“Fine, no hanky-panky at work.” I bring her closer. “Is the parking lot considered work?”
“Yes.” She nods. “No kissing in public either.”
“Trust me, the last thing I want to be is the talk of the town,” I tell her. “I’ve had enough of that over the past couple of months.”
“Okay. Also, no dating other people while we are together,” she says, and I glare at her. “If we want to date someone else, we walk away.”
“Yeah,” I say. At this point, I would agree with whatever she wants just to get one more day with her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Crystal
“You’re way off base here,” Gabe says to me. “I’ve known these two since high school.” He’s talking about the woman patient we just had who came in with a gash on her head that required five stitches.
I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m saying her story doesn’t add up. How the fuck do you get a bump on your head from taking a cardboard box down?”
He puts his hand in his lab coat pocket. “I’m not saying it adds up; I’m just saying that I think you’re off base.”
“I think you aren’t looking at this the right way,” I counter with my back against the wall. It’s been three weeks since we had that talk on the beach, three weeks of sneaking around, and let me tell you. Do we ever fucking sneak around. His house has become what I like to call our fortress.
“You just don’t like that you’re wrong,” he tells me.
“Wow,” I say, walking out to the nurses’ station where everyone is talking. “Last patient of the day.” I put the chart down on the pile. “I’m planning on soaking in a tub and going to bed at seven,” I say, knowing we made plans to eat dinner tonight and watch a movie, which would usually end with us all over each other. In the past three weeks, nothing has changed. I want him just as much as I did that first day. Every single time, it gets better and better.
I walk out to my car, seeing that he is calling me. “Are you not making me dinner tonight?” he whispers. “You lost the bet.”
“Rain check,” I tell him as I get in the car.
“Really?” he says. “You’re lying.”
“I am not,” I huff out even though I know I’m totally fucking lying. But I’m pissed that he won’t even look at the facts.
“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” He laughs, and it aggravates me.
“Fuck off,” I tell him. “I’ll speak to you tomorrow.” I hang up, tossing my phone to the side while I drive home. I really do soak in the tub for what feels like an eternity. I have to say it isn’t as nice as Gabe’s tub, though. I get out, drying myself off, and see that he’s called me four times. I’m about to call him back when the phone rings with Blake’s name.
“Hey there,” I say to him with a smile on my face. “How’s my favorite cousin?”
“Tired as fuck.” He laughs. “What are you up to?”
“Just got out of the bath and I’m heading to bed.”
“It’s fucking seven p.m.” I look at the clock, smiling. “Don’t tell me the country has got the city girl chilling out.”
“You can say that.” I laugh.
“So how is everything?” he asks. “How is Hailey doing?”
“Everything is fine,” I tell him. “She’s good. I think the best thing she ever did was move out here. Wait till you see her. It’s not even like she’s the old Hailey; she’s the better Hailey.”
“Really?” he says. “Good. I’m coming down tomorrow. I get off shift, and I’ll drive right down, sleep during the day, and then make you take me out and show me the sights.”
“You mean show you the street? It’s basically one street.” I laugh at him. “One street but with everything on it.”
“Whatever.” He laughs. “I’ll see you when you get home from work.”
“I can’t wait,” I say. Hanging up the phone, I go to find Hailey to tell her, but she isn’t home. I go back upstairs, seeing that Gabe has called me three more times. I shake my head. “Nope,” I say. “Not tonight.”
My eyes flicker open when I hear something hit my window. I look that way, thinking maybe I dreamed it, but there it is again. I get up, looking out my window, and see Gabe tossing a pebble. I open my window. “What in the ever-loving fuck are you doing?” I ask as he stands there with his hands on his hips.
“Open the door.” He walks toward the front door as I close the window and walk downstairs to open the door.
