Cursed by Love by Jacie Floyd Page B

fixing the clean, musky scent in her memory. “Are you familiar
with Hyde Park?” He pulled out his phone to plug in the information she
provided.
    “Is that off Observatory?”
    Groping inside her tote for her keys,
Molly nodded. He stepped up to open the door for her. She passed close by him,
before slipping behind the wheel. Shaking off the awkwardness of her constant
reaction to him, she smiled. He leaned in toward her.
    Their gazes locked.
    They were close enough for their breaths
to meet and mingle.
    In the illumination of the dome light,
she noticed the dark scruff on his jaw, a slightly crooked tooth. Ridiculously
long eyelashes created shadows across his cheek. The moment stretched from
simple awareness to something more.
    Was he going to kiss her? If she held a Crazy Eight Ball in her
hands, she felt certain all signs would point to “yes.” Her screaming hormones
all pointed to “yes.” She turned to meet him halfway. More than halfway.
    A familiar metallic tune interrupted the
silence.
    “Damn.” Gabe pulled his phone out and
swiped to answer it. “Sorry, I have to take this.”
    His long legs blocked Molly from closing
the door. Her eyes leveled out at about belt height. Oh, great, nothing like a
bug’s eye view of a man’s jean-covered crotch to stir the imagination.
    She tore her gaze away and opened her
bag, searching for something, anything to occupy her hands and thoughts, while
she waited. Thankfully, he paced away from the car and she closed the door.
Within seconds, she overheard his raised voice through the closed window.
    Yelling at someone. Again.
    Chilling her overactive hormones from
their now! take-me-now eagerness to not-in-this-lifetime dread.
Definitely, not. Luckily, timely phone calls kept averting her from disaster.
    “He did what? When?” he bellowed. “You
need me to come back to the office now ?  Right now?” Gabe
closed his eyes and shook his head as if he couldn’t bear the thought.
    Disappointed in him, and in herself,
Molly wrapped her arms around her torso, aware of a sudden plunge in
temperature. This tone didn’t fit the personality of the man she was coming to
know, the one who’d been so sweet to her mom, but she’d heard it for herself
now, twice.
    Starting the engine, she nudged up the
heat, anxious to get home, to get away from Gabe. She jumped when he tapped on
the window, then lowered the glass halfway.
    “Sorry.” His lips moved into a
resistance-melting smile. “I’m going back to work for a while, so you’ll have
to mine the mother lode of memorabilia on your own again.”
    “I’ll manage,” she said, dizzy from
keeping up with his chameleon-like changes.
    “I’ll call if I get finished soon.”
    “No! I, mean, no, don’t bother. It’s
been a long day. I’ll probably turn in early.”
    “Okay, then.” He reached out and stroked
his fingertips across her cheek, ever so lightly. “I’ll call you tomorrow to
see if you uncovered anything new. Be careful on your way home. And call me
immediately if you see anything suspicious.”
    Molly watched him turn and settle his
broad shoulders into a posture of steely determination as he went. Always so
tense. Her fingers covered her cheek, caressing the spot where his touch
lingered. Reeling in a surge of desire, she glanced away and waited while Gabe
clamped on his helmet and climbed onto his Harley.
    His headlight, as he backed down the
drive, picked up the glint of something shiny at the edge of the yard. Hopping
out of the car, she imagined the implication of finding a new lucky coin at
this moment.
    “Everything all right?” Gabe stopped the
Harley and called out before pulling into the street.
    “Sure, fine.” She ducked her head,
feeling a little foolish at being caught down on her knees, combing the grass.
“Just looking for a little luck.”
    “You won’t find it there.”
    “You don’t think so?” Her fingers closed
on the silver object that earned a frown. He was right this