Gabriel's Inferno

Chapter 21

While Julia waited at his apartment, Gabriel played the chameleon, blending into his environment. He was charming and gracious to his colleagues, but all the while, his insides churned and his mind raced. He had to force himself to eat and to decline libation upon libation. Gabriel was convinced that he would be returning to an empty apartment. Julianne was going to run.

It wasn’t surprising — he knew it would happen eventually. He just hadn’t thought it would be this secret that would separate them. He was unworthy of her for many reasons, reasons he’d hid like a coward. It wasn’t a question of love, for Gabriel did not believe that she could ever love him.

He was unlovable. Nonetheless, he’d hoped to be able to court her long enough for their affection and friendship to bind them together, even in the face of some of his darkness. Now it was too late.

When he finally arrived home, he was surprised to find her asleep on the sofa, her face a picture of perfect peace. He tried valiantly to be still, to resist the urge to touch, but he couldn’t. He reached out and softly stroked her long, silken hair, murmuring sad Italian words.

He needed music. At that moment, he felt the need for melody and lyric to soothe his agony. But the only song he could think of that would match this moment was Gary Jules’ cover of Mad World. And Gabriel didn’t want to be listening to that song when Julianne left him.

Suddenly, her eyes fluttered open. She saw that Gabriel was no longer wearing his suit jacket and tie and had released the top three buttons of his shirt. He’d also removed his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves.

He smiled but his expression was cautious. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine. I just dozed off.” She yawned and sat up slowly.

“You can go back to sleep.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Did you eat something?”

She shook her head.

“Will you eat something now? I could make you an omelet.”

“My stomach is in knots.”

He was irritated but refused to argue, for he knew a much bigger argument was on the horizon. “I have a present for you.”

“Gabriel, a present is the last thing I need right now.”

“I disagree. But it can wait.” He shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, never taking his eyes off of her. “You’re wearing a scarf and sitting by a roaring fire, yet you’re so pale. Are you cold?”

“No.” Julia reached up to remove her pashmina, but Gabriel’s long, slender fingers caught her hand.

“May I?”

She withdrew her hand and nodded warily.

Gabriel moved closer, and Julia shut her eyes as his scent washed over her. He gently unwound the scarf from her neck with both hands and placed it on the sofa between them. Then he reached out to trail the knuckles of one hand down the column of her throat.

“You are so lovely,” he murmured. “No wonder all eyes were on you this evening.”

She tensed at his words, and he pulled back, stifling a groan.

Her eyes found her feet, and she realized that she’d been so distracted she hadn’t bothered to remove her boots. But he hadn’t complained.

“I’m sorry for putting my boots on your couch. I’ll take them off.” She fingered one of the zippers, but Gabriel moved quickly to kneel on the carpet.

“What are you doing?” Her eyes widened in confusion.

“I’ve been admiring your boots. Very much.” He lightly grazed her high heels with his hands.

“Rachel helped me choose them. She has great taste, but the heels are always too high.”

He regarded her seductively. “Your heels could never be too high.

But let me free you.” At the sound of his voice, husky and adoring, Julia’s heart skipped a beat.

His hands hovered over her knees, where the tops of the zippers rested.

“May I?”

She acquiesced and held her breath.

Reverently, he unzipped her boot and gently ran his fingers down her calf to her ankle, freeing her. He repeated this procedure on the other leg, placing the boots next to the sofa. Then he lifted her right foot and began to massage it lightly with both hands. Julia moaned in spite of herself and bit her lip sharply in embarrassment.

“It’s all right to voice your pleasure, Julianne,” he encouraged. “It reassures me that I don’t repulse you completely.”

“You don’t repulse me. But I don’t like seeing you on your knees,” she whispered.

His pleased expression faded. “When a man kneels before a woman, it’s a gesture of chivalry. When a woman kneels before a man, it’s unseemly.”

Julia moaned once again involuntarily. “How did you learn to do this?”

He gave her a puzzled look.

“How did you learn to massage feet?” she clarified, flushing more deeply.

He sighed. “A friend.”

Probably a black-and-white photograph friend, thought Julia.

