Getting Gabriel (13 page)

Why the hell had he agreed to a date with Alice?

Gabriel furiously ripped some old wires out of the bedroom ceiling, and wished one of the walls needed demolishing. He could use some quality time with a sledgehammer – and an excuse to buy one.

He could start on rearranging his own head. His brain had obviously gone AWOL anyway.

What had happened to his principles? She was off-limits. She was Michael’s sister. She was his friend. He didn’t want to hurt her. Hell, he didn’t want to have his nose rearranged by Michael, and that should be reason enough – he did not need to be all sentimental about this.

On top of everything, this was terrible timing. He had another woman to concentrate on.

He paused, thinking about Alice, and the way she’d lured him into going out with her. She’d dressed for maximum effect, and acted like a seasoned huntress out to catch a male pray.

He had a date with Alice in an hour. He was supposed to pick her up in half an hour, and she’d instructed him to dress fancy, and he wouldn’t even be presentable in a pig-sty right now.

He was late. Only five minutes late, but she was still gnashing her teeth and pacing by the door, convinced he’d stood her up. He’d said he’d pick her up – she should have refused and said she’d be the one to pick him up. After all, she’d asked him out.

If he didn’t show up... then what? How far would she chase that man?

She didn’t manage to formulate her thoughts, because the doorbell chimed. She walked all the way to the far end of her bedroom and back to the door. No need to rush. He hadn’t rushed on her account.

Her icy attitude melted quickly when she saw him.

"Oh, my God," she breathed, forgetting all about being cool and sophisticated. She was probably breaking several rules of the 21st century woman, but she didn’t much care.

"You. You look amazing." She closed the door behind him and stared. White cotton dress shirt. Sleeves rolled up. Drool. "Do you realize how long it’s been since I’ve seen you in anything but old jeans and neon colored t-shirts?"

Overkill? It was true. And she could have sworn he blushed. He also shook his head in disgust and thrust at her a delicate bouquet of flowers. He’d brought flowers! "Here. They need water. And don’t be ridiculous."

Alice bent her head and smelled the flowers, feeling ridiculously happy. "They’re lovely, Gabriel. Thank you. And I’m serious. I mean – you can be an utter idiot and all that, but, wow, you turned my knees weak when I saw you just now."

He rolled his eyes. "Another romantic fantasy."

"Weak knees?" She laughed. "Oh, no, they’re real. Trust me. I think that’s why men always sweep their women up in their arms in the movies. Weak knees."

"Well, solidify your knees. I’m not carrying you."

He was embarrassed. Excellent. She grinned to herself and took his arm. "Let’s go, Gabriel. And by the way – for future reference – you’re supposed to say I look nice too."

"You look nice."

"Thank you," she said dryly, but smiled at him because he’d brought her flowers and dressed up. "That came from the heart. I can tell."

"Now, remember," Gabriel said before he started the car, "This is not a real date."

What?

Alice’s heart fell, landing somewhere near her appendix. She wanted to club him over the head with her purse, but made do with a dignified raising of the eyebrows. She was a lady after all. She was a Temptress in training, and one of these days she’d get the hang of it.

And he was the hapless prey, futilely fleeing from his destiny.

"I’m just a stand-in for Mr. G, remember?" Gabriel continued, and she considered giving her new stun gun a try. "So, not a real date. Pretend I’m a stranger. You can use me as practice."

Practice?

Alice pouted. Target practice, definitely!

But if he’d gotten cold feet, she’d let him live the illusion for now. There was plenty of time to reel him in. "Fine," she said sweetly. "You’re Mr. ‘Nameless, Faceless Internet Jerk’. Got it. Start the car, Mr. Jerk."

Alice had told him he looked gorgeous, and he hadn’t returned the compliment, because he didn’t dare. He’d probably lose control of himself and start drooling. Not that he hadn’t looked plenty at Alice over the years. He’d seen her in everything from shorts to a bridesmaid’s dress, but that tiny red dress laid waste to all his secret fantasies.

