Forever & an Engine (34 page)

‘I already
want you so badly Gabe,’ I sighed as I looked up at him in all his gorgeousness
and felt the firmness of his body pressed against mine.

He gave a
small smile of satisfaction to see me so full of longing for him and I gasped
as he ran his hand between my thighs and cupped me, stroking me over my trousers
with his middle finger while he moved to kiss and bite the side of my neck. I
felt myself pulsate, he could turn me on in an instant. I moaned as he
continued to stroke and bite while he walked me back against the pool table. He
moved his hand and very carefully slid it into my knickers as his other hand
started to squeeze my breast.

‘
Gabe,
’
I sighed as I sagged against him. His mouth moved onto mine, hot and heavy and
the hand in my knickers moved lower until his middle finger lightly touched my
clit and I squirmed. I was on fire to feel his touch again and was on the
ascent to a climax from that alone. I let out a big groan and just as I was
settling into enjoying him working on me, he pulled his hand out and stood upright.

‘I think
dinners ready,’ he stated and walked back to the kitchen leaving me standing with
my mouth wide open in shock. Had he really just got me all worked up and walked
off to check on dinner, leaving me all frustrated? I did my best to stomp up
the stairs in a temper, but it hurt my stomach too much and I had to give up
and take it slowly. I woke Lexi who hopped out of bed and walked down with me
and I opened the kitchen door glowering at him. He gave me a wicked grin and a
wink. ‘Have a seat ladies.’

The table
was already laid with cutlery, napkins and small wine glasses. He uncorked a
bottle of white wine and carried the lasagne dish over and set it on the table before
returning with a plate of the hot focaccia. He dished up some generous portions
before pouring us all some of the wine.

‘Gabe, can
I move in and live here?’ asked Lexi with her mouthful.

‘You like
my cooking too?’ he asked as he blew on a mouthful and put it in his mouth.

‘Your
cooking, house, wine, cinema, exactly how rich are you?’

‘
LEXI.
’
I kicked her under the table and gave her a
how dare you
look.

‘The house
and most of the contents are my dad’s Lexi, but if you’re checking if I’m a
suitable candidate for Mia, I can assure you I’m very comfortably off.’

‘So what
are we talking? Up to £250K, £500K, £1 Million, just give me a ball park,’ she
asked and he looked at her amused, then stole a quick glance at me as I sat
open mouthed at Lexi’s bare faced cheek. She was so out of order.

‘More,’ he
responded and he broke eye contact with me and looked down at his dinner as he
pushed his fork around the plate.

‘Excellent,’
nodded Lexi as she chewed away, seemingly oblivious to my fury. I pushed my
chair back, threw my napkin on the table and walked out and instantly headed
for Robert’s lounge to have some time alone, it would take him some time to
find me in here, if he even came looking. How could Lexi have even asked that
after I made it clear I wasn’t interested? And why did he respond? Did he think
it would impress me? I was seething. I curled up in one of the wing back chairs
by his fire and hugged a cushion to my chest. I heard Gabe frantically shouting
for me, but chose to ignore him. Eventually the door opened and heard him sigh.

‘Panic over
I’ve found her Lexi, give us a minute.’ I heard the door shut. ‘Mia what the hell?’
he snapped.

‘I could
ask you the same,’ I said without looking at him.

‘What did I
do? You stormed off and hid and let me race all over the house trying to find
you. Didn’t you hear me calling you?’

‘Yes and I
chose to ignore you, which is what I’m trying to do now and you’re not taking
the hint,’ I snapped, wishing he’d just go away until I’d processed how cross I
was with him.

‘I don’t
understand what just happened.’

‘Then you
need a lesson in understanding how
not
to piss women off Gabe. Please go
away.’ I still refused to look at him, he always broke me when I looked at him.

‘No.’

‘Fine I’ll
just sit here and ignore you,’ I hissed.

