“Don’ wan’,” she groaned into the pillow, batting at the annoying presence beside her.
“I’ve forgotten how adorably grumpy you are in the mornings.” The voice, which she now recognized as Gabe’s, was laden with laughter, but Bobbi didn’t see what was so damned amusing about being awoken at the crack of dawn. “I suppose it’s not something you outgrow.”
“Neither, apparently, is obnoxious cheerfulness at some god-awful hour in the morning,” she groused, lifting her head to glare into his handsome, grinning face.
“It’s eight a.m. Not quite as god-awful as you seem to think it is. Aren’t you working today? I didn’t think you’d appreciate being late.” He was sitting on the bed wearing sweatpants but nothing else. She blushed as she recalled the nasty, sexy things they had done to each other the night before. She still couldn’t believe that she had allowed that first time to happen before a shower. At the time they had both been so carried away that cleaning up after their football match been the last thing on either of their minds. Still . . . ew. If it hadn’t been such a transcendent experience, she would have been just a bit more squicked out by it.
They had had a shower . . . of sorts, after waking from the initial best-sex-of-their-lives coma. They had managed to clean themselves up, but Bobbi had emerged from that shower feeling like the dirtiest woman in the world. Right now, Gabe was sweeping a soothing hand up and down her naked back, from between her shoulder blades, down to just above the swell of her butt, and then up again. Bobbi arched her back and he applied some more pressure until it was a full on, if one-handed, massage.
“I take it you have to go home and get changed before going to work?” he asked, and she yawned.
“Not going to work,” she remembered. “Meeting the ladies instead.”
“What are you all going to be doing today?” he asked, curious.
“Stuff,” she said cryptically, hiding a wince as she remembered their mission for the day.
“Hmm, intriguing,” he responded, bending over to kiss her back lingeringly. “I don’t suppose you’re in an immediate rush to leave then, are you?”
She stretched and turned over onto her back, deliberately allowing the covers to drop away from her breasts. Gabe’s eyes were riveted on the pretty sight before him and she smiled, feeling powerful.
“No rush,” she confirmed, reaching her arms up toward him. He smiled happily and responded to the sweet invitation with a hungry kiss.
“Good, because something’s come up that I need to discuss with you.”
She groaned good-naturedly.
“God, we need to work on your terrible innuendos,” she teased, and he laughed, kissing her again until all thought of laughter fled.
An hour, a shower, and a change of clothes later, Bobbi made her way downstairs to see if there was any breakfast left. The house seemed empty and Bobbi remembered that Gabe tended to give his household staff the weekends off. She wandered onto the patio and found Chase sitting on a garden chair with his long legs stretched out in front of him and a newspaper folded in his hands. He seemed to be reading the sports page. He glanced up when she moved uncertainly in the doorway, and she blushed a fiery red when he took in the miles-too-big T-shirt she was wearing with a pair of Gabe’s old board shorts, which fortunately had a drawstring that she could cinch at the waist to prevent them from falling down around her ankles.
“Morning,” she mumbled, and sat down opposite him.
“Hey,” he greeted, fumbling with the newspaper. She noticed that he was also flushed with embarrassment, and she lowered her eyes to the table and helped herself to some fruit juice and cereal.
“So . . . did you have a good night?” she asked.
“Yeah, it was okay. Did you?” The question was automatic and her hand halted in the act of reaching for the jug of milk. Her eyes flew up and she saw that his face had gone an even brighter shade of red, and when their eyes met, they both froze for a horrified instant before a hysterical sound burbled up from Bobbi’s throat and spilled out in the form of a giggle. Chase’s face relaxed into a grin and a soft chuckle burst from his lips. Before they knew it they were both convulsed in laughter, and when Gabe walked out onto the patio he frowned at the sight of them bent over in amusement.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, and that just set them off again. In the end Gabe gave up on getting a straight answer from them and just sat down and watched them with a bemused smile. By the time their laughing fit had faded into nothing but intermittent chuckles, they had both overcome their initial embarrassment and had rediscovered their camaraderie.
“So, I’m guessing the answer to that question was yes?” Chase smirked, and Bobbi tossed a grape at him, unable to prevent the slight flush that crept back into her face.
“Shut up before I decide to share details,” she threatened, and he winced.
“You wouldn’t?” He looked horrified, and she smiled smugly.
“Don’t test me.”
Gabe rolled his eyes at the banter and sighed.
“I don’t think I want to know,” he admitted, and Bobbi turned a beatific smile on him before blowing him a kiss.
The rest of breakfast passed pleasantly and before she knew it, Bobbi was waving good-bye to Chase and Gabe was walking her home.
When they reached the gate, she told him she could manage the rest of the way herself, but he insisted on walking her to the door, and she cringed at the thought of her father being at home and seeing her in the state she was in. She wasn’t only obviously wearing Gabe’s clothes; she had whisker burns on her face and neck and a couple of bruises on her arms that the shirt didn’t cover. To his credit, Gabe had been horrified when he’d seen the bruises all over her body that morning.
He held her hand all the way home and when she let herself into the house, it was so quiet she immediately knew that her father wasn’t around. She heaved a small sigh and gifted Gabe with a gorgeous smile of relief.
