Chapter Nineteen
Don’t psych yourself out.
~ from “Firefighting 101” ~
Thirty minutes later, Megan stepped out of the elevator into Gabe’s penthouse apartment in Potrero Hill and her mouth fell open. He slipped her coat from her shoulders, but she was so busy taking in the views from every window that she barely noticed.
“These views are incredible.” She turned to him. “How do you ever do anything but stare out the windows?”
“I thought you might like it,” he said as he moved across the room to stand beside her. “It’s usually clear like this in the winter, but in the summer—”
“—it must be like floating on a cloud of fog.”
He’d wanted to kiss her at least a hundred times since she’d opened her front door, and now, as she stood staring dreamily out his living room window, Gabe was working like hell to stick to his plan and keep his promise.
It was just that she looked so good in his house. So right. Despite the great bones of the building, the views and location, he’d always felt like something was missing.
Now he knew exactly what it was.
How different would it be if Megan and Summer lived here with him? If all that color from their small apartment were in here? If their clothes hung in the closets and Summer’s drawings were up on his fridge?
Knowing he was getting ahead of himself, that nothing past tonight’s fireworks was even settled, Gabe forced himself to take a step away from the only woman who had ever ripped his control to shreds.
“That omelet barely took the edge off,” he told her. “How does Thai food sound for dinner? There’s a great place around the corner that delivers.”
Her face lit up. “I love Thai.”
Jesus, he wasn’t just jealous of a dead man—now his envy extended to Thai food, too.
“Make yourself comfortable while I order one of everything.”
She laughed and said, “Sounds great,” but she never left the window the entire time he was on the phone. Gabe knew without a doubt just how much she must miss being up high enough to see out over the city as she had in the apartment that had burned down.
He hung up the phone and she was still so mesmerized by the lights of the city that she didn’t notice him put a couple of glasses of red wine on a nearby bookshelf.
A minute later he said, “Excuse me.”
Megan was clearly shocked to see him holding a large overstuffed chair over his head. “What are you doing with that?”
“Hoping to make you more comfortable,” he said as he slowly lowered it to the floor. And also, maybe showing off a bit, he had to admit to himself as her eyes traveled across his biceps, which were now bulging from lifting the heavy chair.
He reached for her hand. “Sit with me.”
“The chair isn’t big enough for the both of us,” she protested, but he already had her half on his lap and his arm around her waist.
“Feels like just the right size to me.”
God, he loved the way she smelled, like a field of blooming flowers topped off with a hint of sweet female arousal.
“Gabe, we shouldn’t—”
“Don’t worry,” he murmured against her ear, “I’m not going to break my promise.”
Did she know just how disappointed she looked as she turned her face away from his to look out the window once more? Gabe made sure to hide his grin from her as he reached over to the bookshelf for the wine and handed her a glass.
“Sullivan Winery’s finest.”
She took it from him and inhaled with pleasure. “In the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I should tell you I was already a fan of Marcus’s wines before we met.”
“It’s good stuff,” he agreed.
She nodded, then said, “And I know I haven’t met him, but your other brother Smith—” She stopped suddenly, as if she’d just realized she shouldn’t say any more. “Never mind.” She took a sip of Cabernet. “This is yummy.”
“What about Smith? You also want me to know how much you love his movies?”
She licked her lips and shrugged. “You’ve got to admit they’re all pretty good.” She stopped again, took another sip of her wine. “Just like this wine.” She pointed out the window. “Hey, isn’t that the baseball stadium over there?”
He narrowed his eyes. “You’re a baseball fan, too, aren’t you?”
“Blame Summer,” she said, giving him her most innocent look. “Her father used to take her to games when she was a baby and she’s loved it ever since. She was really thrilled about meeting Ryan at your mother’s party. He’s her favorite pitcher.”
Why did he have to have so many brothers? The stem of his wine glass almost shattered beneath his irritated grip.
Megan’s eyes were dancing as she pointed to the huge picture of an African sunrise on the wall. “I have to ask—did Chase take that?”
“Yes.” The word came out more clipped than he intended it to.
That was when he caught her smiling over the rim of her glass and realized that any illusion he’d ever had of being in charge of their evening was just that—an illusion.
Because in a matter of sentences, Megan had him right where she wanted him: acting like a jealous idiot.
Again.
Wanting a little retribution, he pulled her closer to him, her back pressed into his chest. “I’m glad you’re here, Megan.”
She was stiff against him for a few seconds and he thought she might actually push away from him. But then, he felt her settle against him, the top of her head against his chin.
“I am, too.”
* * *
Gabe could have sat there with her all night in perfect silence and watched the lights turn off and on all across the city. Because even though he was holding onto his control by a very thin thread with her soft curves pressing into his hips, Gabe had never been so comfortable with another person. Not even his family.
Too bad the Thai delivery person wouldn’t stop ringing the damn doorbell.
Megan didn’t look any happier about it than he did. “I guess one of us should get that.”
