Page 39 of Hot in the City
He stood in front of her, running a hand through his already tousled blonde hair so it stuck up in front. Adorable. “Are you alright? Bloody hell, you had me worried when you didn’t show up.”
She shook her head. She’d never meant to get him so worried. “Sorry, I fell asleep. It was the strangest thing—” She shut her mouth with a snap of her jaw. “I haven’t been feeling one hundred percent. I guess I needed the rest.”
All the air apparently whooshed out of Gabriel’s mouth in a huge sigh laden with relief. Or more worry? “You’d tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn’t you?”
He sat beside her, carefully taking her hand in his. The warmth of his touch was a balm to her very soul, as always. The slightly rough texture of his palm rasped over her smooth skin, making her want him, his hands on her body, as always. He’d always be hers, she knew it. But still she hesitated to spill her news without warning.
“I saw my doctor this morning. She said I need to make sure I get enough rest, concentrate on eating healthy. Not too much stress.” So far, so true. She had to look after herself, now more than ever.
Gabriel reached over and smoothed his hand through her loose hair, smoothing a lock behind her ear. “Is it work? Opening the new agency has been demanding. I feel like I’ve hardly seen you for weeks.”
That was true, too. Sinead had been burning the candle at both ends, until she’d basically burned her own butt off. She’d only just finished her final semester of her business and tourism degree, now a new business was taking all her time and energy. That would have to change.
“I’ll slow down, I promise. Now, I really do want to take you away for the weekend. I need some alone time with my handsome husband. But I think we’ve missed our flight.” She bit the inside of her lip. Why did she have to ruin their getaway?
Gabriel nodded once, his sky blue eyes shining as he turned her chin towards him with the tip of his finger. “Let’s take the jet.”
Well, she’d always thought he was perfect. Imagine, going from a nearly cancelled weekend away one minute, to flying on a private jet the next! Her lips stretched out in a wide smile. “What an excellent idea.”
Gabriel’s own lips kicked up at one corner. “You know what else is an excellent idea? Kissing you. Right now.”
Her stomach flipped, and not with nausea she’d been battling for the past two weeks. She shuffled closer to Gabriel until she was leaning against his shoulder. He swept her hair back into his fist and turned her head until she was pliant and ready under his grasp. She’d become nothing but jelly. The delicious kind, possibly raspberry flavour.
When their lips pressed together, softly at first, she let out a sigh. When she lightly bit his lower lip, Gabriel’s moan emanated from somewhere deep inside his body. Their tongues tangled and she found herself sitting on his lap, then his hand gripped her hip through her little stretchy dress. The heat of him, the scent of him, like the ocean mixed with something light and citrusy, made her want to eat him up.
Their lips pressed together hard, Gabriel’s touch demanding more. Then he pulled away, his gaze meeting hers in such a way. . . a question in his expression.
She answered him with a brief shake of her head, but she couldn’t help squeezing his deliciously firm bicep at the same time. He looked as if he was about to throw her over his shoulder and drag her off to their bedroom, caveman style.
“Not yet, Mr Impatient. Let’s get to our super fancy hotel room for our weekend away first. I want you to be absolutely dying to touch me.”
The sound he made this time was a growl of frustration, smothered when he kissed her neck. Heat spread over every inch of her skin, making her gasp.
When he pulled away, his familiar half-smile on his face, Gabriel muttered something suspiciously like “going to make you scream”.
Sinead couldn’t sit still. Her whole body was a-tingle just thinking about it. Not too long to wait . . .
Chapter Two
Melbourne Jet Base
The private jet base was a space of such luxury, past-Gabriel could have barely imagined it existed. They pulled up in the town car outside the hangar-style building, engineered in such a way that a giant swoop of reflective metal seemed to curve up to the sky, and hang in mid-air above the entrance.
It was an exclusive space, and a doorway to an invitation-only world. As a kid of a single mother, an amazing woman who’d done everything she could to provide for him and bring him up on her own, he’d never understood they were poor. Not until he’d started high school on a scholarship. Then he realised his second-hand clothes and his mum’s beaten-up Toyota marked him as different, lesser, at his exclusive private school.
The kid he’d been back then had vowed that one day, things would be different. He'd look after his mother, and he’d have the kind of money that meant she’d never want for anything. And he had looked after her, even when she’d been so ill with early-onset Alzheimer’s over the past few years. Even when she’d failed to remember him.
Now that she’d passed away, now that the worst of his grief had passed, he could spend his money spoiling his beautiful wife, and on his growing business of course. Plus, he wanted to do some good in the world.
Gabriel would never have thought of investing in a jet exclusively for their company, until his partner, Ryan, had explained how much easier it would be to travel to remote islands for their new eco resort business. Also, it was cool. Big boys and their toys and all that. So, here they were.
He ducked his head as he emerged from their limo, where they’d pulled up under the sweeping roofline of the jet base entrance.
He and Sinead were ready and waiting to fly off to somewhere. She’d flat-out refused to tell him where they were headed, and to be fair, if it was a surprise he’d planned, he wouldn’t have spilled the beans either. She’d dealt with the ground staff by phone and messaged the pilot, some old friend of hers from her Mermaid Airlines flight attendant days. Apparently, the flight plan was ready.
Sinead was such a natural at organising trips and tours, it was no wonder why she was rocking it in the luxury travel business. She was bright, brilliant and beautiful. He glanced at her, straightening her cute little blue dress while jogging in heels, juggling a phone pressed to one ear. Amazing. And she was his.
She grinned at him, and his heart did that stuttering thing it sometimes did around her. God, he loved her. That was exactly why he’d planned his own surprise for her. Fingers crossed, she’d love his big idea as much as he thought she would.
