by Kim Law
“It would be my pleasure. Erica’s a good one.”
Gabe nodded. She was. “You don’t think she’s like Michelle?”
How fucking needy could he be? Asking for validation from his younger brother.
But damn, what if he did the same thing again?
What if their dad had?
“She’s a good one,” Cord reiterated. “I thought so the first time I met her, and that was only confirmed at the cookout.” He nudged his chin toward the door. “Go on. I’ve got this.”
“I’ll have my phone on.” Gabe moved to his daughter’s side and kissed her cheek, then looked at Cord. “Call if she needs me. For anything.”
Then he left his house and grabbed a handful of pebbles. The instant the light came on inside Erica’s bedroom, he felt a heaviness lift from his heart. He was going to fall in love with this woman. And he might just enjoy the journey.
Erica raised her window.
“Cord is at my house.” He didn’t wait for her to speak. “Tell me I can stay the night.”
Her smile matched the one in his heart. “You can stay the night.”
Erica slid her hand across the mattress and then groaned when she found nothing but an empty sheet.
“I’m right here.” Gabe’s voice came from the opposite side of the room. She rolled to her back and cracked open her eyes. He had jeans on and was buttoning his shirt.
She groaned again. “You have to go already?”
“Afraid so.”
“But the sun’s not even up yet.” She knew she was whining, but she’d really liked having Gabe in her bed last night.
He crossed the room, picking up his socks on the way, and sat beside her. “Cord has to get going right after breakfast, and Jenna and I promised to take him out for pancakes.”
She made a face and let her eyes fall closed again. “You really should learn to cook pancakes,” she grumbled. “Then you could stay longer. It’s not like they’re hard to make.”
He chuckled and leaned down, grazing his lips on the spot just below her ear. His touch lit goose bumps down her body, and she reached out a hand, resting her fingers against his hip. “But Jenna loves telling people that I can’t make them,” he whispered.
She peeked up at him. “Can you make them?”
He waggled his brows. “One of the few things I make well, actually.” He shrugged and tossed her words back at her. “Because it’s not like they’re hard to make.”
She frowned at him. “You’re weird.”
“I know.” He kissed her eyelids. “But you like weird, right?”
“I do, actually.” She curled to her side and watched as he stooped to pull on a sock, and fought the urge to brush his hair back off his forehead. She did let herself trail a finger along the seam at the side of his jeans, though. It was a nice compromise.
She’d been pleased to see him the night before, and neither of them had taken the time for idle chitchat, but in the predawn morning light, questions came to mind. And they didn’t all have to do with whether he’d enjoyed the night before as much as she had. He’d only been able to spend the night with her because Cord had been there, and she very much suspected his brother hadn’t driven half a day solely to act as an overnight babysitter.
“Cord came for the game?”
Gabe glanced at her. “Yeah. And since I have an extra room, he spent the night.”
“Why’d he come?”
He furrowed his brow. “What kind of question is that? He came for the game.”
“To help you?” She’d listened to it on the radio. The announcers were now saying Birch Bay had a real chance to make the state playoffs, and though she had faith in Gabe, she also knew that Cord had a lot more experience playing. So when Gabe didn’t answer her question, she persisted. “Are you worried you’re not a good enough coach, Gabe?”
“Why would you say that?” His tone was too casual, and he didn’t look up as he pulled on his other sock.
“Is that why your brother keeps showing up?”
“It’s only two games, Erica.”
“Yet I got the impression when he and I talked that he rarely comes home. And now, twice in one month—plus driving three hours for the other game.”
Gabe let the words hang between them for only a second, then in a quick move he had her pinned on her back, her arms above her head. “What’s the deal with you and my brother, anyway?” he growled with a smile. “Something I should be worried about?” She heard the teasing in his voice, so she went along with it. For the moment.
But she very much intended to bring them back to the subject at hand.
She wiggled underneath him as if attempting to escape, laughing as they battled for control, but when his fighting turned dirty by dipping his mouth and tugging the sheet down over her chest, her movements stopped. Her breaths deepened as his gaze burned on her naked breasts, then his tongue flicked over a nipple before he blew softly over the spot he’d just wet. She moaned, that quickly going from zero to needy. However, she doubted he planned to take his pants back off. Therefore, she forced herself to continue their game.
“Why would you be worried about me and your brother?” she asked throatily. She bit her lip, and shot him her most over-the-top, sexy look. “Did he say something about me? Because I could say plenty about him.”
Gabe laughed at her seductress voice, his shoulders shaking with the sound as he held himself above her. Then he leaned down and pressed quick kisses to both of her nipples, before pushing himself up and going in search of his shoes.
“He didn’t say anything that I’m about to repeat to you, I’ll tell you that”—Gabe talked from his position on the floor as he reached under her bed—“but I will say that he likes you.” He popped up on his knees and narrowed his eyes at her. “But don’t even think about trying to entice him to run off with you. He knows you’re mine.”
“Little ol’ me?” She gave him her most innocent batting of her eyes. “Why, I’d never do such a thing as that.” Then she smiled like the devil. “Even if he is cuter.”