“Yes,” said Gabriel, as if he’d anticipated her question. “I would like to extend my attention to the rest of your body, but I don’t think a full massage would be possible for us, at least not now.” His eyes darkened slightly as their eyes met.

He switched his attention to her other foot and lowered his eyes. “I already hunger for your body, Julianne. I’m not strong enough to touch you chastely, not if you were laid out before me wrapped only in a bed sheet.”

They sat in silence for a few moments while Gabriel tended to Julia’s feet. At length, he sat back on his heels, running light fingertips up and down her stockings.

“I’ll drive you home, if you wish, and we can talk tomorrow. Or you can stay here. You could sleep in my room, and I’ll take the guestroom.”

He searched her eyes uncertainly.

“I don’t want to prolong this,” she offered. “So I’d like to talk, if that’s all right.”

“That’s fine. Can I offer you something to drink?” Gabriel motioned toward the kitchen. “I can open a bottle of wine. Or fix you a cocktail.” He gazed at her intensely. “Please let me do something for you.”

A flame ignited in Julia’s middle, flaring up and passing over her. But she suppressed it. “Water, please. I need a clear head.”

He stood up and walked to the kitchen. Julia heard him wash his hands followed by the sounds of the refrigerator and freezer doors opening and closing. He returned to her with a tall glass filled with Perrier, ice, and pieces of lime.

“Um, Gabriel, would you excuse me for a minute?”

“Take as long as you need. Come to the fire when you’re ready.” He attempted a smile, but his face was too tense to make it genuine.

She disappeared with her drink, and Gabriel assumed she was using this opportunity to steel herself for the next revelation from his miserable, damned existence. Or maybe she was going to lock herself in the bathroom and demand to speak to him through the door. Not that he would blame her.

Julia’s mind was traveling at light speed. She didn’t know what Gabriel was going to say. She didn’t know how she would respond. It was quite possible that she would learn things that would make it impossible for their relationship to continue, and the thought crushed her. For no matter what he’d done or with whom, she loved him. The thought of losing him again, after the joy of reconnecting, was agonizing.

Gabriel sat in his red velvet chair staring vacantly into the fireplace.

Dressed as he was and brooding, he looked very much like a character out of one of the Brontës’ novels. As Julia approached him, she silently prayed to Charlotte that Gabriel would be one of her ilk and not of her sister Emily’s.

Pardon me, Miss Charlotte, but Heathcliff terrifies me. Please don’t let Gabriel be a Heathcliff. (No offense to you, Miss Emily.) Please.

From where Julia stood, he could not see her. She cleared her throat to alert him of her presence.

He gestured to the fire. “Come warm yourself.”

She made as if to sit on the carpet in front of the fire, but his hand shot out to stop her. He forced a smile.

“Please. Sit on my lap. Or the ottoman or the sofa.”

He stil doesn’t like me on the floor, Julia thought. She hadn’t objected to the idea of sitting at the hearth. But the mere idea more than offended him.

Not willing to argue over such a trivial thing, she eschewed his lap for the ottoman and sat quietly, gazing at the blue and orange flames. He was no longer The Professor in her mind; he was Gabriel, her professor, her beloved.

Gabriel shifted in his chair, wondering why she wanted to be so far away from him. Because she knows what you are now and she’s afraid.

“Why don’t you like me on my knees?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“Perhaps in light of tonight’s conversation, you can divine the reason.

A reason multiplied and strengthened by what you told me at your apartment.” He paused and looked at her pointedly. “You’re far too humble as it is, and people take advantage of your sweet nature.”

“Graduate students have to pay their dues. Everyone knows that.”

“Being a student has nothing to do with it.”

“You will always be the gifted professor, and I will always be your student,” she remarked quietly.

“You forget that I met you long before you were a student and I was a professor. And you won’t be a student forever. I shall sit in the front row when you deliver your first lecture. As for your prejudice against professors, if you prick us, do we not bleed?”

“And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” Julia countered.

Gabriel sat back in his chair and indulged himself in an appreciative smile. “See? Who is the teacher now, Professor Mitchell? I only claim the advantages of age and experience.”

