Romancing Tommy Gabrini (12 page)

Grace
frowned.
 
“Who’s Rhonda?”

“A
friend of mine from college.
 
And she
said yes, he sounds like the same Tommy Gabrini she used to date.
 
And Rhonda is super model gorgeous.
 
She’s no run of the mill looker.
 
Rhonda’s gorgeous, Grace.”

“So
he dated a gorgeous girl, so what?”

“I
mean you’re cute, but you’re no super model.”

“Thanks
a lot, pal,’ Grace said only mildly seriously.
 
“You’re making me feel really good about myself.”

“What
I’m saying is that he played the field even on a looker like her.”

Grace
hesitated.
 
“I don’t get your point.”

“He
plays the field.
 
He never dates one
woman at a time.
 
And Rhonda even
mentioned something about some other woman he dated for a long time, I can’t
remember the name or anything like that.
 
But this woman stood him up at the altar presumably because she found
out about some other woman of his or something like that.
 
It all sounded so sordid to me.”

“What’s
sordid about it?” Grace asked.
 
“Of
course he’s had previous relationships.
 
I’ve had previous relationships.
 
What’s the big deal?”

“The
big deal is that he never dates one woman at a time, that’s the big deal.
  
Why would you want to date a man who won’t
be faithful to you?”

Grace
was understandably disappointed to hear something like that, but it wasn’t as
if she and Tommy were dating.
 
And,
besides, she already knew what she was in for with Tommy.
 
“I don’t understand what his past
relationships have to do with me.”

“He’s
a womanizer, Grace.
 
Why would you want a
womanizer?”

“Who
says I want him?
 
I just met him.”

Nayla
stared at her friend.
 
“Do I look like a
fool? No woman goes out with a man who looks like him and don’t want it.
 
I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

“You
have nothing to worry about there, all right?
 
He’s just a nice guy, that’s all.
 
We aren’t exactly picking out wedding rings or anything like that,
okay?”

Nayla
smiled.
 
“I don’t want you to fall for
him and get your heart broken.”

Grace
placed her hand on her hip.
 
“Do I look like
the type to fall for some ridiculously handsome man I just met?”

“Yes,”
Nayla said unabashedly.
 
“You and me
both!”

Grace
and Nayla both laughed.

“Quit
worrying,” Grace said.
 
“I’ll be
careful.”

But
as she headed out of the room, it was Grace who was beginning to worry.

“I’ll
bet I can guess which car is yours,” she said to Tommy as they exited the club
and felt the cool night air blow against their faces.

Tommy
looked at her.
 
“You already know, don’t
you?”

“I
don’t.
 
Honest.”

He
swept his hand out.
 
“Then go for it,” he
said.

Grace
smiled and began looking around.
 
There
had to be over fifty cars still in the parking lot.
 
She knew two things had to be in play during
her search.
 
The car had to be expensive
and it had to be unique.
 
She couldn’t
see a guy like Tommy rolling any other way.
 
And it was an easy find.
 
When she
saw it she smiled.
 
It didn’t take a
genius to know that a red Ferrari in the parking lot of Moors was a rarity.

She
hurried to it as soon as she saw it.
 
Tommy followed her.

“This
Ferrari,” she said, “has Tommy Gabrini written all over it.”

“Oh,
you’re good,” Tommy said, shaking his finger at her.
 
“You’re real good.”

“Bond
is my middle name.
 
James Bond.”

He
laughed as he clicked his keypad and then opened the passenger door.
 
He really enjoyed her company.

She
enjoyed his, too, as she moved around him to slide into the car.
 
She was now so close to Tommy that his belt
buckle pressed against her stomach.
 
That
closeness, and the scent of his cologne, made her determined to avoid his blue
eyes as she sat down.
 
She didn’t want
him to see that her level of interest was growing exponentially.

Tommy
reached over her and buckled her in.
 
He,
too, was feeling the effects of their nearness, but he was seasoned enough to
know how not to show it.
 
But unlike her,
he couldn’t help but look into her brown eyes.
 
They were so big and clear, he thought, that they sparkled like
gold.
 
“Enjoyed yourself?” he asked as he
buckled her.

“Oh,
yes,” she said, trying with all she had not to sound lustful. His nearness was
like a tonic.

“Good,”
he said.
 
“I’m pleased.”

“Thanks
for coming.”

“I
told you I wouldn’t miss this for the world, didn’t I tell you that?”

But
that was the point to her.
 
“Why wouldn’t
you?” she asked with a smile.

Tommy
stared at that bright white smile, at the turn of her lips, and then looked
into her eyes again.
 
“I’m not sure yet,”
he admitted.

“Well
when you find out, do you promise to let me in on it?”

He
laughed.
 
He really liked her.
 
“I promise.”
 
Then he kissed her lightly on the nose, stared into her eyes a moment
longer, and moved out and closed the door.

Grace
watched as he walked around the front side of his Ferrari and then entered by
the driver’s side door.
 
He looked good,
he smelled good, and Grace, she hated to admit, was growing hornier and hornier
the longer she stayed around him.
 
