Chapter Eight
Five whole days passed while Gabe argued with himself about Elle. Five days of flip-flopping and bitching to Nathan about her. She thought he was trash, thought he wasn’t fit to kiss her disgustingly perfect feet. Gabe didn’t need to spend time chasing a chick like that. There were plenty of women in town who would be more than happy to jump into bed with him, let alone gain a more permanent position.
“I don’t understand women.” He swept the tattoo gun over Paul’s arm, shading in the pair of wolves.
“You and me both, brother.” Paul was one of his regulars, and Gabe always made time for him when he was in town. It didn’t matter how long the waiting list was, Paul got one of the top spots if he wanted it.
“I thought you had that redhead,” Gabe said. “What’s her name? Laney?”
“Lee. Yeah, it’s over. Has been for a while.”
Well shit. Gabe kept shading, darkening the corners and fading them out to blend in with the top of where Paul’s sleeve would start—once he figured out what he wanted. “I’m sorry.”
“No reason to be. So who’s the broad that’s got you all tangled up in knots?”
He didn’t want to talk about Elle, even if she was all he thought about during his downtime. “Just some chick.”
“Bullshit.”
“She’s a good girl—not the type who’s comfortable with all this.” He waved to the tattoo shop. It was more home to him than any house he owned, Gabe’s personality etched through every inch of it, from the movie posters on the walls to the red and black coloring. Even more than his nightclubs, this shop was his.
Picturing the horror on Elle’s face if she ever mistakenly walked through the door made him frown. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t freak out. She seemed to appreciate good ink when she saw it, unlike so many other women who gushed over the fact that he had tattoos without bothering to ask about the stories behind them. Didn’t matter, though. “She’s not for me.”
“As if that’s ever stopped you.”
Gabe snorted. “That’s what Nathan said. I think you guys are confusing me with someone who chases women. I don’t have time for that shit.” He thought back, wondering when was the last time he’d actually been interested enough to try. Six months? A year? Too long. Which had to be the reason he was borderline obsessed with Elle. Maybe he just needed some stranger to wash away the memory of her in his arms.
“I’m not talking women, though maybe the reason you’ve never chased one down before is because you never found one worth chasing.”
“Thanks for that, Yoda.” Gabe dragged the needles over Paul’s arm a little harder than necessary, but the big man didn’t so much as flinch. “This one’s different. A country corn princess of all things. I don’t know what to do with her. Either way, it doesn’t matter—she’s not into me.”
“Then you haven’t tried hard enough.”
The problem was, Gabe didn’t know how to go about any of this. It wasn’t something he liked admitting but, damn it, he needed help. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“Flowers, man. Chicks dig flowers.”
Flowers, huh? He sat back and looked at the tat. Pretty damn good, if he did say so himself. “You’re done. Check it out.”
After Paul gave his approval, Gabe bandaged it up and waved away the cash. “No charge this time. You helped me out.”
Paul shook his head. “I just told you what any shitty rom-com would. Go watch The Notebook or something. Apparently that’s the standard women are putting to relationships now. A real guy can hardly compete.”
“Now who’s talking bullshit?”
“I know, right?” Paul grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the door. “See you.”
Gabe set about disposing of his needles and cleaning up his work space, but his mind wasn’t in it. Did he really want to pursue this? Elle wasn’t just gorgeous, she was a lady. A stuck-up one, but a lady nonetheless. Women like that expected certain stuff he didn’t know the first thing about. Maybe Paul was right, and he should just buy her some flowers.
Gabe picked up his phone and dialed Nathan. “Hey, meet me at that grocery store by your house.”
“Hello to you, too.”
“Yeah, yeah. Hi. I’ll see you in twenty.” He hung up before Nathan could say no.
Gabe closed up the shop and then headed north. His brother had a house on the very edges of Spokane, close enough for easy access to all the necessities, but tucked away in a copse of trees that afforded it some much-valued privacy. Personally, Gabe was of the mind that if you were going to live in the country, you should goddamn well live in the country—which is why his house was well beyond the city limits. The only problem was its location made it a pain in the ass to get into town.
So he crashed at Nathan’s house more often than not—a fact his brother constantly ribbed him over. Hell, he’d threatened to start charging Gabe rent.
But there was another reason Gabe only went up to the house every so often, one he’d never admit to his brother even though he was pretty sure Nathan felt the same way. It was so freaking lonely to come home to an empty place. He couldn’t even have a dog because he was out of town so often. All that greeted him when he walked through the door was a cold, impenetrable silence.
