by Claire Adams
The only way into that woman’s good graces was caffeine. Lots of it. Constantly.
I’d hardly parked when the first guy recognized me. Luckily, he was a fan and didn’t talk any trash to me. I could deal with that. I signed the Dolphins jersey that he wore, and he went on his merry way.
There were only a few people trickling out of the exam venue when I arrived, but the flow became steadier within minutes. Each candidate seemed more weary-eyed and bedraggled than the next as they streamed out, until I spotted Gabrielle’s golden halo.
She’d bundled her hair carelessly on top of her head at some stage during the day, and her face was completely nude. As she came closer, I could see that her eyes were tired, but bright.
She made animated gestures with her hands, no doubt trying to convince Heather about one answer or another.
Heather looked like she was about to fall asleep while she walked. She could not drive in that state. I was also itching to get on the road to my private getaway with Gabrielle, and since Heather knew about it, she’d never let us drive her home.
I didn’t know the girl that well, but I doubted that she would leave her car at the center if I called for an Uber. So, I did the next best thing and called Ryder.
“Sup, bro? The prodigal best friend returns.” I heard screaming in the background, and the sound of tires screeching made me flinch before Ryder ordered the guys to turn the game down.
“I saw you yesterday, Ry. How is that being prodigal?” I worked out with Ryder every damn day.
“You’ve been spending too much time with your lawyer if you suddenly know the meaning of the word.” Ryder’s tone was light. He was joking with me.
“I’ve always known the meaning, dude. Now I just have a legit reason to use it without sounding like a pretentious asshole.” Two could play that game.
“You’ve always been pretentious, asshole. Tell me why you’re calling. Gabbi call it off with you after the big exam? Or are you at your romantic getaway struggling to get it up until you talk to me?” He lowered his voice into a false seductive sound that I nearly gagged at. “Cause you know, baby, I know what you like.”
I burst out laughing, drawing Gabrielle’s attention. Her lips parted as she sucked in a breath, sending all my blood rushing straight to my cock. “Trust me; I don’t need you for that. Gabbi’s got that handled.”
Ryder made a gagging noise at the other end of the line and threatened to hang up.
“No, wait. I got Heather, Gabrielle’s friend, to pick her up this morning so that Gabbi’s car wouldn’t be stuck at the center all weekend. She’s swaying on her feet tired, man. I don’t think she should drive.”
“Say no more. I’ll grab big Dave, and we’ll be there in a few. Rescuing damsels in distress and seeing their steeds safely home? That’s one of the only things that we’re good for.” Ryder joked, but he was already yelling for Dave and his keys.
I clicked off just as the girls approached. Gabrielle launched herself at me, and I caught her more than willingly.
She buried her face in my neck and breathed deeply. “You came.”
“Of course, I did, angel.” We’d settled on a nickname that she didn’t hate.
“You brought coffee,” Heather sighed. “I’m going to need that if I’m going to make it to my car. God knows how much more I’m going to need to make it home.”
“Actually, you’re all taken care of. Ryder and Dave are on their way to pick you up.” I nuzzled Gabbi’s hair. God, she smelled good.
“You mean there are actual Miami Dolphins on their way to pick me up, and I look like this?” Heather squealed, gesturing up and down her body.
Gabbi managed a giggle and an eye roll but sagged against my chest. I wrapped an arm around her. She was in serious danger of falling asleep on her feet. “You always look gorgeous, Heather. Besides, they’re giving you a ride home, not taking you somewhere for a threesome.” Then Gabrielle turned to me, eyes wide. “They’d better not be, Ryder—”
“Relax, Gabbi. They’re taking her home. To sleep. By herself.” I assured her.
Gabrielle’s eyelids fluttered closed deliriously. “Hmm, sleep. That exam was the worst.”
“I’m sure you aced it, angel.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“I’m not,” she grumbled against my chest.
“Well, I’m sure enough for the both of us.” I really was. There was no way that Gabrielle hadn’t made the exam her bitch.
“Are we going home, too?” she asked hopefully.
“Nah, we’re taking a couple of days off. It’s a surprise.” She looked at me quizzically, but her attention was soon drawn to Ryder pulling up behind us.
“Knights in Shining Armor Car Service. Where do you need us?” Ryder winked. I gestured towards Heather.
“Right there. She’ll show you to her car. Straight home, boys.” I ordered. “I’m getting my girl out of here.”
“I’ll never get tired of hearing you call me that.” Gabrielle sighed dreamily, settling into her seat. I reached over to help her fumbling fingers with the buckle.
“I hope so, angel.” When I looked up at her, her eyes were closed and her breathing even. She was fast asleep.
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Gabrielle
Damnit. I must have slept straight through my alarm, judging by the way the sun streamed through the sheer curtains.
James was next to me, his warmth pressing against my back, a muscled arm draped around my waist. He had bulked up a little more since we’d started dating. His exercise regimen had become a lot more stringent as the Dolphins climbed the ranks.
I pressed a soft kiss to his forearm, momentarily distracted by the way that his muscles roped underneath his skin. Then, I tried to extricate myself from his grasp as gently as possible without waking him.
