Broken (12 page)

“Oh, yeah.” She opened her eyes and brightly smiled at him.

The two playfully flirted through dinner. The moods had relaxed and there were undertones of want and desire. Gabby enjoyed herself, but she knew this would never work out between the two of them. But, she couldn’t help but feel relaxed at how the conversation had been so easy.

They discussed her desire to do philanthropic work, although she knows she also needed to have a skill that will make her a living. Bradley told her how he had quickly climbed the ladder of success to the top and his passion for design was evident as his eyes lit up talking about his work. She was genuinely interested and she smiled back at him with her undivided attention relaxing back in her chair.

They had also shared low country oyster stew with wild mushroom grits as their first course. Their main course was her favorite, a pepper seared New York strip “Au Poivre.” It was served with a crispy potato cake, teeny weeny benne beans, which were as good as they were adorably named, and it was all topped off with a Brandy pan sauce.

She learned through conversation that Bradley had come earlier and dropped off the flowers and the champagne and had given the chef their menu order. She realized this must have been when he also resolved the age issue, which had been the only real uncomfortable part of the conversation. He had planned every detail. Gabby thinking of the effort he had gone through to spend an evening with her made her feel like a princess. But, she had been treated like a princess before. Her subconscious always brought her back to reality and reminded her of the pain she had just gotten over and to tread carefully. People change. Sometimes, no matter how much fun you have with someone, it’s just not enough. Interrupting her thoughts, “Hey you, do you want dessert here or do you want to go somewhere else?” He could tell she was deep in thought about something. He hoped it wasn’t that she was having second thoughts about them. He really had been looking forward to dessert all night, no all day. “Hmm, I’m really full. The thought of another bite of anything makes me want to crawl into my bed and sleep off this full belly,” she sighed as she splayed her hand across her tight black dress that he had chosen for her earlier in the evening when he learned she had not been prepared for the dress attire of the evening. It fit more tightly than she would have ordinarily chosen, but he was paying for it and he insisted that she get it. His burning blue eyes had given away that his words were truly what he felt and he made her feel so comfortable in her body. For the first time in her life, she thought she might actually feel sexy. “Well, they have world renowned coconut cake here. I really wanted to feed that to you. I’m sure you don’t get fed like that at college. Perhaps, I could talk you into us getting a slice or two to go. We could eat it in a little bit after our dinner has settled. What do you say?”

“That would be nice,” she was relieved. Bradley motioned for the waiter and he brought a box with two slices of the famous coconut cake with a side of strawberries. It looked divine and she couldn’t wait for her stomach to make some room for the cake. He had said he wanted to feed it to her. She dismissed her thoughts of him slowly slicing a bite of cake with a fork and feeding it to her as if he wanted to care for her every need.
Snap out of it, Gabby!

Bradley stood and offered her his hand for her to rise to leave. “Um, we haven’t paid yet,” Gabby spoke softly, more of a question than a statement. “It’s already been taken care of, Gabby.” he gazed down at her never letting his eyes leave hers. “Oh, okay.” She placed her small soft hand in his and used her other hand to smooth her dress.
Makes sense, he took care of that with everything else. Duh, Gabby.
Her expensive heels were much taller than she was used to wearing and she was thankful for his hand and his arm because she was sure if he didn’t help her, she’d fall walking through the cobblestone streets of Charleston.

“Where are we going now,” she asked as she tilted her head up so she could see him. “Well, I thought we could walk around and visit some shops. Then I wanted to take you back to where we met and see if we could end our night differently this time.” He glanced down and smiled at her eager to see what she would say to his plans. “Well, I suppose we could try that. Just don’t be such a jerk this time. Oh, and you’re going to have to keep holding my hand or I may end up breaking my neck in these shoes,” she giggled.

