Gavin laughed. “Thanks, Troy. I’ll keep that in mind if I’m ever desperate. And I do mean really, really desperate.”
Troy joined in on the laughter. “Believe me, brother. If you ever came to work for me, I wouldn’t want you any other way.”
“All right, you two!” Ella scolded. “Stop messing around! I want to hear what Gavin’s plan is.”
Gavin took a deep breath. “I’m going to start a non-profit. Working with at-risk kids. I’m not sure of the specifics yet, but it’ll involve the outdoors, and achieving goals, and teaching them skills that they can take forward into life.”
“That’s amazing!”
“I’ve been doing some research, and it seems like the most challenging aspect of starting non-profits is the paperwork. Navigating grant proposals, government forms, things like that. Well, having just come out of the service, I’m singularly qualified to navigate forms that are about five times as long as they need to be. I’m confident I’ll be able to wade through it.”
Donovan clapped a hand on his shoulder. “You look it. And happy, which is nice to see.”
“Yeah,” Gen chimed in. “It is.”
He moved his gaze to her. She was smiling at him, and her eyes were soft as they met his.
God, she was beautiful.
And they were in a room full of people, so he couldn’t do anything about it. It was torture.
But he was getting his future squared away, and this was going to be part of it. It had to be. Enough hiding. He would talk to her. Tonight, even, maybe. Because keeping this secret was getting real old.
Chapter 36
Gen stretched her arms above her head and stifled a yawn as Gavin closed the door after the last of their friends had departed. Damn, hanging out with them was fun, but to be honest she thought they’d never go. In fact, the evening had seemed like it was stretching on so long that she had briefly considered the idea that maybe they knew about her and Gavin and were only dragging things out to mess with her head.
Of course, she was probably being paranoid about that. Her friends had her best interests at heart – besides, she knew for sure that Ella knew, and she and Donovan had been the last to the leave. Sweet Ella would never do anything just to mess with her.
Gavin turned around to face her, a hungry look in his eyes. “Shit, I thought they’d never leave.”
She laughed, and even to her own ears, her voice sounded throaty and thick with lust. “You’re reading my mind.”
His eyes roamed the space. “We’re all alone now, in this big empty apartment. What should we do with all this space, and all this time?”
She stood and glided across the room toward him, her movements sensual and lithe. “Oh, I don’t know. I can think of a few ideas.”
“Tell me what they are. And don’t spare any details.”
She looked down at herself, lifted her still slightly sweaty T-shirt away from her body, and wrinkled her nose “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. The first one has to do with showering.”
He chuckled. “I’m on board with that. What you think the chances are I could join you in the shower?”
She winked at him. “I’m no mathematician, but I’d say somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred percent.”
With that, she turned and ran toward the bathroom, pulling her T-shirt off over her head as she went. He followed, tossing his T-shirt after hers.
She sat on the edge of the tub and turned on the water, dangling her fingers under it to test the temperature.
“How’s the water pressure?” Gavin murmured, running his hand over her ponytailed hair.
“We’re about to find out.”
When the stream was suitably hot, she flipped the toggle switch that caused it to flow through the shower head instead of the tub faucet. The jets of steaming water splashed down into the clawfoot tub and Gen stood and made quick work of pulling off the rest of her clothes.
As she did, she watched Gavin doing the same thing and fluttering bursts filled her belly. Damn, even after all these years, he still revs my engine every single time, she marveled. Vroom freaking vroom.
When they were both naked, he stepped to her and took her in his arms. So many different kinds of heat flooded her body – the heat of arousal, the heat of the steam quickly filling the small bathroom, and the heat of Gavin’s body against hers.
She felt positively lightheaded and she loved it. Normally, she’d want to be in control of all things at all times, but with Gavin’s arms around, her she felt safe enough to relax into the delicious sensation of the world spinning around her. She didn’t have to be the one to keep herself upright. She knew that Gavin would catch her if she fell.
He bent his head and kissed her, then lowered his head to her breasts. She looked down to watch him as he took one of her nipples into his mouth and then the other, alternating between them until they both stood at attention, silvery and shiny in the moonlight streaming in.
Her back arched to meet his mouth, pressing her nipples even tighter against his roaming tongue. He flicked them faster and faster. She loved how they came alive in his mouth, growing into sweet, hard pebbles for him to play with and devour. She felt proud when he did that, like her body’s response was the equivalent of a gift she was offering him.
He surprised her then by scooping her up in his arms. It was one swift, smooth gesture. One minute, her feet were firmly on the ground. The next he was holding her as if he was about to carry her over the threshold.
Which he did, in a way. With one sure step, he moved the two of them underneath the stream of hot water and then sat her back down on her feet, this time inside the shower.
The hot streams of water flowed over her skin and his as they stood there under the spray, clinging to each other. It was almost like a slick, shining rope winding around the two of them, binding them together.
They kissed and caressed until Gavin pulled back suddenly, pushing her wet hair back from her face and then framing it with his hands. He looked into her eyes like he was searching for something. For an answer, maybe. But to what question, Gen didn’t know.