“Are you out of your mind?” I ask him when he walks in, and I close the door. I don’t have a chance to ask him again because he comes at me. His cold hands cup my face as he leans in and kisses me. My hands go to his hands on my face as I open my mouth for him. I move my hands to his head as he tilts his head to deepen our kiss. No matter how many times I’ve kissed him, it’s always like the first time. His hands leave my face, traveling down my sides. He picks me up, and my legs wrap around his waist, our lips never separating as we continue to kiss. He walks me back upstairs to my room, falling on the bed with me. My hands frantic to get his t-shirt off. His hands now moving under my tank top where he cups my breast and plays with my nipple. I raise my hips to rub against him. My hand goes into the front of his pants, and I cup his cock, finding him already ready.
“Fuck,” he hisses when I fist him and move up and down. He lifts my shirt, taking a nipple into his mouth, then sneaks his hand into the front of my shorts, his finger sliding between my folds as he mimics my hand movements.
“Gabe,” I say breathlessly. “I need you.” I release him, unsnapping his button and pushing his pants down over his hips.
“Condom?” he says, looking at me, his fingers still going in and out of me.
“Where is it?” I ask him.
“I don’t have any,” he says, and my eyes snap to his.
“What about in your wallet?” I ask him.
“Used it last week in the truck when you couldn’t wait to get in the house,” he says, his fingers still moving in me.
“Get off,” I tell him, reaching around him to get into my nightstand drawer.
“You have one in there?” he asks me, now pulling down my shorts.
“No, but I have my vibrator,” I tell him as his gaze snaps up and he watches me pull it out. “You got me all riled up, and I need relief.”
He takes the vibrator from my hand and tosses it over his shoulder. “Over my dead body.”
“If you don’t fucking go pick up my vibrator, you will be dead.”
“Are you on the pill?” he asks me. “I’m clean, very clean,” he starts saying as he fists his cock in his hand.
“I’m on the pill,” I lie to him, and it’s sour in my mouth. “I’m clean. I’ve never done it without, and I got tested right before I moved here.”
“So?” he asks me.
“Only this one time,” I tell him and don’t say anything else because he’s already inside me.
“Fuck,” he hisses. “Don’t move or you really will need to get yourself off.”
I wrap my legs around his waist, pushing his pants off with my feet, or at least lower than his hips. He pounds into me as his head comes down and kisses me. My fingers go through his short hair to his neck, pulling him closer to me. He gets on his elbows while our hips move toward each other. The whole time we never stop kissing, even when he buries himself inside me, and we both moan. We continue kissing until he slips out of me. He gets up, opening the bedroom door, and peeks out before going to the bathroom and coming back with a cloth for me to clean myself.
He kicks off his shoes and undresses, getting into bed with me. “How did you get here?” I ask him when he spoons me from behind.
“Cab.” He kisses my neck. “Took fucking forever.” I laugh but soon fall back asleep. When the alarm rings the next day, I expect to find him gone, but he’s not. He’s still beside me.
“Wake up.” I nudge him. “Time to go.”
He groans under protest, rolling over to continue sleeping
. I get up to take a shower, and when I make it back to my bedroom, he’s gone.
I walk downstairs, listening to him have a conversation with Hailey. “Fuck,” I mouth.
“Your cousin wasn’t answering her phone last night, so …” He starts talking, then I walk in.
“So he decided coming here at one a.m. and throwing rocks at my window was a good idea.” I open the fridge, getting the milk out for the coffee and my lunch bag.
“I wouldn’t have to do that if you had just answered your phone.” He pours himself coffee.
“There was no need to answer my phone.” I shrug, taking out some cereal and pouring it into a bowl.
“Because you hate being wrong.” He points at me, and I glare at him, smashing the box of cereal on the counter.
“I’m leaving,” I say, grabbing my purse, keys, and lunch bag. Turning to Hailey, I tell her, “Blake should be here late today. He called last night.”
Hailey’s face beams with a smile. “Oh, you answered his phone call!” Gabe says when he grabs his jacket and heads to the front door where I stand.
“Well, he isn’t an asshole,” I say, opening the front door. “How are you getting to work?” I ask him, and he throws his head back and laughs.
