by Lori Foster
“Well,” Jack said, with a matching grin, “I should be around for a while, so hopefully you can remedy the situation.”
Bella laughed, leading the couple to the kitchen. “Can I get you a drink…?”
Great, Gabe thought. Apparently, one of them had managed to put last Sunday behind them as if it were nothing…and it wasn’t him.
He got up and slowly made his way to the door of the kitchen, hovering just outside it, by the foyer.
“So this is your new house?” he heard Jack say.
“This is home sweet home,” his sister replied. “Brad, why don’t you give Jack the grand tour? Charlotte’s already seen the house, and she and I need to catch up on some girl talk.”
Gabe ducked behind the coatrack, waiting for Jack and Brad to disappear down the hallway before resuming his eavesdropping. He knew he shouldn’t, but apparently Charlotte wasn’t going to tell him what was going on, and as her best friend, he really had a right to know. At least, that was the justification he was planning on using if he got caught.
“Oh, my God! He is gorgeous!” Bella said.
Dana’s voice chimed in. “Didn’t I tell you?”
“Yes, but it’s hard to see exactly how gorgeous he is until he’s standing right next to you. A perfect blonde, and that smile! You could tan by that smile!”
Gabe rolled his eyes. If Jack had won Bella’s gushing vote of approval, the guy was in for some pressure.
“I love his eyes,” Dana cooed dreamily. “That dark, deep green. What’s your favorite part of him, Charlotte?” Her voice was amused. “Or can’t you tell us?”
Before Gabe could get really irate at that comment, Charlotte broke in firmly. “My favorite part of Jack is that he’s sweet and doesn’t push me into anything. Unlike you two.”
That’s my girl, Gabe thought, mentally cheering her on. You tell ’em!
“Oh, come on, honey,” Dana said, brushing her remark aside. “It wasn’t like we put a gun to your head and forced you to take that bet with Gabe, you know. You got into it all on your own. But no matter how you got there, Jack’s the sweetest, best-looking date you’ve ever landed. If we’re just trying to encourage you, what’s the problem?”
Charlotte didn’t say anything, and Gabe strained to hear her response, hoping to finally figure out what was going on.
“I just…I don’t want to talk about it. I can’t talk about it.”
Gabe gritted his teeth in frustration.
“Charlotte? What’s wrong?” His sister’s voice was concerned. “You’ve gone all white!”
Gabe started to take a step forward. Sick? Was Charlotte…
“No, it’s nothing. I haven’t been sleeping well,” Charlotte said, and the little irritation in her voice comforted him. If there were something wrong with her, medically, she’d have said something. So what was it? “And I sort of skipped breakfast. I haven’t been that hungry lately.”
“Well, we’ll get you some food, first off,” Bella said, switching into maternal mode. “You know what it sounds like? It sounds like you’re in love.”
In love?
Charlotte, in love with that pretty-boy Jack?
“Is Gabe here yet?” Charlotte said instead, and Bella laughed.
“Fine. If you want to change the subject, we’ll do it.” Dana ignored Charlotte’s protests. “If I know Gabe, he’s probably camped out in Brad’s AV room, watching some sporting event. And no, you can’t go find him,” she said firmly.
“Honestly, Charlotte, what kind of an impression are you going to make on Jack if you’re hooting like a loon with that idiot brother of mine?” Bella added.
Gabe sighed. He was having enough problems with Charlotte. Trust his sister and Dana to make problems even worse!
“I wasn’t going to watch sports, and Jack likes me just fine,” Charlotte said in an absent tone of voice. “I just wondered if Gabe was here. I haven’t talked to him in like a week.”
The room fell silent for a second.
“Okay, what’s wrong?” Dana’s voice crackled with worry.
“What do you mean?”
“If you’re not watching sports, and you’re not talking to Gabe, it’s an instant code red,” Dana explained. “What’s going on?”
Gabe leaned forward intently.
“You’re not eating, you’re not sleeping, and you’re…wait a minute,” Bella said, slowly. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”
Gabe knocked over the coatrack. He caught it just before it hit the floor, in time to hear Charlotte’s reaction.
