Page 86 of Outback Reunion

She smiled. ‘And I’m more than enough.’

‘That’s it. Now I want you to look yourself in the mirror and repeat that every day until you believe it.’

And then, he slid his hand up her neck and gently drew her lips to his.

The kiss was nothing like any of the kisses they’d shared before. It was soft and slow and felt like it held the promise not of sex, but of something more.

Something had shifted in the caravan tonight—she’d bared her soul to Mark, which wasn’t something you did with someone who was just a fling. She’d been stupid to think she could give him her body while protecting her heart, but despite the pain she knew was coming at the end of the week, she couldn’t bring herself to regret these last few days any more than she could regret having Luna.

She didn’t know how she was going to walk away from him when the circus left Bunyip Bay on Saturday, but right now, she was too tired to worry about that. She simply wanted to enjoy this perfect moment, drinking wine with not only the sexiest man she’d ever met, but also the kindest.

As if he could read her mind, he refilled her glass and she snuggled into him as they drank, ate and talked. Neither of them mentioned Dante again, choosing instead to fill their conversation with good memories. Gabi told Mark about some of the times when her mum was clean and trying to get her shit together and they’d had mother-daughter adventures in the various towns they were visiting, and he shared stories from his own childhood, growing up on the farm, how his dad used to drive him as far as Perth sometimes so they could watch the WAFL games together.

She was telling him about the time she climbed Uluru with her mum—before it was discouraged and during one of the times her mum was trying to go clean—when the lights suddenly went out in the caravan. So much for only one drink. Now it was almost midnight and the bottle they’d shared was empty.

‘Is that my signal to leave?’ Mark asked.

She laughed. ‘Welcome to circus life, where we only have power sixteen hours a day.’

He smiled and tucked some strands of flyaway hair behind her ear. ‘I should go anyway. It’s getting late and you need to get some sleep.’

But neither of them made a move.

A few minutes later Mark broke the comfortable silence. ‘Can I ask you a question?’ He didn’t wait for her to give him the go-ahead. ‘If it wasn’t for Luna, would you stay here, in the circus, with Dante’s family?’

Chapter Twenty-one

Mark felt Gabriela stiffen in his arms.

‘There’s no point playing the what-if game; it is how it is.’ She took another sip of her wine, then leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘But... thank you.’

He chuckled. ‘For what?’

‘For everything,’ she simply whispered.

‘You don’t need to thank me,’ he said, pressing a kiss against the side of her head. ‘This last week has been the best damn week of my life.’

He thought he heard Gabriela say, ‘Mine too,’ but when he looked down, he realised she’d fallen asleep.

She felt so good in his arms. He wanted to stay like this forever, but after the day she’d had, she needed better sleep than she’d get resting against his bony shoulder. He should sneak out before anyone saw him. What would they say to Luna if he was still here when she woke up?

But despite these thoughts, he couldn’t bring himself to break this moment yet.

Just a few more minutes to feel her warmth and inhale her perfectly Gabriela scent. He wasn’t sure whether it was her shampoo, her soap, or a perfume, but whenever she was close, he smelled hints of vanilla and honey. Two of his favourites.

No wonder he couldn’t get enough of her.

A few minutes turned to ten before he forced himself to push their glasses to the other side of the dollhouse sized table, and somehow managed to manoeuvre himself so he could slip his arms beneath her. He scooped her up, so he was carrying her exactly how he’d carried Luna earlier that day, certain she’d wake as he lowered her onto the bed. The fact she didn’t showed just how exhausted she was, and he felt guilty for keeping her talking so late, yet at the same time was glad she’d trusted him enough to tell him what she’d suffered at the hands of the man who’d promised to love and protect her above all else.

He got the feeling she’d never admitted what had happened between her and Dante to anyone else. How could she? His parents might not believe her, and she clearly adored them. But did Eve and Lorenzo really care about her as much as she thought? They had to have had some inkling as to what was going on right under their noses. It was hard enough to keep a secret in a town the size of Bunyip Bay, it had to be impossible in a tiny community such as this one. If they’d known and turned a blind eye, they were as culpable as their son.

And Gabriela had never had anyone else to turn to. Dante had made sure of that by not allowing her to make friends.

Mark doubted she’d ever have confided to anyone in the circus anyway. They’d have been the Jimenez family’s employees, and she’d have been scared to rock the boat because of Luna, scared that Dante could end things with her, force her to leave but not allow her to take their daughter.

It sounded as if he’d already done his best to wedge a rock between them.

Bastard.The anger he’d struggled to contain while Gabriela told him about her abusive marriage reared up again as he pulled the light sheet over her body. His gaze caught on the photo frame on the bedside table—Dante’s smug face smiling up at him as he stood between his girls, gripping them like they were trophies rather than loved ones—and it was all Mark could do not to pick it up and smash it.

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