Mending (15 page)

As she drove the rest of the way, she could alread
y feel the pull towards
him.  The tingling had started.  T
he butterflies were flying in her stomach.  She could feel her body warming at just the mere thought of him.  She longed for his touch and she seriously contemplated John’s words.  In fact, she couldn’
t escape them
. 

Bradley

He had worried about getting stopped in Atlanta traffic, which would have made him
late. 
He was thankful he had been abl
e
to cancel his last appointment
.  He
made it there
before her and was anxiously awaiting her arrival. 
He had worked
on
his cell the entire trip and now while he waited
for her in his car.  When he saw her car pull in
to the parking lot,
he felt a sense of relief
.  For one,
at knowing she had made it safely,
and two,
that she had not decided to stand him up.

She pulled into the
space
beside him giving him a playful smile.  He
quickly
climbed out
and
was
waiting on her leaning on the side of his car
smiling
.  The sleeves of his light pink shirt were rolled up
to just below his elbows.  His
arms were
crossed
causing his chest to almost bulge.  He was trying very hard to look cool and not show just how excited he was to see her.  He carefully watched
her
every move, which only turned him on even more
.
  He shifted his stance and crossed his legs.

She
tossed several things into her purse and
bounced out of the car
.  It was just a moment before she was standing inches
front of
him
. 
This was
because there wasn’t a lot of space between cars.  Bradley had purposely not moved to make her come around to him.  He knew that he had to be careful to not cross the boundaries of the friendsh
ip, but he yearned for her close proximity
. 

He reached out and
gently put his finger around a tendril of hair that was framing the side of her face, the little piece of hair that was usually fairly straight.  He pulled it a little closer, “I like your hair like this.”

She blushed causing him to grin.  He hoped that if things continued to go this well that it wouldn’t be long before she would give into the whole
‘
let’s be friends
’
first thing.  He was willing to play along, but he wanted her, only her, so badly he could barely stand it. 
He pushed himself up off the car and put hi
s hand in the small of her back.
“C’mon, let’s eat.  I’m starving.”

She looked up and smiled at him as she softly spoke,
“Okay, me too.”

The hostess seated them in a booth towards the back of the restaurant.  It wasn’t too
busy since it was a weeknight.  Because of the timing, they had luckily missed the dinner rush
.

Bradley waited for her to pick a side and he climbed in to the opposite side so he could drink in her beauty for as long as he could. 
“How was your drive?”

“It was nice.  Have you ever been to Aiken?”

“I have.  It’s beautiful.”

She smiled as she recalled her memories with Sam
. 
“Yeah, I stopped there to
take a quick bathroom break. 
Sam and I went to
Hopeland
Gardens to see the Christmas lights last year.” 

“
Oh yeah?”
He had never been to Christmas at
Hopeland
Gardens, but he had been to a wedding at The Rye Patch, which was an adjoining winter colony home adjacent to the gardens.  It was a beautiful place with ponds, old hardwoods, ducks, and flowers.

Gabby responded,
“
Mhmm
.”

“D
id you like it?”
He leaned onto the table dying to be closer to her. 

“I did.  I was thinking it might be ni
ce for us to meet there one day
.
”
 
Gab
by all of the sudden looked sad.
“
That is, i
f it’s not too far for you?”

“
Not too far.” 
He winked at her. 
“
I would like that very much
.”
 
Oh
,
she had no idea how much he would like that.  He could imagine the sun glistening through the canopy of trees causing those gold speckles in her eyes to twinkle.  He
curled his finger over his lips.
“But let’s not wait until Christmas.”

Gabby’
s
eyebrows arched.  He couldn’t help but grin at how adorable she w
as when she got excited.  “Okay,” s
he replied quietly. 

The waitress walked up to the table asking what she could get them.  They had not even looked at the menus.  He got the same thing every time he ate at Steak and Shake, so he didn’t need to look.  But, he wasn’t sure what she wanted and he really liked ordering for her.

He glanced to the wait
ress and back to Gabby nodding. 
“Do you know what you want?”

She shook
her head in affirmation back at him.
“I get the same thing every time I come here.”

Bradley
looked back up to the waitress.
“Then we’re ready.”

