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Gabbriello saw Layla staring at the menu. “Dinner is on me tonight, so order anything you’d like,” Gabbriello reminded her.
“Don’t you eat here for free?” she asked as she continued to look over the menu.
“I could, but I choose not to,” he said as he shrugged his shoulders.
“Why?”
“My staff works hard to make a living. I won’t waste their time making my food when they could easily serve someone else who will pay for their meal and include a fair tip.”
“One could argue that you do pay them,” Layla countered as she looked at him with a smirk.
“True, but that’s not the moral of the story, is it?” he asked as he took a sip of his wine.
Layla glanced up from the menu and stared back at him and, for a moment, the world stood still and everything around them disappeared. It felt like they were the only two in the room. Her mind raced through their entire encounter today. Gabbriello saving her from the fight, the tingling feeling she felt when their hands touched as they introduce themselves, the soothing sound of his voice, his intoxicating cologne, his muscular body that was hiding underneath those designer clothes, all of it was completely captivating. Layla needed to be careful not to get swept up in the moment.
Gabbriello’s thoughts were also swirling as he focused on the woman sitting right in front of him. She was breathtakingly beautiful, sexy, strong, and curious. He knew she was hiding something, and he was going to find out what it was. There was something about her. Layla was the only woman who had come remotely close to holding his attention and interest for more than a half hour. He wondered what she would be like in bed. Would she be sweet and sensual as she let him do all the things he wanted to do to her? Or would she be hot and dangerous as she demanded him to go rougher, harder, and faster? He had to know.
She closed her menu, and Gabbriello signaled Richard, who took their order.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Layla asked as she held his stare while sipping her water.
“I want to know more about you. You’re unlike any woman I’ve ever met.” Gabbriello replied without breaking eye contact.
“I bet you say that to all the women you bring to this fancy restaurant.” She joked.
“No, I don’t. Only you,” he responded defiantly as his glare seemed to darken.
The sound of his voice and the intensity of his gaze made her entire body heat up as she sipped more of her water. She shifted in her seat, feeling the burning sensation between her legs. It was at that moment that her body didn’t care that he was an alleged murderer, drug lord, and criminal. Her body wanted him alone, naked in his bed. She was confident in knowing what men enjoyed sexually. Gabbriello, though, was the sexiest man she had ever met. She wanted to fuck him and let him take her from behind and....
Slow down, girl.
She needed to reign in her emotions before she got too carried away. If she was this turned on by just looking at him, she was going to get herself in serious trouble.
“Only me?” Layla asked, trying to take her mind off all the dirty thoughts she was having. “Why do you think I’m so different?”
“You’re strong, capable, and you don’t fall for just any man. They have to work for your attention, don’t they?” Gabbriello’s reply was immediate, as if he already knew what she was going to ask.
It is like he has known her all his life.
“Who was it that said anything in life worth having is worth working for?”
She met his gaze. “That’s right, I make them work for it,” she said as she seductively sipped her wine.
“I don’t know who said it, but I guarantee you, I would put in the work.”
“Would you? Would you do everything I’d asked?”
“Everything, and then some. I can give that to you, Layla. Everything. Just tell me what you want. What do you want?”
Is he saying what I think he is saying?
Layla thought about her response. She wondered if she should play it cool or continue with the sexual tension between them.
“What do you want?” She threw the question back at him.
“I want to…” Gabbriello stopped mid-sentence. He broke their eye contact as if he had caught himself from going any further. Suddenly, the tension evaporated like a cloud of smoke in the air.
“I don’t know what I want from you, Layla.” Gabbriello responded. “I guess I want you to be okay.”