Wow.

He wasn’t altogether sure it was even decent. Not for the first time, he glanced around, ready to whisk of his jacket to cover her up if anyone started ogling her. Fortunately they were seated privately so nobody would have the chance to look at her.

Gabriel looked up to the fancy ceiling. Why him? What had he done to deserve this? "I did not undress you with my eyes. If – in a very very hypothetical scenario, Alice! – I were going to undress you, I’d use my hands. I might even use my teeth, and I’d be willing to have a go at it with my toes if you were feeling really kinky, but I do not use my eyes."

His wit was wasted on her. "You do undress women with your eyes. You just did it to me, and this is supposedly not even a real date!" She sneered. "Just practice, right?"

Gabriel rested his head in his hands and groaned. "Alice, I just looked at you. You look wonderful. I was just admiring you. It should be a compliment, not an insult. I wasn’t leering!"

Alice looked appeased for a split second, before continuing her tirade. One of these days, he had to teach her a lesson. He wasn’t sure what that lesson was, but he rather wished it involved a lot of body contact, and started wondering if he had suddenly developed a spanking fetish.

"You looked me up and down, and you were definitely undressing me with your eyes. I’ve seen it before, but I wouldn’t have expected it of you. I thought you were more sophisticated. That’s so juvenile. Men should not be ogling women on the first date. It’s rude."

"Ogle men? No! Not like that! Well..." she conceded. She bit her lip and appeared to be discussing the subject with her conscience. "Okay," she confessed. "Occasionally I do. Really gorgeous guys. You know. Special cases only."

"Gorgeous guys only?" he said, just to remind her that she’d used that word to describe him only minutes ago. Her red cheeks showed him that she remembered, and he chuckled at the way she vacillated between aggression and shyness. It was adorable. She nodded, silent for once.

"Why not?" If possible, she sounded even more offended this time. He sighed. She did need a good spanking... "I was too busy arguing with you. You know the male mind. We can only do one thing at a time."

He looked away. "This is not a real date because you want side-by-side burial plots, roses and romance." Because you’re my best friend’s little sister. Because you’re my friend, and I don’t want to lose that. Because I don’t want you to get hurt. Most of all, because I don’t want to hurt you.

"But not because you don’t want me," Alice said, satisfied.

"Michael would cut off my head if I so much as looked at you." Gabriel looked around for a waiter. He needed a strong drink. Hell, he needed the whole bottle. "If he finds out about this ‘date’ of ours, I may be in serious trouble."

"You can handle one overprotective big brother, can’t you? Hey, a couple more lessons in the gym, and I can handle Michael myself."

In the absence of something stronger, he gulped down more water. "You’re changing the rules, Alice. We don’t know each other, remember? We just met twenty minutes ago. I’m Mr. G, Internet Jerk, at your service."

"Right. My seventh blind date." She leaned back and her expression changed. "So..."

He waited. "So, what?"

She snorted. "You’re supposed to be the master at blind-date small talk that doesn’t reveal personal information. Remember?"

"Okay. Fine. So, do you like sports?"

"You know I hate... oh." Alice got more comfortable in her seat and got into the playacting. "Oh, yes, sports are great, Mr. Internet Axe Murderer. What kind of sports are you into?"

"I’m a basketball fan."

Alice dug deep for any basketball information, and came up almost empty. Tall sweaty guys and a big orange ball. That was about it. "How nice," she said lamely. "Basketball. It’s fascinating."

Gabriel leaned on his elbow, grinned at her and went back to the game. He seemed to like playing this game. Probably because it was safer than reality, she thought grouchily.

"So, shall we catch a game next weekend?" he asked.

Alice smiled sweetly and got down to being herself. "I’d rather spend my Saturday scrubbing public toilets until I expire from overexposure to toxic fumes."

Hm. He was right. Honesty felt so much better!

Gabriel stared at her, then gave a sound that was either a chuckle or a groan. The way he closed his eyes and slid low in his seat, covering his face with his hands, was a clue as to which it was.