Page 10 of My Girl
“Jay–”
“I promise, sis. I know you worry.” He paused. “I will. I promise,” he repeated.
“Okay. I’ll take your word for it. Hang on a second.” She cocked her head. She’d heard a car door and wondered if it was Gabe coming back from the store. When she heard the key in the front lock, she spoke quickly. “Gabe’s back. I’ll work on getting him to therapy and let you know how it goes.”
“Please do. It’s unhealthy the way he keeps things bottled up.”
“Yeah, I agree.” The front door swung open. “When do you think you’ll be able to make it back home? We all miss you.”
“I’m working on it. As soon as I can get the admin side of things sorted and the guys over the first couple new tour dates, I’ll be on the first plane home. I can’t wait to eat one of Mom’s meals. I dream of them.” Sheridan heard him talking to someone before he said, “Sorry, sis. I have to go. Give my love to everyone. Chat soon.”
“Okay. Chat soon. Love you millions.”
“Love you more.”
Sheridan heard the call disconnect. Placing her phone down on the sofa beside her, she turned her attention to the big, brooding man now in her kitchen. He was unpacking the shopping bags onto the counter, but she could see he was favouring his injured right arm.
“Hey there,” she said, getting up and going to investigate the mound of food he was haphazardly stacking.
“Hey.”
“Everything all right, Gabe?”
“Yeah, all good.”
Something in his voice sounded off. He wasn’t being honest with her. He was telling her what he probably thought she wanted to hear, but she could hear the lie behind the words. For long, silent moments, Sheridan studied him while he continued to unpack the last of the groceries. She saw the strain lines around his eyes, how he was clenching his jaw.
He looked up briefly from his task. It had been on the tip of her tongue to say something, but the pallor of his skin and the haunted look in his eyes had her biting back the words. Instead, she said, “What’s all this? Is there anything left at the store?”
Gabe stopped and looked around at the chaos he’d created on the kitchen counter. He turned to her, his expression sheepish. “I guess I got a little carried away.”
Laughing at his understatement, Sheridan slung an arm around his stiff shoulders. “Never fear, good sir. I, thankfully, have a healthy appetite.”
Her good humour seemed to ease the stress of whatever had been troubling him when he’d returned home. She noticed his shoulders relax under her arm, and his smile reached his eyes this time.
She felt that endearing lift of his sexy lips all the way down to her toes. She’d lusted after this man since she was a teenager. He’d grown from a good-looking youth into a breathtakingly handsome man. She wasn’t particularly short at five-foot-seven; however, he topped her by a good eight inches at six-foot-three.
The thing that had always drawn her to him the most were his eyes. They are said to be the windows to the soul, and Gabriel’s definitely were. She’d seen both pain and gentleness in their depths, even before she’d fully understood what either meant. She’d recognised the beauty of his spirit every time he’d looked at her, despite her young age.
Gazing up into the rich amber of his eyes, she felt herself fall just a little more. She’d loved him since she was little. He’d been her champ. As she’d grown older and hormones had made themselves known, that love had morphed into something a little different. A little less innocent.
Sheridan got lost in his warm gaze. Before rational thought kicked in, she went to her tiptoes and laid her lips on his. She absorbed the touch of his warm skin on hers. Relished it. She’d wanted him for the longest time, just never had the courage to do anything about it.
Now she wanted it more than she could ever remember wanting anything.
With what sounded like a groan of surrender, he wrapped his arms around her and hauled her up tight against him. She gasped at the unexpectedness of it, and he deepened their kiss, sliding his tongue inside her mouth. He cupped the back of her head in his large hands, angling her head, the better to take more.
A lick of heat twisted low in her abdomen. She’d only imagined this in her wildest dreams. Gabriel’s hands trailed tenderly down her neck and over her shoulders, down her back until they slid over the generous swell of her ass. He squeezed, and this time, it was Sheridan who couldn’t hold back a moan.
She pulled at his T-shirt until it cleared the waistband of his jeans – jeans that loving moulded to muscular thighs. She slipped her hands under his shirt and gloried in the feel of his warm, smooth skin under her palms. Running her hands up his back, she paused in her exploration as she encountered a puckered scar just under his right shoulder blade.
Gabriel shifted, widening his stance, the better to ravage her mouth, and she felt the rock-hard length of him notch into the vee of her legs. Involuntarily, her hands clenched, and her nails dug into his skin. His husky growl, low in his throat, had her going wet. She was more turned on than she’d ever been.
He caught the hem of her tank top in his hands and pulled it up, breaking their kiss only long enough to pull it over her head. Sheridan felt his hands at her breasts. He moulded the flesh, squeezing gently. Finally coming up for air, he stepped back. His hooded, lust-filled look had her blood pressure spiking.
He bent her over an arm and lowered his head to take a tightly furled nipple into the warm cavern of his mouth. With a strong tug, he had her legs going weak, and she was thankful for the support his arm gave her. She felt his fingers on the zip of her jeans. Desire curled through her.
Her zip halfway down, she and Gabriel were jerked out the moment with the jarring ring of her cell phone in the silence. Gabriel dropped his forehead to hers, breathing harshly.