He turned up the radio, letting the music roll through him. There was no reason to go all emo over it. He didn’t like being alone. So sue him. There was nothing wrong with that. For some reason, though, being around Elle and all the challenges she represented only made the loneliness worse. She didn’t think they were compatible.
Well, Gabe was going to prove her wrong.
Despite the traffic, he got there at the same time as his brother, pulling up next to the jacked-up black Ford F-150. As he climbed out of the Camaro, Nathan hopped down. “You want to tell me what’s going on?”
“We’re going to buy some flowers.” It sounded really stupid when he said it aloud. Gabe ignored his brother’s smirk. “And I need you to tell me everything you know about Elle.”
“Elle? I thought you’d decided to let that go.”
He thought he had too. “I’m not done yet.”
“She’s been stomping around the gallery all week, with steam practically shooting out her ears.” Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. “I suppose this is going to make it worse?”
“Probably.”
“Good to know.”
They headed into the grocery store, veering left off the door and into the flower section. Gabe turned a full circle, taking in the rainbow of colors. “Holy shit. How is someone supposed to pick from this?”
“You could just buy her roses.”
“Roses are lame.”
Nathan tapped two fingers to his chin. “Hmm. I seem to remember Elle saying something similar a few months ago.”
“You’re not helping.” Gabe pulled off one of the plastic bag things used to make a bouquet. “What’s her favorite color?”
“Purple. Or maybe pink.”
Gabe shot him a look. “Hasn’t she worked for you for damn near a year?”
“Well, yeah.”
“And you don’t even know her favorite color?” Maybe bringing Nathan along hadn’t been the best idea. At this rate, his brother was just as likely to steer him down the wrong road as the right one.
Nathan shrugged. “It’s never come up. But she wears a lot of those, so it stands to reason.”
“Fair enough.” Gabe started grabbing random purple and pink flowers, trying to get a good variety. Chicks liked variety, right? “What else can you tell me?”
“She’s girly. I’m pretty sure the woman would drop dead at the idea of camping. Like I said before, I served with her brother. He didn’t talk about his family a lot, but his little sister was untouchable in his mind. I know their parents are still alive and still married, but that’s about it.”
Of course they were. It was exactly the type of family unit Gabe could picture around her. They were probably just as goody-goody as Elle was. Then again, there had been definite tension on her face during her phone call with her mom. Trouble on the home front? It was something to think about. “What else?”
“God, you don’t ask for much, do you? It’s not like we sit around, braiding each other’s hair and gossiping.” Nathan picked some tall flowers and shoved them into the bouquet. “She’s an amazing coordinator—has a great eye for art and a passion to go with it. I’ve never met anyone who can identify so perfectly with what the artist is trying to get across.”
There was something like wonder in his brother’s voice. Gabe stopped short. “Are you sure you’re not into her? Because you sure as hell sound like you are.”
“It’s not like that. I enjoy her company and we can spend hours talking about art but…” Nathan looked away for a second and when he turned back, he was his usual easygoing self. “Enough about me. Let’s get this paid for and help you get the girl.”
Gabe let it go because he had his suspicions about where that shadow had come from. Some things you couldn’t talk about, even with family. Especially with family. Nathan had proved that time and again when it came to that mystery girl he dated ages ago. “Let’s do it.”
It was only when they were in the checkout line that reality set in. It was Friday night—even someone as uptight as Elle wasn’t likely to be home by herself. What if she had a date? Oh, he didn’t like the thought of that at all. “This is a shitty idea.”
Nathan flipped through one of the trashy celebrity magazines. “What’s wrong now? I swear you’re PMS-ing or something.”
“Not funny.”
“Yes, well, I’m not a comedian. Speak, so we can pay for the damn flowers.”
“It’s Friday night. I have no idea where she is.” Even if she was home alone, it would be seriously creepy if he showed up uninvited.
“Oh, that.” Nathan tossed the magazine onto the grocery line. “She’s with her friend Roxanne at Twigs—the north one, if I’m not mistaken.”
“I thought you didn’t know a goddamn thing about her.” Gabe swiped his credit card.
“We don’t have deep, heartfelt conversations, but she’s a woman. Women talk.”
Thank God they did, or he’d be sitting at home by himself, staring at a bouquet of flowers that only served to remind him Elle wasn’t interested. He gathered them up and headed for the parking lot.
Nathan laughed and climbed into his truck. “You’re just going to walk in there and hand her the flowers, aren’t you?”
Well, yeah, that had been the plan. Gabe paused. “Do you have a better idea?”
“Nope. Just kind of wish I was there to watch it all go down.” His diesel engine roared to life. “Good luck.”
As Gabe watched his little brother drive away, he was pretty damn sure he was going to need all the luck he could get.