She trailed her fingertips up and down his body as he looked fiercely into her eyes. It was almost more than she could take. Too close, too intimate. But, at the same time that it pushed her to the edge of her comfort level, it also filled her belly with such a deep sense of satisfaction that it was like nothing she could ever remember experiencing before. For that reason, she stood her ground and pushed through the discomfort.
God, who ever had first coined that phrase about everything good existing just outside your comfort zone knew what they were talking about. This connection with Gavin, this deep sense of intimacy – it was everything. It was life.
He bent and kissed her. The same way he had done a thousand times before, in one sense. But in another sense, it was like no other kiss he had ever planted on her. Ever. The depth of feeling behind his lips was the thing that was new.
He drew back and took a deep breath. Running his thumb along the line of her jaw, he said, “I’m here to stay, Gen. This is not a fly-by-night thing anymore. It’s real. To me it is, anyway, and I think it is to you, too.”
All she could do was nod, but she did that furiously, sending small drops of water flying from the tips of her wet hair.
“I’m tired of hiding,” he continued. “Tired of showing one face to the world and another one to you, when there’s only one truth. And that truth is – I love you. And I want the world to know it.”
She opened her mouth to speak, wanting to give an impassioned speech back to Gavin that was just as heartfelt and beautiful as the one he’d just given to her. He used his words so sparingly, and he’d just spent about a year’s worth by his scale on telling her that he loved her.
And words were her jam. She should’ve been able to come up with something awesome… And yet, when she tried to say what was on her heart, all that came out was, “Yes. Oh my God. Yes.”
Apparently, even t
hough her words were few, they were able to do the job of letting him know how she felt, because he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her roughly to him, holding her against his body in his oh so strong arms. He kissed her like the world was ending. She supposed, in a way, it was – the world where they were apart was ending, making way for a shiny new one where they were together.
He held her head to his chest and stroked her hair while she listened to his heartbeat. Finally, he said, “So, does this mean we’re official?”
She pulled her head back, looking to his serious face and laughing with pure joy. “Officially a couple? Yeah, I think it does. Officially fucking awesome? Well, yeah, we always were. And we always will be. So, in short, yes. We are, in a word, official.”
He grinned. “So, what now?”
She returned his smile, but hers had a naughty and sensual edge to it. “Now, you soap me up.”
Epilogue
Gavin sat back in his canvas folding chair and surveyed the crowd at the Labor Day picnic that kicked off the Fall Festival as he sipped his beer. The turnout was awesome. He thought the whole town must’ve been there, plus a healthy dose of tourists. In fact, he’d never seen Valentine Bluff Park so full.
Across the grassy expanse, he saw his sister giggling with her group of school friends. A few feet away, he saw his brother Donovan walking hand in hand with his fiancée, Ella. Scanning the group, he spotted Troy, Abby, his grandmother – and pretty much everyone else he knew here in Valentine Bay.
And, of course, there was Genevieve. She was pretty much everywhere he looked, hurrying from one place to the next, her “serious and in charge” face firmly in place.
His heart fluttered. God, he was proud of her. And he loved her. There was no question.
Warmth filled his chest. Valentine Bay really felt like home now. Not his childhood home, the place he’d come back to visit and reminisce before jetting away from the nostalgia and back to his “real” life. But his honest-to-God home. The place where his “real” life happened.
His family was here and so was Genevieve. There was nowhere else. This was his world.
He knocked back the last of his beer and tossed the can in the garbage. He stood and walked across the park to where Genevieve was handing out bottled water to volunteers.
He loved going up to her in public without giving a second thought to who might see them. In fact, he wanted people to see them. He was proud as hell that this mover-and-shaker spitfire of a sexy woman loved him, and he couldn’t wait until the whole world knew it.
He slipped his arm around her waist as he stepped up next to her and at first she froze. The impulse only lasted a moment, though, and then she turned her face up to his and melted against him.
He pressed his lips to hers. Something about kissing her like this, for all the world to see, felt even more intimate than when they were alone. That seemed totally backwards, he was well aware. But he thought it might have something to do with the fact that it felt like claiming her. Like he was staking his territory, letting everybody and their brother know that she was his.
Whatever the reason, he liked it. No, fuck that. He loved it, and he never planned to go back.
“This feels right,” she purred, echoing his thoughts.
“Hell, yeah.”
She smiled. “Your usual eloquent self.”
He grinned at her. His sister had been right. He wasn’t one for smiling. He played all of his emotions close to the vest, even the good ones. But when he was around Genevieve, he couldn’t seem to wipe the damn grin from his face. Ever.
“Well, it’s about damn time.”
Gavin turned at Troy’s voice to see his brothers walking up to him, with Ella still beside Donovan, their fingers threaded together.
“Yeah,” Gavin said, a little sheepish. “This has been going on for a while.”
“Oh, we know. I meant it was about damn time you made it public.”
Gavin laughed. “How long have you known?”
