ROMANCING TOMMY GABRINI Read online

  “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.

  CHAPTER TWO

  She was near the back of the massive room, in a group populated by middle-aged men and their middle-aged wives. He was so pleased that he had found something interesting to observe that he placed his hands in the pockets of his pants and watched her. Like him, she seemed content to listen while others carried the conversation. But unlike him, her attention never strayed from the speakers. He could still see only part of her, and even then some old fart kept blocking most of that. But the little he could see he liked.

  She had a strong, straight nose, and full, fresh, African lips. Unlike Jillian, she didn’t need any plastic surgery to enhance those luscious lips. Her thick hair swept up in the front, held there by what he decided was a tasteful pin, and the rest slung down her back in thick, brown layers of bounciness. And her skin. It seemed flawless from across the room. It seemed so creamy and chocolaty that watching it made him immediately think of licking. But as his eyes roamed down her body, at the curve of her sizeable breasts, at her flat stomach and tight ass, at those long, shapely legs of hers, he realized it wasn’t her face he wanted to lick, but a part of her far lower. His penis throbbed, in fact, when he looked at where her dress ended, and the gap of her legs began.

  Candace wrapped her arm around Tommy’s arm just as she told the punch line of some joke, as if she knew his attention was elsewhere and she wanted to rope him back in. The other men and women in their group laughed at her joke with riotous laughter, when Tommy, who hadn’t heard the full tale, could only manage a smile. But despite his lack of attention, Candace was becoming the life of the party.

  But even as Jillian’s butler announced that dinner was served, and Candace continued to be the party’s life, Tommy’s eyes kept roaming back to Grace. It seemed to him that she was working rather than playing, as she listened a tad too intently to the old men who seemed to latch onto her like a sponge. And whenever their wives would leave their side or would otherwise get distracted, the men would whisper something in the young lady’s ears that would make her laugh. But she would never be so impressed, if Tommy was reading it correctly, to accept their offers. She continually shook her head no, even as she laughed.

  Although Tommy was seated next to Candace at the dinner table, he was delighted to see that the object of his attention was seated directly across from him. And it was only then did Tommy get the full measure of her. With her flawless dark skin and her popping bright brown eyes, she was a stunner to behold, he thought.

  But it wasn’t just her looks, although they were considerable. She had an air of intelligence about her, and a level of maturity that belied her youth. He watched her from across the table as she conversed with her male admirers. She was never flirty with them, or seemed to be leading them on. When one gave her a compliment, she immediately pivoted back to business, as if she wanted to make it clear to them that her interest began and ended there.

  Although he had found her physically attractive when he was checking her out from across the room, Tommy nonetheless had assumed her to be a phony in the long run. He had assumed her to be one of those pretty young ladies trying to climb that ladder of success on the back of some older, richer guy. Which was another no-no for him. The kind of women he found attractive were often already successful, and had pretty young men trying to climb those ladders of success through them. But listening to her now, and watching her up close, changed his mind.

  Up close he didn’t see phoniness in her at all, or any of that sleeping her way to the top mentality. He sensed a genuine niceness about her that no amount of money could ever buy or no Hollywood actress could ever emulate. And seeing somebody like her in this sea of fake laughs and hidden agendas, pleased him. What he thought would be nothing more than another physical attraction had turned on him. And he was intrigued.

  Grace was intrigued, too, as she sat straight-back in her chair and listened to the two men on either side of her compete for her attention. She knew Tommy’s face. She’d caught gl
impses of him at Trammel down through the years as he was either coming to or going from various meetings with Jillian. He was one of those power hitters that they referred to as “Jillian territory” around the office. Not because Jillian wanted them to herself, but because they were the kind of super-rich, fat-cat CEOs who would be offended if anybody less than Jillian’s rank even considered meeting with them. So Grace, and the rest of the senior staff, knew to keep their distance. Grace didn’t even know their names. But she never forgot their faces. That was why she knew that the gentleman seated across from her now, the one who had been taking sly peeps at her all night, was one of those faces.

