Reckless Devotion: Book 2

by Jennifer Domenico

  Pulling away, I cup his face. “Of course I’m perfect for you. I’m your soul mate.”

  Hours later, we finish straightening up and preparing for Sara and Jamie’s arrival. When I look up at Gabriel, dressed in his stylish jeans and t-shirt, I giggle.

  “What?” he asks.

  “It’s just funny how we both seem so respectable on the surface, but we’re really dirty little fuckers.”

  Gabriel laughs. “Dirty little fuckers,” he repeats, still laughing. “I like that.”

  “It’s true.”

  “It is true, and it works for us.”

  “It does.”

  He walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist. “What a month it’s been, huh? When I agreed to meet you, I thought, this is dangerous. She’s my sister’s friend, and I don’t know if I should intermingle those two parts of my life, but she showed me your picture, and I just couldn’t say no. Then when I saw you in person, you knocked the wind out of me. Not just your face either, but your energy was such a turn on. I didn’t know how I was gonna get you, but I was going to.”

  “And you did.”

  “Not at all in the way I expected, but this is way better.”

  “Yeah, it is. Turns out, we were made for each other.”

  His smile slowly dissipates. “So should we just make it permanent? Get married, have kids, do all that shit?”

  My eyes open wide. “Is that stuff you want? Kids?”

  “Honestly?” I nod. “No. I don’t want children. Do you?”

  My brow furrows at this sudden change in topic. His face is so serious it’s a little unnerving.

  “If you do,” he continues, “then I want to consider that.” He cups my face. “Because I love you, and I’m not letting you go, so as far as I’m concerned, you and me are forever.”

  I blink rapidly examining my internal thoughts. “No.”

  “No? It’s not forever?”

  “Not that. I don’t want kids. I never have.”

  “Oh.” He smiles. “But forever? Do you want forever with me?” As his voice cracks with emotion, it pulls on my heart.

  “Yes, of course.”

  He exhales as his shoulders drop. “Good. I’ve never in my life even considered what I’m about to say to you, but I just want you to know that someday, Mia, I’m gonna marry you. Someday I’m gonna ask. I’m gonna give you a beautiful ring to symbolize my commitment to you, but until that day, I hope you know that all my power, my breath, my heart is already yours.”

  I nod, blinking back tears. “I do know. I knew the day I met you that my life wasn’t going to be the same, and I’m so glad I didn’t give up on either of us. I’m glad I trusted my instinct about you, because I was right. You’re a good man, a beautiful man, and the right man for me. I’m glad I walked recklessly into this with you because it’s been amazing. So someday when you ask, be prepared for me to say yes.”

  He pulls me into his arms, and we just hold each other for several minutes without saying anything at all until he pulls back and smiles. “I want you to open something while we’re still alone.”

  “Okay.”

  He walks over to a stocking and reaches in then hands me a small silver box. “I hope you like it.”

  “I’m sure I will.” I lift the lid to find inside a delicate silver bracelet. “It’s beautiful.”

  “It’s engraved.”

  “Oh.” I pick it up and see the front of it, engraved in cursive the word ‘Devoted’ on it. I glance up and smile. “Gabriel, it’s perfect. I adore it.”

  “Yeah? It’s not too much?”

  “After everything we discussed you think a bracelet is too much?”

  He laughs softly. “I guess not, but someone might ask you what it means.”

  “Yep, and I’ll tell them it’s a symbol of my relationship and my commitment to the man in it with me.”

  “That’s beautiful.”

  I smile. “You’re beautiful.”

  “I don’t know why, but I like it when you call me that.”

  “It’s a good word. Your face is spectacular, your body, God-like, but Gabriel, your heart, your soul, and how you’ve bared them for me is truly beautiful.”

  “It’s all yours. All of me is yours.”

  As we search each other’s eyes, the doorbell rings and we both turn toward it and smile. “Company’s here,” he says.

  “Yep.”

  He walks away and opens the door for his sister and Jamie. Sara rushes over to me and throws her arms around my neck. “Merry Christmas!”

