Naughty but Nice: A Best Friend's Dad Christmas Romance Read online

“You look beautiful,” I said. “He won’t be able to resist you.”

  Alyssa grinned as she swept up her purse and phone from the edge of my bed. She glanced down at her phone before her fingers danced along the glowing screen.

  “You’re too sweet,” she said, and then kissed me on the cheek. “Don’t wait up for me. I’ll be back whenever Scott decides to bring me home.”

  I nodded because I didn’t trust my voice to conceal my own nervousness about tonight. Once I was confident that Alyssa was gone and she wasn’t coming back, I rushed into my room to pull out the outfit I had mentally planned throughout the afternoon. I had done a bit of research on this restaurant that Gabriel suggested, and there was no doubt in my mind that jeans weren’t allowed there. This place called for nice and expensive clothes, so I shimmied into a floral-patterned skirt that flowed down to the tops of my knees. I paired it with a cream-colored blouse, along with some nylons and ankle boots.

  I spent the next few minutes contouring my face with makeup while fighting nerves. I had no idea what Gabriel wanted to talk about, but I was glad that he wanted to do it out in public, not in private like the previous times where both of us had caved into temptation way too easily.

  Gabriel had sent over a car to take me to the restaurant. The driver was waiting down in the lobby with a few security guards. He led me out into the cold night where an SUV was parked in front of the building.

  “Do you know anything about this restaurant?” I asked while I buckled my seat belt. “I’ve tried looking it up several times on the internet, but I only found a website detailing their menu and desired attire.”

  William drove through the parking lot in the direction of the freeway. “It’s not directly here in Chicago. It’s on the outskirts of the city. Beautiful place to go to.” He glanced up in the rearview mirror to catch my eyes with a smile. “I’ve taken my wife there a few times under Mr. Bradley’s invitation. You’re going to enjoy it. The food is amazing, the atmosphere is nice, and it’s very private.”

  I slumped back in the passenger seat. The nerves in my stomach twisted together in a ball again at the mention of the place being private. That could be trouble. Delicious, orgasmic trouble.

  The rest of the drive passed by silently as the city lights disappeared behind us. It was all back roads from the freeway until William turned into a gravel parking lot that was full of cars. A small, two-story house materialized in the darkness, looking like a cottage on the hillside with oak trees and a wraparound porch. Strings of white lights wrapped around the entire house, giving the place an enchanted look.

  William pulled up to the front porch steps, and my stomach dropped. What was Gabriel trying to do? The question echoed in my mind uneasily while the front door opened a moment later.

  Gabriel had picked the most expensive and secluded restaurant to have a conversation in. Obviously, I knew that money wasn’t a factor when he picked this type of place, but it seemed terribly romantic for a simple conversation. I only saw couples walking up to the front door as Gabriel emerged from the soft glow of the lights inside. He was dressed exquisitely, with his dark pants, white button-up, and a dark sweater vest. His dark hair was styled back from his sharp face.

  Those damn butterflies in my stomach started all over again when Gabriel opened the passenger door to offer his hand for me to take. Not wanting to be rude, I took his hand while I slid out of the passenger seat and waved to William, who nodded back at us. Sparks went up my arm at the feel of Gabriel’s sturdy fingers holding mine. I pulled my hand from his, not willing to draw any attention to the two of us until I knew what this extravagant dinner was all about.

  “You look nice,” Gabriel said. His eyes raked me up down, leaving hot trails along my skin. “Come inside.”

  I followed him up the front porch steps to walk inside the warm restaurant that smelled of garlic and freshly baked bread. My stomach twisted into a million knots when Gabriel placed his hand on my lower back to usher me past the hostess stand and up the grand stairs to an even more private dining space. The tiny room had several vases of flowers spread throughout, along with flickering candles that bathed the room in soft light.

  My heart lodged itself into my throat. This felt like a romantic date, which both excited and frightened me. I shrugged out of my coat to hand it over to the waiter who immediately approached our table. He hung it on a coat rack in the corner and returned to our table to ask if I’d like some wine to start with.

