“Hey … oh, Gabe, I didn’t know you were visiting,” Jodi said as soon as she pushed through the door. “How’d you get in? I know I locked the door.”
“I have a key.”
“Oh, right,” Jodi commented.
“Came by for a visit with my eldest brother …” Gabriel explained before his words trailed off, and he looked over Jodi’s shoulder.
I could feel the moment he spotted me on my skin. Those pink lips spread wide with a smile.
“Once again, my instincts landed me in the right place at the right time,” he said as he strolled closer. “Lena, what are you doing here?”
I sputtered, searching for an answer to his relatively simple question. I’d sung in front of thousands of people, for presidents, modeled for top photographers, and had my face splashed on some of the most popular magazines in the world.
None of those experiences felt as intimidating or as nerve-wracking as standing underneath Gabriel Townsend’s gaze with that wolfish grin on his face.
Yet, I called on those experiences to push my feelings aside, lifted my chin, and looked him directly in the eyes.
“Jodi and I are going out to dinner.”
My stomach nearly curled in on itself when his smile widened.
“Wouldn’t you know it? I was just talking to Micah about going out to dinner.”
“No, you weren’t,” his brother said somewhere from behind him.
“There’s a great place not too far from here named The Tavern. They have the best burgers this side of the Mississippi,” Gabriel said, not missing a beat or paying his brother’s comment any attention.
“The Tavern sounds excellent,” Jodi interrupted. “I’ve been craving a burger all day. Why don’t all four of us go?”
How Gabriel’s smile could grow even broader, I’ll never know, but it did.
“Two steps ahead of you, sis,” he said while continuing to hold me with his gaze. “I’ll give you a ride.” Gabriel took me by the elbow.
“I have a car.”
“It’s rush hour. The fewer cars on the road, the better,” he replied.
“Gabriel, I can drive myself.”
He paused, right in front of the door.
“What?”
“Usually, I don’t like when people use my full name. I’ll make an exception for you.”
“Gabriel,” I said again.
He ran his tongue across his bottom lip, and my mind blanked.
“That’s it,” he said, low, almost murmuring. “Now, let’s eat.”
I wound up in Gabe’s Camaro on the way to a restaurant. While Micah and Jodi followed behind us, I still felt eerily alone with this man. Not even two hours earlier, my cousin had warned me to be careful of him … yet, somehow, I ended up in his car.
* * *
Gabe
I glanced over at Lena, noticing that in the ten minutes we’d been driving, she hadn’t moved an inch. She stared straight ahead with her hands clasped in her lap.
