Chapter 26: Gabrielle

Chapter 26 – Gabrielle

Well, that escalated quickly. One minute I’m hanging out at the jukebox with my friends, looking for some good songs to play, and the next, this obnoxious blond guy starts crowding us. He smells strongly of alcohol. Obviously he’s intoxicated.

“Hey, ladies,” he says. He’s wearing a red plaid shirt, blue jeans, and a big shiny belt buckle. “How about a dance?” He zeroes in on Maya. “What’dya say, sugar?”

“I am so not your sugar, pal,” Maya says, turning her back on the guy.

When he lays his hand on her shoulder and tries to turn her back around to face him, she pivots and says, “If you touch me one more time, I’ll break your arm.”

He lowers his arm and takes a step back, his eyes comically wide, and then starts laughing. “Oh, sugar, I’d like to see you try.”

Maya takes a step forward, apparently intending on following through with her threat, but Hannah steps between them and holds Maya back. “Don’t waste your time, Maya. He was just leaving. Isn’t that right?” Hannah says, pointedly staring at the guy.

“Well, if she doesn’t want to dance, how about you, red?”

Now, Mr. Plaid Shirt’s attention is on me. Great. How did I get so lucky? “Um, no thanks,” I say.

He grabs my hand. “Come on, baby,” he says, slurring his words. “Just one dance.”

As he starts pulling me toward the dance floor, Maya grabs his free hand and twists his arm up high behind his back. “Let her go, moron.”

“Kenny!” Ruth shouts. “Get your hands off her. Now!”

We all turn to see Ruth heading our way. When she reaches us, she grabs the guy—Kenny—by the back of his neck and marches him toward the door. Another one of Ruth’s employees, a big, dark-skinned guy, follows them to the door. I take it he’s a bouncer, but Ruth seems to be handling Kenny just fine on her own.

The big guy runs ahead to open the door for Ruth, who shoves Kenny outside. “You sit right there and don’t move a step,” Ruth says. Then, to her bouncer, she says, “Reggie, will you drive him home?”

Once the disturbance is taken care of, Ruth comes over to check on Maya and me. “You girls all right?”

“I’m fine,” I say.

“You shoulda let me break his arm,” Maya says.

“I’m sorry about the disturbance,” Ruth says. “He’s normally harmless. Looks like he had a bit too much to drink tonight.”

When a pair of hands settle on my shoulders, I glance back and realize John’s standing right behind me.

“You okay, honey?” he asks.

When he starts rubbing the back of my neck, a shiver courses through me. “I’m fine. Just shaken a bit.”

Now I notice that all the guys from our group are standing around us—Killian, Travis, Owen, and Micah. Wow, this is a protective bunch.

A romantic slow song that even I recognize—Breathe by Faith Hill—starts playing on the jukebox. Laughing, Maggie drags a reluctant Owen out onto the dance floor. Killian takes Hannah’s hand, twirls her, and leads her onto the dance floor.

A guy I don’t know approaches Maya, and before he can get a word out, she raises her hands. “Nope.” She turns and heads back to our table, followed by the others.

I stand rooted to the spot. I’d love to dance, but I don’t want to put John on the spot. He’s already done so much for me this evening by agreeing to come out.

A low voice ruffles my hair. “Gabrielle, would you like to dance?”

When I turn to face John, he slips his arms around me. “Really?” I ask.

He nods. “Yes, really. If you want to.”

I grin guiltily. “I do.”

He takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor, then pulls me close as we merge into the crowd.

“Hey, you’re good at this,” I say, surprised at how easy this seems for him.

John wraps his right arm around my waist and takes my right hand in his left. His left hand! I drape my other arm across his shoulders. He leads me effortlessly, like he’s done this a million times.

“You know how to dance,” I say.

“I never said I didn’t.”

“But I—I didn’t think you’d feel comfortable dancing.”

“When I was younger, you couldn’t keep me off the dance floor. Now, to be honest, I haven’t done this in years, but it’s like ridin’ a bike. You don’t forget how.”

“Have you danced since—” I glance at his left hand.

He shakes his head. “No. Not once.”

He hasn’t danced in ten years, and tonight he’s doing it only because he knew I wanted to. As I gaze up at him, emotion swamps me, and my eyes tear up. He’s doing this for me. He’s stepping completely outside of his comfort zone for me.

This man… he slays me.

“Hey,” he says softly, smiling down at me. “Why the tears?”

My throat tightens, and it’s hard to get the words out. “You’re doing this for me.”

The look on his face says everything. “Who else would I do it for?” He places a gentle kiss on my lips. “Gabrielle, in case you haven’t figured it out, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you.”

