Page 47 of Your Soul to Keep

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.”

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