“Kylie,” she ground out, tearing her eyes away from the man-hunk. “What did you do?”
She just smiled sheepishly.
“Gabi, Kylie,” Mason said, pushing himself up to greet them, “what are the chances?” His shit-eating grin told her he had orchestrated this whole affair and was rather proud of himself. She wanted to gut punch him and then kiss him until he couldn’t stand anymore.
“Yeah,” she said dryly, “chances.”
“Hi, I’m George Turner, Gabi’s father,” her dad said, bursting forth, still as excited as a schoolboy, and shook his hand. “Isn’t this crazy? My first time to Wrigley and we win a suite. A suite!”
Mason shook his hand heartily. “It is crazy.” He winked at Gabi. “I’m glad you get to experience your first game from here, there’s nothing like it.”
“Did you win too?” her father asked.
“Yep,” he lied.
“And you know my girls?” He shook his head. “What a small world.”
Gabi rolled her eyes. Kylie smothered a giggle.
Their introductions were interrupted when the door swung open to reveal a tall, extraordinarily handsome dark-haired man with two beers and a bag of popcorn hanging from his teeth. Which he promptly dropped the second his eyes landed on Kylie.
Mason chuckled. “Everyone, this is my friend and business partner, Cruz Fernandez. Cruz, this is Gabi, George, and Kylie.”
Cruz blushed about the popcorn but set the beers down and shook each of their hands. He paused noticeably longer with Kylie. “It’s so nice to meet you all”—he motioned toward the seats—“should we sit?”
“We should,” her dad declared, and they all found seats on the outside portion of the suite.
Somehow Gabi managed to get railroaded between Mason and her father. Kylie was between her father and Cruz, who seemed to be very focused on making her giggle. Gabi found it interesting that his efforts seemed to be working.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked Mason when her father’s attention was elsewhere.
He grinned. It made her heart stop. Full stop.
“Doing what? This was pure coincidence, gorgeous.”
“Right.” Her voice was cold, but she felt anything but. The word “gorgeous” kept ringing around in her head. She had to fight a smile despite how pissed she was at the moment.
“Besides,” he said quietly, “maybe I was hoping for a second kiss.”
Her eyes flew to his, and the intensity of the desire she saw made her lady parts pulse so hard it took her breath away. She imagined climbing onto his lap right here in the booth.
He grinned as the flush climbed her cheeks. “That’s what I thought.” He leaned closer. “I’d love to know what you’re thinking about right now.”
“Strangling you.”
He laughed. “Not really my thing, but for you, I’d give it a try.”
“Oh my God,” she groaned and looked away while he chuckled. She hated that the sound gave her goosebumps. She stared down at the field and tried to concentrate on all the other good-looking men there. But there were none, there was only Mason.
Mason
Mason was simultaneously pleased by how well he had pulled off this scheme and irritated by how ceaselessly turned on he was. It was Gabi’s fault; he hadn’t expected her to come in short white shorts, toned thighs, looking adorable in a low-cut Cards shirt and high ponytail.
The first thing out of his mouth when he saw her was a slow “fuuuuuck” that luckily no one had heard. And now she was sitting at his elbow with a scowl, arms crossed, trying her level best to ignore him, but all it was doing was pushing her breasts up into the most beautiful bit of cleavage he had ever seen.
If she wanted him to leave her alone, she was doing the worst possible job of deterring him. No, he was dead-set on making her his. It might take a hundred years, but for some reason, that didn’t faze him. He was glad his brothers weren’t around to see this.
“So, George,” he started, purposefully leaning close to Gabi as he spoke, “how has your week been?”
“Amazing,” he said with a grin. “I got to see my ladybug.”
Gabi groaned quietly and slid down in her seat.
Ladybug. Mason tucked that away for later.
“I’ve eaten just about every deep dish pizza in town, tried all the local brews, and now box suites at Wrigley Field watching my Cards.” He shrugged. “What more could a man ask for in life?”
He instantly liked George. He was a kindred spirit. Pizza, beer, baseball. To him, that was exactly everything a man could ask for. Except for the ladybug sitting next to him. “Nothing. I completely agree,” he answered.
“Are you from here?” George asked.
“I am”—he stretched out his legs—“born and raised. I have a furniture company. That’s how I met ladybug here.”
Gabi elbowed him so hard in the side he let out an “oof.”
George chuckled. “Don’t cross that one,” he warned, nodding toward his daughter. “She’s a firecracker. Just like I raised her to be.”
“I’ve noticed,” he answered. He didn’t mention that her feistiness was one of the things that made him want to bury his dick in her whenever she was around.
“I’m sure you have,” George answered, narrowing his eyes at him a little.
Mason just smiled. It was clear that George was sizing him up. His interest in Gabi was not subtle after all. But it didn’t bother him; he liked the man, and Mason was willing to do whatever it was to get on his good side. Nothing was going to stop him from getting a chance at the firecracker sitting between them.
Eventually George nodded in what he could have only guessed was some sort of minor approval. He gave himself a mental high-five. Score one for Mason.
