12. Raincheck

12

Raincheck

I slid my seatbelt into place, squinting as the morning sun pierced the windshield. “Where are we going?”

Gabe slung his arm over the back of the seat and twisted to back out of the driveway. “It’s a surprise.”

“A good surprise?” I asked suspiciously.

He laughed. “I wouldn’t fuckin plan a bad surprise.”

I giggled like a schoolgirl, giddy in his presence.

Nervous for what might come next.

With one hand, he palmed the steering wheel and turned us onto the road.

I frowned. Where was he taking me? This road didn’t lead anywhere worth going. It was pretty, though, with the trees in bloom, and wildflowers gathering at their feet.

He interrupted my musings. “How was work this week?”

I sighed. “It was okay. Not as busy this week, which is bad financially, but I know I’ll be complaining when it picks up next week. It’s always super busy in the summer. I don’t know how Nan did it.”

“She loved it,” he murmured. “It’s easier to give it your all when you love what you’re doing.”

“I guess so.” I turned to look out the window. I didn’t love managing Ayana’s, but there was a time I loved my work. I perked up. “Do you love your work?”

“I love being a fire fighter, especially when we’re busy.”

My eyebrows rose as my stomach plummeted at the thought of him in danger. “You had a call out?”

“More than usual but nothing out of the ordinary.” He flicked his indicator on to turn left.

I flipped the visor down to block the sun. “And the garage? Do you enjoy that?”

He threw me a wry smile. “Working with Dad is a challenge at times, but I like working on the cars. In many ways it’s more physically taxing than the fire station. I’m feeling it in my back more than I ever have.”

“Hm, getting old?” I teased.

He slanted me a dark look. “I’m not that much older than you, lady. I’d watch your tone.”

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it?”

He grinned. “Don’t poke the bear, Shae-baby.”

I hummed. “What do you do at the station? What are your responsibilities?”

He visibly tensed.

“What is it? What’s the matter?”

“The chief is nagging me to throw my name into the hat for a promotion.”

I brightened. “Gabe! That’s great! I’m so proud of you!”

“Yeah?” he retorted, his voice gruff. “And without the promotion you’re not so proud?”

My mouth dropped open. “What? No!” I gave my head a shake. “Of course I’m proud of you. You—you—you save lives for crying out loud,” I stuttered.

“Is that what it takes to impress you?”

Dipping my chin, I admonished, “Gabe, I love you just the way you are, with or without a promotion, no matter what job you do.”

The wide smile splitting his face gave me emotional whiplash. Confusing me further, he reached over and clamped his big hand down on my thigh.

“You love me.”

The blood left my face.

I blinked.

Did I? Did I love him?

How? How could this happen so soon?

Had I ever stopped?

At one time he was everything to me.

When my world fell apart, I froze him out, but it was never because I didn’t love him.

I huffed out a breath.

I just told Gabriel Kenny that I loved him.

Grinning wickedly, he grabbed my hand and pressed my knuckles to his lips, his eyes on the road.

His smile faded as he murmured, “No take backs.”

“I haven’t even met your daughter,” I added stupidly.

He laughed. “I promise, she’s a finer person than I am. If you love me,” he winked, “you’ll adore her.”

“Oh my God,” I exclaimed and blew out a breath.

The rest of the drive passed in a blur. It did not escape me that he didn’t say it back. Why would he? We barely knew each other.

A few minutes later, Gabe slammed his truck into park. Stepping down from the truck, he walked around to my side and handed me out. “From here, we walk.”

“Oh, wow,” I breathed. “Are those treehouses?”

Platforms and wooden structures dotted the trees around us. Bridges and nets stretched between each.

My eyes skittered back and forth, following the paths that were now more than plain. “Wait a minute,” I murmured.

Gabe squeezed my hand. “Hey, we’re here for the 12:00 PM booking.”

My head snapped around to see a man holding two harnesses, matching helmets on the ground beside him. My poor, Gabe-addled brain had finally caught up.

I crossed my arms over my chest and stepped back. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Gabe’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped half a second before he burst out laughing.

“It’s not fucking funny, Gabe,” I fumed.

The man grinned at me and stepped back. “I’ll give you two a minute.”

“A minute?” I exclaimed. “How about a refund?”

Slinging an arm around my shoulders, Gabe chuckled and nuzzled into my neck. Voice low and raspy, he murmured, “It’s kind of funny.”

“It’s not,” I insisted, rigidly maintaining my stiff posture.

The tip of his tongue touched my neck, quickly followed by his soft lips. “We need to free your inner wild child.”

I snorted and turned away. “She’s fine exactly where she is.”

Turning me further to align my back with his chest, he ran his hands up and down the curve of my hips before dropping his mouth to my ear. “No, I don’t think so. I think she wants to come out to play.”

I hissed in a breath as his scruff hit my neck. Tilting my head to the side to give him full access, I breathlessly clarified, “At home. In bed. With you.”

His grip on my hips tightened.

I felt myself melting, giving in to him. My sense of self-preservation kicked in.

