Lawful Lover (Eternal Bachelors Club #2) (9 page)

“Come, we’re almost here,” he said and squeezed her hand.

Sabrina looked toward the large open space where a huge Ferris wheel and lots of smaller rides and booths had been built. The area was crowded, but the sounds of the rides and games and the squeals of laughter pulled her in. She felt like a child again.

“Wow. I don’t think I’ve been to a fair like this since I was in high school.”

“Neither have I, but I used to come to this every year when I was in school.” He let go of her hand and draped his arm around her shoulders. “What would you like to do first?”

“I don’t know. Surprise me.” She smiled. As long as they did it together, she didn’t care.

“We’ll start with the Haunted House.”

“Way too creepy.” She shook her head. “That’s one ride I don’t like.”

“I’ll protect you.” Daniel led her toward the ride.

While Daniel purchased tickets at the booth, Sabrina looked around, watching the people as they walked from booth to booth, from ride to ride. Mostly adults and teenagers wandered around the fair grounds, since it was well past most children’s bedtime.

“Ready?” Daniel said, waving the tickets in his hand and ushering her toward the entrance.

An operator took their tickets and directed them toward a car that reminded her of an old bumper car.

Once they were seated in it, Daniel put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Sabrina leaned her head on his shoulder and slung her arm across his chest. “I’ll hold you to that.”

When the car jerked to a start, she blew out a breath and momentarily closed her eyes. The colorfully painted double doors in front of them opened. As they closed behind their car, they were plunged into complete darkness. Musty air hit her face, and something touched her skin. She screamed and the skin on her arms turned into goose flesh.

Daniel pulled her closer immediately. “It’s just gauze made to look like cobwebs.”

Ahead of them, other passengers screamed too, others laughed nervously.

“This was a bad idea,” Sabrina claimed.

A dark figure jumped out in front of them, making her heart stop for a moment and her throat release a choked scream. She clutched Daniel tighter.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Daniel claimed.

“How?”

Daniel shelved her chin and brought her face close to his. “Like this.”

He slanted his mouth over hers and captured her lips. Warmth flooded her instantly as he kissed her deeply, his tongue delving into her, caressing her, exploring her. Her hand slid onto his nape, holding him closer to her, feeling the heat of his body seep into her chest. Farther down, desire spiraled, her body aflame now, hungry for more, hungry for his touch. No man had ever been able to ignite her this fast.

“Ride’s over!” a voice said close to her.

Sabrina severed her lips from Daniel’s as heat flooded her cheeks. She hadn’t even noticed that the ride had come to an end. An operator stood at the exit, lifting the bar from across their laps and pointed toward the stairs that led down from the ride.

“People are waiting,” he said.

“Thanks for the ride,” Daniel answered, grinning, before he helped her out of the car and led her down the stairs.

He leaned closer, bringing his mouth to her ear. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

She lifted her lids to look at him. “No, it wasn’t, but you should have stopped before we went through the exit doors. People were looking at us.”

He chuckled. “Let them look. I’ve got nothing to hide.” He pressed a kiss onto her cheek. “Okay, next ride. You choose.”

“The Ferris wheel,” she answered without hesitation.

“The Ferris wheel it is,” Daniel agreed.

He loved the look of excitement on Sabrina’s face as they walked hand in hand down the fair midway. He was grateful to his mother that she’d reminded him of the fair. It was exactly what he and Sabrina needed to relax and reconnect.

They approached the ticket booth for the Ferris wheel and stood in the short line that nevertheless seemed to move at a snail’s pace. Daniel turned to Sabrina and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, never missing an opportunity to touch her, even if it was just an innocent touch like this.

“I can’t wait to get onto the Ferris wheel and kiss you up there,” he whispered to her, pulling her closer.

“Daniel Sinclair? I’ll be damned!” a familiar male voice drifted to him.

He lifted his head and saw a man approach, whom he recognized immediately. He was tall, way too handsome for his own good, with short, dark hair and stunning blue eyes that had captured many an innocent girl in the past. Yes, Paul Gilbert was a handsome devil with charm and money to boot—family money.

“Paul Gilbert.”

He offered his hand and Paul shook it firmly, grinning.