  “You too, Sara. I’m glad we’re together for it.”

  “Me too.” Her eyes shift past me to Gabriel. “All of us.”

  “Yeah.”

  Jamie walks over and gives me a hug. “Thanks for having us over.”

  “Of course. This is what adult kids do when they aren’t with family.”

  “Yeah. My family lives here though. We’re gonna stop by later, and I’m gonna introduce Sara to everyone.”

  My eyes move to Sara who smiles nervously. “The big debut.”

  “You’ll do fine,” I say. “Who couldn’t love you?”

  “That’s what I said,” Jamie adds, kissing Sara’s cheek. “They’ll love her.”

  “So,” Gabriel says, as he slides his arm around my waist. “What do we do first?”

  “Presents, duh,” Sara says, giggling.

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” I jump in. “I’m so excited to give you your gift.”

  Sara narrows her eyes. “I thought we discussed this.”

  I make a confused face. “Did we? I don’t recall.” Then I start laughing as I walk over and grab the small box.

  She follows me, shaking her head, but takes the box and quickly unwraps it. When she opens the box, she looks inside, then up at me with her big doe eyes, then down again, and then bursts into tears. Gabriel looks at me confused as Jamie hurries to her side. Sara shakes her head, then looks back at me.

  “This is awesome, Mia. Thank you so much.”

  I smile. “You’re welcome.”

  “What is it?” Gabriel asks.

  “A set of matching bracelets,” Sara explains. “Each one says ‘besties’ on it.” She smiles at me. “Mia’s a tough nut to crack, so being in her inner circle is a big deal.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Gabriel says, winking at me.

  Taking one of the bracelets, I fasten it around her left wrist. “Sara, you’ve been an amazing and steadfast friend to me. Over time I’ve realized you’re a huge part of my life, and I’m so thankful that you saw behind my sometimes prickly exterior and decided to be my friend. Thank you.”

  Sara smiles through tears. “I feel like I just got proposed to.”

  We all laugh as she clasps mine on, noticing the one already there. “What does it say?”

  “Devoted,” Gabriel answers, gazing at me. “What I am to Mia. Completely devoted.”

  I smile, nodding. “Yeah.”

  “Wow,” she says. “A week ago weren’t you guys on a break?” She laughs. “So dumb.”

  I laugh too. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s move on.”

  We all sit down around the living room as Gabriel starts to pass out gifts. We each open something, and when it’s my turn to open Sara’s gift to me, I find inside a silver plaque that says ‘Sisters - Not by blood, but by choice’. I feel my eyes well up with tears.

  “Sara, this is awesome.”

  “It’s how I feel about you.” She glances at Gabriel. “Someday, maybe we’ll even be sisters-in-law.”

  Gabriel smiles. “That would be something, wouldn’t it?”

  I nod. “It sure would.”

  “I want to see Gabriel open his gifts,” Sara says.

  “So do I.”

  He chuckles. “Okay. I don’t need anything, but it’s nice to get some stuff.”

  “Open mine first,” she says.

  “Happily.” He pulls open the box to find a beautiful wood cutting board, l
inen napkins, and a set of two wine glasses. He gazes at her and smiles. “These are beautiful.”

  “You said you got into cooking and entertaining in France, so I thought I’d give you some new things for your home that went with that.”

  He leans over to her and kisses her cheek. “Perfect. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now open Mia’s.”

  He smiles and nods. “Okay.” I watch him as he opens the first box from Louis Vuitton. As he pulls the items out, his expression is pure joy. “Oh my God. I love these.” He looks up. “You picked these out?”

  “With help from the salesperson and Sara. Do you like them for real?”

  “Absolutely.” He kisses me softly on the mouth. “Totally my style. Thank you.”

  “Open the little box,” Sara says, almost as excited as I am.

  Gabriel picks up the small box and tears the paper away. When he opens the box, his mouth falls open.

  “What is it?” Jamie asks.

  “Compass cufflinks,” Gabriel murmurs. “Unbelievable.”

  “That’s meaningful to you?” Jamie asks.