“What? No!” she spluttered.
“Are you sure?”
“Unless you can get pregnant by a handshake and a casual good-night kiss, yes, I’m positive.”
Gabe began to breathe again. He didn’t mean to feel relieved that Charlotte hadn’t slept with Jack, but he did; it was like a weight off his chest. He walked into the kitchen feeling a little bit better. “There you are, Charlotte.”
The three women fell silent. His sister and Dana had guilty, cat-and-canary looks on their faces, and small grins. Charlotte just glared at him.
“Anything I should know about, ladies?”
“Just girl talk,” Charlotte said shortly. “Nothing you’d be interested in.”
“Well, maybe we could talk about something else,” he said.
“I’ve got an idea,” Bella said, her eyes snapping with challenge. “How about discussing the fact that Charlotte’s a heck of a lot closer to winning that bet than you gave her credit for?”
“Jack is the catch of the century,” Dana said, her voice similarly smug.
Gabe’s eyes never left Charlotte’s. “Why don’t you tell me about Jack, Charlotte?” he said, his voice low. “I don’t think I realized how close you two really are.”
“There’s not much to say,” Charlotte said, her chin rising a notch. He knew what that meant: Charlotte’s stubbornness was leaping to the fore. “I mean, Jack is a spectacular ‘catch,’ although I find that really insulting for both of us. He likes spending time with me. I like spending time with him. If he wants more than that, well, we’ll see. But for the time being, I’m just trying to spend my time with someone I can actually envision having a future with.” She arched an eyebrow at him, and he felt a disturbing sense of déjà vu. This is not for you. “Does that pose a problem for you, Gabe?”
He gritted his teeth. “Of course not,” he replied, his tone just as cool. “Why would it?”
“I think I’ll go look for Jack,” Charlotte said, smiling sweetly. “I wanted to show him the painting I made for you, Bella. If you’ll excuse me?” And without another word, she breezed out into the hallway, disappearing toward the stairs.
“Well,” Dana crowed, “I guess she told you!”
“She looks fantastic,” Bella said, “but it’s not just the new outfit, although it looks like forest green is definitely one of her colors. It’s the attitude.”
“But I love the clothes,” Dana said, smiling. “It looks like our little girl is finally becoming a woman!”
“What do you think, Gabe?” Bella said, smiling.
“I think you two need to stop pushing her,” Gabe said harshly, and the two women’s eyes widened.
“We’re not pushing her,” Dana protested. “We’re just—”
“You’re pushing her. You’ve never been happy with her the way she is, and now she’s changing to please you.” Gabe frowned. And he was afraid she’d changed for good. “I’m glad she has more self-confidence, who wouldn’t be? But she doesn’t need you two nudging her into a relationship she’s not ready for.”
Bella looked stricken, but Dana’s eyes snapped. “She can handle a lot more than you think she can.”
“She’s a lot more fragile than you think she is,” he countered, his voice more gentle. “Trust me, I know. I’ve hurt her enough. So all I’m saying is, go easy on her, will you?”
Bella nodded. “All right. You know I don’t want to hurt Charlo
tte, ever.”
“Of course we don’t,” Dana said, sighing. “Well, all right, Gabe, but I don’t think it’s because of us pushing this time. She seems very involved with Jack.”
“Maybe.” He turned and looked for her in the hallway. He’d just see how involved she was with Jack. As her best friend, it was his responsibility. The last thing he wanted to do was see her hurt…by his sister, Dana, Jack, or even herself.
“THIS HAS BEEN GREAT, Charlotte,” Jack said, smiling at her. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“No problem.” Charlotte took a sip of soda. She was glad he was having such a good time. She, herself, would be having a much better time if she knew where Gabe was. He’d been avoiding talking directly with her, probably from what she said in the kitchen. But it was the truth. Why should she hide from that?
She sighed. It was just that she’d look up and find Gabe staring at her before disappearing. Between that, and the images that would not go away of the episode on his couch, her nerves were quickly getting frazzled.