“Oh, I think I can manage that for you, Miss Gerhart, the hand holding. And, a jerk. Ouch, that hurts. I wasn’t trying to be a jerk. I didn’t want to hurt you, and I’m sorry if I did. That was never my intention.” Gabby glanced up at him smiling. She nodded and shrugged one shoulder, like she often did when she felt shy. It was her way of saying okay without speaking a word.

They strolled through the shops around the market, sharing with each other what they liked and didn’t like. They laughed at other people and tried to figure out what they were thinking. Bradley had done a good job distracting Gabby from any thoughts of running that she had briefly entertained. In fact, Gabby felt so comfortable with Bradley. It was as if she had known him forever. He felt familiar already and they really barely knew each other. They wandered the street of Charleston arm-in-arm and Gabby couldn’t shake the electricity that was beaming through her body from his touch, from his close proximity. It turned out that even though they were so different, conversation came easily.

Bradley had one more surprise in store for her before he took her back to the harbor. As they approached a white-horse-drawn carriage with a driver in a top hat, he stopped and motioned for her to climb aboard. She looked up at him in surprise as she smiled, “Seriously?”

“Yes, I thought it would be nice for you to have a seat. Those heels must be killing you and I wanted to take in the city with you,” he grinned. “Nice,” she said as she climbed aboard.

They rode through the city and the driver told them about the rich Charleston history. The tour also included the First Baptist Church they had met in just a few months before. She remembered how they had taken horse-drawn carriages from the church to the reception. It was at that moment that she realized he had not only put careful thought and consideration into his date, but Bradley Banks had made an effort to start over with her, recreating the night they met. The difference between the two nights was he was far more respectful. He had done this to show that he could be the gentleman she deserved. He had listened to her, talked with her. He had touched her, but only lovingly and she wondered if this was his idea of mind, body, and soul.

Even though the guarded part of her mind was telling her to not get close to him, her body told her much differently. Gabby decided to enjoy the night for what it was and deal with the thoughts in her mind later. She knew this could never work, but she had enjoyed herself so much. Bradley had taken care of every little detail to try to make the night perfect, she didn’t have it in her heart to ruin it with talk about why this wouldn’t work. She quickly dismissed the unpleasant thoughts and moved in a little closer to his side, it felt so natural and comfortable. As she did, he stretched his long muscular arm around her shoulders and she nestled herself into his side and inhaled his scent. She wasn’t sure what kind of cologne he was wearing, but the smell was familiar from that night. In fact it probably wasn’t just one thing, but perhaps a combination of aftershave, cologne and deodorant. She would often smell fragrances at the mall and she was sure she had never smelt anything so heavenly in a bottle.

As they neared the harbor, the horse slowed and she looked up into his crystal blue eyes, once again sparkling off the water and the moon. He put her chin between his thumb and his finger and pulled her face closer. He was slow and gentle, unlike the last time. He moved his head to hers, taking her lips to his and kissed her in a way that pleasantly took her breath away. Gabby felt her entire body squeezing her and she closed her eyes savoring his taste and the romantic moment. Even though she was torn between her mind and her body, her body was definitely winning.

Gently pulling back, but still holding her chin he softly spoke, “Do you have room for that coconut cake yet?” She could barely talk or think about anything other than what had just happened and how she didn’t want to do anything but that again. “That was delicious, I mean that sounds delicious.” she winked at him as they exited the carriage. He shook his head grinning, “It was indeed, Miss Gerhart. There’s more of where that came from, that is if you want it.”

They found themselves a swing. Bradley sat sideways on the swing so he could face her. She crossed her legs so her legs dangled while the swing swayed with the wind. He pulled out the slices of cake they had taken with them from the Peninsula Grill earlier that evening. There were two plastic forks. He opened one and Bradley proceeded to slice through the moist slice of cake and dipped the fork into the strawberries.

“Close your eyes,” he politely ordered and she complied.

“You are beautiful, Gabriella. Have I told you that before?”

“Thank you, but I think you’re the beautiful one,” she smiled opening her eyes.

“Close your eyes, Gabby.”