‘Fine I’ll
just sit here and wait until you talk to me,’ he sighed. I heard him sink into the
chair opposite me and I could just see his feet and legs and watched as he put
one ankle up on his knee. I bit my lip and focussed on the cushion against my
chest and we remained silent for about five minutes, it felt like five hours. ‘Christ
you’re so bloody stubborn we’ll sit like this all night. I’ve no idea what I
did, so I’ll apologise and you can just get over it ok?’

I felt the
steam leaving my ears and looked up, glaring at him. ‘Just get over it? Are you
fucking
kidding me?’ I spat. He raised his eyebrows at me and gave me a sexy
heart-warming smile.

‘Wow baby, you’re
kind of extra hot when you’re angry.’

‘Don’t try
making me laugh, I’m mad. No worse than mad, I’m bloody furious,’ I hissed.

‘Is this
about me teasing you earlier and walking away?’

‘Partly.’

‘I was
playing.’

‘Well I
didn’t appreciate it Gabe, it was cruel.’

‘
Cruel?
’
he looked at me with a surprised expression.

‘Yes. How
would you feel if I did that to you? After days without touching you, I just
walked off mid-way through a hand job?’

‘Ok I’m
sorry, I made a mistake,’ he said, seemingly sincerely as he looked at my hurt
face. ‘I thought it’d be a nice build up to later.’

‘Fine
apology accepted, but it’s not to happen again. You start you finish.’

‘Like
Magnus Magnusson?’ he asked as he tilted his head. I saw a smile play on his
lips and scowled at him again, despite wanting to laugh. ‘So what’s the other “
partly
”
bit you’re pissed off about Mia?’

‘You know
what and don’t think Lexi’s going to get off lightly either.’

‘The money
thing? That’s what this is about?’

‘Yes,’ I
replied narrowing my eyes as I looked at him, this time he didn’t look
surprised, he already knew that was why I’d reacted.

‘I’d have
thought most woman would be happy to know I could take care of them financially.’

‘I’m not
most women Gabe and you know how I feel about people bragging about their
money, or using it buy me. It doesn’t impress me.’

‘You seriously
still think I’m trying to buy you?! Whatever. I wasn’t bragging, I was asked a
question and responded truthfully.’

‘You did it
to try and impress me. You still don’t trust me after yesterday.’

‘What does
this have to do with yesterday?’

‘You’re
still worried I’ll leave you, so you saw an opportunity to tell me how much you
were worth to make sure I’d have extra incentive to stay.’

‘Mia that’s
… ridiculous,’ he replied with a slight stutter. I watched him as he flushed
slightly, broke eye contact and looked at his fingers stroking one of his
nails.

‘Is it Gabe?
Look me in the eyes and tell me that wasn’t why you said it? You promised never
to lie to me.’

‘
Mia,
’
he sighed.

‘Don’t “Mia”
me. Look me in the eyes Gabe. If I’m wrong I’ll apologise, but I’m not am I?’ He
sighed again and shook his head. ‘You don’t trust me?’ I whispered.

‘I’m still scared
you’ll leave me Mia,’ he looked up at me and this time held my gaze.

‘So you
thought telling me you had a million pounds would help?’ I asked, feeling hurt
that he thought I was that shallow.

‘I don’t
have a million.’

‘You just
said you did.’

‘No I said I’d
got more, I’ve got just over three and a half,’ he shrugged, like that was
normal for a 19 year old. I looked at him open mouthed again and shook my head
and pinched the top of my nose. ‘Mia, when mum died she was also dad’s business
partner, so there was a substantial key man life insurance pay out and dad
invested it all in my name. For ten years his broker played with the funds to
get a large a pot as possible for me, which I inherited on my 18th birthday. I
kept £500,000 back in deposit accounts, the rest’s invested long term and pays
a good monthly income.’

‘A good
monthly income?’ I laughed. ‘A good monthly income’s £1,000 like I get from my
dad. At 5% on that amount you’re looking at over £12,000 a month Gabe.’

‘Nice maths.
And the problem is?’

‘Not the
money, the fact that you don’t trust me.’

‘Because I
didn’t tell you about my money?’ he asked looking puzzled.

