Conquest of the Heart (26 page)

“They were all talking about you. You are
total eye candy,” Faith slurred and giggled. She was a bit tipsy
from the wine.

“How many glasses of wine did you have?”
Gavin asked, grinning.

“Maybe three,” she said, holding up two
fingers.

Gavin chuckled. “It’s a good thing you didn’t
start drinking until after you painted or ‘Starry Night’ would be
‘Blurry Night’.

Faith just sat there and smiled, her eyes
glazed over from the little bit of alcohol she’d had. She normally
didn’t drink that much. Since she didn’t eat much for lunch, it was
having quite the effect on her.

The paintings dried, and the instructors took
pictures of each individual, couple, or group with their creations
for their website. When they came around to Gavin and Faith, he
suggested that Faith remain sitting since her balance was off.
After the pictures were taken, everyone either began to leave or
did some shopping in the boutique that was located at the front.
The women that Faith had met and spoken to told her goodbye.

“Bye, Gavin,” a group of them sang out,
giggling as they walked out of the building. Gavin nodded, then
shook his head.

“Are you ready?” he asked Faith, wondering if
he was going to have to carry her.

“Yes,” she stated confidently.

“Can you walk?”

“Of course,” she smirked. When she tried to
stand, she almost fell over. Gavin caught her.

“Are you sure you only had three glasses of
wine?”

“I might have lost count. I think it was
three,” she said, looking up at him innocently.

Courtney shook her head. She
held up her hand, signaling to Gavin that Faith had five glasses of
wine, and mouthed the words ‘
At
least’
. Gavin smiled and nodded to
her.

“Come on, beautiful. Let’s get you back to
the hotel.”

Gavin scooped her up in his arms, kissed her
on her forehead, and took her to the car. The remaining women
watched as he did this, sighing because of how sweet and romantic
he seemed to be.

“My husband totally would have left me
sitting there,” commented one woman. “He has to be the sexiest,
most unavailable man alive. That is one lucky woman,” she said
dreamily.

After getting Faith situated comfortably in
the car, Gavin went back to collect their paintings. They were
carefully wrapped so they wouldn’t get damaged during transport. He
thanked the instructors, walked out to the car, and drove back to
the hotel. Faith sat motionless and quiet, but still awake.

“Are you alright?” he asked, grinning.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t handle your liquor very well. You
were dancing on tables and swinging your shirt around,” he teased.
“It’s a good thing I was the only man in there.”

“Shush,” she said, glaring at him. “I’m not
that out of it.” She turned her head, looked at him, and
smiled.

Gavin smiled, grabbed her hand and held it as
he drove. He thought about how much fun he’d had with her, hoping
she was feeling the same way he was.

It was about four o’clock in the afternoon
when they got back to the hotel. The weather had gotten warmer as
the day went on and Faith was exhausted, and the liquor was now
wearing off.

“What time do you want to go to dinner?”
asked Gavin.

“We can leave around seven thirty if that’s
not too late for you. I’m really tired, so I think I’ll take a
nap,” she said.

“Why are you so tired?” he questioned,
sarcastically.

“Because someone decided not to go back to
sleep at five o’clock this morning. They couldn’t just get up and
do something on their own. They had to stay in bed and mess with
me. So,” she paused, “I need a nap, or I won’t make it to
dinner.”

“Oh, and it has nothing to do with how much
alcohol you just had.”

“Stop giving me a hard time,” she whined.

“Okay, okay,” he chuckled.

She reached into her purse and grabbed one of
the two card keys she was given when she checked in to the hotel.
“Here,” she said handing a key to Gavin. “Call me around six
thirty. If I don’t answer, come and get me.”

“How about I take a nap with you?” he asked,
putting the key in his pocket.

Faith glared at him. “Seriously? You think I
trust you after this morning?”

“I’ll be good. I promise,” he said, batting
his eyes.

“You don’t know how to be good,” she rolled
her eyes. She inserted her key in the door to unlock it. She picked
up her painting and went in the room.

