Cursed by Love (14 page)

In his office, he waited, watching her
complete her Molly-mannerisms. She fluffed her hair, picked up her tote and
Bella’s scrapbook, adjusted her charm bracelet just so, blinked her eyes, and
licked her lips. Oh, yeah. He took the tote and scrapbook from her.

“I’m sorry we didn’t finish talking
about Bella and the Sleeping Lotus.”

She looked at him over her shoulder.
“There’s always tomorrow. Or the day after.”

“Is there?” God, he hoped so, and not
just because of the Sleeping Lotus either, although that was reason enough.
“This place is a zoo. I don’t know what I was thinking when I asked you to come
here, but thank God I did. I owe you for today, and there was something about a
wager for dinner and a movie the other day, wasn’t there? What do you say I pay
up on that Friday night?” He was doing it again, guiding her to the parking lot
just to have a reason to touch her. He held his breath, waiting for her answer.

She stopped beside her car. It gleamed
bright and shiny in the late afternoon light. A gentle breeze lifted a strand
of her hair and feathered it across her cheek. She pushed it back and tilted
her head, looking at him. “Friday works. Dinner and a movie?”

Relief gushed through him like a tidal
wave. “Great! Great. Friday, then.”

“Where and when?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about
it.” As much as he wanted this, he’d asked on impulse, not planned it down to
every last detail, the way he preferred to operate. He wanted to take her
someplace that would knock her socks off, but he couldn’t think where that
would be on his limited funds. The free meals from Mama Leone’s were about all
he could afford, and he’d traded computer programming to her for those.

He tried to come to some kind of
decision, but found he couldn’t think at all with Molly looking up at him with
eyes that turned his brains to mush. “I’ll call you tomorrow with the details,
okay?”

She nodded. And smiled. And gave him a
look that wove around him, pulled him in, and held him in a place that seemed
too good to leave. “Okay.”

After she unlocked her car, he put her
stuff on the front passenger seat. Then he took her hands in his and thought
about kissing her the way he wanted to kiss her, the way they’d kissed at the
television show. Long, hot, tingling. All encompassing. All consuming.
Anticipating the sensation, his gaze caressed her mouth. Her lips turned into a
little pout, and he wondered if that was a complaint or an invitation. He
thought about licking them. Oh, yeah, he should do it. He should take matters—

Molly went up on tiptoe and kissed him.

Molly kissed him!

And
like a big dumbass, Gabe had been standing there thinking it over, weighing his
options, and waiting for the right moment.

Molly
pulled back and quirked an eyebrow, gauging his reaction.

Having
her take the initiative was a definite turn-on. His approval must have been plastered
across his face, because she put her arms around him and came back for more.

She’d
initiated the intimacy, sure, but he was never one to refuse an opportunity. It
seemed imperative for him to keep up his side, even take control.

If
felt so natural to pull her close, lean her against the hood of the car, and
sweep his tongue inside her mouth. Like coming home. Like taking up where
they’d left off in that studio. But the car added an extra dimension. Warm from
the afternoon sun, hard, and smooth where Molly was soft and silky.

He
wrapped himself around her and laid her back. She gasped and stretched out
beneath him, spreading her legs, giving him space to settle between them.
Close, but not close enough, due to her full skirt, and whatever other layers
she had on underneath.

Her
mouth moved under his, eager and warm. He delved deeper. Her tongue rubbed
against his, stroking across his teeth, against the sensitive inside of his
lip, tickling the roof of his mouth. Delicious.

With
her feet dangling above ground, he slid her up the polished metal. She clutched
his back with such strength, such desperation, that her fingerprints would be
imprinted there later. His hands grazed her sides, drifting tantalizingly close
to the fullness of her breasts. He ached with the need to fill his palms with
them. Hell, not just that. He ached to pull up her shirt, ease her bra aside,
and lick her beaded nipples.

As
his brain melted and conscious thought blurred from the pleasure of her body
under his, tires crunched their way across the parking lot. Gabe jerked upward,
dragging Molly with him. Their lips parted with reluctance. He was grateful for
the interruption that had prevented him from taking Molly in such a public and
uninhibited way. But God, he’d wanted to.

Pulling
himself together, he supported her until her feet returned to the ground. Their
arms remained entwined around one another. They both gasped for breath.

“Now
that looks mighty interesting.” Uncle Harold slammed the door of his vintage
Thunderbird before heading inside. “Don’t let me interrupt.”

