Conquest of the Heart (16 page)

“It’s your money, not mine. That works for
me,” she smiled.

“How was your weekend? Did you find a good
book to read?” he asked, taking a sip.

“Yes, I did. How was your weekend?” she asked
anxiously.

He slyly stared at her. He was looking
forward to this. “It was good,” he smiled.

“Good.” She sat quietly for a moment. She
sipped her drink and stared at her computer.

Gavin tilted his head, still looking at her.
“You want to know if I spent any time with Chandler, don’t
you?”

“What you do on your weekend is your
business,” she said flatly.

“Jealous?”

“Maybe,” she shrugged.

“Well, I didn’t call her. I would have rather
spent time with you.” He continued to smile, now deviously.

“Doing what you do with Chandler? I don’t
think so. I’m not an object, remember?”

“I’ve never said you were.”

“Why haven’t you brought up what happened
last week? You would never give up an opportunity to gloat.”

“What about last week? We had a heck of a
week with all those meetings, but other than that, I can’t say that
I know what you’re talking about?”

“Seriously?” she asked.

“I’m not sure what you’re referring to. A lot
happened. Did something upset you last week?”

“So you’re not going to say anything? Nothing
at all?” she asked, staring at him in disbelief.

“I’d love to, as soon as you
tell me what it is I’m supposed to be saying.”
‘This is too easy,’
he thought. She
was extremely upset.

“I don’t believe this,” she said, shaking her
head. She got up from her desk, stood by the window, and began to
play with her necklace.

Gavin walked over to where she was. “Are you
pouting?” he asked.

“No,” she said, poking her lips out.

“You are. You’re awfully cute.”

“
Shut up.” She rolled her
eyes.

Faith was wearing a sleeveless knit shirt and
an a-line skirt that hit just at her knees. Gavin gently put his
hands on her waist and kissed her shoulder. He moved his way up to
her neck, and then gently nipped at her ear. His hands made their
way down past her waist to her thighs, and back to her waist.

He quietly asked, “Is this what you want to
talk about?” He gently kissed her cheek, while his hands continued
to explore. Faith unconsciously closed her eyes.

“No,” she quickly said, uneasy with what he
was doing.

“You sure?” he asked, as he shifted his
kisses back and forth between her cheeks, ears, neck and shoulders.
He wrapped his arms around her, tenderly caressing her. He tried to
slip his hands underneath her shirt, but Faith pushed them back
down. He stroked her arms, feeling the excitement from touching her
flood through his body. As he moved his hands back to her waist,
they worked their way upward. He grazed just below her breasts.

“Gavin, we….should….stop….” she breathily
tried to say.

“Is that really what you want?” he asked
sensuously, his breathing heavier now.

“Yes,” she said.

“Are you sure you want to stop?” he tried to
kiss her lips, but she kept turning away. Keeping one hand around
her waist to hold her close to him, the other hand slid down the
outside of her thigh. He then gently rubbed the inside of her thigh
as he moved his hand back up the middle of her body. Faith lost
it.

“J’ai besoin de vous
arreter,” she said. (
I need you to
stop.)

Gavin could hardly control himself. He
stepped away from her, taking a deep breath. “Woman, why do you do
that to me?” he asked.

Faith was relieved. She turned around and
looked at him. “What?”

“The French. Why do you do that?”

“Oh,” she said, making her way to her desk.
She let out a deep breath as she sat down. “I can’t control it. My
mind goes into defense mode. Whenever I’m in an uncomfortable
situation, my English gets replaced and all that comes out is
French. Even if I wanted to speak English I couldn’t. It started
when I was little.” She grabbed a piece of paper to fan
herself.

“Do you know what that does to me? I’m about
ready to rip your clothes off,” he said.

“It’s completely random. I don’t do it on
purpose.”

Gavin shook his head, and balled his hands
into fists, trying his best to fight back his excitement. He sat
down across from her. They still had another hour and a half before
their first meeting.

“Come on. It’s not like you’ve never heard
French before,” she said, looking bewildered.

“It’s not just the French.
It’s you
and
the
French. You alone excite me, but when you speak French, I lose all
control. It’s sexy as hell.”