“He’s going to find out eventually, Bobbi,” he said.
“I know that, but at least it’s not today.” She hugged Gabe happily. “I mean we just told him that we were dating and then two nights later we’re sleeping together? Better to get him used the whole dating thing first.”
Gabe kissed her cheek before reluctantly letting her go.
“I’m going to miss you today. Stay safe okay?”
“Theresa, Alice, and Bron all have security details. I’ll be perfectly fine while I’m with them,” she reassured brightly, and while he didn’t look completely happy, he looked somewhat mollified.
“Don’t speed,” he warned as he turned to leave.
“Won’t.”
“I mean it,” he stressed, obviously not convinced.
“So did I.” He sighed and gave up, leaving with a frustrated wave.
Bobbi watched him go, keeping that bright smile plastered to her face until he had turned toward the back of the house as he headed for the gate. The smile fell from her lips to be replaced by devastation the moment he was out of sight.
She had told him that she loved him so many times last night and he hadn’t come close to responding. It was terrifying to feel so much for someone and have them feel nowhere near to the same emotion in return. At least he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her, which was somewhat comforting, she supposed.
She shook her head and went upstairs to get changed for her outing with the Mommy Club ladies. If nothing else, they always cheered her up.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
As the Valentine’s Day Ball grew closer, Bobbi became more and more of a nervous wreck. She had a dress all picked out for the occasion, one of the many she had bought the week before when she had gone shopping with her friends. She had been astonished to find that after she had been dragged from one boutique to the next that she had a clear fashion point of view that was uniquely hers. The dresses she had chosen made her feel like Bobbi. In a dress.
They weren’t conventional or conservative or anythin
g remotely similar to what any of Gabe’s former lady friends had worn, and Bobbi was anxious about what he would say. As a couple, they were growing closer by the day, and they spent as much time together as possible. Bobbi had slept at his place every night, and while her father obviously knew about it, he never mentioned it to Gabe or to Bobbi.
Bobbi told Gabe that she loved him often and while he accepted the words and even seemed happy to hear them, he never reciprocated. And every time it felt like a barb through Bobbi’s heart. Still, she was unable to stop and often said it while carried away in the moment.
In the meantime the flowers had started coming again, one a day, every day when she was at work. At least there weren’t heaps of bouquets anymore, which Quinton, the sarcastic delivery guy, was grateful for and Craig and Sean were grumpy about.
The cards, which were now in envelopes since he knew she would read them, contained information on what the flower meant along with a really bad “poem,” which always brightened up her day.
On Monday she received a single aster—which apparently meant contentment.
Tuesday (after a particularly raunchy night) it was a snapdragon—desire.
Wednesday’s white iris had meant that she inspired him.
On Thursday a pretty gardenia had told her that she brought him joy (that had made her choke up a little).
And Friday’s flower was hand delivered by the man himself, who had decided to take her to lunch. She was sitting flat on her butt next to the left front tire of a car and working on replacing a broken CV axle joint when he walked in.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he greeted as he crouched down next to her. He brought his hand out from behind his back. “I brought you a hibiscus. It commends your delicate beauty.” She laughed helplessly at that one, knowing she looked far from delicately beautiful at the moment.
“Thanks. Hold on to it for a while, will you? I’m rather busy right now.”
He nodded.
“You wanna grab some lunch once you’re done wrestling with that beast?” he asked.
“Hmmm, maybe. This might take a while,” she grunted.
“I can wait. I’m going to have a chat with Sean,” he informed, and she watched him turn and leave, admiring his butt as he walked away.
She went back to the task at hand and was halfway done when the drift chisel slipped as she was trying to hit the end of the CV joint and angled sharply downward toward her leg. The sharp end sliced through her overalls and scored into her thigh just above the knee. She sucked in a breath as the pain hit her, and the chisel and hammer clanged to the floor as she clutched at her thigh and bit back a scream. She clamped a hand over the wound as she tried to stem the flow of blood and immediately began to feel a bit woozy at the sight of all that red.
Sean was busy telling Gabe about girlfriend number two dumping him when they heard Bobbi cry out, followed by the sharp sound of metal hitting the floor. Craig and Pieter looked up too, and they all took an instinctive step toward her that broke into a full-out scramble to reach her when they saw her listing to the side.
Gabe’s heart stopped and he dashed over to where Craig and Pieter were already crouched next to her. Craig was swearing profusely and Pieter confirmed Gabe’s worst fears by yelling at Sean to call an ambulance.
Gabe slid to his knees beside her and all he could see was red . . . so much damned blood.
“What happened?” he asked, but everybody was bustling and panicking and Bobbi was unconscious and nobody would tell him. “What the hell happened?”
Craig looked up grimly; he had a hand clamped over her thigh and an arm supporting her back.
“Chisel slipped, I think,” he said succinctly. “I’m not sure, there’s a lot of blood. It may have nicked an artery.”
And in that instant Gabe’s own life flashed before his eyes—a future life . . . the one he should have with his Bobbi by his side. A future filled with laughter, joy, love, and children. One that he might lose before he even properly recognized that it was what he desperately wanted.
