Conquest of the Heart (21 page)

As he kissed on her ear he said, “I want
you.”

With her eyes closed, Faith whispered, “We
can’t. You know we can’t.”

“But you want to,” he said.

Faith didn’t respond. He grabbed one of her
hands and kissed the inside of her wrist.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said as he
gently pushed her up so he could stand. He continued to kiss her
tenderly, his hands moving up and down her body. His breathing got
heavier the more his desire grew. Gavin turned Faith around so that
her back was to him. He continued to move his hands around, feeling
every curve. He tugged on her shirt once more. Faith quickly held
his hands. It was becoming harder for her to resist him, and she
could feel his firmness against her.

As he sucked on her earlobe he whispered, “I
need you.”

“Gavin we can’t. We need to….” she couldn’t
complete her sentence.

He kissed her cheek, slowly moving in closer
to her lips. Faith allowed a small corner of her lips to join with
his. It sent Gavin reeling. He turned her back around to fully kiss
her, but she stopped him short. With their lips barely touching,
they could feel each other’s breathing. Gavin had his arms
encircled around her waist, and Faith’s arms and hands rested along
his arms. He could tell she needed to stop. He lifted his head to
kiss her forehead, pulling her in to hug her. Faith rested her head
on his chest, letting out a deep sigh.

“I don’t like doing this to you, but I enjoy
your touch,” she said, closing her eyes and biting her lip.

“I enjoy being with you. I can handle it. I’d
rather do this, than nothing at all. Not being able to touch you
would be harder. You did something for me today that was extremely
attractive. You tried to help me calm down before I talked to
Carter, and then you checked on me this afternoon. No one else
would have cared. You were probably just being you. I desired to
make love to you for that. It just seemed right,” he said. He
pulled away slightly, so he could stare into her eyes, keeping his
arms around her. “I know you’re not ready. I’m not sure why you’re
holding back because I know you want me, too. I will wait. Okay?
I’ll wait.” Faith nodded her head as he hugged her again.

“I should go home,” she said. They broke from
their embrace. “You need to get out of here, too.”

“I’ll walk with you,” he smiled.

Faith went to get her things from her office.
Gavin was waiting in the hall for her when she came out. They
walked to the elevators and left for the evening.

Agnes was just wrapping up her day, and
spotted them leaving together as she returned to her desk. She made
sure to add this information to her notes for the week to turn into
Adrian.

Finally, Friday was here. They had an early
flight out. To avoid paying for parking, Adrian had arranged for
the limo to take Gavin and Faith to the airport. They were heading
to Nashville.

When they arrived at the hotel, they checked
into their rooms. Adrian made sure they were comfortable since they
would be there for two weeks. They were placed in two king suites
at the Hutton Hotel. Faith went into her room and jumped back on
the bed like a kid. She closed her eyes as the mattress hugged her
body. It was so comfortable she wanted to go back to sleep, and did
for a little while. Starting the morning at three o’clock was not
her idea of fun.

About an hour later, Gavin knocked on her
door. She was startled. She sat up in bed, looking around confused.
It took her a moment to realize where she was. She sat there,
staring at the wall, when Gavin knocked again. She crawled out of
bed, yawning as she walked to the door. Looking through the
peephole, she yawned again and opened the door, rubbing her
eyes.

“Hi beautiful, or should I say sleepyhead,”
he chuckled as he walked past her. Gavin had gone to get her some
coffee.

Faith smiled sleepily as Gavin sat on the
couch in the living area of her room. He watched as she went back
to the bedroom and fell back on the bed. He grinned and walked to
the doorway of the room.

“Are you going to sleep all day? It’s
beautiful outside. Let’s go explore,” he said.

Faith said nothing. She just kept lying
there.

“If you don’t get up, I’m going to be forced
to take all of your clothes off and make mad passionate love to
you.” Faith’s eyes popped open. Laughing, he said, “Thought that
would get your attention.”

She jumped out of the bed and walked into the
living area. “Have you tried the bed yet? I want to take one home,”
she said, picking up her coffee.

