Restless Harmony

by Kylie Gilmore

  He kissed her hair. “Good, because I don’t think I can be much gentler.”

  “I have to get ready soon.”

  He groaned. “I’m afraid I can’t let you get dressed.”

  She pulled back and grinned at him. “Why is that?”

  “Because I’ll end up ripping your clothes off. You don’t want to damage your clothes, do you?”

  “Gabe!” She rolled away from him, but he grabbed her before she could get out of bed, pulled her back against him, and spooned her.

  “Just a little bit longer,” he said, quickly shifting her leg and slipping inside her again. She gasped, and he smiled. She really should be used to the way he couldn’t get enough of her. He slid his hand around and cupped her breast.

  “This is exactly how I got this way,” she said.

  He pinched her nipple, and she rocked back into him, taking him deeper. Damn, it still felt good. “I know. I’m probably going to make you pregnant a lot.”

  “Gabe!”

  “I love you.” He stroked from her breast down to her stomach, where he rested his hand against their baby.

  “I love you too.” She let out a soft sigh, relaxing in his arms, and he felt like he’d come home.

  She had a short rehearsal today before their evening concert. He planned on going with her to both. He had some things he’d like to discuss with Jordan man-to-man.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Gabe watched rehearsal from the audience and was awestruck by Zoe. She was absolutely glowing on stage, even more than when he’d seen her playing back home. He didn’t know if it was the pregnancy, or his visit, or just the fact that she was doing what she loved, maybe all three, but there it was, so he couldn’t possibly see how he and his careless mistake had messed up anything for her. She was magnificent.

  He also noticed Jordan really was giving her the cold shoulder. He didn’t look at her, didn’t speak to her except as part of the group, and he certainly didn’t back her up on improv solos, merely left her on her own with only Wade and Alex to back her up. All the better to hear Zoe’s voice, in Gabe’s opinion, so Jordan’s lack of a blaring trumpet wasn’t hurting her there.

  The band took a break. Zoe ran up to him, and he met her halfway in the aisle. She hugged him. “How’d we sound from out here?”

  “You were amazing,” he said, sneaking in a quick kiss.

  “Thank you,” she said with a laugh. “But I meant the acoustics. Is it good? Too much of one instrument? Can you hear me okay?”

  “It’s great. Maybe a little loud on the obnoxious trumpet player.”

  “Oh, you.” Her dark brown eyes sparkled. And she really was glowing. Maybe pregnancy was good for her or the sex. Either way, he could help with both. “I didn’t even sing full throttle, so you’ll hear me more tonight. I have to save my voice.”

  “Even when you don’t sing full throttle you’re amazing.”

  “You’re biased.”

  “It’s not my opinion.” He held her by the hips, unable to keep his hands off her. “It’s simply a fact.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and spoke directly in his ear. “Can you get me some crackers? And a large bottled water. Sometimes when it gets hot under the lights, the queasiness comes back.”

  He stepped back immediately. “Absolutely. Where’s the nearest store?”

  “Just down the street. Turn right out of here, it’s at the end of the block.”

  “I’m on it.” He took off for the exit and heard her laugh.

  “Thank you,” she called.

  He turned. “Thank you.” For having my baby, for making me happier than I ever thought I could be, for being you, he added silently. He headed out the door, where he found Jordan outside talking to Alex.

  “Jordan,” Gabe said, “just the man I wanted to see.”

  “Later,” Alex said, stubbing out his cigarette and heading back inside.

  Jordan narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

  “What do I want? I want you to stop making things difficult for Zoe. She doesn’t need any more stress on top of touring.”

  “Yes, Dad,” Jordan sneered.

  “You know what, I’m going to let that slide because I will be a dad. Zoe’s pregnant, and we’re getting married. So whatever crazy thoughts you had in that peanut-sized brain of yours about getting together with her you can get rid of right now. I’m going to be on the rest of this tour, and I’m going to make sure it’s a good one for her. Are we clear?”

  Jordan’s eyes widened. “Zoe’s pregnant?”

  Gabe belatedly realized he wasn’t supposed to share that news yet. Shit. Zoe was going to kill him.

