Rush (Breathless #1)(21)

Trish looked indecisive, and then she finally nodded. “Okay, I’m in.”

“Mia?” Caroline asked.

All eyes turned to Mia, looking at her in anticipation. The truth was, Mia wanted to sequester herself and have time alone to process the day. Gabe. Everything. But she loved her friends, and in her gut she knew her time would likely be limited with them from now on, at least until it was over between her and Gabe.

“I’m in,” Mia said with a smile. “I need to go change, though. I have office clothes on. If we’re going out, I don’t want to look like a secretary.”

“Rock on,” Chessy crowed.

“Wait a minute. I’m not dressed for the club either!” Trish exclaimed. “I need to run home if we’re doing this.”

“Yeah, me too,” Gina agreed.

Caroline held her hands up. “Okay, here’s the deal. We do a hurry-up on the prep and we meet outside the club in an hour and a half. Deal?”

The others were already scrambling off the couch and heading for Mia’s front door. They waved and called back good-byes, and then they were gone.

Mia started to get up to go into her bedroom to change when Caroline stopped her.

“Everything okay with you, Mia? You seem…quiet. Or at least different.”

Mia smiled. “I’m fine, Caro. A little tired. It’s been a strange day.”

“Would you rather not go?” Caroline asked anxiously. “I can call and cancel with the girls.”

Mia shook her head. “No, let’s do it. I may not be able to do it again anytime soon. At least until I know how things are going to work out with Gabe. I have no idea what my schedule is going to be like. He’ll expect me to work when he does.”

Mia started again for her bedroom and when she reached the door, Caroline called out to her once more.

“Are you sure this is what you want? To work for Gabe, I mean?”

Mia met Caroline’s gaze, some of her earlier trepidation easing from her chest. “Yeah, this is what I want.”

Gabe was what she wanted. The job was just a means to have him. And if it gave her experience outside of working in a cafe, it would just be an added benefit.

As she hurried to arrange her hair and reapply her makeup, her cell phone went off, signaling a text message. She dug it out of her purse, which she’d dropped on the floor in front of the sink, and saw an unfamiliar number with a local area code.

REST TOMORROW, BUT BE AT MY APARTMENT AT 7:00 P.M. DON’T BE LATE. –GABE

She sucked in her breath, her hand shaking as she held the phone so she could still see the message.

And so it had begun.

Chapter eight

The car was scheduled to pick Mia up at six thirty, and heeding Gabe’s directive not to be late, she made certain she was waiting when it arrived. She could feel a yawn lurking and pressed her lips together to stifle it. She and the girls had been out late the night before, but that was no excuse when she’d had the entire day to rest and get over her hangover. Only she hadn’t been able to sleep for fretting over her impending trip to Gabe’s apartment.

It was ridiculous, and she hoped at some point she’d get over her nervousness every time she had to be in his presence. She was supposed to have sex with the man for God’s sake, and she couldn’t even think about seeing him without having a meltdown. So much for any attempt at sophistication. One would think she was some blushing virgin who’d never so much as seen a man naked. Although she was pretty damn certain she’d never seen a man like Gabe naked. At least not in person.

The men she’d been with were…boys, for lack of a better term. Young men as unskilled as she was for the most part. Her last fling—she refused to call it a one-night stand since they’d actually dated more than once—had been her only superior sexual experience, and she was convinced it was because David had been older than her usual dates. And more experienced.

He was responsible for her swearing off guys her own age, and validation for her fixation with Gabe. David had been great in bed. It was just too bad he wasn’t so great in other areas.

Somehow she just knew that Gabe was going to be off the chart, and that after being with Gabe, David would pale in comparison, which was saying a lot since up to now, David was the standout in the men—okay, boys—that she’d been with.

The driver dumped her in front of Gabe’s apartment at precisely five minutes to seven. Okay, so he didn’t dump her, but the man never spoke. He just appeared, drove, and then disappeared again, only to reappear later when it was time for her to go home. It was a little unnerving. Almost like he’d been ordered never to speak in her presence.

There was an actual security guard at the entrance to the apartment building, not that this was just any apartment building. It was one of those cushy setups that was like living in a hotel, only with an entire apartment instead of a room or a suite.

After she presented her ID, the guard called up to Gabe’s apartment to inquire as to whether she was allowed up. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to go through this every time Gabe summoned her to his apartment.

A moment later, she was escorted to the elevator, and the guard inserted the key card for Gabe’s floor—the penthouse, of course. Then he gave her a courteous nod and backed away from the elevator.

The doors opened on the fiftieth floor and into the foyer of Gabe’s apartment, and he stood, waiting, his gaze focused on her as she stepped off. The doors slid closed behind her, and she and Gabe were alone.