“No,” he ground out between clenched teeth. He would not lose her like this. It just wasn’t acceptable. He yanked off his tie and leaned in beside Craig, feeling sick at the sight of all that blood. It was actually starting to pool beneath her, and he tried not to think about how much she was losing and how dangerous it was. “Move your hand a bit but don’t let up on the pressure.” He instructed Craig, who did as he was told without question. Gabe used his tie to fasten a tourniquet around her thigh, just above the wound.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he urged. “You stay with me. Don’t you dare leave me.”
He kept talking to her while Craig kept his hand clamped over the wound and Pieter and Sean both stood by helplessly clutching their hats in their hands. The ambulance took forever to arrive, and Gabe was in a state of complete terror by the time the paramedics took over. He watched her closely for signs that she wasn’t breathing, and he said a grateful prayer with every shallow movement of her chest.
When the paramedics loaded her into the ambulance, he climbed into the back with her. The female paramedic tending to Bobbi said something about the bleeding slowing down and commended him on his tourniquet. Gabe kept his focus on Bobbi, willing her to live as he held tightly onto her hand.
When they got to the hospital, Mike and Billy were already waiting; Sean had called them after calling the ambulance. Mike looked pale and old and Billy looked furious and terrified all rolled into one.
“What happened?” Billy asked, his eyes trained on his sister as they wheeled her past him and straight into the emergency room. Gabe ignored him and moved to follow the gurney but they were all strong-armed out by doctors and nurses, who directed them to a waiting room. Gabe hated not being with her and couldn’t stop prowling up and down the confines of the room.
Mike sank into a chair and sat there looking more feeble than Gabe wanted to think about right now. Billy was still demanding answers, and Gabe filled him in as succinctly as possible. Edward and Clyde came in a few minutes later, and Edward, the doctor, immediately went to see if he could get additional information.
Chase strode into the room soon afterward, and when Gabe looked surprised to see him, he said that Billy had SMS’d him. Edward returned and everybody looked at him expectantly.
“The good news is that she’s out of danger,” he informed, and everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Gabe’s legs gave out and he sank down next to Mike. “She’s very lucky, it didn’t hit her femoral artery, thank God . . . but it was literally millimeters away from doing serious damage.” Edward’s face went gray at the thought. “One of her veins was nicked though which is why there was so much blood. The tourniquet and applied pressure kept the blood loss under control.” He glanced at Gabe as he said this, and Gabe ran a shaky hand through his hair as he tried very hard not to fall apart. “She’s in surgery to have the vein stitched up—but she’ll recover quickly and there’ll be no lasting damage. They also . . .”
Gabe didn’t hear the rest, his head was throbbing and he felt nauseous. He needed fresh air, he needed to get out . . . things were too chaotic in this place. Too much noise and craziness, it made him feel boxed in—there was no order here. He shoved to his feet and was vaguely aware of the astonished looks he was getting before he slammed out of the room and walked away.
He got as far as the parking lot and then stood there, feeling lost when he realized that he had no car. He looked around at the sea of cars gleaming in the parking lot and caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the windows. He was covered in blood. His face, his chest, his hands . . . Oh God! He leaned over, bracing his hand on one of the cars, and brought up his breakfast, and even after he had emptied his stomach completely, he just couldn’t stop heaving.
“Gabe?” It was Chase.
“I’m covered in blood,” he said, hearing a faint edge of panic in his voice. “Th-there was so much blood, Chase. I thought she would die right there in front of me. And do you k
now the only thing I could think about? Do you?”
“What was it?” Chase asked quietly.
“Me,” Gabe said, his voice rife with self-disgust. “All I could think of was how empty my life would be without her. How much I’d miss her. How I hadn’t even told her . . .” A despairing sob escaped from his lips and he fought for control. “I hadn’t even told her I loved her for God’s sake! What kind of man am I?”
“You’re a man in love,” Chase said simply, and another sob hitched from Gabe’s throat. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. And Bobbi is going to be fine. You still have the opportunity to tell her how you feel.”
“Do you think she’ll marry me?” Gabe asked uncertainly, and Chase studied him intently before dragging him into a warm hug.
“I’m not the one you should be asking that question, baby brother,” Chase told him.
Bobbi opened her eyes and blinked for a confused instant, not sure where she was. She had gotten used to waking up in Gabe’s bed and this certainly wasn’t his room. It was bright and clinical and smelled vaguely antiseptic. There were balloons everywhere and flowers. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was in a hospital. But why would she be in a hospital?
“Hey, you’re awake.” She turned her head to see Billy sitting in an uncomfortable-looking chair beside the bed. He got up and shocked the heck out of her by dropping a kiss on her forehead.
“What’s going on?”
He frowned. “You don’t remember?”
She shook her head.
“You had an accident in your shop and stabbed yourself . . . dumbo.” His words were teasing but his eyes were serious.
“Oh yes, I remember the blood. I felt so dizzy at the sight of it, there was just so much of it and you know how I feel about my own blood. Surely they didn’t rush me to hospital because I fainted? Was this Gabe’s doing? He tends to overreact when I get hurt.”
His Unlikely Lover Page 25