They both looked at Ella, and she grimaced. “Sorry, Gen. I couldn’t help myself.”
Gen hugged her best friend. “No worries. I get it. I’d have a hard time keeping a secret from Gavin, now, too.”
“Well, now. I was wondering when you two young fools were going to make it official.”
The whole group turned to face Grandmother Valentine, who was walking up to them determinedly. She was leaning on her cane as she came – with her latest in a string of young, buff health care workers trailing behind her – but the look in her eyes showed she was still as sharp as ever. Not to mention as feisty.
When she made it to them, Gavin leaned down and gave her a hug. “So, I take it you found out about us when I came back to town, too? That’s why you pushed us onto the committee together?”
She waved a hand in front of her face, swatting his theory away as dismissively as if it were a buzzing fly. “Goodness, no. What do you take me for? I’ve known about the two of you for fifteen years. That’s why I pushed you onto the committee together. And thank merciful heavens I did, too. No one wanted to look at that pouty puss you were developing for the next forty years. This girl put a smile back on your face.”
Gavin pulled Gen to him. He kissed the top of her head and thanked his lucky stars that fate had brought them together. Or, as the case may be, a force much stronger than fate: Grandmother Valentine.
He turned back to his family. “I think Grandmother had it right. We were two young fools. Or at least I was, for wasting one minute that we could’ve been together.”
Gen wiped a tear from her eye. When she spoke, her voice held its usual joking lilt, but deep emotion trembled underneath, as well. “Let’s not do that anymore, ’kay?”
He kissed her. “Never. No more wasted time. Only time spent loving you. That’s the only thing that matters, and it’s the only thing that ever will.”
The End
Rocking Her Heart
Don’t miss Abby and Jet’s story
Coming December 2018
Excerpt
Abby Baxter couldn’t wait for this night to be over so that she could close up the shop, go home to her bed, change into her pajamas and slippers, and curl up with a glass of wine and Netflix – AKA, the best way she knew how to escape the stresses of the day.
It was almost time. She glanced at her watch at the same time that the bell over the front door chimed, signaling that someone had entered the shop.
Cool, this should be the last customer. AKA, the only person standing in between me, a nice Chard, and an episode of The Crown!
She grabbed the now-empty crate that she’d taken the bottles out of to load the shelves and headed to the front. As she walked, she called out cheerfully, “Hi, there! What can I help—”
When her eyes landed on the person who’d just walked through the door, and then locked onto his, she froze.
It was Jet Valentine, and oh holy mother of rock star, did he look every bit as sexy as she remembered. His shaggy black hair and two-day shadow were perfectly engineered to look as if they hadn’t been engineered at all, and his faded vintage T-shirt hugged his arms, pecs and abs just enough to show off the Adonis-like V-shape that his shoulders formed leading down to his waist.
Best of all, though…oh my God, yes, still the best of all…were his piercing blue eyes. They were the color of the ocean on Mykonos, She’d gone to that gorgeous island when she’d studied abroad in college, and the vibrant hue of the water had sent a physical ache of missing Jet through her entire body.
And now, years later, here she was, looking into those eyes again.
The world seemed to slow and still, a preternatural silence enveloping her in its grasp. It was clear and perfect, like fragile spun glass – and it only lasted for a moment until it was shattered by the loud clatter of the heavy crate falling to the floor.
That startled her out of her trance, causing her to jump and stumble backward.
A vision went through her mind o
f herself in that moment. She saw her hand reaching out to catch herself before she fell to the ground, grasping at a shelf…and then falling to the ground anyway, but bringing thousands of dollars worth of wine crashing down around her at the same time, leaving nothing to do but stare up at Jet Valentine from a sopping puddle of spreading liquid.
The whole scenario raced through her mind in a flash, but with enough clarity that it caused her to summon the iron will to right herself before she tumbled ass over teakettle.
Not in front of Jet. Never in front of Jet.
She got her feet under her with as much subtlety as she could manage, which she had to admit wasn’t a whole lot, and then held her head up. Again, with as much dignity as she could manage. Which, again, wasn’t a whole lot.
A small smile played on his lips. “You okay, there, Abs?”
Ignoring his question, she kept her tone airy and casual as she said, “Oh, Jet. Hey. Long time no see. How are you?”
His shoulders slumped. “Pretty shitty, to tell you the truth.”
Her heart jumped at his dejected air, and she had the urge to cross to him and throw her arms around him, take his pain away, hold him close to her until he felt halfway human again.
But that was ssssooo not their dynamic.
She gave her voice a teasing edge. “Oh, did Maserati not come out with a color you liked in their new lineup? I can only imagine what kind of hell rock star problems must be.”
He looked up, surprise flashing in his eyes. “Shit. Don’t you know what happened?”
Of course she did, but she tilted her head to the side and wrinkled her brow in puzzlement anyway. “What are you talking about, and why would I know it happened?”
“Well…I mean, it’s been all over entertainment news all day today. I don’t think there’s been even one gossip blog that hasn’t been posting about it.”
Rescuing His Heart Page 15