“I can’t imagine how difficult that was for you.”
“After our breakup, I kind of went off the rails. I wanted to hurt her as badly as she’d hurt me. I was determined that I’d never let anyone cause me so much pain again, so I kept my relationships, if you can even call them that, very shallow. I wouldn’t let anyone close to me—until you.”
Livvy’s breath hitched as Gabe took her face in his hands. He kissed her, softly at first, then more insistently. But before she could sink into the kiss, he drew back. As their eyes met, his flashed with anger and disappointment.
“Don’t doubt me again, Livvy,” he said. “I can’t bear it.”
She began to answer, but before she could utter a word, his mouth crashed into hers. His big body pressed against her, pushing her backward until she hit the wall. He captured her hands in one of his and held them over her head. Desire rushed through her veins as his erection nudged her abdomen through the barrier of his trousers. This wasn’t gentle Gabe. This was intense, burning, all-consuming Gabe, who took what he wanted without apology.
His tongue surged into her mouth as he dry-humped her against the wall. A moan eased from her throat, and her skin heated under his fervent touch. He let go of her hands, gripped the hem of her dress, and bunched it around her waist. His fingers dipped inside her underwear, and he pushed two through her slick folds.
“Jesus, Liv,” he muttered as he nipped and sucked his way from her earlobe to her throat. She heard his zipper go down, and be
she could say the word “condom,” he hooked her legs over his hips and pushed inside her.
Her mind went wild as to what this change could mean, but soon, her thoughts scattered as Gabe began to thrust, hard, his hips clashing with hers. Their breathing was intermingled with soft moans from her and shallow grunts from him. She held on, her hands threaded into his hair, her thighs gripping him tightly. This was nothing like any of their other sexual encounters. There was a heat, an intensity driven by anger, frustration, hurt, and desire… and she loved it.
Her body tightened, and as she crested and fell into a mindblowing orgasm, Gabe groaned out his release, his breath hot against her neck. Their damp foreheads touched, and they remained connected as their breathing slowly returned to normal. Only then did he pull out of her and tuck himself away before smoothing her dress back into place. When he raised his head, the earlier anger and disappointment in his eyes had been replaced with love. His hands curved around her cheeks, and he touched his lips to hers.
“Marry me, Livvy.”
Chapter Seventeen
The words were out of Gabe’s mouth before he realized what he’d said, and for a moment, he panicked. But then a sense of calm and a feeling of utter conviction settled over him. Livvy, on the other hand, wasn’t in the same place. Her mouth opened and closed, her eyes widened in shock, and a flush spread from her neck up and over her cheeks.
“Marriage?” she whispered. “But we’ve only known each other a few months.”
“So?” Gabe shrugged. “During our time together, I’ve shown you more of who I am than I’ve shown to people who I’ve known for years.”
Livvy shook her head. “You haven’t even told me you love me.”
He brushed aside a stray lock of hair that had fallen across her face and tucked it behind her ear. “It’s implied, Liv.”
She jerked her head back. “Well, maybe I need more than implied. Maybe I need to actually hear the words,” she said, incredulity leaching into her tone.
Gabe laughed as he picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Do you think I’d ask you to marry me if I didn’t love you?”
“I don’t know what to think.” She began to wear out the carpet as she paced. “I never thought I’d get married again,” she said more to herself than him.
Gabe reached out as she was on her third tour of the living room and circled his arms around her waist. He tilted his head towards her, touching her forehead with his. “You don’t have to answer now. Take your time.”
He didn’t want her to take her time. He wanted a “yes” right then because he had a sinking feeling that the more time that he gave her, the less likely she was to agree. However, the tension in her shoulders and the stiffness in her spine told him she wasn’t ready yet. If he pushed, he would get a definite no.
She twisted around, and he withheld a sigh of relief as her arms curved around his neck. She looked into his eyes. “Are you still in love with Tabitha?” The tightness around her mouth told him she dreaded the wrong answer.