She smiled and leaned back in her chair. She
closed her eyes and took another deep breath.

“I was right, by the way,” said Gavin,
looking at her.

“About what?” she asked, keeping her eyes
closed.

“You want me too,” he said with a slight
grin.

“So you’ve said.”

“So I’ve proven. You’re happy that I didn’t
go see Chandler this weekend,” he said.

“Now that I will admit to,” she laughed,
opening her eyes to look at him.

“I’ll have to go see her before the end of
the week though at the rate we’re going.”

“You started it,” she teased.

“I believe you did. You’re the one who wanted
to ‘talk’ about what happened last week.”

“There wasn’t much ‘talking’ going on in
here,” she chuckled.

Gavin just continued to smile deviously,
staring at her.

At that moment, Faith knew. “You planned this
all along. You knew I was expecting you to bring it up, and you
purposely didn’t – for two days plus the weekend. I’m surprised you
were able to contain yourself.”

“It was a good plan, wasn’t it? I had you
right where I wanted you.”

Faith shook her head and rolled her eyes,
“Yeah it was.” She paused. “That’s alright. Payback is a
bitch.”

“Are you serious? You really think you can
outsmart me?”

She just stared at him, smiling.

“Bring it on,” said Gavin, amused that she
was going to attempt to get back at him.

They both took a sip of their drinks, and
continued to calm themselves down. Faith continued to fan. Gavin
just sat and stared at her, thinking about how it felt to touch her
and kiss her.

“Are you alright over there?” he asked.

“I’m fine. I need something cold to drink
now. This coffee’s not working. How can you be so calm?”

“Experience,” he smiled.

“Bullshit!” said Faith. “You’re still about
ready to jump me. You’re just damn good at not showing it.”

“
Perhaps. My time will come.
You won’t let me have you right now. You’re not ready. If you were,
we wouldn’t be sitting here. We’d be on the floor.”

“I guess you know everything, huh?”

“I’m beginning to know you. Trust me, I’ve
been reading women for years. Although I must say that reading you
has been the most exhilarating.”

“I feel so special now. Thanks for sharing.”
Faith rolled her eyes.

“You really get upset when I’m right about
you. Why won’t you just admit that you’re attracted to me?”

“What woman isn’t attracted to you, Gavin?
You’re the sexiest man in this office. Why have you spent so much
time trying to get me? You should have moved on to your next target
by now.”

“I can’t explain it. I don’t want anyone else
right now. I just want you. No one else will do. If I tried to be
with someone else, I truly believe that I would end up comparing
them to you, and thus be unsatisfied. No, I want you.”

“What if you can’t have me?” Faith asked.

“I won’t accept that. Like I’ve said before,
with other woman who have said no, I’ve backed down from them and
moved on. I can’t accept no from you. Again, I can’t explain why.
Maybe it’s because I know that you really don’t mean it.”

Faith was quiet for a moment. She couldn’t
argue against his point. If she changed the subject, he would
consider that avoiding the obvious, which would be true.

Luckily for her, they were running out of
time. This discussion would have to continue some other time
because their meeting was starting in fifteen minutes. Faith
started to get her things together.

“Is it time to go already?” asked Gavin.

“Yes,” said Faith. “Time flies when you’re
having fun.”

“Your sarcasm is so sexy.”

“Is there anything about me that’s not sexy
to you?” she asked, almost annoyed.

“Not really. You’re the first woman I can say
that about,” he smiled.

“I’m thrilled,” she said rolling her eyes.
“Let’s go.”

At the meeting, they went over their
presentations, as had become custom over the last few weeks. When
all the information had been reviewed, Gavin asked if either Faith
or Carter had anything to add.

“Anything else you’d like to say?” he
asked.

They both shook their heads no. He looked at
his watch. “Okay, I’ll see you both back here this afternoon.”

Faith and Lauren joined each other for their
first weekly lunch. They decided to take in a quick bite at the
food court located at the South Street Seaport Mall, and then go
shopping. This would become their routine for weeks to come.

Lauren looked at Faith as they finished. “So,
has Gavin made his move yet?”