  She had discovered him earlier that night. He was standing across the room, listening to a big-breasted Latina businesswoman Grace knew from previous parties, the one who loved to talk as if talking was going out of style. The first thing that had caught Grace’s eye about him was how well-dressed he was. Versace head to toe, if she knew her designers. His dinner jacket, in fact, was tailored to such perfection that it revealed in stark detail just how buff he really was. It also caused Grace to remember how, before she ended up in that long-term disaster of a relationship with attractive but very slim-hipped Cameron Birch, the man seated across from her now had the kind of powerful body type that had always turned her on.

  Here was a man, she thought when she first saw him from across the room, who was big without being body-builder big, but was also more athletic and lean than slim. And his hair was so full and rich and well-groomed that she at first wondered if the man was gay. She’d seen very few straight men who knew how to be that well put together. But by the way he kept taking sly glances at the Latina’s Anna Nicole-sized breasts, and the way he kept taking peeps at her, made her know better than that. And made her a little more interested herself. But then she saw his face, and remembered it, and therefore looked away. He was in that “Jillian territory” category, so she returned her attention back to her own circle.

  But now they were at the dinner table, seated across from each other, and avoidance was out of the question.

  “You like Michael Buble’, too, don’t you, Grace?” asked one of the men seated across the table from her, on the opposite side of Candace. And Grace suddenly found herself, for the first time, in a conversation that also included the handsome fat cat.

  “I do,” she said, as her eyes took a quick glance at Tommy. He was already staring at her.

  “Then will you please tell Candace here that people who like Buble’ aren’t all squares and old white guys?”

  Grace smiled. Tommy was drawn to her bright, white smile. “Well, Candace,” she said, “I like Buble’, too, and I don’t know if I fit the former category, but I certainly don’t fit the latter one.”

  The man and Candace laughed. Then Candace looked to her left, where Tommy sat.

  “Don’t tell me you like him, too, Thomas?” she asked him.

  Tommy held up his hand. Grace could see the big diamond ring he had on his finger and the Rolex watch he had on his wrist. “I’m afraid I must plead guilty,” he said with a rakish grin, and Grace could feel her heart flutter at the sight. “I’m not his number one fan or anything close to it, but I enjoyed his Call Me Irresponsible album pretty well.”

  Grace stared at him. It was one of her favorites, too.

  “Well, him I don’t get,” Candace said candidly. “I think he’s for the birds personally. I like my music to be at least current. Heck, I’ll even take Justin Bieber over Michael Buble’ any day of the week.”

  “Me, too, young lady, me too,” said the old man to her left, undoubtedly to appease his good looking table mate. Tommy and Grace looked at each other and smiled, as if they both were reasonably certain that the old guy had never even heard of Justin Bieber.

  But it was their first eye to eye contact. Tommy decided to go with it. “I’m Tommy Gabrini, by the way,” he said with a smile.

  “Grace McKinsey. Pleased to meet you.”

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you around Seattle’s social set,” he said. “Are you new in town?”

  The man seated next to Grace took immediate exception. “Grace new in town?” he asked with incredulity in his voice. “Not a chance. I knew her when her old man was still alive and was running Trammel.”

  “Not running it,” Jillian was quick to point out from the head of the table. “Employed there, yes, and an excellent employee, but he never ran Trammel. Nobody has ever run Trammel but Clive and then me,” she made clear.

  Grace chose to ignore her and keep her eyes on Tommy. Hers were big, bright, golden brown eyes, Tommy noticed.

  “I’ve lived in Seattle most of my life,” she said. “But I was going to ask you the same thing. I’ve attended many of Jilly’s parties, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you at any of them.” She refused to mention the fact that she’d seen him numerous times around the office, especially since he seemed to have absolutely no recollection of ever seeing her.

  “I’ve attended many parties around town,” Tommy said, “but I do believe this is my first time attending one hosted by Jilly.”

  “Ah,” Grace said. “So there you have it. You’re a virgin here, and since I attend very few parties around town, I’d be a virgin there.”

  Tommy laughed heartily. “Right,” he said.

