Just wanted to say thank you to those of you giving this story a chance and a try- I think some of you know me by now that I like to take something taboo and make it work and I hope you think I managed it with this too!

I really appreciated the loving words people; you know who you are ;)

p.s. please check out 'Crashing Down' by Bluebell140 :)

CHAPTER 3

Gabi wasn't sure what the reasons were that had led to Troy being invited to her house to start with, but she aimed to find out.

All three of them were traveling towards the beach when she raised the topic.

"So, Troy," she began lightly. "What brings you to our house for your Spring break?"

"Mom," Jared complained of her question, something she felt was a perfectly justified question to ask but when she glanced at her son, she felt a worming begin in her tummy.

This was obviously a subject not to be discussed.

"Oh…well…" She cleared her throat. "How are you finding University?" She changed tack.

"It's okay Ms. Montez," Troy assured from the back seat. "You may as well know…my mother and father have also divorced. And my father has decided to go trekking in the Himalaya's while my mother…" He sighed. "Well, let's just say she couldn't have me home this break…"

"I'm sorry," Gabi offered sympathetically.

"Way to go, mom," Jared murmured beside her pointedly.

"Jared was kind enough to offer me to stay with him," Troy added of the arrangement. "I appreciate your hospitality."

Gabi felt bad. She was offering more than hospitality for the young man; she was offering him a second home. Or she should be, seeing as that is what Jared had offered him. But how in the hell was she meant to treat him like a second son when he had invaded her body and her mind so? She thought it was a little unfair of the gods to pile that on her.

"Think of my house as your second home, Troy," she offered. "Hospitality is something you'd expect from a hotel, not from friends…"

"Well, thank you," he said again. "I appreciate it."

"Are we there yet?" Jared whined, sounding exactly like he had as a young boy, impatient to arrive at their intended destination.

Gabi smiled over at him. "Almost," she assured. "Almost…"

/

Bumper cars were more tiring than Gabi remembered. The waltzers made her dizzy. She point blank refused to go on the Octopus and while she laughed at her son and his friend enjoying the ride, she ate candy floss with a relaxed smile.

"I couldn't help but notice you were alone…" A deep male voice sounded in her ear and she turned, surprised to find a tall, dark haired, green eyed stranger there.

She lifted her brows.

"I'm with my son and his friend, they're on that ride," she pointed up to the Octopus.

"Ah…you're married, then?" The man guessed lightly of her mention of a child.

"No, actually. Divorced." She amended.

He nodded thoughtfully, and then pursed his lips. He couldn't be older than thirty, Gabi guessed. How strange that young men kept flattering her.

"Would you like to ride the Ferris wheel with me?" He asked, squinting as he waited for her reply.

"Oh…ah…" She frowned, thinking. Well, did she? She supposed it wouldn't hurt but then what about Troy? Well what about him, her conscience argued? They agreed that night was a mistake and she knew for certain it wasn't going to happen again so she should be looking elsewhere for her perfect man, right?

She smiled into the kind green eyes of the man stood before her.

"Okay…I'm Gabi by the way," she introduced.

"Felix," the man took her hand and kissed the back of it as they turned to head towards the Ferris wheel; something that unknowing to either of them, Troy and Jared caught sight of as they finished their ride.

Jared grinned at his friend. "Since mom and dad split up, my mom gets chatted up all the time," he observed with a shake of his head, almost amusedly.

"She's a beautiful woman," Troy commented, receiving a long look from his friend. "What? She is…"

"Don't you start…" His friend teased. "Haunted House?" He suggested.

Troy's gaze was far off in the distance where Gabi had vanished into the crowd.

He swallowed, feeling a funny kind of hurt expand in his stomach. He guessed then that Gabi was serious about her night with him being a mistake. It certainly hadn't been a mistake for him, nor something he regretted but he could see her words on the matter were true for her. He was far too young for her to take him seriously he mused. And as much as it hurt to watch her with someone else…well he just had to suck it up.

"Troy?" Jared prompted. "Haunted House?"

"Yeah," he nodded, bringing his gaze back to his friend. "Let's do it…"

/

Felix was…well he was a little…keen for Gabi's liking. He had tried to kiss her twice and his hand had been removed from her knee four times and if she thought he was keen when she was dressed in these ugly old clothes then she didn't like her hopes in her new sexy wardrobe items. Thank god she hadn't worn any of those today, she mused.

She tried to part from him gracefully as the Ferris wheel delivered them safely to land but the man was determined to persuade her.

"Come on," his arm went around her waist and pulled her close where she pushed against his chest. "One more ride on the wheel…it'll be fun," he lifted his brows.

"No, thank you," she tried to step back.

"You're single, I'm single…" He posed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not interested," she told him softly.