  Jordan turned for the door, and Gabe snagged him by the shoulder and turned him around. Jordan tsked and knocked Gabe’s hand away. “Get your hands off me. Who do you think you’re messing with?” He shoved Gabe backwards. “You knocked up my girl.”

  Gabe shoved him back. “She’s not your girl. She never was.”

  Jordan got in his face. “I was her first everything. Did she tell you that? First kiss. First fuck. So, yeah, she is my girl and always will be. She’ll come around. The men always leave and there’s good ol’ Jordan to pick up the pieces.”

  Gabe stood his ground. “So help me, Jordan, I will make your life a living hell if you upset her even once. I’m not going anywhere, so you’re just going to have to get used to that. You might’ve been her first, but I’m her last.”

  Jordan’s nostrils flared. Gabe stared right back at him, waiting for the larger man to swing a fist.

  “Dammit!” Jordan exclaimed before stomping down the sidewalk, muttering to himself.

  Gabe went back inside to quickly tell Zoe that Jordan knew before Jordan could. He found her sitting in the audience and slipped into the seat next to her.

  “Hey, you got my crackers?” she asked.

  “Not yet. I told Jordan you were pregnant, but it’ll be okay, and he won’t mess with you anymore.” He gave her a quick kiss and took off.

  “Gabe!”

  He went to get those crackers because that was what TLC was all about.

  ~ ~ ~

  Zoe waited backstage for their cue to open the concert. She had massive stage fright for the first time in forever and seriously felt like she was going to toss her cookies. She fought it as long as she could before she sprinted down the hallway to the ladies’ room and threw up. Bah. She rinsed out her mouth and grabbed a paper towel. So unprofessional.

  Jordan met her right outside the ladies’ room. “Zoe, they’re calling us. We got to go.”

  “You’re talking to me again?”

  “Your boyfriend said he would break every bone in my body if I messed with you.”

  She smacked his arm. “He did not. And P.S. Gabe’s much too sweet for that.”

  “Yeah. Says you.”

  They got backstage and were hurried on stage. The lights came up. Jordan looked over at her and mouthed, “All you,” as he always had. He meant her voice was the star, and they were just backup. Relief surged through her and when Jordan held up his hand in a silent count off—one, two, three—she grabbed the mike and let loose.

  Zoe felt like she was sailing, in a strange free-flowing state, the music and movements pouring through her without any thought or effort. Just a free fall into the music and when she landed to enthusiastic applause, she was brought back to reality with a start.

  “Yes!” Jordan was saying, whooping it up with the guys. “Take a bow, Zoe.”

  She took a small bow and gave a cheerful wave to the audience before heading backstage, looking for Gabe. A few minutes later he appeared, shaking his head. “Amazing,” he said before grabbing her and spinning her around. She squealed, and he set her down. “Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”

  “Yes, we’re fine,” she said with a laugh.

  “Your CD is selling like hotcakes,” he said. “I just saw them out in the hallway.” She’d arranged for the CD from their recording studio
session to be shipped to them for direct sales after concerts. She hadn’t known if they’d sell, but she’d thought why not?

  “That’s great!”

  “Zoe, this is big. I think you could make it solo. I watched that concert, and you outshine everything else out there. Your voice. That beautiful voice. And you write your own songs. I’m on board. One hundred percent behind your music career. All the way.”

  “I’m not that amazing. I got stage fright and threw up backstage.”

  “That was the baby’s stage fright not yours.”

  “I can’t believe you told Jordan.”

  “Is he treating you better?”

  “Yes.”

  He gave her a smug smile. “Case closed.”

  “Now wait a minute, Mr. Shark Lawyer.”

  He took her hand, kissed it, and then pulled her along. “Come on, Mrs. Shark Lawyer. You owe me two weeks of yes. Did I mention I’m staying for the whole tour?”

  She stopped short. “Are you serious?”

  He smiled his dimpled smile. “Yes.”

  “Who’s taking care of Fred?”

  “Vinny.”

  “Oh!” Tears sprang to her eyes.

