Page 31 of A Table for Two
Serenity could’ve kissed her. She glanced over her shoulder, and her pulse skipped when she saw Gabriel standing there with her friends. He looked so good in his black shorts and a gray tee that molded to his wide, muscular chest.
Cole stepped aside and looked Gabriel up and down. “Do I know you?”
Gabriel lifted a brow. “No.” He sat down next to Serenity. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself.”
Realizing that he had been summarily dismissed, Cole stalked off without another word.
Natasha dropped down on the other side of the blanket. “Pompous jerk.”
Gabriel chuckled. “Y’all are some cold sisters. Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
Serenity gave him an incredulous look. “Us?What about that terse one-word reply you gave? I do have to say the look on his face when he realized you weren’t going to give him any more information was priceless, though.”
He shrugged. “Have you all eaten yet? Or are you planning to have dessert first?”
Natasha broke off a small piece of pound cake and popped it into her mouth. “We’re going to get something to eat in a few minutes. We just wanted to make sure we got some of Serenity’s desserts before they’re gone.”
Gabriel stood. “I’d better do the same.” He held his hand out to Serenity. “Want to show me which ones are yours?”
Doing her best to ignore the smiles on Dana’s and Natasha’s faces, Serenity placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her up. She immediately let go once she was on her feet. One, she didn’t want to give anyone anything to talk about, and two, touching him went beyond the boundaries of friendship she was trying hard to maintain.
“Is it always this crowded?” Gabriel asked as they walked toward the dessert table.
“It has been since I moved here. Is your grandmother here?”
“Yes. I left her and Ms. Flora playing bingo.”
She laughed softly. “Those women are serious about their bingo. They play every week at the community center.”
“That’s what she told me. I thought it was just fun and games until she told me there’s money involved. She said the reason I didn’t know was that it’s grown folks’ business. She is something else,” he added with a shake of his head.
Serenity pointed out her desserts on the table and waited while he purchased two each of the pound cake and strawberries and four of the six remaining brownies. On the way back, she said, “Four brownies?”
“Hey, I was trying to be nice leaving those two.” He held her gaze. “They’re my weakness.”
Have mercy!He stared at her as he had that night, forcing her to remember the timbre of his voice, the tender touch of his lips. She took a step and nearly tripped.
Gabriel slid an arm around her waist to steady her. “You okay?”
She nodded and prayed no one else noticed. Blessedly, she made it back without further mishap. A smile spread across her face when she saw that Terri and Jon had joined them. She hugged them both and introduced Gabriel to Jon.
The two men hit it off, and the group spent the remainder of the day laughing and eating. Eventually, the conversation turned to cooking.
“I can barely boil water,” Jon confessed. “So I can’t say anything about somebody’s skills.”
Dana laughed. “What about you, Gabriel? Can you throw down in a kitchen?”
“I can do a little somethin’ somethin’.”
Natasha and Serenity shared a look before Natasha said, “Think you hang with our girl?”
A mischievous grin spread across Gabriel’s mouth. “Maybe.”
Dana and Natasha hollered.
“I say they should do a cook-off, best side dish,” Dana said with a squeal, clapping her hands.
