Chapter 7

Hey everyone. I've been away for 2 weeks without a computer. Thanks to everyone for your great reviews.

Chapter 7

Troy had been unable to shake his mind of a certain gorgeous but feisty brunette. After meeting with Gabriella at The Oasis on Monday, he had stayed around a bit longer to finish looking things over, all the while running through their conversation and her body language in his head. He was undecided on how to handle things with her.

His first option was to keep things completely professional, no more sexually leading remarks. Yeah, scratch that option right away. There was no way in hell that would be possible. Next, he could keep things largely professional but continue this game of flirtations and teasing and have fun with just that. She was trying so hard to be straight with him, but he could see the effect he was having on her and he took satisfaction in that. Not to mention the effect she was having on him. No woman had ever lingered in his thoughts like she had been and he hadn't had sex with her. Hell, he hadn't even kissed or hardly touched her. However, he was positive she was an absolute firecracker in bed.

His third option was the most complicated – get her into bed with him. He could continue as usual with the women that came into the bar and see if it inspired her jealousy. She would be so insanely fired up watching him take woman after woman instead of her that one night after work she would grab him and fuck the living daylights out of him. Then, they'd have the sex out of their systems and they could carry on working together. The flip side of that is she could be completely turned off by his behavior. He was sure Gabriella wasn't lacking for sexual partners so no matter how attractive she might find him, if he acted like a complete asshole with these other women, she could completely blow him off altogether. She definitely wasn't his usual easy lay.

He would probably just have to risk it. He wasn't about to turn into some celibate romantic fool just so that he could screw Gabriella one time.

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Tuesday came and The Oasis was open for business under the new management arrangement. Rebecca had been scheduled to work, so Gabriella stepped into hostess duties that night. It gave her the opportunity to introduce herself to the customers and invite comments. Troy had to admit that he really admired the initiatives she was taking and the work she was prepared to do to. This wasn't one of those situations where the rich dad buys the spoiled daughter a bar and she just uses it as her own private party central. Gabriella was serious about this place and she was jumping in with both feet.

The bar was slightly busier than normal for a Tuesday evening, so the two of them did not have much chance to interact. Troy could not keep his eyes off Gabriella though, with the way she was dressed. She wore a black above the knee dress which would have been backless except for the small straps that criss-crossed over her back from her shoulder blades to her waist. It was elegant but edgy and extremely sexy. A few times he eyed her crouching down to pick up a fallen menu and the bottom hem of her dress would creep up well past mid thigh. Her perfectly toned and supple legs were like beacons to him and he had to adjust his hardened package more than once over the evening. He watched her laughing with clients and expertly maneuvering through the crowd with grace. All things considered, however, he wasn't so preoccupied that he hadn't managed to snag himself a light brown haired beauty who he would be taking home at the end of the night. He hadn't had sex since Friday and with all this sexual energy between him and Gabriella, he was primed and horny.

Gabriella unwittingly discovered Troy's soon to be sex vixen in their private office, where Troy had sent her to wait for him. She walked in and discovered Charlene perched on the desk, legs spread wide enough for Gabriella to know that she was not the intended receiver of that view.

"Jesus Christ," exclaimed Gabriella, "what the hell are you doing in here?"

"Waiting for Troy, of course," responded Charlene, unchanging in her demeanor or body position.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes at her. "Of course you are," said Gabriella coyly and staring Charlene straight in the face. "While you wait, I might suggest that you remove your smarmy ass from my desk and try a chair instead."

"Could you let Troy know I'm here? I've been waiting for awhile," Charlene naively implored.

Anger rising, Gabriella sharply retorted, "Honey, I am not Troy's messenger service. I am his boss." She began to walk out but turned slightly back and said smugly, "If Troy is in need of his regular servicing, I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about you. I'd tell you to keep your panties on, but obviously you left them at home tonight."

Gabriella walked briskly to the front of the bar, blowing out a few breaths to calm herself. She could not let Troy see how this interaction had affected her. Of course, she had not expected him to change his ways and she had asked him to be more discrete; so sending this skank to the back office might have seemed like a reasonable solution to him rather than having her hanging all over the bar counter. Gabriella could still not help being affronted by Charlene's undisguised exhibition.

