by S. J. McCoy
He’d even said he’d still stop by tomorrow and help her work on the house. Well, wouldn’t that be excruciating?! Still, at least he’d hadn’t withdrawn his friendship altogether. She’d hate that. She’d make up some excuse tomorrow about being stressed or not in her right mind. She’d apologize, and, hopefully, they’d be able to carry on as though she hadn’t told him she’d love to screw his brains out!
It took her a long time to get to sleep. When she finally did, she dreamed about Gabe. He was undressing her out in the orchard. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and he was going to make love to her. She moaned as he spread her legs; her whole body was tingling in anticipation. She tensed and felt the first waves of her orgasm take her as he thrust his hips and entered her. She was writhing under the sheets, horny as hell. She woke up sweating with tears rolling down her cheeks when Chance’s face drifted in the clouds above them. “Promise me! Promise me you won’t do it. It’ll only end badly, and you know it.” The exact words she’d said to him all those years ago.
She lay there staring at the ceiling, wishing she’d had a little longer with Gabe. She’d been right on the edge of what felt like it might have been the best orgasm of her life. She’d been so aroused—hell, she still was! She held the pillow tight, wishing it was him, wishing that he hadn’t turned her down, all the while feeling terrible that she was apparently more concerned about sex with Gabe than she was about the possibility of finally getting over the past with Chance.
When she opened her eyes again it was at the sound of the alarm clock. She was a morning person, but these four o’clock starts were starting to get to her. She reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. It was going to be a long day and she knew it. Gabe had said he would come by when she got finished and drive her home. He was going to help her board up the upstairs windows. She never went up there and her polyethylene sheets weren’t doing a very good job of anything except blowing in the wind.
~ ~ ~
Gabe took a deep breath before getting out of the car. He’d done a lot of thinking since he left Renée’s place last night. He’d decided that if she wanted to sleep with him, then—as a friend—the least he could was oblige. If that was what she wanted or needed from him to help her through a tough time, then he’d be more than happy to give it to her. He’d also decided that he wanted more from her than that. If she was open to it, he was going to start looking for ways they could be together, build a relationship, and see where they could take it.
He pushed open the door to the bakery and smiled when he saw her. She was so beautiful. She was a mess, red hair tousled, and he was pretty certain she had her shirt buttoned wrong since one tail was longer than the other. Her cutoff jeans came down an inch longer on one leg than they did on the other, and, to Gabe, the guy who demanded perfection, she looked absolutely perfect!
She smiled uncertainly. “Hey.”
“Hey, are you ready?”
She nodded and followed him out. Once they had her bike in the back of the car and were headed out West Shore she turned to him. “About last night.”
He turned and grinned at her. “Let’s talk about it later, can we? We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“Okay.”
She looked uncomfortable, so he added, “I mean we can talk about it later if you want to, but there’s no need. We’re good. Aren’t we?”
She nodded.
Gabe couldn’t help smiling to himself as he turned onto the dirt road that led up to her house. He was hoping that tonight they’d find out just how good they were.
By eight o’clock that evening they had all the windows in the upstairs of the house boarded up. Gabe would love to just have the whole place torn down and rebuilt, but there was no way she’d let him do that.
She pushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled at him. “Thank you. I haven’t got much in, but can I tempt you with a beer and a sandwich?”
He nodded. She was tempting him with so much more than that.
After they’d eaten, they sat in the living room. Gabe hadn’t seen this room before it was more like the kitchen than the rest of the house, in that was it was clean and bright and almost livable.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” she asked.
“Sounds good.” He wasn’t really a movie kind of guy, but it would give him the opportunity to spend a couple of hours on the sofa with her. So, he wasn’t lying, that did sound good.
While she sat on the floor in front of the DVD player reading out the names of the movies she had, Gabe sat himself in the middle of the sofa. She’d have to sit next to him wherever she went. When she had the movie running, she turned around and looked at him. The confusion on her face was quite comical. She didn’t know where to sit for the best. He smiled to himself as she sat back down on the floor at his feet—even better, although she didn’t realize it yet.
He could tell she was no more focused on the movie than he was; the set of her shoulders was a dead giveaway of nervous tension. He leaned forward and stroked her hair. “Do you want a shoulder rub while you’re down there?” he asked.
She nodded, but didn’t speak.
Gabe grinned to himself. He had her, and they both knew it. He sat forward on the edge of the sofa and positioned her between his legs. He felt her tremble as he swept her hair off her neck and started to gently knead with his thumbs. For a good ten minutes he worked her shoulders, easing away the tension she’d been carrying. He could feel he was building another kind of tension though and not just in his own pants. When he worked a little knot at the base of her neck, the little sighs she’d been making turned to moans, lower more sensual. He worked the flats of his hands down her back and felt her tense when his fingertips dipped inside her jeans. He ran his hands back up her sides, deliberately letting his fingers graze her breasts in passing. He sat back and hooked his hands under her arms lifting her so she sat on the edge of the sofa between his legs. Curling one arm around her waist, he swept the hair off her neck and brushed his lips over her soft skin. The little moan that escaped from her lips urged him on. There was no going back now. He closed his hands around her breasts and was rewarded with another moan. He bit the side of her neck, and she sagged back against him.