He didn’t kiss her, but he did bury his face in her hair for a split second before putting his hands on her waist and lifting her off his lap. “You get the door. I’ll grab some plates.”
God, she was gorgeous as she moved across the room and chatted with the young man—who also couldn’t take his eyes off her. Gabe had been with plenty of women who knew exactly what they were doing around men, women who “worked it.”
Megan was pure sensuality from head to toe without doing a darn thing other than breathing.
He was so caught up in her spell that she had reached into her purse for a tip before he could take care of it. The teenager was so busy staring at her, he would have forgotten to take the money if Gabe hadn’t cleared his throat and snapped the kid out of it.
Megan closed the door and carried over the bags of food. “This smells amazing.”
“Poor guy could barely string two words together in front of you.”
She gave him a look like he was crazy. “What are you talking about?”
“You, Megan. And how beautiful you are.”
She looked so stunned that he quickly took the bags from her before they dropped, and put them on the table.
Stunned turned to shy. And disbelieving. “You keep saying that.”
“Because I can’t stop thinking it, every time I look at you. Every time I think about you.”
She stared at him, her eyes searching his. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Gabe.” She dropped her gaze to her hands, before she lifted them again to his face. “I’m glad you were the one who found me and Summer.” She took a deep breath. “And I’m glad she insisted on bringing you muffins.” She bit her lip. “I’m even glad she tricked you into teaching us to snowboard.”
If he went to her now, he knew he wouldn’t just break his promise by kissing her, he’d take her right there, on the rug in the middle of the living room floor.
He pulled out a chair for her at the table. “Come. Eat.”
Because, please God, he was hoping—praying—she’d need her strength later.
Her cell phone rang as she sat down, playing “You Are My Sunshine,” and he moved to his own seat as she pulled it out of her pocket. “Hey honey, how’s Mickey?”
He loved watching the way her whole face lit up as she talked with Summer. His mother had always been there for him and his siblings, and as a kid he’d assumed that was how everyone’s mothers were. As an adult, he realized just how lucky he’d been.
And how lucky Summer was, too.
“Wow, that sounds like some water and fireworks show. I can’t wait to hear more about how they made the water all those colors when you get back home.”
He served them pad thai and cucumber salad as she laughed at whatever Summer was saying. But then, she abruptly stopped laughing.
“What am I doing tonight?” She picked up her glass and took a gulp of her wine. “Just like you, sweetie, watching the fireworks in a little bit.”
Gabe stopped plating their food. He wanted to hear what Megan told her daughter. Would she admit to being with him?
Megan listened carefully to the voice on the other end. “No, honey, not by myself. With a friend.”
Gabe didn’t like the way she wasn’t looking at him and he had to remind himself to have patience. The night was going well, better than he’d hoped. The problem was, where Megan was concerned, he wanted more than he ever had from another woman.
And he wanted it now.
Finally, Megan lifted her eyes to meet his over the plates and containers of food. “I’m going to watch them with Gabe.”
He could hear Summer’s happy squeal over the phone.
“I don’t know if he can come to the phone right—” She stopped partway through her sentence as he held out his hand for her phone. “Actually, here he is.”
He couldn’t decipher Megan’s expression as he said, “Hey, pretty girl. Been on any scary rides today?” He listened, chuckling at her descriptions of the rides. “Your mom hasn’t even been on that one?” He lifted an eyebrow in Megan’s direction. “Wow. You’re some pretty brave stuff, aren’t you? Here’s your mom again.” He was still laughing when he handed the phone back to Megan.
“Yes, we wish you were here.” She turned away slightly, letting her hair fall over her face. “I really miss you, sweetie. I’m so glad you’ve been having fun with Grams and Gramps. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.” She put her phone on the table, but she didn’t take her hand off it.
He wanted to ask her why she hadn’t wanted to tell Summer they were together. But he already knew the answer to that, didn’t he? And he didn’t want to remind her of those reasons. Plus, he didn’t like how sad she looked after saying goodbye to her daughter.
So he picked up his fork and worked to get her laughing about the time he and Ryan had decided to hide out on Tom Sawyer Island past dark and had almost been locked in for the night.
“You should have seen Ryan,” he said, “Like a little baby, crying for his mommy.”
She grinned at that. “Somehow he doesn’t quite seem like the crying for his mommy type.”
“Ever seen him get nailed on the pitcher’s mound?” He looked down at his lap to make sure she got his point about where the ball had landed.
“Has that actually happened?”
This time he was the one grinning. “More than once. And while his ex-girlfriends cheered, you’d better believe he was crying.”
Gabe had been attracted to Megan from that first moment she’d walked into his hospital room. But, as much as he was counting down the minutes until he could kiss her without breaking his promise, it felt so good to hear her laugh that he knew, without a doubt, that their connection was so much more than skin deep.
So deep that her laughter didn’t stop at his heart...but landed smack dab in the middle of his soul.