by Virna DePaul
Zoe knew, looking into his eyes, that she was staring at another legend, a future Hall of Famer just like her father. Gabe Murphy didn’t get where he was by letting people take him down. He was a fighter.
“I tried not to get attached to these people. I’ve lost a lot, Zoe, and trust me, it’s hard to let new people in. But here I am, attached as fuck, happier than I’ve ever been.” He reached out and dragged her in for a kiss. Even sweaty and smelly with grass stains all over his body, the man was delicious.
“I feel that, Gabe. I was just worried, that’s all.” She kissed his cheek, his chin, his other cheek, those amazingly full lips, and that rough jawline.
“What else do you feel?” he grunted, eyes flaring, pulling her hand and sliding it down over his crotch. Even with all the protective gear, Zoe could feel what awaited her there.
“You’re bad…”
“No, I’m happy. Still,” he replied. “And you were right. I’ve got to focus on that. So let’s go home, peach. And let’s get naked. I’ll meet you there.”
Chapter 19
Gabe pulled into the driveway and cut off the rumbling Porsche engine. For a while, he sat in the darkness, staring up at the still house with a few soft-glow lights on. His eyes fell on Zoe’s car and he smiled knowing she was somewhere inside the house waiting for him.
He wanted to come home to her tomorrow. And next week. And next year. Hell, he wanted to come home to Zoe for the rest of his life. It was crazy, yes, given how short a time they’d known each other, but it was also true. Plus, the time they’d spent together had been intense. They’d seen each other practically every day. He didn’t need more time to know that Zoe was the one for him. She was everything he needed in a woman—beautiful, intelligent, sexy as fuck, sweet, and the cherry on top? She was the best damn trainer he’d ever had. Zoe would keep him on the straight and narrow all his life, in the gym and out of it.
Which was why he’d done something a little crazy.
He opened the glove compartment and pulled out the little box containing the ring he’d purchased the day after he and Zoe had had their talk about happiness.
She was his happiness, and he wanted the entire world to know it.
He opened the box and stared at the ring, little slivers of bright light twinkling in the dark. He was going to propose. Yes, there was the possibility she’d say no simply because they’d only known each other three months, but that was okay. He’d give her more time without pressure if she needed it.
He never expected to find love here in Savannah, but that was part of the human experience—seeing what you pulled out of the prize box. And because he’d learned a long time ago to make life count while you were still around, he knew this was the right choice for him.
Opening the car door, he slipped the box into his pants’ pocket, pulled his equipment bag from the back seat, and closed the door, locking it with a beep of the alarm. He headed into the emptiness of the foyer.
“Honey, I’m home,” he called with a short laugh. His ribs hurt from getting crushed. The docs told him to take it easy and relax, but he couldn’t not appreciate his woman at least once tonight. Besides, being with her was relaxing.
“Up here.” Her voice sang from the direction of their bedroom.
He tossed his bag by the door and followed the sound of her voice. Along the walls, the sconce candles were lit, dancing and flickering, creating cool shapes and shadows along the wall. Though he felt like he’d gotten run over by a semi—well, he practically had—he still anticipated whatever Zoe had in store.
When he saw the silhouette of perfection standing in their bedroom like a marble statue in some Parisian museum, he paused to admire it like he would any ancient work of art. A flicker of happiness warmed his chest—she’s mine.
“Welcome home, Gabe.” She held something in her hands he couldn’t see from the shadowy darkness across her form. All around the floor were small jar candles lighting up the room.
Slowly, he made his way toward her, wincing a couple of times with pain, knowing his aches would be erased the moment he reached her arms. On his second to last step, she shifted slightly and that was when he noticed, not only was she completely naked like he’d asked, but she had a little box for him, too. She flipped open the top of the white bakery box, displaying a perfect assortment of gourmet doughnuts—a chocolate striped one, a cookie crumble one, a red velvet one, and a few others he couldn’t tell what they were and didn’t really care, because she was a naked woman holding doughnuts.