"I bet you haven't had good sex for years," his smile creeped her out. "You must be gagging for it…"

"Is there a problem?" A voice interceded Felix' lewd words.

Gabi looked up, hoping her son was there to rescue her and found herself half relieved to find it was Troy instead. Only half relieved because all she needed was for him to go jealous lover on her…

"No," Gabi finally pushed away from Felix now she had back up. "There's no problem…"

Felix smirked at Troy.

"You her bodyguard?" He arched.

Troy smirked too. "You bet," he agreed in a low voice that would intimate he guarded her body in ways that weren't normally accounted for in traditional guarding.

The man lifted his brows.

"I see…well, it was lovely to meet you," Felix directed at Gabi. "So long…"

Gabi watched Felix melt into the crowd and turned to glare at Troy.

"What was that?" She demanded.

"What?" He defended. "I was doing you a favour."

"By acting like an over-protective boyfriend?" She accused. "Troy, we talked about this! We agreed it was a mistake and to move on!"

He frowned, irked. "Firstly I wasn't acting like your boyfriend, I did what any gentleman would have done if he had seen you being pawed by that guy…and secondly I never said it was a mistake. You did." He arched.

Gabi parted her lips in shock, unable to say more as Jared appeared.

"What's up, peeps?" He asked.

"Your mom just got leched on by that guy," Troy shared whilst not moving his gaze from Gabi's. "I came along just in time…"

"Mom, are you okay?" Jared moved forward to put an arm around her.

"I'm fine," she assured. "Like I told Troy, I am capable of looking after myself…"

He pursed his lips at her dig.

"Well, I would have stepped in too," Jared admitted. "When you have two guys around you've got to accept we're going to protect you…"

"Well, you're my son, I expect it from you," she concluded tightly, turning to head back to the car with an angry expression on her face.

"Dude, you okay?" Jared checked with Troy.

Troy sighed with a shrug. "Yeah…I was only trying to help…"

"It's okay, man," Jared squeezed his shoulder. "I'm glad you were here."

Troy nodded and headed back to the car with his friend.

/

Gabi was in white the next morning- tight, fitted white, that is.

It was her best church dress- white for innocence and purity and fitted to remind the congregation she was single now. Maybe she would meet a nice man at church she mused…

"Boys! Breakfast is ready!" She called up the stairs, laying their pancakes and accompaniments on the table and she smirked as she heard them stumbling around to get up and get down stairs to eat.

They both came into the kitchen in their pajamas, messed with sleep and on Troy's part, sexy as hell with it.

Since when did 22 year old men have stubble, she wondered?

His blue eyes met hers, and then dipped down her body.

"You look great, mom," Jared kissed her cheek.

"I'm off to church. I'll be back later and we can go to the carvery for dinner…"

"What?" Jared looked upset. "What are we gonna do till then?"

She smiled at his sulky pout.

"There's a quad bike track two miles down the road. Why don't you take Troy and tear it up," she suggested brightly.

"Mom, seriously, don't try and be cool," Jared begged with his mouth full as Troy remained quiet at the table.

"Well, whatever," she sighed. "I have to go now…"

Troy looked up then, his blue eyes saying everything his mouth didn't.

You look amazing. Take that dress off. I want you.

Gabi swallowed at that look as she felt her lungs pack up.

"See you later," she swiftly turned to go and Jared looked at his friend.

"Is she acting weird to you?" He asked Troy.

Troy shrugged. "She's your mom…"

"I don't remember her going to church before," he puzzled.

"Maybe it's new since the divorce," Troy suggested.

"Did you see what she was wearing, though?" He mused.

"Uh, yeah…"

"That's not a church dress," Jared conspired. "Do you think she's seeing someone?"

Troy choked on his pancake, and then quickly recovered. "How would I know?"

Jared shrugged. "I just guessed you might be able to tell if she's dressed up for a date. I mean, she's my mother, I don't want to think about her that way…"

"And I do?" Troy challenged wryly.

"Oh, sorry, dude. Is it too weird?" Jared commented.

"Not at all," he derided.

"Okay. Let's just forget we ever mentioned this and get ready for quad-biking…" Jared changed topic.

"Good idea," Troy agreed finally. Damn good idea.

/

"It was meant to be fun…" Gabi commented of the quad biking idea as she sat down with Troy and Jared to enjoy their roast dinner- self-served from the carts.

Jared's plate was piled high but the cast on his wrist was the point of discussion.

"It was fun!" Jared assured with a twinkle.

"Breaking a bone is not fun," Gabi gave him a concerned look.

"It's so cool," he commented. "Isn't it, Troy?"

Troy smiled wanly at his inclusion in this conversation.

"Really cool," he nodded.

"You're just jealous you didn't fall off and get a cast…" Jared teased him.

