by Sara Orwig
She had turned his life inside out. He had never missed anyone after breaking up with them but he had mixed feelings about telling Meg goodbye at the end of the month. After these past few days he would miss her in his bed and in his life, but he would be glad to get his life back. And get back to ranching. He had taken her to see his prize bull yesterday. She had taken one quick look, shuddered and told him that was all she wanted to see of his livestock.
Despite that, for right now, he wanted every moment he could get with her and he wanted her in his bed and in his arms. She dazzled him in so many ways. She had certainly changed as she had grown up. She was so much more confident, self-sufficient, and she had a zest for life that amazed him. He couldn’t imagine her family trying to push her into marriage, but he could understand Justin wanting to marry her.
Tonight Gabe wanted to do something special. It wasn’t a real engagement, and tonight wouldn’t be a real proposal, but she deserved something special. Something that was just between them and had nothing to do with the goofy fake engagement. Something that told her it was great to be with her again even though he wasn’t totally thrilled to admit that she excited him more than any other woman he had ever known.
Her looks still blew him away. She didn’t seem to give them much thought, but that didn’t change her beauty. He suspected at some point in time she would revert back to her grade school hairdo and drop the makeup. But he would be attracted to her no matter which way she dressed.
Because of their differences in lifestyles and outlooks, if she hadn’t been desperate for his help, she never would have gone out with him. That might have been mutual because he wouldn’t have asked her out, either. Funny how that worked out, he thought.
Soon they would part, but before they did, he wanted to make her happy. Starting with tonight.
She poked his thigh with her finger. “Are you listening to me?”
Amused, he grinned. “Sorry. I was thinking about this morning in bed and thinking about you. What were you telling me?”
“For just a few minutes, get your mind out of the bedroom.”
“I’ll try, but it isn’t easy after some time in there with you.”
She smiled and blew him a kiss, making him laugh.
“I was just reviewing the plan to announce our engagement this week,” she told him.
“I want you to be absolutely sure that’s still what you want because it will upset your folks.”
“Stop worrying. I want the announcement.”
He glanced at her and she smiled sweetly while nodding at him, making him laugh again.
Her car was at her house, so he dropped her there and got out to walk her to her door.
“You don’t need to come with me,” she said, stepping out of his car.
“Oh, yes, I do,” he answered, taking her arm and inhaling her exotic new perfume.
She unlocked her back door and they stepped into her tiny entryway. He closed the door and turned to take her into his arms. Her brown eyes widened as she looked up in obvious surprise, which lasted one second before her arms wrapped around his waist and she gave in to his kiss.
She was soft, sweet, giving him the sexiest kisses of his life, and he wanted to carry her to bed now. He raised his head. “Go to work later.”
Her eyes were heavy lidded and she tightened her arm around his waist and pulled him close again. His mouth covered hers and as he kissed her, he picked her up, carrying her to a bedroom.
* * *
It was three hours before he stood at her back door again. “I’ll pick you up at seven and tonight you’re staying at my house.”
All she wore was a blue bath towel, which she pulled tight around her as she nodded.
“You look too good to leave,” he said.
“You go. You’re taking my whole day and I have to go to my office. Goodbye.”
He wiped his brow and took one more long look at her. “If you drop that towel, I won’t be able to leave.”
“I’m not dropping it and you go now. The door will lock behind you.” She turned and left, stepping out of sight through a door into her kitchen.
He left and went to his car to drive to his house. He wanted her constantly. He expected that to wear off as it always did, but right now, he couldn’t stop thinking about her and wanting to be with her.
At his house he fished out the fake ring she had given him and turned it in his hand. It was a beautiful ring and at a glance looked impressive and real. Yesterday he had phoned his florist and ordered flowers sent to her office so the flowers would be there when she arrived today. If Justin dropped into her office, he would see the flowers and probably find out who had sent them.
Gabe wanted to surprise her about tonight and had made reservations at an elegant steak house. On short notice he’d needed to call in some favors to get a reservation. The place had great steaks, the perfect ambience and there would be people they knew who would see them together—the essential requirement for Meg to consider the evening a success. He smiled and placed the ring back in the velvet box.
Soon Meg would be gone out of his life. He wasn’t ready for that yet and hoped he could talk her into continuing to date for a while longer.
He suspected she would not. She was afraid of falling in love with the wrong guy and he assumed the minute this engagement was over, she would disappear out of his life.
If she did, he would have to live with that. Sooner or later he knew they would say goodbye, but he’d rather keep her around longer. She was incredible in bed—instantly responsive and eager, filled with energy, wanting him and trying to please him as much as he pleased her.
He left to go to his office, the tall building he shared with Cade in their commercial real estate business, but on the way he made a stop to get a present for her for the evening.
For the rest of the day he had the hardest time concentrating on work. All he could think about was Meg. He couldn’t wait to get her to dinner, give her the ring and then get her back to the privacy of his house, where he wanted to make love to her all night long. Their time together was limited and he intended to make the most of it before they said goodbye.
