“No, nobody special. I’m based in London at the moment, but I don’t really know a lot of people there. I had a couple of fellas chasing me when I used to live in Melbourne and back in Dublin. But it’s been a while between drinks, you could say.” She took another long sip of her cocktail to illustrate the point. She was definitely thirsty.
“I’m surprised no man’s put a ring on your finger. You’re quite the catch.”
“Really? It’s sweet of you to say.” Her cheeks flamed and she probably had a silly grin pasted on her face. Which no doubt wobbled when Gabriel’s knee nudged hers beneath the table. Her blood pumped extra fast through her veins, heating every inch of her skin.
“What about you? Is there a girlfriend or Mrs Online Travel Guru?” She managed to keep her voice steady, but hung on for his answer.
He hesitated. “No. I don’t really … I haven’t done that before.”
“You don’t mean to tell me you’re a virgin?” She was all wide-eyed with faux innocence.
Gabriel spluttered and nearly choked on his drink. “Hardly! I just haven’t really gone in for relationships, a partner, whatever.”
“Oh, right.”
Sinead caught his drift and couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She’d hoped his answer might have been different, like he was looking for Ms Right. Then again, maybe he hadn’t met any suitable candidates. Although he must have his pick of beautiful, highly qualified women – a veritable temp agency of talent at his beck and call wherever he went around the world. Best not to think about it.
“Why don’t you do relationships? I haven’t had the best luck, but I still want to find someone special. Don’t you?” Hadn’t she always believed in honesty when dating? It was the only way to build a real relationship with a man. Sure, it hadn’t worked out for her so far, but she’d test out her honesty theory with Gabriel. Put it out there. Would it scare him off?
“As a kid I saw first-hand what a bad relationship can do to a woman. I don’t want any part of it.”
She was surprised he’d say something so honest. It must be something in the air tonight.
Gabriel looked away from her for the first time since they sat down to dinner. His gaze darted around the restaurant. His posture was tense, from the firm line of his jaw to his raised shoulders and tendons pulling taut in his neck.
She was tempted to jump the table and offer to massage him, to ease his tension. Instead she changed tack, hoping to steer the conversation back to more pleasant territory.
“I’m sorry. Why don’t you tell me something fun you like doing? What have you got planned in London?”
He chuckled deep in his throat but without humour. “There isn’t much fun stuff on my agenda right now, apart from having dinner with you. I’ve got a major office opening in London in a couple of weeks and it’ll be round-the-clock getting it up and running. I want to step back a bit soon. But it’s probably not going to happen.” He gripped his glass in a choke-hold then took a long sip.
He sighed and crumpled in his chair, as if the weight of a thousand worries crushed his bones. “Honestly, the pace is getting to me. I love running my own company and it was brilliant a few years ago, when it was still growing in Australia. But now it’s taken on a life of its own. I’d like to have time to go surfing once in a while, you know?”
She nodded. She’d never been surfing but she’d like to try it. There’d be freedom out on the ocean. And she’d always had a mermaid fantasy. So, she fancied herself as Princess Ariel. A girl could daydream. She was embarrassed to admit that’s why she’d wanted to work for Mermaid Airlines in the first place.
“Apparently I now work twenty-four hours a day, whenever one of my staff has a problem they can’t sort out.” He shook his head. “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
She was surprised by his willingness to share, but she liked it. She liked him. He wasn’t quite as slick or as annoying as he seemed at first glance.
“It’s okay, I’m interested. Why don’t you step back? It’s your company. Surely you can hire some people to help. I meet a lot of businessmen in first-class, sometimes we get talking. What puzzles me is why so many work themselves into an early grave when they don’t love it.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, a crease forming between his eyebrows.
Sinead toyed with the cherry decorating the rim of her glass. She rambled on. “It could be the chase, trying to reach the mythical state of having ‘made it’. I don’t know, the material things don’t mean much to me. There’s better ways to spend your time on this earth. Give me a beach any day. At least I’ll be on holiday in a few weeks. Thailand, here I come.”
Anticipated pleasure flooded her body. The white sand between her toes as she strolled along perfect beaches, swimming in water as warm as a bath. She’d try all the exotic foods and shop for bargains at the night markets. It was all waiting for her.
She snapped back to the here-and-now. Gabriel stared intensely into her eyes. It was a bit unnerving. What was he thinking? Had she overstepped his comfort zone with her pop psychology?
“I’m so jealous. Thailand is amazing. Have you ever been to Koh Chang? I reckon it’s one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Lonely Beach is my favourite spot. Soon I’d like to take some time off. I’d love to hang out there again.”
The wistful tone in his voice caught her off-guard. Like a little boy lost, adrift in the big bad world. Exactly like her, half the time.
“I’ve never heard of Koh Chang, but I’ll add it to my list. Still, I’ve got a few flights to get through before my holiday. Including a trip home to Dublin I could do without.” It already made her spine tense, even two weeks before the visit.
“I know how that goes, believe me.” Gabriel looked so sad then, heartbroken even. His forehead creased in horizontal lines, jaw clenched so hard she swore she heard it click. But the way he closed his eyes, it nearly slayed her.
She didn’t try to fill the awkward moment with words, but reached for his hand, surprising him. It surprised her too. His hand stiffened, then relaxed. He opened his eyes and gently squeezed her fingertips, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand.
Holy moly. Tingly pleasure ran from her fingertips to the most surprising places.
She stared at his hand resting on hers. It was hot and heavy and manly. The pull between them was compelling. When she raised her chin and their eyes locked across the table, there was something there. A real connection.
She was almost one hundred per cent sure.
Well, at least sixty per cent. Sinead slowly withdrew her hand from Gabriel’s.
The food arrived, carried by another black-clad waiter. He placed the dishes on the table with a flourish of his hand, as if to say voila. Sinead glanced at him as he backed away without a word, trying not to disturb them. So efficient and silent, some sort of dinner ninja.
She didn’t want to disturb the mood with Gabriel. She looked up into his eyes. His gaze had a weight to it. A demanding gaze. Intense. Burning right down to her soul, or some such nonsense.
He hid there, behind those eyes. A vulnerability most people wouldn’t see, which made him all the more appealing. Mad as it was.
Perhaps this wasn’t a harmless flirtation after all, for either of them.
So soft, so sweet.
Gabriel meant to say something, but he was barely coherent. The feel of her hand in his, skin to skin, it had been magic. Intoxicating. She’d scrambled his brain like eggs with one touch. But it was only a fraction of the contact he wanted, of what his body demanded. And she’d