“Lauren, we’ve been really busy with this
project. That’s been his focus. Why are you so sure he’s going to
try?” Faith asked, taking a sip of her iced tea.

“You just fit the bill. I’m shocked that he
didn’t try the first day you started. It’s just out of character.
That’s all.” Lauren finished her drink and waited for Faith.

“This lunch is about getting away from the
office. Can we skip the talk about Gavin, and Carter for that
matter, when we’re out? I’d actually like to know more about you,”
Faith said as she picked up her tray to throw away her trash. “Are
you ready?” she asked, picking up her things.

“Yes,” said Lauren. “I’m sorry to be so
nosey. I agree. No more Gavin or Carter. Scout’s honor,” Lauren
saluted. “Let’s go have some fun.”

As they walked, Lauren shared about herself.
Lauren was a pretty woman with an olive complexion, and an average
build. She had shoulder length brunette hair with natural red
highlights. Her eyes were big and brown. She loved to know what was
going on with everyone, just for the sheer fact of knowing. That’s
how she knew so much about Gavin.

“I’m married and have three kids. Two boys
and a girl. Cameron is twelve, Geoffrey is nine, and Jayden is
eight. My husband, Manuel, and I have been married for fourteen
years.”

“Wow, you’re a busy woman. Are you from New
York?” Faith asked.

“I am originally, but Manuel was born and
raised in Texas. We met at a bar, if you can believe that. I was
out with a few friends and actually, one of his friends was
interested in me. We started talking and I gave my number to his
friend,” she paused. “Let’s go in here. I have a twenty percent off
coupon that I don’t want to let expire.”

“Okay,” said Faith, as they walked into Ann
Taylor.

“Anyway,” continued Lauren, “when things
didn’t seem to work out between me and his friend, Manuel asked if
it was okay if he could call me. His friend said it was fine, we
went out, and the rest is pretty much history.”

“How long have you been working for C&A?”
asked Faith as she looked at a skirt.

Lauren glanced at the skirt Faith was holding
and nodded, “That’s cute. It’s been about eight years now.”

They browsed for a while, picking up items
here and there. After trying their clothes on, they made their
choices, paid, and headed back to the office.

Faith let out a deep sigh and said, “It was a
good day to get out the office. I don’t want to go back. It’s too
nice out here.”

“I agree. It is a beautiful day. Wait until
the humidity hits. We won’t want to spend too much time out here,”
she smiled.

When they finally reached their building,
they waited for an elevator and ran into Carter.

“Good afternoon ladies. I see you’ve done
some shopping. What did you get me?” he joked.

“I got you this cute little tank top with
bling on it,” laughed Lauren. “I think Faith has a skirt that will
match perfectly. All you need is shoes.”

They all laughed as they got on the elevator.
“Where did you go for lunch?” asked Faith.

“Oh, I just got something quick. Too much
going on. I can’t keep my head above water right now. This is what
happens when Gavin’s wheels start turning. We get super busy with
projects, and then we make a ton of money,” he smiled.

“That’s true,” said Lauren. “He’s got an
incredible mind.”

Faith just listened. These were the types of
things she loved to hear about him.

As they exited the elevator, Faith and Lauren
thanked each other for lunch and talked about plans to do it again.
It was going to be a little more difficult to work them in around
the trips.

“I’ll take a look at our calendars. We’ll
squeeze them in when we can. I really enjoyed just getting out of
here,” said Lauren.

“Okay, just send me the invite, and we’ll go
from there. Thanks again.”

“Have a good afternoon.”

“You too,” said Faith, walking to her
office.

That afternoon, they completed another city
presentation, discussing the pros and cons of expanding there. So
the week went, more meetings, and more discussions. Each day, Gavin
was expecting Faith to have come up with something to get back at
him for what he had done to her Monday morning. Each day, thus far,
nothing. He was beginning to think he was off the hook.

On Thursday morning, Gavin took Faith her
coffee as usual. She had the top portion of her hair pulled up, and
the rest she let rest freely on her shoulders. He hadn’t seen her
hair like this since the party. She looked absolutely gorgeous. As
they were talking, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.