-air ballooning over the Ivory Coast. Don’t forget that she’s in her early eighties. She harks back to an era when men courted young ladies and the most outrageous thing a courting couple could do would be to hold hands.’
‘Surely she must know that those women you date are slightly more adventurous, maybe looking for a little more than holding hands?’ Abby said snidely and Gabriel’s eyebrows shot up.
‘“Those women”?’
Abby caught herself and remembered just who he was. She didn’t think she’d ever passed judgement on any of the women who had entered and left his life with precious little breathing space between them.
‘You mentioned that she had met a couple of them...’
‘Those women?’
‘Okay.’ She shrugged and slanted a sideways glance at him, which was a mistake, because he was looking directly at her and, once their eyes met, she found she couldn’t unglue hers from his face. ‘Maybe I’ve put them into a box but everyone has opinions. I’m no different.’
‘I would never have guessed that you had opinions about anything, aside from what might be happening on the work front.’
‘That’s insulting,’ Abby said coldly, stung because in that throwaway remark he had somehow made her seem dull and uninteresting.
‘No, it’s not. It’s the persona you’ve spent two years being at pains to cultivate,’ Gabriel told her with equal cool.
‘I didn’t think I was employed to shoot my mouth off about everything under the sun.’
‘Nor were you employed to be a saint.’
‘Would you have appreciated it if I’d told you what I thought of some of those women?’
‘Quite possibly not,’ Gabriel murmured softly. ‘But, now we’ve strayed onto the subject, why don’t you get it off your chest?’
Abby bit down what she wanted to say. He was being provocative. He did that extremely well and she wasn’t going to take the bait. She wasn’t going to let the sultry warmth over here, the fact that she was no longer in her comfort zone, go to her head.
‘Perhaps we should head inside,’ she said primly and Gabriel laughed softly.
‘Running scared?’
‘Scared of what, Gabriel?’ Her heart was thumping inside her and the palms of her hands were sweaty. If it wasn’t so shadowy, she knew he would be able to see just how much he was getting to her.
‘Speaking your mind.’
‘Not at all. I just think your grandmother might be waiting for us.’
‘With simmering excitement... Naturally she won’t be expecting us to rush inside after I’ve put the ring on your finger, but far be it from me to keep you out here against your will.’ He vaulted upright and then held out his hand to help her to her feet. It was a perfectly normal gesture which Abby pretended not to notice.
Walking ahead of him, she had the advantage of being able to create some distance between them, but that was instantly wiped out by the fact that she was very conscious of him watching her from behind. She’d no curves. Not like the women he dated. Would he be making comparisons?
That thought had never crossed her mind but crossed it now, and she was burning all over when she pushed open the kitchen door to find Ava sitting at the kitchen table. Simmering excitement sprang to mind.
‘I thought of coming outside but I didn’t want to disturb you love birds...’
Abby grimaced and then, shocking her to the core, she felt the weight of Gabriel’s hand slide under her hair to cup the nape of her neck. He stepped towards her and dropped a kiss on the side of her neck.
In a whoosh, the breath left her body and her legs turned to jelly.
‘I’m too old to be a love bird,’ Gabriel said wryly, absently trailing a finger along Abby’s collarbone. Her hair was as soft as silk as it brushed against his knuckles and her skin was just as soft. ‘That’s for teenagers.’
‘Love keeps you young at heart,’ Ava responded, positively glowing with satisfaction. ‘Wouldn’t you agree, Abby? Men can be so practical, especially that grandson of mine! Women love to be romanced. Maybe,’ she chided, ‘That’s why you’ve taken so long to settle down! Now, let me see that ring on your finger. You have no idea how happy it makes me knowing that I won’t be going to my grave thinking that Gabriel hasn’t settled down.’
