Page 10 of For Always
“It sure sounds like it,” Gabriella had replied and two days later was packed and flying to Miami to meet with the top selling agents at The Proctor Group. Within a week after accepting the position and flying back to Greenwich, a courier delivered plane tickets, itinerary and preliminary pictures of the Westwind Ranch & Resort.
Four days later, Gabriella was in Hobbs Creek, Texas.
Now, just three days after arriving, she was packed to leave.
Dropping her phone into her bag she stood up from the lounge chair and sighed. No sense in sulking about a situation she couldn’t change. It had taken her years to let that sink in. For now, Gabriella was going for a swim. She wasn’t going to think about returning to Greenwich and possibly seeing Austin again. She wasn’t going to think about the pain and confusion that would come with seeing Austin again. Dammit, she just wasn’t going to think about Austin.
It was ninety-five degrees on this sunny summer afternoon and the water was cold and refreshing. She swam slowly and leisurely, eyes closed, enjoying every second. She didn’t know how much time had passed, but when her arms and legs began to get tired, she swam to the edge of the pool and pushed herself out of the water.
He was standing there, holding a towel out towards her.
She accepted the towel and quickly wrapped it around herself. Tyler West was technically not a client. But Gabriella still felt off balance with him standing a few feet away from her fully dressed while she stood there in a very scant sapphire blue bikini.
“Just taking advantage of the pool before checking out in the morning,” she said because they were the first words to pop into her head.
“As I said you can stay as long as you like,” Tyler told her.
Gabriella shook her head. “This was a business trip. Now that the business is over, I’ll be heading back.”
No matter what she feared was waiting for her back in Greenwich.
He wasn’t moving. In fact, he might have looked a little odd standing there in his boots, hat, jeans and t-shirt, when everybody else at the pool wore bathing suits and swim trunks. But truth be told he didn’t. He looked handsome as hell. A fact which made Gabriella just a bit more uncomfortable.
She held the towel tighter around her body and moved to walk around him. She really hadn’t expected him to follow her, but he did. And the next thing she knew, Tyler West was sitting on the lounge chair beside hers. She slid her feet into her flip flops and reached for her purse. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist to stop her movements.
“Give me a minute,” he said.
She didn’t want to sit with him a minute, not dressed like this and certainly not now since they weren’t going to be doing business together. But there was something in the sound of his voice. Something in the feel of his skin against hers.
“Are you having second thoughts about selling the ranch?” she asked.
He looked toward the pool.
There was a family sitting on the side. Mom, dad, two little girls and a teenage boy. The boy had just tossed one of his sisters into the water while the other sister stood on the side giggling. The mother jokingly chastised the son, while dad chuckled. Gabriella could remember times when one of her three brothers would have happily tossed her and/or Adriana into the pool for laughs. Tyler watched in awe, as if this whole scene was new to him.
“My brother’s back,” he said eventually. “He didn’t come when I called him about our parents’ death. Didn’t bother to ask me anything about the funeral. Hadn’t even called to say he was heading down here. But just shows up this morning.”
“When was the last time you saw him?” she asked.
He shook his head. His eyes looked different today, more green than blue. It was odd and yet, attractive.
“About six years ago. He was in L.A. on business and gave me a call.”
“My brothers don’t let me go six minutes without wondering where I am,” she said with a chuckle.
Then she stopped because he still looked so very serious. Too serious, she thought.
“I have three brothers, older than me. Alex, Rico and Renny. And I have an older sister too, Adriana.”
“You’re the baby,” he said.
“I’m the youngest,” she replied.
The corner of his mouth lifted in a partial smile. She liked that much better than his serious look.
They were quiet a minute and Gabriella wondered what she should do or say next.
The arrival of a very pretty woman fixed that problem.