“Age doesn’t necessarily make you wiser.”

“Of course not. You’re young, but you’re industrious and bright and at the very beginning of what promises to be a long and brilliant career.

Perhaps I haven’t done enough to show my admiration for your mind.”

She fell silent, pretending to be mesmerized by the dancing, licking flames.

He cleared his throat. “Ann didn’t hurt me, Julianne. I hardly think of her, and when I do, it’s with regret. She left no scars.”

Julia turned her troubled eyes to look into his. They were a lively, earnest navy. “Not all scars mark the skin. Why did you choose her, of all people?”

He shrugged, turning away to peer at the fire. “Why do human beings do anything? Because they’re searching for happiness. She promised raw, intense pleasure, and I needed the diversion.”

“You let her hurt you because you were bored?” Julia felt instantly ill.

Gabriel’s features hardened. “I don’t expect you to understand. But at the time, I needed a distraction. It was either pain or alcohol, and I was not about to do anything that might get back to Richard and Grace. I tried…

interacting with women, but my liaisons quickly lost their luster. Perpetually available but mindless orgasms can become tiresome, Julianne.”

I’ll remember that, she thought.

“The way Professor Singer was with you at the lecture…then at dinner…she doesn’t behave like a woman scorned.”

“She despises weakness. And she can’t accept failure. It was a harsh blow to her reputation and her massive ego when she tried to control me and failed. She isn’t about to advertize her failure.”

“Did you care for her at all?”

“Hardly. She’s a soulless, heartless succubus.”

Julia looked back at the fire and pursed her lips.

“I was not about to jump into something with Ann without testing it.

And we never got beyond the test. In other words, although we…interacted, I was not involved with her in the strict sense.”

“You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t own the specific vocabulary that would allow me to understand what you’re trying to say.”

“I’m trying to explain this to you without tainting more of your innocence than is absolutely necessary. Do not require me to be explicit.” His tone was suddenly cold.

“Do you still want what she offers?”

“No. It was a disaster.”

“With someone else?”

“No.”

“But what about the next time the darkness comes? What will you do?”

Gabriel stared at her. “I thought I’d made myself clear. You dispel the darkness, Beatrice.” He cleared his throat. “Julianne.”

“Tell me she isn’t in one of your photographs.”

“Absolutely not. Those pictures were of women I actually liked.”

“Why were you thrown out of her house?”

He gritted his teeth. “I did something that in her world is absolutely unacceptable. And I won’t lie and say that I didn’t enjoy the look on her face when I gave her a taste of her own medicine. Even though I broke one of my most sacred rules in doing so.”

Julia shuddered. “Then why is she still after you?”

“I represent her failure, her inability to control. And I possess certain skills.”

She flushed uncomfortably.

“Ann was also interested in my pugilistic abilities. When she learned that I was a boxer and a member of Oxford’s Fencing Club, she wouldn’t leave me alone. We share those hobbies, unfortunately.”

Julia fingered the scar that was hidden underneath her hair.

“I can’t be with someone who hits, Gabriel. Not out of anger, not for pleasure, not for any reason.”

“And you shouldn’t. It is not in my nature to be violent with women, but rather, to be seductive. Ann was an exception. And if you knew the circumstances, I think you’d forgive me.”

“I can’t be with someone who wants to be hit, either. Violence frightens me, Gabriel. Please understand this.”

“I do. I understand. I thought that what Ann offered would help me deal with my problems.” He shook his head sadly. “Julianne, nothing was as painful as the moment in which I had to look you in the eye and admit my sordid entanglement with her. I wish for your sake I had no past. I wish I was as good as you.”

Julia looked down at her hands, which were twisting in her lap. “The thought of someone hurting you…treating you like an animal…” Her voice began to tremble as her eyes slowly filled with tears. “I don’t care if you had sex with her. I don’t care if she didn’t leave any marks. I can’t bear the thought of someone hurting you, especially because you wanted them to.”

Gabriel pressed his lips together but said nothing.

“The mere thought of someone hitting you makes me sick.”

