Wasted Vows

by Colleen Charles

  I dragged my teeth across my bottom lip. “Okay, so maybe it was a quazi date. But it wasn’t one that I asked for or even welcomed.”

  “I’ve got to go,” he said, and turned the key in the ignition to fire up the engine.

  I grabbed him by the arm. “Don’t be ridiculous. Let me finish.”

  “Like you let me finish the other day?” Gabe retorted, but the hopeful look in his eyes gave him away.

  “Matthew is working the arson case for the bakery. He told me he could squash it if I went on a date with him.”

  “A date. Nothing more than that?” He cocked his head and those eyebrows drew down into a cynical frown this time.

  “Yes, one brunch date with a hundred people around. I only agreed for that reason and I was about to leave when you came in anyway. Turns out there was no evidence —”

  “Sounds a little bit like prostitution,” Gabe said, cutting right across my explanation and holding up his hand to squish his thumb and forefinger together. “But just a little bit.”

  “Are you kidding me? I would never do anything with him for any reason. Ever.” I straightened and tugged my coat straight, even though it didn’t need it. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

  “Then why did you stop me from kicking his scrawny ass to talk?” Gabe asked.

  A nearby car backfired, causing me to jump in the bucket seat. Why had I stopped him? Because I couldn’t get enough and every time I took a breath he filled my lungs with his presence. His confidence. Just everything. I didn’t want to be falling in love with him.

  “Well?” He tucked his hands into his pockets and stared me down.

  “Because we need to talk about everything. I — I can’t get you off my mind. I hate admitting it after all the water under the bridge, but I have to. Kelly and I spoke about it.”

  “You told Kelly about our private business?”

  I blew out a breath. “Gabe, I discussed a personal issue with my best friend. Don’t say you wouldn’t do the same.”

  He leaned towards me and raised his gloved finger. It trembled ever so slightly, but I had a hunch it wasn’t from the cold. “You’re unbelievable.”

  “Thank you,” I replied with a wry grin. I had to break the ice somehow.

  “What happens in my personal life is … hell, Allegra. This thing with Faith. It’s complicated. And embarrassing. I’m sure Kelly hates my guts.” He grasped my forearms and dug his fingers into my puffy coat. “Do you understand how much I still want you?”

  I licked my lips and looked up at him. “No.”

  “I thought I showed you back there. With Matthew. But I can show you again,” he grunted. “I’m so fucking angry at you. And I don’t know why. These emotions that flow through me constantly. I can’t stop them and I want to. I really, really want to.”

  “You’re angry at me? I never lied, Gabe,” I whispered back, craning my neck to stare at him. Like I couldn’t get enough. I’d never get enough.

  “I didn’t lie to you. I just didn’t tell you about her. I couldn’t tell you.” Gabe ran his hands up my forearms and to my shoulders, then crossed them around to my back. His fingers slid beneath the collar of my coat and the cotton shirt below to caress the bare skin of my sensitive neck.

  “Why not?” Gooseflesh broke out beneath the surface of my clothes, ones which had nothing to do with the cold. His touch warmed me from the inside.

  “Because you would have —” He cut off and frowned, then let go of me and backed away, grabbing at his coat.

  “What’s wrong?” I frowned, then glanced out the windows. No sign of Matthew or anyone else. I’d almost forgotten him in the rush of seeing Gabe again, right in front of me in all his chiseled glory.

  Gabe fumbled in his jacket pocket and brought out his phone, cursing under his breath. “Got a call.” He held it up to show me the flashing screen, then swiped his thumb across the green icon and answered. “Hello.”

  I snuggled into the leather seat, distancing myself from the heat of his body. I still couldn’t be too close to it without wanting to rip his coat off and expose the muscles underneath. My cheeks flushed at that thought.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there in a few.” Gabe hung up and looked at me. “I have to go. I’m actually on the clock here,” he explained, “I came out to get a couple coffees for the guys. Looks like there’s been a fire.”

