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He gazes at me.
“I did. I’m all yours now.”
I cough. A blush spreads over my neck and face.
Gabriel grins.
It transforms his face. Makes his expression open, more approachable.
“When you smile, you look really boyish. Sexier than usual.”
“Sexier than usual, eh? I like that.”
That’s when I realize I spoke aloud.
I turn to the window again, this time deciding to avert my face from him until I’ve sobered up. But not before I noticed how cute he is when he jokes.
In the six months I worked for his assistant and while I was covering for her, not once did I see him joke. He rarely smiles. Whether it’s with his department managers when he’s in meetings, or Mrs. Hall with whom he has worked for over a decade or in the rare magazine interview, he accepts.
When we arrive at the island, it’s late afternoon. I follow Gabriel to a brand-new truck parked near the landing strip. He has a distinctive gait, caused by a shorter leg, which I can’t help thinking adds to his rugged sex appeal.
“You leave it unlocked? What if someone steals it?” I ask after he ushers me into the truck.
“Only the caretakers and the pilot come here. It’s private land.”
“So, we and the caretakers are the only people on the island?”
Gabriel drives off in the sand. I stare at the aquamarine sea and clear blue sky. A seagull takes flight near the edge of the water, it’s singing loud in the quiet. It’s paradise.
“They’ll leave for the main island once I introduce you to them.”
So, it’ll be just the two of us. I try not to be intimidated by Gabriel’s wealth, but when the house we’re staying in comes into view; I gasp. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
“Your house is beautiful.”
“Our house, Harper.”
I nod. It’ll take substantially more than the few hours we’ve been married for me to think of his houses as ours.
“This is my wife, Mrs. Cross,” Gabriel says to the family of five that greets us outside the house.
“Please call if there’s anything you need,” the housekeeper, Mrs. Baton, says.
I watch her, her husband, and three grown children walk away.
“How long have they worked for you?”
“Since I bought the island eleven years ago. They helped with building the house and managed the construction.”
Gabriel takes me on a tour of the three-bedroom house.
“This is our bedroom.”
My gaze strays to the massive bed. When I glance at him, he’s staring at me. I check out the bathroom, telling myself to stop thinking dirty. The large tub, big enough to fit two people, doesn’t help.
I avoid Gabriel’s eyes as I escape to another room in the house.
“This can be Oscar’s bedroom,” he says.