  “Very.” He smiles at me. “You’re amazing.”

  “If you ever feel like you’ve lost your way, just remember you haven’t because I’m here.”

  He looks down at them again, and then back up at me. “You’re lucky we have company right now.”

  I raise my eyebrow. “Lucky?”

  He laughs. “Open yours now.”

  “Okay.” I rip open the packaging and when I see the name on the box, my eyes open wide. “No way.”

  “Way.”

  I lift the box to find a little card. Flipping it open, I read it. The only time I want you to say this word is when talking about fashion. I love you. G. I shake my head and smile. As I pull back the tissue paper, I gasp. Inside is a collection of accessories: a handbag, a wallet, sunglasses, a key chain, and a scarf!

  “Oh my God! I’m in Prada heaven!”

  Gabriel laughs. “I thought you might like it.”

  “Like? This is amazing. There’s even perfume in here.”

  “It seems we had similar gift ideas for each other.”

  “Yeah.” I wrap the scarf around my neck. “It’s gorgeous.”

  “You’re gorgeous.” He kisses me again, then as he pulls back, we gaze into each other’s eyes until Sara clears her throat.

  “You’re not alone yet.”

  I laugh. “Right.”

  “Here, Jamie,” Sara says, handing him a box. “This is yours.”

  Jamie grins. “Awesome.” As he tears through the wrapping paper, I realize that box looks familiar. Just as I remember what it is, Sara does too and lunges for Jamie trying to stop him from pulling it from the box, but she’s too late. Jamie pulls the black lacy material from the box with a confused expression on his face. Sara squeezes her eyes shut, and I just start laughing.

  “What’s going on?” Gabriel asks.

  “You bought me lingerie?” Jamie asks then his eyes open wide. “Oh wait. I get it.”

  I’m rolling around on the floor laughing while Sara shoots me a look and Gabriel just shakes his head.

  “Wrong box,” Sara mutters.

  “Clearly,” I say, still laughing. “Guess we know what you two are doing later.”

  “Oh really?” she says, tilting her head. “What about your box from the same store?”

  I narrow my eyes. “Brat.”

  “Oh?” Gabriel questions. “I have a box too?”

  “Yes, but unlike your sister here, I was smart enough to leave it in the bedroom.”

  Gabriel jumps up. “Well now that I know what’s in it, I want to see.” He hurries down the hall and now it’s Sara’s turn to laugh. Jamie, for his part, is watching Sara with puppy dog eyes. Gabriel returns moments later carrying my box. He sits on the couch and opens it up, pulling my sexy pieces from the box. Glancing over at me, he raises his eyebrows. “Excellent choices.”

  “I figured you’d approve. Those three things are the most expensive pieces of clothing I own.”

  “Same,” Sara says. “We had fun.”

  Gabriel smiles. “That’s what money is for.”

  “You should see Sara in that, Jamie,” I say. “It’ll blow your mind.”

  Sara scrunches her nose. “Mia? Meatball is right next to you.”

  “And? So he knows his sister has lingerie and a sex life.”

  “It’s not my favorite thing I’ve learned today,” Gabriel chuckles, “but I’m slowly catching on that you’re an adult.”

  “Subject change!” Sara announces, making us all laugh.

  Jamie smiles and hands her a box. He looks nervous so I hope it’s not something crazy. She opens the box to find a pair of earrings with her emerald birthstone on them. Not too big, and definitely classy.

  “These are beautiful,” she says, looking in the box. “Thank you, Jamie.” They kiss and I notice how Gabriel watches them. I squeeze his hand, and he glances at me and smiles. “I got you something for real, but obviously we picked up the wrong box.”

  Jamie laughs. “Actually, just spending time with you is enough.” Sara cups his cheek and kisses him again.

  “Why don’t we go refresh our drinks?” I whisper to Gabriel who nods. We walk into the kitchen and he pulls me into his arms, kissing me deeply. After a moment, he pulls back and searches my eyes.

  “I love you so much. Today is perfect. So perfect. Not just the gifts, but the thought behind them. It’s such an amazing feeling to know someone cares, someone listens, someone loves me. It means everything to me. You, Mia, mean everything to me.”