Troy was just locking the front door behind the straggling last few customers. The waitresses were cashing out. She watched him stroll back behind the bar, seeming not to have a care in the world, to finish tidying and adding up the receipts for the bank deposit. Again, he was effortlessly sexy in his appearance. His black t-shirt clung to his perfectly muscular arms and his chestnut brown hair casually swept across his forehead. The angle of his jaw framed his face so flawlessly.

"Strength Gabriella, strength," she muttered under her breath as she neared her destination.

Troy looked up and his lips curled up at the vision across the marble counter top. "Pretty busy tonight," he said, stating the obvious. "You seemed like a pro working the crowd. I wouldn't have guessed the rich owner's daughter to take so easily to hard work," he said, in an effort to harass her.

"How perfectly chauvinistic of you, Troy," Gabriella sniggered. "You really know how to warm a woman's heart with your prejudice. Am I the only one who is so lucky to receive this particular brand of charm?" she continued, her voice edged with malice while her eyes trailed over his sturdy shoulders, watching him wipe down the taps and sinks.

"Only you, Gabriella," Troy winked, an action that caused Gabriella's stomach to flutter lightly.

He had now sat down to count out the cash and add the credit card receipts. His fingers flew over the buttons of the adding machine. Within minutes, he was done and everything went into a zipped envelope that would be dropped in the night deposit slot or taken to the bank the next day.

"Troy, I'm sure you haven't forgotten, but you've got a woman in heat in the back office," Gabriella said sharply, rather proud of her choice of words.

Troy looked up and chuckled, his sparkling cobalt eyes burning into Gabriella's dark brown ones, "you've met, I take it?"

"You could call it that," Gabriella retorted. "I got a little more of an eyeful than I cared for. I don't think you'll need to use much energy on that one," she added, spitefully.

"Now Gabriella, that was a little uncourteous," Troy continued, standing up and stretching his arms in front of him with his fingers intertwined. "Who's jumping to conclusions now?"

"Believe me, Troy. She's not a multilayered person. She was practically lying across the desk waiting for you to do her right there," Gabriella answered flippantly. "That is not a suggestion to take me up on, by the way. I'd have to burn the desk if you did." She made the last comment with a smile and tossed her head as she swiveled in the barstool away from him.

"Don't you worry your lovely locks, Gabriella. I promised Charlene a night in Troy's love den," he teased.

Gabriella wrinkled up her nose. "Ew! Ok, lover boy. Time for you to go because your testosterone is leaking out all over the place," and pushed him towards the back.

At that moment, there was a knock at the front door. Gabriella turned and a sly grin took over lips. "Perfect timing," she uttered.

She walked over and unlocked the door and snaked her arms around the neck of a boyishly handsome man who looked a little familiar to Troy. He then recognized him as the guy whom Gabriella had danced with the second night she had visited The Oasis. She had met him at a coffee shop on Monday before she visited the photo gallery and she told him to meet her here after closing.

She didn't actually plan on having him come while Troy was still here, but now she considered his arrival to be the perfect anecdote to the current situation. Troy was far too full of himself and far be it for Gabriella to let him believe he was the only one with needs to be met.

His hands ran smoothly over her shoulders and down her arms before he placed a slow kiss on her lips to which Gabriella willingly responded but ended shortly by pulling away first. She whispered something in his ear and turned back towards Troy, making her way over to him.

"Gabriella, I'm surprised. I thought you didn't mix business with pleasure," Troy said quietly, cocking his eyebrow at her playfully. "I distinctly remember you dancing with this guy the other night. I would say that constitutes flaunting. You're busted, sweetheart."

"You are incorrect, Troy. When I was dancing the other night, I was here as a patron myself," she responded cagily. "I met Antonio again getting coffee yesterday" she hissed with self-satisfaction through her teeth. "I guess neither one of us is going home alone tonight."

Troy looked her over and masked his irritation completely. "Enjoy yourself, baby. Don't forget to let that hair down a little. Antonio looks eager," he chided. "You wouldn't want to disappoint him."

