"Whatare you doing?" The deep voice rumbled behind her, scaring her to drop thelid with the bang.
Turning herhead to scowl at him she immediately faced the wall again. Shirtless Gabrielstood in the doorway holding a fistful of clothes. Unwillingly Salene's mindplayed back the memory of Amber describing Gabriel's body when the couple firstmet. Though her hatred ran deep Salene could secretly admit Gabriel's lookswere without equal. Extremely tall with a wide defined chest that sat perfectlyon hard rippling abs, too bad it was all wasted on a misogynistic asshole likethis.
"I amlooking for towels or at least a towel since the guest bathroom is empty."
"They'reon the top shelf." Salene felt a whoosh of air pass her neck as theclothes previously in his hand were tossed on the floor beyond.
What aslob.
"Finethank you." She replied tersely just wanting him to leave.
Reachingabove on her toes she paused midway when she felt her shirt resist themovement, pulling her back down. Looking down she noticed her shirttail andbutton were caught in the machine's lid.
"DearGod, just fucking move," a rough grip on her waist shoved her sideways.
"Wait…"She cried out, but it was too late the shirt ripped and snatched out theremaining buttons leaving her shirt gaping open.
"Whatdo you mean wait, I thought you… Oh," Gabriel looked shocked for a momentbefore giving her a disgusted snarl as she attempted to pull the flaps of hershirt close. Salene was pretty sure he got an eyeful of her cleavage. Yankingthe blue towel down he tossed it at her hitting her in the face with the fluffyterrycloth.
"Please.It would be a cold day in hell first," he grumbled walking past her.
Snatchingthe towel, she stormed back to the bathroom. Closing the door, she pressed thelock button, but nothing happened. Great, just figures with her luck. Turningon the water, she removed her torn shirt and other clothing. Taking a glance atherself in the mirror, she felt the sting of tears threaten to spill. Thereflection staring back at her looked miserable, breaking out skin due tostress, dry frizzy curls, and dark circles under her eyes. Naturally, her eyessettled on her breast as they always did.
They werejust too large for her frame. Every since high school, she hated her breast.Salene found herself constantly checking out other women's breast incomparison. There was nothing good about them. They hung just a little too low,her nipples were just a little too large, and no matter what she wore shelooked ten pounds too top-heavy. That was another reason her meager savingstook a beating before she received a layoff notice she finally put the downpayment on her reduction surgery. But with the way things looked now it did notseem very realistic to go through with it at this time.
Steppinginto the hot spray, she thought of Gabriel's reaction to her torn shirt. Whatan asshole. The last few times she did speak with Amber all she did wascomplain and tell her how badly things were going between them. Beingwishy-washy though was Amber's specialty, Salene just figured she was venting,the two weren't even married for half a year yet. Maybe she should have takenAmber's complaints more seriously. If Salene was not mistaken, Amber didmention something about some guy she was talking to online. Normally Salene wascompletely against cheating but in Gabriel's case—Salene could totally seeAmber's point of view.
The next morning,she woke up extra early, Salene had no desire to see Gabriel's face again.Folding the sheets, she placed them neatly on the bed. Grabbing her purse andbag she walked quietly to the kitchen and living area. Ignoring the growls ofher stomach she dropped off her towel in the laundry room. Hoisting her baghigher on her shoulder she unlatched the front door's deadbolt.
"Beforeyou make that walk of shame to your new home on wheels, how about you make mesome eggs, and I might share some with you." Gabriel smiled evillystanding in the hall entrance pulling on a T-shirt over his head, flashing herhis abs.
Salenethought about telling him to go screw himself, but the rumbling in her stomachmade her reconsider. The only thing she had to eat yesterday was a couple ofgranola bars. Setting her bags by the door she walked back to the kitchen.Receiving no help from him as to where things were, she just started openingcabinets until she found the needed supplies. The flatscreen TV on the kitchencounter hummed to life as she made a large batch of scrambled cheese eggs insilence. Salene did not bother asking him how he wanted the eggs prepared—hecould choke on them if all she cared.
Dumping thecontents on two plates, she slid his plate and a fork across the bar where hewas sitting. Cold green eyes gave her a smug look as he forked the fluffy eggs.
"Don'tyou have to go to work today?" Surely the large company he worked fordowntown would have work for one of their company lawyers on a Wednesday.
"Donot worry about what I have to do. You need to be worried about which bridge you’regoing to sleep under tonight.” He replied scathingly, as he forked anotherbite.
The angerand humiliation made her stomach knot, she could not bring herself to eatanymore. Setting her plate near him, Salene fought the urge to throw the foodin his face. Out of all her siblings, she was the most calm and levelheadedone, she always took pride in keeping her anger in check and being able tohandle any situation with decorum. This bastard was testing her, though.Cleaning the area and pan she used, she left the kitchen without a word.
Grabbingher bags in the front foyer she inhaled a steady breath and turned with herhand on the knob.
Surprisedto find him walking up behind her, she lifted her chin in confidence."Thank you for letting me stay last night." The words fell likevinegar on her tongue, but she refused to stoop to his level.
Scratchinghis growing beard Gabriel leaned against the wall on one shoulder hooking onebarefoot over the other regarding her with mild interest.
"So Itake it you will be running back home now, tail tucked firmly between yourlegs. What was it Georgia, Florida?" This sheer amusement he was takingfrom this was completely apparent as he made no efforts to hide it.
"It isFlorida," she corrected calmly doing her best to appear bored and unfazedby him. "And no I am not going back." Salene would honestly considerstripping before she faced her family in this low moment.
Creasinghis brow in confusion, he probed further. "Then what are you going to do?Beg at stoplights?"
Taking yetanother deep breath she gave him a chilly glare. "If you must know, I havetwo interviews lined up today. One for a manager position at a store and theother for a hostess at some place called The Green Room. So if you do notmind," turning she opened the door and stepped onto the porch.
The hotgrip on her shoulder pulled her back spinning her back to the door.
"Whatthe hell Breslin?! What are…"
