At the time Adriana and Em had wondered what was so special about this place that both a major pop star and a major movie star would want to live here. She got it now.
There was a special magic here.
She pulled into the back parking lot and grabbed the white paper bag that held Jonah’s future off the seat. As she made her way up the stairs she inhaled the fresh morning pine scent. She was going to miss that, too.
And Gabe.
It always came back to Gabe.
Her legs ached with each step she took up the flight of stairs reminding her of the dancing she’d done with him last night. He could horizontal mambo like nobody she’d ever mamboed with before. He had moves that had caused her to go blind and deaf from pleasure. Her last orgasm had caused her vision to blur and all she heard was white noise. That’s how good he was.
“Stop,” she harshly corrected herself as she unlocked the door.
There would be plenty of time to revisit the night before. Right now she needed to take a warm, relaxing bath, pack, and get on the road.
She dropped the bag on the table and went straight to the bathroom. As she moved to the tub she caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror and couldn’t believe what she saw staring back at her. Or should she say, who she saw staring back at her.
Her eyes were bright. Her skin was glowing. Even her hair looked silky and smooth. She looked young, vibrant, and alive.
She wasn’t sure if it was getting some time away from all of her responsibilities, or this town, or Gabe, or sex with Gabe, but whatever it was, it was working. For the first time in a long time she hadn’t cringed at her reflection.
Adriana sat on the side of the tub and turned the water to hot. As she waited for it to heat up she noticed she had a mark on her inner thigh just below the hem of her cutoffs.
She ran her fingers over it and closed her eyes, remembering when Gabe had nibbled on her there. His mouth, his hands, his tongue had covered almost every inch of her body. The mark on her inner right thigh might be the only visible one on her body but he’d branded her everywhere he’d touched. She was his.
“No,” she chastised herself and forced her eyes open.
That wasn’t true. She wasn’t his and he wasn’t hers. That was crazy. They’d spent one phenomenal, out-of-this-world incredible, no-strings night together. That was it, period. Not ellipsis. Not comma. Not semi colon. Not question mark. Not exclamation point.
Well, maybe exclamation point.
She ran her wrist beneath the water and adjusted the faucet until it was the perfect temperature. Then, she stood and started taking off her lucky shirt, which after last night definitely lived up to its name. She’d just gotten it to her shoulders when there was a knock at the door.
Gabe.
Her heartbeat pounded like a wild horse through an open field as she tugged her shirt back into place. Reaching down she shut off the water.
On her way to answer the door she realized how silly she was for thinking it was him. It was probably the only person that had ever knocked on the door. Sue Ann. Her stomach growled at the memory of the last time she’d been there and the breakfast she’d brought.
As she opened it, Adriana fully expected to see the rosy-cheeked, kind-hearted woman that had housed and fed her for the weekend. That wasn’t who was on the other side of the door.
“Mama!” Lexi screamed.
“Mommy!” Laney jumped up and down.
Little arms launched at her in a blur as Adriana stared into her mother’s eyes.
“Surprise!” Naomi extended her arms in a dramatic show.
“We came to surprise you Rina.” Jonah’s face exuded both excitement and worry. “Did we surprise you?”
“Yes, you did!” Adriana exclaimed as happily as she could since Jonah was watching her every facial tick. She bent down and pulled all three of her munchkins into a big hug. “I missed you guys so much. I can’t believe you’re really here.”
“I have to go potty.” Lexi started wiggling in her arms.
Laney crossed her legs. “Me too!”
Her mother raised her hand. “Me three.”
Adriana ushered her family inside as she adjusted to the shock of them all being here. She helped the girls use the restroom and they filled her in on their long drive, and that they were proud of themselves for packing their own bags, and also that Nana let them color in the car and they didn’t make a mess.
That was a new one. Not the coloring in the car, but the girls calling her mom Nana. She’d always insisted on Naomi.
Finally, Adriana got the girls and Jonah set up with snacks in front of the TV while her mom used the restroom. The second she came out, Adrianna pulled her mother into the bedroom.
“What are you doing here?” Adriana asked in a harsh whisper.
Her mother’s eyes twinkled and she shut the door. Adriana stood by it so she could hear if any fights were breaking out.
“Well,” her mother lowered her voice conspiratorially, “I was on your computer last night and all these pictures kept popping up of you and a young man. And you looked so happy and free. Not just with the young man but also here. In Hope Falls. So I thought, instead of you coming home, we’d come to you. I rented a cabin for a week at a lovely place, Mountain Ridge Resort. There’s horseback riding, canoeing, ziplin—”
“Whoa. Backup.” Adriana held up her hand. “What pictures? What are you talking about?”
“The pictures of you and…I don’t remember his name but apparently he’s some sort of fighter—”
“Gabe? There’s pictures of me and Gabe?”
“Yes!” Her mother snapped her fingers. “That was it. Gabe.”
“Where? Where were these pictures of us?”
“On the computer. They called you…” Her mother fanned out her hands in a rainbow, “mystery woman.”
There was so many thoughts crowding Adriana’s brain she couldn’t begin to organize them. Still she had to.
