Romancing Tommy Gabrini (4 page)

“Anyway,”
Grace said on the phone, “I’d better get inside.
 
Get this over with.”

“Just
think of it this way,” Nayla pointed out.
 
“You own ten percent of that company.
 
If just looking at your pretty face and slammin’ body and big brown eyes
can get one of those old farts to sign a contract with Trammel tonight, then
good for you.
 
You profit when the
company profits.”

“That’s
the only reason I’m even bothering,” she replied.
 
“I’ll call you later and let you know how it
went.”

“Okay,
Grace, take care,” Nayla said, they said goodbye, and then Grace got out of the
car.

Tommy
Gabrini saw Grace when she first got out of her car.
 
He was seated in his own car, a dark red
Ferrari parked on the opposite end of Jillian’s driveway, talking on his car
phone.
 
He saw her as she took her hands
and smoothed down her sleek red dress.
 
He saw her as she grabbed her clutch bag from the passenger seat,
revealing a tight little ass so round and firm just the sight of it gave him a
little throb.
  
She locked/alarmed her
car, a bright blue Dodge Charger, and then headed for the home’s front door.

“Tommy,”
said the flustered female voice on the other end of his phone conversation.
“Did you hear me?”

“I
heard you,” Tommy said into his phone, although his eyes were on Grace.
 

Her
legs were so long and shapely, he thought, that they gave her a sense of style
no outfit could match.
 
It was all in the
way she walked, in the way she carried herself, that kept his attention.
 
She walked in deliberation and confidence,
very Giselle-like, as if she took her cues from those sashaying models on
runways.
 
Her long hair bounced against
her small back, and she held her head in such a conscious way that it seemed as
if she had been taught from birth to never let it dip low.
 
It was too dark for him to see much of her
face, but if her body was any indication, her face was probably a nice sight to
behold, too.
 

But
there was something about the way she moved that made her seem too young for
him.
 
She was probably in her
early-to-mid-twenties, he was willing to bet, which was too bad.
 
He rarely went in for the young ones, and
those few times that he did he ended up regretting it.
 
Not because he was some ageist who had
something against younger ladies.
 
But
the ones he’d been involved with always came with too much drama and neediness
for his taste.
 
And, to make matters
worse, they rarely came experienced enough sexually to satisfy him in that
sophisticated way he’d grown accustomed.

“It’s
been too long,” the female voice on his phone was continuing.
 
“And I want to know why.
 
I thought we had a good thing going, Tommy.”

The
female on the phone was another one of his friends with benefits who had
reached that point in their relationship where she wanted more of a commitment
from him.
 
Something he had told her in
the beginning, and was now reiterating, she would never get.

“We
do have a good thing going,” Tommy said.
 
“We’re friends.”

“Since
we’re such friends why haven’t you called me?
 
It’s been months, Tommy.
 
Why
haven’t you phoned?”

“I
thought you were still in New York.”

“I
came back weeks ago.
 
I left you several
messages.”

Tommy
heard her, and he remembered her messages, but his attention continued to be
diverted to that leggy young woman in red who was now standing at Jillian’s
front door.

She
seemed about as thrilled to be at Jillian’s party as he was, Tommy thought, as
he kept watching her.
 
She even had to
take a moment, presumably to get her nerves together, before ringing the bell.
 
She turned briefly toward the light as she
waited for the bell to be answered.
 
He
caught a glimpse of her high cheekbones.

“Tommy,
did you hear me?” the female said into the phone.
 
“What if I want more?
 
What if I want to be more than friends?”

And
then the door opened and the young lady went inside, and was gone from his
sight.

“We’ve
had this conversation a million times before,” he said as he turned his full
attention back to his caller.
 
“I made it
clear from the beginning what our status would be.
 
I made it clear from the beginning that
changing my mind wasn’t going to happen.”

“I’m
not trying to change your mind.
 
I’m
trying to change your heart.”

Tommy
closed his eyes.
 
What heart
, he had wanted to say.
 
After all of that drama with ShoShawna Shanks, he wasn’t so sure if he
still even had one.
 
But he knew how his
friend felt.
 
He had tried to change the
rules on Shawnie, too.
 
He had fallen in
love with her and had actually asked her to marry him.
 
And she had agreed.
 
Until they were in Vegas, at the PaLargio,
ready to have the big ceremony.
 
And she
took off.
 

He
knew how his friend felt.

But
unlike Shawnie, he wasn’t stringing anybody along.
 

“My
heart,” he said, “can’t be changed, either.”

There
was a long pause.
 
A painful pause, to be
sure.
 
And then the female on the phone
killed the call.
 
Tommy hesitated, and
pressed off, too.

He
stepped out of his car, revealing thick biceps in a pristinely pressed dress
shirt, and then reached back in for his white dinner jacket.
 
He was beginning to hate these parties with a
passion, and would have avoided this one too like the Plague, but he had
serious business to discuss with Jillian and knew this was the best way he
could pin her down.
 
Besides, Jillian had
asked him to come tonight, as she believed that his presence alone would
generate more business for Trammel, too.

After
ringing the bell and being granted entrance by the butler, he entered an
opulent home littered with many familiar faces from Seattle’s elite social and
business communities.
 