“No.” His response was immediate and emphatic. “She killed any love I had for her when she aborted our baby.” He exhaled softly. “It was a long time ago, Liv. I didn’t know she would be there tonight. I don’t even know how she got in. I’m sorry she made you doubt me.”
Livvy’s face crumpled. She rested her head against his chest and tightened her grip on him. “It’s me who should be apologizing. I never even gave you a chance to explain.”
Gabe brushed his thumb across her plump lower lip. He was going to fucking kill Tab when he got a hold of her. “You don’t need to justify your actions to me, Livvy. Tabitha can be very convincing, and I’m not surprised you reacted the way you did—especially given your history. But you have to believe me when I say things were over between us a long time ago. The only feelings I have for Tab now are contemptuous. You are all I want.”
Gabe gently cupped her chin and tilted her head backward. Her eyes held sorrow, regret, and a tinge of uncertainty. His abdomen clenched. He wanted to wash away those doubts and negative feelings. So he kissed her. When he drew back, she offered him a faint smile.
“You’re very good at distraction techniques.”
Gabe chuckled. “I like distracting you.”
She touched her hand to his cheek. “Give me some time.”
He nodded solemnly. “I can do that.”
As she walked across the living room towards the bedroom, he called out to her.
“I love you, Liv.”
Her slow, beautiful smile made a surge of affection rush through him. “I love you too.”
As their plane landed the following day, Gabe squeezed Livvy’s hand. “I’m sorry, darlin’, but I have to stop by the office. I’ll have my driver drop you off at my place. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“Actually, can he drop me off at my place? I could do with picking up a few things, and I wouldn’t mind doing a workout.” She patted her stomach and groaned.
“As if you need it,” Gabe scoffed.
“I will if I keep eating all this rich food.”
Gabe shook his head and ignored her. Livvy had been so thin when they’d met. It was nice to see that she had put on a couple of pounds. It showed that she was happier, more settled, and that visits to the dark place she’d told him about were becoming fewer as time passed.
His driver pulled up outside his office building, and Gabe kissed Livvy’s cheek before heading inside. The minute the car drove away, his smile fell, and as he rode up in the elevator, his fury at Tabitha grew. He’d held his anger in check while he was with Livvy, but now that he was alone, his throat was dry, blood pounded in his ears, and his vision kept clouding over.
As he stomped towards his office, his executive assistant held out a file of paperwork. She’d been with him a long time, and one look at his face told her that he wasn’t in the mood for chitchat.
He swiped the file from her hand. “No interruptions, Alana.”
“Certainly, Mr. Mitchell,” she said, reverting to a rarely used formal address as he slammed the door behind him.
Gabe tossed the file on his desk and paced, trying to calm himself down before he picked up the phone to call Tabitha. He hadn’t seen the damned woman in months, not since her last hapless attempt to convince him they should get back together, but that had been long before he met Livvy. He’d hoped Tab had disappeared for good, but this time, she’d gone too far. To insinuate what she had to Livvy�
�no, not insinuate, but downright lie—meant she’d wanted Livvy to believe her untruths. And that also meant she hoped it would split him and Livvy up. He briefly wondered if Tab had known about Livvy before they met at his company event in New York. He wouldn’t put it past Tab to follow his every move. She was a woman who liked to be in control, to make the decisions. When he looked back, he was surprised they’d been together as long as they had because they were a mirror image of each other rather than complimentary like he and Livvy were.
He sat at his desk and steepled his fingers under his chin. Swiveling around in his chair, he stared out the window at the Los Angeles skyline, a place he’d grown to love. He still missed Texas, but as his business interests were split between the East and West Coasts, he’d had to choose one. Los Angeles had been the easy choice—great weather, beautiful beaches, and even more beautiful women. The sight of the downtown skyline usually soothed him, but not today.
