Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [95]
She placed her spoon down after finishing her soup. “That was delicious, Gabe. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
His response of only two words was stated in a low, deep voice and sent every nerve ending in her body tingling with sexual awareness, and it didn’t help matters that he was looking at her through those gorgeous dark eyes of his, or the fact that his gaze had suddenly dropped to her mouth.
There it was again, that none-too-subtle change in the air surrounding them, the emergence of that strong sexual chemistry. She had felt it since the moment she’d stepped into the kitchen, but now it was getting stronger.
She cleared her throat. “Do you need help cleaning up the kitchen?”
He blinked, and his gaze moved from her mouth and refocused on her eyes. “No, in fact, I plan to load up the dishwasher. You can go and get comfortable by the fire, and I’ll be in shortly.”
“All right. I think it’s time we talk.”
He pushed his chair back and stood. “Yes, I think it’s time that we talk, too.”
Moments later while standing in front of the fire, Sage couldn’t help the wry smile that touched her lips. She and Gabe did a lot of talking. She’d never had this many talk sessions with Erol. But she felt the open communication between her and Gabe was good. There was nothing wrong with getting their feelings out in the open.
She wondered what had been going on in his mind the entire time they’d been eating. Did he actually think there was any way for her to walk away from him? But then, he probably didn’t know what he had come to mean to her. She hadn’t known herself until she’d seen Erol face-to-face.
Everything she’d done in the past had been to please her parents and make them happy, including bringing home the type of man she knew they would approve of. But what she hadn’t accepted until yesterday was that although Erol had been her parents’ choice, he might not particularly have been hers. She had remained in a relationship with him for five long years after having convinced herself he was the one she wanted. Yet, she had dragged her feet each and every time he’d mentioned marriage. Her inner self knew what her mind had refused to accept. Erol had not been the man for her. But like she’d told him, she didn’t regret any of it. Being with him had given her a chance to get to know herself and to be herself. And just like it had been meant for them to spend those five years together, it had been meant for it to come to an end.
Then into her life walked a man by the name of Gabriel Blackwell. He hadn’t come in like a whirlwind, or with the force of a locomotive. As smooth and calm as the waters on his lake, he had entered her life as first a business associate, then as someone she wanted to become friends with, and now a man she wanted as a lover.
She still didn’t know where she wanted their relationship to go, but she did know she wanted it to go somewhere. From the time they had acknowledged this thing between them, this strong sexual chemistry, he had tried doing the right thing, whatever she’d asked, fighting beyond unreasonable temptation to stay in control and keep his word, to prove that he was a man she could trust.
She quickly pushed aside her emotional fears of putting her trust in another man and knew that she did trust Gabe, and it was time for him to know it.
“Sage?”
Gabe’s deep voice startled her. She’d been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard him enter the room. She met his gaze and knew without a doubt that he was the man she wanted. “Yes?”
“Do you want anything to drink before we get started?”
She smiled at him. “No, I don’t need anything. I’m fine.” And for the first time in seven months, she truly felt that way.
She walked