I bring our joined hands closer and place a kiss on the back of his left hand.

His eyes widen, and he swallows hard. “Gabrielle, I—” He looks around at the crowded dance floor. “Would you mind if we called it a night? I’d like to take you home.”

I stroke the back of his neck. I want to get out of here, too. I want to be alone with him, in a quiet place, where we can talk. “I’d like that.”

Holding hands, we return to our friends at the table and say our goodnights. Hannah and Maggie both have knowing smiles on their faces. Maya is secretly giving me a thumbs-up. Ruth joins us and pats John’s shoulder.

And then we’re gone, out the back door, into the truck, and heading back to the lodge.

“I’d like to spend the night with you,” he says quietly on the drive.

He offers me his right hand—he’s using his left to steer. We link fingers.

I nod, feeling a bit too overwhelmed to speak. So much has happened so quickly. It’s like gravity is drawing us together. It’s like we were meant to be together.

“My place or yours?” he asks when we turn onto our road.

“Either is fine with me.”

He thinks it over, then says, “Your place. That way you’ll have everything you need in the morning to get ready for work at the restaurant. It’ll be easier for you that way.”

“There are still two more condoms in my nightstand drawer,” I remind him.

He grins. “I was trying not to be presumptuous.”

“It’s okay. I want you to be presumptuous. I am.”

He nods. “Remind me to pick up a box of condoms to keep at your place.”

* * *

When we arrive at the lodge, I go straight to my apartment to freshen up. John heads to the barn to do a quick check on the horses, to make sure everything’s all right. The timing is perfect because it gives me time to get ready. Something happened tonight—something momentous. Our budding relationship took several leaps forward. I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves, but John took some real personal risks tonight—for me.

I slip into a cream-colored silk lingerie set, with a baby doll top and matching lace panties. It was a gift from my friend Lia McIntyre, Hannah’s baby sister.

Lia gave it to me at my farewell party, saying, “This is in case you meet a hot cowboy. You really need to get laid, Gabrielle. You work way too much.”

She was right about my work hours. Back in Chicago, I routinely worked six nights a week, and on my one night off—Mondays—I crashed in my apartment and watched movies.

The pace here in Bryce is very different, and I’m finding I like it.

When I hear a quiet knock, I slip the matching short silk robe on and go answer the door.

John’s eyes widen a bit when he sees what I’m wearing. “Wow.” He steps inside, closes the door, and reaches behind himself to lock it. “As pretty as that robe is, I’m a bit more curious about what’s underneath it.”

I feel myself blushing. “This is me being presumptuous.”

“Honey, you can presume all you want.” He pulls me close, running his hands down my arms to capture my hands in his. He brings first one hand, then another to his lips to kiss.

Then he surprises the daylights out of me when he scoops me up into his arms and carries me down the hall to my bedroom.

* * *

I’m lying with my head pillowed on John’s shoulder. He has one arm around me, and his other hand is lightly stroking my back.

“Mm, that feels good,” I say, shivering when the cool air hits my heated skin.

He kisses the top of my head. “That’s my job—to make you feel good.”

“Well, you certainly succeeded just now.” I stretch, moaning with pleasure. “I definitely feel good.”

He chuckles. “Glad to hear it.” He rubs my back a little while longer before saying, “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to invite my parents to the restaurant’s grand opening.”

I raise up on my elbow to face him. “That’s a wonderful idea. I’d love to meet them.”

“That’s sort of the whole reason for inviting them. I want them to meet you.”

“You do?” I can’t help smiling.

He nods. “Yeah. Unless you’re uncomfortable with the idea.”

“No! Not at all. I’d love to meet them.”

“I’ve mentioned you to them, and of course my mom wanted to know all about you. When I told them about the renovations at the restaurant, they were begging to come.”

John and I haven’t known each other that long, and yet somehow it feels like I’ve known him forever. I never gave any credence to the idea of love at first sight, but now I’m not so sure. I remember how fast and hard my friend Beth fell for Shane when they met. Honestly, I think he fell for her even faster. So maybe there is something to it.

“Speaking of the grand re-opening, I’m going to invite some friends from Chicago—Shane and Beth. I’d really like for them to meet you.”

John rolls us suddenly so that he’s lying half on top of me. “I’d love to meet your friends.” He kisses me then, gently, almost reverently. “Thanks for letting me sleep over tonight. I really didn’t want to leave you.”

I brush back his hair. “I didn’t want you to leave either.”

“Be careful, Gabrielle,” he says with a grin. “If you give me an inch, I guarantee you I’ll take a mile. You might get sick of seeing so much of me.”

I slip my arms around him. “I don’t think that’s possible.”