Once I figured out he was talking about Kayla, I asked my husband Harry if I should send the ring to her. He said the ring was intended to go to you. Then the next problem was when I should send it. I had no idea if you’d be ready to propose or not. So I asked your grandfather for a sign from heaven, which may sound strange to you, but I really believe in signs. My mother comes to me in my dreams all the time, and my father leaves dimes on the ground for me to find.
So anyway, I was looking for signs. I even told Harry to look for them. Two days later, our television in our hotel room went on and then off again, three times. At first, I freaked out, but then it hit me that it was your grandfather. I remembered him telling me that when he died, at the first of every month, he’d send me a sign to remind me to pay my rent. We joked about what the sign would be. He said he read somewhere that spirits can turn televisions on and off, so he told me he’d mess with my television. It wasn’t the first of the month, but I just knew it was him. Isn’t that hysterical? I believe this meant I was to send you the ring now, so here it is.
Please take care of Kayla. I love her like a daughter. Be patient with her. She’s been through a lot with her family. She knows how to give, but she has trouble receiving. I wish I could have called you instead of sending you this in the mail, but Harry said if I called, you might tell me not to send it.
Good luck with Kayla. I think the two of you make a beautiful couple.
Love,
Melody
P.S. Don’t forget to send me a wedding invitation, and tell Kayla I’m mad at her for not telling me the man she was talking about when I saw her was you.
Kayla folded the note back up and placed it inside the envelope.
“When did you get this?” she asked. Thunder boomed again, causing Kayla to feel even edgier.
“I got it yesterday. When I got home to my grandfather’s house, after the meal with your family.” Gabe turned and looked Kayla directly in the eye. “What did you think of it?”
Kayla exhaled. “I think it’s interesting that Melody figured it out.”
“Is that all you got out of that?” Gabe asked, his tone short.
The rain was still pounding hard on the car. When lightning struck, she got another good look at Gabe’s expression. He looked as if he was ready to jump out of his skin. She knew the feeling… They’d just had sex for the first time in years. It would be nice if they were cuddling or something…anything but this.
“Your grandfather wants us to be married and live happily ever after. He believed in all that.”
“Do you?” Gabe asked in a softer tone.
Kayla took a deep breath. “I do, but do you think you’re ready to forgive the past and get married?” Impulsively, she took the box out of the envelope and opened it. The diamond shimmered. It was beautiful.
Gabe groaned. “I don’t know.”
The thunder and lightning were getting farther apart. Soon, the storm would be over, and she’d have to leave his car. “Well, it seems as if you have some soul-searching to do.” She gathered her purse and bra to leave, but she still held the rock in her hand. She couldn’t seem to let it go.
“You want to put the ring on? You want to wear it?” Gabe asked.
She took a deep breath. “I would,” she said honestly.
“That would make us engaged.”
“It would,” she said again. “We could live in your house, which is our dream house. It’s right next door to my family’s house. It’d be perfect.”
Gabe chuckled. “It’d be perfect until your mom knocked on the door crying. Your sisters will want man advice, so they’ll call you at all hours of the night and expect you to run over to the house. Your dad will threaten to leave your mom because she’s misbehaving, and who knows what Josh will be up to. Matt will be okay, though. He’s happily waiting for his child to arrive. But who knows what will happen once the baby comes.”
Kayla looked him directly in the eye. “Now who’s allowing my family to get in the way of us being together?”
The thunder and lightning stopped altogether, though it was still raining.
Gabe chuckled as he ran his hands through his damp hair. “Do you still want children?” he asked.
Kayla closed her eyes briefly. “Every time I sell a doll to a little girl, my heart breaks a bit. We spoke so much about having kids. My heart aches because we never got that chance. I still want children with you, Gabe.”
“So you’re ready to get married now?”
She nodded. “I am. I love you, Gabe. And I know I’ll never love another man in the same way I love you. Sure, I’ll date and meet someone, but my heart will always belong to you.” Without thinking, Kayla placed the ring halfway on her finger.
Gabe grabbed it out of her hand.
“Don’t put the ring on your finger yet.” He held the ring and her hand tight in his grip.
“You’re not asking me to marry you?” she asked, her heart thudding like crazy.
He shook his head. “Not yet.” He put the ring back into the envelope and threw it on the back seat.
Kayla’s heart fell. “You want me to start dating other men?”
He clenched his jaw. “I’m not saying that, either. But like you said, I have some soul-searching to do.”
Not even a second later, she heard her mom calling her name. Kayla was about to leave anyway. She opened his car door, not saying anything else. Before she shut the door, she smiled softly. He smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
The ball was once again in his court, but she’d meant what she said. If he decided he didn’t want to marry her, she was ready to date again. It was time she made a life of her own. She’d bared her heart and soul to him, told him she loved him, but he never said it back.
Maybe their problem wasn’t that he couldn’t forgive her. Maybe he’d fallen out of love with her.
The walk back to her house wasn’t easy. Her lips were still tingling from his kiss, and she was already feeling slightly sore from sex since it had been so long.