He reached for his phone and dialed Tab’s number. He had half a mind to get back on a plane to New York so he could rip her head off in person. But then Livvy would want to know why he was returning when they’d only just gotten home, and he didn’t want her any more worried than she already had been.
“Gabe.” Tabitha’s smooth, practiced voice set his teeth on edge. “How lovely to hear from you. Have you gotten bored with your English rose already?”
Rage burned within him. “I know what you said to Livvy, Tab. And I’m warning you. Stay the fuck away from us.”
Her laugh tinkled through the phone. When they were together, he’d found it alluring. Now it irritated the fuck out of him. “I only told her the truth.”
Gabe almost choked. “You said I made you abort our baby. That’s a fucking lie, Tab, and you know it.”
“Oh, that.” He could visualize her gesturing dismissively with her hand. “Well, yes, I might have stretched the truth there. I thought you meant the part where I told her she was all wrong for you, because that is true.”
Gabe sucked in a breath. He was going to have to play hardball because anything less wouldn’t cut it. With his free hand, he clenched his fist, his nails digging into the palm of his hand until he drew blood.
“You are a manipulative, vicious, selfish woman. I have no idea what I ever saw in you, but know this, Tabitha. If you come near me or Livvy, I will make sure that you never work as a model in this country again.”
Tab gasped. “You wouldn’t.”
Gabe laughed derisively. “Try me, sweetheart. My reach is far and wide. By the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll be lucky to get a job flipping burgers. I’ve given you fair warning. You’d do well to heed it.”
He didn’t wait for her response before cutting the call. That would be the end of it. He’d tolerated Tab’s woeful attempts at reconciliation, even relished the boost to his ego, though he’d had no intention of reuniting with her. But since he’d gotten together with Livvy, everything was different. He knew Tab’s career meant everything to her—the termination of their child was a testament to that. She wouldn’t risk him carrying out his threat. She was smart enough to know that bluffing wasn’t his style.
An hour later, Gabe walked through the door of his house. Silence greeted him, and he remembered that Livvy had asked to be dropped off at her apartment. He instantly headed for the garage, grabbed the keys to his BMW, and set off for Livvy’s place. The earlier tension had left his shoulders now that he’d resolved the Tabitha problem.
He parked outside Livvy’s apartment building and jogged the thirteen flights of stairs to her floor. He smiled as he recalled the very first day he’d knocked on her door and gotten no answer. He’d decided to hedge his bets and wait for her to come home. He remembered the punch to his gut as he’d seen her coming towards him with perspiration flattening her hair to her skull. He’d known he would have to treat her carefully so he didn’t scare her off.
He wondered if she’d thought any more about his proposal. He’d thought of nothing else. Several times on their way home that morning, he’d opened his mouth to ask her but then promptly shut it again. He was impatient, wanting to know her answer. He hoped for the best but was prepared for the worst. If she refused, he had a whole convincing speech ready to go.
He rapped on her door, and when she opened it, he swept her into his arms. His mouth came down on hers, cutting off her girlish giggle.
As they broke apart, laughter erupted from her. “Blimey, that’s a hell of a greeting.”
“I missed you.” He crossed the threshold into her apartment as she stepped back.
“You saw me”—she checked her watch—“three hours ago.”
He closed the door behind him. “Felt like a lifetime.”
“Everything okay at work?”
He considered telling her about his conversation with Tabitha but then decided against it. They wouldn’t hear from her anymore so there was no real point in upsetting or bothering Livvy with the details.
“All good. So, have you eaten yet?”
“No.”
“Good,” he said. “Let’s eat out.”
“On one condition.”
“Name it.”
“Take me back to Giovanni’s,” she said. “And this time, I promise not to run away.”
After Giovanni had rolled out the red carpet and fussed over Livvy so much that Gabe almost popped a blood vessel, he left them alone with a crisp, cool Pinot Grigio and enough pasta to feed a small town.