Paul’s gaze instantly swept over Sabrina.

Daniel turned to her. “Sabrina, this is an old school friend of mine, Paul Gilbert.” He glanced at Paul. “Paul, this is my girlfriend, Sabrina Palmer.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sabrina said politely, extending her hand to him.

Paul took Sabrina’s hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it. “Mmm, stunning.”

“Oh.” Sabrina pulled her hand from Paul’s and blushed.

Sabrina only blushed when she was flattered or embarrassed. He assumed her blush wasn’t a result of embarrassment.

Daniel scowled and pulled his arm tighter around Sabrina’s waist.

There was no denying that Paul was handsome and charming. He also had a reputation as a flirt and a philanderer. It had never bothered Daniel much. Until now.

“It’s been a few months, Paul. What’s new?” Daniel said, bringing the conversation away from Sabrina, and onto a less touchy subject.

“Still working for the same firm, but I got promoted.”

“Yeah?” Daniel asked with little interest, secretly wondering how to get rid of him so he could continue his evening with Sabrina.

“Yes, they made me partner. I’m totally stoked! Came home for the weekend to celebrate with my folks.”

Daniel craned his neck. “Where are they?”

Paul made a dismissive hand movement. “You know them. They’re rarely up past nine o’clock. So I figured I’d check out what’s cooking in the neighborhood, see who’s out and about, if you know what I mean.”

Daniel nodded. He knew exactly what Paul meant. He was cruising for chicks. And the way he was eyeing Sabrina now made Daniel uncomfortable.

“So, you’re going to Zach’s birthday party at the end of the month?” Paul asked.

“Absolutely. You?”

“I’m not a hundred percent sure yet, depends on whether I have to go to Chicago that week or not. My firm wants me to meet a few people there and see if they’re interested in doing business with us. You know how it is. Those things can change in a minute.”

Daniel nodded. “You’re right. Well, good luck. And enjoy your evening. Might see you at Zach’s,” he said, turning to the window of the ticket booth. “Two tickets please.”

He put the money on the tray and accepted the tickets the woman handed him.

“Oh, you guys going onto the Ferris wheel? I just bought a ticket myself.” Paul lifted his hand, holding a ticket.

“Great,” Daniel said, suppressing a scowl. Apparently Paul couldn’t take a hint.

“Well, shall we?” Paul asked, pointing toward the short line at the Ferris wheel.

Reluctantly, Daniel took Sabrina by her arm and followed Paul to stand in line. At least the Ferris wheel’s little gondolas only held two people at a time. Once the ride started, he would be alone with Sabrina again.

“So, Daniel, are you still working your butt off in your own company?” Paul asked.

Before Daniel could answer, the woman standing ahead of them in the line, turned. “Daniel? Daniel Sinclair?”

Daniel’s gaze shot to her. “Eve!”

She was as pretty as ever and hadn’t changed since high school. Long blond hair cascaded over her shoulders in soft ringlets, and gray eyes sparkled sweetly. Her lips were painted in a bold red, accentuating their fullness.

Eve pushed past Paul, barely glancing at him, and grabbed Daniel’s hand, clasping it with both of hers, her eyes wide in surprise. “Oh my, Daniel, it’s been such a long time. What a wonderful surprise.” She ran her eyes over him. “You look great.”

“Hi, Eve. It’s nice to see you, too.” He pulled his hand from hers. “You remember Paul Gilbert, right?”

“Yeah, hi, Paul.” Eve barely gave Paul a second glance, then turned her attention back to Daniel. “I was in the city a few months ago and was going to look you up.”

Sabrina squeezed his arm, and Daniel turned to her. “Sabrina, this is an old high school friend of mine, Eve McCall. Eve, this is Sabrina Palmer, my girlfriend.”

He watched as they coolly shook hands.

Then Eve winked at him. “High school friend?” She chuckled, then smiled at Sabrina. “We were going out back then: the quarterback and the cheerleader. I know it’s a total cliché, but we were an item, weren’t we Daniel?”

Daniel cringed. “Long time ago.” And to make it clear to Eve that he’d long since moved on, he added, “Sabrina just moved in with me.”

Eve’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh.”

“C’mon, keep the line moving. Next,” the ride operator hollered.

