Paxton's Promise (4 page)

Paxton opened the door and I grinned from ear to ear. “Better watch out. I’m pretty good myself.”

“Really?” he replied. “How about we make a wager on it if you think you’re so good?”

“Okay, how about if I win, you lower the terms from one month to two weeks?” I held out my hand and dared him to take the challenge. There was no way he could beat me. I had this shit on lock.

“Agreed,” he said, shaking my hand. “Let’s see what you got.”

GABRIELLA THOUGHT SHE could fool me, but I knew she had experience in racing. In fact, she’d be absolutely stunned to know who I had in my back pocket. There were more people rooting for us to get together than just me.

After putting on our jumpsuits and helmets, the guys at the track gave me and Gabriella full access to the track so we could race by ourselves. Side by side, we sat in our karts, revving our engines at the start line. I was focused and kept my attention on the red lights. As soon as the green lights lit, we were both off, squealing our tires.

I was good at racing, but not so much with little go karts. No one really knew what I did in my spare time. I hoped to show Gabby soon, as I had a race coming up and I wanted her to be there. Even if I had to cut our time down to two weeks, it was still more than enough to wear her down. She needed to know there was more to me than just fighting.

Turn after turn, we kept up with each other’s pace, neither one of us taking the lead. She rammed into me a few times, but I corrected myself and kept up with her. I honestly thought I was going to have to slow it down for her, but she was doing better than anyone I’d ever seen, including myself. Her lines were perfect and she sailed through the track like it was nothing. I had to say I was impressed.

Two laps down and one more to go. Tension ran high, but I could see the light in her eyes when she peered over at me. We had two more turns and then it was the straight away to the finish line. With my foot all the way down on the gas, I floored it forward, but Gabriella never left my side. Once the line was crossed, we both slammed on the brakes and came to a screeching stop.

Gabriella unstrapped her helmet and laughed. “I
so
beat you, Pax.”

Getting out of the kart, I lifted up my helmet and shook my head. “Sorry, sunshine, but you’re wrong. Let’s see what the guys have to say.”

All three workers were standing by the monitor looking at the video. By the looks on their faces, I’d say they didn’t know who won. It was too close to call.

“What’s the verdict, guys?” Gabriella asked them.

They were young, probably in their early twenties and they didn’t know what to say. Even when Gabriella looked at the screen, her brows furrowed. “Hmm . . . it kind of looks like a tie.”

“That’s what I said,” one of the guys said. “I guess it’s up to you two.”

All three of them walked off and left us at the screen. It really did look like it was a tie. “You surprised me. I didn’t think you had it in you,” I teased.

Holding her helmet in her hand, she smiled up at me. It was the first time I’d seen a genuine smile on her face since she’d been with me. “What can I say? I’m a natural.”

“So what do you want to do about the terms? If you want to take the two weeks off of the month, you can. You totally kicked ass out there.”

We started toward the prep room to return our gear, but she stopped me with a hand on my arm. “You would do that even if I didn’t clearly win?”

Smirking, I opened the door to the prep room and placed my helmet back on the shelf and my jumpsuit in the basket. “You earned the two weeks off. To be fair, however, you should know that if you cut out those weeks, you’ll be making it up by doubling the amount of time we spend together. It’s your choice though.”

She groaned and took off her jumpsuit. “I swear I knew there had to be a reason you agreed to the bet. Fine, I’ll take the two weeks. I might as well get them over with instead of prolonging it.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” I asked, holding open the front door.

With her head held high, she threw her jumpsuit in the basket and sauntered past me. “Yep. I’m positive the more time you spend with me, the more you’re going to want me to leave.”

Well,
that
wasn’t going to happen
.

I THOUGHT FOR sure I would win the race, but Paxton was pretty damn good. The whole way to his house he kept a smug smile on his face as if he knew something I didn’t. Did I make a mistake compacting our month into two weeks? I was starting to think I did.

“When we get to my house, feel free to look anywhere you want. It’s yours for the next two weeks.”

“Does that mean I can sleep in any room I want?” I asked.

“If that’s what you want.”

“And you’re not going to come sneaking in there after dark? How do I know I can trust you?”