She was hesitant, “Just do it. Trust me,” he said and she complied this time.

“Now, open your mouth.”

When she did, he placed the slice of cake he had cut slowly into her mouth. He watched her reaction as she closed her lips and hummed as she chewed the slice of heaven. She had not swallowed all of it and she spoke with a little bit of cake still in her mouth.

“Oh. My. Gosh. That. Is. So.
Good
,” she emphasized the last word.

“Mhmm. More?”

“Yes, please. Can I open my eyes, though?”

“No, it will be better with your eyes closed. You know, take away one sense, heighten the others,” his tone was very nonchalant, but his grin was from ear to ear and he was certainly enjoying drinking in her beauty as she sat there waiting on him to feed her more with her eyes closed. Her long eye lashes were splayed on the tops of her cheeks.

“Okay. Makes sense, but aren’t you going to eat any?”

“Sure, you can feed me mine after I’ve fed you yours first. Ladies, first, right? Hush now, open up.”

Gabby couldn’t say a word, she just giggled at the thought of feeding this gorgeous specimen of a man cake, sitting in the middle of the harbor on a swing. If anyone had told her in June before Cade’s wedding this is what she’d be doing, she would have laughed hysterically at them. The only thing that made her more happy and eager was the thought of kissing him again.

“What’s so funny,” he asked concerned but still a bit amused at her sitting there with her eyes closed laughing, mouth full of food.

“Um, nothing. Sorry.”

“Oh, no. You don’t get to do that. Are you laughing at
me
, Miss Gerhart?”

“Nope, Mr. Banks. I wouldn’t dare.” She was over serious.

“You don’t want to feed me my cake,” he asked as if all of the sudden he was shy and sad.

“No. Yes. Ugh, not this again. Stupid mind and mouth are not coordinated tonight. I guess I should be thankful my mind and my feet are, though,” she laughed and shook her head at her usual clumsiness.

“Well, I think your mouth was quite coordinated earlier. And as for your feet, I’m not going to let you fall. I don’t want you to get hurt,” he spoke softly as he moved a piece of hair behind her ear like he had done so many other times before.

She leaned into his touch realizing how much she was longing for every little touch he was willing to offer her. She had been in love only once before and that had resulted in such heartbreak, but she couldn’t remember ever feeling like this about Ian. She shook her head trying to get Ian out of her head during this wonderful night. She couldn’t let him ruin this for her.

“What’s wrong. I’m sorry, Gabby. I’m trying not to be so forward, but I couldn’t help myself. You’re just…”

“No, it’s not you. It’s just I’m really trying not to think about getting hurt. But, I can’t help myself. You’ve done all of this. I mean, the beach, dinner, the carriage ride, the harbor—
this,
it’s incredible. I’ve had one of the best nights of my life. It’s been so much better than the first night we were here, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is the reality that when this night ends you’ll go back to your life in Atlanta. For goodness sake, I’m a sophomore in college. This just won’t work. When you touch me, I feel alive. I love your touch. I love just being with you. You were wrong earlier at the beach when you said I was scared. I’m not scared, I’m terrified. I can’t go through this hurt again. I mean, how in the world would a relationship ever work?” Tears started to prick her eyes and she put her head down. “I’m so sorry. I’ve tried all night not to think about this and to just enjoy everything. It’s been amazing. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to spoil it. But, Bradley, that’s what I do. I spoil everything,” she confessed.

“Well, I think we’ve made progress, actually.” He had not moved his hand from her face and he was gently stroking her cheek and he moved his thumb up to wipe the tears that were forming in her eyes.

“How do you figure that?”

“Well, you haven’t run away. I think that’s progress, don’t you? You’ve admitted that you feel this. You’re not denying that anymore.” He had a half smile and he turned his head to one side looking into her eyes waiting for her response. “This is true. I don’t want to run, but I don’t want to be hurt either. I don’t see how this is ever going to work.”