AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There was a long silence between us. I sat down and picked my book up, and he stared at the fire. Then eventually, Gabe tried to socialize again.
“That’s the first time I’ve kissed someone since Hannah left,” he admitted.
I had no idea who Hannah was, but I assumed it had to be a girlfriend or lover or something. I didn’t know if I wanted to open that can of worms, but Gabe decided to keep going. “She was a great kisser. I could never get on her level.”
Now things were officially awkward. I didn’t give two shits about his ex… whatever, and certainly wasn’t interested in reminiscing over her with him.
“Do you want me to go read in my room?” I asked. “It just seems like you might want somealonetime.” I leaned heavily on the alone, trying to impart my not so chaste meaning. He sighed and shook his head, almost smiling as I did.
“You’re pretty snarky for someone who was just panicking like you were.”
“You’re pretty cavalier for someone who damn near ruined my family holiday,” I replied, snapping harder than I meant to.
“I’m pretty sure the snow ruined your holiday, not me.”
He had a point. Technically, I wasn’t with my brother and Lexi because of the weather, which unfortunately, I couldn't blame Gabe for.
“Fine,” I said, retreating back to my book. “You didn’t ruin it, but you certainly put a damper on it with your criticism.”
Gabe sighed and turned to face me more. “How many times are we gonna go over this? I’m sorry that I came off as a douche nozzle when I walked in. I was surprised, and it led me to reacting badly. Can we please move on?”
I huffed to myself in disappointment. At least guilt-tripping him gave me something to do.
I looked over at him to say something, but he had turned back to the fire once more, and now he’d taken off his shirt. His head was tilted back and his eyes were closed, giving me the perfect opportunity to examine that body up close.
His shoulders were unfathomably toned, and he had a thick scar running across the left one. His arms were like tree trunks, and with all the wood chopping he’d just done, I wasn’t really surprised. His facial profile was statuesque with features that looked like they could have been carved from marble.
Oh, my God, I was actually drooling. I lifted a hand to my mouth to find a trail of spit descending my chin, and I wanted to melt into the floor from embarrassment. Thank goodness he didn’t see me, or I would have had to get up and walk out into the snow to accept my fate.
This is what you asked for, Jenna. I reminded myself.You wanted Dean to bring a hot friend for you to bone, and you totally neglected to wish for him to be charming or nice. You asked for good-looking.Curse my past self and her superficial wishes. Right now, I would have done anything to be sitting here with someone I could hold a conversation with, let alone sleep with. Neither of those things looked like they were on the schedule any time soon.
“I might try to get some sleep,” Gabe said. “I don’t wanna go to the bedrooms because there is gonna be almost no heat. I would recommend you do the same. Unless that is, there’s a secret fireplace in that room along with all the other things you didn’t know were there.”
I glared at the back of his head and much to my luck, he turned just as I was giving him a middle finger.
“Classy,” he said. “Exactly the kind of nurse I'd want at my bedside.”
“And you’re exactly the kind of financial advisor I’d want handling my money,” I snapped back. It was hard to believe that twenty minutes ago we’d been kissing. He was driving me crazier than ever. Especially because I couldn’t stop thinking about him naked…
“Look, I’ll keep to my couch and you keep to yours. Okay? We don’t have to talk or interact in any way. We will just wait for Dean and your friend to get back.”
“Perfect,” I said, feeling a strange disappointment in my guts. “A little peace and quiet is just what I need right now so I can pretend I didn’t just waste two grand on spending Christmas with someone I can’t stand.”
“You’re more than welcome to spend it somewhere else,” Gabe said, the irritation in his voice no longer hiding behind a veil of professionalism.
“Guests first,” I hissed, grabbing a blanket and turning over on the couch so my back was to him.
If things weren’t tense already, they would be now. We were stuck together for God knew how long, and we definitely wanted nothing to do with each other. The kiss was simply an interlude to the war, and I was certainly not going to let him have the higher ground. All I could do was count down the minutes until Dean and Lexi returned.
Chapter Ten
Gabe
Iwasamazedathow well I slept despite the situation. Jenna and I each took a sofa in the living room so we could be near the fire, which I tended a few times during the night.
“Do they typically let high-level investment bankers sleep that long?” Jenna said as I sat up. She had a steaming mug in her hand.
“No,” I said, rubbing my neck where it was a little stiff from the position I’d slept in. Usually, I was late to bed and early to rise, making sure I had an eye on any stocks I needed to be watching. But I realized, when I checked my watch, I slept until almost noon. “They don’t. In fact, it’s a good thing I’m on vacation, because if I wasn’t, I’d be getting messages about how very fired I was.”
