Chapter Four: Dark and Mysterious

Gabbi took a long drink from her water bottle and then repositioned the smile on her lips as the next fan stepped before her. It had already been three hours and she was exhausted. She wondered if anyone would believe her when she said that book signings were tougher than running a marathon. 

The amount of energy it took to smile and nod was insane. It was like flipping a light switch to on and feeling your bulb blaze and start to burn out customer after customer. 

The current customer in question was a woman rattled on about how she had made one of Gabbi’s recipes for a dinner party and how it had been the absolute hit of the evening.  Gabbi thanked her for her purchase and autographed her book.  The woman asked for a photograph with Gabbi and she obliged.

As the flash lit up the dim room, her eyes felt hot as the little black dots began to form in front of them.  She blinked a few times to clear her eyes and, when she finally regained her vision, standing before her was a tall, dark mystery man staring down at her.

His eyes were staring straight into hers with pure lust. It took her by surprise but her heart sped up to a frantic beat and she squeezed her legs together beneath the table. Just one look at this man and she wanted him.

Gabbi blinked a few more times and looked down at the table.

Get it together, Gabbi.

She chastized herself then took a deep breath. Finally, she looked back up at the man.  His eyes were literally drinking her in as he reached forward to set a copy of her book before her.

She cleared her throat and then managed to squeak out the words, “Who shall I make it out to?”

As he spoke his name, she watched his tongue roll off the back of his blindingly white teeth and she felt a tremor through her body.

She heard it but not just the word--the pulse of his heart--the warmth of his breath--the heat that emenated from him. She swallowed hard.

What is happening to me?

She pressed her lips together and pressed her knees together. Her reaction was inappopriate. What she she really this horny?

“I'm sorry. Could you say that again?" she heard herself ask him his name again and felt a blush creep across her cheeks. It was rude to have to ask again.

"Santiago," he said.

"Santiago?” she repeated.  Just one name had never caused a response in her like the one she was feeling now.  Although it seemed like the craziest thought in the world, she had the sudden urge to just climb over the table and wrap her legs around his tall, lean frame.

She reached for her water bottle before she touched his book.  She had to get control of herself.  She knew that she was having ridiculous thoughts about a perfect stranger. She gulped the water like a woman who'd been left stranded in the desert. He waited and watched as she finally set the bottle down.

“Have you read the book?” she asked as something inside her ached to hear his melodic voice again.

“I’m ashamed to say no but I plan to devour each and every word of it.  I can assure you.”

She stopped writing his name and looked up at him again.  His head was lilting slightly to the right and she could swear that he was focused on her lips.  Without thinking, she ran the tip of her tongue over her lips.  This was swiftly followed by the sound of something like a low growl coming directly from him.

She cut her eyes around to see if anyone else had noticed but no one seemed to be paying attention to their exchange. When she made eye contact with him again, hIs blue eyes seemed to glow a little bit.

I must be going insane. 

“I wonder…do you have any vegan recipes in the book?”

His question startled her back to reality and her mind raced to catch up.

“You’re a vegan?” she asked with a surprise that she could not hide.  There was no way that a man this viral this blood thirsty could be a vegan. She shook her head.

Blood thirsty? Where did that thought come from?

She really felt like she was losing her mind. Maybe she was more sleep deprived that she'd thought.

“Yes, I am.  I’m very committed.”  He seemed to be trying to convince his own self as well as her.

She couldn’t help but smile.  He certainly was a mystery man and full of surprises.  She knew that it was a mistake but she had to know more about this man.  She was drawn to him and she liked it.

Before she could convince herself otherwise, she scribbled her private cell phone number into his book and quickly closed the cover.  She slid it across the table and smiled up at him.

“Nice to meet you, Santiago.  I hope to see you again.”  For the first time in months, she beamed with a truly genuine smile.

He nodded his head and bent forward slightly as he took the book.

"Thank you very much, Gabbi," he said. His voice rolling off his tongue and straight down her spine sending a shiver of pleasure through her.

She watched him closely as he walked away she could have sworn that she saw him raise the book to his nose and inhale.