“Have you always been a baseball fan, ladybug?” he asked Gabi a few minutes later, fully prepared for her to snap at him.
Instead, she elbowed him again so hard it knocked his breath away. “Don’t call me that.”
Her eyes were narrow and dark but, still, all he could think about was taking her into some dark hallway and showing her just how excited she made him. He had an inkling that she would like it just as much as he would. He just laughed and rubbed his side. “Ow. Well, have you?”
“My dad has taken me to see the Cards every summer since I was four,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “So, yes, I guess I have always been a baseball fan.”
Mason grinned at the thought of spending summer nights with her at a ballpark—it made his stomach pull significantly enough that he had to clear his throat. “Well, just so you know,” he whispered very close to her ear, “I think that’s incredibly sexy.”
“Oh, I’m so glad,” she whispered back.
She was heavy on the sarcasm, but Mason could see the gooseflesh spread from where his breath had brushed her neck. He wanted to make it appear all over her gorgeous body. “I thought you would be,” he said with a grin. She just tightened her arms across her chest and looked away from him.
But no one was there to save her. Cruz, Kylie, and George were all wrapped up talking about stats and laying bets on the game. Cruz was laying the charm on thick and already had a date with Kylie as his prize if the Cubs won.
Mason crossed his fingers for him in spirit and hoped the Cubs had turned around enough from the slaughter the night before to pull out a win. He doubted it. Highly.
“Seriously. Why did you do all this?” Gabi finally asked him again.
He smiled and shrugged. “I wanted to see you again.” Honesty seemed like the better way to go. Lying was not going to get the murder out of her eyes. “And when Kylie mentioned you would be here, I called a buddy of mine. And here we are.”
She blinked and he wished a thousand wishes that he could see into that pretty head of hers. “Did it ever occur to you to just ask me to dinner?”
“Would you have said yes?”
“No.”
“So”—he motioned around him—“here
we are.”
She held his eyes for another minute before letting out an exhausted breath. “I’m going to go get another beer,” she told her father. “Need anything?”
“Ooh, a brat please,” he said. “And another one of those IPA’s.”
“I’ll go too,” Mason offered, drawing a glare of death from Gabi. “What? You can’t carry all that on your own.”
“Mason’s right,” George offered. “Let the man help you.”
If he could have given the man a kiss, he would have, but opted instead for a high-five as he passed by. At least he had one Turner on his side.
Following Gabi up the steps was one of the highlights of his entire life. Her ass. Those shorts. If he had died right there, he would have been grateful for that final beautiful vision.
Once they were in the hallway, she immediately whipped around on him. The move was so fast it made his head spin.
She pushed him hard in the chest and spoke with her jaw clenched. “What are you doing? What do you want from me?”
He stepped back a bit and put his hands up. “I just wanted to spend time with you, that was the truth, Gabi.”
She crossed her arms over her chest again and looked around the empty hallway. No one was around. Not a soul.
He took the opportunity to step closer. He lowered his voice. “And I don’t know about you, but all I’ve been able to think about is the hottest fucking kiss of my life.”
She reddened but countered with, “Oh, and I suppose you mean me.”
He took one more step and was so close to her he could hear her heart rate pick up. “Gabi,” he said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, “of course I mean you. That kiss erased every other kiss I’ve ever had.”
She drew in a breath and pressed her lips together.
“I know you felt it too. You feel it right now.”
“I don’t ...” She seemed to be searching for something in his eyes.
“What? You don’t what?”
“I shouldn’t...”
Fuck it. He wasn’t going to wait any longer. Quickly checking the hallway once again, he drew his hand up to her chin, tilted her face toward his, and brought his lips to hers with a hunger that made her gasp in surprise.
But instead of fighting as he expected, she opened for him willingly, ran her tongue along his, and before long, her hands were on his shoulders pulling him forward with such need he actually fucking growled.
He delved deep, trying to make the most out of the moment. He explored every part of her with his hands, her neck, her breasts, and when he slid his fingers down her stomach and brushed her womanhood, she whimpered, sending him into overdrive.
They groped at each other, desperate for more, and when he backed her up against the wall, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He pressed into her heat, his cock straining against the zipper of his jeans. She whimpered from the friction.
They kissed until they were out of breath, dizzy, disoriented with desire. And when he pulled away from her, her chest was heaving, her lips cherry red from his.
All he wanted to do was dive back in and kiss her until they were spent.
“We should go back,” was all she could get out. Her voice was weak and breathy.
He leaned his forehead against hers. “But I don’t want to.”
She cracked the first hint of a smile, and it hit him in the chest like a ray of sunshine. “Me either. But we should.”
He didn’t budge. “Will you have dinner with me?”
“We are, we’re getting brats, remember?”
He put a hand to her cheek. “I mean it. A real date. You, me, dinner.”
A thousand emotions played across her eyes, and for just the barest of seconds, he thought she would actually say yes.
“No, Mason. That’s very sweet of you, but I just ... can’t.”