Shaking him off, I stepped away and flung my arm up to the suspension bridge hanging over our heads. “Not risking life and limb to…to…to monkey around!”

His mouth split wide, white teeth flashing in his swarthy face. He howled, doubling over to clutch his guts before grabbing me and pulling me into his chest. With one hand wrapped around my ponytail, he tugged my head back and grinned down at me. “Do you think, for one minute, I’d do anything to risk your life or limbs?”

My eyelids fluttered as a soft, satisfied hum escaped.

His eyes darkened, his smile turning from mischievous to wicked as he tugged harder.

My fingers dug into his biceps. “Gabe.”

“She likes a bit of pain,” he murmured, his eyes tracing the lines of my face. “Is that right, Shae-baby? Do you crave a hint of pain with your pleasure?”

“I don’t know,” I rasped, more turned on than I had any business being with my life hanging in the balance.

Dipping his head, he barely brushed his lips over mine. “Be a brave girl and we’ll see if we can’t find out.”

“Oh, boy,” I breathed, instinctively squeezing my thighs together.

“Hm,” he hummed softly. “I’ll take that as a yes. And before you argue any further, I swear I won’t let go. Not unless you ask me to. Maybe not even then.”

“I’m not going to ask you to let me go.”

He cocked a brow and dragged his fist down the length of my hair. “Promise?”

Swallowing, I searched his eyes. “Why do I get the feeling we’re not talking about tree-trekking anymore?”

Touching the tip of his nose to mine, he answered, “Were we ever?”

Moving his hand back to the base of my ponytail, he dragged my hair tie down and off. Slipping it onto his wrist for safe keeping, he fanned his fingers through my hair. “It’s a shame to tie this back all the time, a bigger shame to cover it with a helmet.”

“You loved my hair,” I murmured.

“Still do.”

“You’re sure this is safe?”

He nodded shortly, eyes intent on mine. “I’d never put you in danger, but you’re in danger of dying of boredom. Consider this a rescue mission.”

I snorted and followed him over to the instructor.

Against my better judgment, I found myself perched like a freaking bird on a minuscule platform in the sky.

The instructor explained the safety protocols in place, assuring me nothing would go wrong.

“If you were that sure, I wouldn’t have had to sign a liability form,” I grumbled.

He waved me away with a grin. “Formalities.”

We took five minutes at the top to acclimate ourselves before beginning.

The breeze was stronger up there. The lullaby heard down below as it danced through the leaves was nothing compared to the orchestra in the treetops.

It was a different world, a different universe. The air was crisp. Clean. Traffic no longer existed, industry disappeared, the wind in the leaves and the singing birds provided the only soundtrack as the heady fragrances of pine, sap, and sun-warmed leaves reminded us we were part of something so much bigger.

I turned to Gabe, searching for the words to express what I was feeling.

Tipping my chin up to look him in the face, I stopped short. I pointed at his helmet, my voice shaking with laughter. “What is that?”

Focused on harnesses and safety, I’d barely looked at Gabe. Now that I had, I didn’t know how I could have missed it.

“What?” he challenged with a grin.

I pointed at the sport camera strapped onto his helmet, barely able to get out the words. “You big nerd!”

He guffawed and pulled me into a tight hug, swaying us back and forth. “I’m so fucking happy to be here with you.”

At his words, I relaxed into his hold, my smile stretching my cheeks.

His chest vibrated with a deep chuckle. “And you look like a bobble-head.”

“Rude!”

He grinned and took my hand. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I groused, though I thrilled at the adventure.

Before every challenge, Gabe checked my harness and attachment, ensuring I knew I was safe before sending me out over suspension bridges and floating stairs.

At some points, he went first then came back, told me how it was before following along behind me.

When I was comfortable, I went out first and he took my back.

We weren’t the only ones up there, but I was pretty sure I was the loudest. Those floating steps swinging in the wind were no joke.

For the first few challenges, I held onto the cables so tightly, the muscles in my hands began to cramp.

The freaking platforms between the challenges were smaller than I expected, each one marking a shining achievement. After swinging over the safety nets on a moving staircase, all I wanted was to make it to that platform. But standing still, with nothing to focus on made it worse.

It wasn’t until we got to the tightrope that my knees began to knock together.

Gabe took my hand in his and gave it a little tug. “I’ll take you across.”

Eyes wide, I assessed his face for any hint he was joking. “Promise?”

“Always.”

I peered over the platform at the nets below which were also far too high off the ground.

He dipped his knees to catch my eye. “Don’t look down, Shae-baby.” When he stood to his full height, my eyes remained on his. “Eyes on the prize. If that’s too scary, keep your eyes on me. I’ll be your way forward.”

He edged onto the tightrope.

Backwards.

“You’ve done this before,” I grumbled.

“I could do it in my sleep,” he admitted. “I’ve got you, Shae-baby.”

He held my hand the entire way across.

When we got to the platform, I closed my eyes and dropped my head back in relief. When I opened my eyes, my mouth fell open in wonder. So close to Heaven, I could have touched the sky.