As he made his way
further inside, many of the elites made their way over to him, creating a
clique around him within moments of his arrival.
 
The men small-talked about the Mariners and
the Seahawks, the weather and local politics, while their wives or girlfriends
gave him more than suggestive looks and comments.
 
It was the type of night Tommy used to
relish, because he always knew he’d find a new, uncomplicated bed partner in
the bunch.
  
But in the past few months
he could barely stomach these get-togethers now.
 
Especially when he saw Jillian.
 
He excused himself and made a beeline for
her.
 
The sooner he could speak with her,
the sooner he could get the hell out of here.

“Tommy,
darling!” Jillian said when she saw him coming.
 
She met him halfway as if she was thrilled to see him.
  
She swept to his side, her little French
poodle Alvin in her arm, her gown long and flowing, her blonde hair big and
full and about as real as the plastic lips she had plastered on her
surgically-enhanced face.
 
She air-kissed
both his cheeks.
 

“You
look marvelous as usual,” she said, looking down at his beautifully-appointed
Versace suit and the way it clung to his beautifully-appointed body.
 
She always wanted a taste of him herself,
especially when word began to leak about his prowess in bed and the size of his
bed equipment.
 
But just like those
scrumptious black ballers who seemed to crave white women, she knew Tommy swung
the opposite way.
 
He craved the black
ones.
 

“How
it’s going, Jilly?” he asked her.

“It’s
good.
 
I’m certainly taking your
advice.
 
A few business owners here
tonight have all but signed contracts already.”

“More
contract signings wasn’t my advice.”

“Oh,
Tommy, surely that’s the goal.”

“After
more internal matters are cleared up, yes.”

“I
know, I know,” Jillian said with some exasperation.
 
“I’m working on a plan of action, day and
night I’m hammering out that plan.
 
Just
as you ordered.
 
But not right now.
 
Let’s just enjoy ourselves right now, shall
we?
 
We both work entirely too hard.
 
But after dinner I promise you will have my
undivided attention.
 
But not right now
please.
 
Everybody who is somebody is
here, the music’s good, the conversation is excellent.
 
Right now let’s relax.”

She
could tell he wasn’t into what she was suggesting, so she quickly pivoted.
 
“Besides,” she said, “there’s someone I want
you to meet.”

“Jilly,
didn’t I tell you,” Tommy warned, but Jillian ignored him.
   

“Candace,
darling!” she yelled across the room to a pretty Hispanic who didn’t hesitate
to begin coming over, as if she was waiting for the invite.
 
“And don’t worry,” Jillian whispered to Tommy
as she came.
 
“I know they must have some
brown sugar in their tank to keep your interest.
 
She’s Dominican.
 
I figure that’s black enough.”

“I
don’t care if she was purple, Jilly,” Tommy said irritably.
 
“You know I’m not here for that.”

“Nonsense!
 
You’re pushing forty and still
unmarried.
 
You need to face the fact
that ShoShawna Shanks is not coming back to you and you need to get on with
your life.
 
I figure Candace, with her,
shall we say,
sweet
personality, is a
great place to start.”

Tommy
hated that his friend had no idea where his heart really was, especially if she
thought that he had any interest whatsoever in getting back with ShoShawna, but
he wasn’t the kind of man who felt a need to prove any point.
 
He let it slide.

Big-breasted
Candace Herrera approached them, with her breast leading the way.
 
“You wanted me, Jilly?” she asked with a
smile as she arrived.

And
although Tommy managed to smile and be cordial with her, too, this was exactly
why he was growing so weary of these get-togethers.
 
They never failed to turn into some
hook-me-up meat market, where he always managed to become the prime meat.

“I
want you to say hello to Thomas Gabrini, a dear friend of mine,” Jillian said
to Candace.

“Nice
to meet you, Thomas,” Candace said as she extended her hand.

“Nice
to meet you,” Tommy said, shaking her hand.
 
He had to admit she was a looker.
 
Remarkably so.

“Have
you known Jilly long?” Candace asked him.

“If
five or six years could be considered long, yes,” Tommy replied.
 

“Oh,
that’s forever in this day and age,” Candace said with a toothy grin.

“You
are so right about that, my dear,” Jillian agreed.
 
“Finding a good friend these days is like
finding a needle in a haystack.
 
And
Tommy has been a rock for me an eternity, especially after my beloved Clive
passed away.
 
But enough about that.
 
Alvin and I will leave you two kids to get to
know each other.
 
Waiter,” she said as
she and her poodle swept away.
 
She took
a drink from the tray of a passing waiter as she went.

And
Candace, as if on cue, took it from there.
 
She talked and she talked.
 
And
although it was all about her philanthropic work, Tommy was nobody’.
 
He knew the deal.
 
He knew she was touting her charity work as a
way to tout herself and how wonderful a catch she would be for a man like
him.
 
And even when others who knew her
or who knew Tommy came around them, she continued to outtalk, and outshine,
everybody else.
 

Tommy,
relieved to have the cover of other people now surrounding them, let her have
the floor as he looked around at the lively party.
 
At first he didn’t think he was looking for
anything in particular.
 
Just looking
around.
 
Until he saw her again, and saw
those high cheekbones again, and that form-fitting red dress, and he realized
he was probably looking for her all along.