‘No, that
you think your money will bind me to you. I actually don’t give a shit about
your money Gabe, in fact I hope you and your money will be very happy together.’
I stood up and walked to the door, but wasn’t quick enough. He leapt to his
feet, grabbed me and spun me around, trapping me against the door with his
hands either side of my shoulders.

‘So I was
right to be scared. You’re leaving aren’t you?’ he said angrily.

‘I’m angry,
I was going to leave the room and slam the door to make my point, then go to
bed and ignore you for a while, but you’ve just ruined that,’ I snapped,
flashing him another glare.

‘You
weren’t leaving me?’

‘Of course
not. I’m pissed off and needed time to cool down, but you’ve just proved my
point as you don’t trust me to stay. You obviously don’t think very highly of
me either if you thought your money would cement my love for you.’

‘Mia I’m
sorry, after yesterday I’m still scared. I thought if you knew how much money I
had it would make you feel more secure about us.’

‘Well you’re
a
dick
.’

‘A dick?’
he said, looking astonished.

‘Yes a
dick. I can’t keep reassuring you Gabe, I tell you I love you, I show you I
love you, what more can I do? I can’t keep apologising for trying to protect
you yesterday, it was about you, never because I don’t love you enough.’

‘Mia I’m
sorry ok? I just need time to deal with yesterday, you really hurt me. I love
you so much I’m prepared to give up what I want to keep you.’ He sighed and
lifted my chin to look at my face. ‘And I’m worried that you might love me
enough to change your mind and leave me for doing just that,’ he whispered the
last part and I felt my eyes well up and the tears spill over the brim.

‘Shit Gabe I’d
gone nearly all day without crying,’ I moaned as I gently thumped him on the
arm. He wiped the tears rolling down my cheeks with his thumbs.

‘Mia
please, can we just agree that we both come with baggage and we’re working on
it?’

‘Ok,’ I
whispered. He pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head.

‘Mia, can I
ask you a favour?’

‘You can
ask.’

‘Will you
come back and finish eating your dinner?’

‘Ok, it was
pretty good,’ I mumbled into his chest. He led me back to the kitchen and Lexi
quickly picked up her phone to try and look busy. She sneaked a glance at me
and I gave her my best death stare, I’d deal with her in the morning when we
were alone. She pulled a face and picked up her wine.

‘I’m going
for a bath and then to bed. See you both in the morning, thanks for dinner Gabe.’
She hot footed it out as Gabe microwaved our cold meals. I sat at the table and
drained my glass of small glass of wine while he watched amused. His face
changed when I reached over to pour another glass.

‘Sorry one
of my baggages, I’m working on it.’ I smiled sweetly at him and he shook his
head. We ate quickly and I managed another glass of wine and was feeling a bit
squiffy, it must be from mixing the alcohol and my painkillers. He knocked back
the rest, I suspected in an attempt to thwart me from drinking more.

‘Dessert?’
he growled sexily, as he gave me his best smile, knowing what it did to me.

‘No thanks,
I’m ready for bed.’

‘So does
that mean I can Magnus you now?’

I slapped
his arm as I giggled. ‘I’d love you to Magnus me now, but we need to clear up
here first.’

‘Fuck that,
I want to make you come.’ He hurried me upstairs putting on the bedside lights
and closing the shutters. As I stood by the bed and he approached me, I
suddenly felt all shy. ‘You’ve gone all pink. Are you embarrassed that I want
to do this to you without us fucking?’

‘Yes,’ I
whispered hanging my head.

‘O Mia, that’s
so adorable.’ He grabbed the hem of my jumper and pulled it over my head and made
an appreciative noise when he saw my red lace push up bra. As he ran his finger
along the edge of the cup I closed my eyes and let out a little sigh. He
gripped my bottom and pulled me to him and slid his hands down the back of my
yoga pants, squeezing my cheeks before kissing me tenderly. I was solid butter
one minute, melted the next, I’d absolutely no control over my response to his
touch. He crouched down taking my trousers with him and made me step out of
them and stood up to look at me in my bra and matching red lace knickers. ‘O
baby. How did I get so damn lucky?’ he sighed.