A Billionaire’s Way Of Saying I Want You (2 page)

So, she thought his previous attempts were unoriginal, uninspiring, or maybe even cheap? We’ll see if she would still be thinking him cheap after he was done with her, he thought with determination. Over the next couple of days Gabriel really stepped up his game and started sending all sorts of expensive gifts to Julia, but each and every day she rejected his gifts and sent it straight back to him. Getting nowhere with her, he became increasingly frustrated and was fast running out of ideas, but then it suddenly hit him that he was approaching the situation wrong. She was most probably rejecting his gifts because it was impersonal, showing no real effort from his side. Perhaps she wanted to see more of a personal effort from him. Giving the matter some thought, he came up with a brilliant idea to sweep her off her feet. With his eyes glittering with anticipation he picked up the phone and started making arrangements for a romantic cruise on his private yacht later that evening. He figured that since he already had a cruise planned for that afternoon, he might as well invite Julia and her friend along for the cruise, and then once he and Julia had become a little better acquainted, they could extend the cruise to a romantic evening cruise under the stars.

Julia and Sharron
were having an awesome time exploring the narrow streets of the older part of the city, which had so much to do, see, and buy, that even the pickiest of tourists would find themselves spoiled for choice. There were hundreds of shops filled with anything and everything a tourist would be interested in buying. On their way back to the hotel to have lunch, they first visited the local flower market, which was bustling with the live and vivid colors of an array of domestic and exotic flowers.

There was such a variety of things to see and visit, that they feared that they wouldn’t get to experience half of the things Nice had to offer before the end of their holiday. Both women agreed that vacationing in Nice was the best holiday choice they could have made, as it offered every activity any tourist would be looking for. Babbling excitedly they left the flower market and headed off towards the hotel, as it was almost midday already and they were both starving after all the exercise they got that day.

When they got back to the hotel, they first went up to their suite to freshen up for lunch. Thoroughly footsore from the day’s walking and sightseeing, Julia and Sharron both flopped down onto the plushy sofas the moment they got back to their suite. They just wanted to relax a bit, before getting ready for lunch. Flopping down on the sofas, they immediately saw the large bouquet of roses standing on the lounge stable, along with a beautiful card, inviting them on an exclusive cruise upon Gabriel’s private yacht that afternoon, mentioning in brackets that the cruise could be extended to a private evening cruise if Julia so wished.

Reading the contents of the card, Julia irately crumpled it up in her hand and threw back on the table. She was completely exasperated by the persistence of the man. Doesn’t he know when to give up? Didn’t he receive her message loud and clear, Julia thought incensed with Gabriel. Sharron, on the other hand, was excited to have received the invitation and wanted to make use of the opportunity, but no matter how much she begged, pleaded, or argued, Julia did not want to hear anything about going on the cruise. She was dead set against the cruise and blatantly refused to go.

A
fter having a huge argument and freshening up, Julia and Sharron started heading down to the hotel restaurant patio, which had a breathtaking view of the beach. All the way down to the patio Sharron was noticeably quiet, not saying a word to Julia. It was obvious to Julia that Sharron was feeling more than slightly peeved with her refusal to go on the cruise, but she wasn’t going to waste her time by trying to explain her feelings towards Gabriel. She just knew that Sharron wouldn’t understand her reasoning and thought process. From the moment she met Gabriel, her intuition had warned her against him. He was nothing but trouble, and the further she stayed away from him, the better off she would be.

Ignoring Sharron’s foul mood, Julia picked out a corner table on the patio for them to sit at. The restaurant was extremely busy at the time of their arrival, with most of the patio tables occupied by guests, all enjoying the fresh ocean breeze while enjoying delicious french cuisine. A couple of tables from where Julia and Sharron were sitting were a large group of kids eating ice cream, laughing jovially and babbling endlessly. Watching the kids entertaining themselves and having a good time, Julia couldn’t help to notice that they were very poorly dressed, especially in comparison with most of the kids they have previously seen staying at the hotel. It was with growing sympathy that she wondered where the kids were from, deciding that they had to be from a children’s home or something in that line.

The next moment Julia was shocked beyond words when Gabriel appeared on the patio and went to join the kids and their guardian at their table. If she didn’t see it with her own eyes, she would not have believed any of it. He laughed as one little girl stormed towards him, and then picked her up in the air and started swirling her around. Sitting and watching his interaction with the kids, Julia could only shake her head in disbelief, because it actually looked as if he personally knew the kids, as if he has spent a fair amount of time with them.

“Are you guys ready to go for a ride on my yacht?” Gabriel asked the kids with a huge smile, his lime-green eyes had a soft light in them while he looked at the excited children before him. “Okay then, get all of your things together and follow Mother Sofia to the parking area. I will join you shortly, I just have another matter I quickly want to take care of,” Gabriel laughed at their enthusiasm and hurried them along, watching the jubilant kids with a smile while they followed the only mother they have ever known out to the parking area, where the hotel minibus was ready to take them all to the docks.

Julia’s heart started pounding with loud bangs in her chest when Gabriel then turned around and started making his way towards them. A mixture of emotions churned wildly within her heart, leaving her feeling utterly confused and disorientated. Trying to get a hold of her runaway heart, Julia kept telling herself that Gabriel’s interaction with those children was merely a show he put on to impress them. She kept telling herself that guys like him would never waste their precious time entertaining orphans, and with that thought she slowly started regaining control over her befuddled heart and mind.