“Gabe,” she whispered. “Please, stop.”
He sucked in a deep breath and lifted his head, but continued caressing her breasts as he spoke. “You really want me to stop?” He didn’t think he’d be able to if she said yes. He needn’t have worried.
“I really don’t want you to stop. But I think that you doing this just because you know it’s what I want is way above and beyond the call of friendship. You don’t have to do this if you don’t really want to.”
Even while she was speaking, he slid one hand down and started unfastening her jeans. “When are you going to learn, Renée?”
“Learn what?” she breathed as he slipped his hand inside her damp panties. His own jeans got that much tighter when he felt how badly she wanted him, how hot and wet she was.
He traced his finger over her opening. “I don’t do anything I don’t want to do. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted this since the first time I saw you working the bar.” He pushed her jeans down over her knees and she kicked out of them. “I want you.”
She looked up at him over her shoulder, her eyes darkened with desire. “I want you, Gabe.”
Those were the words he’d needed to hear. He soon had them both out of the rest of their clothes and pulled her down to lie face to face with him. She traced her hand over his chest then met his gaze. “Are you sure?”
He caught her wrist as he nodded. “I’m sure,” he said as he brought her hand down to touch him through his boxers. “What I need to know is that you’re sure.” He wanted her to know what she was getting into—better said, what was getting into her.
Her eyes widened as she stroked him. “Oh my!”
He smiled. Much as women joked about how size mattered, when it came down to it some of them coul
dn’t handle the reality. Renée looked anything but scared. Her lips were slightly parted, her skin flushed, and her breath was coming slow and heavy as she touched him. For Gabe, hard lust was replaced by tenderness in an instant when he saw fear flash across her face.
“What is it?”
She met his gaze. “It’s been a long time. I might not…What if I can’t…”
Gabe slipped his hand inside her panties. She was so wet, he had no doubt it’d be okay. “You can.” He closed his other hand around the back of her neck and kissed her deeply. She was so soft, so willing. He got rid of their underwear and drew her under him. He was aching to be inside her. With any other woman, it would have been easy; he would have taken his pleasure, swift and hard. With Renée he was cautious. He spread her legs, kissing her all the while as he positioned himself. She opened herself up to him as he slid his hands under her ass, lifting her to receive him. She screamed as he thrust his hips and entered her. He wanted to scream himself, she felt so damned good! She moved with him, their hips pounding in a frantic rhythm. She was so tight, clenching around him with each thrust of his hips. She was driving him crazy. The pressure began to mount at the base of his spine; it seemed she hit the point of no return in the same moment he did. She tensed and clung to him as he let himself go taking her away with him as the pleasure crashed through them. Gabe gasped as he exploded deep inside her. He was completely at her mercy as her body clenched around him. Her orgasm intensified his own as she moaned her way through it.
When they finally stilled he buried his face in her neck, making her quiver, sending an aftershock through him and back to her.
“Oh my!” she eventually mumbled.
Gabe nodded as he rolled to the side. He didn’t have the strength for words yet. He was blown away. He’d had a lot of sex, with a lot of women, and he wouldn’t deny that. Over desks, on yachts, under ball gowns, he’d done it all. He liked sex. But this? He hadn’t fumbled around on a sofa in front of a TV since he was a teenager and yet this? This was the best ever. She was the best ever. He kissed her neck.
“Thank you.”
Her tone made him lift his head and raise an eyebrow. “Thank you?”
She nodded. The passion and pleasure had left her face and had been replaced by…what? Embarrassment? “This really was above and beyond. But Gabe, I don’t want to be a charity case, let alone the recipient of a charity fuck!”
“A charity fuck?” Gabe was stunned. “You really think that’s what this was?”
She nodded sullenly. “Yesterday I said I wanted to and you went running. Today you gave me what I wanted because you’re such a stand-up guy!”
Gabe shook his head. “No guy could stand up for sex if he didn’t want it, you stubborn woman! What part of I want you don’t you understand? What part of I’m crazy about you don’t you get? What part of I don’t ever want to cause you to hurt more than you already do isn’t getting through to you? I keep telling you I care about you. I didn’t keep telling you how much I wanted to fuck you, because I want us to be about more than that. Yesterday when you said you wanted to be friends with benefits, you hurt my feelings because I want you to want more than that. So don’t you dare tell me this is a charity fuck!” Gabe ran out of steam and stared at her, not quite believing that he’d just lost it and yelled at her.
She looked totally shocked as she stared back at him. “You mean that?” she asked.
He blew out a frustrated sigh. “What do you think, Renée?”
She smiled. “I think you do.”
He smiled back.
“But I think you may need to do it again to prove it.”
He laughed and drew her closer. “I’d be happy to.”
