A couple of days later, the old tin coffee can where his mother kept her emergency grocery money would be empty and Raynaldo would be gone. By the time Elias was born, Gabe had been fourteen and done with his stepdad. The knuckleheaded crowd he’d fallen in with at school had convinced him that he didn’t need some lowlife drifter telling him what to do. He was a man.
To prove it, on a dare, Gabe had broken into his science teacher’s car one day after school. Instead of turning him in to the principal, or even worse, the cops, Mr. Caldwell had given Gabe a ride home. The next day, he’d asked him to stay after class.
The words Mr. Caldwell had spoken to him that day had changed Gabe’s life. For the first time since his father, he’d had a male figure tell him that he was worth something. He had someone who believed in him. From that day forward, Gabe had been working to prove to his science teacher that he could be the man Mr. Caldwell had believed he was capable of becoming.
Aside from Gabe, Daniela and Elias didn’t have someone like Mr. Caldwell in their lives. They actually had to rely on their own father to be a father to them, and Gabe knew that sure as hell wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
He cradled his head in his hands and tried to swallow back the guilt that was clawing at his throat. He needed to do more for them. His mother already worked two jobs; she could not do any more than she already was doing.
That was why he needed the assistant principal position to become a permanent thing. The boost in his salary would create stability for his entire family. It would lighten his mother’s burden. It would alleviate the worry of wondering how to pay for the extra college expenses Daniela’s scholarship didn’t cover. And it would take Elias out of his current environment, a situation that was too much like the one Gabe had been in at that age.
“You have to find a way to make this work,” he whispered.
It wasn’t going to be easy, but he would do whatever he had to do to make that job his.
At least he knew he had one ally in his corner.
Just the thought of Leslie sent a flood of arousal coursing through his body.
He closed his eyes and relived every second of that kiss they’d shared at the diner the other night. The touch of her fingertips against the back of his neck, the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she’d took those breathy pants of air, the incredibly sweet flavor of her warm mouth as she’d opened it for him and sucked his tongue inside.
Gabe groaned and ran his hand against his aching groin.
He had anticipated what it would be like to kiss her for months, ever since the first day she’d walked into his classroom as a volunteer. Within moments of his mouth meeting hers, Gabe had decided that she had been worth every second of the wait.
He grabbed his cell phone and punched in her number.
“Hi,” she answered. “What are you up to tonight?”
“Oh, nothing. Just grading papers and thinking about pecan pie. For some reason I can’t get it off my mind.”
“Neither can I,” she said.
“Do you want me to make one and bring it over? I doubt it would be as good as the one we had the other night, but who knows? I might surprise myself.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “Actually, I’m at The Jazzy Bean with a few parents from the PTO. We’re putting together prize packs for the Lock-In/Learn-In.”
“Oh, cool. I can come over and help.”
The pregnant pause that filled the phone line was fraught with tension. “I think we have it under control,” she said.
Understanding had Gabe’s shoulders slumping in disappointment. Of course she didn’t want him around when other parents were there.
Her insistence that they be discreet had not been that big of a deal. In fact, it had been kind of fun to slip away to that cozy little diner in St. Pierre, away from everyone they knew. But on nights such as tonight, when all he could think about was holding her close to him and tasting her lips again, their secret affair was the exact opposite of fun.
He wanted the freedom to be with her out in the open, where everyone could see that she had chosen him. There were no rules against them being together, nothing that said that he, as a teacher or school administrator, could not date a single parent.
But perception was everything, and if parents thought she was siding with him on issues concerning the school because they were seeing each other, it could make things awkward for her during her tenure as PTO president. She’d had enough to deal with the past couple of years. The last thing Gabe wanted to do was cause her discomfort.
So, instead of getting in his car and driving to the coffee house on Main Street, he returned to the papers he’d been grading and consigned himself to a night of wishing for what, at the moment, could not be.
* * *
Her feet curled underneath her, Leslie relaxed on the wooden swing that hung in the corner of her porch. This was her spot; it had been so since the day she and Braylon had moved into this house. How many evenings had she spent relaxing on this swing, the gentle sway lulling her into a state of calmness as she sipped lavender tea and decompressed from her hectic workday?
Today, it was both lavender tea and running her fingers through Buster’s soft coat that provided the dose of contentment. There was no denying it; this little stinker was growing on her. The dog released a slight snore, and Leslie grinned. It looked as if the swing worked on canines, as well.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, baby?” Leslie asked, turning toward the front door at the sound of Kristi’s voice.
“Can I please, please, please play Monster High on the computer?”
“You’ve put away those toys?” Leslie asked.
“Yes. And I put my socks in the drawer, too.”
“Okay,” Leslie said, planting a kiss on her forehead. She held up her watch. “You can play for thirty minutes. So what time will that be?”
Kristi studied the clock face. Telling time on a regular clock had proven to be more difficult for Kristi than it had been for Cass at this age.
“Seven o’clock,” Kristi said, her face beaming.