Bradley ordered The Western BBQ and Bacon Cheeseburger
and a
Turtle Caramel Nut milkshake.
  Gabby
shook her head smiling as she looked on at him ordering.
  He could see it out of the corner of his eyes.  Bradley glanced over and gave her a puzzled smile.  He would have to ask her what was so funny about his order when the waitress walked away. 
 

When it was
Gabby’s
turn to order,
her cheeks were red and she inhaled sharply.  “I’
ll have the same, but no milkshake, please
.”

The waitress rattled the order back off to them both and walked away.

Surprised, Bradley’s beautiful blue eyes were a little large.  “Do you always get that
,
or was what I ordered just too mouthwatering delicious to resist?”
H
e asked her. 

She bit her bottom lip.
“No.  That’s the best burger I’ve ever had.  I always get that here.”

He nodded liking his lips and then
mirroring her lip biting gesture, he playfully narrowed his eyes.
“I see.  Another thing we have in common, Miss
Gerhart
.”

She shrugged her shoulder.
“What can I say?”

“Why didn’t you order a milkshake?”

“Do you know how much I would have to run to burn those calories?”

“I do.  What do you say we share mine?”

She blushed
and shifted in her seat.
“If you insist.”

“I insist.” He gave her a flirty smile
.
 

It was nice to see he was still having an effect on her.  He w
ondered if she had any clue the
kind
of effect she was having on him.

She suddenly looked worried. 
He tilted his head and asked,
“What’s wrong, Gabby?”

Gabby
fidgeted
with her fingers in her lap.  She
gla
nced up to him. “I…” She paused,
“Nothing.”

“No, tell me
,” h
e pleaded.

“I need to know why you never d
id the whole relationship thing.
  Why such the playboy?” She whispered.

He shrugged and dropp
ed his head,
then looked back up to her.  “Well, my dad always taught me to enjoy the ladies.  My parents have a bit of a dysfunctional relationship, Gabby.  I just have never wanted that.” 

“
And I just magically changed your mind about this
?”

He ran h
is hands through his hair.
“Yes.
  Most girls are quick to g
ive themselves to me.  You are
different.  You forced me to take a serious look at my lifestyle and the women I associate with.
”

“
I just find it
hard to believe
you could change so quickly
.”

“I can’t explain it, Gabby.  Trust me.  I never thought I would be this guy.”
He shrugged his shoulders again, vulnerable.
“But, here I am.”

The waitress brought the milkshake and placed it in front of Bradley
.  He was pleasantly surprised
there were already two straws in it. 
How intuitive of her
, he thought.
  He was t
hankful for the interruption, as well
.  He desperately wanted to change the mood and the topic of conversation.

He pushed it to the center and gave her a daring look.  Holding the straw to his mouth, his lips parted and he sucked his first sip, closing his eyes savoring the flavor.  “
Mmm
,” he groaned.

“Chocolate and caramel are a weakness for me as it is.
” She squirmed. 
“
Add you moaning
over there while drinking it, now
that’s a lethal combination.” She giggled.

He didn’t move his he
ad from the milkshake, but glanced up at her.  His eyes were on
fire with desire
and his lips formed
a smile around the straw, “Lethal, huh?”

“Yeah, it just solidified what I had been pondering for the last couple of days.”

He looked confused.
Given what they had just discussed that could most definitely be a bad thing.
  His brows furrowed
. 
“What’s that?”

She glanced down nervously.  W
hen she looked back up to him
,
he cou
ld see the desire in her eyes.
Her voice was low, seductive, and husky when she replied, “T
he very death of this
stupid
friendship idea.
  I can’t fight
this
anymore.
”

Bradley almost choked on the milkshake.  “Damn, don’
t say th
ings like that to me while I’m eating or drinking
.
” He chuckled when he saw the expressi
on on her face turn to despair. 
“O
r you’ll be the death of me.  Gabby....” 

She interrupted him,
“Now, that would be tragic.”

“You have no idea.  Want to get this food to go?”

“Go where?”
She huskily replied.

“Somewhere more private.”

“
Mmmm
, t
hat sounds delicious.” She winked.

He shook h
is head as his hooded eyes watched her
.
  She was sexy, beautiful, and she made him laugh.  He was very impressed at her ability to make
whitty
double
inuendos
.

He motioned for the waitress and told her that they needed to leave quickly and ask
ed her to make everything to go and bring the check.

He swiftly
pulled his wallet and threw down thirty dollars, telling her to keep the change.