Conquest of the Heart (20 page)

Faith could tell that he was highly agitated.
It reminded her of other times when she had asked what was wrong
and he didn’t want to talk about it. She watched as Gavin squeezed
the arms of the chair tightly, almost to the point of breaking
them. He couldn’t talk to Carter like this. Whatever the outcome,
it would not bode well for Gavin, or the company.

Gavin was standing to leave when Faith pushed
herself up from her chair and rushed to the door. She closed it
just in time.

“I need to take care of this, Faith. I’ll
talk to you later,” he said, trying to walk around her.

Faith grabbed his arms and put them around
her waist, pulling him in closer to her. She put her hands on his
shoulders. Looking into his eyes she said, “I don’t think that
right this minute is a good time for you to do that. I think you
should calm down.”

Gavin removed his hands from her and tried to
move hers from him. “Not right now. I need to go,” he said
impatiently.

Faith shook her head and said, “Unh unh. Stay
here for a little while.” She reached back around his neck, pulling
him close to kiss his cheek. She continued by gently kissing his
neck and his ears, trying to distract his attention. It worked.
Gavin sighed as he slowly placed his arms around her, closing his
eyes and hugging her.

“Okay,” he whispered. Gavin appreciated what
she was trying to do, but nothing was going to calm the storm that
was raging within to get his point across to Carter, who was
clearly was not getting it.

Gavin felt his loins stirring. He responded
to Faith by kissing her neck and cheek in return. As he got closer
to her lips, he stopped, knowing that she wouldn’t let him kiss
her. He kissed her chin instead, then her forehead. He cupped her
neck with one of his hands, keeping the other arm around her
back.

Gazing into her eyes he quietly said, “Thank
you. You’re not like anyone that I’ve been with. You’re different,”
he said, reassuring her. “I need to go.” He gave her another kiss
on the forehead and broke from their embrace. He stepped around her
and opened the door, leaving her standing there.

Faith took a deep breath in as she looked up
at the ceiling. She returned to her desk, hoping that Gavin would
control himself.

Gavin went straight to Carter’s office,
walked in, and shut the door.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he
exclaimed.

“Let me guess. Your little courtesan told you
everything that I said,” Carter calmly said, not even stirred by
Gavin’s rage.

“She’s not loose. You shouldn’t have
disrespected her the way you did. It was uncalled for.”

“I was merely stating what I’ve observed. The
two of you have seemed awfully close lately. I was curious,” he
shrugged.

“What happens between us is none of your
business,” scowled Gavin, frowning his eyes.

“So I’ve been told. Are you going to fire me
now?” he sneered.

“The only reason you’re here is because of
Adrian. If it had been up to me, you wouldn’t have even been
hired.”

“You just can’t let it go, can you?” Carter
asked, shaking his head. He walked around his desk and picked up a
file. He looked back at Gavin and waited for an answer.

“Every day that I see you, I’m reminded. Why
do you think we send you out of the office on all of these trips?
You think it’s because we actually need you in the field?” Gavin
shook his head. “No. I can’t stand you here. The very sight of you
makes me sick.”

“So you’ve never forgiven me. Nice,” smirked
Carter.

“After this morning, with good reason. Faith
has made it clear that she’s not interested in you. That should be
enough for you to leave her alone. I won’t warn you again,” Gavin
said. He walked toward the door to leave when Carter spoke
again.

“How many times do I need to apologize?” he
asked.

Gavin turned slightly, keeping his hand on
the knob, “It doesn’t matter, Carter. I can never forgive you. I
haven’t trusted you since, and never will.” He opened the door and
left.

He went back to his office and closed the
door. He pushed a button on his phone to reach Agnes.

“Yes, Gavin,” said Agnes.

“Please hold all of my calls today,” he said
wearily.

Gavin went to sit on his couch, plopping down
as if all of his strength had been taken from him. He leaned on the
edge resting his head on his fingers. He was looking forward to the
trip this Friday. There would be no distractions for him and Faith
for two weeks.

His phone vibrated on his desk. Maybe it was
Faith. He stood and went to check it.

