Page 51 of It's Always Been You
I gape at him. “The tree fell late last night, and it’s only seven-thirty in the morning. How can your assistant already have that information?”
Gabe leans forward, hands on the counter on either side of me, boxing me in. His ocean and pine scent wraps around me, and he’s close enough that I can see all the different shades of blue in his eyes and feel his breath flutter over my face when he talks. “I’m not sure if you heard, Rory, but I’m kind of a big deal. When I need something done, it gets done, and it doesn’t matter what time of the day or night it is.”
I swallow hard, uncharacteristically speechless, and turned the fuck on by this little display of alpha-captain of industry masculinity. The Gabe I used to know was mostly cheerful puppydog. This added edge to him, sharpened by grief and success, really suits him.
It suits me too. Jesus Christ. I shift in my seat to make sure my underwear is still present and accounted for and hasn’t completely disintegrated.
“Nothing to say, Rory baby?” Gabe leans a little closer to me, eyes falling to where my pulse is no doubt fluttering in my neck from my pounding heart. Then he meets my eyes, mouth curling into a smirk. “That’s okay, I’ll just say one more thing. Don’t bother looking for a rental. You won’t need one. Your place is right here, with me.”
Okay. We’re doing possessive Gabe. That’s hot too. My feminism turns to dust and floats away, but I manage to keep hold of one tiny piece to put up a fight that sounds less than half-hearted, even to my own ears.
“Since when is my place with you? My place has always been with myself.”
Gabe leans in even more so he’s whispering in my ear when he speaks again. His voice is low and raspy. A shiver runs down my spine.
“Since I got to taste those perfect lips again. Hear you moan into my mouth. Put my hands on you and have yours on me. Call you my fiancée. Even though that part isn’t real, I still like it. I know what you’re thinking. What is this? What can it be? Is it just leftover feelings from before, or can there be something new here? What’s going to happen? I don’t know the answers to all of those questions yet either, but I sure am looking forward to finding them with you.”
Then he stands and winks at me, dropping a kiss to my nose and stepping back, a grin on his face.
“I have something for you.”
His quick mood shift has my brain working a thousand miles a minute to keep up. “You already brought me coffee.”
“It’s better than coffee.”
“Nothing is better than coffee,” I say, taking another sip of my perfect peppermint mocha. Some people might say peppermint mochas are a winter drink. Some people are wrong.
“This is.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small velvet box. I draw in a sharp breath and rear back in my chair.
“What the fuck is that?”
He chuckles at my tone and flips open the top of the box. I literally gasp because what I’m looking at is the engagement ring of my dreams. It’s a round diamond set in a rose gold diamond band, and if all the engagement rings in the entire world were in front of me, this is the one I would pick every single time.
I gape up at Gabe, who is looking at me with a face full of amusement.
“Never seen an engagement ring before?”
“How did you know?” is all I can manage.
I have no idea how, but he seems to understand the question perfectly. He reaches out with his free hand and pushes a piece of hair behind my ear, trailing his fingers down my jaw. “I know you, Rory. I always have.”
His touch seems to bring me out of my daze, and I regain the power of speech. “Okay, but why is this here in your hand right now?”
“The whole point of this fake engagement is so your very important client won’t know we lied to Brad and, in turn, the entire world, about you being my fiancée. What do you think he’ll think if you show up to the meeting today without an engagement ring?”
“I hadn’t thought about it,” I mumble, irritated with myself that I hadn’t. I’m usually on top of shit like this. Gabe being back here is scrambling my brain.
“Well lucky for you, you have me.”
Gabe takes the ring out of the box and picks up my left hand, locking eyes with me. “Will you be my fake fiancée, Rory? I’d get down on one knee, but the thing is, I hope one day I get to propose to you for real, and I’d kind of like to save the one knee thing for when it’s real.”
I narrow my eyes at him, ignoring the way my stomach swoops at the thought of him down on one knee, proposing for real. “What makes you think you’ll be getting down on one knee for me?”
Gabe brings my left hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles, keeping his eyes on me the whole time. “I told you, I’m manifesting. So, what do you say? Can I put this ring on your finger so you can go fake out asshole Brad and his very important uncle?”
I sigh. “How did you even get a ring so fast?”
“About the same way I already know it’ll take six weeks for your house to be finished.”