  His hand went to the small of her back, guiding her outside. “I’m going to take those as happy tears.”

  She nodded and smiled as a tear escaped.

  “C’mere.” He wrapped her in a big hug and then grabbed her hand, entwined her fingers with his, and took her back to the hotel.

  ~ ~ ~

  The next morning, Zoe found a note on the pillow where Gabe should’ve been.

  Meet me at the castle and wear the dress.

  Love, Gabe

  She stared at it, crinkling her nose. What castle? Did he mean the black dress? Because he’d ripped the thin straps that held the back and front together, and there was no way she was wearing that thing out anywhere. It was Sunday, her day off, and she’d thought they’d do some sightseeing. Maybe Gabe thought the same and arranged for a castle tour.

  She sat up. He’d left crackers and a bottled water on the nightstand for her. She got teary-eyed over the gesture. She ate a cracker, took a long drink of water, and headed for the bathroom. She stopped short at the tall armoire with a note taped to it: Open me.

  She opened the door and gasped. Inside was a poufy pink dress. Like a princess would wear. It was her bucket list again from that night when they’d stayed up all night talking. The one thing he hadn’t done yet. She fought back tears and lost. The hormones made her so emotional, and Gabe was so sweet. She pulled out the dress to admire it and saw a shoebox sitting under it. She put the dress back and peeked inside. Pink satin ballet slippers. How did he do all this? When? Her size even.

  She didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky. So very, very lucky. What if she hadn’t been his waitress? What if she hadn’t needed a lawyer? Hadn’t moved to that studio apartment? Hadn’t gone with him to Pittsburgh? Oh, why wasn’t she wearing his ring? It was a slap in the face. She wished she’d brought it with her.

  She took a shower and got ready, taking extra care with her makeup. She pulled her hair up in a cute little updo with a twist. Now all she needed was the tiara, she thought with a giggle. She slipped on the dress and twirled around, feeling every bit the princess.

  She looked around the room for more clues about the castle and found none. She texted Gabe. Go downstairs, he messaged back. Your chariot awaits.

  She left the hotel room, hoping she’d find a car downstairs for her. Otherwise she was going to have a very expensive cab ride. And she didn’t even know which castle he meant. Europe was full of castles. A driver held up a sign, For Princess Zoe. She laughed and got in.

  They drove for about an hour and stopped at a huge castle along the river. The sign said it was open to the public. She wondered if she’d be walking in with a bunch of tourists gawking at her in her silly princess dress. She walked down the stone path alone, no tourists in sight.

  “Gabe?” she called tentatively.

  No reply.

  The driver had told her to go all the way into the castle and wait.

  She walked to a center foyer with suits of armor and a huge hearth and found, finally, her prince. Gabe stood there in a tuxedo, looking every bit the part. He went to her, took her hand, and raised it to his lips. “Princess Zoe.”

  She giggled. “Prince Charming.”

  One corner of his mouth lifted, revealing the dimple in his clean-shaven cheek. “I rented the castle for the night. They have guest rooms upstairs.”

  She threw her arms around him. “I can’t believe you made my whole bucket list come true!”

  His arms wrapped tight around her. “Not a bucket list. This is the never-ending dream list.”

  She pulled away to find his eyes were shiny with tears, and she felt her own eyes well up. “I want to make yours come true too. Tell me them all, and then tell me some more.”

  “I only have one dream I care about. Marrying you.” And then he pulled her ring out of his pocket and slid it onto her finger. And while she stared at it in shock, she hadn’t known he’d found it, he went on. “I said I wanted to make all of your dreams come true, and I meant it.” He tipped her chin up and looked into her eyes. “I’m going to be a full-time dad for two years at least, more if your music career is doing well. I’ll help manage your career in any way you want—the business side, promotion, anything. I’ll travel with you wherever opportunity takes you. Marriage and family won’t hold you back. I want you to soar, and I’ll be your safe landing place to come back to. Marry me, Zoe.”

  She couldn’t seem to find her voice. She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. Gabe was giving her more than she’d ever thought to ask for. “Gabe, I can’t let you do that. What about your career? What about money?”