  “Oh, okay.” I didn’t have anything else to say. He was about to leave and I couldn’t stop him.

  “We can catch up later. I’ll meet you at the bakery after my shift.” Gabe nodded once as I opened the door and slipped out of his vehicle, my boots making a crunching sound in the snow.

  I clasped my hands together to keep from waving. I didn’t have any of the answers I thought I’d get and this whole meeting thing at the bakery sounded formal, more like he thought it was a chore. That I was a chore.

  “What did you expect? Dinner and a movie?” I questioned myself and rolled my eyes. The snow drifted down again, coating my shoulders in a light layer of sparkling flakes. I had to get back to the bakery. And work.

  Chapter 27

  Ally

  I tapped my pencil on the side of the crisp, white page and stared at the red numbers. Like staring would cause them to turn black. I’d have the bakery up and running by tomorrow, which was great, but I couldn’t stop checking the clock, even though I had no idea what time Gabe would waltz through the door.

  Codsworth ambled through the kitchen and meowed once, then headed for the stairs in the corner. He wasn’t bothered by the cold or the prospect of an impending visit from a sexy fireman with some Smoky the Bear bi-polar disorder. All he cared about was his bowl of kibble and a soft treat every now and again. What a life.

  I rose and walked to the fridge, then pulled the door open and peered inside. “Yup, that’s enough butter,” I remarked, then closed it again.

  “That’s a relief,” Gabe said, standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips. “A girl can never have enough butter. Or frosting.”

  “How did you get in here?” I asked, ignoring the blatant innuendo. Earlier in the day, he’d been nothing but sparks and fire. The man needed to cease the Jekyll and Hyde routine.

  “I used the front door. That’s okay, right?”

  “I — sorry — I just didn’t hear the bell ring. There’s a bell over the door.”

  Gabe’s lip trembled in one corner like he was holding back a grin. “Yeah, I know.”

  Way to go, Allegra. I cleared my throat and gestured to one of the chairs beside the counter. “You want to take a seat?”

  “Sure, but that might make this more awkward.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I have no idea why this is so damn weird right now.”

  Probably because you’re like me and remembering what occurred the last time we were in this very spot. Chocolate frosting. And your tongue.

  Gabe stared at me, then ran his hands down the front of his coat. He unbuttoned it and slipped it off his shoulders, then looked around for a place to put it. I hurried forward and took it from him. He caught my arm and stared into my eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I breathed, even though my insides were on fire again. Being this close was more painful inside the bakery, where it’d all began. I wrenched the coat from his grasp, gave a nervous laugh, then hurried over to the counter and slung it over the back of one of the chairs.

  Gabe stayed where he was, watching my movements.

  I studied him out of the corner of my eye. The perfect slope of his shoulders, the tightness of his shirt around the biceps and the jeans clinging to his thigh muscles.

  “What happened with the fire this afternoon?” I asked, turning to face him again. “Is everything all right.”

  “Yeah, we managed to clear everyone out before there was serious damage. Nothing to worry about. You’ll probably hear about it on the news because in winter these types of fires look worse than t
hey actually are. I think it’s because of the molten red against the backdrop of white.” He marched up to me, backing me up against the cold stainless steel of the industrial refrigerator. “But you didn’t really want to talk to me about the fire.”

  I swallowed. “You’re giving me whiplash. Your mood swings, I mean. One second you’re desperate to talk this out and falling for me, the next you’re cold and pissed. Now, you’re pressing yourself against me again. Gabe, you’re confusing me and I need you to stop. I feel like I’m on an emotional roller coaster that keeps going around the track and I can’t get off.” I tried to shift his weight, but he held firm.

  Gabe’s abs were hard against the soft flesh of my abdomen. His hard thighs pressed into my thin yoga pants. I gasped softly.

  “I’ve been clear about my intentions from the beginning.”

  “I still want answers,” I managed. My gaze fluttered from his face downwards and landed on his broad chest. “I need to know why you didn’t tell me about Faith.”

