Chapter 25

“These are for you and I thought they were beautiful when I picked them up but I see now they cannot begin to compare to you. You look incredible Gabrielle.” He told her as she took the vase from him, the faint spicy scent of the flowers perfuming the air between them. 

K.C. looked very handsome in a navy pinstriped suit, dark blue silk tie and white shirt combo, his eyes were bright in a tanned face and his dark blonde hair was casually brushed back from his broad forehead. He had obviously shaved earlier in the day but the fuzz was coming in and he was toying with letting his mustache grow.  

“Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.” she responded with more cool than she felt. Rielle stepped gracefully away from his disturbing orbit and placed the vase on the table in front of the sectional.

Georgie had gone to take her overnight bag to the vehicle and Gabrielle straightened to find K.C.’s eyes lingering on her backside, but his gaze quickly jerked back to her face.

“You look really fantastic in that dress.” He said earnestly as the chiffon settled around her trim ankles.

“I know.” Rielle told her with a flirty smile and he grinned back at her. The dress had definitely been worth it as she basked in his response. Georgie had been correct but he hadn't touched her yet and she was a little disappointed by that fact. 

“Are you ready to go?” he asked looking away from her with difficulty. 

K.C. didn't dare lay a hand on her beautiful light chocolate skin or lips either for that matter because he knew that they would never leave her house if he did. He restrained himself by remembering that this weekend was about her and what she would want not just jumping on her and fuc... Damn he was just exciting himself with this train of thought and he didn't want her to think he was just interested in getting laid.

If he wasn't careful he was going to ruin this for her and he had to really get himself under control. He had never been so excited, the energy fizzing through his veins. K.C. really did want to give her the surprise he had planned for her.

She nodded and Rielle locked her house before turning and looking out at the beauty of the sun soon set, she never tired of that. K.C. escorted her down the steps and she saw the Range Rover sitting like Cinderella’s pumpkin and Georgie’s Volvo parked behind it.

“Your chariot awaits Miss Hall.” Michael said and she smiled at him as he held open the door doffing an imaginary cap. K.C. handed her into the back of the SUV before walking around the vehicle. K.C.'s touch had been light but still he felt the charge that surged between them as their eyes met briefly. 

He said something to the dark haired man who walked over to talk to Georgie. K.C. entered the vehicle, closed the door behind him before turning to her and pulling a silk scarf out of his jacket pocket and holding it up so she could see.

“I won’t mess up your hair, but I want this to be a surprise for you. Do you trust me Gabrielle?” He asked her and she nodded slowly before allowing him to blind fold her.

K.C. looked at Michael who had finally gotten in and started the vehicle and he turned on the CD player. Gabrielle heard the most beautiful Spanish guitar music as K.C. picked up her left hand.

Being deprived of her sight magnified everything else as she inhaled his familiar cologne thinking she could pick him out by scent from any other man in the world. Rielle started when she felt his lips make contact with the skin of her inner wrist and she smiled remembering when he had come to her home that first night.

With the windows up and the AC running she had no clue as to where he was taking her but it felt like forever before the car stopped but the engine remained on. She heard Michael’s door open and close and Rielle vaguely got a whiff of the sea before she heard the sound of K.C. turning to her, their knees bumping together.

“I want you to stay here until I come and get you and no peaking or I might have to spank you. Okay?” he told her playfully.

Gabrielle wasn’t sure whether it was sensory deprivation or if she was really that excited but when he said that her bottom actually clenched and she almost bit her lip before recalling her lip gloss.

“Okay.” She replied in a thin voice.

This blindfold was making her very uninhibited if this was the way her thoughts were running. She inhaled deeply and waited for what was to come.

K.C. sat staring at her for a moment, her eyes covered by the fabric with only her pert nose, sexy mouth and sharp little chin showing and he started to lean forward and would have kissed her but pulled himself back in time.

He had missed her like hell while he was in Denver and had done everything in his power to get back to her as quickly as possible.  K.C. had worked some killer hours and virtually slept on the couch in his office to finish the work that had piled up on his desk since he left.

His father had looked at him with silent  speculation in his shrewd blue eyes when he heard he had practically bitten off the head of his frazzled secretary.

Sheila Marks had been with Aurora for twelve years and K.C. for six but she had thrown up her hands ready to quit when she had accidentally changed his plane reservations making them for Saturday instead of Friday and he had exploded.

K.C. had apologized and charmed his way back into her good graces when he realized that he had seriously overreacted, especially since if he really wanted to he could take one of the company private jets down to St. Sebastian. He had bought Sheila a broach to add to her collection as well as tickets to a concert she had mentioned to him.

“It is a pretty big holiday weekend K.C., are you sure you don’t want to stay and go back on Tuesday? Your mother would love to have you come over and spend some time and I’m sure your brother and sister would like to see you too.” Colton Whitfield had told him.  

The older Whitfield had sensed something different in his son on this second trip back and now his curiosity was piqued by his usually even tempered son’s abnormal behavior.