“You’ve got a really nice group of friends,” Jack continued. “They’re like a family. They make me miss my own, actually.” He sighed. “They can be sort of pushy, but they love you, you know?”
Her eyes widened. “You could tell that after just a couple of hours?”
He laughed. “I was talking about my family, Charlotte. They’re always pushing me to get married, that kind of thing.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” she said with feeling.
“One of these days, I think I’m going to up and elope with somebody, just to get them off my back and get on with my life.”
“Hear, hear.”
“Charlotte,” Jack said, his eyes turning more serious, “have you ever—”
“Excuse me.”
Charlotte turned to see Gabe hovering right next to her. “Gabe?”
“Hi. Jack, do you mind if I steal Charlotte for a minute? I needed to talk to her about something sort of private.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened, but Jack just nodded. “Um, sure. Go right ahead.”
Charlotte frowned at Gabe. “I’m sure it’s nothing that can’t wait….”
“Actually, I have to talk to you right now.” With that, Gabe tugged at her arm and started pulling her down the hallway.
“I’ll be right back,” she said to Jack, then turned to Gabe. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“Saving your butt,” Gabe said, his head craning around. “Bella’s got this place filled to the rafters with people, and I need to talk to you in private. Where’s…here we go. Come on.” He opened a door and led her down the cellar stairs.
She sighed, frustrated. “This had better be good, Gabe,” she said, glancing around the darkened room. The air was damp and cool, smelling faintly of lemony detergent.
“Did you hear the line that guy was running on you?” Gabe said, pulling the hanging cord of the lightbulb and turning the light on. “You’re lucky I pulled you away when I did.”
She blinked in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. That guy was about to make his move.” Gabe grinned in smug satisfaction. “Little did he know, huh? You wouldn’t buy a bunch of sugarcoated lies about marriage and stuff.”
“What makes you think he’d be lying?” she said, anger making her voice sharp. “If he had been making a move on me, so what? It’s about time somebody did!”
“Are you kidding me?” Gabe replied, his own voice tinged with anger. “Oh, that’s rich. Here I am protecting you from a complete lech, and all you can do is give me static about it?”
“Protecting me?” She rolled her eyes. “Please! How many times do I have to tell you—I can take care of myself. I am a full-grown, full-fledged woman who is perfectly able of handling a man who has more on his mind than some casual kissing!”
“Really?” Gabe’s voice was sarcastic. “Funny. I seem to remember a certain ‘full-fledged woman’ getting distinctly flustered when she found herself just kissing a guy on his couch. I seem to remember her exact words were that she had been ‘really out of practice with this physical stuff’ for some time.” His gray eyes were hot as gunmetal. “Or did I just imagine that?”
Trust him to bring up that episode to use against her, she thought, anger making her clench her hands into fists. “I am out of practice. Jack could be a perfect way to help me get back into the game.”
“Like hell,” Gabe growled. “Charlotte, no matter what you think, you don’t know what you’re getting into. You’re way over your head. You don’t even know this guy!”
“I do, too, know Jack!”
“After, what, two weeks?” Gabe took a step closer to her, his eyes blazing. “So tell me. What’s Jack’s favorite sport? His favorite movie? His favorite flavor of ice cream?”
Charlotte stepped toe to toe with him. “He’s not a sports fanatic like you, but he’ll catch the occasional baseball game. His favorite movie is Spartacus and his favorite flavor of ice cream is the same as yours. Mint chocolate chip.”
Gabe narrowed his eyes. “I don’t suppose you could tell me how he is in bed.”
Charlotte gaped, her heart jolting painfully. “How dare you!”
“Of course, you can’t compare us there.” Gabe smiled coldly. “Maybe I can give you a hint, though, of what I prefer. So you’ll know if Jack likes what I do.”
Before she could move, he laced his hand in her hair and dragged her mouth up to his.