“Why?” He knew he sounded pathetic, and he supposed he was, but he also didn’t give a flying fuck. Why wouldn’t she go on a simple date with him? Was there someone else? The thought of another man kissing her made his fists curl.
“I just ...” She took a deep breath and her eyes turned sad. “ I can’t. It’s complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be,” he told her, willing to try anything for a yes. “I don’t like complicated either.”
She didn’t answer.
He looked at the floor, and then back up. “Would you consider going on a date with me ever, or is this a no-way-never thing?”
She gave him a tiny smile. “I would consider it, someday. Maybe.”
Okay. He could live with that. He smiled at her and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I’ll take it, better than a solid no.”
“Come on,” she urged, still smiling shyly. “We need to get the food and get back or they’re going to come looking for us.”
“Fine,” he agreed, feeling a million pounds lighter. A maybe wasn’t a yes, but it was far better than the no he had been getting. “But, Gabi ...”
“Yes?”
The way she looked at him with her wide baby-blue eyes, her lips kiss-sore, he thought his heart might explode. “If you ever decide it’s a yes, all you have to do is text. Day, night, anything in between. Work, home, on the stairs at the Finch house ...”
Her smile grew until she was beaming at him, and he thought his chest might burst. It was the most beautiful thing in the world. She was the most beautiful thing in the world.
“All right,” she agreed with a giggle and then took off down the hallway toward the concessions. He followed eagerly, watching her perfect bottom sway from side to side, dreaming of that day and crossing his fingers that it would come soon.
Chapter 14
Gabi
“I don’t want you to leave yet,” Gabi told her father. They were both spread out on the sofas of her apartment, exhausted after four days of excitement. It was late, and he would leave in the morning. “Ever actually.”
“Oh, Gabi Rae.” He sighed from across the room. He had his hand on his belly, which had grown significantly since he’d arrived. “I don’t want to go home either. This has been such an amazing trip.”
“You could always move here,” she offered hopefully. “Life could be like this all the time.”
He chuckled lightly. “It’s an attractive thought.” But his voice didn’t offer her any hope.
“Have you ever thought about it?”
“Of course I have.” He looked at her across the room. “Every day. But something keeps me rooted home.” His voice was wistful. “I think it’s all the memories of your mother. I can still see her everywhere, and I’m afraid if I left, she would ... disappear.”
Gabi’s heart clenched.
He laughed sadly. “But I suppose I just sound like a crazy old man.”
“No,” she said quickly, pulling herself into a sitting position and tucking her feet beneath her. “Not at all, the love you have for Mom is so beautiful. I wish ...” She trailed off, unsure where she was going with her thoughts.
“You wish what, ladybug?” he asked, pulling himself up as well, he got up from his sofa and sat next to her on hers. “That you’d had a love like that?”
She nodded sheepishly.
“With Matt?”
Another nod.
He let out a laugh and then covered it quickly when he saw the horror on her face. “I’m sorry, Gabs. It’s just that from the moment I met him, I knew he wasn’t for you.”
“You hated him.” He had never admitted it but she knew.
“I did, and I do,” he told her straight up. “I suspect I always will for what he did to you.”
She wrung her hands together and asked a question she hadn’t been able to for a long time. “Why did you let me marry him if you hated him so much?”
He took her hand in his and made her look him in the eye. “Because you were in love. You were so in love, that I knew that if I tried to stop it, I could lose you. And that was more terrifying than anything else
.”
Tears sprung into Gabi’s eyes, and she leaned into her father’s shoulder.
He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “But you’ve got to stop thinking that your chance at love has passed you because of some idiot that you spent a couple years with. You are so young, you have so many years ahead of you to find the right man, to build the life that you want. But you have to look forward instead of backward.”
Gabi sobbed, and he pulled her closer.
“I guess in that respect, you’re a lot like me.”
She looked up at him.
“I know I should get out there and date and be open to new experiences, but I just can’t seem to. I think of your mother and all thoughts of anything else just disappear.”
She threw her arms around him and held him tight while the tears spilled down her cheeks.
After a while, he pulled her away from him and looked her in the eyes. “But I won’t stand for you doing the same thing. Matthew was not your great love, and he never will be. Great loves don’t abuse and belittle. They lift you up, and when you’ve found the right person, Gabriela, there’s nothing like it in the world. You feel like you can conquer the universe together. That’s what I want for you.”
She smiled a little and he wiped her tears away.
“And if you don’t mind my opinion, I think that Mason fellow is a good place to start.”
She groaned and fell back against the arm of the sofa.
“What?” he asked innocently. “He’s handsome, has his own business. Not to mention he’s crazy about you.”
“You can’t possibly know that,” she told him while desperately holding on to the hope that it was true.
“Oh, really? A man does not go out of his way to share his Wrigley Field suite with just anyone and their father.”
Her eyes flew open and she sat back up. “You knew it was a ruse?”
He laughed. “Of course I did. You three are easier to see through than cellophane. It just seemed really important to everyone that I go along with it.”
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