And I relearned an important lesson: what goes up, must come down.

“You didn’t tell me there’s a zipline!” I looked at it critically. “It’s not that bad. It’s a short run.”

He chuckled. “I’m glad you’re feeling more confident.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What? What aren’t you telling me?”

He dipped his chin. “Shae-baby, would I keep anything from you?”

I snorted. “Yes.”

It was a short zipline. I barely had time to scream before my feet hit the platform.

We continued on, at one point we were so far ahead of the group behind us, we took time to sit and stare out over the treetops.

Then he hauled me to my feet. “One more challenge and then we’ll zip down.”

“Another zipline, hm?”

That next platform was huge in comparison to the rest. And thank the good Lord, because the zipline was ridiculous. Skimming the treetops, it crossed the river and flew over the beach below before depositing us close to where we began.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t see that before we started,” I murmured.

“I might have blocked your view,” he teased, turning me around. “Here.” Taking the camera off his helmet, he strapped it onto mine. “I want you to have this memory from your own point of view.”

I nodded even as my teeth began to chatter.

His brows lowered. “You okay?”

“I think so.”

He cupped his hands around my face. “You got this, Shae-baby.”

I nodded again. “I think I need to go first.”

“I’ll be right behind you,” he promised.

I stepped off the platform and whooped as the wind snatched me away over the treetops.

I flew so high I swear I caught the sun.

Buoyant and filled with light, my seatbelt barely held me on the way home.

“Did you see me? Did you see me, Gabe?”

A wide grin split his handsome face. “I saw you, Shae-baby.”

I shadow-boxed the windshield of his truck. “I killed it. I was amazing!”

“You were,” he agreed, chuckling.

He’d barely pulled the truck into my driveway when I jumped out and skipped up to the door where I wrestled with my key in the lock.

“This thing keeps getting stuck,” I complained, desperate to get inside and watch the footage from the camera.

The heat of his body covered my back sending an alert to every single one of my senses. Video be damned. It was long past time to take him to bed and I was done waiting.

His big hands wrapped around my hips and pulled my ass tight to his groin. “Hurry up, Shae-baby,” he murmured against my neck.

I shivered and doubled my efforts, finally managing to unlock the door. Tumbling through, I pulled him inside and kicked it shut before jumping into his arms and slamming my mouth over his.

He laughed inside my mouth. “You’re full of adrenaline. You want to use my cock to burn it off?”

I groaned low in my throat, half appalled, half turned on beyond belief. “Don’t say it like that, Gabe. I’d never use you.”

Hauling me higher with his hands digging into my ass, he tilted his head back and assured me, eyes twinkling, “You can use my cock anytime, baby girl.”

Clinging to him with my thighs, I pushed myself up and took his bottom lip between my teeth, reveling in the surprised hiss that escaped his mouth.

I released him and licked along the seam of his mouth. “You want that same promise, Gabe?”

His jaw feathered as his eyes darkened. “I wouldn’t fucking say no.”

Waking up with his head between my thighs?

His cock?

I rolled my hips against his abdomen. “I might just give it to you,” I murmured.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he chanted, taking the stairs.

Bursting into my room, he tossed me on my bed, hauled my thighs apart, and settled his lean hips between them. With one hand on my breast, his mouth locked to mine, he rolled his hips.

My head shot back.

And then his cell phone rang.

“Ignore it,” I pleaded. “Please, for the love of all things holy, ignore it.”

“Can’t,” he panted. “That’s my mom’s ringtone. She wouldn’t call unless it was absolutely necessary.”

Easing off me, he pulled his cellphone out of his back pocket.

“Hey, Ma.”

His jaw tightened.

“I’m on my way. Coming from Mistlevale so I’ll be about an hour.”

He listened then shook his head. “Is this really the time, Ma?”

Whatever she said made him laugh. “I look forward to it.”

“I gotta go,” he murmured as he closed the call. “Dylan’s got a fever.”

My disappointment gave way to concern. I sat up. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah,” he growled, shifting his erection into a more comfortable position. “I’m sure she’s doing a fuckuva lot better than I am at the moment but she’s a daddy’s girl. She doesn’t want anybody but me when she’s sad or sick.” He shook his head and smiled crookedly. “As a bonus, my mom is getting set to grill me all about you as soon as I get home.”

“Oh no,” I mumbled. “She’s going to be so mad at me.”

“Nah,” he assured me. “We’re past all that.”

“I hope so.”

“I’m sorry I have to leave you like this.” Leaning over me on the bed, he brushed his lips across mine. “Raincheck?”

I smiled. “At your earliest possible convenience.”

He took my hand and pulled me off the bed, then held it until we got to the front door.

Turning to me, blue eyes dark with intent, he brushed the backs of his fingers over my cheek and touched his forehead to mine.

He swung the front door open and stepped over the threshold.

“Just saying,” he murmured, turning to look at me over his shoulder, mouth quirking up at one side.

His eyes shone with vulnerability.

“I never stopped.”