Sold on You (11 page)

He followed behind and took her arm. She stared at his hand until he removed it. She couldn't bear his touch tonight, especially when she kept remembering the intimate kiss Nicole had given him. She wanted to be alone, to deny the sharp, unexpected surge of jealousy she had felt toward Nicole. It was painful to admit, but the reality was that she hated seeing
any
woman kiss Marcos.

Letting out a frustrated groan, he dragged both hands through his hair. "Tonight
was
awkward. It wasn't intentional."

Gabriela shrugged. "Whatever." She lifted her chin and gazed at him with more aplomb than she felt. "My work is done. Good-bye."

His jaw twitched. "Fine."

"Fine," she parroted, before pivoting and marching purposefully toward the elevator without a backward glance. She got inside and punched L for lobby, avoiding Marcos' eyes as he watched her from the front door of his condominium.

Gabriela managed to get inside her car without giving in to the urge to scream in frustration. The pearls around her neck felt like a brand of guilt strangling her and she was sick at heart over the way the evening had ended with Marcos.

What was wrong with her, for God's sake? She was yearning for the impossible. Marcos was off limits! Deep inside, Gabriela knew that she wasn't in his league and she really hadn't expected to be from the beginning. But now that she'd gotten to know the real man under the suave veneer, she found herself dreaming about what it would be like to be loved by him. She wondered how it would feel to be held in his strong arms and made love to as if she meant more to him than life itself. With a lump in her throat, she shook her head to dispel those unrealistic expectations.

She glanced in the rearview mirror and got a good look at herself in her thick eyeglasses. Who was she kidding, anyway? She was still the same Gabriela she'd always been, not glamorous but bookish, and it had never bothered her.

Until tonight.

Chapter 7

The following morning, Marcos drove to Gabriela's apartment with a burdened heart. The wounded look in her eyes before she'd left his apartment had haunted him all night. When he'd closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he'd seen Gabriela standing before him, her beautiful eyes troubled and filled with shame over her part in his plan. He also felt bad about the unpleasant evening they'd had to endure with Nicole. He needed to make it up to Gabriela somehow.

His hands curled around the steering wheel in a tight grip. Damn it! He was caught in a muddle of his own making. His life felt as if he was driving a car with no brakes and he had to maneuver carefully to avoid crashing headlong. He wished he could turn back time and do things differently, but it was too late.

To compound the delicate situation, he was concerned that his grandmother had downplayed her bout of dizziness so she wouldn't alarm him. At eighty-five, she might have put her health at risk by traveling from Argentina to meet his fiancée.

A light drizzle misted his windshield. Flicking on the wipers, he turned onto Gabriela's block, pulled into a parking space and bounded out of the car toward her apartment. After ringing her doorbell several times, he gave up. She couldn't have left to work because he'd noticed her car in the parking lot.

He glanced at his watch. Seven o'clock. He remembered she'd mentioned she was going to walk the beach in the morning. Heading toward the shoreline, he jogged four blocks until he saw the Old Naples Pier rising above the gray Gulf of Mexico. As he approached the sand, Marcos saw a lone figure briskly walking fifty feet ahead of him. From the back, he recognized her instantly. She held her spine and shoulders erect beneath an oversize light blue sweatshirt as her legs, encased in tight, black leggings, briskly propelled her forward on the hard, wet sand. He sprinted toward her, admiring how her hair streamed behind her, a fluffy cape of ebony ringlets.

"Gabriela!" he called out, gaining on her.

He saw her look of shock when she glanced back before quickening her pace. He couldn't believe she was trying to escape him, but her legs pumped furiously as she upped her pace. Determined to reach her, he picked up speed and closed the distance in mere seconds.

"Gabriela! Why were you running away from me?" he demanded. When she didn't answer, he turned her around. One glance at her red-rimmed eyes told him she'd been crying and he wondered if he was the source of her heartache.

Glowering at him, she shrugged out of his grip and wiped the rain droplets from her face. "I wasn't running away from you! Why are you here?"

His gaze riveted to her defiant mouth, her rosy lips tight with annoyance. "I felt bad about last night. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, but he could see her vulnerability beneath the strong front she was aiming for. "Your grandma isn't here, so you can save your sweet talk for Nicole. She must be really upset that I've been drafted as your fiancée and not her."

Damn, she wasn't going to make this easy for him. "Nicole and I have only been dating casually." He took a deep breath and gave her a tentative smile, but she regarded him solemnly.

"Her kiss last night and her little games under the table didn't look casual to me," she challenged.

"I couldn't stop her and risk a scene."

When she turned to walk away, Marcos took her hand. "I plan on ending things with Nicole. I wanted you to know that."

She stopped in her tracks. "You would dump her just to continue this charade?"

That cut him to the quick. Obviously, she didn't have a high opinion of him. "Nicole and I aren't in a serious relationship. We never were."

A shadow of wistfulness crossed her face, but she tightened her mouth and looked away. Picking up a seashell, she flung it in the ocean. "You and Nicole are none of my business. But Abuelita Coqui is another matter. I like her too much to keep deceiving her." She sighed and looked miserable. "Truth is, she's growing on me."

"What about me? Am I growing on you, too?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, like a prickly barnacle."

Marcos gave a wry grin. "Ouch." He expelled a deep breath and said, "Gabriela, I know this hasn't been easy for you and I apologize for getting you tangled in my private affairs."

"Is that all you have to say?" she asked quietly, gazing at him with wary eyes.

"No."

