20
The cake looked ridiculous.
It was Gabe’s third version of the dessert he’d baked, and it still looked slightly lopsided and fallen in. This was the first one he’d bothered to frost, and the frosting wasn’t anywhere near perfect. His hands itched to make it exactly right—with perfectly straight edges and a flat top and impeccable piping on the sides, but perfection wasn’t what mattered. Even if he felt it down to his bones, what mattered was showing that he’d listened. It was about showing Anna that he didn’t have to live within the old constraints of his family. Constraints that had fallen away after his grandmother’s conversation with him.
He turned the cake around on the makeshift stand one more time. “If you wait until it’s perfect, you’ll never leave,” he told himself aloud, feeling more than a little silly. But it was true. If he waited until he became a master baker to fly to Vegas, then he wouldn’t make it, and Anna would think she didn’t mean the world to him.
Gabe took his phone out of his pocket and dialed a familiar number. “Ready the plane.” It was Christmas Eve, and there wasn’t much time left before all the family traditions began. He hated activating the crew on Christmas Eve, but it couldn’t be helped. Hopefully, what he had to do wouldn’t take long, and they could be back with their families soon. He didn’t want Anna to miss those if he could help it. He wouldn’t miss them if he could help it. But he would if that was what it took to get Anna back.
The cake felt like the most precious object he’d ever carried out of the Elk Lodge. His one concession had been to borrow a cardboard box from the kitchen—they had lots of them for sending leftovers home from lodge weddings, and the bright red box was perfect for this time of year. Gabe held it on his lap all the way to the airport, where his private jet waited for him. The driver got out and opened the door, reaching for the box, but Gabe put his hands over it. “I’ve got it,” he said, not wanting anyone to take it.
All the way to Vegas he tried to keep his thoughts positive regarding the outcome of the meeting with Anna. He couldn’t let her walk out of his life, and he’d do everything in his power to convince her, but the scary part was not knowing if she’d agree.
Anna left the Elk Lodge believing a person could never overcome their mistakes. And the fake engagement had been his mistake, not hers. And her family? No. A person’s family wasn’t what mattered. Anna’s family was a part of her, but they weren’t all of her.
Gabe’s heart beat hard with all the love he felt for her. And that was what mattered the most.
The plane landed and he hustled into the waiting car. He had the address to her one-bedroom condo from a previous meeting, and he gave it to the driver. The closer they got, the more he wished he’d been able to get through to her phone. Was she even going to be home when he got there?
Gabe’s heart was in his throat by the time the car pulled up in front of the building. “Wait here,” he told the driver. The afternoon sunshine in Vegas belied the cold temperature this time of year, but it was a far cry from the snow and chill of the resort in Colorado, and the breeze stroked his face as he made his way to the main entrance. A list of names and numbers decorated the call box, and he used a knuckle to press the one next to Anna’s name. The deep buzz came from far away. Sweat pricked at the back of his neck as he waited. Gabe Elkin was nervous about talking to a woman. A first.
“Hello?” Anna’s cautious voice made him wince, but just knowing she was home helped calm his nerves.
“Anna,” he said. “It’s me. Can I come in?”
He thought he heard a sharp intake of breath, and then the door buzzed, letting him in. He breathed a sigh of relief. She was going to talk to him. Gabe took the stairs two at a time to the second floor, not bothering to wait for the elevator. At the top of the landing, he spotted her in the doorway of her condo. Hope and fear were reflected in her dark eyes. Her hair had been pulled back in an elegant twist at the back of her head, and though she wore soft pants and a loose top, she still looked like she could take on the world.
“Gabe,” she said. “You’re here,” her voice low and breathless. Gabe closed the distance between them like nothing existed except Anna, his name on her lips the best sound he’d ever heard.
“Hi,” he smiled, hoping to earn one back from Anna. Anything to put them on even ground.
She looked up at him and folded her bottom lip between her teeth. “Hi.”
His heart squeezed, then thundered, heat whispering across his skin. “I made you something.”
“What is it?” Her eyes flicked down to the box in his hands, then came back up to his, surprise dancing there. “Did you bake?”
“I did.” He lifted the top of the box and held it out to her.
Anna took it, wonder shining in her eyes. “You made me a cake?” A little laugh escaped her. “All by yourself?” And that was when he saw it. A smile. A beautiful smile from the woman he loved.
“Yes.”
She moved into her condo and set the box on the counter, pausing to gaze down at it with a pose that made him want to pull her in close. Anna turned to him as he stepped closer. “Explain,” she said, her voice a little wobbly with confusion.
“I love you.”
Anna gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.
“I love you,” he went on, “and I will do anything you want, give you as much space as you need, but I want this fake relationship to be real because I’ve fallen in love with you. All of you. Even the parts of your past you’d rather not think about. I want you with me and I baked you a cake to show you that I don’t care about being perfect. All I care about is loving you.”
* * *
Anna couldn’t believe this was happening.
Gabe had shown up at her condo with the ugliest cake she’d ever seen. Anna burst out laughing, joy flooding through her like sunlight after a long night. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and spilled out. “I love you too,” she said. “I can’t believe you did this.”