  “I was walking through the mall thinking what do you get a man like Gabriel, and I decided you get him the finest things you can find to accessorize all that male sexiness. Then we found the cufflinks, and I obviously had to have them for you.”

  He smiles. “I knew it had to be Prada for you for two reasons. One, you said you were obsessed.” I laugh as he continues. “Two, we needed to refresh our association with that word. I never want you to say it to me as a safe word. I never want to bring you to that place again.”

  Reaching up, I brush my fingers over the soft stubble covering his cheeks. “I hope you bring me there again. I hope you push my body to a limit that I can’t cross, can’t push past. I never want to say it in anger, but oh, Gabriel, I want to say it in pleasure. At a minimum, I want to be close to saying it. I’m kinda counting on you to show me how far I can go.”

  “You won’t be disappointed, but we need a new word.”

  “No we don’t. We need a new experience with it.”

  He tilts his head. “I don’t understand how you turned out to be exactly what I needed in my life.”

  “We don’t always have to understand things. We can just accept them.”

  Gabriel kisses me softly again. “I can do that.”

  “Want to go back out there?”

  “Yeah. I hope they aren’t banging on my living room floor. I’d hate to see that.”

  “Eh, it would be payback.”

  He narrows his eyes, laughing. “She told you about that?”

  “She did.”

  “Not my finest moment.” He shakes his head. “But what am I supposed to do when some chick is sucking me off?”

  “What you did, I suppose.”

  “Yeah. Was she upset when she told you?”

  “No. It was just a story about growing up with you.”

  “Well, I still don’t want to see her having sex.”

  I laugh. “Neither do I. Let’s go.”

  When we walk out, the two of them are sitting on the floor facing each other, holding hands, and laughing. They are really cute together. I hope it works out for them.

  Sara looks up and smiles. “Today is awesome.”

  Gabriel puts his arm around my shoulder and smiles. “Today is definitely awesome.”

  THE DAY AFTER THE best Christmas of my life, I’m sitting at my desk at work scrolling
through a website with tattoo fonts. Tonight is our appointment. If someone told me a month ago I’d be doing what I’m about to do, I would’ve throat punched them for sure, but right now, I can’t wait. My desk phone rings startling me.

  “This is Mia,” I answer.

  “Mia, it’s your mother.”

  “Oh, hey, Mom. Everything okay?” I just talked to her yesterday.

  “Yes, definitely. I just spoke with Danielle and she said the two of you didn’t meet up yesterday.”

  “No. She went up north to Flagstaff with Tim’s family, and I stayed here.”

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean why, Mom? I have a life too. I have friends. I told you I’m dating someone.”

  “Yes, you did, but…” She pauses.

  “But what?”

  “Danielle said she thinks it’s serious. Is it serious, Mia?”

  Shaking my head, I respond. “Kind of.”

  “How are you kind of serious?”

  “It’s new. We’ve only been dating barely a month, but yeah, it’s good, and I think we’re gonna be together for a long time.” She’s silent again until I chime in. “What’s on your mind, Mom?”

  “It’s just that, to my knowledge, you’ve never had a serious boyfriend, so I wanted to know more.”

  I nod my head. “Okay, I told you his name is Gabriel, and he’s my best friend’s brother. We met in early December, and hit it off immediately.” To say the least. “We spend a lot of time together, and it’s been good. We hit a little rough patch the first week or so, but we figured that out.”

  “But Danielle said that you love him. Is that true.”

  I twist my lips, annoyed she told Mom that. “Yeah, Mom, it’s true.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I guess I didn’t think there was much to tell yet. You know me, I’m not really emotional about stuff. I’m still figuring it all out. I was thinking when you guys comes out in March, you can meet him.” I wasn’t thinking that at all actually until now.

  “Oh, I’d like that. I’m just excited and happy for you. All a mother wants is her children’s happiness.”

  “I know, Mom.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you get back to work. I just wanted to hear it from your own mouth.”

  “Bye, Mom.”