“You must really like me,” he said.
She bit her smile in the candlelight’s glow. “You have no idea.” Her eyebrow flared. Walking backwards toward the bed, she pretend to lure him with the doughnuts while wearing the cutest, mischievous smile ever and nothing else.
“Hmm, you’re right to tempt me with food, because Lord knows I’d never follow you to bed without them,” he joked, catching up to her. She suddenly turned and ran to the other side of the bed with a squeal, holding out the doughnuts tauntingly even as she tried to escape his grasp.
But he was a player for the NFL, paid the big bucks to catch a slippery oval ball. If he could catch a football, he could catch Zoe. He plucked her out of the corner and pulled her close, right as she shoved a powdered sugary doughnut into his mouth.
“Did you guys bring doughnuts?” she said in a poor impression of his deep voice. She laughed so hard, she snorted.
God, he loved this woman. This was the reason why there was a ring in his pocket at this very moment. He chewed and swallowed the deliciousness in his mouth before answering, “That does not sound like me at all, I’m sorry to tell you. Come here.” He went in for a kiss but grabbed another piece of the same doughnut out of the box she was still holding and shoved it into her wide-open mouth. At the shocked look on her face, he shouted with laughter.
“Oops, speechless now, hmm? Know what else would muffle you up?” He took the box and laid it on top of his chest of drawers, drawing Zoe in to kiss her cheek and neck before laying a big kiss on her mouth, even as she tried to finish chewing. He’d gotten hard before he ever saw her but now his cock strained painfully against his jeans.
He plopped her on the edge of the bed and started undressing as she sat there giggling. There would be a time when they would still do this in the future, he hoped, only it would be thirty years from now and they’d be older and grayer.
“You’re so fucking sexy, peach. You know that, right?”
“You tell me every day.” She smiled and moved her legs apart, giving him a view of the real sweet treats in this room.
Gabe had never seen a more beautiful body than Zoe’s—muscular without being manly, round perky breasts, those nipples—my God—he just wanted to dive in and suck on them first before anything. But that sweet pussy glistened in the candlelight and he couldn’t decide what was sweeter. The vanilla doughnut or the red velvet? One part of her body was as sweet as the next.
He stepped out of his jeans and boxers and peeled off his shirt.
“Bring that yumminess over here.” She eyed him, salivating over his cock. “And I’m not talking about the doughnuts.” Running her little pink tongue over her lips, she gave him a devilish look with that baby angel face. With her fingers, she spread apart her pussy, because she knew how much he loved when she did that. “I want you right here.”
He stepped over to her and leaned down to kiss her, but she pushed him slightly back. “Nah-ah. Put yourself here.” She tapped her pussy lips. So that was how she wanted to play—no foreplay, no kissing, or nothing. She eyed his cock, which he held in his palm like an offering.
Standing in front of her, holding open her perfectly shaped legs, he pushed his throbbing cock against her velvety smooth opening and reveled in her slick warmth engulfing him. She still had powdered sugar on her lips and along her cheek, which only reminded him of the times he’d come all over her pretty doll face. Quiet introspection came over him again, because it hadn’t
been a perfect day but this was a perfect night.
And it would only get better once Zoe agreed to be his wife.
She ground herself into him, pushing, needing and wanting him. He leaned down to kiss her, murmuring incomprehensible things against her mouth, exploring her with his tongue and sucking hers right out from between her lips. As he fucked her on the edge of the bed, he cradled her ass, continuing the tradition with his obsession.
Zoe took in his full image—large and muscular, legs apart for leverage, hands cupped under her, tribal shoulder and chest tattoo covering the upper left part of him, gray blue eyes full of desire and something else—adoration. There was something different about him tonight. Maybe getting hurt on the field had opened his eyes, because he looked at her more intensely than he ever had, as if appreciating everything about her.
