His arms encircled her.
She closed her eyes, basking in the incredible sweetness of the moment with the man she loved beyond reason. At some point in the last few days of incredible bliss with him she’d forgotten all about her plans to be careful, to guard her heart, to be wary. She was all in and getting in deeper by the minute.
CHAPTER 16
Hope will never be silent.
—Harvey Milk
Gavin drove her home in the morning, so early it was still dark when they pulled up to her place. “I’m so not ready for how cold it is today,” he said.
“Happens every year around this time.”
“Always catches me by surprise.”
“I have something that’ll keep you warm today,” she said as he followed her inside to have breakfast before they went their separate ways for the day.
“I can’t wait to see this.”
They stepped into the front hall and Ella nearly jumped a foot when Mrs. Abernathy appeared out of the gloaming.
“You’re off to an early start this morning, Ella,” the older woman said. She wore a bathrobe and held a mug of coffee.
“As are you, Mrs. Abernathy.”
“Good morning, Gavin.”
“Morning,” he muttered as he followed Ella up the stairs. “God, she scared the shit out of me.”
“Me, too.”
Inside the apartment, they took off their coats and Ella headed directly to the coffeemaker.
He was right behind her, molding his body to hers and making her forget about what she’d been doing. “It’s going to be all over town by noon that we’re sleeping together. Are you okay with that?”
Ella tipped her head to give him better access to her neck. “I don’t care if you don’t.”
“I don’t. But your parents . . . Your dad . . . What will he say?”
“I’m thirty-one, Gavin. What can he say?”
“Um, a lot?”
“He and my gramps have been on a campaign to get us all settled down and happy. This is exactly what he wants.”
“He wants me making mad, crazy love to his beautiful daughter every chance I get?”
She laughed. “He might not want that, but he wants me happy.”
“Are you happy, Ella?”
“How can you ask me that? I’ve never been so happy in my whole life.” She turned to him, resting her hands on his chest. “I’ve finally got what I’ve always wanted. How could I be anything less than elated?”
“I like that word. Elated. It looks good on you.”
She reached up to caress his face. “Happy looks good on you, too.”
“It feels good.” He leaned in to press his lips to hers. “It feels so good.”
With his lips sliding over hers and the hard press of his erection against her belly, Ella was tempted to forget all about the big day she had ahead of her at work. She wanted nothing more than to drag him back to bed for more of what they’d shared during the night. She ought to be completely exhausted, but rather she was buzzing from the incredible high they’d found together.
“You want pancakes?” he asked, tearing himself away from the kiss reluctantly.
Ella let him go just as reluctantly. They had a long day ahead before they could be together again later. Thinking about that would give her something to look forward to today. “That sounds good.” She got out the ingredients and left him to start their breakfast while she went into her bedroom. In the closet, she found the sweater she had knitted for him during the long months she’d spent wishing for what she had now.
She held up the gray fisherman’s sweater that she’d poured her heart and soul into making for the man she’d loved from afar. It had seemed like such a silly thing to do at the time, but throwing herself into the project had given her an outlet for the yearning that had taken her over.