Page 11 of For Always
“Tyler, when you’re finished, Jagger and I are waiting in the dining room. Clyde and Dessie are joining us for an early dinner.”
She’d spoken in a very crisp tone, being sure to keep her gaze focused on Tyler. But before she walked away, she looked at Gabriella as if just noticing she was there. Gabriella almost laughed because that was impossible. The woman had come from behind her, which meant that in order to see that Tyler was sitting there talking to someone, she had to see the person he was talking to. Especially since he still held Gabriella’s wrist in his hand.
“I spoke to Dessie already,” he said.
“She mentioned that,” the woman said as she continued to stare at Gabriella. “Jagger and I think it’s a good idea for all of us to talk together. It saves time and will cut out any misunderstandings. We’ll be in the restaurant.”
His fingers tightened slightly, not painfully, around Gabriella’s wrist.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he told the woman.
She flipped her hair over one shoulder and raised a brow at Gabriella.
Easing out of his grip, Gabriella stood. She extended a hand and gave her most brilliant smile before saying, “I’m Gabriella Bennett from The Proctor Group. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
With that came a look down to Gabriella’s flip flops, and then up to her make-up free face as strands of wet hair stuck to the side of her neck.
“Brooke Radison, Jagger’s fiancé,” she replied and barely touched Gabriella’s fingertips in the worst handshake ever. “Ten minutes, Tyler.”
Brooke snapped those words to Tyler before walking away.
“Well,” Gabriella said still grinning because she’d already deduced Brooke, Jagger’s fiancé, was nuts. “I’ll be going again. We won’t bump into each other anymore because I’ll be gone in the morning.”
“Stay,” Tyler said immediately.
Gabriella looked down to where he was still sitting on the lounge. “What?”
He stood, slowly and stepped closer to her. “Stay here. Go to dinner with me and tell them about your plans for the ranch.”
Gabriella wasn’t sure what was happening here. On the one hand she’d just met a very rude woman. On the other, was Tyler who had shown up out of the blue, handed her a towel and touched her wrist. Gabriella touched the spot where his fingers had been, while keeping her gaze on him.
“I thought you hadn’t decided whether or not to sell.”
“You’re a designer. Re-decorate the house. It could use it whether or not I decide to sell.”
“That’s not what I came here for and it’s different. The goals of redecorating and staging are different. I’d have to re-think, plan again, talk to you more about what you like, how you want the place to feel. It’s a different job.”
He reached out and touched her again. This time his fingertips lightly brushed her bare shoulder, before he pulled away.
“I want you to stay. I’ll hire you. Sign a different contract or whatever you need. Just stay.”
Why? What the hell was going on here? And did she really want to get in the middle of it? She’d left Greenwich because there was too much going on there. This was definitely not what she needed right now. But as she looked up into his now blue eyes and heard the bleak tone of his voice, she knew there was no other answer. Especially none that she’d be able to explain to Mallory or The Proctor Group.
“I’ll be ready in ten minutes,” she told him before grabbing her purse and heading up to her room.
Chapter 4
“This is a business dinner,” Brooke said while Tyler pulled a chair out for Gabriella.
“And I’m all ready to discuss business,” Gabriella said. She took the seat and looked over her shoulder to mouth a silent “thank you” to Tyler for pushing her up to the table.
“Well, this is nice. We can get a lot accomplished tonight,” Dessie said as she lifted a napkin from the table and placed it on her lap.
Gabriella liked Dessie. She reminded her a lot of her mother even though their physical appearances were startlingly different. Where Beatriz Bennett had the same bronze complexion and dark brown hair as Gabriella, Dessie’s deep mocha complexion and glossy black hair was a contrast. Dessie also had a boisterous personality and wide genuine smile. Gabriella had liked her from the moment she’d stepped into the resort and Dessie greeted her.
“Excuse me. Who is this?”
Gabriella smiled across the table to the man who was actually frowning at her. He had to be with the bitchy brunette because they shared the same sour disposition.
