by Eve Gaddy
She narrowed her eyes at him. “And what if I am?”
He laughed. “I like it. But there’s no need. It wasn’t a date, Lana. She’s a sales rep. We were having a business dinner.”
She frowned. “You two seemed awfully cozy to be talking business.”
“Because I knew you were watching. Katrina mentioned that you were sending her death looks and wanted to know why. So I told her. I figured if you were jealous maybe there was some hope for me after all.”
“Oh, there was hope. I wanted to go over there and rip her hair out,” Lana admitted. “I couldn’t believe it when we ran into you. I’d avoided the Parrot purposely.”
“Fate,” he said, and ran a finger down her nose before he kissed it.
“What kind of a sales rep is she?”
He grinned and shook his head. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. It’s a surprise.” He lay down and pulled her on top of him, kissed her thoroughly. “Tonight I have other surprises up my sleeve.”
Her lips twitched. “You’re not wearing a shirt.”
“You are, though. But that’s about to change,” he said, and groaned when she wiggled her hips against him.
“You bet it is,” she murmured, and kissed him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I CANNOT BELIEVE you blindfolded me,” Lana said. “Or that I let you talk me into it.” They’d been driving for twenty minutes or so, she thought, but she had no idea which direction they’d gone.
“I want it to be a surprise. As soon as we get there, you can take it off.”
She smiled, thinking how excited Gabe had been this morning. They’d made love in the early dawn hours and not long after that he’d insisted they get out of bed and moving so he could show her his new business venture. Which he still wouldn’t even hint about. She couldn’t imagine what it was, but if Gabe was happy about it, and he sure seemed to be, then she was certain she would be, too.
The truck stopped. “We’re here.” She felt his hands untying her makeshift blindfold and take it off. Before she could see anything, he kissed her.
When she opened her eyes, she recognized the Corpus Christi causeway bridge immediately. Gabe had parked near a set of dilapidated docks that led to a small bait and tackle shop. An ancient, faded sign hung on top of the building that proclaimed it to be “Red’s.”
Gabe had one hand on her arm while she looked around. “This is it. What do you think?”
This was it? This…shack was his new venture? She thought it looked awful but clearly she couldn’t say that. “It’s…interesting.”
“It needs a little work,” he said. “Come on, let me show you around.”
It needed a lot of work and she hadn’t even seen the inside yet.
A sign in the window said Closed For Renovations. New Management. Her heart sank. He’d bought the place already?
Gabe pulled out a key and unlocked the door, swinging it open. He stepped inside and turned on the light, then waited for her to go through the door.
The shop was dark and dingy, overflowing with a variety of items, many of which she didn’t recognize. She assumed they were some sort of fishing paraphernalia. There were a variety of smells, as well. Thankfully, she didn’t recognize most of them, either.
A stuffed fish hung on the wall, encrusted with layers of dust and grime. A battered ball cap, equally dirty, perched on the fish’s head. For the life of her, she couldn’t think of a word to say.
“I know. The inside needs work, too,” Gabe said, limping beside her. He knocked a can off the shelf and dust exploded everywhere. Lana sneezed violently and backed away.
“And cleaning,” Gabe added with a crooked grin. “Hell, I doubt Red cleaned it after his wife died and that was twenty or more years ago.”
He was looking at her expectantly and she knew she had to say something and all she could think was why would he have bought a shop that hadn’t been cleaned in twenty years? “When did you buy it?”
“Last week. I came by to see Red and he said he was moving to Florida and looking to sell the place.” He looked around, affection in his gaze. “Red Covey sold me my first fishing pole. I was about six. I worked here summers and after school as a kid. Our dad would take Cam and me fishing nearly every weekend. Mostly, we’d come fish the bay out here. Guess that’s one reason I loved it.”
His dad. He’d told her his father had died about fifteen years before. “Sounds like you have a lot of fond memories of the place.”
“Yeah, I do. Red’s is an institution around here. I know it’s not much to look at, but it’s a great location. And people know the place.”
“Well, it certainly is…interesting.”
He smiled at her. “You said that before. You think I’m nuts, don’t you?”
“No,” she said hastily. “But it does seem like a huge undertaking to get it into shape.”
“I can do most of the renovations myself and with my family’s help.You know my brother-in-law Mark was in construction before he became a Fish andWild-life Service agent. He said he’d be glad to help me, and Cam will pitch in, too.And I can take out a small business loan if I need to. Come on, let’s go outside.”
They went out and walked to the dock, to the fuel pumps. “The woman I was with last night? Katrina was trying to sell me new pumps. They’re not cheap, but I’m thinking they’d be worth it.”
He pointed to the shop again. “There’s a new line of rods and reels I’ve been reading about that I’d like to carry. I’ll have more room once I get rid of some of Red’s stuff he’s been keeping for thirty years. I still think I’ll need to enlarge the shop, but that shouldn’t be too hard.”
She understood then. She heard it in his tone of voice, saw it in his eyes, alive with pleasure. He hadn’t bought the shop because he couldn’t think of anything else to do. He was excited and looking forward to the work. He was happy. She put her hand on his arm and squeezed. “It’s wonderful, Gabe.”
He looked at her and laughed. “It’s a dump. But I have plans to change that.”
“I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic when you finish.”
“So, you really don’t think I’m crazy for buying it?”
“I think you’re going to love it. I haven’t heard you sound so happy since you told me what it was like to go deep-sea fishing.”
“The minute Red said he was selling, I knew it was what I wanted to do.” He put his arms around her and smiled into her eyes. “So, how do you feel about being a shopkeeper’s girlfriend?”
She looped her arms around his neck and tugged his head down to kiss him. “I think I’m going to love being a shopkeeper’s girlfriend. As long as you’re the shopkeeper.”
He kissed her again, longer and slower this time before he finally pulled back. “How would you feel about becoming a shopkeeper’s wife?”
Surprise held her silent and she gazed into his eyes. She waited, holding her breath.
“I’d get down on one knee but if I did that I’d be stuck down there for good. So I’m just going to ask you right here. Will you marry me, Lana?”
“Gabe, I—”
He interrupted. “I know we just got back together and I’m probably rushing you. But I love you, Lana, and I think we could be happy together.”
She put her fingers to his lips. “I would love to marry you.”
“You would?” He stared at her as if he couldn’t believe what she’d said.
Lana laughed and flung her arms around his neck. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Hallelujah,” he said, and crushed her in a bone-rattling hug before he kissed her.
They clung to each other, kissing and laughing and kissing again until the strident sound of a boat’s horn claimed their attention.
Gabe loosened his hold on her and turned toward the sound. “What? Can’t you see I’m busy?” he snapped at a man in a small fishing craft who had moored by the fuel tanks.
“Well, pardon the hell out of me, buddy. Can’t a man get a
little service around here? Fill ’er up.”
Gabe stared at the man. Finally he said, “We’re closed for renovations. Didn’t you see the sign?”
“I got to have some gas. How am I supposed to go fishing with no gas?” the man asked, clearly exasperated.
Lana dissolved into laughter. Gabe raised an eyebrow at her and grinned. “Well, Lana, what should I do?”
“Give the man some gas,” she said, and kissed him.
ISBN: 978-1-4592-1137-7
THAT NIGHT IN TEXAS
Copyright © 2005 by Eve Gaddy.
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