He clenched his jaw as he watched two lone tears slide down her cheeks.

“You should be with someone who will be kind to you.” She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Promise me you’ll never go back to her. Or to someone like her.”

Gabriel gazed at her sharply. “I promised that you wouldn’t have to share me. I keep my promises.”

She shook her head. “I meant — ever. After me. Promise.”

He growled. “You say it as if it’s a foregone conclusion that there will be an after.”

She wiped away another tear. “Promise me you won’t let anyone abuse you in order to punish yourself. No matter what happens.”

He gritted his teeth.

“Promise me, Gabriel. I will never ask you for anything else, but promise me this.”

His eyes narrowed, and he measured her carefully. Then, seemingly satisfied, he nodded. “I promise.”

Julia’s body relaxed, and she hung her head, physically and emotionally exhausted.

He’d been watching her closely, the alternating flush and paleness of her skin, the way she’d fidgeted and pulled at her dress. It hurt him more than he thought possible to see her so upset. And the sight of her tears…

The brown-eyed angel was weeping over the demon. The angel wept because she was grieved at the mere thought of someone hurting him.

Without a word, he pulled her onto his lap. He pressed her head gently against his chest, wrapping his arms around her. “No more weeping. I’ve seen enough tears from you to last a lifetime,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her ear. “And I’m not worth a single one.”

He sighed with regret. “I’ve done a very selfish thing in pursuing you, Julianne. You should be with someone your own age who is your equal in goodness. Not with some twisted Caliban like me.”

“There are moments when you are my equal in innocence.”

“When? Tell me.”

“When you hold me in your arms. When you stroke my hair,” she whispered. “When we’re in bed.”

His face took on a pained expression. “If you don’t want me, all you have to do is say so, and I’ll disappear from your life forever. I don’t want you to be afraid of what might happen if you reject me. I promise I’ll let you go, if that’s what you want.”

Julia was quiet, for she did not know what to say.

“I know that I am controlling and, as you put it, commanding.” Gabriel’s voice was low and strained. “But I would never do to you what she does. I won’t harm you, Julianne. I could never harm you.” He lightly trailed his fingertips up and down the exposed flesh of her arm, feeling the skin goose-pimple underneath his words as much as beneath his touch.

“I was more worried about what Ann did to you.”

“No one has worried about me for some time.”

“Your family does. And I did too, you know, even before I came to Toronto. I thought of you every day.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, and Julia reciprocated softly.

“My past indiscretions notwithstanding, my tastes run to inflicting mad, passionate pleasure on my lovers and not pain, I assure you. Someday I’d like to show you that side of me. Slowly, of course.”

Julia chewed at the inside of her mouth, trying to find the right words.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Yes?”

“I am — not as innocent as you think I am.”

“What’s that supposed to be mean?” he snapped.

She raked her upper lip with her teeth nervously.

“Sorry. You took me by surprise.” Gabriel rubbed at his eyes.

“I had a boyfriend.”

He frowned. “I know that.”

“We, um, did things.”

His eyebrows shot up. “What kinds of things?” His question emerged before he could consider it, but he soon thought better of it. “Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.”

“I am not as innocent as I was when you first met me, which means that you have, um…an idealized and false perception of me.”

He considered her admission for a moment. He wanted to know the specifics, but he was worried about what she might say. The thought of someone else, of him, coaxing pleasure out of her, or even touching her, infuriated him. He was far from certain that he could handle whatever confession she was burning to make.

“You were my first kiss. The first to hold my hand,” she admitted.

“I’m glad.” He took her hand in his and pressed his lips against it. “I wish I had been all your firsts.”

“He didn’t take them all.” Julia closed her mouth quickly. She hadn’t meant to say that.

Her use of the word take made Gabriel think murderous thoughts.

If he ever found himself in the same room as him he would rip his throat out with his bare hands.

“When you didn’t come back, I started dating someone. In Philadelphia.

And things, uh, happened.”

“Did you want those things to happen?”

Julia squirmed. “He was my boyfriend. He was — impatient sometimes.”

“That’s what I thought. He was a manipulative bastard who seduced you.”