  “Just a small glass,” I said to the waiter, not willing to let alcohol lower my inhibitions again tonight. That was how things had gotten so complicated with Gabriel in the first place. “Can I have some water also?”

  The waiter nodded at me. “Of course. I’ll be back with that in just a moment.”

  A smile spread across Gabriel’s face then. We waited in awkward silence until the waiter returned with our glasses of wine and water, followed by some garlic bread that I didn’t even bother touching. It smelled absolutely divine, but the butterflies in my stomach prevented me from being able to eat.

  I waited for him to break the silence. It was his idea to come out to a nice place to talk in privacy. He could make the first move.

  “I imagine you’re wondering why I asked you to come out here tonight,” he said.

  “A little,” I said. “You said that you wanted to talk about something.”

  Gabriel propped his elbows up on the edge of the table to gaze at me. “I wanted to clear the air between us. Things have gotten a bit—”

  The ringing of my cell phone interrupted him. It sounded jarring in the peaceful silence surrounding us. He stopped short and looked down at my purse hanging off the back of my chair.

  I reached into my purse with an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry. I thought I had put it on silent.”

  “It’s okay. Go ahead and answer it.”

  “No, thanks,” I said, recognizing my mother’s cell phone number. “I think it’d be better if I didn’t take it. It’s my mom so—”

  “Answer it,” Gabriel said firmly. “She’s been calling me for the past few days, too. I think she needs to speak with you about something.”

  This was the last thing I wanted to deal with in the middle of a fancy dinner with Gabriel. I contemplated letting it roll over to voicemail again, but I hit the answer button at the last second. I knew she’d keep calling until she got ahold of me.

  “I’m a bit busy right now, Mom. Can I call you later?”

  “You won’t return my calls, so I know you won’t call me later,” she said dryly. “What are you doing right now?”

  “Right now?” I swept my gaze over Gabriel as he diverted his attention away to give me a small bit of privacy to talk. “I’m in the middle of something that isn’t any of your business. What do you need?”

  “I was calling to surprise you,” she said merrily. “We’re here in Chicago!”

  My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. “You are? When did you get here?”

  “A few hours ago,” she said. “That’s why I’ve been trying to get ahold of you. I didn’t want to just show up to Gabriel’s penthouse unannounced.”

  “How thoughtful of you,” I said, my voice dripping sarcasm.

  “I was calling to invite you to dinner tomorrow night. You, Alyssa, and Gabriel. What do you think?”

  I glanced over at Gabriel, who was scrolling through his own phone.

  Damn her for cornering me like this. “I don’t know, Mom, I think we might have plans already,” I said as Gabriel gave me a questioning look across the table.

  “Jesus Penny, you can’t avoid me forever, I’m your mother,” she said, her voice losing its happy tone.

  “It’s not you I’m trying to avoid, and you know it,” I said sharply.

  Now I had Gabriel’s full attention. He put his phone down and studied me as I continued to talk to my mother.

  “Oh Penny, you’re just imagining things,” she said and I shook my head.

  I
refused to let my mother put this on me again. It was not my fault that her creepy-ass boyfriend had a thing for me and liked to make me feel uncomfortable. The fact that she cared more about what he thought and felt, than her own daughter made me angry all over again.

  “Look, I have to go Mom. I’ll talk to you later,” I said, hanging up before she could say anything else.

  “What was that all about?” Gabriel asked, concern clouding his green eyes.

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “Didn’t sound like nothing Penny. I think it’s time you finally told me what is going on? Who are you trying to avoid if not your mother?” he asked.

  “Gabriel, I really appreciate your concern, but I really don’t want to ruin my evening by talking about this.”

  Gabriel held my gaze for a moment before finally dropping the subject. I’d be damned if I let my mother’s boyfriend affect me more than he already had.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN – GABRIEL

  The next day, I arrived back at the condo after a hectic day in the office. I found Penny pacing nervously in the living room. She paused briefly as I set my computer down on my desk to plug the charger in.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” I returned with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly.

  “Really? You’re burning a trail in my floor from all the pacing,” I stated, shaking my head at her. “Is there something that you want to talk to me about, Penny?”

