Passion like that doesn’t exist. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the fantasy.
She’d said it without the least amount of levity, and he still didn’t get it. How a woman could look like she did, be as sweet as she was, and not have a man frequently lighting her match, he still couldn’t comprehend. She couldn’t be a virgin. If that was the case, she’d think sex was all fairytales and roses, not be a pessimist about it. Which meant either she’d had shit for lovers, or a few nightmare sexual experiences to go with the rest of her years in high school.
His temper twitched beneath his skin and pounded his temples. If it was the latter, someone had better pray like hell he never found out. That was one scenario he’d have no issue giving his anger full throttle to avenge her.
Damn it, what was he thinking? This was Danny’s sister. Not a woman he had any kind of personal connection to. Not a woman he should have a personal connection to.
He eased up from the couch, carefully lifting her feet off his lap as he did and laying them softly on the couch.
She still didn’t stir, her breath moving slow and steady between barely parted, but full, kissable lips.
All week long he’d ruminated about those lips, fraught as the temptation was. Even if she wasn’t Danny’s sister, she wasn’t the type for a one-night tumble. Gabe was 100 percent long-term material. The type who deserved care and attention. Since when did he want that?
Since you found someone worth it.
Nope. That wasn’t a notion he needed to entertain. Heck, he didn’t even need to be in the same state as an idea like that. He snatched the empty popcorn bowl and drained beer bottles then tidied up the kitchen. DVD player and TV switched off, he stood beside the couch.
Gabe still hadn’t moved. Not even an inch. The easier route would be to leave her there, but her ribs would be screaming mad when she woke up. She’d be better if she could stretch out and roll around if she needed to. Then again, waking her up seemed a rotten thing to do.
He spun and strode down the hallway. The light from the living room cut across her bedroom, spotlighting her small bedside lamp. He flipped it on and studied the room. Like Gabe, it was a whole lot different than most of the other women’s bedrooms he’d been in. Unpretentious and welcoming. The comforter was a soft, denim color, and a slew of throw pillows in white, black, and a color that wasn’t quite pink but wasn’t red either, were casually stacked against the headboard. A simple, wide rug in the same colors stretched out in front of the bed, and two antique blue nightstands anchored each side.
He gauged which side of the bed she slept on by the alarm clock and pulled that side down. The sheets were nothing special, just plain white with tiny pink flowers scattered everywhere, but well-worn and sinfully soft. The kind of soft a man would appreciate most without a stitch on and curled up around a woman like Gabrielle.
Well, so long as she wasn’t a prospective brother’s sister. Looking after her as a doctor or for Danny was one thing. Anything more crossed a line that could well create a whole host of problems. He strolled back to the living room and gently rolled her to her back.
Toothless hopped down, pranced toward the bedroom, and looked back as if to say, “You coming?”
He had to admit, he totally dug the cat. Gabe couldn’t have found a better fit for her if she’d tried. And to be honest, he’d envied the hell out of Toothless getting to feel Gabe’s tender touch through the last half of the movie. He crouched next to her, slowly lifted her arm, and wrapped it around his neck. He’d just slid his arms under her thighs and shoulder blades, when she startled awake.
“What?” Her head jerked from side to side, trying to register what was going on. “What are you doing?”
“Shhhh. Go back to sleep.” Straightening, he cradled her close and headed back down the hallway. He’d halfway expected her to try and wriggle herself free, but instead she accepted his quiet admonition, laid her head on his shoulder, and gave back into sleep.
The whole scenario was weird. Awkward and yet somehow quintessential. Holding her didn’t just feel right, it felt necessary.
You’re toeing a seriously dangerous line, buddy.
He shook the thought off and laid her in her bed.
Her eyes fluttered open, sleepy and unguarded, but so damned sexy his dick practically saluted on demand.
“Socks on or off?” he grumbled.