As he picked it up, he just rolled his eyes
and shook his head. It was Chandler. She had been trying to calling
him since he told her it was over. He deleted the message and
walked back over to the couch with his phone.

Not long after he sat down, his phone buzzed
in his hand. This time it was Faith.

“Are you okay?” said the text.

He took a deep breath and slid his fingers
over the letters to type.

“I’m fine. Just clearing my head. I’ll emerge
soon.”

As he held the phone, he rubbed his eyes with
his other hand.

His hand vibrated as the phone received
another message.

“Alright. Call me later if you’d like to
talk.”

Gavin sat his phone on the table and sat back
again, trying to think of nothing.

Faith decided to call Lauren to see if she
wanted to go to lunch.

“Hey, what are you doing for lunch today?”
she asked.

“No plans. Why?” asked Lauren.

“I need to go shopping for the trip on
Friday. Want to go with me?”

“Absolutely,” said Lauren. “I’ll see you in a
few minutes.”

Faith got her purse and walked out of her
office, going towards Lauren’s. She stopped and waited when she saw
Lauren coming down the hall.

“Hi,” said Faith.

“Hey girl,” smiled Lauren.

They left, heading to the mall.

When they reached the stores, they took
notice of several good-looking men. They giggled like teenagers, as
they commented on their bodies and faces. One in particular held
their attention.

“Now he’s lovely,” smiled Lauren. They walked
into one of the stores.

“Aren’t you married?” asked Faith.

“Married, not dead!” teased Lauren. “Of
course, he’s not as nice as Gavin, is he?”

Faith shook her head. “You promised, no
Gavin.”

“Spill it. You know Gavin is hot,” she
laughed.

“I’ll give you that. Yes, Gavin is pretty
fine,” she grinned as she flipped through some blouses on a rack.
“Are you done, Girl Scout? You’re breaking your code.”

“I know, I kind of went through the back door
on this one, but I can’t help it. Gavin hasn’t been speaking with
Chandler, which I find interesting. Yet, he has been spending a
fair amount of time with you. Would you be the reason that Chandler
has been kicked to the curb?” prodded Lauren.

“How do you know all of this? Do you run
around gathering information?” Faith frowned, shaking her head. She
picked up a shirt that looked like her style.

“I hear things. I pretty much know everything
that’s going on in the office. Except what’s going on with you and
Gavin. Come on, Faith. I’m dying to know. Has he approached you
yet?” she asked as she shook Faith’s arm gently, pleading for
answers.

“There’s nothing to tell, Lauren. We just
finished all of our meetings, and now we’re getting ready for our
trip. That’s why you and I are here.”

“You’re no fun. Okay, tell me this. If he
approached you, would you say yes? I mean, with him being fine and
all,” Lauren said, walking to a rack nearby.

“Lauren, nothing is going on,” said Faith.
“What do you think of this one?” she asked holding up a shirt. She
was trying to change the subject.

“I didn’t ask you that. I asked what you
would do. You’re avoiding the question, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m reserving my right not to answer a
question that shouldn’t be getting asked in the first place. Girl
Scout,” Faith snickered.

“Okay, I’ll let it go. If I find something
out, you have to promise to tell me everything. Deal?” said
Lauren.

“No deal. What I do in my private time is my
business. Gavin’s private life is his business. If I share
something with you, it will have nothing to do with him. Okay?”

Lauren nodded. “Okay.”

They continued to shop around for another
hour. Faith picked out a couple of shirts, a few pairs of capris,
two skirts, and a dress. She also bought a pair of shoes.

When they got back, Faith gave Lauren a hug.
“I won’t see you for two weeks. We’ll get together when I get
back.”

Lauren nodded. “Be good,” she teased.

Faith shook her head and laughed. “You’re a
mess. I’ll stop by on Thursday before I leave for the day.”

“Bye. Have a good afternoon.”

They went in separate directions to their
offices.

Later that afternoon, Gavin finally opened
his door. He preferred not to have anymore drama for the day. He
returned to his desk, flipping through mounds of paper that had to
be reviewed and signed. Just as he had started to come out of his
funk, Chandler appeared at his door.

“We need to talk,” she said, walking in.