“Good afternoon ladies,” Gabriel greeted friendly, but before he could utter another word, Julia jumped up from the chair she was sitting on, and hastily excused herself, storming down the patio stairs leading onto the beach.

“I am so sorry,” Sharron apologized with flushed cheeks. “Please excuse my friend’s behavior.”

“There is no need for you to apologize for her behavior. But if you would please excuse me, I just quickly want to have a word with your friend,” Gabriel said with a stiff smile, setting off after Julia.

“Miss Garner, may I please have a word with you?” Gabriel asked
when he finally caught up with Julia on the beach. “Julia, would you slow down for a second, I am trying to talk to you,” Gabriel said furiously, grabbing Julia by the arm and turning her around to face him.

“I have nothing to say to you. Now please let go of my arm,” Julia said unable to look him in the eye, nervously trying to pull her arm free from his grip. Her heart pounded wildly in her throat, edging her on to get away from him as fast as possible.

“What is your problem with me?” Gabriel asked with a dangerous frown between his green eyes. “From the moment we met, you have shown nothing but contempt towards me. I have made several attempts to apologize for my blunder during our initial encounter, but every attempt I made to befriend you, you have thrown right back in my face,” he said putting his hand underneath her chin and forcing her to look him in the eye. “Now, I want to know exactly what you have against me.”

Fighting to keep her composure, Julia removed Gabriel’s hand from beneath her chin, almost slapping his hand away as if his touch burned her, something which didn’t go past Gabriel without notice. “Why don’t you just leave me alone?” Julia snapped angrily, battling furiously against the emotional turmoil that wanted to overwhelm her. Gabriel had unwittingly unleashed a storm to rage inside her heart, which lifted her to the peaks of wonder, while at the same time sending her crashing into the deepest pits of despair. She didn’t know what she was feeling. All she knew was that Gabriel was at the center of the emotional warfare happening within her heart and she needed to get away from him. “Don’t you get it? I’m not interested in you, your money, or anything else you have to offer. I’m sure you are used to woman swooning every time you flash your money around, but I am sorry to inform you, that you don’t have enough money in the world to buy my love or affection. Now please leave me alone,” Julia said in a croaky voice while suppressing the tears that wanted to start flowing from her eyes. Giving Gabriel one last look, she started running back to the hotel, her vision blurred from the tears that she could no longer suppress. Luckily she got away from him before he could see that she was crying.

Gabriel motionlessly watched Julia run back to the hotel, making no attempt to go after her. He had received her message loud and clear, and he wasn’t going to make a further fool of himself by pursuing her any longer. Didn’t she just tell him straight out that he doesn’t have enough money to capture her interest? The words gold digger was now burned deeply into his memories of her.

Feeling more disappointed than anything else, Gabriel slowly started making his way across the beach, heading towards the hotel parking lot where the children were still waiting to be taken out on his yacht. He was having a hard time understanding how he could have misjudged himself so completely with the type of person Julia truly was. On the bright side of things, at least he found out what type of person she was before he could get emotionally attached, Gabriel thought with an upside down smile, but a tiny voice within his heart immediately told him that he was busy lying to himself. He doesn’t know exactly when or how it happened, but over the last couple of days he had started to develop some sort of feelings for the woman he thought Julia to be. But that was all at an end now, Gabriel thought with a forced smile on his face while he joined up with Mother Sofia and the kids in the parking lot.

Back in their hotel suite, Julia
threw herself down on her bed and surrendered to the overwhelming sorrow eating away at her heart. Tears ceaselessly streamed down her face while she became completely honest with herself for the first time since she had met Gabriel. From the very first moment she had laid eyes on him, there had been instant chemistry between them, which automatically warned her that she had to be careful not to fall in love with him.

At first it was easy denying any feelings towards him, and convinced herself that she felt nothing but contempt towards him. But the more persistent he became, the harder it became to continue denying the chemistry that existed between them. She continuously had to remind herself of his arrogance, vanity, and egotism, continuously reminding herself that he was nothing but a womanizer, a sensualist that only wanted to use her to satisfy his own needs and desires.

However, lying on her bed feeling more alone than ever, she wasn’t so sure of her facts anymore, she wasn’t sure that she had done the right thing by refusing his friendship, and more than anything else, she suspected that she had judged him completely wrong. She finally had to admit that she was more than slightly attracted to Gabriel. She could now see that she had been attracted to him since day one, and badmouthed him and treated him badly, because she was unconsciously fighting against the strong attraction he had awakened in her heart. Though, facing the truth of her attraction towards Gabriel wasn’t brining her any piece of mind, instead it sent a million daggers cutting through her heart as she realized that she had torpedoed any chance she had with him. Burying her face in her pillow, Julia cried as if her heart wanted to break. Raw sobs tore through her body as she had to face the fact that she had driven Gabriel away forever.

Standing in the doorway, Sharron silently witnessed her friend’s heartbreaking cries. Knowing her friend as well as she does, Sharron slowly started understanding what was going on. Coming to a decision, she quietly turned around and snuck out of their suite, determined to wait for Gabriel’s return, and then get the whole mess between him and Julia sorted out.

The following day
Julia did her best to hide her unhappiness from Sharron, but Sharron could see that Julia was not being her usual self. Doing her best to cheer Julia up, Sharron suggested that they go down to the harbor and hire a boat for the afternoon. Even though Julia didn’t really feel like doing anything, she also didn’t want to spoil Sharron’s holiday, and therefore tagged along without complaining.