Bachelor's Bought Bride / CEO's Expectant Secretary: Bachelor's Bought Bride / CEO's Expectant Secretary. Jennifer Lewis
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for change. I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines of life. I’m ready to get out and enjoy it more.”
Their pad thai arrived, steaming and fragrant with basil. They ate in silence for a few moments. Then Gavin decided to head deeper into dangerous territory.
“I’ve had girlfriends before, but never one that I thought was ‘the one.’”
“I wonder how it’s different. If you just know a person is the one you’ll spend the rest of your life with.” Her smooth brow wrinkled slightly. “That must be an amazing feeling.”
“I hear it happens fast.”
Her brows rose. “Love at first sight?”
“Something like that. The person just clicks with you.”
Bree inhaled deeply, which drew his gaze to her bosom. Gavin’s arousal thickened at the sight of her full breasts under the clingy dress.
She looked up at him, eyes soft. “I hope I’ll find that one day. You know, someone I can feel totally comfortable with.”
Maybe you already have.
Gavin tilted his head. “It could be the kind of thing that sneaks up on you as you get to know the person.”
“You mean like one minute they’re a friend and the next … you can’t keep your hands off them?” She giggled.
“I’m sure that happens to people all the time.” Her laugh tickled something deep inside him. “Probably just when they least expect it.”
Gavin dropped Bree home and said goodbye with a restrained peck on the cheek. She didn’t invite him in, though she looked as if she wanted to. He wanted to keep things slow and steady, rather than rush in too hot and heavy and possibly scare her off.
For their next date, he invited her to a jazz concert at the Palace of Fine Arts. For dinner he brought a carefully packed picnic from the gourmet store near his apartment, and a bottle of champagne. Bree, resplendent in a midnight blue dress and sparkly silver earrings, blushed with delight as he spread a blanket under a huge shade tree on the grounds and unpacked the food. The weather was warm and calm.
“I’ve always wanted to come for a picnic here,” she exclaimed. “It’s got to be one of the most romantic spots in the city.”
He looked up from the feast he was unpacking. “Tonight seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
“Look at the way the sunset lights up the lagoon.” The expanse of water shimmered like liquid gold. Around them other couples and groups laughed and dined and took in the beauty of the spring evening. “The city has so many interesting places. You could live here for decades and never visit them all.
“And what a shame that would be.” Bree unwrapped a lacquer box filled with stuffed grape leaves. “Ooh, one of my favorites. I swear the Kincannons must have Greek ancestry somewhere. We’re all crazy about Greek food.”
“You fit right in with the architecture then. Or is this Roman?” He glanced up at the heavily ornamented Corinthian style columns that adorned the massive buildings nestled around the lake.
Bree laughed. “They were built in 1915 for the World’s Fair here in San Francisco. I’d call them World’s Fair Classical. I love how ‘over the top’ they are. The original buildings were made of paper, and only meant to last a year. They proved pretty sturdy and by the time they started to fall down decades later, everyone was so attached to the place that they decided to rebuild it permanently.”
The fading sun gleamed in her curls, lighting up the gold highlights. Her skin shone, cheeks still pink with excitement. He wanted to kiss her right now….
But he resisted. “How do you know so much about everything?”
“Just curious, I guess. And I have lived here my whole life.”
“Do you plan to spend the rest of your life here?” He wasn’t entirely sure why he asked. Did he want to find out if she had a life plan already mapped out, and if so, if she’d be happy to reconfigure it for him?
She frowned slightly, then smiled. “I don’t know. I guess it all depends on where life takes me.”
“As a photographer you can work anywhere.”
She laughed. “I still don’t think of myself as a photographer. I’ve only been offered one professional assignment so far. I haven’t even done it yet. What if it’s a disaster?”
“It will be fantastic. Is this the one for San Francisco Magazine?”
“Yes. It’s next week. Robert Pattinson, for crying out loud! I’m paralyzed with nerves.”
“You move very well for someone with paralysis.” He offered her a dish of stuffed olives, and she smiled and took one. “Do you have to fly to New York for the shoot?”
“No, he’s coming here for a movie premiere. At least if everything goes as planned. Maybe he’ll cancel at the last minute.” She tucked a curl nervously behind her ear and bit her lip.
“He won’t cancel. He’s a professional. And you’ll do an amazing job. Just think, soon your picture will be pirated all over the internet.”
“Oh, stop! I just hope I don’t annoy him, or drop my camera or something. It’s got to be film, not digital. I think that’s one of the reasons they asked me.”
“They asked you because you’re amazingly talented and they know everyone will be talking about the pictures. Just relax and try to enjoy it.” He stroked her arm. Her dress was silky soft jersey material that draped lusciously over her curves. Heat flared in his groin and he had to resist the urge to let his hand trail over more of her delicious body.
All in good time, he promised himself. He needed at least a few dates with her under his belt before he made any kind of … move. Though the temptation to make one right now was killing him.
Especially when she shifted, and the fabric of her dress pulled tight for a moment over her tantalizing breasts.
Ouch. His pants suddenly felt tight.
Her eyes sparkled as she sipped her champagne. “I’m excited about the concert. I’ve been going to jazz concerts regularly over the past year. I’m really starting to get the music.”
He smiled. “Then you can teach me. All I do is enjoy it.”
“That works, too. It’s so nice to meet someone who likes doing so many of the things I enjoy.”
“I love walking around with you. You know so much of the city.”
Her eyes brightened. “I’d be happy to roam around more of it with you.”
He offered her some marinated chicken in a pita and she put it on her plate. “Where do you recommend?”
“How about the Marina? Or the Painted Ladies—the Victorian houses, of course, not the hookers—near the park? Alcatraz is pretty wild. Have you ever been there?”
“No, and now I can’t wait to go to each and every one of them.”
Why hadn’t he kissed her yet? Bree examined her carefully made up face in the mirror. Gavin was due any minute—again. They’d seen each other every other day for the past two weeks, walked nearly a hundred miles around the city, eaten countless meals and even—gasp!—held hands.
But not a single kiss on the lips. He brushed her cheek lightly with his lips when they said goodbye, but that was it.
Maybe he wasn’t attracted to her, after all?
She should be exhilarated after her shoot. Despite a late start, everything had gone smoothly and the proofs were to die for. The star was every bit as charming and polite as she’d imagined, and she’d managed not to blush and stammer like a teenager in his presence. She even showed him her portfolio