Sweetness (35 page)

Without even realizing it I find myself in the
elevator at work. My nerves and brooding about family
must have put me on autopilot this morning. When I exit
the elevator door to the executive floor I am halted by,
Gabe Hernandez, himself. Gabe is leaning against the
reception desk with his hands in his pockets and his eyes
locked onto the floor. At first sight it looks as though,
while I have been out living on the road, Gabe has been
hitting the gym. His dark blue suit and crisp white shirt
either shrunk a bit, or he has gotten bigger since the last
time I saw him.

When I take a step forward, his head shoots up
and his eyes rake my body up and down before a slow
smile creeps up on his face.

Hell, he’s gorgeous. Whoa!? Where the hell did
that come from?
“Emma, welcome back.”
“Thank you Ga- I mean Mr. Hernandez.”
“Your father is waiting for us in my office,” he
tells me and snaps back into CEO mode.
“Oh? I wasn’t aware we had a meeting this
morning,” I ask, perplexed. My father is rarely in the
office anymore and never needs to speak with me. Rather
strange.
“Yeah well, neither was I. He just got here and
asked that I wait for you. He must have known you were
on your way up. He says it is urgent he speaks with the
both of us, first thing.”
“Okay,” I say cautiously as I follow Gabe back to
his office.
You would think, as a gentleman Gabe would
have allowed me to walk in front of him, but I have to
say, walking behind him does have its advantages. As if
he can feel my eyes on him he looks over his shoulder
and smirks when he catches my eyes fixated on his ass.
Damn, I hate that he always catches me.
As I step into the room I can hear my father on the
phone. Gabe silently gestures for me to put my stuff
down on the table near the door, then motions for me to
join him on the sofa across from where my father is
already seated. As my father continues his conversation
Gabe pours me a cup of coffee and settles in the chair
next to me. I glance down at my cell phone just as my
father completes his call.
“Sorry about that. Good morning, Sweetheart,”
my father acknowledges with a sickly sweet undertone in
his voice. I lift my head up slowly and catch his eyes
across the span of the coffee table between us. His toothy
grin snaps the hair on the back of my neck to attention.
“Morning, Daddy.” I cock my head to the side and
mirror his fakeness. My expression unwavering against
his newly adapted scowl.
“I guess we should get started,” my father
declares. “After much contemplation, I have decided that
as of next month I will officially retire from HMA.”
As my father utters the words I choke on my
coffee and Gabe offers me a napkin from the tray in front
of me. He certainly didn’t bother beating around the
bush. Retire? So soon? I am not ready to take over yet,
why would he-. Understanding settles in. But before I let
on that I know his game, I readjust myself in a desperate
effort to not completely embarrass myself.
“Really? Why now, Mr. Hill?” My patronizing
tone doesn’t go unnoticed by either man. I flash my eyes
over to Gabe who genuinely looks just as shocked as I
am. At least that’s something. Knowing he wasn’t in on
my father’s surprise is comforting.
“Well, because I think it is time. I am not getting
any younger. I would like to spend some time traveling
and exploring other business opportunities. I am still the
majority shareholder and I will stay on as chairman of
the board. I am simply giving up my title as CEO and
handing it over to someone who has proven they’re up to
the task.” He is doing this to punish me. If this is how he
wants to play it then so be it.
“And who may I ask, will take over as CEO?” I
ask my father while still looking at Gabe. His eyes
narrow at me. He knows the answer and he knows I
don’t like it.
“Since Gabe has been practically running to
company anyway, he is the logical choice. I hoped that
one day you could both run this company together but
with recent changes to your life plan Emma, I-“
“Excuse me?” I shoot an irritated look to my
father.
From his unwavering expression I can tell this is
about to get ugly.
“So this
IS
about my engagement. You are
punishing me for choosing to marry Dominic,” I loudly
express my displeasure. I stand to leave but throw my
napkin at my father’s feet, causing his irritation to turn to
anger.
“You have displayed your inability to make
proper adult choices. I am simple protecting the
company I built from the ground up. I don’t want all my
hard work flushed down the toilet, and my good name
dragged through the mud once this…this relationship of
yours goes south and the media needs a juicy story to dig
into.”
I step away from the seating area and toward the
door, willing myself not to cry with every shaky step I
take. “Fine. Whatever. Do what you want. It’s your
company.”
“Emma, sit down, please. Let’s talk about this,”
Gabe implores as he follows me.
