Abel (11 page)

Then he saw the other headline and bigger story.

Has Someone Finally Broken The Tough Exterior of Aweless Ayala?

Just under the headline were three photos of him sitting with Rachel at the sushi place. He never once noticed photographers that day. In
the first two photos, it appeared that he was completely captivated by her conversation. The third one had her feeding him a piece of her sushi. He remembered being annoyed when she’d done that. It was just another attempt to be sexy, and maybe if it’d been someone who didn’t try so hard—someone like Nellie—it might’ve been amusing.

Seeing the photos now
, he had to wonder if maybe Rachel had given the photographers a heads up. That day he’d chalked up her overly playful and flirtatious behavior to maybe her getting caught up in the fight hype as well. Now that his name and the fight were all over the TV, radio, and Internet maybe she wanted some of the spotlight on her. She wouldn’t be the first to try this, and she’d told him all about her dream of making it as a fitness model. She certainly had the body for it. And after getting to know her a little better, he didn’t blame her for trying to make the most of her looks. Like in his first few lustful encounters with Nellie, they’d never done a whole lot of talking, but unlike with Nellie, he’d never been inclined to spend the night at her place or have her stay at his. After only three times, like most of the girls he had fun with, he’d also lost interest. Not once had he felt the undeniable need to be with her again like he was feeling that moment about being with Nellie in just a few minutes.

Unable to get past even the first ridiculous paragraph about how it appeared that without warning his heart had been stolen
, he shut the tablet down and thought about the irony of the headline and story. Inadvertently, they were on to something about his heart being stolen. Only just like the stories about his dad, they had their facts all wrong.

***

Abel was going to use all the restraint he could muster to hold back from giving free rein to his body’s needs when he saw Nellie. There was something bigger looming, something too important now he needed to communicate to her. Since he was still too damn scared to ruin things by doing so verbally, he’d be showing her as he thought he had in San Francisco.

He
’d only been at her place for a few minutes when he stopped her in the kitchen where he’d followed her. Holding out that long had been a feat in itself. The moment he got the chance, he leaned her against the counter and his lips were on hers. As weak as he felt to have failed so miserably at restraining himself, he
did
kiss her tenderly. It took great effort, but he didn’t kiss nearly as hungrily as he really wanted to. Okay, maybe he was going to have to try a little harder. Just like earlier that day in her office, it felt like it had been forever since he last kissed her. As much as he enjoyed kissing her this sweetly and softly, his insides were ready to unleash what they’d missed so intensely this past week. Somehow her mouth tasted even better than he remembered, and she felt so much more perfect in his arms now.

Forcing himself
, Abel pulled away then held her face in his hands, smiling. He really should feel a little alarmed about what a struggle it was to not just eat her up, maybe even a little worried he’d start freaking her out. Instead, even as worked up as he’d been all day, all he could do was smile like an idiot as he stared into her beautiful eyes.

“
You’re all I’ve thought of since I left your office today.”

It was m
ostly true. She and her fucking date tomorrow had consumed the majority of his agonized thoughts even before he’d gone to her office, but more so after gaining a little more insight about the date. She’d be going with Logan, the same guy she’d jumped out of bed with Abel to be with once already.

The playful way she grinned at him cooled the heat he
’d begun to feel just thinking about the nature of her relationship with
Logan
.

“
I have to admit I’ve had a hard time keeping my mind clear of thoughts of you today too.” She licked her lips. “Your visit today was a very pleasant surprise. So the disappointment of our interruption is one I knew I wouldn’t get over until I saw you again.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him more ravenous
ly than he’d expected, heightening what his already frenzied insides were trying to restrain. Unable to hold back any more, he moaned against her lips, kissing her even deeper. He brought his hands down and stroked them over her behind a little harder than he’d planned on doing this soon. She rubbed her body up against his, smothering her breasts against his chest.

Abel was done holding back.
She was as shamelessly frantic for more as he felt, and it made him insane. He could only hope that meant that, like him, she’d gone without any satisfaction this entire week. She reacted to him squeezing her ass with both hands by bringing her hand down and rubbing him over his jeans. He was so hard now it hurt, and he lifted her onto the counter with a growl.

Tonight was supposed to have been about conveying something deeper to her. Now the only deep
thing on his mind was how deeply he wanted to be buried in her.

“
You missed me?” he asked roughly against her mouth then bit her bottom lip.

“
God, yes!”

He smiled before diving into her mouth again.
All right, time for Plan B. It was something that may not be as effective in getting her to feel the very real emotions he felt for her now, but it might work for him in a different way. He’d make love to her so hard and so often tonight and maybe even well into the morning that she couldn’t possibly dream of letting or
wanting
another man do this to her so soon and hopefully
ever
.

~*~

The concert was so awesome that Nellie actually felt guilty that her first time seeing Slightly Stoopid live hadn’t been with Roni. It was Roni who’d actually introduced her to the band in the first place. Her best friend knew she’d always loved Reggae music, and this band was just that, only they added a mixture of blues and folksy funk that made their sound even sexier. It’d been exactly what she needed to listen to and just relax with a glass of wine when she was going through her nightmare divorce. She’d been surprised how much their folksy laid-back rhythms could take the edge off the stress she was feeling, and now she’d heard them live, and they were just as good—and Roni had missed it.