Gabe dropped back to the mattress, hitting the surface hard enough to make her bounce. “Don’t have to rub it in, smart-ass. I know he’s . . . cuter.” He said the last word with disgust. “I’ve been aware of that my whole life.” He rubbed a thumb over her bottom lip, fondness beginning to fill his eyes. “But I also know you wouldn’t run off with him.”
She smiled at him, ready to drop the charade and admit he knew her well, but the smile fell away when he added, “Mostly because he wouldn’t have you.”
“Why wouldn’t he have me?” she yelped.
Gabe captured her lips with his, his hand kneading her breast at the same time, and the kiss lasted long enough that she almost forgot what they’d been teasing each other about. But when he pulled away, she caught the flicker of seriousness in his eyes. “Because he respects me too much.”
She nodded, her teasing gone. “I can grant him that one. You deserve respect. But I’m just saying that if I wanted him . . .” She lifted her brow, and Gabe laughed again.
“Tell you what,” he said, “let me share with him the magic you’re capable of with that smart mouth of yours, and trust me, his respect for me would be thrown out the window.” His eyes heated. “He’d be beating down your door.”
“Like that’s what I want.” Her voice grew heavy at the reminder of the things she’d done with her mouth the night before. “Another man looking only to get laid.”
Gabe went quiet, studying her as if seeing a side to her he had yet to discover, and she realized that her words could be taken as if she were reading more into them than just two people getting laid.
Which she was.
“If I don’t prove myself capable by winning state,” he said, returning to her original question, “then this will likely be the only opportunity I get to do so. So yeah, I’m worried I’m not good enough.”
She nodded. Understanding the importance. “And Jenna?”
Erica had always been good at reading people, so she tossed out her theory. “Are you worried that if you don’t win that Jenna won’t think you’re good enough, either?”
It took a few seconds for him to answer. “I want to make my daughter proud.”
“I think she already is.”
“Maybe,” he acknowledged. “But I’d rather not risk it.”
He took her hand in his then, and as first light began inching its way through her bedroom window, the lines of Gabe’s face grew taut. “I don’t want to risk you, either.” He kissed the backs of her fingers. “I want to tell my family about us, Erica. Tell them we’re dating.”
Nerves now held her on the bed instead of Gabe’s bodyweight. “Is that what we’re doing? You’re not even divorced yet.”
“You know that isn’t a factor.”
“But . . .” She swallowed. “There’s Jenna to think about.”
“I’ve thought about her.” He squeezed her fingers. “I want her to know, too. This is serious for me, Erica. I don’t want to hide that from my daughter. You and I are together, and I want to shout it to the world.”
“But you could change your mind,” she whispered. Fear engulfed her, while at the same time, she wanted to grasp the golden ring and hang on. Gabe was a good guy. She knew that. She’d always known that.
But he was also slightly unavailable.
“You’ve been married to her for a long time.” Her voice shook. The idea of him going back to his wife wasn’t unheard of. It happened for some people.
“And I’ve been over her for a long time.” He braced a hand on the other side of her and leaned in so she couldn’t miss his intensity. “Let’s do this, E. Let’s give us a chance.”
She wanted to do just that. “My contract”—she licked her lips—“it’s up in two weeks.”
“And I know they’d love to have you stay on, wherever they can use you.” His eyes turned even more serious. “I get that’s not what you want forever, but could you consider it for now? For us?”
She stared into his eyes. She hadn’t realized he’d been thinking about this. “Nobody else has offered me a job yet.”
“Then say yes.”
“But . . .”
“Say yes for the length of the semester,” he suggested. “Say yes, and give us a try until the end of the year. Can you agree to that much?” His eyes connected with hers, and she could see the anticipation in them. She felt it, too.
“And what happens after the end of the semester?” she whispered.
The gentle way the corners of his mouth lifted had her holding her breath. “Hopefully everything.”
He kissed her then, and she felt his desire for them to be more by the way he cherished her with his touch. She had that same desire.
She sucked in a quick breath when they pulled apart, and mentally crossed her fingers. “Let’s try it out with Jenna first.” The whole idea terrified her. She hadn’t come to Birch Bay for this. But at the same time, this could be the best thing to ever happen to her. “You and Jenna come over for lunch tomorrow. And if that goes well . . .”
“It’ll go well.”
“I hope so.” She cupped his cheek, her own smile now as tender as his. “Do you like sushi? I took a class this week.” She’d replaced the violin lessons with that. Musical talent had proven not to be her strong suit. “I’d love to try out what I learned. I could fix something else for Jenna if you don’t think she’d eat it.”
“We love sushi. Both of us. One good thing California gave us.”
She let out a breath. “Then come prepared to eat.”
When he rose and headed for the stairs, she dropped back to the bed, aware that her smile was dreamy. But she didn’t care. He made her dreamy.
He made her hope.
Before disappearing from sight, he looked back, and a curious expression crossed his face. “Any chance you’ve still got that cheerleading outfit lying around?”
She should have known. “And if I do?”
