Happenstance(78)

My soul is lighter. Maybe they’re each carrying a little piece of it.

After getting dressed and putting on some light makeup, I leave the bathroom for the kitchen. When I set down my bag and hear the thunk of my laptop, the problem that sent me to Gabe’s house in the first place comes back in a massive rush. Right. It’s possible I’ve made myself the enemy of a corrupt politician and an equally corrupt union boss.

I shoot a quick text to Shayna to make sure she’s still somewhere secure and she replies with a thumbs up. Safe to say she’s not thrilled with me at the moment, but who could blame her? Next I open my laptop on the kitchen table and do a quick scan of my email.

My spine snaps straight when I see there is one from Karina.



* * *



Elise,



* * *



My contact at Alexander’s office is no longer returning my calls, even after being asked outright about your apartment break-in. I don’t have a great feeling about this. Please continue to remain vigilant. Where are you staying? Somewhere safe, I hope. Please remain there, even if you’re in the arms of an adult film star, etcetera. I am working on this. Please trust me.



* * *



Karina



* * *



I’m barely given time to process the managing editor’s email when a set of footsteps comes down the hallway. That heavy tread belongs to Gabe, I decide, before he turns the corner into the kitchen and proves me right. I close my laptop and smile at the shirtless foreman, curious about the bashful expression on his face. The way he rubs his palm against the nape of his neck, redness high on his cheekbones.

“Morning, Elise.”

“Morning.”

He kind of paces around the kitchen, apparently without having a destination in mind. “You’re not self-conscious, are you?” I murmur, coming to my feet and wrapping my arms around his neck, a move that requires me to stand on my tiptoes. I kiss his jaw, his mouth, purring involuntarily when he groans and tilts his hips against mine. “I didn’t think that was possible after last night.”

“Maybe you have no reason to be self-conscious…”

“Is this about the whole endurance thing again?”

“No.” He chuckles against my mouth. “You’ve done a great job of letting me know how much you enjoy my…early arrival.”

I’m giggling. We’re swaying together in the middle of the kitchen floor. The lightness I felt walking out of the shower is only increasing by the second. Is this what happiness feels like?

“Then why are you blushing?”

He tilts my face up and examines it. “I was raised to respect women. My mother always told me girls should be treated like gold.” He shakes his head. “There were times last night where it felt like three big dudes ganging up on one woman. We were really aggressive with you, Elise. I…spanked you for doing nothing wrong. I spanked you hard—”

“Careful, Gabe. You’re turning me on.” My smile fades when I see he’s actually concerned about this. “Hey.” I wrap my arms more securely around his neck and the pressure of his hold on me increases. “I knew I could say stop and all of you would stop. Or I wouldn’t have been here in the first place. I loved every single second of last night. Even the spanking.” I nudge his nose with mine. “Maybe even especially the spanking.”

“Really?”

I hum into a long, winding kiss, loving the way I can predict the hardening of his body, the length and slant of it inside of his sweatpants. His big hands clutch my bottom, I lick the tattoo on his neck and I’m being lifted onto the kitchen table, my thighs pushed apart eagerly…when my stomach growls loud enough to shake the cabinetry.

Gabe pulls back from our kiss looking stricken. “Oh my God. You’re starving.”

Now it’s my turn to pinken. “I could try to deny it but apparently my stomach is doing the talking.”

He lunges for the fridge. With an erection tenting his sweatpants.

I don’t even try to stop him. I might be in the first, flushed stages of arousal, but it’s too much of a pleasure watching this man crack eggs into a bowl, rip bagels in half in his bear-sized hands, pour orange juice into a Mets memorabilia day glass. Besides that, I really want to ask him about what I heard this morning while lying in bed. “Gabe…” He glances back at me over his shoulder, nods for me to continue. “I knew your brother and your ex-wife lived next door, but…you can hear them in your bedroom.”

“Yeah, they have kind of a ritual.” He takes a fork out of a drawer to whisk the eggs. “My brother goes out to get bacon, egg and cheeses most mornings. When you heard them this morning, he was coming back from his breakfast run.”

It’s hard for me to imagine how painful this must be. How hard it must have been, especially right after the divorce. Gabe might not have been deeply in love with Candace, but for his brother to walk all over his feelings, to invade his space, must be so hurtful.

I have a really, really big problem with anyone hurting Gabe’s feelings.

My skin is starting to feel a little extra hot when I saunter to the side window and peek out through the blinds, looking across the driveway to Gabe’s brother’s house. There is a light on inside, but I can’t see anyone. However, I do notice that the car belonging to Gabe’s brother is parked on Gabe’s lawn. There is more than enough room to get all four wheels of the vehicle in the driveway, so it must be a choice.