Her mother stood on the back porch waving at her. Kayla waved back, letting her know she had survived the storm. Her mom nodded and went back inside the house.
When Kayla opened the back door, no one was waiting for her in the living room. She sighed with relief as she climbed upstairs. She closed the door to her room, threw her clothes off, put on her favorite camisole with matching silk shorts, and got into bed. Only then did she allow herself to finally process the most bizarre and most wonderful day of her life. Thinking that it might have been a dream, she touched herself. Nope, not a dream. Gabe had definitely been inside her. But the fact she’d told him she was ready to marry him and he clearly wasn’t put a damper on the intimacy they’d shared.
* * *
Hours later, or maybe minutes, Kayla opened her eyes. Once again, she heard pebbles against her window. This time, she knew exactly who it was, but why was he here? Had he finished soul-searching already?
She threw off the blanket, ran to the window, and quietly opened it so as not to wake her family.
“What’s wrong?”
Although it was pitch-black outside, he stood beneath one of their back spotlights, so she got a good look at his frustrated expression.
“I want to come up,” he said, talking a little too loudly.
“Shh, you’ll wake up my family,” she said in a loud whisper. “Hold on.”
Kayla shut the window and opened her bedroom door, making sure no one was around. The hallway seemed quiet, and no noise came from any of the other bedrooms. She tiptoed downstairs and down the hallway and through the kitchen until she reached the back door. Through the glass, she could see Gabe standing there with his arms crossed.
As she opened the door, a breeze from the water came in, causing her to shiver. She was only wearing the camisole and shorts she’d put on earlier.
“Why’d you come down like that? You’ll catch a summer cold,” Gabe scolded.
Kayla rolled
her eyes. “Why are you here?”
He ran his hands through his disheveled hair. She could tell he was shivering, too. “I want you again, Kayla. I can’t stop thinking about you. I can’t stop picturing you naked. I’m a starved man, and you gave me just a tiny taste. Now, I can’t get enough.”
“You had a taste of me on the rock, too. Why was this different?”
“Because you said you’d marry me.”
“And are you done with your soul-searching?”
He shook his head. “No.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Then maybe you should come back when you know what you want.”
Gabe huffed. “Oh, I know what I want.”
Kayla tightened her jaw. “Gabe Wademan, I’m not talking about my body.” She clenched her vagina anyway.
“I’m not just talking about your body. I also want your heart.” He paused. “Because you own mine. You always have, and you always will.”
“You have my heart. I told you that,” she whispered.
He nodded. “I know. And you have mine. I didn’t tell you in the car, so I’m telling you now.”
He didn’t say he loved her, but this was close enough. Kayla grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. Within seconds, Gabe was passionately kissing her. With all her might, she pushed away to close the door.
“Follow me,” she said as she started walking toward the steps.
“No way.” Gabe caught up to her and picked her up. “I lead, you tell me where.”
Kayla sighed as she motioned toward the stairs. As Gabe was climbing them, she thought of what he’d just said. I lead, you tell me where. She wished she could have a relationship with him exactly like that.
When they reached the top of the stairs, she pointed toward the door on the left, then put a finger over his mouth to make sure he didn’t ruin everything by talking. Her family were pretty light sleepers. The last thing she wanted was for them to catch her in Gabe’s arms.
Gabe continued holding her, but he was still able to carefully push the door open. Once inside, he still didn’t put her down. But he quietly closed her door and locked it.
Smart man, thought Kayla.
He walked over to her bed and dropped her right into the center.
“I want to fuck you, I want to touch you, I want to devour you,” Gabe whispered as he started to remove his shirt. “What I don’t want is for us to talk. About anything. Especially about what we spoke about in the car, unless it’s how good we feel in each other’s arms.”
She figured as much, so she didn’t argue. How could she? She wanted the same things. It would be nice to not have to talk about their issues for once.
Tentatively, she reached up to unbutton his jeans, and he let her. Screwing him in the car was one thing—impulsive, exciting because of the storm, and the sexual tension had been so strong since he showed up in town that their encounter had been long overdue. But tonight…this felt different.
Kayla wanted him so badly, her hands trembled. Once the button was undone and the zipper unzipped, she pushed down his jeans and his boxers at the same time. Gabe quickly stepped out of them.
She didn’t have time to look at his glorious cock because he was already climbing onto the bed, grabbing her camisole and pushing it over her head. Before he could take off her shorts, she sat up, grabbed the back of his legs, and put his entire cock in her mouth. If he refused to stand still long enough for her to get an eyeful, she’d have to take matters into her own hands. Putting his cock inside her mouth was taking matters into her own hands.
Gabe groaned as she moved her mouth up and down, using his thighs for support. She licked the head and then slid all the way down. She continued doing that, even as her clitoris pulsed. She’d been dying to do this since the moment she saw him standing in her store. He tasted just as she remembered—raw wood and all man.
She grabbed onto one leg tighter, and with her other hand she massaged his balls. She remembered how this always drove him crazy.