And it
wasn’t that she was sex starved (although she was) and wanted to have sex with
any man.
 
Her problem was that she very
specifically wanted to have sex with
him
.
 
Tommy Gabrini.
 
She wanted to feel his hands all over
her.
 
She wanted to feel his beautiful
red lips on hers.
 
She wanted to know
what it felt like to have his dick inside of her.
 

She
knew it was super-risky.
 
She knew he was
into those so-called “open” relationships and had no interest in any long term
love affair with her.
 
But she couldn’t
help it.
 
She wanted him.
 
And she wasn’t at all sure what she was going
to say when he asked for some.
 
Because
she was absolutely certain, by the way he was assessing her all night, he was
going to ask.

Tommy
buckled his seatbelt and then looked over at Grace.
 
She crossed her legs just as he looked,
causing his eyes to roam there.
 
They
were so long and so shapely that he found himself looking up her body until he
rested on her eyes.
 
Eyes that looked
tired to him.
 
And it reminded him of
something.
 
During the entire time he was
with her, he never once saw her eat a thing.
 
Maybe she ate before he had arrived, but somehow, given her energy, he
doubted it.

“You
had fun, didn’t you?” he asked her.

“It
was a blast,” Grace said with a smile.
 
“I loved every single moment.”

“Eat
anything while you were having this blast?”

She
smiled.
 
It was an odd question, Grace
thought.
 
And she had to think about it.

Tommy
stared at her.
 
“You don’t know, do you?”

“I
had a finger sandwich,” she recalled.
 
“I
think.”

“And
what else?”

Grace
tried to remember, then decided it didn’t matter.
 
“I wasn’t hungry,” she said.
 
“I was happy.
 
It was a wonderful party.
 
I don’t
eat when I’m this happy.
 
My friends
really went all out this year and I just can’t get over that.”
 
But Tommy continued to look at her.
 
“I’ll eat something when I get home.”

“Like
what?”

“Like
. . . like. . . oh, that’s right.
 
I
haven’t had a chance to get to the grocery store yet.”

“Right,”
Tommy said, as if he’d made a decision.
 
He cranked up his car and pulled off, only he began driving in the wrong
direction.

“I
told you I live in the Valley.”

“I
know what you told me.”

“So
where are we going?”

Tommy
shifted from second to third gear, his sports car jerking and then picking up
speed, as he took Grace on what she felt was going to eventually be the ride of
her life.

CHAPTER SIX

The
door flew open and Frank Jansen, the executive manager of Diamante’s, looked up
from his notebook.
  
The waiter was
virtually out of breath.

“Mr.
Gabrini’s car has just arrived, sir,” he said to his boss.

The
manager closed his book.
 
“He’s here?”

“Yes,
sir.”

“Oh,
my,” the manager said, standing to his feet.
 
“Make sure the front of house is on their best behavior.”

“Yes,
sir.”

“And
what about Mort?”

“He’s
waiting at the door now.”

“Good,”
the manager said, nodding his head.
 
“Alert the chef.
 
And tell him
none of his French bullshit.
 
Whatever Mr.
Gabrini orders he’s to put everything aside and take care of that order.
 
This is our jobs we’re talking about.”

“Yes,
sir,” the waiter said and took off again.
 
He headed down the hall and was about to go into the kitchen.
 
When he looked toward the front entrance, he
could see Tommy Gabrini, with a black woman by his side, enter the
restaurant.
 
He also saw that Mort, the
maître d, was also there to greet them.
 
The waiter therefore made double time to alert the kitchen.

“Mr.
Gabrini, good evening,” the maître d said as he shook Tommy’s hand.
 
“Good to have you back again, sir.”

“Good
to be back,” Tommy said as he looked around at the elegant and packed
restaurant.

Grace
didn’t think they were going to be able to get any kind of table any time soon,
but she hadn’t factored in who her date really was.

“Right
this way, sir,” the maître d said.

“Thank-you,”
Tommy said as he placed his hand on the small of Grace’s back and followed the
head waiter.

“Good
evening, Mr. Gabrini,” said one waitress as they passed.

“Good
to see you again, Mr. Gabrini,” said another one.
  

“Are
they always this friendly?” Grace whispered to Tommy.

Tommy
smiled.
 
“I would hope so.”

It
was overkill to Grace, as if they were trying too hard for a tip or
something.
 
And the way Tommy took it in,
as if it was nothing extraordinary to him, surprised her also.
 
She took him to be the kind of man who didn’t
care to be fussed over.
 
But as the
manager escorted them to a back booth, he seemed perfectly fine with the fuss.

After
the maître d took their drink orders and left, another waiter came over to take
their food orders.
 
“What can we get for
you, sir?” the waiter asked.

And
Tommy didn’t hesitate.
 
“Steaks and
potatoes for both of us, and a vegetable medley.”

The
waiter glanced at Grace, as if wondering if she agreed to such an order, but he
didn’t wait to find out.
 
“Yes, sir,” he
said to Tommy and then hurried off to place the order.

Grace
smiled.
 
“That’s a heavy behind meal,”
she said.

“I’m
sure we both could use it,” Tommy said.