“I’m sorry dad but I have to get back to St. Sebastian. I’ve got a very important meeting coming up this weekend. Besides I know how you and Mom like to run around the house naked when we aren’t there. I wouldn’t want to deprive either of you of that dubious pleasure.” He had replied gazing up at his father from behind his drawing board.

There was nothing like finding out that your parents still had marital relations by walking in on them in their living room when they were supposed to be at work. His mother's indignant scream was still echoing in his ear and the fact that his father had an all over tan was not something he need to be aware of. 

He was working really hard to erase that memory by focusing on the bright side; at least he could look forward to a long healthy relationship with his spouse. It only surprised him a little that he was really beginning to hope that Gabrielle could be that woman.

Colton had looked back at his son with a roguish grin and sparkling blue eyes and K.C. saw that there was still some bad boy left in his nearly sixty year old father.

“I can’t wait for you to meet your soul mate K.C.. When you finally find your own woman, you’ll take any opportunity you can get to be with her.” He had smoothly in his deep voice, unashamed to let anyone know he was still in love with his beautiful wife after all this time.

They were considered one of the most powerful couples in the business world and his mother was an integral part of Aurora Enterprises still, although she had taken some time off when he and his siblings were younger. She had also taken time off to supervise his grandparents care now that they were getting into their early nineties and not as mobile as they used to be.

K.C. exited the vehicle now and walked around to lift Gabrielle out and he inhaled her delicate fragrance as he looked down at her. Even blindfolded her face was expressive as she registered the smell and sound of the ocean, steel pan music and birdsong. He smiled as she furrowed her brow in concentration while trying to work out where they were.

He turned her around so that her back was to his front and then he slowly loosened the blindfold before allowing it to fall from her eyes. K.C. had enough height on her even with Gabrielle in high heels to see her face as her eyelids rose and took in the awesome view.

Gabrielle’s heart was pounding and she couldn’t believe her eyes as she saw a sleek white yacht that must have been at least a hundred feet long tied to the dock and she leaned into the warm body behind her for a moment of support.

He had brought her to the marina at Hidden Cove she recognized glancing around at all of the other elegant vessels that bobbed in the deep blue water. The yacht in front of her was an incredible sight especially up close and not what she had expected. She turned to look up at him shock clearly written all over her face.

“K.C., what did you do?” she whispered as his eyes smiled down at her.

“I thought that you deserved to be a queen for your birthday. I know we can only stay on board till Sunday afternoon because of your game on Sunday and your parents throwing you that barbeque on Monday but I hoped you would like this. Georgie and Andie said you didn’t get seasick. Don’t tell me they were wrong? Don't you like it?” He said his brow wrinkling as he began to get worried by her reaction.

“No, I don’t get seasick, but this is just too much for the two of us. This is the most generous thing anyone has ever done for me. I- I’m just overwhelmed.” Gabrielle told him almost on the verge of tears.

Gabrielle couldn’t believe that he had done this crazy, extravagant thing for her. K.C. didn’t throw his money around and was content to go to a mobile food van and eat a sandwich as he was to take her out to one of the many fabulous restaurants on the island. He was so low key about his money that she no longer felt uncomfortable about it.

This yacht was even more beautiful than the one those crazy housewives from New York had sailed around the U.S. Virgin Islands on. The show was the guilty pleasure she would never admit to K.C. that she watched but that she shared with her mother. Rielle could admit to feeling a little envious of them being able to indulge in something so hedonistic and now K.C. was offering her the chance to experience it for herself.

From the orchids to this magnificent gesture K.C. really was the most incredible man she had ever met and she was leaving him hanging while she was behaved like an doting idiot she thought glancing up at him quickly through the screen of her lashes.

“Thank you for this K. C. I’m really going to love my birthday weekend.” She told him.

Gabrielle lifted her hands to run them over the lapel of his jacket as she lifted her eyes to meet his. He saw the happy glow in the depths of her green eyes and he clasped both of her hands in his as he bent and dropped a kiss on her tempting mouth and then kissed her hands while holding her gaze before turning to view the  magnificent vessel.

“The crew must think we’ve changed our mind. What’s her name?” Gabrielle asked as they began walking toward the gangplank hand in hand. 

“This is the Caribbean Temptation. She has a crew of six including the captain and we’ll be taking a leisurely sail around the island.” She held her dress out of the way as she boarded the luxurious boat, with K.C.’s hand in the center of her back and the captain greeted them politely as he helped his guests.

“Welcome aboard, my name is Captain Robert Pierson and it’s a pleasure to have you both with us Miss Hall, Mr. Whitfield. We’ll be underway in ten minutes.” The captain told them, before he introduced them to the other members of the crew.

They turned out to be a cosmopolitan mix, the captain and chef were a married couple from Norway, the first mate a native New Yorker, the chief steward from Fiji, the stewardess from New Zealand and the two deck hands from Canada.

They were all neatly dressed in gold polo shirts and khaki shorts and she saw that this was the color scheme of the elegant yacht as the chief steward led them through a highly polished wooden hall to the aft deck where they would be dining.

K.C.'s extravagant gesture was mind-blowing but what she had really found endearing was the concern on his face when he thought she didn't like the surprise he had obviously spent some time as well as money on.