She could not believe that he’d spent so much time doing something he didn’t like—and all for her. Gabe was the kind of man who’d prefer to show up with jewelry glittering in a box than a cake that looked like it had been decorated by a child. But she knew he’d tried. And more than that, she could see the faint embarrassment in his cheeks. Gabe didn’t just do embarrassing things for anyone. It meant the world. It was the most personal, caring thing she could imagine him doing.
Anna flew into his arms, wrapping around him and holding him tight. His arms went around her too, and she felt the tension drain out of him. Gabe’s hand slid down to her jaw and he tugged her face up to his, kissing her as though each kiss were priceless.
“I’m sorry,” she said against his mouth. “I’m sorry I ran out like that. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“I don’t care.” He kissed her again, firm and unyielding, and her lips parted for him instinctively. Their tongues met and danced together, warmth shooting down her body to her knees, making them weak. Gabe held her in tighter. “I love you no matter how you react. You put up with my antics, after all. It’s what makes us so good together.”
She ran her fingertips down the lines of his body, feeling like he’d lit her soul aflame in the best possible way. “We are good together,” she agreed, and some of the weight of her past fell away. Anna had been carrying it for so long that she felt a strange emptiness for a heartbeat, but the emptiness was soon replaced by another kiss from Gabe and a low sound in the back of his throat that spoke of relief and desire all at the same time. She was no longer empty but filled with Gabe’s love.
“I missed you,” she whispered.
“I missed you so much I baked,” he whispered back, and she laughed through her happy tears. Gabe pulled her in for another hug, then lifted her higher, and then he was walking through her apartment to the sofa. He sat down and arranged her in his lap, arms around his neck, the two of them as close as possible. Her pulse felt fluttery and delicious joy moved t
hrough her again and again. “I wanted to ask you something,” he said, a careful note in his tone.
“Anything.” Anna breathed him in, the leather and soap smell of him, and let her head rest against his shoulder. Soon they’d have to get up, but for now, she just wanted this.
“I want you to fly back to Colorado with me and spend Christmas with my family.” He stroked a hand over her hair. “Unless it would make you uncomfortable. If it did, I could spend it here with you if you let me.”
Anna thought her heart might fly out of her chest. Gabe was offering her an enormous sacrifice. There could be no greater sacrifice than offering to miss this holiday with his family. She sat up in his lap and put a hand on his face, studying his eyes. They met hers with humble honesty, and she ran a thumb over the line of his jaw, drinking him in. If he could make this sacrifice with everything going on in the Elkin family—with his grandmother’s health—she could make one too.
“I want to spend Christmas with you,” she said. “And I want to spend it with your family.”
Relief brought color to his cheeks, his eyes wide and echoing the sentiment. “Really?”
“Yes. If you can offer this to me, then I can face your family even after that whole big scene. I love you, Gabe, and I care enough about you to go for it even if they judge me.”
“They won’t judge you,” he said fiercely. “They can judge me all they want, but never you.”
“Oh, they can.” Anna laughed. “I stormed out of the family resort because I got caught in a lie. If that’s not judge-worthy, what is?”
“Anybody can be forgiven for what they do under duress,” Gabe pointed out. “My entire family saw your ex show up in the lobby. Plus, the entire scheme was my idea. You were only along for the ride. They can’t judge you without judging me.”
“Don’t remind me,” she grumbled, but then his hand was around the back of her neck and Gabe pulled her in for a tender kiss. A slow, searching kiss that soothed every part of her that was embarrassed or ashamed. She could do anything for this man, and she would. She’d make a grand apology to his family. She’d spend Christmas with them, knowing what they’d seen. Anything. “When do we leave?”
His other hand tightened on her waist. “The plane is waiting at the airport and the driver’s outside.” A smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “All of your things are still at the resort, so we could walk out the door any minute.”
“There’s just one thing I want to do first.”
“What’s that?”
She stood up and took his hand, pulling him up to stand. “Just a quick visit.”
Confusion furrowed his brow. “To where?”
“To the bedroom.”
21
They emerged from Anna’s bedroom a hot fifteen minutes later, her sheets newly messed up by the most gorgeous man she’d ever met in her life. “There,” she said. “That should tide me over.”
Gabe laughed. “Tide you over until when?”
“Until the family meeting is over,” she said briskly. “That’s first on the agenda, right?”
He put a hand on the small of her back. “We don’t have to do that right away if you don’t want.”
“Oh, no. We do.” Anna moved around her condo, gathering up the necessities. The suitcase would be good to have, so she brought that. She knocked all her bathroom things back into the outside pocket and went out for the cake, putting the box carefully in Gabe’s hands. “I’m already nervous.”
“How can you be nervous after what we just did?” He murmured the words against her temple, then punctuated them with a kiss. “I would have thought that would cure you.”
She turned her head and kissed him, running her tongue along his bottom lip. “It cured me for the moment. That’s why we’ll have this meeting and then go directly back to our suite.”
“Our suite,” he repeated. “I like the sound of that. You know what else I like the sound of? Our house.”
“Don’t ask me to move in with you until your family has a chance to give their blessing,” she said, that nervous pressure intensifying.
