Heart of Stone (6 page)

“I don’t voice
every
thought.” I pout
(even though I was just chastising myself for that very thing) and
totally ignoring the warm sensation I’m presently feeling at Aidan
description of my mouth.

“No you’re correct you don’t say every
thought that crosses your mind and that in its self is intriguing.
But it’s refreshing to be around you Gabriella; you have a very
honest and expressive face. I find myself fascinated in what you’ll
come out with next. You are a remarkably beautiful young woman.” He
states gazing directly into my eyes, his body inclining towards me.
“I’m extremely attracted to you.” He adds on a whisper leaning in
even closer.

The air is electric between us and I’m
spellbound in his gaze.

Abruptly the moment is broken when the waiter
appears with our meals. Aidan must have felt it too because his
eyes leave mine and he scowls at the waiter.

The meal is delicious and the conversation
flows comfortably between us just like our brunch date on Sunday.
And once again I’m surprised how natural and easy it is to converse
with him.

I mostly talk about back home, my dad,
brother and the crazy adventures Mia and I had together every
summer in Australia. Aidan asks question after question genuinely
interested in my family history and for the first time since laying
eyes on him just over four weeks ago he appears completely at ease
too. Aidan is totally unguarded and I have a sneaking suspicion
that this is a rare moment for him. I wonder how many people have
seen this side of him.

Laughing at a story I’m telling him about Mia
and I being grounded after caught sneaking into my bedroom late at
night, way past curfew, I pause to gaze at him. To say he is the
most stunningly attractive man I have ever seen is a complete
understatement and at this very moment I have the compelling desire
be the one to make him smile and laugh more.

“Stone, good to see you. How are things?” An
older man dressed in an expensive tailored designer business suit
asks arriving at our table. He briefly glances at me with a small
smile then his attention immediately goes back to Aidan.

“James,” nods Aidan in greeting. “Business is
good. Gabriella this is James Beacon, a business associate.” Aidan
says in way of introduction.

“Hi James, nice to meet you,” I smile.

“Likewise Gabriella. Enjoying your dinner?”
He inquires politely.

“Very much, thank you.”

“Wonderful,” he replies then turns his
attention once more back to Aidan.

“Aidan, I have an associate here with me
tonight that I would like to introduce to you if you have a
moment,” asks James.

Aidan glowers at James obviously not happy
with being interrupted.

“I’m having a quiet dinner with -”

“No please that’s ok Aidan, I’m happy to wait
here for a moment,” I interrupt with a wave of my hand indicating
he should go. Aidan turns his glare towards me then his face levels
out to an impassive expression.

Uh-oh someone isn’t happy being
interrupted
.

“I’ll just be a moment Gabriella,” he says
quietly rising from the table and I cheekily take the opportunity
to wink at him with a smile. Aidan freezes for a brief moment,
raises his eyebrows as if to say
‘I can’t believe you had the
cheek to do that’
then gives a little shake of his head
smirking at me.

“I promise not to keep you from this
beautiful woman for more than a few minutes Stone,” James
interjects apologetically breaking our little side play.

I take this chance to do some people watching
in this very exclusive and obviously expensive restaurant for the
rich and powerful. I can’t help but giggle as I observe a stunning
young blonde with very large but clearly fake boobs as she fawns
all over a much older man at the table in front of mine.

God, some people need to get a room!

A light brush of fingertips across the
exposed skin of my back startles me and I jerk looking up at a very
tall and very handsome man I’ve never met before but who is
strangely familiar. He’s standing close - too close, smiling down
at me. An uneasy head to toe shiver breaks out over my body as he
slowly withdraws his hand.

Does he not grasp the concept of respecting
another person’s personal space?

“Enjoying your evening beautiful?” He asks on
a drawl.

“Yes, thank you, I
was
enjoying my
evening,” I curtly reply feeling agitated and slightly annoyed by
his audacity in actually touching the bare skin of my back.

He chuckles softly and I can’t place where
I’ve seen him before. He’s obviously wealthy in his designer black
Armani suit and dark brown hair styled sleekly back without a hair
out of place.
Guess someone likes his hair products a tad too
much
.

He extends his hand towards me. “The name’s
Blake and you lovely creature are?”

Just leaving is what I want to
say
.

