“I had to talk to my brother,” she explained. “And say goodbye to Brandee and Shane. Then I thanked the caterers.”
“Take off your dress.”
Chelsea turned back to face him. The large loft seemed to close in on her as Gabe took one slow step after another toward her. His eyes never left hers, giving her all the thrills. How could a look make her feel like he was touching her all over? How did he have so much control over not just her body but her mind?
“Come take it off me,” she countered.
A low growl emanated from him as he closed the distance between them. In a flash move, he gripped the hem of her dress and jerked it up and over her head. The second he tossed it aside, his swift intake of breath had her confidence soaring. She propped her hands on her hips, thrusting her chest out and cocking her head to the side.
“Was it worth the wait, cowboy?”
“Damn,” he whispered. “Had I known you were wearing that, we never would’ve made it to the dinner.”
Chelsea couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m pretty sure there’s a rule against that.”
“Maybe, but nobody would blame me.”
She reached out, jerking on his silver buckle. “Why don’t you just take me here? This is technically the last night in our agreement, right?”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back. But seeing the flicker of annoyance in his eyes told her he wasn’t ready to see this end.
Maybe she should tell him now. Maybe she should just throw it all out there and take the risk now.
But, no. Because if she’d read him wrong, she would never forgive herself for the resulting awkwardness at Brandee and Shane’s wedding.
Gabe lifted her into his arms. With one arm behind her back, one arm behind her knees, he nipped at her lips as he walked through the loft. Romance had entered their relationship. This had all started with frenzied, passionate sex. Somewhere along the way love had settled in deep.
Chelsea wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her head against his shoulder. “I expected you to take me against the window again,” she murmured into his ear.
“Maybe tonight is different.”
Maybe it was. As Gabe kicked the door shut to his bedroom, Chelsea finally felt like things were going her way. She’d found her happily-ever-after.
* * *
Early the following morning, Chelsea slid from bed. The sun still hadn’t come up, but she couldn’t sleep. Between the wedding, the fantastic night in Gabe’s arms, and the talk she wanted to have with him later today about their future, there was just too much going on and her mind simply wouldn’t shut down.
Chelsea glanced back to the bed where Gabe lay sprawled on his stomach, his light hair in disarray after she’d run her fingers through it. Her body still hummed as she snagged his T-shirt and put it on. She eased the door closed behind her as she made her way to the kitchen. Gabe was every bit the bachelor, but hopefully he had something she could make for their breakfast. She didn’t have to be at the church for a few hours, so maybe breakfast in bed was a great way to start the day.
Humming as she started searching through his cabinets, Chelsea figured if all else failed, she could do coffee, eggs and toast. He at least had those on hand.
She pulled out a pan and the eggs. Once she had them cracked into a bowl, she tugged on a drawer for a whisk. Of course his utensils weren’t in a drawer she would put them in. She tried another, only to find a junk drawer. She started to shut it when something caught her eye.
It was a black-and-white photograph. Chelsea focused on it, her heart hammering in her throat. No. That couldn’t be. Gabe wasn’t the accomplice. Was he? The sheriff had said they were searching for a female.
With a shaky hand she pulled the picture from the drawer, only to find more underneath it. She pulled them all out, then she saw a letter with Gabe’s name on it.
Nausea settled in the pit of her stomach as she shuffled through each picture. These weren’t the same ones that had circulated months back. These were actually newer, maybe a couple of months old. She knew that because she remembered the exact day at the gym. She recognized the outfit; she’d tried racquetball for the first time. Pretty soon after that, the first nude photos had been leaked and she hadn’t been back to that gym since.
Pulling in a deep breath, she set the pictures on the counter, facing down. Her attention went to the letter; she quickly saw it was from Dusty. Did she really want to read this? Did she want to know what he and Gabe had discussed?
Her eyes scanned the scratchy penmanship first before she went back to the top and absorbed every single word.
She couldn’t be reading this right. She just...she couldn’t. This was important evidence that had been sent to Gabe weeks ago. Why was he hiding these photos in a drawer? Shouldn’t he have turned these over to the sheriff by now? Was Gabe covering something up?
Dropping the letter on top of the pictures, Chelsea took a step back and stared at the pile. Such damning evidence of Gabe’s involvement with his uncle mocked her and the future she’d been foolish enough to believe in.
Trust hadn’t come easy and now she knew why. She should’ve trusted her instincts to begin with where Gabe was concerned.
The tears came before she even realized it. All the hurt, all the anger, and so much resentment flooded her. She should’ve listened to her initial suspicions. Hell, she should’ve listened to Daniel. Hadn’t he been trying to warn her she’d get hurt?
She wasn’t just hurt, she was utterly, completely, destroyed.
The glow from the Christmas tree in the living room mocked her, trying to pull her back to that night when they’d put it up. He’d completely played her for a naïve fool.
At least she hadn’t told Gabe how she felt. He’d probably get a great kick out of knowing he’d duped her.
Chelsea blinked the tears away and went to the living room where her clothes were. She quickly changed, trying to figure out exactly what her next move should be. Did she really want to confront him? Did she want to hear more lies?
