“Because I am your champion. And I have decided to sacrifice my day and pu’
myself at your disposal. I will show you Nawlins.”
“That’s so thoughtful of you. But I have a tour guide. I believe I can find my way around.” She brushed past him and strode from the hotel. He fell into step beside her, not looking the least perturbed by her determined efforts to brush him off.
“We shou’ go for coffee, and luncheon at the Bayou Cafe. And then you mus’ tell me what sites most pique your interest.”
Jessica stopped and stared at him. The truth was, she really didn’t know her way around New Orleans, and it had occurred to her before that knowing a local would help her in her quest. She couldn’t really afford to hire a tour guide--not if she wanted to continue having a hotel room or things to eat. “All right. I’ll have lunch with you. But I warn you, if you try anything, you’ll draw back a nub.”
He smiled that toe curling grin again and made a sweeping gesture with his arm.
“After you, cherie.”
She stopped in her tracks and gave him a once over. “Wait a minute. Are you going like that?” Never in her life had she seen a restaurant that would allow patrons to go in half naked.
“Sometin’ wrong? You don’ like what I’m wearin? I’m hurt, cherie.”
“Well ... uh ... there’s just so much of you ... exposed.” Jessica blushed as she realized she was staring at his crotch. Not that it was exposed. She probably wouldn’t still be standing if it had been. She was sure the sight of that would make her faint.
“No’ exposed enough for what I’d like to do,” he said, full of promise.
“And what would that be?” she asked and immediately regretted it.
He grinned. “Gimme some time, I show you.”
“That’s not necessary. I’m sure it’s pretty--” She looked pointedly at his chin, trying very hard to be good.
“And fun to play with. You ever slid down a pole?” He hooked his thumbs on his pockets, emphasizing the object of their--his discussion.
She blushed straight to her roots and realized all attempts at not being a pervert had failed. She was too curious by half about how he looked without his clothes on.
Why did she feel like a prude all of a sudden? “I’m not even going to think about what you just said. Can’t you at least button your britches?”
He looked down at himself, fingering the half open fly deliberately to make her look at it. “Scared d’serpent gonna break free and bite you? I promise, he jus’ nibbles.
He likes warm hidey holes bedder anyway.”
Jessica strangled on her saliva and coughed with embarrassment. She took a deep breath to recover before giving him a hard stare. “Well, it isn’t getting anywhere near this hole. I thought you were going to behave?”
“You started it. I’m jus’ waitin’ for you to move so we can go.”
Jessica spared him a warning glance and stepped outside, waiting for the doorman to hail them a cab to take them to Bayou Cafe. Gabriel said nothing as they made the five minute drive through traffic, but it wasn’t like she could ignore his presence. He seemed to fill the confined space and wind her nerves tight, until she felt ready to spring at any moment. He watched her constantly, as if eating her with his eyes, and Jessica had the unnerving notion that he could see straight through her clothing.
The cab stopped and Gabriel paid, then held the door open for her as they entered the cafe. The scent of sausage and spices filled the air with a tangy nip, and Jessica’s stomach began to rumble with hunger.
“Mmm. Smells good,” she said, taking a seat at a booth.
“Dey serve d’bes’ gumbo in town,” he said, sliding in beside her.
“Can’t you sit on the other side?” she asked, trying to scoot away and get some distance.
“I cou’, but I won’.”
Jessica tried to ignore him, but it was nearly impossible when he slipped his arm on the back of the booth, right over her shoulders. Jessica cleared her throat noisily, trying to warn him off, but he recognized hints about as subtle as he flirted. Finally, she looked over the menu while he played with a lock of her hair, wiggling her shoulders as he tickled her with it.
A waiter came up and offered her a brief reprieve. “Are you ready to order?” he asked.
“I’ll have d’gumbo special, a coffee, and a glass of water.”
“I’ll have the same,” Jessica said, setting the menu aside.
Gabriel gave her a look. “Bedder bring us a pitcher of water.” The waiter smiled and walked away. “Can you stand the heat, chere?”
Jessica wiped her hands nervously on her skirt, squirming to get comfortable and failing. “I could probably handle it better if I wasn’t so close to the fire.”
Jessica saw that sultry grin from the corner of her eye.
“You have no idea, chere.”
She thought she probably did. Changing the subject, she asked, “Why’d you send me to that shop last night?”
“Mikel’s?”
“Yes.”
“He’s good, no?”
Jessica fingered her necklace, playing with the medallion. “Very. But I just get this feeling you wanted me to do more than just get this fixed.”
The waiter came back with their water, and Gabriel took a sip before answering.
“Did Mikel tell you a story?”
Jessica twisted in her seat to watch him suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you believe that crap too? Wait, this is a trick, right? Some little thing y’all do to the tourists to bilk them out of money?”
The food arrived before he could answer, and she soon forgot all about it as her mouth caught on fire. Gabriel dug in to his meal with gusto, while Jessica nibbled at hers. Her tongue burned like a torch, and she had to take two sips of water for every bite of food. She didn’t know how he could stand it.
He paused, studying her. “So how do you like gator gumbo, petite? Too spicy for you?”
“Alligator?” Jessica’s stomach protested instantly. She dropped her spoon in her bowl.
“Oui.”
Despite her sudden ill feeling, the delicate meat she’d thought was chicken was actually quite tasty. “It’s good. But yes, it’s too spicy for my tastes.” She pushed her bowl away and fixed her coffee, heavy on the cream and sugar.
“I cou’ show you a bedder spice. It goes down smooth as silk and heats you from d’inside.”
Jessica chuckled despite herself. “You’re incorrigible. Shut up and eat your food.”
Gabriel finished off his and her gumbo and stretched out his legs when he was done, rubbing his stomach as he sipped his black coffee.
Jessica looked at his hands wrapped around the mug and wondered if everything on him was as big. She blushed at the thought and knew he’d begun to corrupt her.
“So what are you doin’ down here, chere?”
She didn’t see much harm in sharing her past or why she’d come. “I came looking for my birth parents. I didn’t find out until I got here that they died years ago.” It pricked her heart that she’d never known them, that they’d given her up. Maybe it was too personal information to give to a near stranger, but she thought it would help her feelings having someone to share with.
“I’m sorry, chere. What were their names? Nawlins can be an intimate place.”
“Shelly and Jacques LaValle.”
He stiffened and straightened in his seat, setting his coffee down.
Jessica noticed his strange reaction, getting her hopes up. “Do you--did you know them?”
“No, chere, no. I’m sorry.”
Jessica felt downhearted. She was going to find answers, somehow. If she hadn’t cleaned out her adoptive parents’ house after their death in a car crash, she would’ve never known she wasn’t their child. Sometimes she wished she’d never found that damn birth certificate in all that junk. Sometimes she wished things were as they had been. But wishing wasn’t going to get her anywhere but smack in the middle of depression. “Any way, I’m going to the cemetery to see them today.”