Page 41 of Enchanting the CEO

Gabe: My lips are certainly dry. So if you wanted to help with that, I wouldn't say no.

Oh, that was way more direct than I expected. Does he mean kissing? Or... well, silly me, what else could he mean?

I grinned, shaking my head. My sister would so hand me my ass.

Diane: I'm going to keep cooking dinner for myself. You are more than welcome to help yourself to it.

Gabe: I know what you're doing. But this is a conversation we'll have face-to-face.

I started laughing for no reason at all. I could imagine Gabe saying that in that semi-flirty voice he always used, like he didn't have an off button when it came to charming everyone. My sister had warned me he was a shameless flirt, and I could attest to that. I mean, I'd only been living here for a short while, and we'd already kissed. But I was certain that by the time I saw him, he'd probably have forgotten all about it. Hell, maybe he'd even hooked up with someone else in the meantime.

An unexpected pang of jealousy shot through my chest as I hurried to the subway station. Yep, I intended to ignore that completely. It wasn't warranted and was probably just an instinct, though I was nothing if not excellent at disregarding those.

I called my mom as I walked at a rapid pace, putting in my earbuds.

"Darling, good morning," she said.

"Hey, Mom. I thought I'd check on you before my first tour. How are you?"

"I'm good. You girls, will you ever stop worrying about me?"

The honest answer was "No, Mom. We will always worry about you." That was as true as it was that the sky was blue and the grass was green. Instead, I said, "I just wanted to check in, that's all. I cooked a fantastic chili con carne last night."

"Ah, what did Gabe say about it?"

I told Mom that he'd appreciated my lasagna, so I wasn’t surprised when she asked.

"He wasn't home. He needs to be at the bar this week."

"Oh, good gracious. That man works so much."

I smiled at the protective tone in Mom's voice. She’d never met Gabe, but she'd worshiped him ever since he helped with the bills.

"Yeah, I agree. Anyway, Mom, I was thinking of paying you a visit this weekend.”

"Nonsense. I'm fit as a fiddle, and I know you're busy."

I sighed. "That's true."

"I'll tell you what. We can FaceTime," she said proudly, pronouncing the words slowly. She tried hard to keep up with technology.

"Sure, let's do that."

I talked to her more about my tutoring sessions. Mom was always my champion. She'd never chastised me or made me feel bad about myself, even when I made the mistake of giving up my job at the hotel in Portland to chase a man to Boston.

Celia said I got my positivity from her. She was probably right, not that we knew anything about our dad. Mom never spoke of him, and we never pressed.

***

For the rest of the week, I felt a bit like I was living alone. I was sure Gabe came home to sleep, but our paths didn’t cross. In fact, I'd gotten so used to it that I didn't even think about him when I went into the living room on Saturday morning. And then I stopped in my tracks when I noticed him doing... chin-ups?

He was in the doorway of what I’d assumed was his bedroom but was actually a workout room. He'd installed a pull-up bar in the doorway and was currently lifting himself up.

Wowzer, the man was strong. I had no idea how many he'd done, but the grunts he let out indicated he was putting in a lot of effort. Damn it, those grunts were too sexy. I had to make my presence known, so I cleared my throat.

"Good morning," I said.

Gabe immediately stopped and lowered himself to the floor. Then he turned around. I checked him out before I even realized it. His chest was a bit sweaty, but he was the sexiest man I'd ever seen in my life. His eyes were wide, and his muscles... yummm. I finally slid my gaze back up.

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