Gavin chuckled. He had a brochure of things
to do in the city. “Grab your brochure so we can map out what we
want to do this weekend.”

Their weekend, and week, was packed with
meetings, conferences, lunches, and events. They barely had time to
sleep, and spent less time alone together than Gavin originally
anticipated. One of their meetings happened to be at a Nashville
recording studio where they met Rascal Flatts. Gavin watched as
Faith’s eyes lit up, as she sang along during their session. Her
attention was so diverted, it was as if no one else was there but
her. At the end of the session, Gavin had a chance to speak with
the band while Faith was carted off to another area of the
studio.

Shaking hands with the band, Gavin said,
“Thanks for letting us listen in. I’ve never heard your music
before, but you’re great.”

“Well thanks. Glad you were able to stay,”
said Gary, the lead singer, in his southern voice.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any shows coming
up, would you?” asked Gavin.

“As a matter of fact, we do. We’ll be at TPAC
on Friday. That’s the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.”

“Got any VIP passes left?” Gavin was
hopeful.

“We’ve got a pair of passes, as well as two
front row seats available. They’re yours if you want ‘em,” said
Gary.

Gavin motioned his head in Faith’s direction.
“It would be a surprise,” he smiled.

Gary responded, “I get it. She’s gorgeous.
We’ll have them sent over to your hotel along with some souvenirs.
Good luck. We’ll see you Friday.”

“Thanks,” Gavin said. They shook hands again
and Gavin went to catch up with Faith and the rest of their
group.

The meetings on Friday were
kept to a minimum, and ended midday. After lunch, the two agreed to
return to their rooms to rest for a while. As Faith opened the door
to her room, she could smell the sweet aroma of roses. “Gavin,” she
said aloud. There were a dozen peach roses sitting on the coffee
table with a card that read, ‘
Have dinner
with me tonight, Gavin.
’

She smiled as she read the card, then called
him on his cell phone.

“Hi, beautiful,” said Gavin.

“Of course I’ll have dinner with you. Who
else would I go with?” she asked as she paced around her room.

“I don’t know. You were pretty enthralled
with those Rascal Flatts guys,” he teased.

“I love their music. Besides, they’re all
spoken for,” she said, stopping to look out of the window.

“I’ll come by around six,” he said. “Wear
shoes that are going to be comfortable to walk in.”

“Why?” she asked.

“You’re going to learn that I’m full of
surprises. When it’s time for you to know why, you will,” he
said.

“Okay,” she whined. “Thanks for the roses.
They’re beautiful.” She went over to the table to smell them.

“Just like you,” he said.

“You don’t have to send flowers for
everything,” she said.

“Something else you’ll need to get used to. I
like to communicate with flowers.”

She sighed, smiling as she sat down on the
couch. “You’re the boss,” she said.

He chuckled. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“Bye.” She touched her phone to hang up.

A few hours later, Gavin went to get Faith
for dinner. He decided that since they were so close to the
performing arts center, they could eat at the hotel and walk to the
concert. As they sat eating, Gavin’s phone was going crazy. It was
ringing every five minutes. When Gavin looked at it, he rolled his
eyes and shook his head.

“Everything okay?” asked Faith.

“It’s Chandler. She’s been calling me all
week. I’ve just been ignoring my phone.”

“Well, it’s Friday evening. The workday is
done. You can turn your phone off,” smiled Faith.

Gavin nodded, “I think that’s a good idea.”
He turned his phone off and slipped it into his pocket.

“Maybe you should get a new phone number,”
added Faith, as she took a bite of her food.

“I like that. Want to go shopping with me
tomorrow?”

Faith beamed, “Absolutely. I’m always up for
shopping.”

Gavin checked his watch as they finished
their meal. They still had an hour before the concert started. He
asked for the ticket and paid.

“Are you ready?” he asked, excited about what
was to come. Faith didn’t have a clue.

“Yes,” she said, curious about what was
next.

