But there’s something about the innocence I sense that calls to me. No other woman I’ve been with, especially not Felicia, who I dated for six months and thought I was falling for, had this appealing, wholesome side to her.
Felicia was elegant and looked perfect on my arm at any event we attended, but she lacked the genuine warmth Gabby possesses. And at the very mention of me possibly resigning my job at the investment firm, she lost her mind, yelling, shouting, and threatening to break up with me, and that was before I revealed my intention to leave the rat race and move here.
No sooner did she react than I knew I had to end things. Learning she wasn’t in love with me but with my status was a blow, but at least I walked away with my dignity intact. Only with hindsight did I realize I liked similar things about her, how we fit together for business and yes, the sex was good. As shallow as I discovered the relationship was, the road to getting over her still wasn’t easy.
My temporary houseguest already evokes protective emotions and those feelings make me weak. If she stays, I might give in, and I refuse to fall for the poor little rich girl. One who could decide to run back to her rich family and leave me alone to pick up the pieces. Been there, done that. I don’t care for a repeat.
“Maddox?” Gabby waves a hand in front of my face. “Are you listening?”
I groan, aware I’ve been lost in thought for way too long. “Look, you don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here.” It was hard enough to sleep knowing she was a short distance away in my study, on the bed my brother used while he lived here. My shower consisted of jerking off to thoughts of Gabby and being too pissed off at myself to fall asleep after. “How about we get dressed, drive over to the bar, and you can figure something out?”
She shakes her head. “I already thought things through. Everything around here is booked in the summer, rentals included. I’m not going back to the city. My parents will follow. And I am not going to their summer home so my mother can push her agenda, forcing me to hang around with that rich, handsy loser,Preston Barrett, III,thinking I’ll agree to marry him.”
“You said Preston Barrett?” I know that name.
“The third.” She wrinkles her nose in distaste.
I agree with her assessment of the prick her parents want her to marry. I know him too well.
“You know him?” she asks, her eyes wide in surprise.
I can’t prevent the half smile from lifting my lips. I didn’t plan on revealing anything personal, but with this common connection, I can’t hold back. “If I told you before I managed The Back Door, I was a money manager in the city, would you believe me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” she asks without hesitation. “It just makes me want to know what made you move here and change your whole life.”
I blink, surprised at her nonjudgmental reaction. Even my parents, who love me with everything in them, wondered if I lost my mind when I made the choice. In the end, they supported me and are grateful that I’m happy again.
I don’t reply to her question. “So I know the Barretts because I worked at Barrett Senior’s financial firm.”
“Aah. So you know the slime is inherited?” She grins, and I want nothing more than to kiss those lips.
I nod. “Preston came in thinking he was above the existing partners because of his family name. He cornered more than one receptionist, sending them running to HR only to find nobody would write up the owner’s son.” It’s just one of the many reasons that world isn’t for me.
“That’s awful,” Gabby whispers, obviously putting herself in the place of those women.
“You defended yourself against him. As for me, I saw him in action, then backed up my assistant’s accusation. I put it in writing, but I assume Senior buried the claims. She left the firm when I did. You’re doing the right thing, getting away from him.”
And shame on her parents for thinking the entitled young bastard with the wandering hands is good enough for their daughter. And there are those possessive instincts firing up again. Ones I never felt for a female in my life, except for my mother.
“Thank you for saying that.” Gabby smiles. “So you see why I’m not going home to deal with my family or Preston.” She squares her shoulders, obviously preparing for an argument.
Oh, she’s good. Using my disgust with Barrett as a way to change my mind about her staying. I grind my teeth so hard I’m surprised I don’t chip a molar. Because there is no way I can send her back to the pit of vipers she came from.
“Fine. You can stay here.” I’ll just have to take an extra cold shower a day.
Her eyes open wide, a big smile pulling at her mouth. “Really?”
I hold up a hand. “For a little while. Just until you figure out your next move.”
“Thank you!” Ignoring the last bite of her breakfast, she jumps up from her seat. Next thing I know, she’s wrapped herself around me, hugging me tight. “I’m so grateful. You’ve been a lifesaver from the moment we met.”
I find myself surrounded by her warm body, soft curves and the fragrance of the generic shampoo and soap in the shower. Her bland scent does nothing to calm my desire or arousal because I’ve already inhaled her strawberry scent when I carriedher to bed last night. The sweet smell lingers in my memory and my body reacts to everything about her, my cock growing harder.
She doesn’t let go, and I reach up, gripping her wrists with every intention of unwinding her limbs from around my neck. Anything to create distance between us before I do something I’ll regret.
Taking my cue, her arms drift to her sides, but she doesn’t step back. Oh, no. Not the woman who has trouble written all over her. Instead, she tilts her head and meets my gaze. Her emerald eyes glitter like precious jewels, a combination of desire and naughtiness in her expression. “You try really hard to hide it but you’re a nice guy, Maddox. Thank you.”
My name on her lips is my undoing. I take in her half-lidded gaze and natural, pink puckered mouth and when she rises on to her tiptoes, I shove all rational thought aside and dip my head to steal a taste. She is all in, her kiss eager but inexperienced, solidifying the innocence I sensed from the minute I laid eyes on her. Instead of being a turn-off, it only makes me want her more.