  “You and the baby are my career, my honorable calling. And I have money. The first million I earned, the rest was from my dad’s investments that I inherited. I can’t think of a better way to spend that money than on you. You are my investment.”

  She burst into tears, and he wrapped his arms around her. He believed in her. She looked up at him. “I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t.” He wiped away the tears with his thumbs. “Please say yes.”

  “Yes!”

  He grabbed her and spun her around. “I love your yes. Come upstairs. I want more yes out of you.”

  “Always, Gabe. Always yes to you.”

  He scooped her up in his arms and carried her up the grand stone staircase like a princess. He was the real deal. A prince among men.

  A shark lawyer.

  A boy next door.

  A lima-bean boyfriend.

  And P.S. a lima-bean husband too.

  Epilogue

  Gabe finally nailed things down when he married Zoe on August first exactly one week after they’d arrived home from her tour. Her parents had met them in Paris at the end of May and Zoe finally told them the news. It had been touch and go for a bit there as they sat at dinner in a nice restaurant, where Zoe first had to introduce Gabe as her fiancé, and then break the news about the baby.

  Gabe had stepped in, assuring them how much he loved their daughter, and how he planned on being a full-time dad. After a bit of huffing and puffing on her dad’s part, where he talked about “back in the day” and the “order things should be done,” especially about them getting married after the baby instead of before, he got behind it. Her mom was just happy that Zoe was happy.

  Then Zoe explained her plans to go indie and how indie was more common now and took out the middleman, letting musicians directly sell to their listeners with a greater profit.

  “You’re the future,” her dad said to Zoe. “I’m just an old grumbling dinosaur. What do I know about the digital age of music? I’m old school.”

  Zoe hugged him. “You know a lot, Dad. And I want you to play with me too.”

  Her dad shook Gabe’s hand. “You have my blessing…for all of it.�
�

  Classy guy. Then Zoe and her mom planned out the wedding in a small ceremony to be held in Gabe’s backyard.

  Zoe hadn’t wanted to be showing in the wedding pictures, and Gabe wanted nothing more than to make it official, so the quick simple wedding worked perfectly. Fred acted as ring bearer, carrying the two gold bands on a small pillow strapped to his back.

  And if that wasn’t enough, his stepdad had done really well with chemo. Vinny told him Fred had been a great comfort to him. And the doctors were hopeful his stepdad would have a clean bill of health soon.

  Gabe headed out back to check on the progress of Zoe’s studio. He’d asked his brother Vince to get started on turning the apartment over the garage into a music studio as soon as he got a break in his schedule. And he was nearly finished now at the end of August.

  “Hey, this is looking good,” Gabe said, looking around. Vince had done some research into soundproofing and redid the walls, floors, and switched out the windows’ glass with acoustic glass. The equipment—computer, digital audio workstation, keyboard, microphone, and speakers—were all in place.

  Zoe was already there, supervising. She grabbed the mike. “Hello, Mr. Shark Lawyer.”

  He smiled and put his hand across her baby bump. She was six months along now. “Hello, baby,” he said into the mike. “Hello, Mrs. Shark Lawyer.” He kissed her.

  “You guys make me sick.” Vince gathered his tools and put them in his toolbox. “Kissy kissy,” he muttered under his breath.

  Zoe giggled as she put the mike away, and then inclined her head meaningfully over to Vince.

  “Vince, I wanted to ask you something,” Gabe said.

  “I’ll be right back,” Zoe said, heading for the bathroom. She had to go a lot now that the baby was getting bigger.

  Vince finished putting his tools away and snapped the box closed. He stood and gave Gabe an annoyed look. “What? I told you no charge. It’s a wedding present.”

  “And I told you I would pay you.”

  “Bite me.”

  Gabe hid a smile before saying, “Would you be godfather?”

  Vince jammed his hands on his hips and glared. Gabe was onto his brother now. Zoe had pointed out that Vince blustered to cover up his emotions. Apparently her sister was the same way. She’d suggested him as godfather. After Gabe had thought about it, he’d agreed it would be good for the family and good for the baby. No one valued family more than Vince.