GABRIEL

“If that’s a threat, you know you didn’t do too well. Find another reason.”
“Well, because I don’t feel like working for you and because you threatened to punish me.”
I let out a childish laugh.
“I threatened to punish you if you hit me again. So you’re in danger just in that case.”
“I don’t need to be punished! What did you do with Gabriel Bates, and who are you?”
As she tried to turn her head, I released her wrist, only to grab her face with my other hand. My thumb traced the line of her jaw as I clasped her cheeks. Damn it, I enjoyed making her shudder.
I cursed myself, thinking, why didn’t I act sooner? About three years sooner...
Because that was a misconduct at work. Because morally it wasn’t right. And the desperation not to lose her was very serious.
“I’m the same person you’ve known your whole life. But I’m not your boss right now. You resign, as far as I remember. And your departure let loose a different aspect of myself. So, my dear, it’s not what I did with Gabriel Bates. When you informed me you wouldn’t be coming back after the holidays, you did it to him”
She shrieked.
There was never a time when I wanted to kiss her more than it was right now. I simply lacked the guts to do it earlier.
That needed to change, and it did.
My lips barely touched hers as I leaned forward.
She trembled and was tense.
“What the hell are you doing?” she yelled in defense.
I moved backward while cupping her face in my hands.
“Being your fiancée for the week needs it, therefore I’m going for that kiss.
“For the night, you mean. Because tomorrow you have to leave!”
I stood a few inches away, looking at her with a trace of a smile on my face.
“Unfortunately, there’s no way I can do that. They were out of tickets for the return trip. So we’re going back together on Monday. Or if we’re having a good time, we can extend our vacation. How about that?” I said, closing the distance between us again. Her perfume intoxicated me.
“What?” The anxiety in her eyes was obvious.
In my entire existence, I had never felt so aroused.
My mind was racing with countless ideas. And they were all scolding me.
You cannot have her, Gabriel. You’re putting yourself in danger, and Kira is too innocent and sweet for your specific lusts.
She didn’t move at all. Missing a breath. I couldn’t tell what she was contemplating. Her lips were parted, and her pupils grew wide. She was completely still and somehow defenseless.
Just tell her, you stupid!
I simply could not.
“I asked for a holiday trip,” I forced out at the end. “Because you threw this blow on me. It’s what I could book at the very last minute. I suppose I’m your fiancé for the week, unless you want to notify your folks that you left the company and I followed you here to persuade you to come back. And also a kiss will be needed. This position would require it. I’m confident that I’ll enjoy it. I sincerely hope you will as well.”
“No, we can’t,” she blurted out.
Her entire body trembled as her chest rose and then let all the air out.
“Gabriel…”
It was agony for me to hear my name on her lips. Last night, as I kissed her neck all the way down to the line of her breasts, I heard her muttering my name.
“Please don’t call me that.” I scowled, trying not to think about how wonderful she felt squeezed up against the wall.
“Is there anyone in your family who knows the idiot you work for? You know what I mean.”
“Used to work,” she groaned.
“You’re being dramatic, my dear. Imagine I can help you. I understand that your mother, who has a lasting marriage from what I can tell, wants the same for her daughter. Since they don’t know me as Gabriel, they’ll know me as Brad. It’s a good deal, I think.”
“How you could help me would be to walk down the stairs now and leave”
I admired the peace in her family. And maybe she wanted the same thing for her. Maybe that’s why she was reluctant to raise her voice so her parents wouldn’t think we were fighting.
I was dreaming about Kira from the moment she walked into the office for her interview. Now the thought that there would be a man dreaming of making her his wife, even an imaginary one, filled me with rage.
“I didn’t come here to leave. You have no choice but to let me play this Brad, who I hope doesn’t exist in reality.”
“You are just unbelievable. You didn’t come here to play a role. It's because you want me back on the job that you came here. How in the world did you find me, anyway?”
“Our phones are linked, remember?” I said with satisfaction.
“You tracked my phone? I don’t believe this”
“Well, you better believe because I am not leaving here without you! You hear me?”
“I know they’re connected, but of business interest. You can’t use it to stalk me,” said Kira, visibly annoyed with the way I handled it.
“Since you shouldn’t have revealed to your family that you were seeing a man named Brad, let’s call it even. Let me take a wild guess. He’s dark hair, six foot five, and has a strong reputation for knowing ridiculous amounts of facts, right?”
Any ferocious retort she could have launched at a tap at the door silenced me. She pressed hard on my chest, and I took a step back before turning around to prevent anyone who was at the door from seeing the erection that was pushing through my jeans.
We both froze, listening to her brother’s voice on the other side of the door.
“Kira, Brad, dinner’s ready. When you’re finished, you can come down.”
When we finished. Staying so close I could finish so many times. This woman was driving me insane.
I could even say her brother saved her. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold back. Her being so close and me being so horny was not making a good team.
“Be right there…” I said and looked at her so she could tell me his name.
She whispered it.
“Joe…”
“Be right there, Joe. Just give us a few minutes,” I said out loud.
“Ok, but hurry up or you’ll starve.”
“Your brother is hilarious. But he doesn’t know that this situation between us is so...hot,” I said and moved closer again, inhaling her neck all the way up. Her freesia scent was simply addictive for me.
“Gabriel, we should…”
“Yes, Kira, we should do so many things” I grasped her wrist, and I looked up into her eyes. She glared at me, but she did not distance herself. I held her eyes while gliding my hand over the place where her heart was throbbing. “Keep in mind, Kira. I am your devoted fiancé. The man you would shortly wed. So acting in such a manner is in your best interest”
She did, however, have the courage to reply to me.
“However, you’re not,” she groaned. “This won’t work,” she continued.
My temple flexed a muscle. She jerked her head to the side so she could see or even read my mind. I knew she believed I was incapable of doing this. That throughout the three years she’s known me, I’ve shown myself to be irritating, distant, sarcastic, and uninvolved.
That for those three years, I had only been a rude jerk who demanded excessive amounts of things from her and didn’t show her enough appreciation, as she had already stated.
“Kira, just give me one night... this night. After dinner, we can resume our conversation. Until then...” I said, raising her wrist up to my mouth and dabbed her pulse point, which was still trembling. “Just put your faith in me”