“Too
late.” Gabe grinned ruefully at Molly, her cheeks flushed from being spread out
on the hood of her car like Thanksgiving dinner. But dinner was apparently over
and all her goodies tucked away, saved for another meal.

 “See
you Friday.” Ducking her head, she slipped out of his arms and into the car.

“I’ll
call you.” He couldn’t erase the grin on his face. Friday hadn’t looked so good
to Gabe in a long time.

Waiting
for his hard-on to subside, he watched as she pulled out of the parking lot.
Still a little dazed from the heat of their embrace, he returned to the
building.
How on earth could he woo Molly into handing over the Sleeping
Lotus without hurting her or getting hurt in return? And where was he going to
get the money to fund the wooing?

The
Sleeping Lotus was the end goal, not getting Molly Webber into bed. But if
he could accomplish both at the same time, all the better.

Not
ready for the company of others, he returned to his office instead of the
breakroom
. He pulled up outside his door and watched Uncle
Harold rattle a drawer on his desk.

“Need
something?” Gabe leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and crossed his arms.

Balls
of steel. That was Harold. He didn’t even flinch. Owner of the calm self-possession
and good looks that ran through the family, his latest gambling binge had
obviously left him a little frayed around the edges.

Wearing
rumpled clothes, his uncle’s five-o’clock shadow attested to a
shaveless
day. A feverish look haunted his eyes. The kind
of look that said he was up to something. Something not quite kosher. Something
not quite legit. The kind of something the
Shaws
had
flirted with for generations.

And
Gabe had a sinking feeling that the
something
was going to end up
costing him and the company more than they could afford.

Harold’s
look of bravado eerily reminded Gabe of his father.

On
the surface, they were bigger, taller, slicker versions of Granddad. But that
resemblance only went skin deep. They’d both taken the same advanced courses in
Responsibility Avoidance. The charm of those lessons had paled on Gabe a long
time ago.

“The
petty cash drawer is jammed.” Harold pulled it again.

“Or
locked.” Gabe pushed away from the door and crossed to his desk. He was
bone-tired from his all-nighter and dealing with Quigley this afternoon, but
his encounter with Molly had left him jazzed.

With
a resigned sigh, Harold stepped away from the desk and took a seat opposite
Gabe for the standard lecture. But Gabe was in no mood to be anybody’s conscience
today, and he was tired of making allowances for his uncle’s flaws.
No more.

“I
guess you noticed I took the petty cash yesterday,” Harold began when Gabe said
nothing.

Gabe
picked up the vintage Gameboy from the corner of the desk. The Tetris cartridge
was in place and he flipped on the device. It wasn’t the most exciting game,
but Gabe loved Tetris. All the little pieces fell into the correct pattern if
you managed to manipulate them in the right way. “You back for more?”

“No!
Just the opposite.” Harold smiled his best trust-me smile. “This isn’t the way
it looks. I wanted to tell you about it. I met a guy last night who offered—”

Gabe
held up his hand to halt his uncle mid-speech. He focused on aligning a
long-boy on the screen and didn’t put any stock in Harold’s announcement. He’d
heard it all before. He held up his hand to stop him mid-speech. “Don’t tell
me.”

“No,
really.” Uncle Harold thrust his hand into his pocket and pulled out a wad of
cash. “Look, I won. I came to replace what I took, and then some. I know I owe
you, and I intend to pay you back. All of it. Here’s a down payment.” He handed
the money over.

Pausing
his game, Gabe set it aside. He counted the cash, then counted it again. This was
enough to impact his immediate plans. Not his long-range
retire-to-a-tropical-island-plans, no. But his short-term dinner-with-Molly
plans? Definitely. “Two thousand bucks?”

“Yep,
a winning streak at craps.” His face lit up, erasing ten years from his age.
“You should’ve been there. It was like I couldn’t lose. Everything I rolled
came up a winner.”

“Lucky.”
Gabe put the money in his pocket and rubbed his forehead. They needed the
money, that was for sure, but he couldn’t encourage his uncle’s gambling addiction.
“Just because it worked out this time, doesn’t make it right, you know.
Gambling’s never a sure thing.”

Now
it was Harold’s turn to hold up his hands, warding off the rest of the lecture.
“I know, Gabe, and I won’t do it again. I promise.”

Gabe
shook his head and picked up the Gameboy. Harold’s sincerity sounded good now,
while he was fresh off a win. But in a day or two, or a week or two, he’d be
off to test his luck again. “I can’t have you continually screwing up.”

