Paxton's Promise (Gloves Off #3)(7)

She groaned and took off her jumpsuit. “I swear I knew there had to be a reason you agreed to the bet. Fine, I’ll take the two weeks. I might as well get them over with instead of prolonging it.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” I asked, holding open the front door.

With her head held high, she threw her jumpsuit in the basket and sauntered past me. “Yep. I’m positive the more time you spend with me, the more you’re going to want me to leave.”

Well, that wasn’t going to happen.





I THOUGHT FOR sure I would win the race, but Paxton was pretty damn good. The whole way to his house he kept a smug smile on his face as if he knew something I didn’t. Did I make a mistake compacting our month into two weeks? I was starting to think I did.

“When we get to my house, feel free to look anywhere you want. It’s yours for the next two weeks.”

“Does that mean I can sleep in any room I want?” I asked.

“If that’s what you want.”

“And you’re not going to come sneaking in there after dark? How do I know I can trust you?”

He pressed a button below the overhead lights that opened the gate in front of his house. “How do I know I can trust you?” he countered. “You might try to sneak into my room for all I know.”

Snorting, I rolled my eyes. “I’m not desperate.”

As he drove us down his driveway, he kept a grin on his face. He didn’t believe a word I said, and it aggravated the crap out of me. Although, the thought of secretly going into his room was kind of tempting. I could imagine walking in there, his bare skin illuminated with a faint glow of the moon.

There were many nights I’d had forbidden dreams of him touching me, even when I was lying in bed with Bradley. Just thinking about pressing my body against his made my insides clench and throb. It was completely f*cked up the way my body wanted him. I always thought it was men who wanted things they couldn’t have, but I was wrong.

Once we got closer to his house, I gazed up in amazement. It was a two story mansion made out of beautiful stones that gave it an earthy feel to it. Paxton didn’t take me for the type of guy to live in a house like that.

“Your house is gorgeous,” I admired.

Getting out of the car, I walked over to the walkway beside the house and peered out at the waves rolling in. Hell yeah, we’re right on the beach. The smell of the salty sea air and the water crashing in reminded me of my other passion, marine biology. There was going to come a time when I’d no longer be able to fight, and when that time came, I was going to put my degree to use.

Paxton came up to me and bumped me in the arm. “Why don’t you come pick out a room and then we’ll eat our dinner on the beach?”

“Yes,” I blurted a little too eagerly. “That’d be great.” Way to sound desperate, Gabby. I might as well have laid down and asked him to f*ck me right here in the driveway.

Following him inside, he set my bags down on the floor and I immediately sighed when the smell of rosemary and onions overtook my senses. “Gabriella, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

I was meeting someone? We followed the delicious scent down a hallway, until we got to the kitchen. There was a short lady by the stove with curly, brown hair and glasses. She had to be in her early to mid-fifties. When she saw me come in, she smiled and waved. Paxton stood by her side and reached into one of the pots on the stove, pulling out a roasted carrot and popping it into his mouth.

“Gabriella, this is my Aunt Jackie. She also happens to be a personal chef. I’ve been lucky enough to have her for a while, but now she’s moving on to bigger and better clients.” He grabbed another carrot and she swatted him with her spatula.

Jackie laughed and looked over at me. “Don’t listen to him, sweetheart. He’s actually a decent cook, but if he listened to me he’d be amazing. Sadly, he’s a little stubborn.”

“I can’t argue with you there,” I quipped. “I’ve told him to leave me alone plenty of times and he still hasn’t taken the hint.”

“That’s my nephew for you,” she giggled, taking off her apron and hanging it on the wall inside the large pantry. “All right, son, the chicken and homemade bread is in the oven. Everything else is up here on the stove.” Opening the pots, Paxton glanced in them and smiled. “If you need anything don’t hesitate to call.”

“I’m sure I can manage,” he said with a wink.

“Gabriella, it was nice meeting you. From what I hear, it looks like I’ll be seeing more of you.” This time she was the one who winked at Paxton.

I smiled at her as she walked past and glared at Paxton when I heard the front door shut. “Did you tell her I’m going to be here for the next few weeks?” I asked incredulously.

Paxton chuckled and pulled out the chicken and loaf of bread out of the oven. “Yep, which is the other reason why she’s not going to be cooking for me anymore.”

“Oh, so you expect me to do it? Is that one of my duties while I’m here?” I grumbled. I could cook, but I wasn’t an expert chef like his aunt.

“I figured we could figure it out together.”

“Does that mean you’ll be wearing an apron?” I asked, holding back my giggle. I watched him move around the kitchen and the first thing that came to mind was seeing him in the apron with nothing else underneath it. It was a delicious, forbidden fantasy.