She didn’t answer, just stared at him as though her conscious mind was having a hard time weaving reality and dreams together. Damn, he wanted a taste of those lips. To really wake her up and show her exactly how real passion could be.
“Socks on or off, gatinha?” If he didn’t get the hell out of her room now, he’d do a whole lot less wanting and a shit-ton of doing.
Her husky sleep voice rasped past her lips. “Off.”
Fuck. At the rate he was going, his cock would have bruises from his button fly. He slid her socks off and bit back a moan. He’d forgotten those dainty feet of hers. No polish, just soft and natural like the rest of her. He tucked them under the covers and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders. The smart thing would be to step away and hightail it out the door. He smoothed a strand of hair off her cheek instead. “Sleep good.”
He turned before he could send her any more conflicting messages and flicked off the light. The door was nearly closed when her quiet voice hit him.
“Zeke?”
He paused, not daring to step back inside, but holding his spot in the doorway.
“Thank you,” she said. “For helping me, I mean. And being a friend to Danny.” The rustle of sheets nearly yanked him from his spot at the door. “For everything. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me for doing something that’s easy to do.” He squeezed the door jamb a little harder. “Boa noite, gatinha doce.” Good night, sweet kitten.
He pulled the door shut, strode down the hallway, and locked the house up good and tight. Her cozy porch with the outside light burning bright filled his rearview mirror as he drove away. Oh, yeah. There was a definitely a line, and damned if he wasn’t ready to cross it.
Chapter Eight
Zeke strode out of the racetrack’s main building to the parking lot, folded himself into his car’s front seat and slammed the door behind him. Two hours he’d pushed his favorite race cars on the track and still no relief. If anything, he was jumpier than he’d been when he walked in. His skydive yesterday hadn’t taken off his growing edge either. Neither had the rock climbing the day before that, or the half-day hike on Monday. In between it all, he’d had three twelve-hour shifts crammed full of all kinds of trauma. He ought to be as close to Zen as possible and sleeping like a rock.
The image of Gabe lying in bed last Friday night flashed bold and beautiful in his head. He wanted her. Not just sex, but her. To hear the sweet, easy cadence of her voice while she chattered about places she wanted to visit and movies she liked to watch. To watch her while she did simple things like cook for her neighbors, or maybe while she worked on her art. To have those big, vulnerable blue eyes of hers staring up at him while he buried himself deep inside her.
“Fuck.” He fired up the engine and slammed the gearshift into first. A week now he’d put himself through this nonstop torture trying to stay away, but he was done with it. His body knew what was up. His conscience might be determined to dodge the idea, but the man in him had locked onto its target and wouldn’t stop until it got its way.
And he was tired of fighting it.
He navigated the side streets then floored it up the westbound on-ramp for I-635. Traffic was already heavy, workers slipping out of their eight-to-five jobs a little early to start their weekend and clogging up everything but the HOV lane.
Forty-five minutes later, he pulled in front of the body shop where he’d first met Danny. Ironically, he’d just left the racetrack then, to
o, though he’d made one hell of a mess of his Stingray’s back fender. The track’s owner had recommended Danny’s shop as a contact for fixing the damage.
He hoofed it across the blacktop parking lot to the farthest open bay. He’d barely rounded the door when Danny straightened from a crouch behind a fully primed Lexus ES. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail with a red bandana wrapped around his head. “Hey, Zeke.”
“Hey.” Zeke scanned the other bays but didn’t see the shop’s owner futzing around anywhere. “I’m not gonna cause any problems for you stopping by, am I?”
“Here? Hell no. Though I gotta say, you’re a long way out from your normal stomping grounds for a Friday.” Danny strolled to the open garage door and scanned the parking lot. “Please tell me you didn’t ding the ‘Vette again.”
“It was a hell of a lot more than a ding, but no. She’s fine.” He jerked his head toward the Camaro. “You got a minute? Need to run something past you.”
