Page 19 of Forbidden Sins

“Yeah,” he said, without paying much attention to the reactions of his friends. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. He’d hoped that the night could just be business, starting their annulment proceedings. But looking at her, he didn’t think so. He’d been rigid and tense since that kiss in the elevator. As he watched her from above, his body betrayed every command given by his brain. He had to keep his distance from her. Not do anything stupid. He had to think about becoming partner. Not his dick, and everything he wanted to do with her. Gabe wasn’t sure how he’d be able to do that, being assigned as her mentor.

“Invite her up,” Alex suggested.

Gabe shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on, we’ll be nice,” Jessica insisted with a grin.

“Yeah, I’m sure you will be. Now if you’ll excuse me...” He trailed off, drained his glass and stood. “Come on, Lana. Let’s get this over with.” He looked at the rest of his friends. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Oh boy,” Ellie muttered to herself, as she looked around the main floor of Di Terrestres, the club where Gabe had asked her to meet him. She’d heard of the place, and a quick Google search told her it was exclusive, expensive and—she took a look around the room, where people were drinking, laughing and touching each other intimately—definitely sexy. Why Gabe had insisted she meet him there was beyond her. What would he have had to gain? What was he up to? What sort of game could he be playing with her?

Both she and Gabe knew the importance of signing the annulment papers and putting their drunken marriage behind them. Maybe he wanted to sign the papers—she looked around again at the amorous patrons—but not before they had another night together. She could certainly warm up to the idea. If that kiss in the elevator was any indication of the passion that still simmered between them... “Oh boy,” she whispered again, her throat drying and her stomach fluttering. She definitely needed a drink.

Dodging interested looks from both men and women, she made her way to the bar. A little liquid fortification was needed before she faced Gabe Foster again. Just five years ago, she would have felt completely at home in a place like this. But that was the old Ellie. Since bumping into Gabe on Friday night, nothing she’d done was indicative of her change, and the great strides she’d made. She’d grown up, put her wild ways behind her. But one night with Gabe was all it took to turn it around. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried to grow up, she’d reverted to her old ways.

Nudging her way around a small group of men who all looked at her with interest, she ignored them and took a seat at the bar. The bartenders were busy, but the cute one caught her eye. “Be with you in a second, doll,” he told her with a wink, his hands busy making cocktails.

When she felt someone come up behind her, her spine stiffened instinctively, knowing who she would find when she turned around. “Can I get you a drink?” he asked.

She turned her head to look at Gabe. “They’re a little busy at the moment. I’m still waiting my turn.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured her, raising his hand and getting the same bartender’s attention. “What are you drinking?”

She hadn’t even thought about what to order. “What do you recommend?”

“Based on our history, can I suggest champagne?”

“You think that’s smart?” The last thing she needed was to end up drunk on champagne while they should be keeping their wits about them.

“Nope. But I’ll try to control myself if you do,” he said with a chuckle. “Phillip,” he called to the bartender. “A bottle of Dom.”

“Yes, sir. Coming right up,” he said, pouring three cocktails from a shaker and placing them in front of waiting patrons, and then immediately moving to get their champagne. He retrieved the bottle and two stemmed glasses and handed them all to Gabe.

Ellie could barely pull her gaze away from Gabe when she heard a throat clearing next to her. She turned and saw a stunning blonde woman.

“Ellie Carrington?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Here you go,” she said, passing her an envelope. “Happy annulment,” she said cheerfully, before casting a more serious look at Gabe and walking away.

“Friend of yours?” she asked Gabe. He nodded.

“Are these what I think they are?”

He nodded again. “A third party serving the complaint is procedure.”

She nodded, too. “Makes sense.” All of the sparks that had previously snapped between them just minutes ago had sizzled. She understood what this was—not a chance for a second night together, but business. On his turf. “Makes sense.” Part of her was disappointed. She’d been looking forward to seeing him again, outside a work setting. Another part of her was embarrassed; she should have known that Gabe would be eager to get the annulment underway. He wasn’t thinking about sex. Plastering a stiff smile on her face, and ignoring every hormone that screamed at her to rip her clothes off and jump him, she knew what was the most important thing—signing the annulment papers and putting this whole embarrassing episode behind her. “Let’s do this.”

“Let’s get a table. We can talk,” he suggested, barely looking at her.

Gabe, with his long fingers on one hand wrapped around the neck of the champagne bottle, settled those of his other hand on her lower back, guiding her toward a bank of tables on the other side of the room. His touch, both light and commanding, was filled with so much promise that she almost came from the unspent sexual tension since the elevator incident earlier that afternoon.

“Quite a table,” she said, as they slid into the plush leather semicircle booth. She looked around at the other booths, filled with people who kissed and touched. A spell of erotica filled the air and blanketed everyone in the room. This place was brazen, carnal, and Ellie was intrigued as to what she was doing there. There were literally hundreds of places where they could have met. With a third party serving her the papers, as per protocol, he didn’t have to be present at all. But still he brought her to what she’d learned was an erotic club. What was his goal? She couldn’t figure him out. Like hot and cold, Gabe now looked at her with the same fiery desire he had earlier, and she wondered if he was also warring with his body to resist her.

Reminiscent of the last time they’d shared a booth, he slid in next to her. Their thighs touched, and she breathed through desire that clenched her chest.

“You must have connections here.”

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