And that’s what all of this had been. A relationship built on lies.
Once she was dressed, Chelsea tucked her hair behind her ears and glanced at the closed bedroom door. As much as she didn’t want to even look at him and hear his excuses, she deserved answers. She deserved to know the real man...not just the one she’d fallen in love with. That man didn’t exist.
Sixteen
The sound of the bedroom door creaking woke him. But it was the lights flashing on and the papers that were tossed onto the bed that had Gabe sitting straight up.
No. Not papers. Pictures.
His gut tightened as he glanced up at Chelsea. The brokenness and pain staring back at him told him all he needed to know. She believed he had deceived and betrayed her.
He now regretted that he hadn’t done a better job securing the papers. He had intended to turn them over to the sheriff as soon as the wedding was over; he just hadn’t wanted to risk more press attention to ruin Brandee and Shane’s—not to mention Chelsea’s—special day. She had worked so hard on this wedding and he didn’t want it ruined for her. He’d had every intention of doing things the right way—or what he thought was right—but now he just looked like he’d been deceiving her all along.
“I don’t even want you to defend yourself,” she said, crossing her arms over her dress.
Damn it. She’d put her clothes back on, which meant he had about two seconds to get her to listen to the truth. Mentally, she’d already left.
“I just want to know what your motivation is,” she went on. “What could you get from having these pictures just lying around your house? Were you planning on humiliating me further? Is this just family loyalty?”
Gabe came to his feet, jerking on a pair
of shorts lying by the bed. “I have never set out to hurt you, Chels. I had nothing to do with these pictures being taken.”
“Maybe not,” she agreed then let out a harsh laugh. “But you know what? Dusty’s letter spells things out pretty clearly. You were to take over since he was too sick. You could’ve destroyed these or turned them over to the sheriff, or hell, given them to me. Yet here you are with them tucked away in your apartment.”
He started to take a step forward, but she held up a hand. “No. All this time you were with me, you made me believe you cared, but under the same roof you were hiding these pictures. I was a fool to trust you.”
“You can trust me,” he insisted. Gabe crossed the room, ignoring her when she shook her head and held her hands out to keep him back. “Look at me. Damn it, I was going to take them to Nathan, but not until after the wedding. I put them away so nobody would see them.”
Chelsea kept her head turned away, refusing to look at him. “Convenient,” she muttered.
Nothing he said now would make her believe. She’d seen the pictures and the letter, and had decided he’d been lying all along. He hated her thinking he would ever be involved in something like this, but most of all, he hated that she was hurting and he couldn’t comfort her.
“What can I say to make you believe me?” he asked.
He wanted to reach out and hold her, but she would never allow that. Her red-rimmed eyes tore him apart. How long had she been in the other room tormenting herself with this?
The automatic bedroom shades rolled up right on time, the soft hum breaking the tension in the room. The sun was starting to rise, but the day that should’ve been one of the happiest for them had turned into anything but.
“There’s nothing you can say,” she whispered, her voice thick with tears. “I trusted you with a piece of me I’ve never given to another man. I thought...”
Her words died off as she bit her lower lip to compose herself. Gabe did reach for her now. He didn’t give a damn what she wanted because he knew he hadn’t done a thing wrong and he just wanted to hold her, to comfort her. She was absolutely breaking his heart and he’d promised her she’d never feel alone again.
Damn it. He promised.
Now, she stared up at him, unshed tears swimming in her eyes. “I thought after the wedding I’d tell you that I didn’t want to end things. Stupid, right? I mean, all this time you’ve chosen to side with your uncle.”
“No.” He gently took her by the shoulders. “I never sided with him. I got all of that in the mail after he died. Just two days ago.”
Chelsea broke free of his grip. “I’m not convinced that you had nothing to do with the first set of pictures, but let’s pretend I do believe you. These pictures should never have been here. You should’ve turned them over. If you care for me at all, if you truly wanted me to believe you were innocent, you wouldn’t have kept them.”
“I was going to give them to Nathan,” he insisted.
Stepping back, Chelsea wiped at her damp cheeks. “Then you should’ve told me the second you got them. You have no excuse for that.”
She was right. He didn’t, other than the fact he didn’t want to cause her any more pain.
When she turned away, Gabe’s heart clenched. “Don’t go. Don’t leave this upset. Stay. We can talk this out and then I’ll take you to the church.”
Chelsea’s shoulders straightened, but she didn’t face him again. “I’m leaving and I’ll get myself to the church. Brandee and Shane deserve this day to be perfect and I’ll not let you ruin it for them. After the wedding and our duties are done, I never want to see or speak to you again.”
It was difficult, but Gabe let her go.
Right now she needed space, and he needed to figure out how the hell he could fix this. Because he would fix it and he would make her realize that he was never that guy. He could never purposely cause her so much pain.
Though he had to admit beneath his denial and defensiveness, hurt started spreading through him. She actually thought he’d been capable of doing such heinous things. Maybe she’d never fully trusted him. Maybe in the back of her mind she’d always kept those suspicions in reserve.
He would have to put on a front for the wedding because Chelsea was right. This day belonged to Brandee and Shane. But if she thought for a second that he was just going to let her go and never hear from him again...well, she would be in for a surprise.