First, she pulled out her phone and searched Gabe’s name. Sure enough, photos of the two of them showed up in the results. They basically chronicled all the time they spent together over the weekend.
They must’ve come up on her computer because of the Google alert she’d set.
She felt herself starting to spiral but quickly reined it in. This wasn’t the end of the world. News cycles were so crazy these days; she was sure that no one would care about this in a week.
A week. That’s when she was going to get the tests back.
The tests.
She’d left the tests in the room with the kids.
Panic set in and she flung the door open to race out and retrieve it. When she did she saw Jonah walking straight toward her. Holding the bag.
Oh no. What if he asked what they were? What would she tell him? She’d retrieved his samples from his brush and after clipping his nails. He had no idea that she might’ve found his dad, or that she was even looking.
“Hey, bud.” Her voice was about two octaves higher than normal.
He handed her the bag. “The girls wanted to color on this, but I didn’t know if you’d want them to.”
Relief spread through her and she ruffled his hair and kissed him on the top of his head. “Thanks, bud. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He smiled up at her and her heart melted. “I’m gonna go finish my Goldfish before the girls eat them.”
“Good idea.” She smiled as she watched him happily return to his snack.
“What’s in the bag?” her mother asked from behind her.
“Nothing.” Adriana shook her head and turned back to face her. “Why didn’t you call me before you guys drove all the way up here? I have to go back. We have to go back. We can’t stay here. I’m busy. I have to work and the kids have a schedu—”
Her mother reached out and put her hand over Adriana’s. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. I knew if I did, you’d say no. I spoke to Heather. She said that she has everything
under control.”
Heather was Adriana’s part-time virtual assistant and full-time lifesaver. Her business would never have reached the point that it had without Heather. “How did you get her number?”
“I found her contact info on your computer. She said that she’ll let you know if she needs you but that she’ll take care of all social media, invoicing, customer care, and allocation of work for the next week. She doesn’t want you to worry about a thing. I even offered to pay her for the extra time she’d be putting in, but she said that she wants to do this. For you. You need this,” her mother insisted. “The kids need this. I want to do this for all of you.”
“Why?” Adriana didn’t mean to question her mother’s motives, but she couldn’t help it. Naomi had never been interested in being a mother and even less interested in being a grandmother.
Her mother’s eyes got watery. “Losing Emily was…I just…I don’t want to think of a world without you in it. I know that I haven’t been there for you like I should have. I know I can’t change the past. But I want to do better going forward. I want to be there for you, if you’ll let me.”
Adriana didn’t know how to respond. She appreciated her wanting to change, and that she’d gone to all this trouble for her. Still, she had to think about Jonah. They didn’t have the results back, it was too soon for them to meet.
“No!” A loud shriek sounded from the living room and Adriana knew that her short reprieve was over.
It was back to reality. And right now, her reality was in Hope Falls.
*
Gabe took the back steps two at a time. He knew that it was a crapshoot just stopping by like this, but at this point, he didn’t know what he had to lose.
When he’d woken up this morning, she was gone.
He knew it the second he opened his eyes and saw that the bed was empty. Still, disappointment had still sucker punched him when he’d checked the front and her car was gone.
Maybe he should’ve just left well enough alone. If she’d wanted to say goodbye, she would have. Still, after all they’d shared it felt wrong to let her leave like that.
When he reached the apartment door, he lifted his hand and knocked three times.
Adriana opened it, but she was twisting back to reach for something behind her so she didn’t see that he was standing there. “I said I’ll be down in a mi—” She stopped mid-word when she turned back and saw him. The color drained from her face. “What are you doing here?”
This was exactly the reason Gabe had a no drop by rule. He never wanted to see that look on a woman’s face.
“I woke up and you were gone so I came here in case you hadn’t left town yet. I wanted to say goodbye.”
“Rina!” Gabe heard loud footsteps running up the indoor stairs and Adriana’s face went even paler.
“Rena?” Gabe wondered out loud.
“It’s Jonah,” she whispered. “That’s what he calls me.”
“Jonah’s here?” Gabe limbs went numb.
He’d never had that happen before and he wasn’t sure why it was now. At the thought of meeting his possible son, he’d lost all feeling in his extremities.
“Yes, my mother drove them here,” she spoke a mile a minute. “She booked a cabin at Mountain Ridge for us and wants to stay for the week. We were downstairs eating in the café. I had to come back up to gra—” Her head bent to the side and she smiled as she said in a louder than normal voice, “Hey, bud.”
Everything was in slow motion as Gabe turned around. He’d seen this happen in movies. He blinked and it felt like it lasted five seconds and when he opened his eyes the boy that he’d seen in the pictures was on the top step, gaping up at him with his mouth wide open.
Neither spoke as they stared at one another in stunned silence. It was as if he was looking at himself twenty years ago. Jonah had Gabe’s eyes, his nose, and even his frame. The kid was all arms and legs, just like Gabe had been.
“Hey, bud.” Adriana pushed by Gabe and moved to Jonah’s side. She put her hand on his shoulder and motioned to Gabe. “This is Gabe Maguire”
“I know,” Jonah nodded his head up and down.