“I have a free will. I didn’t have to give in.”

Gabriel was thoughtful for a moment. Jealousy — the idea of her hands and her lips wrapped around someone else — or someone else’s mouth on her. Her body…“I have no right to ask this, but I will. Did you love him?”

“No.”

He tried to hide his secret relief at her answer by lifting her chin.

“Don’t ever touch me or let me touch you unless you truly want me. That’s a promise I’d like to exact from you right now.”

She blinked at him in surprise.

“I know what I can be like. So far I’ve kept my passions in check.

But I’ve been forward with you, I know, and on more than one occasion I’ve made you uncomfortable. It would trouble me to discover that things progressed between us solely because you felt coerced.”

“I promise, Gabriel.”

He nodded at her and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Julianne, why won’t you let me call you Beatrice?”

“It made me sad that you never wanted to know my name.”

He gazed at her intensely. “I want more than that. I want to know the real you.”

She smiled.

“So do you still want me? Or would you rather I let you go?” He tried to keep his voice steady.

“Of course I still want you.”

He kissed her softly before placing her on her feet and leading her to the kitchen. When she was comfortably seated on one of the bar stools, he walked over to the counter and picked up a large, silver dome. He grinned at her, his eyes glinting mischievously as he placed the plate in front of her.

“Homemade apple pie,” Gabriel announced, removing the dome with a flourish.

“Pie?”

“You said no one ever baked a pie for you before. Now someone has.”

Julia stared at the dessert incredulously. “You made this?”

“Not exactly. My housekeeper did. Are you pleased?”

“You had someone bake a pie for me?”

“Well, I had hoped you’d share it. But if you insist on eating the entire thing by yourself…” He chuckled.

Julia covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes.

“Julianne?”

When she didn’t respond he started speaking very quickly. “You said you liked pie. When you told me about growing up in St. Louis, you said no one had ever baked you a pie. I thought…” He stopped, suddenly very unsure of himself.

Her shoulders shook as she silently cried.

“Julia? What’s wrong?” His voice was frantic as he watched her cry again. He walked around the counter and enveloped her shaking figure in his arms. “What did I do?”

“I’m sorry.” She found her voice.

“Sweetheart, don’t be sorry. Just tell me what I did so I can fix it.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.” She wiped her tears. “No one has ever done something like this for me before.” She gave him a half-smile. “I didn’t know you had a present waiting here for me.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you. I was trying to make you happy.”

“They’re happy tears. Sort of.” Julia giggled half-heartedly.

He hugged her one more time and released her, smoothing her hair back behind her shoulders. “I think someone needs dessert.”

Gabriel cut a large serving of pie and held a fork in front of her. “I’d like to feed you. But I’ll understand if you’d rather I didn’t.”

Julia opened her mouth immediately, and Gabriel fed her a small piece.

“Mmmmmm. It’s really good,” she said with her mouth full and grinned as she brushed the crumbs from her lips.

“I’m glad.”

“I didn’t know you had a housekeeper.”

“She’s only here twice a week.”

“And she cooks?”

“Sometimes. I go through stages. Obsessions, really, but you knew that already.” He tapped her nose with his finger. “This was her grandmother’s recipe. I won’t tell you what she put in the crust to make it flaky.” He winked at her.

“What about you? No pie?” she asked.

“I’d rather watch you enjoy yourself. But this isn’t a proper dinner. I wish you’d let me cook for you.”

“My dad always eats a slice of cheese with his apple pie. I’d have some cheese if you have it.”

Gabriel appeared puzzled by her request but immediately rummaged in the refrigerator and soon presented her with a substantial piece of aged Vermont white cheddar.

“Perfect,” she murmured.

After she’d finished her pie, she sat quietly, wondering if she should go home. She really didn’t want to, but perhaps after so many tears and so much drama he wouldn’t want her to stay.

“You didn’t respond to my note,” he said after a protracted silence.

“The note I sent with the gardenias.”

“I wrote an e-mail.”

“But you left something out.”

Julia paused. “I didn’t know what to say about the taming part.”

