Aaron nodded, not needing Rena to finish.
“I understand that the company might not be interested in building factories closer to where most of its employees work, but something must be done,” she tacked on.
Aaron was deep in thought. “A new factory may not be the answer anyway.”
“Then what?”
Again, Aaron sighed. “We’ll come up with something. That is, if you can tolerate working with me in my fancy pants rat hole?”
A slow smile took shape on Rena’s small, coconut brown face. “I may be able to tolerate you a while longer,” she said.
“I appreciate that,” Aaron kept his smile small, but he was nonetheless amused.
~11~
“Do we have to go in?” Gabriel didn’t seem the least bit shamed by the whiny quality in his voice when the chauffeured Lincoln stopped outside the New York Public Library.
“Joel doesn’t even need to turn off the car,” Humphrey clapped a hand to the driver’s shoulder. “I only need to run in and pick up a book I ordered,” he noticed the misery on Vale’s face and grinned. “You guys are welcomed to join me inside.”
“No way,” Gabriel waved his brother off. He’d opted to ride up front with driver Joel Kiner while his brothers rode in the spacious rear cabin.
Humphrey’s laughter flooded the car as he made his way out to the sidewalk. “It’s not the end of the world, you know? Be back in a jif.”
Gabriel sighed a curse and then reached over to adjust the car radio. “I’ll keep it down Joel,” he promised the driver who was already settling in to work on a crossword.
In the rear, Vale looked as if he were about to indulge in a nap. The sounds of Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” provided the soundtrack to their wait time. Gabriel rested on the padded seat back and studied passing vehicles and the pedestrians along the crowded walk.
His gaze narrowed when a wisp of fabric and...hair caught his eye through the side mirror. Avidly, he searched the mirror for a recurrence of the vision. Of course, there was nothing remarkable and he mouthed the word ‘fool’ while rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked and saw Vale dozing in the backseat. It wasn’t surprising that his brainy little brother had opted not to go in the library. Vale preferred the shiny new library at their parent’s house or the ones open to them by way of Liam and Athena Tesano’s assortment of society friends. Mulling over tomes rifled through by the masses was now beneath the youngest Tesano son.
Gabriel would have thought the same true of Humphrey, but guessed there was something he really needed there and was unable to find elsewhere. Gabriel thought of his brother’s passion and the passion shown by his other brothers since their father had issued the decree regarding the proposals. They had all jumped right into the interests they’d wanted to be part of since forever.
Even Roman, whose only interest seemed to be eating, sleeping and sports, had shown unexpected curiosity in the security end of the business. Maybe that was because of Pitch, but the fact remained that he was hooked.
Gabriel considered his own interests. So far, none had gone beyond his bedroom or the one he was closest to. Those interests hadn’t involved sleeping. Girls had been his passion-literally. There was nothing wrong with that his Uncle Tori always said. According to him, a man needed to sow those oats lest they run him mad. If that happened, he’d be completely useless to the woman meant to be his for eternity. Gabriel pondered his uncle’s never ending stream of women and guessed Toriano Tesano had a lot of madness to battle.
Gabriel supposed he was on his way to leading the same lifestyle. So far, his folks hadn’t kicked him out or made an issue of his ‘interests’ those they knew of, anyway. At any rate, those days could be seriously numbered now that everyone else was focusing on specific aspects of Tesano. Such focus would only shine a more glaring light on his inadequacies and the fact that he’d not yet been motivated to improve himself.
He would be fine, Gabriel assured himself. Hump had his back. While he didn’t see that changing, Gabriel knew his oldest brother well. Sooner or later there would be a price to pay for all that... understanding.
Gabriel sent a fleeting glance toward the car’s side mirror. Fabric and hair caught his eye again- that time, he wouldn’t risk losing it in a mirror. He left the car, training his gaze down the length of the sidewalk through the sea of bodies. He saw her.
Maybe it was the hem of the emerald green dress. She fought against the wind to keep it modestly around her thighs while she balanced an armload of books in the crook of her elbow. Perhaps it was what the afternoon sun and raging wind did to the mound of honey wheat blonde that tumbled around her face. Maybe it was the face itself.
As she got closer, Gabriel realized it was all that and more. Her features seemed sculpted, from the high cheekbones and full mouth. Her eyes were a shade of blue he had never seen before. He only had a second more to oogle her before he realized she needed his assistance more than his admiration. The books were taking a tumble even as he closed the distance between them. Gabriel managed to catch each one before they hit the cement. It was an impressive maneuver considering he wasn’t looking at the books, but the girl.
She gasped and then smiled at the unexpected help. “Oh! I’m so sorry!”
It was as if her voice went right to his heart. The muscle felt infused with some foreign emotion he hadn’t thought it capable of holding.
“Why? W-why are you apologizing?” He sounded completely bewildered and his heart withstood another punch when her eyes met his. Baby blue with hints of navy, he discovered.
“I ran right into you,” she said.
“I came to help you.”
“Oh uh,” she blinked, supplied a shaky smile and observed the books he still cradled. “I should’ve taken the bag they offered at the bookstore.”
“Do you usually refuse a bag when you shop?” Gabriel asked.
“Oh, I wasn’t exactly shopping I-it was an errand for work.”
He grinned. “Wish I got to do that on my job,” faintly he noted they were drawing attention from bypassers. “Here, I’ll get you a cab. You shouldn’t be walking with all this.”
“Oh no that-that’s alright, actually. I’m here.”
“Where?”
She nodded toward the library entrance.
“You work here? At the library?” He hiked a thumb over his shoulder.
“I’m a clerk,” she explained, adding a rather sheepish smile. “Page, shelver, pretty much whatever they need me to be.”
Maybe Hump was onto something, Gabriel thought grudgingly. “Do you like it?” his eyes searched every inch of her face.
She was nodding. “Yes, very much.”
Gabriel realized he’d lapsed into oogling her again. Hell...how could he not? She was like an angel. And you sound like a raving idiot, Grekka.
