Page 52 of It's Always Been You
“I should really just stop asking questions like that, huh?”
Gabe kisses my hand again. Fuck, I like when he does that. “I hope you won’t. I love when you ask me questions. I just love the sound of your voice.”
“You know, when you say things like that, it makes it really hard to resist you.”
Gabe winks at me. “That’s my plan, Rory baby. Now, will you wear my ring?”
I huff out a breath. “Okay, yes, Jesus. I’ll wear the gorgeous, completely perfect ring. Stop begging.”
Gabe chuckles and slides the ring onto my finger. Of course, it’s the perfect fit.
“How did you know my ring size?”
He shrugs. “I texted Julie. She gave me her number in case I never needed it. I needed it for this.”
“You texted…” I trail off and then laugh, because everything about this is surreal and I have no idea what the fuck is going on.
Gabe keeps hold of my hand and grasps my chin with his other hand, forcing me to keep my eyes on him. “Rory, there is literally nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Nothing. If it’s in my power to do it for you, I will. And I’m lucky enough that almost anything is in my power.”
I don’t have time to respond before he leans in and kisses my lips softly. It’s a quick kiss, but my body still buzzes with electricity.
“Now that that’s done, breakfast?”
His casual disposition, despite just putting a ring on my finger, is throwing me off base, which I’m sure is part of his plan. “I don’t eat breakfast.”
“You eat muffins,” he says, grabbing the paper bag and walking to the other side of the counter. Opening the bag, he takes out three muffins, setting them on a plate he grabs from the cabinet, and takes a knife out of a drawer. In a move I’ve seen him do a thousand times over our years together, he cuts each of the muffins in half and pushes the plate towards me so it’s between us. Then he puts a hand on my cheek, tipping my head up so my eyes meet his.
“Come on, Rory. Eat three halves of three different flavor muffins and drink your coffee and tell me all about your plans to kick dickwad Brad’s ass at your meeting later. I love having you in my house, and now you’re wearing my ring. Be here with me right now.”
With no reason not to, that’s exactly what I do.
Chapter Eighteen
Molly
“So, you decided to grace us with your presence.”
I groan internally at the smarmy voice behind me. Doing my best to ignore him, I open my laptop and pull up my notes for the meeting.
“I said, so good of you to join us.”
I just manage to restrain myself from jumping at Brad’s voice, closer now, and turn lazily in my chair to find him just inside my personal space. I adopt my most bored expression before I speak.
“Forget how to tell time, Brad? It’s nine-thirty. The meeting starts at ten. I am, in fact, not late at all.”
Brad smirks at me, but the look in his eyes is calculating. I’m immediately on alert. “I guess I assumed you would be here for breakfast. You know, the one my uncle and I had earlier this morning in the executive dining room.”
I fight to keep my face neutral, but inside, I’m incandescent with rage. Of course I wasn’t invited to fucking breakfast. Harvey Randall is as old fashioned as they come, and in his mind, there are many places women don’t belong. Chief among them is a power breakfast in the executive dining room.
“Couldn’t make it,” I say breezily, wondering idly how strong my rage has to be before I spontaneously combust and burn down the building.
“Too busy with your billionaire fiancé, I assume?”
“In fact, my billionaire fiancé was busy this morning. He’s a real man who actually works hard for a living instead of just sailing through life expecting to be rewarded for doing absolutely nothing. Not that you would know anything about that.”
I smile sweetly as Brad’s face turns bright red. He opens his mouth to respond but doesn’t get the chance because Harvey chooses that moment to stroll into the conference room. Tall and imposing even in his sixties, Harvey Randall has salt and pepper hair, a perma-tan from all his time spent golfing and yachting, and a wardrobe better suited to the Palm Beach country club where he spends half the year than a Pittsburgh office. He has benefitted from immense generational wealth and success and loves to remind you about it.
“Molly dear, lovely to see you.”