Chapter Eight
After dropping Renée at the bakery, Gabe didn’t know where to go. He didn’t want to roll into his parents’ place at four in the morning. He’d rather face that inquisition after coffee. He drove back down Main wondering what time the restaurant opened for breakfast—or even the convenience store—so he could get a caffeine fix. He parked in the square at the resort and decided to take a stroll. A stroll around this place was literally one down memory lane for him. He’d grown up in the big house on Main where Michael now lived with Megan and Ethan. This little town had been his whole life until he was eighteen and went off to college. Unlike many of his friends though, he’d known it wasn’t forever, he’d known he’d leave—and thought he’d never come back. Now he was considering it. Seriously considering it. He wandered to the end of Main to the little park where they’d hung out as kids. Who would have guessed then at where they’d all be in life now. He’d thought he was going to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a doctor. He hadn’t told Renée, but it was through trying to help his friend Chance that he’d developed an interest in the law. Chance, he’d been just as much a golden boy back in those days as Gabe himself. Perhaps more so; he even had the childhood sweetheart. Chloe. Gabe would never have believed that she wouldn’t live to see nineteen. She’d been so full of life. And Renée, she’d been bound to do something great, to contribute. That was who she’d always been. Granted her charity work had been shaped by what had happened to Chloe and her dad, but she’d followed a path closer to what anyone would have guessed than the rest of them. Until recently. Until Eric had been discovered for the lying, cheating, fraudulent bastard he was. Gabe had never even met the guy; he didn’t want to.
He just wished Renée never had either. He sat on one of the swings and stared out at the lake as the sky turned from dark to gray. He wondered about so many of their other friends, too. Many of them were still here, living the same lives their parents had, raising the next generation to do the same. Some had scattered far and wide. Dex, who had been his and Chance’s other best buddy, lived in Seattle. He’d threatened to come back and visit while Gabe was here, but Gabe wasn’t going to hold his breath on that one.
He started at the sound of footsteps on the gravel path. Who the hell would be out here at this time in the morning? He relaxed when he recognized Missy’s fiancé, Dan.
Dan raised a hand and gave him a shy smile. “Damn, you scared me. I’m used to having this place to myself in the mornings.”
Gabe smiled. “Sorry. I’m just killing time until I can get some coffee.”
“I can go get you a cup if you like? We live right there.”
Gabe looked to where he was pointing. “You bought the old DeWinter place?”
Dan nodded. “Missy loves it. Want me to go make you a cup?”
“Thanks, but I can wait. The store should be open soon.”
Dan checked his watch. “Yeah. Another ten minutes is all.”
Gabe remembered what Ben had said last night about Dan having made the transition from Silicon Valley to small town. He didn’t really know the guy, but he liked him and was intrigued to know how he’d managed to make the move. “Do you mind if I ask you something while I wait?”
“Sure.” He looked a little wary. “What do you want to know?”
“How you’re finding living here? How you’re managing to make it work.”
Dan rubbed his hand over the stubble on his cheek. “I love it here. I didn’t think it was going to be possible at first. When I met Missy and I knew I wanted to be with her, I thought maybe I could move her to the city.” He smiled. “But there was no way that was going to happen. She has a great life here, the city could never compare for her or for Scot. I realized that it couldn’t compare for me, either.” He looked at Gabe. “I know you are, but I wasn’t made for city life. This place suits me much better.”
Gabe nodded. “I’m starting to think it suits me better, too, but I have no idea how I could make it work. I mean I’m a trial attorney in New York City. How the hell could I make that work here?”
Dan shrugged. “I was a geek in Silicon Valley. How could I make that work here?”
“You did though.”
“I did, but I got lucky. A friend of mine needed someone to work re
motely, accessing systems from the outside. It didn’t matter from where, so here I am.”
Gabe wondered what the equivalent situation would be for him. It wasn’t as though he could remotely access the courtroom.
Dan cocked his head to one side and stared at him. “What is it that you love about your work?”
Gabe thought about it. “I guess what it boils down to is making a difference. I hate to see people suffer, especially when there’s something I can do about it. I hate to see individuals used, taken advantage of, or hurt by corporations or institutions. Especially when it’s in the interest of profit.”
Dan was quiet for a long time.
It was too long for Gabe. “Are you coming up with any great ideas I’m missing?”
“No, sorry. I’m just trying to boil it down and see how you could translate that into contributing to the life of a small town. You need to be involved.” He shot Gabe a smile. “I’m guessing—in charge. You need to feel like you’re contributing to the greater good and you need to feel as though you’re righting wrongs.”
Gabe nodded. “I guess that about sums it up.”
“Could you leap straight from the courtroom to Chief of Police or something like that?”
Gabe shook his head. “Nope.”
Dan shrugged. “I don’t know then. What I do know is that you’ll come up with something. It seems as though there’s an influx of us, all leaving behind the lives we thought we wanted and coming here to live lives that are so much better than we imagined.”
“I hope you’re right. I’d like to think I can fit the bill and join the stampede back here, but I have no idea how to make it work.”
“You’re a smart guy. You’ll figure it out.” He looked at Gabe for a long moment. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
“Fire away.”
“Has Renée said anything about Chance coming?”
That took Gabe by surprise.