“Please,” he said as he followed her in. She
sat her wristlet on the table and gently leaned her painting
against the wall. She took her shoes off, went to the bedroom and
fell down on the bed. Gavin leaned his painting next to Faith’s,
and went and stood near the bed for a moment.

Feeling his presence, she wearily asked, “Why
are you here?”

“Because you want me to be,” he wryly
said.

“Don’t start with me. I’m too tired,” she
said with her eyes closed.

“I’m staying,” he said, as he sat on the bed
and took his own shoes off.

“Fine. Don’t touch me.” She still had her
eyes closed.

Gavin reached over and began to play with her
hair.

“You don’t listen very well, do you?” she
asked dryly.

“Stop it,” he snapped lightly. “I’m just
trying to help you relax. You know this feels good, so hush.”

Faith didn’t say anything at first, as his
fingers continued to comb through her hair. “I hate it when you’re
right,” she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

Gavin set the alarm on his phone for six
thirty, then curled up next to her and watched her as she
peacefully rested. He fell asleep a half an hour later.

Gavin’s phone buzzed them awake. He slid the
phone from the nightstand and turned the alarm off. Faith was lying
in his arms. She didn’t hear a thing. Gavin smiled down at her and
kissed her on the forehead. She wiggled a little bit, turned on her
side toward him, resting her free arm across his chest. He closed
his eyes and took a deep breath in. He wished he could freeze time
as he held her there. Gavin kissed her again, hoping that would jar
her awake, but her sleep was too deep. He shifted his weight. Faith
moaned and yawned, finally waking up. She sleepily looked up at him
and smiled.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi, beautiful. It’s time to get up,” he
said, kissing her lips this time. “Do you still want to go? We
don’t have to.”

“Yeah. I just need to shower,” she said as
she slowly sat up. She stretched her neck back, scooted to the side
of the bed and pushed herself to a stance. She stretched her arms
out, and tottered to the bathroom. Gavin heard the water come on.
Faith emerged from the bathroom, still fully clothed, to retrieve
the clothes she was going to wear to dinner.

“Are you going to shower?” she asked.

Gavin’s head was resting in his hands behind
his head. “I guess I could, huh?”

“Just asking. I’m sticky from all of our
walking and from our nap,” she said.

Faith went back to the bathroom and closed
the door. Gavin decided a shower was a good idea. He left her a
note on the hotel notepad, and went to his own room to clean
up.

A short while later, Gavin returned to
Faith’s room, entering using the key she had given him. She was
still in the bedroom.

“I’m back,” he called out.

“Okay. I’m almost ready,” she called
back.

Gavin sat on the couch and looked at the book
that was sitting on the table. Faith came out, still putting in one
of her earrings. She was excited that she would finally be able to
surprise him about something. When he looked up, Gavin was
astonished with how sexy she looked.

“Wow. I’ve never seen you in anything like
that before,” he said.

“Oh, well, it’s a little out of my comfort
zone. I don’t like to wear things this short, but Lauren picked it
out for me. She said it was cute.” Faith was wearing a red silk
patterned scoop neck dress that hit about four inches above the
knee. She was used to wearing skirts or dresses that hit at or
below the knee.

“It definitely suits you. But I wouldn’t have
called it cute,” commented Gavin. “That dress is hot and you look
hot in it!”

Faith started to blush. Gavin continued to
stare.

“What?” Faith said, now feeling uncomfortable
in her dress.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I never get to see
your body. You’re always covered up. You have to be the sexiest
woman I’ve ever known. Are you sure you want to go tonight? I think
we should stay in,” he said, standing up and approaching her.

“We’re going. I made reservations,” she said
rolling her eyes.

“Reservations can be cancelled. I can have
you out of this dress in fifteen seconds,” Gavin said as he drew
her close to him. He gently kissed her shoulder, moving up and down
along her neckline.

“No. We’re going,” Faith said adamantly.

Gavin tried to kiss her lips as he tugged on
her dress, but Faith wriggled out of his arms and walked towards
the door. “Let’s go.”

He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He
turned and joined Faith at the door. “You’re no fun,” he
pouted.