I can’t put my finger on it but he comes
across somewhat sleazy rather than polished but ingrained good
manners overrule me and I place my hand in his. “Gabriella.”

He briefly tightens his grip on my hand than
as I tug away he releases my palm.

“Blake!” At the sound of Aidan’s growl I jolt
and look towards him as he arrives at our table. Aidan looks pissed
as in really,
really
pissed and his glare is directed at
Blake.

“Ah…brother, surprised to see you out
tonight,” sarcastically drawls Blake. “And with such a lovely
dinner companion at that.” Blake adds turning towards me with a
smirk on his face.

Wait, brother?

I look between the two men and of course I
now see the similarity between the two but Aidan is at least two
inches taller, his shoulders are broader and Blake has light grey
eyes not the penetrating emerald green of Aidan’s or his chocolate
colored tousled hair.

“We were just leaving.” Aidan retorts coming
around to my side and placing his hand on my elbow.

“Not on my account I hope. I was rather
looking forward to buying this beautiful young lady a drink,”
taunts Blake.

With that Aidan shifts ominously towards his
brother. “Now I’m the one who’s not
surprised
brother
, always trying to move in on something that is mine.
Some things never change.” Growls Aidan.

The air is so thick with tension you could
cut it with a knife. Some emotion I don’t recognize flashes in
Blake’s eyes than just as quickly it disappears and is replaced by
a cocky smirk on his face. The livid scowl on Aidan’s doesn’t
soften.

“Come Gabriella,” barks Aidan as his hand
wraps firmly but gentle around by upper arm steering me in the
direction to the front doors of the restaurant.

Wait - he’s angry with me? What did I
do?

“To the next time we meet Gabriella,” calls
Blake at our departing backs as Aidan tightens his grip on my arm
in response to Blake’s comment.

We wait in an uneasy silence as the valet
gets Aidan’s Porsche and I want to say something to change the
oppressing mood he has slid into but I’m not sure what to say.
Aidan is holding my hand staring straight ahead lost in what
appears to be not so happy thoughts going by the frown on his face.
I turn my body towards him so we are only inches apart and rise up
on my toes to be closer to his handsome face. “The dinner was
lovely, thank you Aidan,” I whisper on a smile, “but your brother
is kind of a dick.” I proclaim.

His head jerks in reaction to my words than
his face softens as he reaches up and brushes the side of my temple
with his knuckles. I shiver,
as in a very good shiver
, from
the contact.

“You’re most welcome Gabriella and yes my
brother is a
dick
.” Aidan says with a hint of amusement in
his voice, his lip twitching like he trying not to smile.

“Glad to see it doesn’t run in the family.” I
murmur leaning in closer so my chest is brushing his.

Aidan laughs and my work is done.

He brushes his lips softly across mine than
tapping my nose with his index finger he gestures towards the car
as the valet opens the door for me.

“Come on baby lets get you home.”

The trip home was quick, Aidan’s mood had
lighten but only barely so I rambled on with stories of my brother
and me as kids to try and extract a laugh or two and by the time we
pull up into Mia’s driveway I’m pretty pleased with myself that
I’ve succeeded.

Aidan turns off the car and with a flick of
his hand he releases my seat belt then slides one hand around the
back of my neck flexing his fingers into the back of my head
securely, his other hand goes low around my spine pulling me
towards him, than his soft firm lips crash down onto mine. His
tongue instantly demands entrance and I comply immediately parting
my lips as his tongue thrusts in devouring every part of my mouth.
There is no slow build up with this kiss – it is commanding,
claiming and dominating. I moan as he sucks on my tongue than nips
my bottom lip with his teeth before plunging his tongue back into
my mouth. In return I suck his top lip into my mouth then softly
scrap my teeth over the tender flesh of his lips completely
intoxicated by his scent and his taste. My heart beats in over
drive as I slide my fingers into his silky tousled hair holding on
tightly as if my life depended on his breath for air.

Bloody hell this man can kiss!

Aidan breaks the kiss and I instantly feel
the loss of his warm mouth as we both pant trying to gain control
of our breathing. My fingers are still threaded through his hair
and his hands are now cupping my neck as he gently strokes my jaw
with his thumbs.