“Right…” Adriana stammered and blinked as she shook her head.
“Hey, man. It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Gabe reached out his hand to shake.
“About me?” Jonah’s big brown eyes grew even larger.
“Oh yeah.” Adriana ruffled his hair. “I told Gabe all about your karate and that you help me so much, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Jonah smiled and Gabe could see that he was proud.
“Did you need something, bud?” Adriana asked.
Jonah’s brow scrunched. “What?”
“Did you come up here for something?” she prompted.
“Oh yeah, um, Lexi forgot her drawing and she wanted to show it to Miss Sue Ann. I told her I’d get it.”
Adriana nodded and went back in the apartment, leaving Gabe and Jonah alone.
As soon as she went in the door, Jonah pulled a phone out of his pocket. “Can I get a picture with you?”
It felt strange having him ask for a selfie. Gabe was starting to feel what Adriana must’ve been going through when she’d shown up in Hope Falls. She knew a huge piece of information that pertained to him but she couldn’t tell him.
“Of course.” Gabe tried to act as normal as possible so he did the same thing that he did whenever a kid asked for his picture. “Do you want me to take it? I have longer arms.”
“Yeah,” Jonah answered excitedly as he handed him the phone.
Gabe leaned down and held the phone up so that they were both in the frame. He snapped several and then handed the phone back to Jonah.
“Cool, thanks.” Jonah scrolled through them.
Gabe wanted to look at them, too. Still, he didn’t want the kid to think he was a creep. “Hey, can you send me those?”
When Jonah looked back up at him, he was wearing a huge smile.
“Yeah, but I don’t have your number.”
“Oh, right.” Gabe grabbed Jonah’s phone and put his number in. “There you go.”
Jonah’s face lit up. “Thanks!”
“You can call me. Anytime.”
“Really?”
Adriana came back out and handed Jonah a few papers with crayon markings all over them. “This was all I could find. I don’t know which one she did. Why don’t you take them all, and I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Okay. Bye Mr. Maguire. Thanks for the pictures! I’ll send them to you.” Jonah ran back down the way he came.
Gabe stared after him. He wasn’t sure what he felt. It was as if he’d just watched that entire exchange happen, but he hadn’t lived it. Like he’d had an out-of-body experience.
“Are you okay?” Adriana touched his arm.
He was about to say that he was fine, but when he opened his mouth, those were not the words that came out. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
A sudden urgency rose up in him and he turned toward her. “You said that you’re staying for a week, right?”
“Yes. But you don’t have to—”
“I want to.” Gabe wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but whatever it was, he wanted to do it.
She smiled at his enthusiasm. “You want to what?”
That was a loaded question.
“I want to spend as much time with Jonah, and you, and your family as I can.”
Her smile dropped and took his hopes right with it. She stepped closer and whispered, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I don’t want to confuse Jonah. The test will be back in a week and then—”
“I don’t want to confuse Jonah, either,” Gabe matched her whisper. “But look at it this way. Say the results come back and I am his father, won’t it be better if he already knows me? If I’m not some stranger? Or a guy he’s just seen on TV?”
Gabe was a fighter, and whether it was MMA, fires or canc
er, that’s who he was. There was no way he was going to give up on this.
Adriana’s cheek hollowed and Gabe knew she was biting it. It was something that he’d noticed she did when she was nervous. “And what if you’re not his father?”
“Then he gets to spend a week with the coolest, funniest, dopest guy ever. It’s a win-win.”
“I thought you said you wanted to spend the week with him?” she teased.
“Ha ha.”
She smiled and took a deep breath as her head fell back. He tried not to notice how sexy her neck was, or how the cotton on her shirt was pulling tight across her breasts as she inhaled.
“This is the part they don’t ever tell you about before you become a parent. Everybody talks about the sleepless nights and how you never have time for yourself, and how expensive it is, but no one tells you that you will question every decision you make because it could affect the rest of their lives. That is the hardest part of parenting. The questioning of every decision you make and never knowing if it’s the right one.”
As much as he wanted to spend time with him, with all of them, he absolutely didn’t want to pressure her into anything. Or make her life harder than it already was. He wanted to help her, not be one more thing she had to deal with. “Listen, if you think it’s a bad idea, I’ll keep my distance until we get the results. You guys can just have a nice, Gabe-free vacation.”
She sighed. “No. You made a good point. If you are his dad, then it would probably be better if he knew you and if not…”
“He gets to spend the week with the coolest, funniest, dopest guy ever.” He wagged his brows as he completed her sentence.
She shrugged. “I mean, Justin did seem pretty cool and he does own Mountain Ridge so I’m sure he’ll be around, but I doubt that he’s going to spend the whole week with us.”
He smiled. “You think you’re real funny, don’t you?”
“Who, me?” she asked in faux innocence.
He loved that she gave him a hard time. He loved that she took being a parent so seriously. He loved that she was still wearing her lucky shirt of a college that she’d never gone to. And he loved that she was staying in Hope Falls.
Fire and Foreplay Page 15