Gavin had already mapped out their route, so
he knew exactly where they were going. The weather was absolutely
wonderful for an evening stroll. It was a comfortable seventy-five
degrees, and it only took them twenty minutes to get to the
center.

Turning to Faith, he asked, “Any ideas what
we’re doing here?”

Faith looked around, looking at all of the
people standing around. “Either we’re at a concert or a sporting
event. It’s June, so basketball season is over. Baseball fields are
not covered. I’m going to say it’s a concert or something,” she
said smiling, jumping up and down waiting for Gavin to tell
her.

He grinned, getting a kick out of watching
her. “Let’s go,” he said, grabbing her hand and leading her to the
rear access door. Gavin showed the guard at the door their passes,
without Faith seeing them. He didn’t want her to find out who they
were there to see until they reached the band. The guard showed
them to a private Meet & Greet room, where they waited for the
appearance of Gary, Joe Don and Jay, also known as Rascal Flatts.
At this point, Faith was losing it.

“Okay, who are we here to see?” she asked,
bouncing around. She had an idea, but wanted him to tell her.

He took out her pass and placed it around her
neck. “Here you go. We get a private meeting with the band, VIP
backstage access, and two front row seats located in the
center.”

Faith’s eyes got wide, “Are you serious? How
did you get these?” she asked as she stared at the pass. “When did
you get these?” She looked up at him like a teenager who had just
gotten a car for their sixteenth birthday.

“I saw how much you liked them when we were
at the studio. I asked the band if they had any tickets available
and they sent these over to the hotel the same day. They also gave
us some souvenirs. I’ll give those to you when we get back,” he
grinned.

“I can’t believe you did this. This is so
awesome!” She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek and a
hug. At that moment, the band walked in and spoke with them. Faith
was glowing as she asked them questions, joked and laughed. Gavin
just sat back and enjoyed watching her. Gary walked over and
briefly chatted with him.

As he patted him on the back he said, “Looks
like the passes are a hit. She’s really having fun. Good job.”

“Thanks for your help. I like making her
smile. She has such a beautiful smile,” Gavin said, continuing to
watch Faith.

“Have you been dating long?” asked Gary.

“We’re not dating at all,” he smiled, looking
over at Gary. “I’m trying to get there.” He raised his
eyebrows.

Gary smiled and nodded, “You’re off to a good
start. We need to get going. See you out there.” He walked over to
the other members. They all told Faith they’d see her later and
left.

Faith looked over at Gavin and gave him a
half smile. She sauntered over to him and put her arms around his
waist. Looking up at him she said, “Why are you so good to me?”

“Like I told Gary, I like making you smile,”
he said. He wanted to kiss her, but decided against it. “Come on.”
Gavin grabbed Faith by the hand and led her down the corridor and
backstage.

As the music played, Faith danced and sang.
She glanced back at Gavin and smiled from time to time. He merely
observed. He had learned more about her during this one event than
he had the past four weeks.

“I’m going to our seats. Wanna come?” she
said in Gavin’s ear.

“No. You go ahead. I’ll watch from here,” he
answered.

Faith was escorted down to her seat, where
she continued to dance, jump and shout. The band pointed at her,
acknowledging her presence. After a few songs, they pulled her up
on stage to dance with them. Gavin looked on. He began to think he
might be falling in love with her. The more he got to know her, the
more attracted he was to her.

‘Could she be the
one?’
he wondered. It had been a long time
since he had felt anything for anyone. These feelings were almost
new to him.

As the concert ended, Faith returned
backstage. She was so excited that she bounced around like a
four-year old kid having to go to the bathroom. The band invited
them to an afterparty, which they attended for about an hour, then
returned to the hotel.

When they got back, Gavin asked, “Do you want
to talk for a while? I don’t think I’ll go to sleep right away.
Based on your energy levels, you won’t either.”

“Define
talk
,” said Faith
suspiciously.

Gavin shook his head, “I promise we will use
words. I reserve the right to stop speaking when the opportunity
presents itself, if you know what I mean.”

Faith playfully asked, “Your room or
mine?”

“I’m going to change. Are you?” he asked.