“Then we could put a wager on how Jenna will take us being together. If she loves the idea”—he boldly stroked his gaze over her body—“then you have to put it on for me.”
“And if she hates it?”
He grinned in the wicked way that only men could competently pull off. “Then you still put it on, but I get to take it off of you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Gabe lifted his hand to Erica’s door at exactly noon, the hour she’d told him and Jenna to be there, and tried his best to contain his excitement. He hadn’t talked with Jenna about Erica yet—the two of them had agreed to do it together after they ate. But Jenna was as excited as he to be there.
Erica pulled the door open, and Jenna immediately thrust out the slender box. “This is for you.”
“A present?” She took the package, eyeing the red-and-gold paper topped with a fat gold bow, then wrinkled her nose down at Jenna. “I’m almost positive it’s not my birthday. How about you?” She stepped back and let the two of them in. “Is it your birthday, Jenna?”
His daughter giggled. “No. I had my birthday already. It was in August.”
“Hmmm.” She slid a look at Gabe. “Is it your daddy’s birthday?”
“No!” Jenna laughed again. “It’s not a birthday present. It’s just a present.” She glanced up at him, before returning her gaze to Erica. “It’s a present just because.” She repeated his earlier words. Then she bit her bottom lip in anticipation, the corners of her mouth lifting at the same time. The outcome was a look more tender than any Gabe had seen on his child’s face in a very long time.
“Well, thank you for my present.” Erica bowed her head at Jenna, and when she lifted it, her smile snagged Gabe. “It’s always exciting to get presents just because.”
Jenna immediately climbed onto one of the barstools and leaned her elbows on the counter. “Will you open it now?”
“Absolutely.”
While Erica dug into the package of personalized chopsticks Gabe had sought out and purchased for her the day before, he made his way to the other side of the room. He’d been in Erica’s place twice since their first kiss—both times with nothing more than sex on his mind—but each time he’d noticed more indicators of her personal touch dotted throughout the place. Candles lined up down the middle of the dining room table, a bright scarf thrown over a lamp. The scarf cast a muted glow in a little space in the back of the room. A space that if he were to guess, he’d say she’d turned into a reading nook.
But the significant change was the large paneled mirror now hanging in the exact spot they’d first kissed. It created a windowpane effect on the brick wall, only looking into the room instead of outside of it, and was lined up perfectly with the fireman’s pole. As he traced his gaze between the two objects, he was suddenly eager to make love to her up against the pole for a second time. Just to watch.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
He had to rein in his desire.
Glancing over his shoulder, he found Erica now standing within inches of him while Jenna remained in the kitchen, carefully pouring sauces into dipping bowls. Shimmery little lights had been turned on in the dining area. They covered the walls and the space overhead, and provided a backdrop that glowed behind his daughter.
“Very,” he told her. “I like where you put it. I like the touches of yourself you’ve added to the place.”
Her eyes went to the mirror before tracking directly to the pole, and a sly smile flitted across her lips, but she didn’t comment on the mirror’s location. Instead, she picked up a frame that held a picture of her family and turned it to face him. “How about this for touches of myself? Bree sent it. She made it for me.”
The frame was small, but it wasn’t about the picture inside it so much as the frame itself. It was a piece of art. Instead of merely wood or metal, it was made up of a mixture of items that could be found around any house. A button, the tip of a blue crayon, a b
roken piece of a shade. There were so many random objects outlining the photo of her family that he could spend hours discovering them all. It should be gaudy, but it was exquisite in its delicacy.
He looked back at Erica. “Your sister is talented.”
“Yes, she is.” She put the picture back on the end table. “And someday, someone is going to recognize that.” Vulnerability shone bright, and her words turned wistful. “Then my little sister may forget to ever find her way home again.”
“There’s no chance she won’t come back to see you.”
Her eyes flicked to his. “You think?”
“Absolutely. You’re both too much alike.”
“Right.” She motioned to the frame. “The woman who made that has pink hair and is a world traveler.” She looked at him. “I’ve barely ever left the state of Montana, and my hair color is the same bland brown I was born with.”
“I love your hair,” Jenna spoke up from the kitchen.
Gabe winked at Erica.
“But it’s not as pretty as Merida’s,” Jenna added in the cute but blunt way children used. When Gabe and Erica both turned to her, she looked up from her task, unrepentant in her opinion. She shrugged her shoulders. “Sorry.”
“You know what? I like her hair better, too,” Erica agreed.
Gabe simply marveled at the change in his daughter.
“The dips are ready,” Jenna announced, and Erica motioned for him to go ahead of her. Since it was her place, he did as requested. Only, as he slipped by, he moved in close enough that the backs of his fingers brushed across the backs of Erica’s. When hers fluttered against his in return, his confidence in the outcome of the day soared. Jenna would be okay with the two of them being together. She had to be.
“This looks amazing,” he announced when he reached the kitchen. “How can I help?”
“We need to take all the dips to the table,” Jenna informed him before proceeding to show him what bowls went beside which plate.
Erica followed with two platters of sushi rolls, and Gabe’s mouth instantly watered.
“Wow,” he muttered. “That must have been some class.”