  Penny chewed on the pad of her thumb as she turned to look out the living room windows.

  “My mother invited us all to dinner tonight,” she said. “I just want to get it over with so she’ll stop bothering me and go home.”

  “Fair enough,” I said, crossing the living room to where she stood. I glanced over my shoulder to look for any sign of Alyssa, but the entire condo was quiet. “Where’s my daughter?”

  “Either in the shower or getting dressed. She’ll be out in a minute.”

  I rested my hands on Penny’s shoulders to coax her around to face me. Her eyes widened visibly as I lowered my head to press my lips against hers, for what I intended to be a brief kiss. I just needed a touch of her lips against mine to ease the tension from my day. Our dinner plans yesterday had gone completely awry because of her mother’s phone call. We didn’t get a chance to talk, but right now, I didn’t want to talk. I wanted my body to communicate for me.

  It took a few seconds before Penny’s lips started to move beneath mine. The tips of our tongues collided as she reached up to lightly drag her fingertips across my jawline. It felt so good, too good for me to pull away. She tasted of mint toothpaste. The smell of vanilla clung to her skin and the soft strands of her long blonde hair. I buried my hand into her luxurious locks and savored the silkiness that I felt there. It reminded me of other places on Penny’s body that felt like heated silk on my flesh.

  Penny’s hands shot out to push me back with a startled glance. She took a hasty step back from me right before Alyssa came into the living room. My daughter’s head was tilted down to focus on her phone in her hand. I silently thanked Penny’s quick reflexes and Alyssa’s constant fascination with her phone.

  “How long do you think we’ll be at dinner?” Alyssa asked. She glanced up and looked at me in surprise. “Oh, Dad. I didn’t hear you come in. Did you just get here?”

  I cleared my throat as I reached up to unbutton my heavy jacket. Penny kept her eyes riveted to the floor, and I brushed by her with a forced smile gracing my lips. Something told me that I would be doing a lot of this tonight, with Nikki Lewis sitting across from me.

  “Just got in,” I replied. “I’m about to jump into the shower. Did you settle on a place for dinner?”

  “I told William where it was,” Penny said, an edge to her voice. I wanted to calm Penny’s nerves, but I kept to myself as Alyssa walked over to where she stood near the windows. I didn’t want to give Alyssa any sort of indication about a relationship between myself and Penny. Not yet, anyway. I needed to talk with Penny desperately without distractions around, but it seemed impossible over the past few days.

  I took a hot shower to ease the soreness from my muscles before getting dressed again. It was close to five-thirty when William called up from downstairs to inform us that he was waiting outside in the SUV.

  A thick snow started to trickle down from the sky when I followed Alyssa and Penny out into the cold evening air. I kept my gaze fixated on Penny as she walked alongside Alyssa to the back passenger seat. I opened the door for the two of them to slide in before I hopped into the front seat of the SUV, alongside William who immediately pulled out of the parking lot.

  “Is this place close?” Alyssa asked. “I told Scott that I might be able to see him later tonight, depending on when dinner ended.”

  I twisted around in my seat to look over at Alyssa pointedly. “You’re being rude, Alyssa. This is Penny’s mother, who happened to be a good friend of mine a long time ago.”

  “She doesn’t even want to go,” she remarked cynically. “She tried talking her way out of dinner tonight because of that piece of shit boyfriend that is tagging along with her mother.”

  I glanced over at Penny, who sat rigidly in the back seat. Her head was turned away from the two of us. I couldn’t gauge any sort of emotion because her long blonde hair shielded her face.

  Piece of shit boyfriend. Now, it made sense why Penny had avoided going home. To spare her the humiliation, though, I didn’t question anything until we pulled up in front of a steakhouse on the other side of Chicago. I spotted Nikki standing alongside a younger man with dark blonde hair and a beard. She turned to smile at the SUV as William pulled up to the curb.

  I turned to look back at Penny, but she had already hopped out of the SUV to walk around the front to greet her mother. I watched the two of them embrace awkwardly while I slipped out of the passenger seat, leaving instructions with William to wait for my call.