“You are going to drive me. I took a cab last night.”
“I’m not showing up with you in my car.” I turn to him. “People will see.”
“And that’s a problem because?” He puts his hands on his hips. “What’s the matter, babe? Scared they might think you have a thing for me?”
I shake my head, laughing. “Trust me, the last thing I have is a thing for you.”
“I’ll remember that the next time you are beg—” I run to him, covering his mouth with my hand.
“Get in. I’m dropping you off at the corner. I’ll slow down so you can tuck and roll.” I turn around and walk away, not expecting him to smack my ass. I turn to glare at him now. “I won’t even slow down now.”
Gabe throws his head back, laughing as he gets in the car and leans over to kiss me. “You wouldn’t hurt me,” he says, and I just huff out when he takes my hand and brings it to his lips. Kissing my hand, he smiles at me. “Would you?”
“I guess we will see, won’t we?” I say, pulling up to the clinic and looking around. Fuck, we arrived at the same time as Ava and Corrine. “Great,” I hiss.
“Hey, guys, good morning,” Gabe says as if us showing up for work together is a normal thing.
“Dr. Walker,” Ava says shocked. “Crystal.”
“His truck is in the shop, so I picked him up when he was walking,” I tell them, walking in front of them.
“Thanks for the lift, but you have to drive me to pick up my truck at lunch. Please don’t forget.” I nod at him, smiling all the while I’m skinning his balls in my head. We walk in and go straight to work, only stopping at lunch when he asks me to drive him to pick up his truck. I smile at him while everyone else looks at us.
“You can’t do that,” I yell at him when we pull away from the clinic. “You could have asked anyone for a lift. Why me?”
“Well, besides the fact I like you and want to spend time with you?” he says, smiling at me. “I was hoping to get lucky.” I turn, watching him while he wiggles his eyebrows.
“Not a chance in hell,” I tell him. “You think I’m going to go back to the clinic with sex on my face? No.”
“You really do glow after.” He leans over, kissing my neck. I pull up while he unbuckles his seat belt. “You really aren’t going to come in?”
“No, Gabe,” I tell him. “I’m really not coming in.”
I watch him walk up the steps to his house, and my heart is telling me to go in, live a little, but my gut tells me to turn around. I follow my gut; I always, always follow my gut.
I pull up to the clinic and am walking inside when my phone rings, and it’s Blake.
“Hey, did you get in?” I ask him.
“Something happened,” he says, and my feet stop in the middle of the room. “Fuck,” he says out loud. “I upset her. Do you know that guy she’s dating?”
“Walker?” I ask. “Yes, why?”
“Call him and tell him to come to her; she needs him. She’s sitting on the beach.” I hang up on Blake right then, calling Walker right away.
“Where are you?” I ask him.
“Just got to the office,” he tells me, and then asks, “what’s the matter?”
“I have no idea, but Blake just called me and asked me to call you. I don’t have the details,” I say while I hear him peel out of the parking lot. Looking out the window, I see him take off. “But she’s on the beach.”
I look down at my phone when Gabe comes back in. “What’s the matter?” he says, taking in my face.
“Not sure. Blake called and said Hailey is on the beach, so I called Walker.”
“Whatever is the matter, Walker will fix it,” he says, walking past me to the back, waiting for me to walk in front of him when he opens the door.
“I’m sure you’re right,” I say, tucking the phone into my pocket. He doesn’t call me back, so I call him nonstop till he finally answers. “What the fuck is wrong with you two? Why can’t you two carry phones?”
“Because they don’t want you disturbing them.” Gabe puts in his comments, but I turn around and hiss at him.
“Mrs. Henderson is waiting for you to treat her hangnail. I’m assuming you can do that without a nurse,” I say to him, then go back to Walker. “What happened to Hailey?”
“I think it’s best for her to tell you. I’m going to get Mila, and then we are meeting for dinner at D’Amore,” he tells me, and I suddenly remember I didn’t eat lunch.