I grab my purse and briefcase off the table. I can
feel Gabe standing close to me. I can smell him; I can hear
him breathing heavy. When I look over my shoulder I see
sadness in his eyes. Whatever secret message his is
silently offering me, I don’t give a damn. I need to get out
of this office before I say something to my father I will
regret.
“Please,” Gabe pleads, so only I can hear him,
“just stay. Let me handle this.”
“There is nothing to handle. Congratulations, Mr.
Hernandez. Guess you were right all along,” I mutter as I
pull the door to his office open and storm off to my desk.
Great! What a great first day back.
It is not that I thought my father would give me
the job of running the company so soon. No. I am not
stupid enough to think I could handle that. But him
doing it this way hurts. He is not doing it now because he
is ready to retire. He is doing it to show me that he
doesn’t approve of my decision. A punishment.
I don’t care what he thinks. He doesn’t even know
Dominic. I don’t understand how he can judge a man he
doesn’t know. He must have some confidence in Dominic
since his firm is handling the promotion of the band.
Then again, that’s Gabe’s doing, not my fathers.
As I turn on my computer I see Gabe’s office door
open. My father and Gabe exit the office and head
toward the elevator. Gabe’s eyes search mine from across
the room and he halts in his tracks. My father turns
around and when he sees Gabe staring at me, he clears
his throat, breaking the spell. Like the sheep that he is,
Gabe follows my father to the elevator, looking over his
shoulder in my direction every few steps. Gabe is my
father’s lap dog. My father says jump and he jumps. I
know what this job means to him, but have a little selfrespect.
At five-thirty I turn off my computer and head
out. Thank goodness, Gabe never came back after he left
with my father this morning. I don’t think I could’ve
handled dealing with him again today. At least not
without a drink in my hand. Being mindful as to not run
into him on my way out, I skulk out of HMA and into a
cab, headed for home.
Home. To my comfy bed, flannel PJ’s, leftovers,
and mindless TV.
When I get in the cab I call Dominic and make him
aware of my fathers stunt. I was so busy today catching
up on the last few weeks; I didn’t even realize I had six
missed calls and four text messages from him.
“Emma? You okay?” He must be worried because
he picks up on he second ring.
“Yes. I am sorry. I had a rough day. I was busy
with work I didn’t realize you called.” I rub my hand
over the back of my neck to ease some of the tension.
“Hell, I was worried sick. I don’t like you running
around that city with Glen out there. I am worried he
will-“
“Glen won’t do anything to me. And if he tries,
with me in the mood I’m in, I could kill him with my
bare hands.”
“What’s wrong, Sweetness? Bad day?”
“HA! A bad day would have been appreciated on
my first day back. No, this was more of a clusterfuck of a
day.”
“That good, huh. I take it you spoke to your
father.”
“Sure did, first thing. When he announced his
retirement and said he is leaving Gabe in charge. You
know, I didn’t think he would leave the company to me
so soon. NO! It’s not even that. It’s that he gave me some
bullshit reason about my recent life choices or some shit.
He is punishing me for not making the choices HE wants
me to make,” I ramble.
“And what choices are those? Marring me?” I can
hear the disappointment in his voice. I don’t want him to
feel bad for this. This is not his fault. It is my control
freak of a father who should be ashamed of himself.
“For one. If it was up to my father he would have
me marry someone like Gabe, so we can run the
company together. So don’t take it personally if he
doesn’t approve. This is not about us, this is about his
company.”Dominic is silent on the other end. “Don’t,” I
reprimand him.
“Don’t what?”
“Brood about this.”
“Emma, I just want what is best for you. I want
you to be able to live your dream, like I am living mine. I
know what your job means to you,” he tries to reason but
I roll my eyes in irritation. Figures, once he tells me what
I want to hear, his timing makes me what to throw my
phone out the window.
“Dominic, you are what I want. You are my
dream. Yes, my job means a lot to me but I will be fine.
It’s not like Gabe is going to fire me or anything…at least
I hope not,” I murmur the last part not really knowing
what Gabe will do now that my father is not calling the
shots.
“Emma, I just want you to be happy, baby. I don’t
want to be the cause of any problems in your family,” he
says.
“What, are you kidding? As screwed up as my
family is, this little hiccup is a walk in the park,” I snort.