“Good job.”
“And then we can watch Dancing with the Stars,” she said.
“You know it. Do you want Buster to come with you while you play?”
“No,” Kristi said, shaking her head. “She just tries to eat the computer mouse. You can keep her.” Kristi ruffled Buster’s coat, then skipped back into the house.
“Send Cass out here,” Leslie called after her. A couple of minutes later, Cassidy came out onto the porch.
“How’s your science project coming along?” Leslie asked her.
Cassidy had begged her not to help with the science project, which was due tomorrow. She had insisted that she and Willow, her science-fair partner, could handle it on their own. The two of them had been on Skype all afternoon, even though Willow only lived two streets over. Kids.
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Leslie asked.
“Yes, Mom. Willow and I know what we’re doing. I promise.”
“Okay,” Leslie said, putting a hand up. “Just remember that I’m here if you need me.”
“Can I go back into the house now?” Cassidy asked.
Leslie blew out a weary breath. “Yes, Cass.”
Leslie tried to ignore the melancholy slowly creeping in, but it wasn’t easy. Cassidy was exerting her independence more and more these days, and each time she did, it pierced Leslie’s heart a little more. She missed her baby. And she knew it would only get worse as Kristi grew older, too.
Leslie heard whistling moments before she noticed someone out of the corner of her eye. She sat with her teacup arrested halfway to her mouth as she watched Gabriel leisurely walking along the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, a derby cap slung low over his brow. Her
eyes tracked him as he strolled past her house, never once looking her way.
She set the teacup on the saucer and started to rise, but Buster protested with a yelp and she returned to her seat. The whistling returned, this time coming from the opposite direction. Once again, he walked right past her house, but just a few yards away, he stopped, pivoted and came back again toward her house. He turned and strolled up her walkway.
“So, did I convince you that I just happened to be walking in the neighborhood?” he asked.
“Is that what you were trying to do?”
“Kind of,” he said.
Buster raised her head, let out a halfhearted bark, then put her head back on Leslie’s lap.
“Quite the guard dog you have there,” Gabe said.
“Don’t let her extremely relaxed demeanor fool you. She’ll attack your best pair of shoes and chew them to within an inch of their lives. So, why exactly were you trying to convince me that you just happened to be in the neighborhood?”
“Well, it wasn’t you that I was trying to convince as much as any curious eyes that may be wandering and happen to catch us out here. Maybe they would think that I just so happened to run into you as I was taking a stroll in a neighborhood that’s on the opposite side of town from my own.
“Is it okay for me to join you?”
She hesitated for the barest moment before she nodded. “Please do.”
An easy smile spread across his lips as he climbed the steps and perched himself against the railing. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back and looked from left to right along the tree-lined street. “It is a rather nice neighborhood,” he said. “A lot nicer than where I’m renting.”
He told her about the shotgun house where he lived not too far from the water-treatment plant.
“Mr. Mayes is a sweetheart,” Leslie said. “At least you have a good neighbor and landlord.”
“Except he’s nearly deaf and plays his music loud enough for half the town to hear.”
“A small price to pay for the chance to live next to one of Gauthier’s former police officers.”
“Seriously? I didn’t know that.”
She nodded. “For a long time he was the only police officer. After he retired the police station closed. Now it’s only the parish sheriff’s office.”
Gabe shook his head. “I never imagined myself living in a town that’s not big enough to sustain a one-man police force.” He looked over at her and smiled. “It’s a good thing it has other perks.”
“Like?” she asked, her cheeks reddening.
“Oh, I can think of a few. Take the local PTO president, for instance. You don’t find many of those who look—”
“Hey? That you, Leslie?”
She and Gabe both turned. Sawyer Robertson jogged in place on the sidewalk, his dark gray T-shirt stained with a V-shaped swath of sweat.
“Sawyer, hello,” Leslie said.
He took her greeting as an invitation to come to the porch. Jogging up the steps, he ruffled Buster behind her ears and then stuck his hand out to Gabe.
“Hi there, I’m Sawyer.”
“Gabriel.” He looked between Leslie and Sawyer. “You live around here, Sawyer?”
“Just down the street,” Sawyer said, nudging his chin west toward Willow Street. He turned to Leslie. “How did the hammock come out?”
“Oh, it’s heavenly,” Leslie said. “The girls and I love it. And we were able to hang it on our own.”
“Well, if you run into anything that you can’t do on your own, just give me a holler.” He nodded to Gabe before taking off down the porch steps.
Gabe ran his flat palms along his jean-covered thighs and let out a low whistle.
“So,” he said. “Was that my competition?”
Leslie lifted a brow. “Are you trying to win something?”
“I thought that was obvious.”
She smiled. “Consider yourself the victor. I have no designs on Sawyer Robertson.”
“I think he has designs on you, though.”
“He’s trying not to disappoint a group of nosy church ladies who have been trying to find me a fine young man for well over a year,” she said. “You don’t have to worry about Sawyer.”