I had almost made it to the edge of his bed when he pulled me back, nestling me tight against his chest. “Where exactly do you think you’re going?”
His voice was a sleepy, husky groan. It still made my heart beat faster. In fact, it did so even more every morning that I got to wake up to it.
I turned to face him and traced his chiseled jawline with my fingers. “I have to get up, baby. I overslept.”
His beautiful eyes blinked open. I still couldn’t quite figure out what color they were. Though they shone a bright green that morning, golden flecks shining in the sunlight. “You didn’t oversleep, angel of mine. You’ve got the day off, remember?”
Of course.
I’d helped my boss on a big trial the week before, and he’d told me to take the day to relax. I nestled into James’s warm, hard body. My hand snuck down his side to see if other parts of his anatomy had woken up yet. Two years later and I still couldn’t get enough of him.
He groaned as my palm closed on his rock-hard morning wood. To my surprise, his hand clasped around my wrist, and he brought my palm to his mouth, pressing a light kiss to it.
A frisson of fear ran through me. I’d been working really hard lately. Had he lost interest? It wasn’t as if he wasn’t still getting it on a near daily basis. I mean, I really still couldn’t keep my hands off him, but what if that wasn’t enough?
He drew me closer and kissed me deeply. We’d let go of morning breath aversion about two weeks in. “Not today, angel. I got plans for us. If we start that now, I’m keeping you right here in bed until you have to leave for work tomorrow.”
“I see absolutely no problem with that.” My response was automatic and instantaneous. My nipples had already hardened, and heat pooled between my legs.
I guided his hand up my thigh and to my sex. We slept naked most nights. The night before had been no exception.
“Oh God, you’re killing me here, Gabbi,” he growled as he rolled on top of me. His tip pressed against my entrance, and I trembled in the sweetest anticipation. “I already fucking hate myself for this, but we have to get going.”
My entire body protested a
s his weight disappeared from me. His sexy ass sauntered to the bathroom.
“You can’t hide from me in there!”
“Not trying to, angel. Now get that incredible ass in here so we can get dirty while we get cleaned up. Two birds, one stone and all.” The shower turned on. I scrambled out of bed so fast that I nearly fell on my face when my ankle got stuck in the sheets.
****
“So, what do you have planned that’s so important that I couldn’t sleep in on my first day off in like, forever?”
James placed a steaming mug of hot, sweet coffee in front me. I’d be damned if the man didn’t love me so much.
I still doubted his feelings from time to time, though he hadn’t given me one single reason to. In fact, he’d made it his mission to prove to me on a daily basis how much he loved me.
I wasn’t just talking about the sex either, though that remained spectacular.
“Told you earlier, I have plans for us today.” His head was buried in the refrigerator, fishing out yogurt and berries.
Mrs. W. had taken Harper to visit her family the night before. I had to admit that I missed the pink whirlwind and the tireless mother figure who somehow managed to rein her in.
“Better be some big plans for you to drag us out of bed when we have the place to ourselves.” I twirled a cherry with my tongue, and James stiffened, knuckles turning white as he gripped the counter. I loved that I still had that effect on him.
“Stop it, you insatiable woman.” Desire clouded his eyes.
I repeated the only words that sprung to mind, something he had said to me years ago. “Only for you, babe.”
I bit down on the cherry, locking my eyes with his. His lips parted. There. I had almost where I wanted him. Spending all day completely naked.
“Better be, but they are some plans. Can’t back out now.”
My curiosity piqued. “What are we doing?”
“Do you remember the jet skis?” Mischief glinted in his eyes.
“What kind of question is that?” I bit back the urge to roll my eyes at him.
“We’re saddling up the old horse today. I’m giving you another chance to beat me.”
“I won the last time!” I protested.
“No, we decided to go for lunch, and you insisted that I acquiesce to your demands. That’s not winning.”
“If you’re going to deny my winning, what’s the point of the competition?”
“I’ll give you a prize if you win, how’s that?”
“Ooh, can it be lunch at the Spanish place?”
“It’s better than that, but you have to win first.”
“Bring it, Skye.”
“Oh, I definitely will. Be good out there; I think you’re really going to like the prize.”
****
Sand stung my ankles as we stepped onto the beach. Save for a few tiny gusts of wind though, it was the perfect day for the beach.
We left our stuff in the car and headed, hand in hand, to the jet ski guy. “I haven’t seen you guys for a while.”
He was actually smiling at us as he retrieved our life jackets and keys.
Weird.
James pressed a kiss to my hair; some unfamiliar emotion was flashing in his eyes. It was gone before I could place it. He gave my hand a final squeeze and reached for his wallet. “Go ahead, angel. I have to settle things here.”
James didn’t have to ask me twice. I wanted that prize that he had promised. I had no idea what it was going to be, but if it was better than lunch at the Spanish place, I was winning it. “You’re on, Skye.”
I fastened the straps on my life jacket as I jogged to the yellow and purple jet ski that I favored, revving it up and shooting into the water before James had even started heading toward the shore.
It had been a while since we’d last been out here, but the smooth glide of the watercraft over the gentle swells was still familiar. I weaved around a little to get the hang of it, then spun my jet ski around in a spray of water to watch James approach.