“You told me the dialogue with the fox was your favorite. I thought it would be clear.”

“I know what the fox meant. But you…” She shook her head.

“Then I’ll tell you. I don’t expect you to trust me, but I would like to earn your trust. Maybe once you trust me with your mind, you’ll begin to trust me with your body. That’s the sort of taming I have in mind. I want to pay close attention to you… to your wants, needs, and desires…and take my time attending to them.”

“How will you tame me?”

“By showing you with my actions that I am worthy of trust. And by doing this.”

Gabriel stood in front of her and clasped her face in his hands, bringing his mouth inches from hers. She closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting for their lips to meet.

But they didn’t.

Warm air from between Gabriel’s curled and parted lips floated across her mouth. Her tongue peeked out, slowly wetting her lower lip in anticipation. The feel of his breath across the wetness caused a shiver to shoot down her spine.

“You’re trembling,” he whispered, pushing more warm breath across her mouth.

Julia felt herself blush against his hands, the warmth traveling across her face and down her neck.

“I can feel you flushing, your skin blossoming in heat and color.”

He stroked her eyebrows, and she opened her eyes, staring into large, dark-blue pools.

“Your pupils are dilated.” He smiled against her mouth, barely grazing her lips. “And I can hear your breathing speed. You know what that means.”

Julia searched his eyes. “He said I was frigid.” She sounded ashamed.

“Cold like snow. It made him angry.”

“Only a boy who knew nothing about women could be so blind and so ridiculous. Never think that about yourself, Julianne. I know for a fact that it’s far from true.” His lips curved into a seductive smile. “I can tell when you’re aroused, like now. I can see it in your eyes. I can feel it on your skin. I can — sense it.”

Gabriel traced a single finger across her eyebrows to relax them. “Please don’t be embarrassed. I’m not. It’s tantalizing and very erotic.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent — Aramis and peppermint and blessed Gabriel.

He chuckled. “I think you’re telling me that you enjoy my cologne.”

He leaned down so that her nose was able to skim his neck. The scent of Aramis was stronger there.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m building desire, Julianne. Now tell me what you want. You’re flushed, your heart is beating rapidly, and I can hear your breathing acceler-ate. What do you desire?” He cupped her face in his hands again and brought his mouth close to hers. Close, but still not touching.

“I want to kiss,” she breathed.

He smiled. “I want to kiss too.”

She waited. And still he would not move.

“Julianne,” he blew across her lips.

She opened her eyes.

“Take what you want.”

She inhaled sharply.

“If you don’t initiate on occasion, I’ll conclude that you don’t want me. That I’m being demanding. After a night like tonight, the only person doing the demanding should be you.” Gabriel’s eyes were wide and dark, and they pierced her.

She didn’t need another invitation. Surprising both of them, she wrapped her arms around his neck and tugged him forward. When their lips met, his hands trailed down to her lower back, and he imagined caressing her naked flesh. She teased his bottom lip and drew it into her mouth, copying an act he’d performed with her before. She was less skilled, but he was no less pleased.

Her unhurried ardor enticed him, and within a moment, he felt his skin heat and his heart race. For as his tongue expertly explored her mouth, he wished nothing more than to part her modest knees with one of his own and press himself against her. And sweep her into his bedroom to fraternize…

He pulled away, placing his hands on her bare forearms. “I have to stop.” He leaned his forehead against hers and exhaled deeply.

“I’m sorry.”

He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Never apologize for acting on your desires. You’re beautiful and sensual. And very, very arousing. I can enjoy you without becoming more intimate, but I can’t kiss you again. Not right now.”

They stood frozen, holding each other for several minutes, until Gabriel opened his eyes and stroked her cheek.

“Whatever you want, Julianne. Tonight, I’m yours. Do you want me to take you home? Do you want to stay?”

She nuzzled his jaw with her nose. “I’d like to stay.”

“Then I think it’s time for bed.” He extended his hand and helped her to her feet.

“Doesn’t it seem strange to you? Sharing a bed with me?”

“I want you in my arms and in my bed every night.”

Julia was quiet for a moment as she picked up her messenger bag.

