Authors: Anna Antonia
First Night:
First Night – A Mad for You Short
Anna Antonia
Published by DelSin Publishing, LLC 2014
Copyright © 2014 by Anna Antonia
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from DelSin Publishing, LLC. DelSin Publishing, LLC and the author assume no liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by:
DelSin Publishing, LLC
www.delsinpublishing.com
Cover Credit: Andrey Kiselev
Cover Design: CGM Web Designs
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FIRST NIGHT
Long before he became a billionaire and she an ambitious analyst, he was a beautiful boy in love with her--a girl from the wrong side of the tracks...
Gabriel Gordon, playboy extraordinaire, has been fixated on winning Emma Adams's affections for over a month. She's resisted his charming advances, even going so far as turning down Gabriel's request to be his date for Senior Prom.
Now it's the night and Emma can't help but be aware of Gabriel's smoldering stares. Sparks fly when she turns him down again, refusing to dance with him despite her desire to give in, causing Emma to flee from him and her feelings. When Gabriel catches her outside, Emma is finally powerless to resist giving this broken angel her first kiss and her heart...
NOTE:
Approximately 10,800 words or 80 pages. “First Night” is a “Mad for You” short. It isn't necessary to have read "Mad for You" prior, but it is helpful.
Table of Contents
Man's love is of man's life a part; it is a woman's whole existence. In her first passion, a woman loves her lover, in all the others all she loves is love.
–
Lord Byron
An attendant in a scarlet vest stood by, waiting for us to exit.
“Shall we, my dear?”
“Can I just leave my stuff here?”
“Of course.”
“It won’t get stolen?”
“No one steals from me, Emma.” Gabriel’s gaze glittered with dark amusement. A dangerous demon looked at me for a moment before the smiling angel returned.
I’d swear it was my imagination if I hadn’t made the demon’s acquaintance seven years before.
“I’m ready to go, Sir.”
Gabriel’s slow smile did delightful things to my body. “I’m glad I ran into you today, Emma. Fate is wonderful, isn’t she?”
I ducked my head, feeling incredibly shy all of a sudden. He laughed and slid out, all long-legged grace, before holding out his hand for me. I took it and squeezed.
I’d forgotten how wonderful it was to be with you.
Gabriel tucked my arm through his. He kept his pace slow to match my mincing steps. “Are there going to be cameras?”
“Perhaps a few.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry, Emma. Just smile at me as if you can’t live without me and you’ll take a perfect picture.”
“Ha! You wish.”
“I do.”
A rush of conversation hit my ears as soon as we entered the atrium. It was a soaring affair, the kind covered in marble and glass. Lovely, sterile, and packed with people strolling about with vacant smiles.
Check-in was a breeze. We were greeted with effusive cries of “It’s so
nice
to see you here tonight, Mr. Gordon!”
Gabriel clasped several pairs of hands as he went down the line. His smile never dimmed. He was gregarious and beautiful in slow motion. I wondered how sore his jaw was bound to be after tonight’s pleasantries. Mine already ached. Maybe I didn’t smile enough.
“A picture, Mr. Gordon.”
He maneuvered us into place. Gabriel’s arm looped around my waist. The large camera staring at us made it felt like Picture Day in school—which I never liked. My lips curled into a stretched smile.
Gabriel called out “A moment please.” He leaned down and whispered, “That will never do, my dear.”
“What?”
“I know that fake smile and I refuse to have it in our first official picture.”
“I can’t help how I smile, Gabriel. Take it or leave it.”
“I’m sure I can change that.” He signaled to the photographer. “We’re ready.” To me he said, “Look forward, Emma, and say ‘cheese’.”
I turned my head back to the photographer. Staring at the camera lens, my body tensed as the imaginary countdown began. Just as the shot went off, Gabriel tickled my side. I burst out into laughter.
“Done! Thank you, Mr. Gordon.”
I spun around in his hold. “That was a dirty trick, Gabriel!”
“And an effective one,” he added, smug over getting his way. “I’m going to get a copy and put it on my desk. Every time I think of you in your cubicle-cage, I’ll be able to look up and see your smile.”
“You’re a bad man,” I accused heatedly but with a playful smile.
“Yes, I am, but I try to be sweeter just for you. How’s it working so far?”
I slid him a look from beneath my thick, artificial lashes. “Pretty well I guess.”
“Good enough for me.” Gabriel threaded our fingers together. “Don’t let go, Emma, or you’re liable to get stepped on.”