I marveled at the man sitting astride the blue jet ski. The tanned, unmarked skin that I knew to be so soft under my touch. The hard ridges of his delectable body. The way his eyes shone as he skidded to a stop with precision just about a yard away from me. Lips that I would never stop kissing if I had a choice pulled up into a confident smirk.
More than anything, I marveled at the fact that he was mine. That he had been for two years and one month to the day. It was the second anniversary of the day he had first told me that he loved me, and we’d gotten my father’s blessing.
I doubted that he even remembered, but I would never forget that day. It was burned into my memory as the start of the best days of my life.
His deep, smooth voice pulled me from my wonderment. “Same terms as always. First one from the buoy and back to the other wins.”
“You’re on, Skye. Try not to get too wet back there.” I spun my jet ski with another spray of water and raced off, focusing my attention on winning that prize instead of the perfect specimen of masculinity that I would be winning it from.
James drew even with me as we approached the first buoy. I pulled back on the throttle and gunned it. The wind felt amazing in my hair. I felt freer and more relaxed than I had in a long time.
There was something about being out on the open ocean with a gassed-up watercraft and the love of my life hot on my heels that was positively exhilarating.
I shot past the second buoy first, throwing my hands up in the air in victory, an insanely wide grin spreading on my face.
I won! I can’t believe that I actually won!
James rounded the buoy not a second later, wearing a grin that made my heart race and skip a beat at the same time, if that were possible. Around him, it was. I was living proof of that fact.
“Well done, angel. Let’s get back to shore. You ready for your prize?” His eyes had taken on the turquoise hue of the water around him, shining with excitement. Whatever the surprise was, it was sure to be good.
“What? You don’t want a second chance to beat the master?” I joked, already pointing my nose in the direction of the shoreline.
I wanted that prize. I hoped that it involved the motel on the beach and then lunch at the Spanish place. That would be the perfect day off.
“Not today. Besides, we both know who the true master is.” He teased, but his heart wasn’t in it. He fidgeted with the choke chain, eyes pinned to the beach behind me.
James didn’t fidget. Ever. He didn’t get nervous, but he sure looked it as he gestured for me to take the lead and stayed close in my wake.
My heart pounded. If the prize was having that effect on him, it was bound to be downright amazing for me.
Once we reached the beach, he reached for my hand and wound his fingers through my mine as he guided me down the shore without a word. In the opposite direction of the motel.
Damn. Although it had been a while since we’d done anything sexual in a public place, maybe we were—
He stopped abruptly, interrupting my dirty train of thought. I scanned my surroundings. A familiar rock outcropping confirmed what I suspected: we were at the exact spot where we’d sat when he’d first told me about Harper.
A quick glance at his expression told me that he remembered, too. Now that I thought about it, his expression wasn’t one that I could remember having seen before. The love suddenly shining in his eyes nearly floored me.
My knees buckled. My throat went dry. My heart stammered. My body trembled.
God, I loved him. So damn much. My heart soared in my chest as I drank his gaze in, beating like it wanted straight out of me and into him. Like a magnet pulled my heart to his.
James turned to face me, gathering both of my hands in his. Those unfamiliar nerves played in his eyes for just a second before they were gone. He took a deep breath, locking his eyes with mine as he sank to one knee.
My vision blurred. My heart raced. Everything in my world narrowed to those eyes and t
he man that was on his knee looking up at me with pure, unadulterated love. Adoration.
What the? He couldn’t be doing what I thought he was doing. It wasn’t possible. James didn’t believe in marriage. I’d always known that.
And yet… Hope surged through me. I blinked.
“I had a speech planned.” His voice cracked with emotion. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes. “But now, looking up at you, it’s all gone. All I can think about is how much I love you. How I still can’t believe that out of the millions of men on this planet, you chose me. How I will never know how I got that lucky.”
“James,” I breathed, heart hammering in my chest. I struggled to form thoughts, let alone words.
“From the second you walked up to me in that office and kissed the shit out of me, I knew that you were one of a kind. That there was no other woman like you. You intrigued me. I couldn’t stay away from you, even if I knew that I should. I remember the exact moment that I realized that what I felt for you was so much more than intrigue. That I realized that I had fallen in love with you. I remember the exact moment that I realized that, somehow, you loved me back.”
He squeezed my hands. My breath caught in my lungs, and my heart pounded like never before. I squeezed back.
“Exactly two years and one month ago, I told you that I loved you for the first time. Today, I’m asking you to let me tell you that, to let me prove it to you every day for the rest of my life.”
James unzipped the pocket on his board shorts and pulled out a ring. My hands flew to my mouth.
“I love you, Gabrielle Ralls. Will you marry me?”
His eyes were wide. His tongue flicked over his bottom lip. He held the beautiful, intricately designed ring up. Offering it to me.
I dropped to my knees in front of him. “Yes.”
A deep breath that I hadn’t realized he’d been holding escaped. The most radiant, beautiful grin spread on his face. Absolute joy shone in his eyes. He slid the ring onto my finger.
It fit perfectly. I gaped at it. Then at James.
I pinched myself. I wasn’t dreaming.
