Page 74 of Forever Mine

“Did you really think I was sick? Cough, cough. ‘I’m too sick, Mon, do me a solid.’ You ate that shit right up. Hell, I even called and changed the hotel reservation so you’d be forced to share a room. How’d that go, by the way? Please tell me there was only one bed. I fuckinglovethat trope in books,” he says amusingly.

“Jesus. So much to unpack here,” I say absentmindedly. “First of all, you sounded legitimately sick. Secondly, did you really change the reservation? Gabriel was so embarrassed. He kept apologizing. He figured I thought it was him that set it up. And lastly, how do you know about the ‘only one bed’ trope? That’s only in romance books, right?”

Chase cackles.

“That’s your most important point, isn’t it? Not about the reservation or me being sick. It’s about me reading romance books.”

“Well, yeah. Not many men do.”

“It’s how I learn, my friend.”

“Excuse me?”

“Romance books are mostly written by women. So to understand women and what they want, might as well get into their minds.”

“How deep into this are you? Are you reading erotica? BDSM? What?” I ask.

“Fuck no. I read contemporary books. I do like the spicier ones, though.”

“Care to share your favorites?”

“I have too many to share, so I’ll go with overall favorite authors. Claire Kingsley, Meghan Quinn, Pippa Grant. I love a story that makes me laugh but gives a good sex storyline and a happily ever after.”

“I seriously feel like I don’t even know you right now,” I blurt out, and Chase gives me a crooked grin. Not only do I know all three of those authors, but I’ve secretly wondered about writing a book myself. I never thought I could do it.

“Nah. You know me just fine. For a hot minute, I thought maybe I could turn our friendship into a friends-to-lovers situation, but I knew you never saw me like that. And it’s been pretty cool being your friend and co-worker.”

“So, have your literary musings been successful? You got a woman hidden somewhere that I should know about?” I ask with a smile.

“Not yet. But I’ve got my eye on someone. Unfortunately, she’s not too open to me pursuing her right now, so I’m just biding my time,” Chase explains. His eyes brightened when I asked, so I think it’s more than a little crush or dalliance.

“I hope you find your happily ever after, Chase. Really, I do,” I say quietly.

“And I’m glad you found yours, Mon. Gabriel is one hell of a good guy.”

I beam as I look over Chase’s shoulder and find Gabriel studying me from his office doorway. “He really is. He’s the best guy for me.”

I can’t even contain my happiness as I skip over to him and jump in his arms, crashing our lips together. Gabriel’s arms come around me as he returns my kiss with ardor.

“What’s that for,querida?” he whispers against my lips.

“Nothing. I just needed to kiss you,” I whisper.

“Você é minha alma gêmea, querida. Meu coração clama for você,” Gabriel whispers.

I open my eyes to see emotion swimming in Gabriel’s expression as he cups my cheek and brings our lips together for a tender kiss. Then, he sets me down on my feet and smiles.

“Back to work. I have plans for you, and the sooner we get home, the better,” Gabriel tells me. Those pesky butterflies are at it again, dancing in my stomach at thinking about Gabriel’s condo as ‘home.’ Our home. I’m getting ahead of myself with hoping for the future. I need to rein it in.

“Gabriel,” I call back after he walks to his desk, and he turns around to look at me. “What did you tell me in Portuguese just now?”

“I’ll tell you another time. When I know you’re ready to hear it,” he says with a wink.

Huh.

I walk back to my desk and open my laptop. The only word I can remember Gabriel saying iscoração. A quick google tells me it means ‘heart.’ Shit, he’s told me a couple different phrases with that word in them. I try to google some other phrases to see if anything sounds like what he’s said to me, but nothing rings a bell. What does come up, however, is a website called Babbel, which claims it’s the easiest way to learn a foreign language. I immediately signed up and downloaded the app.

Gabriel is probably telling me super emotional things about his feelings for me. I can’t think of a better way to respond than reciprocating them in his native language. He feels more comfortable admitting these things to me in Portuguese, so I will do the same thing. Since he tends to leave me at home each day to either head to work or run errands, it’ll give me enough time to do the daily lessons and start working on what I want to tell him.

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