Page 67 of A Table for Two
Gabriel nodded in time with the beat and smiled at Serenity. “This was a good choice. I’m really enjoying myself.”
“Me too. Can’t you tell?” she asked, laughing and still moving to the beat.
By the time the concert ended, Serenity had to fan herself to cool down. She excused herself to the restroom.
“I’ll wait near the exit.” He pointed, almost shouting to be heard over the many people streaming out the doors.
She nodded and joined the always long line for the women’s bathroom. After she finished, she met Gabriel.
“Do you still want to go back and sit by the water?”
“Yes, but can we go to the car so I can change into my flat shoes? And get your brownies.”
“Absolutely.” A smile lit his face and he all but dragged her to the car.
Serenity handed him the small Ziploc bag, then changed her shoes. He’d finished the first of the three by the time she stood. “I guess you wanted those.”
Minutes later, after they were seated, Gabriel turned her way. “I enjoyed the concert.”
“She was fabulous. Thank you for getting the tickets.”
“It was my pleasure.”
The kiss that followed was so achingly sweet and tender it brought tears to her eyes. She’d been falling for him since the first kiss, and she was in danger of losing the one thing she’d vowed never to give away again—her heart.
Chapter 18
How was the Jill Scott concert last weekend?” Darius asked. “I figure since you skirted the topic every time we talked during the week, claiming we should be inwork mode, you can’t avoid it today. It’s Saturday and we’re off.”
For the hundredth time, Gabriel wished he hadn’t answered that call. He’d done so only because it might be work related and something he could solve quickly. “The concert was off the hook. She put on one of the best shows I’ve seen. We had a good time.”
“Better than good, more than likely.”
“Something like that,” he murmured. As he’d said, the concert was great, but the time he and Serenity spent sitting near the water had been far better. The fulfillment he’d felt scared him to death because he could envision them sitting that way for years to come. And that wasn’t supposed to be on his radar. At all.
“I have to say I’m really surprised you’re still seeing Serenity. Since your breakup, I can’t recall the last time you went out with a woman more than a couple of times, if that. Yet it’s been what, more than two months?”
“Thereabouts.” Darius wasn’t the only one surprised, and he’d described Gabriel to a tee. The difference? Those women weren’t Serenity. Not one possessed the same sweet, caring spirit or could make him lose control simply from a kiss.
“I mean, I can’t blame you. Serenity is a beautiful woman. All those curves packaged in one compact, stacked body, and—”
“You can stop right there, D.” Something akin to jealousy—if he were owning up to it—rose fast and hard. Gabriel jumped up from the lounger he’d been sitting in on his deck and paced.What iswrongwith me?It shouldn’t bother him that Darius noticed Serenity’s beauty, especially since he knew his friend wouldn’t even think about trying to make a play for her, now or sometime in the future. That had always been one of their friendship rules. They didnotgo after a woman one of them had dated, no matter the circumstance.
“Interesting.”
He dropped back down on the lounger. “What?”
“You. You know what I think?”
“No, and I don’t particularly care. Not that it’ll stop you,” he added wryly.
Darius laughed. “I think you should extend your stay. It’s not like we can’t continue to handle things the way we’ve been doing. Brent and I can pop out there for a few days, or you can come home like you did a couple of weeks ago.”
What Darius said made sense, but Gabriel had his schedule all mapped out, and now it had been blown to bits. “I don’t know. Maybe. But for how long?”
“As long as it takes for you to decide what you want to do. You sound a lot like your grandmother,” Darius said. “I mean, I can’t really blame her for not wanting to move, though. I’m not sure I’d want to uproot my entire life at that age. Hell, you don’t even want to do it now.”
Gabriel frowned. “Whose side are you on?”