“Baby, if you continue doing that, I’m going to come. And I only want to come inside your pussy,” he said as he ran his hands through her hair.
She stopped sucking him because she wanted that, too.
Gracefully, or maybe not so gracefully, Gabe pushed her back onto the bed. The soft pillows met her fall. In one hell of a swift motion, he removed her shorts, leaving her naked and horny.
He told her he didn’t want to talk, but there was one thing she had to say.
“I want all of you, Gabe. I want you raw, hard, and bare.”
All he said was, “I’m clean.”
“Me, too,” she responded. “And I’m still on the pill.”
Gabe kissed her mouth, then her neck, stomach, belly button, and finally, where she wanted him to kiss her and where he hadn’t been able to kiss her in the car. Her clitoris swelled as he sucked it. Every nerve ending she had down there was at alert. Kayla lifted her pelvis as she grabbed his head, keeping him exactly where she wanted him. His tongue felt like heaven. He focused on the center of her clit and that was more than fine with her.
The moment she was about to come, Gabe pulled away, chuckling. Swiftly, he stuck his tongue deep inside her, exactly where she craved his cock. With his finger, he pressed on her clit. Between his tongue doing all sorts of naughty things and his finger on her most sensitive spot, Kayla came, and came hard. The power of her orgasm forced her back to lift into the air. Mid-orgasm, he moved his finger in circles, causing her to moan his name. In the middle of calling his name, she remembered her family sleeping. If one of them woke up and heard, she’d truly die of embarrassment.
“No one heard you, baby. You were quiet enough,” Gabe said, reading her mind.
He crept up her body and moved his cock along her vagina a few times. She thought she’d die from that alone. With the extra lubrication, he thrust inside easily.
“You look so fucking beautiful with my cock deep inside you,” he said as he went deeper and deeper. “I pictured this a million times in the last two years, but the vision in my mind couldn’t compare to the real thing.”
Aside from his words, at one point, she could have sworn he touched her heart.
Kayla was craving touching his chest, but he still had his shirt on. “Take it off,” she whispered.
Gabe chuckled as he threw off his shirt. It landed somewhere on her floor. Not once did he break their rhythm.
“Much better,” she said as she touched his chest all over, pinching his nipples and scratching him.
Gabe grabbed the cheeks of her ass, raising them slightly so he could hit all the right places.
Kayla wrapped her legs around him, making it easier for him to thrust and maneuver his cock to hit that one spot that drove her to another realm. And once she was there, all thoughts about what their future would look like were gone. All she could focus on was the man who was inside her and how much she loved him.
She grabbed him around the neck, wanting to be closer, but it still didn’t feel close enough. So she rested her head against his neck, inhaling his scent, as he continued fucking her like he couldn’t get enough.
With him hitting that one spot, it didn’t take long for her to come again. She grabbed onto him harder as a wave hit her, and as she rode that wave, she held onto him for dear life.
A second later, he groaned. When she felt his sperm flood her womb, she wanted to burst into tears. It felt so good. So right. But she didn’t want her tears to ruin this perfect moment. And perfect it was.
“Are we allowed to talk now?” she asked. “I mean, about real things?”
Gabe slowly pulled out of her, grabbed her around the waist, and pressed her back against his chest. She couldn’t believe they were spooning, just as they used to do back in school.
“This was real.” He kissed her on the back of her head. “Everything else will fall into place as it’s meant to. Now, no more talking. Goodnight, Kayla.” Gabe put his leg over hers.
When he was being
all sweet like this, how could she argue? So she did what he told her. She closed her eyes, allowed sleep to consume her, and dreamed of the man who owned her heart but who still hadn’t told her he loved her back.
Chapter Twenty-One
Normally, Kayla enjoyed watching the sunrise, but not this morning. Last night, she had slept two hours, at most, even while Gabe was holding her. She had made him leave at four o’clock. Not that she wanted him to, but her mom got up at around five.
But he’d refused to leave before they had sex again. Because they didn’t have too much time, he had fucked her hard and quick. It was hot, nonetheless. He’d taken her from behind while touching her clit in the way that made her want to beg him to never stop. She came fast, and so did he. Having sex while lying on her stomach had always been her favorite position. Gabe remembered. He seemed to remember everything about her.
After he left, Kayla tried to go back to sleep, but she couldn’t. She didn’t like not having Gabe’s arms around her. Finally, at six o’clock, she gave up and focused on what was happening between them.
By a quarter after six, she gave up thinking and got dressed. Before she left her room, she had a sudden urge to grab the pictures she had cut out—the ones that depicted her ideal wedding—and shoved them into her purse. Her mom and dad were already downstairs. As she walked down the stairs, they were laughing.
“Hey, Mom? Dad?” she asked as she grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl.
“Yes, beautiful,” her mom said.
Dad looked up from his newspaper.
“I did it. I told Gabe I’d marry him and that I love him.”
Bella Cove_A Second Chance Romance Page 25