“Oh, I want pizza. I’m coming too. At what time?” I ask him.
“I have no idea. Probably six,” he answers.
“Perfect. I get off at that time, so save me a place.”
“Me too,” Gabe yells from the back. I spin around on my stool.
“You aren’t invited,” I tell him, glaring at him.
He stands there crossing his arms over his chest. “My cousin is going, so I can go to the restaurant if I want, Crys. It’s a public place.”
“Whatever, but you aren’t sitting with us. Maybe you might meet another date?” I tell him, knowing full well it’s a low blow.
“Oh my god, I dated her in fucking high school,” he counters.
“I’m not talking to him. I’ll be there. See you at six.” I hang up. “So now you dated? You told me you were just friends.”
He looks down at his feet and then up again. “It was one date.”
“You’re an asshole,” I say under my breath, walking away from him. This man pushes my buttons more than anyone on this planet, and I have to make it stop. My head is telling me it’s time to cut the strings while my gut is telling me it’s not.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gabe
Fuck, the minute I said that I dated Felicia, I saw Crystal’s face go from worried about her cousin to about to stab me in the eyeball with the pen in her hand.
I tried to get her to talk to me, but each time, she walked out of the room to a bunch of people. When the clock strikes six o’clock, I walk out of the office just as she is walking out. “Do you want to take one car there?” I ask her, and she answers with just one word.
“Nope.” I know, I fucking know, this isn’t going to bode well for any of us. Or at least me.
“I know you’re probably pissed that I lied to you, but …”
“Oh, I’m not pissed you lied to me.” She turns to look at me. “I mean, if I went out with Alan on a date once, and then by chance you saw me holding his hand the day after. And you asked me about it, and I told you we were just friends, but then you find out that I played tonsil hockey with him, it would be okay, right?”
“Did you fucking go on a date with Alan?” I ask her, my eyes now glaring at her. I’ll fucking kill him. I’ll break his fucking hands.
She thr
ows her hands up. “You’re incredible,” she says, walking away to her car when she stops at mine. “Oh my god,” she says, pointing at my tires.
“What the fuck is going on?” I say, getting down to see that they have been sliced again. I look around the parking lot. “This is insane. Someone is doing this on purpose.”
“Well, you pissed off the wrong person, I guess,” she says, getting into her car. “I can see how that could happen.” As she closes the door, I open the passenger door, getting in the car and taking out my phone. “Get out.”
“Just drive,” I tell her. “Hey, Harrold,” I tell my mechanic who answers the phone. “Can you send a tow to my office for my truck?”
“Sure thing. What’s wrong with it?” he asks me.
“Someone sliced my tires again.”
“Shit, you done pissed off the wrong woman this time.” I close my eyes as I feel a headache beginning to form. “I’ll call you in the morning.”
We arrive at D’Amore right as I hang up the phone. “I’m putting a camera in my truck,” I say to Crystal who walks in front of me.
“I’m not driving you home. I hope you know,” she says as she looks around the restaurant for Hailey.
“You have to drive me home,” I say while I follow her.
“Hey, there,” Crystal says, sitting down next to Mila and kissing her cheek. “Hello, Princess. Blake.”
“What happened to you?” Walker asks me when I sit in the chair next to him.
“Someone sliced my brand-new tires again,” I say while I raise my hand to flag down the waitress. “Can I have two beers please?” I ask her and then look around at the table “Anyone else want anything?” Shrugging, I smile at her. “That’s it.”
“You ordered two beers?” Walker asks, laughing at me.
I put up both my hands. “I have two hands, and after the day I’ve had, I should have doubled that order.”
Crystal picks up a menu and mumbles, “Maybe if you weren’t such an a-hole, people wouldn’t slice your tires.” I don’t bother to answer her. Instead, I just glare at her, but she turns and ignores me. That ass is going to be beet red tonight. I don’t bother interacting with anyone or listening to Mila ask Blake questions about his job.
Unexpected Love Story (Love Series Book 2) Page 14
