I realized I’ve been remiss on sharing teasers from Priceless like I usually do when I’m about to release a book. Enjoy this one where our Gaby and Ivan are finally talking civilly for the first time. *I think they are adorable*
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“YOU liked this last night so I hope another blueberry mojito is okay.” I held out the glass to her as I came up behind where she was waiting for me opposite the dance floor. The fact she was waiting for me at all and not fleeing was a nice place to start, I thought wryly.
She accepted the drink and took a sip. “Oh, that’s strong, but it’s good. Thank you.”
“A pleasure of course.” I tipped my head, wanting to show her I did possess some manners even if she’d never really witnessed it from me. I could tell she was a complicated woman, but it was the fact she was a total mystery that captivated me more. I needed to peel away her layers and discover her secrets one by one until there weren’t any more to know. She drove me to wanting to know everything.
Her eyes flicked down and away from me.
My eyes on her stayed put.
I finally had her semi-alone, and since she wasn’t running for the moment I needed to get my fill of looking. The warm summer breeze fluttered her gauzy lavender dress and pressed it against the definition of her legs and breasts. Intoxicatingly female. She was also a woman very finely made.
Her hair moved too. I wished she would look at me so I could see what was in her eyes. Eyes were sometimes all you needed to see to know how a person felt about you.
I was still trying very much to understand her motives. Why she had been so connected at the gala, and why she kept running from me now.
I hadn’t been very successful so far but there was one thing I was dead sure about her. Gabrielle Hargreave was really struggling with our attraction. And there was one between us for sure. Right now, I could feel the heat coming off her as strong as it had the first time we’d met in that back gallery hallway.
“This whole thing is priceless you know,” I said, “you being Brynne’s friend I was supposed to meet and ask to have a look at my paintings.”
She smiled and lifted her eyes but the smile didn’t reach them. “Yeah, pretty much in agreement with you there.”
“Why does it make you sad, Gabrielle, because I’m not. I wanted to see you again after the gala. I tried to find you.”
“I’m not sad,” she said softly.
“You are. I see can see it in your eyes. But you don’t have to be.” I brushed a strand of hair back and tucked it behind her ear.
She froze when I touched her, a current of energy snapping between us.
She held my eyes this time and told me. “I’m so ashamed of my behavior with you at the gala. That’s the honest truth, Ivan. If that night had never happened then I imagine our first meeting would have gone down differently.”
So she felt shame for her reaction to me in that storage closet. I didn’t like that because shame had nothing to do with it. She’d done nothing shameful by being with me. That left me with one conclusion as to why she was ashamed. Somebody had hurt her badly in the past and taught her to feel that way.
I didn’t like that, either.
“Let’s walk.” I held out my arm. “The lake is pretty at night with the moon shining.”
She eyed me and weighed her decision, standing there mouthwateringly gorgeous with her dress moving softly in the night breeze, holding her drink with both hands.
“It’s okay, I’m completely calm and mellow right now. At your suggestion I’ve been reading up on my notes from Being a Human 101.”
She laughed softly, transferred her glass to one hand and took my arm with the other. “I hope it helps.”
“It probably won’t, but I’m sure you’ll tell me when I need to brush up on the main points.”
“It is pretty out here. You were so right,” she said, looking up at the full moon making the night quite bright for the late hour.
“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous,” I quoted.
“Aristotle, right?” she asked flashing a small smile.
I nodded and brought a hand to the back of her neck to steady her as we walked the footpath toward the lake.
“I had to study the classics at university much to my dismay.”
“And you hated it?”
“It just didn’t interest me at the time, but there is value in it I suppose. Like this lake at night with the moon shining overhead.”
She looked out at the view and studied it, still allowing my hand to rest on her neck. “It is something of the marvelous, Ivan.”
“I know.”
She didn’t even realize I was referring to her … and not the view of the lake.
~*~
Coming September 12th in ebook and paperback