He pressed a button below the overhead lights that opened the gate in front of his house. “How do I know I can trust
you
?” he countered. “You might try to sneak into my room for all I know.”

Snorting, I rolled my eyes. “I’m not desperate.”

As he drove us down his driveway, he kept a grin on his face. He didn’t believe a word I said, and it aggravated the crap out of me. Although, the thought of secretly going into his room
was
kind of tempting. I could imagine walking in there, his bare skin illuminated with a faint glow of the moon.

There were many nights I’d had forbidden dreams of him touching me, even when I was lying in bed with Bradley. Just thinking about pressing my body against his made my insides clench and throb. It was completely fucked up the way my body wanted him. I always thought it was men who wanted things they couldn’t have, but I was wrong.

Once we got closer to his house, I gazed up in amazement. It was a two story mansion made out of beautiful stones that gave it an earthy feel to it. Paxton didn’t take me for the type of guy to live in a house like that.

“Your house is gorgeous,” I admired.

Getting out of the car, I walked over to the walkway beside the house and peered out at the waves rolling in.
Hell yeah, we’re right on the beach
. The smell of the salty sea air and the water crashing in reminded me of my other passion, marine biology. There was going to come a time when I’d no longer be able to fight, and when that time came, I was going to put my degree to use.

Paxton came up to me and bumped me in the arm. “Why don’t you come pick out a room and then we’ll eat our dinner on the beach?”

“Yes,” I blurted a little too eagerly. “That’d be great.”
Way to sound desperate, Gabby.
I might as well have laid down and asked him to fuck me right here in the driveway.

Following him inside, he set my bags down on the floor and I immediately sighed when the smell of rosemary and onions overtook my senses. “Gabriella, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

I was meeting someone? We followed the delicious scent down a hallway, until we got to the kitchen. There was a short lady by the stove with curly, brown hair and glasses. She had to be in her early to mid-fifties. When she saw me come in, she smiled and waved. Paxton stood by her side and reached into one of the pots on the stove, pulling out a roasted carrot and popping it into his mouth.

“Gabriella, this is my Aunt Jackie. She also happens to be a personal chef. I’ve been lucky enough to have her for a while, but now she’s moving on to bigger and better clients.” He grabbed another carrot and she swatted him with her spatula.

Jackie laughed and looked over at me. “Don’t listen to him, sweetheart. He’s actually a decent cook, but if he listened to me he’d be amazing. Sadly, he’s a little stubborn.”

“I can’t argue with you there,” I quipped. “I’ve told him to leave me alone plenty of times and he still hasn’t taken the hint.”

“That’s my nephew for you,” she giggled, taking off her apron and hanging it on the wall inside the large pantry. “All right, son, the chicken and homemade bread is in the oven. Everything else is up here on the stove.” Opening the pots, Paxton glanced in them and smiled. “If you need anything don’t hesitate to call.”

“I’m sure I can manage,” he said with a wink.

“Gabriella, it was nice meeting you. From what I hear, it looks like I’ll be seeing more of you.” This time she was the one who winked at Paxton.

I smiled at her as she walked past and glared at Paxton when I heard the front door shut. “Did you tell her I’m going to be here for the next few weeks?” I asked incredulously.

Paxton chuckled and pulled out the chicken and loaf of bread out of the oven. “Yep, which is the other reason why she’s not going to be cooking for me anymore.”

“Oh, so you expect me to do it? Is that one of my duties while I’m here?” I grumbled. I could cook, but I wasn’t an expert chef like his aunt.

“I figured we could figure it out together.”

“Does that mean you’ll be wearing an apron?” I asked, holding back my giggle. I watched him move around the kitchen and the first thing that came to mind was seeing him in the apron with nothing else underneath it. It was a delicious, forbidden fantasy.

Paxton smirked and turned his heated stare to mine. “Let me just tell you how all of this is going to work.” Now he had my undivided attention. “If you want something from me, I have to get something in return. It’s a give and give thing here. I’m not going to demand anything you don’t want to give. But if you want something of me, it’s going to cost you. Keep that in mind, sunshine.”

“Duly noted. I won’t demand a thing.”

He chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”

I had restraint and I sure as hell was going to utilize it. As long as he kept his distance I’d be okay. It was only for two weeks.