As we approached the waiting throng, I thanked Fate and second chances. Long before Gabriel was a billionaire and I was a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, he was simply the most beautiful, complicated boy I’d ever seen.
One I’d never been able to forget.
Seeing all the women in their jeweled-colored dresses and their glamorous, tuxedo-clad companions reminded me of a similar night. One that had brought me the best and worst romance had to offer in less than twelve hours.
Senior Prom.
My mind was drawn back to that first night, the one that forever changed everything between me and Gabriel…
Prom Night
Seven Years Earlier
“He’s looking at you again.”
“Who?” I asked, knowing perfectly well the answer.
“Gabriel Gordon.”
I managed a shrug while still keeping my hands loped around my partner’s neck. “I doubt it. He’s probably ogling some cheerleader behind us.”
“Hmm, I don’t think so.” Bryan, a very nice boy who was often my science lab partner, turned us a bit so I could see for myself. “No cheerleaders or skanky chicks behind us. He’s definitely looking at you, girl.”
“Doubt it. I don’t know what he’s looking at. Anyways, it doesn’t matter.” My heartbeat skittered. Gabriel was looking at me?
Did he really want to be here with me? Why when he’s had his pick of anyone?
“I think his eyes are getting meaner the longer I dance with you. You’re not going to get me killed, are you? I mean, you’re really cool but while you’ve already turned eighteen—I haven’t. I’d like to live a bit longer.”
“Sorry, Bryan. I’ll totally protect you from his evil stares.”
“I’m not worried about the stares. Just the fists. You know his reputation for blowing his lid…”
Although I hated having to say it, especially because of how Gabriel was behaving, I offered, “You don’t have to dance with me anymore. I mean, Jessa was so sweet to lend you to me for a couple of songs. We can just sit down, you know?”
Bryan’s shook his head, sending long hanks of coal black hair to swish across his chocolate-brown eyes. “No way. I’ll take my beating if I have to because you’re my friend.”
Giggling despite my best intentions to appear cool and collected, I waited until he spun once before saying, “Thanks.”
It was hard but I forced myself to ignore the glowering angel staring daggers at Bryan. The music changed, bass thumping and demanding we all move faster. We clasped hands and swayed our hips in time to the fast beat. “So tell me, are you going to State or Tech next year?”
“What?”
I leaned closer, getting on my tip-toes while Bryan bent his head from a considerable height. “Are you going to State or Tech next year?”
“Tech!” he yelled, trying to be heard over the music. “What about you?”
“I’m going with whoever gives me a full ride!”
“I hear that!”
Before I could say anything else, I felt a large hand clamp down on my shoulder. A warm rush of air teased the back of my neck. I knew who it was, my body painfully aware of anything concerning Gabriel Gordon.
“Can I have this dance, Emma?” he whispered gently in my ear.
My eyes fluttered shut for an aching moment. Dimly, I felt Bryan drop my hands. I reached out, but he gave me a goodbye wave and melted into the crowd, leaving me alone with my exquisite tormentor.
I guess he’d rather live to see eighteen than take a chance with me. Can’t say I blame him. Still, what does it say about me that I’m glad Bryan left?
Tethered only to the beautiful boy behind me, awareness skated up and down my spine. I wanted to touch Gabriel, to lean back against his strong body and give into temptation.
I should’ve said yes when Gabriel asked me to be his prom date. What would it have been like to be by his side all night? To take pictures together, to eat together? To have the right to be with him…
Temptation to say “yes” pressed hard on me. What would it hurt? Gabriel had been waiting for me in the student parking lot and eating lunch with me nearly every day for a month. It probably wouldn’t attract too much attention.
One dance. You know you want to.
I happened to catch sight of Amy Crent glaring daggers at me. Any burgeoning softness disintegrated as memory resurfaced. Gabriel had dated Amy late last year for a few weeks. Rumor had it that she’d been circling around him, angling for an invitation to be his date at the same time he was circling me.
It would always be this way. There would
always
be a girl waiting in the wings, doing her best to lure Gabriel out of his lunacy and back to her posh orbit.
What chance did I have and why would I want the aggravation of being compared and seen as less-than?
These were the type of females whose nails were always perfect and not chipped because they washed dishes at their part-time job. Assured of their place in the world, they didn’t work like a dog to get a chance to climb the bottom rung of society’s ladder. They wore what they pleased, never having to rely on dark colors because they needed to make three outfits do the work of seven.