Gabe pushed his hips further into hers, plunging harder, cradling one hand around her neck and looking deep into her eyes, as if to say, Look at me. I’m the one who loves you. I’m the one who fills you. Her ass was lifting into the air as he drove deep into her pussy, folding her in two in this yoga-reminiscent position. His thumb caressed her clit, playing with it and stroking it so lovingly she didn’t feel the need to add her own fingers into the mix. Gabe knew—he’d learned her body, understood what she wanted, touched her in just the right way with the right amount of pressure.
She could let go. Let him take complete control.
He filled her. Filled her with cock, then filled her with cum as he groaned and emptied himself into her, making her reach her own blinding moment. They found that complete oneness, in both body and mind, that’d always eluded her with anyone else but Gabe. No other man had ever made her feel this whole. No other man had ever made her feel so sexy. No other man had ever rocked her world this much in bed, or out of it. No other man. “I love you, Gabe.” The words slipped from her lips easily, meant to be. They belonged out in the open where he could hear them and she could allow herself to feel them.
He responded by laying her down on her side and curling up with her, kissing her deeply with her face between his big hands, smiling and pressing his forehead against her. He basked in her message. It was good, telling him how she felt. He knew now. He could do whatever he wanted with that information, but she’d needed to tell him.
For a man who’d been hurt tonight, he’d worked hard to please her. She caressed his cheeks and kissed him softly, then as she floated into dreamland with him, she heard his reply as a throaty whisper near her ear. “I love you, too, peach.”
Chapter 20
Early the next morning, Gabe opened his eyes and blinked in the darkness.
Holy fuck, had a small airplane used his back as a landing strip? He had sustained similar hits before but nothing like this. He moved his legs, then his arms, then his neck, checking slowly to make sure every part of his body was still willing to wake up. Sure, he’d been fine last night but that was before fucking his girlfriend and giving his body a chance to rest afterwards. He reached for a bottle on his night stand and shook out another three ibuprofen for the muscle aches. Washing it down with a cup of water from two nights ago, he sat back and watched the strips of dim light filter in through the shades.
Next to him, Zoe slept like an angel, curled up onto her side in fetal position, hugging her pillow. Her feet touched his and he dragged his toes away stealthily so as to not wake her. He didn’t want to wait another day for his big plan. He wanted to go downstairs and get breakfast started for them, make her a Belgian waffle, because Belgian waffles were her favorite and she rarely allowed herself to have them even though she was fit as a fiddle.
He’d give her the ring as they enjoyed breakfast in bed. Granted, it wasn’t showy, but it would be heartfelt, and the truth was that he didn’t want to wait any longer than necessary to make Zoe his. Quietly, he snuck out of bed, feeling the cool morning air coming in from the open windows. He grabbed a throw from the end of the bed and wrapped it around his naked torso.
Where the hell had he left his jeans? Not that he’d wear any while cooking. Hell, if she could await him in the buff last night, then it might be fun to cook in nothing but an apron as well. But the ring box was in his jeans’ pocket, and that was kind of an important part of this whole morning. He felt around on the floor for them, his fingers touching denim but he realized immediately they were Zoe’s jeans. Nervous that she was going to wake up any moment now because she felt his prowling presence, he reached for her phone on her night stand, slid the screen up so he could use the phone flashlight, and turned it on. The light illuminated the scattered clothes along the floor.
Fuck, that ring better not have fallen out of his pocket. It had to be here. Finally, he found his pair of jeans just by the dresser. As he was about the turn the flashlight off, however, a silent text came in on Zoe’s phone.
At 6:11 AM?
TONY: Got the money. Guess you got your rich new boyfriend to…
That was all of the notification that fit inside the locked screen view.
Who the fuck was Tony?
And what the fuck was this about a rich new boyfriend?
Was the guy talking about Gabe? And why was he talking about Gabe and his money?