“Does that bother you?” He frowned.

“No. Maybe it should.”

“I’ve missed you this week.”

“I missed you too.”

“I sleep better when you’re in my arms.” He smiled at her warmly. “But it’s your choice where you sleep tonight.”

“I’d like to share your bed,” said Julia shyly. “If you’d let me.”

“I’d never deny you that.” He led her down the hallway to his bedroom.

She sat on the bed, and he picked up the framed photograph from on top of the dresser.

“You have a picture of me under your pillow. I thought I should return the favor.” Gabriel smirked as he handed her the photograph.

Julia racked her brain to try to remember when he could have found the old photo she had of him.

“How did you get this?”

“I should be asking you where you obtained a picture of me from my days on Princeton’s rowing team.” Gabriel untucked and unbuttoned his dress shirt, exposing the tight t-shirt that clung to his chest.

Julia grew embarrassed and looked away, silently ruing the day men decided to wear undershirts. Watching him undress was even sexier than watching him in a purple towel that was far too small.

“Um, Rachel had it on her bulletin board. And the first time I saw it, I took it.”

He leaned down to lift her face up so that he could examine her expression. “You took it? You mean, you stole it.”

“I know I shouldn’t have. But you had this wonderful smile. I was seventeen and stupid, Gabriel.”

“Stupid or smitten?”

Julia rested her eyes on the floor. “I think you know.”

“Rachel took pictures with her phone while she was visiting. This one is my favorite, which is why I framed it.” He examined her closely. “Don’t you like it?”

She seemed flustered. “You look nice.”

He took the photo out of her hand and carefully placed it on top of the dresser. “What are you thinking? Tell me.”

“The way you looked at me while we were dancing…I don’t understand.”

“You’re a beautiful woman. Why wouldn’t I look at you?”

“It’s the way you looked at me.”

“I look at you like that all the time.” He kissed her softly. “I’m looking at you like that right now.” He brushed her hair back from her face. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

After changing into what would serve as her pajamas, she stood in the doorway of the bathroom, backlit in white light.

“Stop,” said Gabriel. He had returned to the room during her absence and was lying in bed, staring at her.

Julia looked down at her clothes and fidgeted. She hadn’t known what to wear. Most of her pajamas were too juvenile to wear in front of him, and she didn’t own any lingerie for sleeping. Not that she would have been brave enough to wear lingerie to bed with him. So at this moment, she was clad in a dark blue t-shirt, which was large enough to hide her chest, and a pair of athletic shorts that had Saint Joseph’s University’s logo on the front.

“You’re exquisite.”

She made a face and reached over to switch off the light.

“Wait. Standing there, in the light, you look like an angel.”

She nodded to indicate that she’d heard him before silently joining him.

Gabriel immediately pulled her into a warm embrace, and as he did so, she realized he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts too.

They were quite a pair. But now their naked legs could tangle together blissfully under the sheets. He kissed her tenderly and leaned back on the pillow, sighing in pleasure as she rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around his waist.

“I’m sorry you’re lonely, Julianne.”

She appeared puzzled by his non sequitur.

“Earlier this week when we were talking on the phone, you mentioned that you feel isolated, that you don’t have any friends.”

She winced in remembrance.

“What if I were to buy you a kitten or a rabbit? Someone to keep you company at your apartment.”

“Gabriel, I appreciate the thought, but you can’t just throw money at my problems.”

“I know that. But I can spend money to try to make you smile.” He kissed her again.

“Kindness is worth more than all the money in the world.”

“You shall have that. And much, much more.”

“That’s all I want.”

“Stay for the weekend. Here. With me.”

She hesitated only for an instant. “Okay,” she whispered.

He seemed relieved. “How about a fish? They’re the new companion animal.”

She laughed. “I don’t think so. I can barely look after myself, let alone another poor creature.”

He lifted her chin so that they could see one another. “Then let me look after you,” he whispered, eyes intense and unblinking.

“You could have any woman you want, Gabriel.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “I only want you.”

She rested her head against his chest and smiled.

“Being without you, Julianne, is like enduring an endless night without stars.”