Gavin moved his eyes upward to look at her,
and back down at his work. He didn’t need this right now.

“I’m really not in the mood, Chandler,” he
said without emotion.

“I tried to call you all weekend. Why haven’t
you returned any of my calls?” she asked, standing there with her
hands on her hips.

“Because I told you it was over. I don’t want
to have sex with you anymore. There’s no reason for me to call you
back.” He took a deep breath and sat back without looking at her,
anticipating an argument.

“It’s not over until I say it’s over,” she
snapped.

Gavin tightened his jaws, looked up and said,
“Chandler, my day has already been rough. I don’t need this from
you right now. You were never in control of what we were doing and
you aren’t now. We both had the right to walk away whenever we felt
like it. I walked away. It’s over. I will not say it again.” He
shook his head, amazed at his day. “As you can see,” he continued,
motioning to his desk, “I’ve got a lot of work to get done before
Friday. If you’re done, please let me be.”

She scrunched one side of her face, and said,
“I’m done for now. If that little woman down the hall thinks that
she’s going to steal you from me, she’s wrong. You’ll know the
truth about her soon enough, and you’ll realize how much you need
me. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Gavin just shook his head as she walked out.
Faith said she didn’t want to be caught up in his mess when she
started, and now she was smashed right in the middle of it. He had
done everything he could to keep her out of it, but Carter and
Chandler had proven to be quite persistent. It was hard to fathom
how delusional they seemed to be.

He buried himself in his work, successfully
diverting his mind from the earlier events of the day. Faith
stopped by on her way out.

“You didn’t call. Are you okay?” she asked as
she stood in the doorway.

Her voice was soothing to him. “It’s good to
hear your voice,” he said, looking up.

She smiled, leaning her head against the
door. “Rough day?” She straightened up and walked in.

“Unbelievably rough. First Carter, then
Chandler. I’m afraid that I’ve done a hell of job making your life
here worse without even trying. I’m sorry,” he sighed.

“I’m a big girl, Gavin. I’ve been around
worse. Trust me, there’s nothing like the media. They can be really
nasty,” she smiled.

“Can you close the door?” he asked.

“Sure,” she said, going to do as he
asked.

As she walked back, he said, “Come here.”

She slowly went around his
desk. He turned his chair around to face her as she approached. He
reached up and pulled her close, burying his head in her stomach.
Faith wrapped her arms around him, and leaned down to kiss his
head. He looked up at her, pleading with his eyes for a kiss on the
lips. She smiled warmly, wanting to comply, but couldn’t. She
kissed his cheek as closely to his lips as she could.
‘
This will have to do,’
he thought.

He stood up and stroked her cheek, looking
into her eyes. He smiled and said, “I wish I could make love to
you.” Because of the way she tried to care for him earlier, Gavin
desired to be with Faith more than usual. No one had ever done that
for him before. In fact, no one would have cared. Her actions were
extremely sexy to him. He wanted her, more than he had before.

She smiled back. “You know we can’t do that.
We’ve had this discussion.” She stroked his back gently.

“I know. Just saying what I want. That will
never change. One day you’ll say yes,” he teased.

“Perhaps. Are you going to be okay?” she
asked. She pulled away from him to hold his hands, standing back
and looking up at him.

“I’m better now that you’re here.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She walked
back around his desk and sat down.

Gavin sat down as well. He shook his head,
“Not really. How was your day?”

“It was okay. I went shopping with Lauren,
got a lot of work done. You weren’t there to interrupt me,” she
smiled.

“I promise to interrupt you tomorrow. Are you
looking forward to Friday as much as I am?”

“I am. I know we’ll be working throughout the
day, but I think we’ll see a lot. It’ll be good to get away,” she
said. “Do you know where we’re going first?”

“Agnes hasn’t brought me our itineraries. I
think she has them ready though. I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

They sat and glared at each other for a few
moments. As if he called her, Faith got up and walked back over to
him. She bent down to kiss his cheek. His hands reached up to touch
her hips. As he attempted to slip his hands under her shirt, Faith
barred their movement. He pulled her in to him, kissing her
everywhere that her skin was exposed except for her lips.