Gabe swept her into his arms again, her purse falling to the floor. “Move in with me. In my home,” he insisted. “No matter what they say.”
He kept up his determination on the way to the car and onto the private jet and through the flight. Anna held the box of cake in her lap and tried to match him. This would be like any other awkward meeting, she decided. She’d get through it. And if they didn’t approve, then they didn’t approve. Worse things had happened.
Gabe made a quick call as they approached the resort. “Are you all waiting?” He took her hand and squeezed. “Good. We’re almost there.”
“Waiting for what?” asked Anna.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he teased.
They pulled up in front of the lodge a moment later. Anna had the strangest feeling of homecoming—a relief, in a way. However, the conversation they were about to have probably wouldn’t be the most fun experience of her life. Gabe got out first and pulled her against his side on the way through the big double doors.
The lobby was just the way they’d left it—in full swing for the Christmas season. A pianist played carols at the grand piano, and decorations made to look like gifts had appeared under the tree.
“Those are real,” Gabe said in a low voice.
“You’re kidding.”
“No. They’ll be packed up tonight and taken to families in town who need them. Every guest here will wake up with a similar package outside their door.”
It gave her hope. If the Elkin family did things like this at Christmas, they could surely find it in their hearts to forgive her. They had to forgive Gabe—he was family. But it was important to her that they forgive her too. Anna took a deep breath. Even if they didn’t, it would be okay, so long as Gabe still loved her.
“Stop at the suite?” Gabe asked.
“Suite afterward.” She led him resolutely to the elevator. “They’re all waiting with your grandmother, right?”
“That’s right.”
He seemed totally at ease as they rode up to her floor and stepped out into the hall. Anna’s heart felt too big for her body. Her pulse pounded, a drumbeat of nerves, and she took another deep breath to calm herself. Then another.
The door to Elin’s apartment opened before they could knock. Tana and Chase stood there, arms wide open. “Welcome back,” Tana said, and she grabbed them both and practically dragged them inside. She pulled Anna into a hug. “We’re so glad you’re here.”
“Are you really?” She didn’t want to let go of Tana and face the rest of the family, but that was what they’d come here to do.
Tana stepped aside, and Anna saw Elin and Jonas sitting in the living room. They both stood, and she couldn’t remember what she was going to say for the life of her. Gabe took her hand and led her into the living room, everyone standing as if things might go haywire at any second.
“I wanted to say that I’m so sorry,” Anna heard herself say. “For any pain that I might have caused. It was wrong of us to lie to all of you, and I wish we hadn’t done that. There’s one thing that is true—through all of this we fell in love.”
“Yes,” chimed in Gabe. “We’re together now. For real.”
Jonas cleared his throat, and Anna braced herself. “I shouldn’t have been so overbearing, either. I only wanted everyone to be okay.”
“I get it,” Anna said, stepping into Jonas’s waiting arms for a brotherly bear hug.
And soon they were all gathered around, chatting and talking about their trip from the airport like it had been any other trip. Like they were just two members of the family arriving for a holiday.
“I’m just happy you’re together,” Chase said, bending down for a hug of his own. “Gabe was insufferable without you.” Chase ruffled her hair and Tana knocked his hand away playfully
As if by silent agreement, they all took seats in the living room. Anna sat next to Eli
n, who put an arm around her. “I’m thrilled you’re back. Gabe needed you,” she said softly. “And I have to apologize, too, if I gave you the impression that you didn’t belong here.” Elin met her eyes unflinchingly. “You do belong here, Anna. I would be honored to have you as my granddaughter.”
Her throat closed, tight with tears, and she leaned forward to draw the older woman into a hug. “You have no idea how much that means.”
A knock at the door interrupted the new flow of conversation, and Anna stood up without thinking, wiping at her eyes. “I’ll get it.”
“She’s already settled in,” Chase said, and the spill of their laughter—kind and familiar—warmed her from the inside out. She was accepted here. Loved. It was the most comforting feeling she could have dreamed of.
At the door, a bellboy waited with a red box in his hands. “Oh! We must have forgotten this in the car.” Anna took the cake and reached into her pocket for a tip. All she had was a twenty, but she pressed it into his hand. It was Christmas, after all.
She returned to the living room and cleared her throat. “I have an announcement.”
Elin’s hand went to her throat.
“It’s not that I’m pregnant,” she said, shooting Elin a grin.
Tana let out a huge breath.
“It’s that Gabe baked me a cake.”
“That’s almost a bigger deal,” said Jonas, and then they were all looking at him and the cake as she unveiled his creation.
“Who wants a slice?” Anna called out. “I’m cutting it right now.” She was met with silence. “Oh, come on. He did a good job!”
The brothers laughed again, and Anna even forgave Jonas for his wariness about Gabe’s first baked dessert. He genuinely loved his family and he wanted what was best for them, even if he could be a little pigheaded about what was best. When she returned from the kitchen a few minutes later, with a tray laden with pieces of sliced cake on plates, he was the first to step up and take one.
The Billionaire’s Fake Christmas Engagement: Elkin Brothers Christmas Book Two Page 13