Gabe gathered the pictures and the letter and went out into the living room. Once he had them secured in an envelope, he laid them on the sofa table. Tomorrow he’d take them to the sheriff and be done with the likes of his uncle. Even dead, the man was ruining lives. Then he’d find out who the hell had assisted Dusty in obtaining the photos to begin with.
Padding barefoot to the kitchen, Gabe noticed the eggs on the counter, the pan on the stove, the bowl. His heart flipped and he gripped the edge of the countertop. She’d been prepared to make him breakfast. She’d found the pictures shoved in the drawer.
Damn it. He was a fool. He should’ve told her but, in his defense, he just hadn’t wanted her to have to deal with that mess any longer. He’d been trying to protect her, but all he’d managed to do was to crush her hopes further and to destroy the trust they’d built.
He had to find a way to get her back. Gabe had never given up before and he sure as hell didn’t intend to start now—not when this was the most important moment of his life.
* * *
Chelsea smoothed a hand down her gold dress and tried to forget the last time she’d had this on. She flashed back on the dressing room, on Gabe, his clever hands and magical touch.
Pain squeezed like a vise around her chest and she pushed the memory aside. She’d doubled up on concealer and powder, hoping to hide her puffy red eyes. Her waterproof mascara was definitely going to be put to the test.
When Chelsea had first arrived at the church, Brandee had questioned her, but Chelsea had just played it off as wedding tears.
Chelsea spun away from the mirror, not wanting to see herself in this dress. She could practically feel Gabe’s hands at the side zipper.
Would his memory fade over time or would she be forced to battle him in her mind forever?
Chelsea crossed to the adjoining room where Brandee was getting ready. It was time to get into full maid-of-honor mode. Pulling in a deep breath, Chelsea let herself into the room and gasped.
Brandee stood in front of the floor-length mirror, her gaze meeting Chelsea’s in the reflection. Chelsea had seen the dress, but now it seemed different. With Brandee’s long hair falling in simple waves down her back and the subtle makeup, she looked angelic.
“Can you help me with my veil?” Brandee asked, a wide smile on her face. “My hands are shaking.”
Chelsea offered her best friend a smile and crossed to where the veil hung on the back of a closet door. Carefully, she removed it from the plastic wrap and hanger.
“Squat down just a tad,” Chelsea told Brandee as she came to stand behind her. “Tip your head back a bit.”
After adjusting the pins to be hidden in the soft curls, Chelsea stepped back. “There. How does that look?”
Seeing her best friend smile in the mirror—no, she wasn’t just smiling, she was glowing—helped heal a portion of Chelsea’s wounded heart. Love did exist, she was absolutely certain of that. She’d just misplaced hers.
“Everything okay?”
Chelsea focused her attention on Brandee’s reflection and nodded. “Couldn’t be better. You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen. And this Christmas wedding is going to be magical.”
Brandee turned and reached for Chelsea’s hands. “I’m more focused on my happily-ever-after. Too many people focus on the wedding details and making a big show of things. I just want to spend my life with Shane.”
/> “He’s a lucky man.”
“I’m the lucky one.” Brandee tipped her head down and narrowed her eyes. “What’s up, Chels? Something is off with you today.”
There was no sense in lying again. Brandee wasn’t buying it. “Just a mishap with Gabe. Nothing for you to worry about on your special day.”
Brandee’s brows drew in as she squeezed Chelsea’s hands. “Oh, honey, what happened?”
The threat of tears burned the back of her throat. “He’s not the man I thought he was.”
“Did he hurt you?”
Chelsea dabbed beneath her eyes, already knowing she was going to have to have a makeup redo. “I found more pictures at his place. Pictures of me from the gym locker room.”
Brandee jerked back. “What did he say?”
“He denied any involvement with his uncle. Dusty sent the photos with a letter—I read it. He wanted Gabe to carry on with what he’d started.”
Brandee pursed her lips. “But Gabe didn’t do anything with them, right?”
“Not yet. But he didn’t tell me he had them,” Chelsea replied. “He kept them hidden when he could’ve destroyed them or just explained what happened and why he had them in the first place.”
Brandee reached up and wiped a tear from Chelsea’s cheek before squeezing her hands once again. “Gabe wouldn’t hurt you. Did you ever think that’s the reason he didn’t tell you? Maybe he’s protecting you.”
Or maybe he was still being loyal to his uncle.
There were just so many questions, and she was an emotional wreck. Now wasn’t the time to try to solve all of her problems. She had a wedding to partake in...and a man waiting to walk down the aisle with her.
“Forget it,” Chelsea said, squaring her shoulders and sniffling back the tears. “This is your day and whatever Gabe and I have going on, I swear it won’t interfere with this.”
“Of course it won’t.” Brandee smiled and dropped her hands to smooth down her gown. “I know how Gabe feels, though. Remember the way he manhandled that jerk who was mistreating you? And the way Gabe looks at you when you don’t know is enough to set panties on fire. He cares for you and, if I’m not mistaken, he loves you.”
Best Man Under the Mistletoe Page 14