At the end of the month or whenever they parted, would it bother him to tell her goodbye? It never had with anyone else, so maybe it wouldn’t with Meg. Besides, she had a way of bouncing back into his life.
He put away his papers, closed up and left his office. While he couldn’t wait to see her, this fake engagement was playing hell with his life. But it had given him Meg in his bed and that was definitely worth all the trouble she had caused him. How much more delight and trouble would tonight bring?
Nine
Meg heard her doorbell and rushed through her small house. She glanced in the mirror at herself again, looking at a red dress with a full skirt that came to her knees. Her sleeveless top had a vee neckline. She wore high-heeled red sandals and her hair fell loosely on either side of her face. Tonight she would get engaged to marry Gabe. The thought took her breath away even though she was totally aware it was a fake. After tonight she and Gabe would be bound together in the eyes of her family and the town. She wavered between excitement, even though it was fake, and worry that it would draw her closer to him, closer to falling in love if she wasn’t already doing that. They were not suited for each other and neither one could change their lifestyle. She couldn’t suddenly start flying and loving it, riding on his Harley—what a thought. She would be terrified. Gabe complicated her life in one way, but he had brought her freedom in another and he was a great guy. Whatever their future, tonight excited her and she couldn’t wait.
She opened the door and drew a deep breath as she looked up at Gabe in his broad-brimmed black hat, his navy Western suit and tailor-made white shirt. He looked so handsome, she wanted to pull him inside, close the door, step into his arm
s and make love all night long.
Instead, she had to stick to the program they had agreed on for the evening. She smiled at him. “Hi, my handsome, irresistible cowboy,” she said in a sultry voice.
“Oh, damn. I’m taking you to dinner when all I want to do is take you to bed.”
Should she tell him she had the same thought? Should she tell him she wanted the same thing? His eyes were practically singeing her skin as they raked her over from head to toe.
His voice turned huskier when he said, “You know, darlin’, we can skip dinner—”
She interrupted before he went any further. “No, we can’t. We’re going to stick to the script for tonight. We go out to eat where we can be seen and you propose. I accept and we have a fake engagement. We go see my parents and show them the ring. I call Justin and then we’re free to do whatever you want, my strong cowboy.”
“I’m not sure I can wait that long.”
She laughed. “Yes, you can. Let’s go get this show on the road. This is the night doors fly open and I walk out of Justin’s life forever. We’re both better off.”
“I have to agree with that one. I’d hate to have to bribe someone to marry me.” He pulled out his phone. “Stand still. I want one picture of you looking so beautiful, and then one with me.” He took them quickly and put away his phone. “I’ll pull those out on cold, empty nights and remember what fun I had with you.”
“Oh, right. Like you have so many empty nights.” She smiled at him, then locked up and started toward the car.
He took her arm and wrapped it around his. “Darlin’, I’ll be counting the minutes until I can get you in my arms and out of that gorgeous red dress.”
“You really do have a one-track mind, don’t you?” But she couldn’t deny his words thrilled her.
He gave her a devilish smile as he held the car door open for her. “Don’t you love it?”
“What I love is that bouquet you sent me. It was beautiful, gigantic. The flowers almost fill up my office. Roses, tulips, daisies, big white lilies, gladiola, baby’s breath and freesias. And right in the middle of all the beautiful flowers was a new brown teddy bear,” she said, laughing as he got in beside her. “That was the part that really got to me. That cute little bear. I’ll thank you properly when we get home.”
“Excellent. That’s what I aimed for. That and to help get a message to Justin if he came to your office.”
“They said he did drop by and he did see the bouquet. He left and never came back or called. I think he has the message and is acting on it. You darling man,” she said, blowing him kisses.
He pretended to catch them and pull them close to his heart, his face taking on an exaggerated moue of passion while his eyebrows jumped.
She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Gabe, you’re still fun. I always thought you were amusing when we were kids. You still are. Handsome, too,” she said. Actually, she’d go so far as to say he was the most handsome man she knew. As they pulled away from her street, she let her gaze run over his profile. Oh, yes, he was that. And she couldn’t deny she wanted the evening to be over and to be home, his place or hers, and in his arms.
“I could say the same about you, Meg,” he said. “I just had no idea the talents you would have when you grew up. I should have taken you out way before now.”
“You wouldn’t have had the same results, so don’t fill yourself with regrets.”
“It’s those ‘results’ I’m looking forward to.” As he slowed for a light, he shot her a smoldering glance that nearly set her on fire. “If not for your plan I would turn this car around and take you home and spend the evening the best way possible.” He grabbed the gearshift.
She stilled his hand. “But you’re not going to do that, because this is the most essential part of my plan.”
Reluctantly, he kept the car in Drive and moved forward.
Minutes later they were pulling into the best restaurant in town.
“Here we are,” Gabe said, turning onto a winding drive on broad, landscaped grounds. Ponds with fountains flanked the road, as well as tall oaks and willows.
Twinkling lights covered the red crepe myrtles at the entrance with the sun still above the horizon. A valet took the car and Meg entered on Gabe’s arm.
