‘I would not offer if I did not want you to have a taste…’
‘Okay.’ I leant forward, moving my mouth towards the cone he was still holding. I licked from the bottom of the scoop, up to the top, before circling it slowly with my tongue. When I looked up at Gabriel, his eyes were the colour of charcoal and his lips were parted. ‘Mmmm,’ I groaned before licking the cream suggestively from around my mouth. ‘It tastes even better than I thought it would.’
Gabriel held my gaze and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
What the actual fuck was I doing?
I knew full well that my actions were wrong and that I was straying into very dangerous territory flirting with him like this. But the devil was dancing on my shoulder and I couldn’t seem to bring myself to stop.
Just as I was about to lick the ice cream again, my phone rang.
‘I’m not done with that yet, so don’t finish without me.’ I flashed him a cheeky smile as I reached for my phone.
‘Do not worry. I promise I will always make sure that you finish first,’ Gabriel growled.
Fuck.
Something told me he wasn’t talking about the ice cream and as my body lit up with desire, I wished that I could find out if what he’d said was true. But when I looked at my phone screen, my blood ran cold.
‘Shit. It’s your mum!’ Panic flooded my voice.
As the phone continued to ring, my heart thudded against my chest. I racked my brain, trying to work out what to do.
I’d already dodged Juliette’s calls yesterday. If I didn’t pick up now, she’d get suspicious.
I had to answer.
‘Juliette, hi!’ I squeaked. ‘Sorry I missed your calls yesterday. We’re just erm, at a… on an excursion, so we’re not supposed to be on our phones.’
‘How exciting! I just wanted to check that you are enjoying yourself.’
‘Yes. It’s, it’s going well. It’s good. Just hectic, y’know.Busy, busy!’ I repeated.
‘And how is your match? I was hoping you would send some photos. Please tell me he is not old and wrinkly? If he is, I hope he at least has lots of money!’
‘No!’ I said quickly. ‘He’s… nice.’ I looked at Gabriel sheepishly. ‘He just… doesn’t like having his photo taken.’
‘Oh,’ Juliette replied. ‘I hope he is not hiding something. Perhaps you could take a picture in secret, send it to me and I will ask Archibold if he knows someone who can investigate for you.’
‘No! I have to respect his privacy.’
‘Okay, sweetie. You are such a, how do you say?A goody shoes?’
‘It’sgoody-two-shoes,’ I muttered as my stomach twisted.
If Juliette knew that just minutes ago, I’d been flirting with her son, telling him how much I was enjoying licking his ‘nuts’, she’d skin me alive.
‘I’m not…’ My voice trailed off and I hung my head with shame. ‘I have to go. I’ll call tomorrow, okay?’
‘Of course, sweetie! Enjoy Paris and of course have lots of naughty fun with your match!’ Juliette cackled and my stomach tightened again.
‘I… I’ll… Bye,’ I said before hanging up then dropping my head in my hands. ‘I’m such a terrible friend,’ I sighed.
‘You have done nothing wrong,’ Gabriel said.
‘Your mum thinks I’m a bloody angel. If she saw the way I was just licking that ice cream like it was your balls, she’d send me straight to hell.’
‘Isthatwhat you were doing?’ He quirked an eyebrow. ‘And here I was thinking that you were just having a taste of my pistachio ice cream.’ Gabriel’s hand flew to his chest like he was clutching his imaginary pearls.