“To us,” Livvy said, clinking her glass against Gabe’s. “And to surviving our first fight.”
Gabe laughed. “Darlin’, if they all end like that one did, I’m going to instigate more of them.”
Livvy’s skin flushed hot, and her stomach twisted with need at the memory. She squirmed in her seat and clamped her thighs together, a move not missed by Gabe. His lips twitched, and he brushed his calf against hers. In response, Livvy shoved a forkful of pasta in her mouth before she was tempted to do something very inappropriate in public.
“So are you still okay about me working for your firm?” she asked in a bid to get her mind out of the gutter.
He nodded. “Of course. Edward has already contacted HR to get the process started. It’ll take a while to get the paperwork through the various bureaucratic channels, but Edward will push hard, and I’ll get involved if I need to.”
Livvy grinned. “I’m really looking forward to using my brain again. I won’t let you down, I promise.”
Gabe expertly twisted spaghetti around his fork. “I know you won’t.” He chewed thoughtfully. “You really impressed Edward.”
A dart of excitement shot through her. “I did?”
“Yep. And believe me, he’s hard to impress.”
As dinner progressed, Livvy’s mind turned to Gabe’s proposal the previous night. It might have come out of the blue, but their lives were already so intertwined that marrying Gabe was a natural next step. And as that thought crept into her mind, she knew. She’d asked for time, but that was only because her natural English reserve had risen to the forefront when he’d asked her. She didn’t need time. She needed him.
Her teeth grazed her bottom lip. “I’ve been thinking.”
Gabe stiffened, although he kept his voice light. “About what?”
“Your proposal.”
He sucked in a breath. “And?”
She lowered her chin and looked up at him through her lashes. “It’s a yes… if you’ll still have me.”
He paused for a heartbeat, then a broad smile spread across his face. He pushed back his chair and walked around to her side of the table. He took her hands in his and eased her to her feet. Once she was standing, Gabe wrapped his arms around her and twirled her in the air, causing several diners to turn their heads and watch them.
“This amazing woman has just agreed to marry me,” Gabe said to the roomful of strangers—and Giovanni, who had just appeared from the kitchen. “I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
Livvy
blushed as the restaurant patrons began to applaud. Giovanni clapped the loudest and called for a bottle of champagne.
She giggled. “Put me down before you do your back in.”
He placed her back on her feet and gently ran his knuckles down the side of her face.
“I promise to make you happy, Liv.”
She swallowed as her vision blurred with tears. “You already have,” she whispered.
Chapter Eighteen
“Oh, Livvy,” Ches said with tears in her eyes as Livvy smoothed her hands over her hips and gazed into the mirror. “You look stunning. No, strike that. You are stunning.”
“I agree, darlin’,” Heather said. “You’re like an angel. My son is a lucky boy.”
Livvy smiled as happiness coursed through her veins. The last four weeks had sped by in a whirlwind of venues, cars, cakes, and dresses. Once she’d agreed to marry Gabe, he hadn’t wanted to wait. Heather had almost fainted when he’d told her that she had such a short time to organize the wedding, but she’d rallied beautifully, taking all the worry and concern away from Livvy and leaving only the fun stuff behind.
Livvy turned to the side. The dress certainly played to her best features. The off-the-shoulder chic lace camisole top allowed her to show off her neck. The fitted satin skirt gave her more curves than she was entitled to and finished in a puddle train that—with any luck—she wouldn’t trip over. The bridal gown was simple yet elegant, exactly what she had hoped for. And even better were the full-length lace sleeves, which covered the scars on her wrists. She didn’t want to be reminded of her past pain. Not today.
She turned to Heather. “Would you mind giving me five minutes with Ches?”
Heather immediately picked up her purse from a nearby chair. “Not at all, sweat pea. It’s time I went, anyway. Need to make sure that son of mine is standing in the correct spot.” She took Livvy in her arms and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “I can’t wait to have a daughter again.”
My Gift To You Page 14