He didn't feel like talking, damn it. He felt like kissing her senseless. Gabriela looked gorgeous standing before him on the wet sand as the mist bathed her face in a soft sheen, making her emerald eyes appear huge and luminous. Her features were set in mutinous lines, yet her steady gaze was vulnerable. The vulnerability was Marcos' undoing. He could handle Gabriela's sharp-tongued jibes; in fact, he'd begun to enjoy and look forward to their banter. But now gazing at her mutinous mouth, all he could think of was softening it with kisses until her lips parted and allowed him to taste her slowly, thoroughly.

Marcos pulled her in his arms and tilted her chin up with one hand as the other wound into her thick mane of curls. Pressing his mouth against hers, he reveled in the plush softness of her lips. One hand slid down her indented spine and rested on the curve of her bottom, holding her pressed against his arousal.

God, he couldn't get enough of her. She struggled at first, her body stiff, her lips tight, but slowly her whole being melted in his embrace and little moans escaped her throat as he continued to make love to her mouth with his tongue and lips.

She tasted like winter rain and sweet
cafe con leche.

Lust inundated his body, making him pleasurably and painfully alert. Everything about Gabriela tantalized him, the way her full breasts pressed against his chest and her resilient bottom nestled in the palm of his hand. He wanted to make love to her right there on the sand, but once he did, there would be no turning back. Even though she responded with kisses of her own, he sensed wariness in her that didn't surprise or disappoint him but elicited a wave of possessive tenderness.

It also jolted his conscience. Reluctantly, he ended the kiss.

Dazed, Gabriela swayed slightly before him until she collected her wits. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, her action more powerful than a slap to his face.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, green eyes blazing as she held her body rigid.

Marcos wasn't about to let her pull away from him like that. He tilted her belligerent chin up with his finger and cupped her jaw with the palm of his hand as he gazed into her eyes. "I thought about you all night. I couldn't get you out of my mind."

Her eyes hardened like green glass. "Are you saying that because you're worried I won't hold up my end of this shady deal?"

"No," Marcos said roughly as he stroked the full curve of her pouting lower lip with his thumb. "I can't resist kissing you, even when your mouth is pursed in the grim line you save only for me." His hands rested on her waist, tempted to delve lower. "You have the smallest waist... it's a real turn on."

"Don't sweet talk me," she whispered.

He caressed her long, damp hair. "
Gatica,
" he cajoled, his voice hoarse
.

She flushed. "And don't call me kitten. Your grandma isn't here to appreciate it."

"I don't care. You're still
gatica
to me."

"I don't want to be. Go back to Nicole. She's more your style," she said, storm clouds gathering in her turbulent eyes.

Marcos tamped down a surge of anger because she was acting out of jealousy. If he wanted her to stop being stubborn, he had to put her mind at ease. "Nicole and I have only been dating casually. The truth is I prefer your company to hers," he said, meaning every word.

"You don't have to lie so I won't spill the beans to your grandmother. That is why you're here, isn't it?"

"No. I mean yes, you're partially right. My grandmother's feelings and her health are of utmost importance. I would do anything to keep her from being hurt."

"That's what I thought," she said, her eyes desolate.

His thumb tilted her chin up so she'd meet his gaze. "I want to get to know you better and not just to please my grandmother. I meant it when I said I'm ending things with Nicole."

Gabriela didn't respond right away. Marcos watched a play of emotions cloud her eyes—disbelief, vulnerability, and blatant distrust. Her tortured expression tormented him. He didn't want to argue with Gabriela, especially when he was still aroused to the point of pain. Molding her sweet body against his, he kissed her again, deeply, until she quivered in his arms.

Seconds later, she stiffened and pushed at his chest with both hands. "Release me!" she demanded, taking a step backward. "You don't have to seduce me to get what you want."

"That's not what I'm doing, damn it! Can't you see I'm attracted to you? I think you feel the same way about me."

"I don't know how I feel anymore. Except one thing—I can't go on with this. It's not fair to Abuelita Coqui." She faced him defiantly. "You're going to have to find another solution because I quit."

"You can't quit like that," he roared.

She placed her fists on her hips and glared at him. "Yes, I can. I'm ashamed I agreed to your scheme in the first place. My life was a lot less complicated before I met you. I was independent and didn't have to answer to anyone. It was great!" she cried.

Without a backward glance, she sprinted away from him and only stopped running when she reached the pier. Marcos saw her halt and catch her breath before continuing to walk away from the beach, toward her apartment.

She had turned him down and he wasn't used to having to be the pursuer. He wanted to run after her and pull her into his arms, to make love to her until she shed the barriers she put between them. Shaking his head to clear it, he jogged toward his car. He needed to hurry home and get ready for hospital rounds.

He had to find some way to convince her to stick it out. He was powerfully attracted to her. Now that he'd admitted it to himself, he felt intrigued by the myriad possibilities. But despite that strong physical connection, one thing was certain—Gabriela, with all her no-nonsense independence, probably wasn't the marrying kind either.

Once she saw that he wasn't trying to tie her down and change her lifestyle, she'd come around and relax enough to enjoy his affections. He was jolted by another surge of erotic craving as he remembered how delectable she'd felt in his arms—every inch a warm, enticing woman.

* * *

Gabriela's legs were shaking by the time she got back to her apartment. She was out of breath and depleted of strength, not from running, but from the sheer enormity of what he'd said to her. If she thought for one moment he'd been sincere, she would have danced for joy. But the harsh reality was that Dr. Nicole Harrison stood in the wings waiting to claim her man. She shook her head, making a conscious effort to get mean Nicole out of her mind.

Marcos' hard, passionate kisses still palpitated on her swollen lips. She could feel his mouth pressed against hers with a raw, sexual hunger that had left her breathless and craving more. She pressed her thighs together to quell the empty ache. Why did he have to affect her in such a primitive way? She liked being in control of her life and her emotions. She never wanted to be vulnerable to any man who might ruin her life like her father had ruined her mother's life.