Dominic breathes heavily into the phone, and I
hear Rocco call his name. It will be late when he is done
with his set tonight so I tell him I’ll call him on my lunch
break tomorrow. The Middle Eastern cabbie makes faces
through the rearview mirror as we both refuse to hang
up the phone. When the cab comes to a screeching halt in
front of my building, I finally hang up and make a hasty
retreat to the front door.
Luke is sitting at the front desk looking…nervous?
Anxious, maybe. When I approach the desk I see beads of
sweat on his forehead. A rustling followed by heavy
breathing coming from under the desk peaks my
curiosity. I shoot him a curious look. He blushes, the
deepest shade of red I have ever seen, and then pulls his
chair as far under the desk as he can when I lean in
closer.
Without looking too far over the desk I whisper,
“Wanda?”
“Yes,” she says in a very small voice from beneath
the desk. Probably equally as embarrassed.
“That’s all I need to know. Carry on,” I giggle and
walk toward the elevator.
I climb into the elevator with the first smile on my
face I have had all day. That is until I hear Luke squeak
out a greeting to Gabe. I fiercely press the button for the
door to close faster but Gabe squeezes in just before the
doors fully shut.
Oh, hell.
“Avoiding me?” he asks.
“Like the plague.”
“Why? Emma, I had no idea your father was
going to do that,” his chocolate brown eyes watch me in
the reflection of the elevator door, but I refused to look at
him. I know this is not his doing but that doesn’t make it
sting any less.
I take a deep sigh and relax my shoulders, trying
to alleviate the tension that has been building all day
long. It is not his fault that my father put him in the
middle of this mess. Just as I am about to apologize the
doors open to Gabe’s floor. He steps out without another
word spoken. Head hung in defeat.
“Wait,” I insist, preventing the door from closing.
“You hungry?”
Gabe gives me a small shrug of his shoulders. I
have never seen him look so defeated before. He should
be happy, proud of his promotion. God knows he earned
it. Instead he looks like someone slapped his puppy.
That’s my fault. I am being a complete bitch to a man
who, for once doesn’t deserve my rudeness.
“Wanda’s mother cooked us more food than we
know what to do with. You like Puerto Rican food.”
Gabe’s mouth twists up into a shy smile. “Is my
last name Hernandez?”
“I’ll take that as a, yes. Come on. I’ll feed you and
we can talk about this.” I smile at him and shake my
head. Like it or not, he is my boss; for a very, very long
time. I may as well get used to it.
Gabe climbs back into the elevator and I enter in
security code for my floor.
“Kissing up to the boss already?” he teases from
the other side of the elevator.
I glare at him with mock indignation, “Wanna’
starve.” Gabe grins a warm, sexy smile that curls my
toes. When the elevator doors open again I step out and
take a breath, as if the elevator was deprived of oxygen. I
don’t know if I am prepared to surrender to the idea of
not running Hill Marketing Agency but for now I will
deal with it. What choice do I have?
When we get inside my apartment, Gabe’s cell
rings and he steps out onto the balcony to take the call. I
unwrap all the food from the containers and stick the
glass dishes in the oven to warm up. Gabe is still on the
phone when I am done so I take this opportunity to
change into more comfortable clothes.
Since fall is in full swing, the early evenings have
gotten chillier. I throw on a pair of jeans, a short-sleeved
sweater, and my Uggs to get comfortable. We are not at
work anymore and this is my apartment, so I will dress
and act anyway I damn well please.
Glancing around, I don’t see Gabe in the kitchen
or living room. When I look outside I see him leaning
against the railing of the balcony taking in the view of the
city from my apartment. He looks delicious in his threepiece suit, minus the jacket. His usually well-maintained
hair is wild from constantly running his fingers through
it. When he turns around and notices me watching him,
he cocks his head to the side and his pupils nearly
disappear into his mahogany orbs. His presence in my
apartment suddenly feels dangerous. I have this
magnetic pull to him that I can’t quiet explain. As much
as my heart belongs to Dominic, my body has a mind of
its own when Gabe Hernandez is concerned.
The smell of leftover chicken and rice snaps me
out of my reverie and I double-time it back to the kitchen
to plate the food before Gabe can tell what his mere
attendance does to me. Gabe walks into the apartment
through the sliding glass door and removes his vest. I
don’t have to look at him to know he is watching me. I
can see him from my peripheral vision unbuttoning the
top button of his shirt and rolling up his sleeves, trying to
make himself more comfortable as well. When I look up I
notice he is sitting at the dining table with that same sexy
grin on his face. He is watching me move around the
kitchen and something about this seems...normal.