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He smiles and the crow’s feet adorning each eye deepen. He moves closer to me and grabs a kite from a wall display. “This here is a good starter kite.”
“Perfect. I’ll take it.”
He leads me back to the cash register. “It’s a lot of fun,” he says as he rings me up, extolling the virtues of kite flying.
I nod. And then I try to imagine what Gabriel finds so fun about flying his drones around. Is it the control? Is it the feeling of freedom watching it soar? If I had to guess, I would think it’s the control. Gabriel likes it. Well, I’ll be the one thing he won’t be able to bend to his will.
Chapter 18
Gabriel
I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to sharing a house with Clementine. Having her around is torturous. It’s making me do crazy things, like almost firing a maid for telling her there was no ghost just because I wanted her in my bed every night.
I’ve only ever had to really care for myself, and maybe it’s turned me into a selfish asshole. But, I don’t see it that way. I’ve grown accustomed to a certain reclusive lifestyle. Sure, there's a lot of people around me, but still, I’ve always been solitary. They’re here, but I don’t let them in.
I make my own waves. I always have.
I’ve had a lot of doors opened for me because of the Prince name, but I believe I would have been successful either way. I’ve always been the one to work for what I want. I could’ve gone the way of my brother. Women, drugs, alcohol. Sure, he says he’s clean now, but I don’t trust it.
Just like I don’t trust his newfound obsession with Clementine. She’s mine to protect now. And that means protecting her from my own brother as well.
I shrug on my tuxedo jacket. Tonight, Clementine and I will act like a real couple, so she had better be prepared. I know it wasn’t part of the deal to pretend to be in love, but this ismyfuture.Myreputation.Mylife. If people found out I was forced into a marriage to someone I barely knew, the press would have a field day with that nugget of info.
I march down the hall to her room, and knock on the door.
Within seconds, she opens it, and my mouth opens to speak, but no words come out.
It’s because ofher.
Clementine stands before me in the hottest, fucking little red number I’ve ever seen. It droops way low in the front, showing off her hot-as-fuck cleavage. I clench my jaw to keep my tongue from sliding between her breasts. Her auburn hair falls in seductive waves past her shoulders. I’m shocked I’m still having this sort of reaction to her. I mean, I’ve seen her in her bra and panties. And even without anything at all. So, this reaction should be out of my system by now, but my eyes can’t get enough of her. Like all my synapses are firing at once and can’t process what I’m seeing quick enough.
“You look…” I can’t decide which word to use. I want to say she looks stunning, amazing, gorgeous, irresistible, completely and utterly fuckable. But, instead I tamper down my hormones and tell her, “...you look...sufficient.”
What the fuck is wrong with me?
I can see she doesn’t care for my word choice in the tight polite smile. She stares at me a moment, letting her eyes peruse my black tuxedo before responding, “Thank you. You’ll do.”
“Are you ready to go?”
She nods. “Yes, Tenny is with Erin and Troy tonight. So, I’m good to go.”
I turn away from her before I do something crazy, like kiss her glossed lips to test their softness. “Let’s go. Stefan has pulled the car around.”
I can hear the click of her sexy heels behind me and know she’s following. My long strides have her almost running to keep up, but I feel I need to get away from her before I do something stupid.
“Will you slow down?” she calls out from behind me.
I stop and turn to face her. “We’re late.”
“Well, then you’re going to have to carry me out of here, because I can’t keep up.”
The idea of kissing her weighs heavily on my mind. Her pouty lips taunt me to remove her lipstick with the pad of my thumb.
“This is going to be a long night,” I mumble under my breath, slowing my steps so she can keep up.
“Oh, wow. I’ve never ridden in a limo before,” she says, as we step outside.
Stefan opens the back door, and I hold out my hand to help Clementine slide into the backseat. I follow in after her. “It’s one of those types of events,” I tell her. “We’ll have security with us.”