It was dim inside, and she heard a violin playing in the background. The maître d’ met them and led them to a table overlooking a sloping backyard of more tall trees, statues and fountains, with a creek running across the green grounds.
Candlelight flickered in the hurricane lamp on the table beside a crystal vase with four red and pink roses.
It was perfect. The place, the setting, the man. If she ever really did get engaged, this was the place she wanted it to happen.
For the first time, she felt a niggling pain in the area around her heart. Remember, Meg, it’s all pretend.
“Give me your hand,” he said, placing his hand on the gold linen tablecloth.
She forced a smile and looked up at him as she gave him her hand.
He tilted his head as he watched her. “Why the solemn look?”
“You’re too observant for my own good, you know that?” Then again, nobody knew her as well as Gabe. She should have known she wouldn’t be able to keep her feelings a secret from him. “It’s nothing really. Just that...well, someday you’re going to do this for real and she’s going to be a lucky woman. You’re a nice guy, Gabe.”
“Thank you. But you sound as if you think it’ll never happen for you. I promise you that someday a man will be asking to marry you for real. Darlin’, you’ll have so many great guys wanting to take you out the minute I get out of this picture. In less than a month you’ll be having the time of your life.” He smiled at her.
But she didn’t smile back.
Gabe ordered champagne and when their waiter left, Gabe raised his crystal flute. “Here’s to success in your endeavor that brought us back together for a very wonderful, unforgettable time.”
“Thank you.” She touched his flute with hers as she looked into his blue eyes in the flickering candlelight. Their glasses had a melodic ring when they touched.
Still watching him, sharing the moment, she sipped the bubbly, pale yellow champagne. A moment later she made a toast of her own. “Here’s to you, Gabe Callahan, for being the cowboy to the lady’s rescue, even though you didn’t ride in on a white horse.” As she sipped her champagne, once again she felt a squeeze to her heart. She had no future of any sort with Gabe. This had been a task to accomplish and he had nearly accomplished it, and they really were almost finished. The month would soon be over and they would go their separate ways. Gabe was great in so many ways, but he was definitely no more the man for her than she was the woman for him.
They touched glasses again and she took another sip as Gabe reached down and pulled a long black box out of his jacket pocket. It was tied with a blue silk bow. He placed it in the middle of the table.
“I know we have things we’ll do tonight while we’re here. This isn’t one you had scheduled in. This one I planned.” He swallowed and looked up at her. “This has been a special time, Meg. We’ve been the best of friends and together off and on through the years. Now we’re not only friends, we’re intimate, and that’s a change to a deeper relationship that holds more importance. To make sure you’ll remember the moment and know that it was important to me, here’s a keepsake for you. When you wear that, think of me.”
“But, Gabe, you sent flowers and another teddy bear. I don’t need more presents.”
He pushed the box closer to her. “Please.”
Curious, she picked it up and untied the blue silk bow and opened the box. She gasped as she looked at the necklace resting on black velvet. Small diamonds formed the necklace, leading to a pendant that was a large sparkling diamond surrounded by al
ternating diamonds and emeralds.
She looked up at him. “Gabe, this is spectacular. It’s beautiful.”
“It’s for you, and when we’re home tonight I’ll put it on you.”
“I can’t wait. I’ve never had anything like this. It’s magnificent.” She reached out and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”
“Whatever the future brings, Meg, we have a history that goes way back and you’ve been important in my life. You got me through some rough times. I wanted you to have something special.”
“It’s fabulous, Gabe. Thank you.” She glanced down at the necklace and then back up to him. “I can’t do much more than keep saying ‘thank you’ as long as we’re in public here.”
“You’ll get your chance to thank me when we get back to my place. You can wait till then for me to put your necklace on you. Or you can come over here and sit on my lap and I’ll fasten it for you.”
Smiling, she shook her head. She didn’t trust herself to sit on his lap right now. She gazed at him, taking in every inch of his beautiful face, thinking of how exciting he was, how good he was to her. Why did they have to be so opposite in lifestyles?
Their waiter came to take orders and as soon as he left, she turned to Gabe.
Raising her flute, she gazed into his blue eyes. “Here’s a big thank-you to my very best friend for all my life.” Smiling, she touched her flute to his and sipped her champagne as their waiter brought green salads on crystal plates.
The meal, like the place, was perfection. They both had rib eyes, sweet potatoes with pecans, and fluffy biscuits drizzled with honey.
It was after dinner as they sipped Irish coffee that Gabe got out another smaller box tied with a red satin ribbon.
“The time has come,” he said after he glanced around the dining room. “You said you wanted a lot of people to see us so it gets back to Justin—well, watch this move. I’m betting this will blow up social media and Justin will see it within the hour.”
She smiled, watching Gabe get up. As if on cue, the violin player strolled in their direction, playing a sweet ballad. He stopped several feet away from Gabe, who handed the box to her. As he did, she looked into his blue eyes and her heart pounded even though these actions were following a script she’d written.
