Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(59)

“Why?” The rejection in his voice cut me like a knife.

“Because I work for you, you’re married, and I’m in a relationship.”

“If you think for one second Camille has been faithful to me all these years, she’s fooled you just like she’s fooled the rest of the world. It’s Hollywood. It’s all smoke and mirrors.” His eyes clouded with the raw sores of an aching heart. “But you… there’s nothing fake about you. I can touch you and feel you, the real you. It’s the realness of you that’s irresistible. I’ve wondered what it would be like to kiss you from the day I met you.”

“You did?” I thanked God I was sitting.

He took my face in his hands, and I rose up to meet him. Any desire to stop him vanished like the shadow of a cloud on a sunny day. Everything that was ceased to be the moment his lips met mine.

My back rested against the wall, and he pressed his body into me. I was kissing a dream and wasn’t ready to wake up, so I closed my eyes tighter. His fingers twined into my hair, and the smell of his soap and sweat against my skin was intoxicating. My brain was in a delicious fog. His hands rose under my shirt, hot against my skin. His teeth raked over my earlobe, making the roof of my mouth tingle. I tilted my head and let him learn my body.

“I want you more than anyone else. Tell me you want me like I want you,” he breathed into my ear.

Those words. Gabe’s face flashed before my eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I can’t…” I pushed him off. “Do this.” I covered my mouth and ducked down out of the cage he’d created around me. I backed away. “Please, it’s not you.”

He rested against the wall and ran his hands through his hair. “I can’t remember the last time someone gave me the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ speech.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You have no idea how flattered I am. You are incredible and working for you has been amazing. But I just can’t do this.”

A wooden board creaked outside on the porch and movement caught my eye. My heart stopped when I saw Gabe staring back at me.





Nineteen





“Gabe?” I gaped through one of the long panes of glass on either side of the front door. As I walked toward him, he backed away. By the time I opened the door, he was already halfway to his car. I prayed he hadn’t seen what had happened with Oliver. “What’re you doing here? How’d you know where I was?”

He stopped and faced me. “I followed you last night.”

“You followed me? Why the hell did you follow me?” I placed my hands on my hips.

“I wanted to know where you were.”

“Why?”

“Because I did.”

“That’s a lie. It’s because you didn’t trust me.”

“Yeah.” He snorted. “Looks like I had reason not to.”

My heart plummeted, and he continued walking to his car.

“Stop walking away. Where are you going?”

He whipped around and planted his feet wide. The veins and muscles in his neck bulged as he clenched his fists. “Please, I’m intruding on your plans. Why don’t you go back to what you were doing?”

“Gabe…” I choked on the images he’d seen. “Nothing happened.”

“That wasn’t nothing.” He yanked his car door twice before realizing it was locked. He hit the button on his remote several times.

“Stop, please.” I ran after him and grabbed his shoulder. “Don’t go. I’m sorry. He kissed me, but I stopped him. It didn’t mean anything.”

He shrugged off my poisonous touch and laughed. “It meant everything. After all we’ve been through and all the lectures I’ve gotten from you: ‘Nothing is going on between me and Vance. You have to trust me.’ ‘I know my job is dangerous, but trust me.’ I see where my trust has gotten me. How many times has this happened with Vance?”

“Never! Never.” My heart was in my throat. He’d never believe me. One careless mistake had made everything else a lie.

“I bet the two of you just laugh when you talk about me behind my back, don’t you? And now this… with him!” He pointed toward the door. “What a joke.”

“We don’t sit around and laugh about you. Nothing is or has been going on between me and Vance.”

“I don’t believe you,” he said through gritted teeth. “After all that crap with the guy you were with months ago, I looked past it and have never brought it up, not once.” He shook a finger in my face. “I’m speechless. Speechless!”

My pulse soared higher. “That was different and you know it. This didn’t mean anything. He’s been through a lot—you have to understand where his head was.”

His nostrils flared. “I don’t care what he’s been through. He doesn’t care or respect relationships, clearly. I’m sure his wife would love to hear about this.” He jerked his head back and gasped. “Did he even know about me? I bet you forgot to mention it, huh?”

My throat began to cramp. “I told him about you.”

He let out a disgusted splutter. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse. You should be embarrassed, ashamed of yourself.”