Page 36 of Always Been Mine

It felt like coming home, and yet, it didn’t feel real.Because it really wasn’t. She had made up her mind never to be with a man like him, but her treacherous heart was screaming at her to take the leap again.

She was suddenly yanked out of her internal musings by the most handsome creature she had ever seen, and for a moment her spirits lifted.

“Oh, my God,” Beatrice gushed as she sank to her knees in front of Gabe’s dog. “Can I pet him?”

“He would love that,” Gabe replied. “His name is Rhino.”

“Aren’t you a handsome one?” She scratched the dog behind his ears and his tail thumped enthusiastically in response.

“Looks like someone else is in love with you,” Gabe said gruffly as he walked past them. What did he mean by that? Beatrice looked past Rhino’s massive head to see Gabe walk into a room. She rose from the floor when he came back and handed her a shirt—a freshly laundered one judging from the smell. She resisted the urge to inhale deeply to absorb the essence of him.

“There’s a full bath in the room down the hallway. Everything you need should be in there, shampoo, towel, stuff.” He headed up the stairs. “I’ll clean up as well and then take Rhino for a walk. Make yourself at home.”

Beatrice heardthe door slam and the scuffle of feet approach. Rhino’s head poked through the door of the guest room. She had finished drying her hair and was now wearing Gabe’s shirt, which came about mid-thigh for her. No panties.

“Hey, boy,” Beatrice held out her hand. The dog came into the room and immediately nosed her palm, trying to snort it. She laughed.

“He really likes you.” Gabe was standing by the doorway.

“Shame on you, Sullivan, using your dog to get to me.”

“That obvious, huh?”

Silence.

This went on for a while. Beatrice playing with Rhino’s muzzle, feeling Gabe’s intense stare on her. She felt herself squeezing her thighs together. Maybe no undies wasn’t a good idea after all. What was she thinking?

“Got a minute?” Gabe finally said, exhaling deeply. “I need to tell you something.”

Gabe wasn’tsure it was a good idea now to bring Beatrice home with him. Seeing her in his shirt, hiked up, exposing her bare legs, sent all the blood in his head to his dick. Was she even wearing panties?

He cleared his throat and jerked his head toward the living room. Seeing her sitting so close to the bed was wreaking havoc with his resolve to talk and not screw. “Uh, I’ll wait for you in the dining room.”

He sat on the chair and scooted it under the table to hide the growing bulge in his crotch. Going commando in sweatpants was not helping the situation at all. He linked his fingers together and bent his head.Shit. Down boy.

Beatrice took the chair right across from him. She was right to put the table between them.

“Okay, Gabe. Talk.”

“Remember when we met?”

Beatrice smiled, her face wistful. “How can I forget? I bumped into you on your way out of Dad’s study. It was during a cocktail party. You weren’t supposed to be there.”

“There was an op that was brewing. There were months of prep work to be done. I was the top choice to go on that mission. It was going to be deep cover, dicey, and a long one.” Unable to help himself, Gabe reached across the table and linked their fingers. “You took my breath away.”

“Gabe—”

“You really did, babe. That night, I couldn’t get you out of my head, so I stalked you, bumped into you on purpose, and asked you out. I couldn’t afford the distraction, really. When your dad found out, he was furious. I couldn’t blame him. It was the worst possible timing.”

“So you were going on a mission, and then you asked me to be exclusive anyway?”

“No. I said I was the top choice, but I wasn’t the only one. Ryker, a good friend of mine, had the same skill set as I had. Had the same background as I do—no immediate family to wonder if we were gone for a long time or if we never came back. I chose to be with you, Beatrice. I bowed out of the mission.”

“But you still left . . .” her voice trailed off.

Gabe closed his eyes as he remembered the memories of that night, and the harsh decisions he had to make. He was breathing hoarsely when he spoke, “Something went horribly wrong. There were so many vendettas within the organization we were going to infiltrate—Ryker got killed when the plane he was in exploded.”

“Oh, my God,” Beatrice whispered.

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