Page 34 of Losing Hope

Chapter Thirteen

After a dinnerof T-Bone steaks cooked on the grill by Gage, accompanied by fresh tomato slices and baked stuffed potatoes whipped up by Hope, they climbed with satisfied stomachs upstairs to her bedroom.

“Shower?” she asked as she collapsed back on thebed.

He lay beside her, his fingers finding hers and weaving them into his. “Too tired.”

“Good.” She giggled. “Me too, but I didn’t want you to think I was a dirty girl if I was too lazy to shower.”

He rolled on his side to face her, a sly smile on his lips. “If I didn’t think I’d burst from the dinner we just ate, I’d get you even dirtier.”

She placed her hand over her belly and groaned. “Please, if you lay one inch of yourself on me, I think I’ll explode.”

“What if I light a fire instead? Does that television work?” He waved his free hand toward the flat screen nestled in one of the bookcases across from thebed.

“It does, but I can only play movies on it. We don’t have cable hooked uphere.”

“Are you going to make me watch some sappy romance movie?” He chuckled as he lifted himself off the bed and moved over to the fireplace.

“What? Do you think girls only like to watch romance movies?” she asked, trying to feign annoyance.

His brows arched high, his lips forming a small grimace. “Uh, yeah.”

She sat up, moved over to the bookcase, and began thumbing through some of the DVDs on the shelf. When Harry Met Sally, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice, A Walk in the Clouds, The Notebook, Pretty Woman. Shit. Wait! She found one that mightwork.

“Ha! How about For Love of The Game?” She pulled the case out of the bookcase and waved it in the air triumphantly.

He shook his head, striking a match and setting fire to the kindling, his shoulders shaking slightly as he laughed. “That is a total love story!”

“No, no, it’s not!” She moved closer to him, bringing the case to his face. “Look, it’s all about baseball.” She tapped her finger on the front. “See, baseball player standing on the mound. There’s not even a girl on the cover.”

Rising to stand in front of her, he reached out and gently extracted the movie from her fingers, bending down at the same time to place a tender kiss on her lips, murmuring, “I don’t give a shit what we watch. I just want to hold you in my arms while we doit.”

Her lips curled into a smile as she stood on tip-toe and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. “I lovey—”

Her hand flew to her mouth as she stepped out of his arms, an electric shock pulsing through her in one big burst, the blue of her eyes wide and panicked as she looked at him. His mouth was parted slightly, his arms out at his sides, the movie still clutched tightly in one hand as his eyes narrowed in confusion.

“What?”

Did he not hear what she almost said? Holy shit! Had she fallen in love with him?She’d been with Dylan over a year before she said those words to him, and even then, it was only in response to him saying the words. Those words had never just slipped out of her mouth before so naturally. They’d only known each other for two and half days! This was insane. People don’t fall in love over a weekend. Dothey?

“I left the oven on!” she blurtedout.

His brow crinkled, his eyes narrowing to slits as he scratched his chin. “Um, okay. Do you want me to go shut itoff?”

“Nope, no.” She spun around and skittered toward the doorway. “I’ll do it. Be rightback!”

Gage shookhis head as he watched her scurry out of the room and wondered what the fuck just happened. Did he just imagine it, or did she almost say I love you? He chuckled. She just had a complete freak out, kind of like what happened to him earlier.

He dropped the movie on the bed and went over to the fireplace, grabbing a couple logs and placing them over the kindling. He watched as they caught fire and flames tickled their way up and over the wood, the heat intensifying quickly. Much like his and Hope’s feelings for one another. He threw another log on, daring the fire to burn even hotter, wanting to prove he could most definitely handle theheat.

“All set!” He turned his head away from the fire and toward the light voice carrying across the room. “It wasn’t on. Guess I’m going crazy.”

He placed the screen over the flames and walked across the room to meet her halfway, cupping her face in his big hands and tilting it up to his. “It’s okay if you’re going a little crazy. I think I might be, too.”

He said the words softly, just above a whisper. He hoped that she would understand their double meaning and take some comfort in the fact that he was just as surprised and confused by all of this as she was. His eyes trailed down to where her teeth had captured her lower lip and was chewing it lightly. Her nervoustell.

Cocking one side of his mouth up in a knowing smile, he leaned down and pulled her lip free with his teeth and kissed her deeply. He slid his hands down, one sliding behind to clutch onto the back of her neck, and the other continuing down to the base of her back, where it laid flat as he pushed her up against him. She moaned softly into him as she slid one hand to press against his heart and the other grasped onto his bicep.

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