  The mention of her name was enough to break the spell.

  Gabe grimaced and shoved off as he ran a hand through his hair. He paused in front of the stove, his back to me. “Why would I tell you about her when it could ruin us?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Gabe spun on his heel and faced me again. “We were new. Brand fucking new. And I felt something, Allegra. I still do. It’s deep and it’s emotional and it’s scaring the living shit out of me. I wanted to protect it. Protect us. I couldn’t help thinking that if you found out about Faith, it would be over before it began.” He turned and the look in his eye was pleading. “Look me in the eye and tell me that you wouldn’t have left me if I’d have come clean right away about Faith.”

  “I — I can’t say what I would’ve done. With the bakery and —”

  “Yeah, exactly. So I was waiting until we were more serious to tell you. It might not have been the wisest idea, but that’s what felt right in my gut. As a firefighter, I always go with my gut and I’ve never been wrong. I’ve saved people’s lives because of my intuition.” He folded his arms and lifted his chin. With pride and strength.

  “That’s really something you should’ve put on the table from the start. I deserved to know,” I replied. I sat down on the chair beside my pen and books and looked at him. What could I say now that hadn’t been said already? I still wanted him, but the implications of Faith and the baby… God, it terrified me.

  “So, that’s why I didn’t tell you. But if I’d known it would end up this way, I would have told you from the start. I never expected Faith to wind up on your doorstep.” Gabe clenched his jaw so hard a vein pulsed beneath his skin. He walked over to me and sat down in the chair opposite mine, then traced a pattern on the granite counter top with his fingertip.

  “Are you dating her?”

  He blinked and shook his head. “I told you we aren’t together.”

  “Then how the hell did this happen?”

  “It’s a long story,” he said and scratched the back of his neck.

  “I’ve got time.”

  Gabe grasped my pen and clicked it a few times, then looked through to the front of the bakery and back at me again. “I dated her in high school. We were the homecoming king and queen. Our fathers are business partners. Really tight. It’s almost like we’ve been promised to each other since the cradle. She was supposed to be my sweetheart, but then we went to different Ivy League colleges and she came back different. She started partying more, doing drugs, hanging out with lots of guys I didn’t know. Man, Faith turned on a dime. Like all the sweetness got rung right out of her.”

  “Okay,” I said, because I was knotted with jealousy inside. My arteries had decided to turn themselves inside out. Visions of Faith and Gabe together with their rhinestone crowns, dancing, kissing, making love. All the unwelcome images polluted my thoughts.

  “Yeah, so I told her years ago that I can’t be with her anymore, not when she’s living a life I don’t want any part of.”

  “I take it she hasn’t improved?” I asked.

  “No, not at all. Frankly, I’m concerned for our baby.” He sighed and looked like he was afraid to say anything else. “Then, she came to me a few months ago and told me she was pregnant. That changed everything. I’m not the kind of guy who can walk away from something like that. We hadn’t been together in years. One night. One mistake.”

  I respected that a lot, but it didn’t lessen my jealousy. I grabbed the pen from him and clicked it a few times, then placed it beside my ledgers. “How sure are you that the baby is yours?”

  “What do you mean? She says it’s mine,” he said, shrugging.

  “And you didn’t get a paternity test? No offense, but it sounds like Faith has a certain kind of lifestyle. Are you really going to trust her word on this? You should get a paternity test if only for your piece of mind.”

  And mine.

  “I trusted her.” Gabe scratched his chin. “Maybe — wait, yeah, you’re probably right. I’ve got to go.” He hopped off the chair and tugged his jeans down by the pockets. “I’ll be back later.”

  “What? Where are you going?” I rose too and swallowed my nerves. How could he leave now?

  Gabe pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead, sending a spike of pleasure down my spine. “I’m going to make things right.”

  Chapter 28

  Gabe

  The brick mansion on Summit towered above me, literally hanging over a snow covered expanse of lawn, a true monument to excess. I’d never liked it. An ostentatious display by a narcissistic fuckwad.

