Chapter 63

" I'm being serious, let me go!" She insisted. I held her by both wrists and pinned them to the wall in either side of her. I was intent on making her realize that I wasn't joking either. 

" Apologize, " I told her and her mouth fell open as she struggled to find appropriate words to tell me. I didn't rely want her to apologize,I just needed that rage back. 

" For what?!" 

Fire in her voice. That was a little more like it. 

" For acting so stubborn when all I wanted to do was help you, " 

If looks could kill I would have been long dead by then. 

" You are delusional and insane and arrogant and-"

" And I fucking care about you!" I cut her off. She stopped struggling, trying to judge my statement with her eyes. To gauge whether or not I was being truthful with her. And she must have seen more than I wanted her to because her eyes widened a bit and she looked away. I immediately let go of her. Her sweet strawberry scent was blocking the basic element of reason from making its way to my brain. 

I rubbed my hand over my forehead and blew out a sharp breath, not liking how aggressive my heart had become. That ' something' between us had risen and it made my vision a little blurry. Whatever she was doing to me wasn't normal. And if it was then I preferred to be as abnormal as I could possibly be. 

" I'm gonna go, " she said and I didn't dare stop her. I wanted more time with her,more of her company, but first I needed to dash to a gym and run miles on the treadmill and see if I could jog some sense back into my head. 

She straightened her apron and walked away slowly, I felt her glance at me over her shoulder before she stepped back into the kitchen but I didn't dare look back. I wasn't going to allow her to suck me into that dreamland where we were the only ones that existed. 

It was true that I cared for her, and it was just a statement. It meant nothing! But then why had I felt as if there was more to the words uttered by me? And the amount of intense emotions that swirled within me when I said them was too profound to comprehend. 

I walked back to my table and picked up my things. She would be off at seven. I'm not even sure why I knew that. But I did, and I also knew that Arden would be away till about ten that night. And despite what had just occurred I was determined to get as much time with Layla as I could. I didn't even want it to be physical, as long as she would be there then I'm certain I would be satisfied. Besides, it was only a matter of time before she could leave, and so I was going to get the most out of our time together before then. 

And once she was gone I wouldn't even think of her ever again, I'd erase her from my mind like a distant memory I wanted nothing to do with. And I'd go back to how my life had been before meeting her. 

That sounded fairly easy. 

After placing a few bills on the table for the food she had eaten I left. 

But I still didn't get why she had to be so dramatic, all I had done was ensure she took good care of herself and in return she acted as if I was on a mission to ruin her entire life.

💮🌼💮🌼💮

"No!" Layla said the second she saw me standing outside the restaurant. Her entire face fell, it was as if I was the last person she actually wanted to see. I felt a little insulted. Considering the fact that I had gone out of my way to miss a meeting and had also put my work on hold.

" Wow Gabriel, I'm so happy to see you, " I told myself since she clearly wasn't planning to. She turned to both her right and left,then she blew out a long defeated breath and walked over to me. I was a little shocked, I had expected her to attempt running off. She was learning, that was great.

She walked past me to the other side of my car and pulled open the passenger seat door before she got in. I turned and leaned into my open window first.

" How was your day?" I asked, a smile on my face and a little sparkle in my eyes. She didn't respond, instead I watched as she reached into her purse and took out a scrunchie which she used to quickly tie her hair, then she looked at me and arched a brow. 

" I'm so tired, " she told me, then she leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. 

I got in and reached out for her arm,she jumped a bit before she frowned and turned to me once more. I wasn't really planning on heading home right away, I had put some other plans in order first. But if she was really tired then I would be willing to postpone them all to another time. 

" On a scale of one to ten, how exhausted are you?" I asked and she looked at me all skeptically. As if she knew I was planning something.

" Why do you ask?" 

" Just because, "

She bit her lower lip gain and tilted her head to both sides as she pondered on the question.

" Five I guess, " she finally replied and I smirked. Five wasn't bad at all,it meant she still had quite a lot of energy to keep going. I started the car and drove off. 

" Hey, where are you taking me?" She asked the second she realized I wasn't heading for the penthouse. I told her to just relax and trust me,but I led the list of the people who she didn't trust. It made this ga a little difficult.

" Will you for once just try and trust me?" 

" You barged into my work and forced me to eat in front of my coworkers, most of who now think I'm suffering from a deadly illness! And thanks to you, the others are all convinced you're my husband and not Arden!" 

" Are we still on that?" I asked and she frowned in the most adorable manner, like a six year old with a tantrum. She crossed her arms and focused on the windscreen, her face set in grim lines of anger. I just couldn't help but laugh. 

That was yet another thing I liked about her, even if she was opposed to everything I did she would always eventually calm down. And she had told me so herself, that she liked my special kind of weird,whatever that meant. 

" Stop laughing, I'm serious. Gosh! This girl even came over to me and went all, ' oh my God your boyfriend is soooo hot, if you ever break up then I call dibs', " She added and finished off with scoff and a roll of her gorgeous eyes. I couldn't help myself, I kept on laughing. And I wondered what she had told them all,whether she had corrected them or simply let them think whatever they wanted to. And after I managed to get my laughter under control I turned to her once more and found her smiling. She was staring at me. And suddenly the air around us was filled with awkwardness for a second before I cleared my throat and took a turn. We had almost arrived at our destination. And I couldn't wait to see her reaction once she realized exactly where I was planning on taking her. I closed all the windows in the car and smirked at her through the rearview mirror. Then I inclined my head towards the backseat and asked he to take the shopping bag I had placed there. 

She cautiously did so, then she focused on me before opening it and asked me what it was. 

" You're literally holding it, don't be lazy and find out for yourself, " she was, as expected, very on edge. She reached into the bag and pulled out a black dress and a pair of wedged heels. 

" Gabriel?" Suspicion filled her voice. I chuckled and asked her to put them on. But first she insisted I tell her where we were going. 

" It's a surprise, I'm certain you'll like it, " 

No she wouldn't. Actually if my guess was correct then she was going to completely hate the place, but that was the issue with Layla. She had hardly experienced anything in life so she just automatically assumed that she didn't like to try new things. But once she tried them out then she changed her mind, I had witnessed that myself. 

" Go ahead now, put them on, " I instructed and she looked around us and sighed. Knowing very well that there was no point in refusing since she'd end up doing so either way. The windows were tinted, no one could see her apart from me,but she was still hesitant to change. 

" I've already seen it all, just put the dress on," I told her with a dash of humor in my voice. She blushed and glanced away,but then she eventually started to undress.