"I wouldn't say disappointment is a feeling Antonio is likely to be experiencing tonight, Troy," Gabriella quietly laughed. "I'll lock the front door behind me if you could set the alarm in the back?" she blithely asked while her coltish legs carried her back to the entrance. With her arm locked with Antonio, she looked back at Troy to see him staring. "Damn, he looks sexy," she thought. She licked her lips and flashed him a coy smile, "See you tomorrow night."

Troy grinned as he watched her enticing tongue glide over the outline of her beautiful lips. She was up for it. "Game on," he said to himself.

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Troy awoke the next morning with one purpose. Get out of the apartment and try to clear his head. He gently eased out of bed, quietly slid open his dresser drawer and grabbed his running clothes. He tiptoed out of the bedroom and slipped into his shorts, t-shirt and running shoes and grabbed himself a quick glass of orange juice. Then the light bulb in his head came on and he realized he would have company when he came back, unless he found some way to deal with it. He jotted down a note to Charlene and placed it on top of her purse where she would definitely find it. It read, "I have gone for a long run. Please help yourself to some juice or fruit or whatever you can find. You can let yourself out. I have a key." If she wasn't completely ignorant, she should be able to get the message.

Troy did a light jog down to the beach path and stretched a bit before launching into his full run. Running was so therapeutic for him. If he was at his apartment, he usually had paperwork or studying to do, so these early morning runs were really the only time he had to just let his thoughts run without interruption.

What he couldn't get past at the moment was how Gabriella's face kept appearing while he was having sex with Charlene. Even when he closed his eyes, he kept envisioning what it would be like to have Gabriella's hot body beneath him, thrusting into her, instead of Charlene's. He had never fantasized about another woman when he was with someone before because he was usually fully engaged with what was happening. He had to admit that it shook him up a little.

He looked at his surroundings and realized that he had doubled the length that he normally ran. He decided he had better turn back. Just to be sure that he wouldn't encounter Charlene still in his apartment; he would have breakfast at the bakery down the block from his place. He knew his attitude was selfish but he really didn't like the whole morning after thing. Most women were pretty cool, and if they weren't they didn't show it, but occasionally he had to be more obvious about not expecting anything more from him. Dealing with that was a pain in the ass.

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Gabriella rolled over and was grateful to see that the other side of the bed was empty. "Thank God," she thought. She was pretty sure that Antonio had gotten up and left in the middle of the night but she wasn't positive that she wasn't dreaming. It was a weeknight after all, and Antonio would need to have access to a shower and fresh clothes before work.

Gabriella got up and made her way to the kitchen. She found a note from her lover: You are beautiful. Call me. This was followed by his phone number. She crumpled up the note and threw it away. Yep, the sex was good, but second dates were out of the question, if you could even call what they had a "date."

Gabriella checked the fridge and was happy to find some yogurt and sliced mango. She sat down with her breakfast and thought back to her night with Antonio, not quite with the satisfaction that she should. She had been quite sexually aggressive with him, almost angry in her hunger. Other than the kiss they shared at the bar in front of Troy, she hadn't allowed Antonio to kiss her on the lips again. She was completely craving a sexual release but desperately trying to keep things less personal with Antonio; why? The answer was clear: Troy. Back at her penthouse, as Antonio kissed down her neck and over her chest, she felt Troy's lips on her instead. She had pushed Antonio onto the bed and asked him to take her from behind. Not having to look in his eyes, she closed her own and felt Troy pushing into her instead. Was she going crazy?

How was she going to manage this situation? She was totally attracted to him but having sex with him was out of the question because she would have to continue working with him and she couldn't predict the aftermath. She couldn't find another bartender because that would be suicide for the bar. Should she tell her father that she couldn't continue with the job he had given her? What reason could she give? A guy? No fucking way.

She was used to being in total control of her surroundings and feelings. "Gabriella Montez, dig down deep. You can do this. You have never let a man control you before and there's no reason to start." No reason, except for the sexiest pair of drowning blue eyes.