  George Callahan. Faith’s Irish father. Where she’d inherited her auburn locks and her feisty temper.

  I squared my shoulders and ran up the twenty or so cobblestone stairs, careful to steer clear of the ice. The groundskeeper would probably get fired if George or his wife, Fran, saw it. I poked my finger against the pearly knob next to the massive oak door, complete with stained glass insert. Footsteps echoed on the other side of the door and it creaked open a second later.

  “Hi, Mister Gabe,” a lovely Hispanic woman answered the door wearing a ruffled, white apron.

  “Nice to see you, Rosaria,” I grinned at her. The housekeeper was way to good and kind for the likes of the new and improved Faith Callahan.

  “You finally decided to pay me a visit,” Faith said from the expansive, marble foyer. She stood on the landing of the curved staircase that wound upwards to the second floor. Even though she’d never looked more stunning with the glow of pregnancy filling out her sparse curves, I still couldn’t believe I’d fallen for her all those years ago. Memories of our time together were nothing but empty promises now.

  I walked toward her and entered the house, trying to keep my jaw from clenching. I needed to get Faith to agree to the paternity test and I’d come to realize that with her, I could catch more bees with honey than with vinegar.

  “I wasn’t sure I’d find you here,” I soothed. “I thought maybe you’d be at your condo.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “Where else would I be? Mom’s already doting on me and fixing up one of the guest rooms as a nursery. She wants me to stay here with her and Daddy for the first couple of months. That way, I have Mom and Rosaria to help me with the late night feedings so I can get some sleep. Besides, if you visited your dad more often …”

  “This isn’t my life anymore,” I grunted the reply as I gestured to the ten thousand square foot house. Even when I’d lived on Summit before college, almost right across the street, it’d never felt safe like a real home, more like a prison of goddamn paternal expectations.

  “He’s not here,” Faith said, motioning me to follow her to the kitchen. She paused to stroke her pregnant belly and smiled. “I assume you’re here to see him and not me.”

  “Actually, I did really want to talk to George, but now that you’re here, we can chat. There’s something that’s been on my mind.” I walked behind her into the gourmet kitchen, filled wit
h walnut cabinets and Italian tile. Faith was walking around her parent’s multi-million-dollar home like she owned the place when she’d never worked a day in her life. George might be an arrogant pain in the ass, but no one could begrudge his impressive work ethic. Clearly, Faith was desperate to stake her own claim.

  I was determined not to be that claim, now that Allegra was softening.

  God, Allegra.

  I’d never felt that way about a woman in my life and I’d known a few. Hard working, gorgeous, tough, feisty. All with her own life. Her own thing going on. There just wasn’t anything hotter than a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it with everything she had. And she wanted me as much as I wanted her. At least physically. I loved the way she looked at me, her body coiled with desire. The way her skin flushed and her breathing became shallow. How she couldn’t stop the visceral reaction of her body.

  For me.

  I cleared my throat, noticing that Rosaria had gone off on another task, leaving us alone.

  “Can I get you a drink? Scotch?” She smirked and took out a glass tumbler from the cupboard.

  “I’ll pass on the alcohol.”

  “Why, you on a diet or something?” She filled the tumbler with ice from the commercial fridge, then topped it up with water from the built in dispenser on the gleaming monstrosity.

  “It’s not even noon, Faith,” I replied. “I’ll take an ice water too.” She got another glass, filled it with ice cubes and water and slid it across the counter toward me. Even with the snowy weather outside, I still loved a cool drink. Must be my hot blood.

  “Do you remember that time we took the boat out down in Miami this summer? What a mess. A fun mess.”

  “Yeah,” I replied. I remembered that day well. Scalding hot temperatures and Faith in a white bikini that became see-through the minute she hit the water. We’d sipped Patron and taken George’s yacht out, gotten in trouble for it later, but what stood out was the memory of her flirting. The moment my back was turned she’d turned.