On one hand, he wanted to put the phone back and pretend like he never saw the text. It wasn’t his phone, and looking at it was an invasion of privacy. He should give her the chance to bring up anything that needed discussing without him being a big fat snoop. But if it was nothing, he’d feel like an idiot bringing it up to her, and she’d know that he’d been looking at her phone anyway. Plus, Zoe wasn’t exactly forthcoming with information. When it came to what made her sad, she was downright secretive. Maybe this guy was harassing her. If so, that was something he definitely needed to know.
In bed, Zoe stirred slightly, shifting positions. He moved to the bathroom, phone still in his shaking hand, where he could look at the text again without her sensing his movements. He hesitated a few more seconds before bringing up the lock screen and typing in Zoe’s pass code: PCHY.
He flipped open the text and was able to read the whole thing:
TONY: Got the money. Guess you got your rich new boyfriend to pay off the back rent like we talked about. And the next month’s too? Score! I assume more to come next month or I’ll start eviction proceedings.
What the hell? Eviction proceedings? Back rent?
Why hadn’t she said anything about this? She’d obviously found the money to pay this Tony recently, and that had to have come from the money she’d made training Gabe. But what about next month? Was she thinking of quitting training now that she and Gabe were together? Had she actually talked to this Tony guy about Gabe being rich and paying her bills for her like the text message implied?
Renee had wanted Gabe for his money too. That, and what he could do to her in bed.
Was that all he was to Zoe? A good fuck and a meal ticket?
Gabe’s nostrils flared, his whole body shaking with controlled rage. Still, his rational mind tried to intervene. Zoe wasn’t like that. She wasn’t.
And you know that based on what, his anger responded? Three months with her? Three months of her keeping secrets from you?
She’d told him so many times that he needed to open up about his feelings, trust people again, let the new teammates into his world.
But those were empty words coming from someone who kept secrets. She’d never trusted Gabe fully so why should he trust her?
Suddenly, Zoe appeared in front of him. He hadn’t heard her get out of bed and come quietly padding along the wooden floor, but there she was with a sleepy grin on her face. “Good morning, you.” She wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him tight.
He worked hard to control his emotions. Instead of hugging her back, he kept his arms at his sides. “So, are you?” he gritted out, his voice cold and even.
“Am I what?” Her voice was still husky with sleep.
“Are you going to get your rich boyfriend
to pay your future rent?”
Slowly, Zoe pulled back. Even in the soft light now seeping into the room, he could see the blood draining from her face.
“Are you using me for my money?” he demanded.
“What?!” She cringed, her face twisted into a pained knot. It could’ve been genuine disbelief or really good acting.
“Are you with me because you need money?”
Her mouth hung open. “Well, I…Jesus, Gabe, I work for you because I need money. How am I supposed to answer that?” Was that a yes, or a no? “Why are you even asking this?”
He held up her phone and handed it to her, cursing himself for not reading through all the texts while he still had the chance. There could’ve been more. There could’ve been other men.
She quickly searched her phone and read the latest texts. When she looked up, her expression was accusatory. “You looked through my phone? Really?” Resentment simmered through her voice, a tone he’d never heard her use before. “How did you even…” Her eyes widened. “My pass code.”
“You told me you changed it to PCHY.”
“I told you that to let you know how much I loved you calling me ‘peach’. Not so you could access my messages!”
“No, of course not. Because you wouldn’t want me finding out your secrets, would you? You’ve never mentioned this Tony guy, and you’ve never mentioned getting evicted. Is this about your house or the gym?”
“Why should I tell you anything after you’ve broken my trust?” She backtracked through the room, looking around the floor for her clothes.
“I’ve broken your trust?” The edge of his palm touched his chest as though splitting it in half, and that was how it felt. “I haven’t kept a single fucking thing from you, Zoe.”
“Wow, what an angel! What a saint!” she threw at him sarcastically. “Will you still feel like a saint when I tell you this text was a mistake? That it wasn’t even meant for me? That someone I don’t even know butt-dialed me? You’d look pretty stupid right now.”
