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desire to stand and would have no problem paying for the option to sit down. Arriving at his table of choice, he turned back to Penelope, “Sit with me.”
    He felt another tug as she pulled back slightly, looking back over her shoulder. Tilting his head, he noticed the women she had come with gesturing and motioning at her with thumbs up signals and motions to sit. It seemed that she relaxed some after that. Knowing that her friends were watching and knew where she was must have given her some relief. Good. He was okay with that. But now he needed her full attention on him. Pulling out her seat, he waited until she was situated before grabbing his own chair and motioning for the waitress to come take their drink order. “I’ll have another one of these,” he lifted his glass as he made the statement, and the waitress made a note, “and my guest will have a dirty martini with blue cheese olives.”
    “Yes, sir. Any specific type of vodka?” Although the question was for Penelope, the waitress never took her eyes off of Gabriel.
    “Belvedere.” Looking at Penelope, he could tell that she was annoyed that she had essentially been taken out of the conversation, even though it was her drink being discussed. Her eyes had taken a little glint of fire, and damn it was sexy. Tonight was turning out to be much better than he could have expected.

Chapter Three
     
     
    The nerve of this man. This fine, sexy, mouth-watering man. What the hell had just happened and why in the world was she allowing it? Penelope was not happy with Mr. Gabriel Turner. But for the life of her, she could not bring herself to move from her seat. No, moving away wasn’t an option right now. He was cocky and brash and too damn confident, but she needed to see where this would go. After making the impromptu decision to walk over to him and say hello, her brain must have short-circuited. This was not her normal behavior and there was no reason that she would be acting like a love-struck girl. She was thirty years old, dammit. Okay, thirty-two, but still. Close enough.
    When he had initially appeared in front of her with that wicked smile on his face, she was struck dumb. Tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, she had seemingly lost her ability to form a coherent sentence. His golden colored eyes had captured hers and she had been immediately sucked in. His voice was like warm molasses and when he spoke it was as if she were stuck in place, unable to resist standing there and listening to his every word.
    When she got home tonight, she would give herself a stern talking to about her behavior. This was clearly not the way to handle an interaction with a man, sexy though he may be. Clearly, she has been out of the market too long to behave in such a way. After all, he was still just a man.
    When he grabbed her hand and walked over to the table near the balcony railing, she had been tempted to pull free and walk back to her friends. This was insane. Why was she so willing to follow this man? Her brain was telling her that he was clearly out of her league. He was too handsome, too pushy, too demanding...just too much. But something else, a much lower part of her physical anatomy, was screaming “Yes!”
    Feeling his calloused hand touching her softer one had sent shivers coursing through her body. The butterflies that took flight in her stomach yelled at her that she should beware of the instant physical attraction that had sprung up. And yes, while all of that was true, the only thing she listened to, the only thing she heard, was his voice. She only felt the touch of his hand. Her eyes only saw his large, powerful frame walking in front of her, leading her where he wanted them to go.
    Bringing her attention back to Mr. High and Mighty, she tried to sound stern as she expressed annoyance with his ordering of her drink, “You know, I can order my own drink.”
    There was that smile again, “Yes, I know. But it makes me feel useful when I can order it for