  “My baby girl,” Nikki said, hugging Penny fiercely to her. “You look so beautiful, honey. I can’t believe how much you’ve changed over the past few months.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Penny said. She took a step back to barely nod in the younger man’s direction, which appeared instantly at Nikki’s side to stare at her. “Hello, Dylan.”

  “Always good to see you, Penny,” he said smoothly. “And you look amazing, like your mom said.”

  The comment caused something to flare up in my chest. I clenched my fingers into fists in my coat pockets as Dylan gazed at Penny long and hard before he twisted his head in my direction to look at me with distrust. Nikki paid little attention to any of it as she stepped forward to embrace me tightly as well.

  “It’s so good to see you, Gabriel,” she said. “I’m glad you’ve been able to keep an eye on my girl here.”

  I plastered a smile on my face again. “Of course. I know you’d do the same if Alyssa wanted to come visit you over in New York City.”

  “Of course,” Nikki said, smiling. “Alyssa, darling. I remember when you were toddling around the hallway. You have grown into quite the young woman now.”

  “Thank you,” Alyssa said. “It’s good to see you again, Ms. Lewis.”

  “Shall we go in, then?” Nikki asked and looped an arm through Penny’s. “It’s starting to snow like crazy out here! Come along, Gabriel. I know how much you like a good steak.”

  I stepped up behind the girls and stared hard at the back of Dylan’s head. I could see immediately why Penny didn’t like him. He had a predatory air about him and I didn’t like the way he looked at Penny. At all.

  Dylan tore his gaze away from Penny as she followed her mother in through the glass doors. The tips of his ears went red when he noted that I had been watching him stare at Penny. Something wasn’t right about the way Dylan’s eyes rested on Penny a bit too intently. It didn’t sit well with me, either, when he flicked his eyes up and down me in an assessing manner.

  “Can’t wait, babe,�
� he said, looking back at Nikki. He turned to walk up the pathway to follow Nikki and Penny inside. It was Alyssa who gently touched the back of my elbow with a frown.

  “I didn’t imagine him staring at Penny, did I?” she whispered, breath streaming out in front of her. “It was weird, right?”

  “Something isn’t right about him,” I agreed, and draped an arm around Alyssa’s shoulders. “Come on. We need to go inside before we freeze our butts off out here in the snow.”

  We settled at a large table that faced a snowed-in patio area, and we exchanged polite conversation. Nikki seemed interested in my upcoming proposal for the government contract. As I spoke, I kept one eye trained on Penny, who sat on one side of her mother while Dylan sat on the other side. His eyes kept shifting over to where Penny sat looking at her menu, but her eyes weren’t moving.

  “I hear that you are in line for some good things,” she said. “That’s exciting! I’m so happy for you, Gabriel. You’ve done really well for yourself and Alyssa.”

  “Figured I better put my brain to good use,” I said with a shrug. “What about you, Dylan? What do you do?”

  Dylan’s eyes glittered with irritation when he looked up at me. “I am actually Nikki’s personal assistant back in the city.”

  “So, she’s your boss?” I asked coolly.

  The subtle insult didn’t slip past Penny’s attention, and she looked up to smile at me. Anger radiated from Dylan, but Nikki placed a soothing hand on his forearm when he glared at me.

  “Let’s talk about something else,” she said. “Find any good men here, Penny?”

  Penny’s cheeks reddened at that. I swallowed the nagging guilt in my throat when Nikki looked at me expectantly for an answer. Yes, me. It’s me, Nikki. What do you think about that? I forced those thoughts away, though, before they could come spilling out of my mouth.

  “No one,” Penny said. “Can we talk about something else? Something that doesn’t involve my love life?”

  Nikki shrugged as she swept Alyssa up into a conversation, then. The rest of dinner passed by in a series of awkward questions while Penny kept her gaze fixated on her plate, refusing to look in anyone’s direction. It was vividly clear that she was uncomfortable, but Nikki paid little attention to it. She was clearly more interested in her own agenda than the comfort of her only daughter. It made me angry on Penny’s behalf. This was not the Nikki I had known all those years ago.