Shaking it off
, she felt another kind of guilt seep in, a guilt she knew had no business flustering her. So she was on a date less than twenty-four hours after another mind-blowing night with Abel. It’d been more than mind-blowing, it was
different
. He drove into her like a man on a mission—hungrier than she’d ever felt him—and it made her wild. Then he’d tone it way down, kissing her deeply the entire time they did what felt like making love again, not just having insanely hot sex. More than once he’d stared into her eyes while sliding in and out of her and telling her she was so damn beautiful. Just like all the times he’d told her before, he said it so convincingly and so full of passion that she almost believed it, almost believed that he was there for more than just their lovemaking. In fact, he’d even spent the night again, and they’d had breakfast together. She got the distinct feeling he didn’t want to leave either. And now, here she was on a date with someone else.

So what?
Yesterday, after Logan had finally left her office, she got a chance to finish looking up what she’d started to look up when Abel had walked in her office. She only meant to do a little homework about his opponent but was quickly distracted with the photos of him and Felix in New York. Nellie knew well enough that stories of him suddenly being involved with the actress he’d been seen leaving with were very likely untrue. She knew how the media worked, and even though he appeared to be having a good time, she’d gotten to know Abel well now. Well enough to observe that while he appeared to be enjoying himself and smiling in many of the photos, they’d also captured a few of his expressions that she recognized all too well: his almost annoyed expressions, some at the most telling moments—like when one of the eager girls draped herself all over him.

The fact that he
’d left early without Felix was also telling. Even though the media said he’d been caught ducking out with that celebrity, there was no evidence in any of the
many
photos of the two leaving together that either was trying to be sneaky. The fact that they had zero photos of them arriving at their hotels together was further confirmation that the tabloids were reaching with this rumor. But even if it were all true, he’d gone out and had a fabulous time partying up like the hot celebrity he was now and even left with another hot celebrity. As hard as it was to take, this was his life now. It was only going to get worse. Still somehow, something deep inside held on to the hope that while Felix might enjoy this life Abel had made it clear that he wasn’t like Felix.

Seeing the images
and reading about him with that young juice girl, however, did worry if not confuse her. Roni had already confirmed that this was someone Abel had, as Noah so eloquently put it, bagged in the past. She was someone more low key than a celebrity and one he’d obviously actually shown some interest in. And why wouldn’t he? She was young and a knockout. Worse yet, they had a ton in common because she worked at the gym and from what the stories suggested was an inspiring fitness model. Of course Abel would be attracted to her.

It was far more likely that there was some truth to this story
—that he’d prefer a relationship with someone low key versus a high profile relationship with a celebrity—hence the confusion about his blatant reaction to Logan yesterday. Did he really have the nerve to be acting all territorial when he’d very possibly
bagged
this girl just earlier that week?

Feeling the same irritation she
’d first felt when she read the story of him and juice girl all over again, Nellie glanced around looking for Logan, who’d brought her to the VIP lounge—the same lounge where band members would later be having drinks. Roni was going to die when she heard about this. Logan had walked out after buying her a drink to take a call. He said they’d be meeting a friend of his there but didn’t elaborate. Having the opportunity to sit and watch the band as they relaxed and possibly even jammed in the lounge this close and the fact that Logan had a friend coming were the only reasons she didn’t insist on him taking her home right after the concert. She hadn’t wanted to spend too much time alone with him, but she couldn’t pass this up, and his friend being there would take a little from the intimate feel this might have had otherwise.

Staring at her drink now as she stirred it
, her thoughts were back on Abel and her body actually quivered. Their incredible time last night and this morning was the only hope she had that maybe he hadn’t been with that girl all week. She kept reminding herself that if she wanted to keep experiencing incredible nights like last night with Abel, what he did when she wasn’t around
needed
to remain a non-issue. After going nearly a week without him, her body had welcomed him back as if she were famished. There was nothing she could think of that would be worth ruining things and having his visits end.

After
the incident in her office yesterday, there was no doubt he knew about her date tonight, but last night he’d made no mention of it at all. That and his trysts with Rachel that week were a clear reconfirmation of what she’d thought for a moment might be changing but hadn’t. Even knowing she’d be out with another guy tonight, he was as content with things as they were as he had been from the beginning, and so she would be too.

It didn
’t matter that he’d held her a bit tighter all night and whispered in her ear how beautiful she was in such a sweet yet genuine way more than once during the night when he’d thought her asleep. Swallowing back any and all hope that it meant something, she took a big swig of her martini. He may’ve been doing that since day one, and she’d just missed it because she’d been so soundly asleep. He was just sweet that way, and there was nothing more to it.

“
Are you Nellie?” she flinched, looking up into a pair of the clearest blue eyes she’d ever seen. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Sam . . . Smith, Logan’s friend.” He reached out and shook her hand before taking the seat across from her on the sofa.

“
It’s okay,” she smiled, a bit taken with how uniquely light but very pretty his eyes were. “Yes, I’m Nellie. It’s nice to meet you, Sam.”

“
Logan’s outside on the phone,” he explained. “I hope everything’s okay. Do you know who he’s talking to? He seemed worried.”

“
No,” she said, glancing back toward the entrance where Logan had stepped out, feeling a little guilty that she’d been so caught up in thoughts of the concert, Roni, and Abel. She’d hardly noticed Logan’s extended absence. “But he did walk away kind of fast when he got the call.”

Sam glanced back at the entrance then stood up again.
“I could be wrong, but I thought I heard him say the words “emergency room” as I walked away. Let me go check on him.”