Leslie studied Gabe’s face for a moment and decided to share the realization she’d come to last night.
“You don’t have to worry about anyone, Gabriel. Sawyer is one in a long line of gentlemen I’ve been introduced to in hopes that I would start dating again. But I’ve never felt even the slightest interest. Until you came along.”
She saw his chest rise with the deep breath he pulled in. “Did you happen to borrow my book on saying just the right thing?”
“I didn’t have to look at any book. It’s the truth.”
He rose from his perch on the railing and started for her, but stopped when the front door opened.
Cassidy walked out onto the porch.
“Cassidy! Hi,” Gabriel said.
She looked from Leslie to Gabriel, her forehead furrowing in confusion. Then her eyes grew wide with horror.
“Did I fail my quiz today?” she asked.
“No, sweetheart,” Leslie said with a laugh. “Mr. Franklin just came over to discuss something about the PTO.”
Her daughter was too smart for her own good, given the way she still looked from Leslie to Gabe with that hint of skepticism in her eyes.
“If you say so,” she said, her voice dripping with the same incredulousness that was clouding her face. “I was just coming to tell you that Dancing with the Stars is starting.”
“Thanks, baby. I’ll be in in a minute. Why don’t you pop the popcorn?”
Cassidy nodded and then gave Gabe the once-over again before returning to the house.
“Dancing with the Stars?” he asked, eyes alight with amusement.
Leslie shrugged. “What can I say? We’re a household of reality TV junkies. The girls especially love the dance shows. Dancing with the Stars, America’s Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance? They’ve become weekly events.”
“I’m jealous. Mr. Mayes never wants to watch Dancing with the Stars.”
She stared at him and then burst out laughing.
“If you keep up with all that laughing, you’re bound to draw attention to us,” he said. He moved from the railing and slid in next to her on the porch swing, lifting Buster from her lap and placing the sleeping dog in his own. “What would the neighbors think if they saw us having so much fun?”
“Well, unless they passed directly in front of the house, they would have a hard time seeing anything. Between the fig tree on one side and the shadow cast by the sun on the other, we’re pretty hidden.”
“Hmm, you make a good point,” he said. “So maybe we don’t have to worry about nosy neighbors getting the wrong idea.”
“Is there a wrong idea?” she asked. “Maybe they would think that Cassidy’s teacher is so diligent that he makes house calls. Or that the assistant principal and president of the PTO are talking school business. Since, you know, that’s what we’re doing.”
He inched closer. “What if I don’t want to talk school business anymore?” he murmured. “What if I want to do something that has nothing to do with school?”
“And what would that be?”
His eyes smoldering with want, he leaned in and captured her mouth in a kiss that was surprisingly, achingly sweet. Leslie yielded to his mouth with amazing ease, dropping every guard and opening herself to the pleasure he wrought within. A slow burn of desire crawled its way from her feet up through her entire body the moment Gabriel’s tongue swept over her lips.
God, she’d missed this. Even though it had only been a few days since the last time he’d kissed her, she’d missed it terribly. She misse
d the intimacy, the closeness, the feeling of being wanted and desired. And she could feel in every insistent thrust of his tongue how much he wanted her.
Leslie opened her mouth wider, accepting all there was to his kiss.
She felt Gabriel’s fingers inching up her arm, coming to rest on her shoulder before moving to her face. He cradled her cheek in his hand, his touch so light, yet so heavy with meaning.
Yearning for more of him, she thrust her tongue into his mouth, moving it back and forth along his tongue, soaking in every bit of his flavor. Her hand skirted up his chest, and she was shocked at the response in her own body. Tingles skidded all over her, rushing to the spot between her thighs. It pulsed with need, dampened with desire as his skillful mouth laid claim to her.
Arousal quickened within her, driving the need to feel him against her. She skimmed her hands underneath the hem of his shirt, relishing the warmth of his skin, the light dusting of hair across his stomach. Every nerve ending within her body prickled, sang with an electricity that had her on the verge of begging him for more.
But, God, she couldn’t have more. Not here with her daughters on the other side of that door.
Just as she was about to pull away, Gabriel beat her to it. He released her lips and hopped up from the swing, still cradling Buster in his arms. A ragged breath rushed out of him.
“Okay, I had to stop myself while I was still able.”
Leslie nodded her understanding. She pressed the back of her hand to her lips, which throbbed with sensation from the feel of his incredible mouth.
The front door flew open.
“Mom!” Kristi called. “You’re missing the first dance!”
“I’ll be there in a minute, honey,” Leslie called, but her eyes remained on Gabriel.
What was he doing to her? How, after all this time, was she suddenly feeling again? He made her feel so much. Happy. Excited. Alive.
Scared.
Lord, but he scared her. Because for the first time in far too long, she could feel her heart slowly opening again. Her heart still ached from the last time she’d allowed that to happen.
He set Buster in her lap and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead.
Forever With You (Bayou Dreams Book 5) Page 11