The four of them made their way through the gate. The operator lifted the bar to the gondola and helped Sabrina slide in. Daniel tried to step past the operator to take his seat next to her, when Eve suddenly grabbed his arm.

“Oops, I didn’t see that step,” she said apologetically, holding onto him for support as she slid her foot back into her sandal. Then she looked up to him. “Thanks. I could have broken an ankle here.”

As Daniel turned, he saw Paul squeeze past him, taking a seat next to Sabrina. The operator lowered the bar.

“Hold it!” Daniel called out, stepping onto the platform.

“Two to a gondola only,” the operator said and set the wheel in motion, advancing it and bringing another gondola to the ground level.

Daniel looked to Sabrina who stared at him in disbelief.

He cursed silently.

“We’ll take the next one,” Eve chirped cheerfully. “Gives us a chance to catch up on old times.” She said it loud enough so that Daniel was sure Sabrina could hear her.

He was fuming, but there was no escape from this situation now. He took a seat in the empty gondola next to Eve. The ride lurched and started to move.

Eve put her hand on his forearm and sighed. “Remember when we used to make out on this ride when we were in high school?”

“A lot of things have happened since.” Daniel shifted his arm, so her hand dropped away.

As their gondola rounded the top of the Ferris wheel, he looked down and saw Sabrina and Paul in the one in front of him. Sabrina was sitting all the way to one side, as if trying to get away from Paul, who was sitting closer than was necessary.

“I know. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t decided to move across the country for college?”

He shrugged. “We’ve all moved on. I’m sure you have, too.”

“Yes, of course. After all, you went to New York and became a big shot.”

“I love my job.”

“That’s great.” She glanced at the gondola ahead of them. “She’s pretty. You always liked pretty girls.”

Was Eve trying to imply with her comment that Sabrina was beautiful but had nothing in her head?

“Sabrina is a lawyer I met on a business trip to San Francisco.”

“Oh, she’s not from New York then.”

“No, but we live together now.”

“That’s nice of her to move all the way from the West Coast for you. How long have you been together?”

“A while.” There was no way he would tell her that he’d known Sabrina for less than a month.

The ride finally came to a stop and saved him from elaborating any further. He charged out of the gondola the second the operator lifted the bar and tossed a quick goodbye in Eve’s direction, then rushed to where he saw Sabrina standing with Paul.

“Hey, baby,” he said, pulling her to him. “Sorry about the mix-up back there.”

“Don’t worry, I kept your lady entertained,” Paul said, a wide grin on his face.

“Thanks, Paul, it was nice meeting you,” Sabrina said and smiled at Paul.

He’d show his old high school chum that his charm would never work on Sabrina and make it clear to him that she belonged to Daniel. And he knew exactly how to do that.

Daniel pulled Sabrina into his arms, slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her long and passionately in full view of Paul.

When he severed the kiss that was leaving them both breathless, he noticed Eve standing a few yards away from them, staring at them with her mouth gaping open.

Good, it appeared that she’d finally gotten the message, too.

10

Daniel lay stretched out on his bed, dressed only in his boxer briefs, his hands folded behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling, still fuming about the stunt Paul had pulled. He was sure Paul had done it intentionally, since he never missed an opportunity to get close to a beautiful woman—even if that woman was with somebody else. He and Paul had often been rivals for the affections of the most beautiful girls back in high school and then later in college. It appeared that Paul believed he could still play the same game.

Not if Daniel could help it.

When he heard the door to the bathroom open, his head snapped toward it. Sabrina walked into the bedroom, dressed in nothing more than a thin, short negligee and a seductive smile.

He pushed himself up on his elbows and ran his eyes over her body, drinking in the luscious curves he could clearly see through the fabric. He watched her as she slowly walked toward him and stopped by the side of the bed.

“That was a nice evening, wasn’t it?” she asked and smiled at him.

He narrowed his eyes. “Mostly, yes. Except for the part where Paul and you rode the Ferris wheel together.”

She dropped her knees onto the bed. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous? No, I’m simply curious what you guys talked about during the ride.”

She chuckled. “Oh my god, you’re actually jealous of a man I barely shook hands with.”