Danny pulled a rag out of his coverall’s pocket, wiped his hands, and shouted to the heavyset man taping off the car in the next bay. “Hey, Steve. Gonna take a break. Be back in a few.”
The man barely spared the two of them a glance, but chin-lifted an acknowledgment and kept on with his work.
Danny jammed his rag into his back pocket. “Gotta admit. Seein’ you here’s about the last thing I expected today. Can’t imagine it’s anything good if you drove all this way.”
“Could be it’s something good that made me drive out all this way, too.” Zeke leaned against the back of his Camaro and crossed his arms. “It’s not like you to jump straight into negative thinking.”
“All right,” Danny said. “I’ll play. What’s up?”
Across the street, cars darted in and out of the bustling 7-Eleven. The old-fashioned hamburger shop next to it was twice as busy with customers lined up out the front door and a drive-through line that stretched out into the street.
And yet, his mind was empty. The whole way here he’d molded and edited his words, only to have them vanish in an instant. “You know I introduced you to my brothers for a reason.”
Danny frowned and scratched his bandana-clad head. “I guessed it was to help me out. Share a little of what you guys have learned.”
“That’s how it started, yeah. The thing is, I think you’ve got a shot at being one of us. A good shot.”
“No shit?” Danny smiled huge, parked his hands on his hips, and looked around the parking lot as though he half expected someone to jump out and claim it was a prank. That’s what he liked about Danny. Always so damned genuine and open it was scary. Just like Gabe when she wasn’t preoccupied with keeping people at a distance.
“That’s not something I’d joke about,” Zeke said. “Problem is, it’s not a done deal. Not yet. The brotherhood’s slow to bring in new blood. Careful. I don’t think I need to extrapolate on why that is.”
“I may not be the sharpest blade in the shed, but I’m not the dullest. So, yeah. That makes sense.”
“Then you get why I’m not keen on doing anything that would upset the situation while the guys are figuring out how they want to vote.”
A genuine wariness moved behind Danny’s eyes. “Upset the situation how?”
He didn’t have to do this. He could shrug it off, come up with some bullshit excuse for his visit, and walk away. Hell, it was probably the right thing to do.
“Man,” Danny said, “whatever you’ve gotta say, just lay it out there.”
He was right. If Danny had any hope of being a brother, he’d have to take straight talk not just from Zeke, but all the other men, too. And walking away, no matter how valiant his conscience might make it seem, wasn’t happening. “I could make shit go south really quick if I screw up with my next move.”
“What move’s that?”
“I’m making a play for Gabe.”
Danny locked up tight and his smile died. With the two of them matched at six foot three, Danny’s height wasn’t exactly intimidating, but the way he jammed his hands in his pockets and rolled his shoulders back made Zeke think the rest of their convo might not go as smooth as he’d hoped. “Making a play how?”
“Not the kind you’re thinking. Gabe’s sweet. The kind of sweet a man protects. I get that and I respect it, but there’s no predicting how things could turn out between us. We’re complete opposites.”
“Then why go there?”
“Because not going there isn’t an option.” It was the most honest thing he’d admitted since the day he laid eyes on her, and the truth behind his statement must have resonated with Danny too because a little of the tension in his shoulders eased. “I stayed with her a lot longer than I let on last weekend.”
“When you took her home?”
“Yep. I didn’t plan to do it. She asked me to stay, and I couldn’t say no. Nothing happened. Nothing except sitting on the couch and watching some late-eighties movie.” He paused long enough to meet Danny’s stare head on. “Aside from the night I joined the brotherhood, it was the best night of my life.”
Danny stared back at him, obviously a little shocked at the admission.
“I want you to know, I get the line I’m crossing,” Zeke said. “I get what’s at stake. That’s why I wanted to come and give it to you straight before I move forward.”