Harold
drew himself up, insulted by the comment. “Borrowing fifty bucks and bringing
back two thousand isn’t screwing up.” His eyes flashed eagerly. “And Dad told
me about the Chinese statuary. That’s some piece of luck, huh? I’ll bet there
are a lot of collector’s who’d be interested in paying big bucks for something
like that.” He rubbed his palms together greedily. “Where is it? Is it here? I
know a guy who could help you unload it.”

Gabe
sat up straighter and paused the game again. He turned his most stern frown on
his uncle. The thought of Harold trying to get his hands on the Lotus gave him
chills. “
You
are to have nothing to do with the Lotus.”

Harold
gaped at Gabe, then dropped his poker face back into place. “Why not? If it
belongs to Dad, it’s more mine than yours.”

Restarting
the game, Gabe maneuvered a square block into the perfect spot. “But you’d just
lose it in one afternoon at the track or the casino. I’ll use it to keep the
rest of us in business for another year.”

“You’re
not the only hero in the family, you know.”

“I’ve
never claimed to be a hero, but sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one with a
lick of sense.” His fingers moved through the game automatically. Just three
more rows and he’d break his all-time record score.

“Because
you like it that way?”

The
comment struck Gabe between the eyes. Is that what Harold really thought? What
they all thought? That Gabe wanted them all to be a bunch of screw-ups? That he
liked being the one who called the shots? Surely they knew better than that. He
looked back at the small screen in time to see the rows fill up and run over
the top. Damn, game over. No high score. No new record. No tidy little
conclusion. He tossed the device aside in disgust.

“I
mean it, Uncle Harold. You took the petty cash yesterday, just like you have
repeatedly, but that wasn’t the worst part. You left a kid who doesn’t know
half of what you know about programming to do your work. It nearly cost us the
Quigley project, and we can’t afford that.”

Harold
shrugged off Gabe’s concern. “Dominic’s a bright kid. He spoke computer code
before he spoke English. He reminds me of you in a lot of ways, except he has
more style. I got him started with the data and thought he could handle it.”

As
Gabe took a deep breath and prepared to explain one more time what was wrong
with Harold’s actions, his uncle forestalled him. “Lighten up, kid. It’s only
money.”

“That
money goes to keep us all off the streets.” Childhood memories of moving in the
dark of night to avoid bill collectors, or coming home from school to no
electricity were enough to make Gabe reach for the antacids. “I’ll lighten up
after we make a success of this business. When I know Granddad, Sierra, Chloe,
and the others are taken care of, I’ll have some fun again. But until then, I
won’t have you continually screwing us over. You can either go back to
Gambler’s Anonymous tonight, or you can start packing your things.”

“Hypocrite.”
Harold smirked. “You were having plenty of fun outside a few minutes ago. The
little blonde wasn’t my type, but she looked beddable enough. Don’t try and
tell me that was all about business on the Volkswagen.”

“I’m
not telling you anything, because what I do in the few minutes I allow for my
personal life isn’t your concern.” He felt a twinge about that one, seeing as
what he was doing with Molly carried too many ulterior motives to count. He
probably wouldn’t be trying to woo Molly if it weren’t for the Sleeping Lotus
and the money it would bring.

He
might want to, but he didn’t have the time or money for a social life these
days. And a woman like Molly was a distraction he couldn’t afford in either
area.

Or
was she?
He thought of
the kiss they’d shared that first afternoon, and the one they’d shared today.
He had to admit there was an indelible connection between the two kisses,
between Gabe and Molly.

“What
you did in your personal life in the last twenty-four hours did have an
immediate and tangible effect on the business. You’re a talented programmer,
intuitive and creative, I’ll give you that. We can use your help around here.
But don’t screw up again, or you’re out.”

“You
can’t toss me out.” Harold rose slowly to his feet, drawing himself to his full
height. “Dad would never allow it.”

“Don’t
make Granddad take sides between us,” Gabe warned, not really certain whose
side the old man would choose. Flaws or not, warts or not, Harold was
Granddad’s son, and family loyalty was his religion. “You’ve had plenty of
chances. You knew the rules when you signed on to help. No more gambling on
company time or company money, or you’re gone.”

“We’ll
see about that!” Harold marched from the office.

If
Gabe’s office had a door, he felt pretty sure his uncle would have slammed it.