The kiss wasn’t like the warm, simmering, sensual kiss they’d shared on his couch. If that kiss was like a fireplace, this kiss was like a volcano: hot, pulsating and explosive. His lips flowed over hers, molding her mouth to his. She felt his fingers contract at the base of her neck, while his other arm snaked out to wrap around her waist, pressing her intimately to him.
This was wrong. This was out of anger, out of passion, out of control. And yet it felt so right.
With superhuman effort, she pushed herself from him, tearing her mouth from his. Panting for breath, she glared at him. “Don’t you dare!”
His eyes widened. He was also short of breath, she noticed. The glint was still there in his eyes, but it banked like coals under cold water at her words. There was more steam than fire. He was getting himself back under control.
Charlotte’s voice vibrated with the energy rushing through her veins. “Don’t you ever, ever just grab me and think you can punish me with that kind of thing, just because you’ve got some macho, testosterone-driven issues. You aren’t Tarzan, and I sure as hell am not Jane.” She clenched her fists, passions blurring with fury. “When I kiss someone, it’s not going to be out of anger, or frustration, or whatever. It’s going to be because of desire, pure and simple. When a man kisses me, it’s because he wants to kiss me. You got that?”
He drew a ragged breath, his eyes full of remorse. “I got it.”
She nodded sharply. “Good.”
Without another word, she threw her arms around his neck, lacing her fingers in his hair, and dragged his lips down to meet hers.
If she’d thought she could stay in control of the kiss, she was wrong. Vaguely she thought that she was trying to prove a point, but now all she could hang on to was the fact that she needed his lips, his arms. Him.
He stood stiff as marble, probably with shock, before he wrapped his arms around her, his hands clutching at the small of her back. He melted into her, slanting over her mouth hungrily. She parted her lips, wanting more. His tongue traced her lips with fire. She moaned as his tongue swept into her mouth to tangle with hers. Heat speared through her, pulsing like beacons, drawing a median line from her heart to between her legs. She didn’t think, couldn’t think. She could only desire, and act.
He pushed her against the laundry table, lifting her up to sit on it. She clutched at his shoulders, and her legs parted easily, urging him to stand between them. His hands stroked down her back in long, loving glides. She could feel his fingertips, like trails of flame that
only pitched her passion higher.
“Charlotte,” he breathed unevenly against her neck, pressing kisses just behind her ear, down her neck, against her collarbone. She arched her back to press her breasts against him. Her legs wrapped around his waist. He pushed forward, and she gasped.
“Gabe,” she whispered, guiding him back up to her lips. The kiss was long, drugging, the slow in and out of their tongues reminiscent of the joining they both wanted.
“Gabe? Charlotte? You down here?”
Charlotte gasped, not in pleasure this time, and thought she’d swallowed her tongue. Or possibly Gabe’s. The two of them tore themselves away from each other, standing like panting boxers in opposite corners of the room.
Bella peered down curiously. “Are you two all right? What’s going on here?”
“We’ll be up in a minute,” Gabe said. His voice was rough, and his back was to the stairwell.
“Well, when you do, would you bring up a case of root beer?” she said, then shut the door behind her.
Charlotte’s eyes glowed at him. “We’ve got to stop stopping like this.”
“Charlotte, this is crazy,” he said, reaching for her and kissing her even as the words tumbled out of his mouth. “If Bella comes back, how are you planning on explaining what we’re doing?”
“How about, ‘Bella, would you mind coming back after we’ve had sex on your laundry table?’” She laughed, feeling the blush hit her as it occurred to her…that was precisely where they were heading if they didn’t slow down. It was followed by a second thought: she didn’t care. She kissed him deeply.
He pulled away, backing up until he hit the railing of the stairway. “Charlotte, I can’t do this.”
She felt his rejection burn her like acid in her chest. “Of course you can’t,” she said, then blinked when he leaned down and kissed her again.
“It’s just really stupid,” he said, kissing her neck and causing her breath to catch, “because I know we’re just friends, and—” he brushed a deep kiss over her lips “—we both know this isn’t going anywhere. Right?”