  Candace, however, was stumped. “I don’t get it,” she said with a frown on her face. “What in the world does virginity have to do with it?”

  “What indeed,” said the older guy seated to the left of Candace.

  Grace, Tommy was pleased to see, didn’t demean Candace’s lack of understanding at all. She merely explained herself. “I was just pointing out the fact that I didn’t attend any of the parties Mr. Gabrini had attended, and he never attended any of Jillian’s previous parties. So I was using the ‘first time’ reference. That’s why I called it virgin.”

  Candace still didn’t seem to get it, but Jillian came to her rescue. She felt as if Tommy was getting a little too familiar with Grace anyway. She had her own plans for Grace, and they didn’t include Thomas Gabrini!

  “I agree with you, Candy,” Jillian said to her guest. “Sometimes Grace doesn’t explain herself very well at all. I’ve gotten on her about that countless times.” Then she looked at Tommy. “Grace is my chief of staff,” Jillian said, to inject herself fully into the conversation. “I don’t know if you were aware of that.”

  “Who, this child is your chief of staff?” Tommy said with a smile. “Why she can’t be more than ten!”

  Grace laughed. “Ten plus twenty more,” she said, although she didn’t think Tommy heard her.

  “And don’t let her youth fool you,” the old man seated beside Grace said with a laugh of his own. “She’s as ruthless a businesswoman as Jilly. She’s following right in Jilly’s footsteps.”

  Although Grace continued to smile, Tommy could tell she didn’t like that comparison at all. Tommy knew Jilly. He fully understood why she wouldn’t like it.

  But then dinner was served and that quick interaction would be the bulk of the contact they would have for the rest of the evening.

  Until Cameron Birch showed up.

  It was after dinner and no-one had bothered to leave. Grace was in her respective corner entertaining her male admirers and taking occasional peeps at Tommy. Tommy was freelancing, moving around, and taking the odd peep at Grace. For some reason he wanted to get next to her, and to talk to her more. But Candace, or some other woman, kept intercepting him.

  And Jillian kept avoiding him. He had already informed her that he needed to speak with her, but she kept finding somebody else who needed her attention and promised to get back to him. She was doing her best to avoid him. And he was allowing it for now. But they would have their conversation.

  He had been buying up shares of Trammel from Jillian for years in an effort to infuse some of his considerable capital into Jillian’s often struggling business. Not because he wanted some alliance with her, but because h
er late husband Clive Birch used to be one of his closest friends and had worked his ass off to make Trammel a successful enterprise. Tommy therefore had been her silent partner for years. But Tommy was an odd venture capitalist. He’d given Jillian free reign to run her business. And although it wasn’t turning any magnificent profits, it wasn’t bleeding any money, either.

  But then he decided to dig deeper. On his orders his people began to conduct internal audits that uncovered widespread and very disturbing ethical issues at Trammel that they felt needed to be addressed by him. And although Jillian was ducking and dodging now, he was determined to corner her later.

  And then Cam Birch showed up, young, handsome, robust as all get out, and by his interest in Grace alone forced Tommy Gabrini, who had every intention of staying well out of it, to make a move.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Tommy and most of the people in the room knew Cameron Birch to be a spoiled brat who held the title of Vice President at Trammel, but rarely showed up for work. The fact that he would show up drunk to his own mother’s dinner party when he knew how much Jillian cherished decorum, was a new low even for him. But for Jillian’s sake everybody tried to ignore him, even Jillian tried. Tommy especially wasn’t interested. Until the blond-haired young man went over to the one woman Tommy had internally separated for himself, and insisted she talk to him.

  Grace fascinated Tommy. Not just because she was beautiful. There were many beautiful women in the room, including Candace. But Grace didn’t bore him. She wasn’t trying to impress him with how wonderful a catch she would be or how he would be out of his mind if he didn’t get to know her better. She didn’t display any affectation or flirtatiousness at all. Which pleased him mightily and made him more than a little curious to learn more about her. He found himself, slowly but surely, working his way across the room to get by her side.