Troy actually grinned at that. "It is pretty awesome…"

"See?" Jared told Gabi. "It's like going surfing and getting bitten by a shark…"

"Dangerous?" Gabi hedged.

"Epic," Jared adjusted. "Thanks for telling us about it," he added.

She nodded with a weak smile. "You're welcome."

"So, how was church?" Jared broached as Gabi ate from her plate gingerly, trying not to get gravy on her white dress.

"It was good," she enthused. "You should come next time, all the ladies asked after you…"

"Did they now?" Jared grinned and then looked to Troy. "We would go down a storm with the church ladies…"

"I'm sure," Troy agreed succinctly.

"So mom…is there anyone at church you particularly look forward to seeing?" Jared changed subject quickly.

Gabi smiled bemusedly. "No…why?"

"Oh no reason…just that dress, it's kinda…well…showy for church isn't it?" He suggested mischievously.

Gabi's smile faded. "Showy?"

"Yeah…I mean, if there was a guy, you could tell me. I'd be okay with it," Jared assured.

"I…there is no…" She stammered, looking down on herself in a mortified way.

Her dress was showy? Did everyone think she was trying too hard? Trying to attract men's attention? Even at church? God, that was embarrassing!

"Hey, I promise, I'll be cool with it," he touched her shoulder, misreading her embarrassment.

"Uh, Jared…" Troy tried to intervene, clocking the scene with observant eyes.

"She is too good to be single, right?" Jared asked his friend.

"Uh, right…" Troy ventured. "But-"

"Mom, just tell me…is there someone?"

Gabi flicked her eyes to Jared, then to Troy, then back down at her dress and then she stood, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"Excuse me for a moment," she said on a shaky voice and then turned to head towards the rest rooms; a few interested glances following her there.

"See, she is totally meeting a man at church," Jared told his friend.

"Jared, I think that was a little insensitive…" Troy ventured carefully.

"What? No way, she's fine. She just doesn't want to admit she's seeing someone new…"

"That stuff you said about her dress…I'm not sure that was necessary," Troy insisted.

"Well, it is a showy dress!" He argued, enthused more than angry. "Tell me it isn't…"

"Maybe she just wanted to look good and feel good," Troy suggested. "It might not be to do with a guy at all…"

"Hmm," Jared sat thoughtfully for a moment. "Do you think I upset her?"

Troy cleared his throat. "She looked a little awkward, yes…"

"Awkward because she knows I'm onto something!" Jared grinned in a superior way, causing Troy to close his eyes in resignation.

The guy was clearly on his own path and he wasn't going to coax him off it; but he did silently worry about Gabi who was sheltering in the toilets. It wasn't until they had finished dinner and come inside the house that he got a chance to talk to her; something he was able to do when Jared went straight to his room and Troy himself hovered at the stairs while he watched Gabi head for the study.

He trailed after her slowly, not sure what he wanted to say, exactly, but knowing he had to say something.

"Look, you should ignore Jared…once he gets an idea into his head he just doesn't drop it," Troy's voice startled her as she sipped her neat whiskey.

She let her lips curve up, just a little. "I know," she agreed fondly.

"He really didn't mean anything bad about your dress…"

She stiffened at the touchy subject and the fact Troy had worked out what her real discomfort was; something she felt made her that much more vulnerable and open to attack.

"He was right…it's not a church dress, I suppose…"

"I think you look amazing in it," Troy husked; his gaze lingering on her face.

She blinked lazily at him.

"Drink?" She broke the tension in the air.

"No, thank you," he leaned off the doorjamb and came inside the study.

Gabi perched on the desk edge as he stood and folded his arms.

"You look amazing," he said again, not giving up.

"And I told you, I don't take compliments," she arched.

"I'm sorry about last night…" He offered, blinking his lashes down to his freckled cheeks. "I was wrong to intervene with you and your male friend…"

"Actually I'm glad you did," she opposed.

He looked up, hope burning in his blue eyes.

"Did he hurt you?" His squinted gaze and protective words lulled her into a false security. For that moment, she almost believed he wasn't twenty-two at all, but a grown man, capable of loving her like one; capable of protecting her like one.

"No, I'm fine," she swallowed another mouthful of spirit.

His gaze ran down her; and up, tracing the shape of her calves, thighs, hips and the in-out curve of her waist before falling on her breasts. Small; just barely a handful; but how he'd enjoyed peaking those tips and tasting them that night…how he ached to do the same, even now.

Gabi took short, tight breaths in and out as her body reacted to Troy's appraisal; the tingling outside and throbbing within accumulating in the stiffening of her nipples beneath her clinging dress. He could see her arousal, now. He was gazing upon her breasts so intently she was surprised he couldn't undress her with just the will of his eyes.

"Good night, Ms. Montez," he husked, blinking away his thoughts as he turned to go.

"It's Gabi," she whispered in the empty room.