“Fuck, baby you can
kiss.
” Rasps
Aidan.

A small giggle bubbles out from me. “Funny I
was thinking the exact same thing.”

“Gabriella I’m leaving for New York in the
morning for business but I’ll be back on Friday. I want you to have
dinner with me at my home Friday evening.”

“Um…you cook?”

Ohmigod is that really my reply to his
invitation? The word ‘Yes’ should have been my immediate answer. I
am such a goof.

“No Gabriella I don’t cook but my housekeeper
does,” he chuckles. “I’ll pick you up at five-thirty at your
office.”

“Okay.” I answer softly. The thought of
spending more time with Aidan has my heart racing again and
butterflies doing cartwheels in my stomach.

I must have a huge goofy smile on my face
because Aidan has an amused expression on his, while he shakes his
head. He brushes his thumb over my bottom lip. “Come on baby lets
get you inside,” he whispers.

Chapter Seven.

It’s Friday afternoon with only an hour to go
until Aidan arrives to pick me up for our dinner date at his house
tonight. The week has flown by especially at work with the constant
demand of deadlines looming for various events. Jeremiah has been
in a tizzy all day, finalizing, checking and re-checking every
minor detail for the Stone Benefit this Sunday and I have been
organizing a small cocktail party for a new product launch on
behalf of one of the advertising executives. I relish in the sense
of achievement having pulled it all together myself without
Jeremiah’s help in only my second week on the job. I love the
variety and challenges this field presents but most of all I love
working with Jeremiah, he’s hilarious. He has extraordinary flair
and style.

I’ve only heard from Aidan twice while he was
in New York, the first time was Wednesday late afternoon when I
couldn’t resist the urge any longer so I sent him a text
message.

*Hey, hope you’re not working too hard
& if you get the chance make sure to enjoy one of those famous
NYC Hot Dogs! They’re my favorite. Gabby

*

His reply came less than two minute’s later
and I couldn’t help the huge goofy smile that spread across my
face.

*NYC is busy, tedious meeting after meeting.
No hot dogs as yet but if you were here, you would be my favorite
thing in NYC. A.S *

Yep, it’s official - I’m falling deep for
this beautiful man. My only fear is there may not be a safety net
there to catch me when I fall.

Around nine-thirty last night while I was
lying in bed reading, my cell rang. I picked it up and the caller
ID said Aidan.

“Hey you”. I cheerfully greeted.

“Hey baby”.

I love it when he calls me baby!

“How’s the Big Apple treating you?”

Chuckling he replies, “Not too bad, arduous
but profitable.”

“Profitable is good, arduous not so much.
Hey, did you get to have one of New Yorks’ world famous
mouthwatering hot dogs?”

“No and only you Gabriella would think food
from a street vendor was mouthwatering. I’m sitting in one of
Manhattans’ chic Japanese restaurants. It’s a business dinner with
nothing but raw fish and Sake as far as the eye can see. I’m afraid
no hot dogs in sight.”

“Hey don’t knock street food until you’ve
tried it mister. But seriously - raw fish ewww,” I shudder. “They
must be stuffy old business man you’re dinning with.”

Aidan laughs and I swear it’s the most
beautiful sound in the world. There are muffled voices in the
background as I hear a man’s voice calling Aidan.

“Just a moment,” he snaps curtly to someone
in the background. “I have to go now Gabriella but I’ll see you
tomorrow evening.” His tone is softy seductive when he addresses
me. I feel warm and mushy all over.

“Okay. Bye Aidan, safe trip home.”

“Night baby,” he murmurs then
disconnects.

****

And now with less than hour until Aidan
arrives to pick me up, I try in vain to calm my nerves of
excitement with deep breathing as I slip out to the bathroom to
touch up my make-up. I have chosen to wear a newly purchased and
most definitely in my top three of favorite dresses - black
figure-hugging shift dress with cap sleeves and a scoop neck. I
adore this dress. The cut is ultra flattering hugging all my curves
and the hem sits just above my knees. I’ve paired the dress with
three-inch cross strap sandals in black suede and my hair in a
messy ponytail. Make-up is light with rose pink blush and lip-gloss
but I did apply a heavier eyeliner and mascara to make my eyes pop.
A spritz of my favorite perfume and I’m ready.
I think.