Faith smiled and playfully
pushed him down the hall towards the elevators. They rode down to
the lobby, and walked out to 16
^th
Street. After enjoying dinner
at Marlowe’s, Faith began to lead Gavin to their next
destination.

As they started across the street, Gavin
asked, “Are you going to tell me where we’re going? Do you
know?”

“It’s just right through here in the
Pavilions,” she said with an animated smile.

They reached the south side of the Denver
Pavilions and proceeded to the third level. Gavin heard this
awesome music floating in the air, and was blown away when they got
to their destination, Jazz@Jacks, a highly esteemed jazz club. As
they walked in, there was a small open bar area to their left.
There was no cover to get in, so they continued down the corridor
and into the open seating area. The band, Dotsero, was playing
onstage to their right. Gavin pointed to a table toward the front
end on the right side as you face the stage. It was located on the
outer edge of the room and had a padded back. Once they sat down,
Gavin leaned over and lifting her chin slightly with his
forefinger, kissed Faith gently on the lips.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“You remembered. Thank you,” he said, rubbing
her cheek.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled.

Everyone was enjoying the smooth jazz being
played by the band. The club filled up fast, stirring with
electricity. Gavin held Faith close, talking and laughing as the
moon fell over the night. As he sat there, he felt as though Faith
was becoming his, but would let her confirm that. Heads were
bopping, feet were tapping, eyes were closed as Dotsero played one
awesome song after the other. Faith ordered a RazzmaJazz Martini,
and Gavin had a glass of wine. They enjoyed the atmosphere for a
couple of hours.

Around eleven, Faith and Gavin decided it was
time to head back. It had been a day filled with activities, and
they were both growing tired. Back at the hotel, Gavin followed
Faith into her room to talk for a little while, although talking
was far from his mind.

As Faith removed the clip that held her hair
up, Gavin moved in behind her and gently turned her toward him. His
kiss was more sensuous than it had been before. Faith wrapped her
arms around his neck as she received and returned the kiss. They
held their embrace for a few moments before Gavin drew back.

“Do you want me to stay?” he asked, kissing
her in between words.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Okay,” he said as he pulled her in
closer.

She looked into his eyes saying, “So you
should go.”

“I don’t understand,” he said, confused.

“I don’t trust myself with you anymore. It’s
getting harder to resist you, and I can’t control what I can and
cannot do,” she said. They were still standing in each other’s
arms.

“You know how I feel about you. Of course,
you have yet to share how you feel about me,” he said, kissing her
again.

Faith looked him in his eyes and said, “The
mere sound of your voice or hearing your name gives me butterflies.
Your touch awakens my body, as if it were only waiting for you. I
get weak every time you kiss me.” She closed her eyes, sighing.
“How’s that? I’d say my feelings are mutual,” she continued.

Gavin drew her in and kissed her deeply,
holding her in tight. “Let me stay.”

Faith shook her head, “No.”

“Why? I’m just going to end up knocking at
your door at two o’clock in the morning again. I might as well stay
here so we can both get some sleep.”

“Is that really what you think we’ll do?
Sleep?” she asked as he kissed her again. “We can’t even stop
kissing each other.”

Gavin stopped for a moment. “Faith, I told
you that I want more than that. If I stay, it’s simply because I
want to be near you. If you’re not comfortable with that, I
understand.”

“Do you still have the key that I gave you?”
she asked.

“Yes. I do,” answered Gavin, confused.

Faith clutched his shirt, and reached up to
kiss him. “If you find you can’t sleep, come see me,” she said as
she rested her forehead against his.

“Okay,” he said disappointedly. “I will. I’ll
probably see you in a little while. I’ll try not to wake you.” They
embraced one last time before Gavin left for his own room.

The following morning, the two decided to
stay in and rest for the day. Neither of them was able to sleep
very well, thinking about each other through the night. They
cuddled, ordered room service, and watched movies all day, with
naps here and there. The two of them finished their final week of
meetings in Denver, visiting various restaurants, museums, and
historical sites. There was a turn of events in their relationship
during this trip and they returned home with many memorable
moments.