For the longest time, Danny just stood there, his eyes a little glazed over like someone had whacked him on the back of the head. He blinked a few times, studied the blacktop, then gazed out toward the interstate in the distance. Whatever he was thinking about, it was serious. Enough it appeared as though the whole damned world squatted on his shoulders. “There’s more of a line there than you think.”
Zeke forced himself not to move, but a thick, supercharged awareness prickled beneath his skin.
Danny faced him. “You think you’re just putting my chances with the brotherhood at stake, but the damage you could do to her is worse.”
“I get that.”
“I don’t think you do.” Danny sighed, paced a few steps, and leaned next to Zeke on the Camaro’s trunk. “You know my dad kicked my mom out when Gabe was little.”
“You mentioned it, yeah.”
“I’m guessing the brothers know the details, too.”
Talk about your sticky wickets. “Brothers don’t have secrets. So if you’re asking if I know she got arrested and divorced about three months later, yeah, I know.”
“Figured as much.” Danny gripped the edge of the trunk and scanned the street in front of them. “What you don’t know are the details. That Dad found my mom sleeping around with not one, but two men who were seriously bad news. What’s worse, she’d take Gabe with her. He spent everything he had to get custody of the two of us.”
“He sounds like a good man.”
Danny smiled, his focus a little distant. “Oh, he was. Always cut to the point and never blew smoke up anyone’s ass.” He looked at Zeke. “Not even with Gabe. Gave her the truth about Mom the same way he did everything else. The problem is, Gabe thinks Mom seeking that lifestyle was because of her. That if she’d been better, prettier or smarter, Mom would’ve wanted to be home instead of somewhere else.”
“That’s whacked. She was just a kid.”
“You know that. I know that. But that’s the version Gabe got twisted up in her head. She might’ve gotten past the ideas if it hadn’t been for a few other grab and tosses with guys from school. Somewhere along the way, she decided people don’t stick around because there’s something fucked up with her. So she keeps everyone at a distance to keep from getting hurt.”
“She tell you that?”
“Nope. I might not be a doc like you, but I know my sister. I watched it happen. Saw her try to make friends and get the door slammed in her face one way or another. That’s why she hangs with
all the old folks in our neighborhood. They ain’t going anywhere and she knows it. They’re safe.”
A need to be good enough. Man, could he identify with that. Growing up dirt poor around a bunch of snobby rich kids, he understood that desire all too well. Except where he’d come out swinging, Gabe had built a wall and kept her side of it very carefully structured.
“I’m not gonna lie to you,” Danny said. “Of all the people I’d want for Gabe, I’d want someone like you. I liked watching you look out for her the other night. Liked the way she looked at you when you told everyone you were taking her home. But Gabe’s not a good bet for anything casual.”
“I’m not after casual. I wouldn’t put your future or her happiness on the line for a quick hookup. And while I can’t promise how things will turn out, I can promise I’ll shoot her straight no matter what.”
“And if I told you not to go there?”
Like hell that was going to happen. “I’m not sure I’d listen.”
Danny hung his head and huffed out an ironic laugh. “Funny thing is, I take that as a comfort.” He looked up. “She deserves someone who’d go to bat for her no matter what.”
A car pulled into the shop’s lot and parked in front of the main office, a potential new customer given the ugly dent in the front left fender.
Zeke held out his hand. “We good?”
Seconds ticked by.
Danny frowned and studied Zeke’s outstretched palm, then straightened and shook it. “Yeah, man. We’re good.” He jerked his head toward the customer who’d just disappeared into the office. “I gotta go cover that. Appreciate you coming by.”
“Appreciate you not ripping my head off.” Zeke pushed away from his car and rounded for the driver’s door. “Hey, is Gabe an early riser?”
“Depends. On a work week, yeah. But tomorrow’s Saturday, so I’d guess she’ll lay in a little. Never past eight-thirty or nine, though. Why?”
“I want to talk to her. Thought I’d pay her a visit in the morning.”
Wild & Sweet (The Haven Brotherhood) Page 10