His Unlikely Lover (Unwanted #3) (37 page)

They had had a shower . . . of sorts, after waking from the initial best-sex-of-their-lives coma. They had managed to clean themselves up, but Bobbi had emerged from that shower feeling like the dirtiest woman in the world. Right now, Gabe was sweeping a soothing hand up and down her naked back, from between her shoulder blades, down to just above the swell of her butt, and then up again. Bobbi arched her back and he applied some more pressure until it was a full on, if one-handed, massage.

“I take it you have to go home and get changed before going to work?” he asked, and she yawned.

“Not going to work,” she remembered. “Meeting the ladies instead.”

“What are you all going to be doing today?” he asked, curious.

“Stuff,” she said cryptically, hiding a wince as she remembered their mission for the day.

“Hmm, intriguing,” he responded, bending over to kiss her back lingeringly. “I don’t suppose you’re in an immediate rush to leave then, are you?”

She stretched and turned over onto her back, deliberately allowing the covers to drop away from her breasts. Gabe’s eyes were riveted on the pretty sight before him and she smiled, feeling powerful.

“No rush,” she confirmed, reaching her arms up toward him. He smiled happily and responded to the sweet invitation with a hungry kiss.

“Good, because something’s come up that I need to discuss with you.”

She groaned good-naturedly.

“God, we need to work on your terrible innuendos,” she teased, and he laughed, kissing her again until all thought of laughter fled.

An hour, a shower, and a change of clothes later, Bobbi made her way downstairs to see if there was any breakfast left. The house seemed empty and Bobbi remembered that Gabe tended to give his household staff the weekends off. She wandered onto the patio and found Chase sitting on a garden chair with his long legs stretched out in front of him and a newspaper folded in his hands. He seemed to be reading the sports page. He glanced up when she moved uncertainly in the doorway, and she blushed a fiery red when he took in the miles-too-big T-shirt she was wearing with a pair of Gabe’s old board shorts, which fortunately had a drawstring that she could cinch at the waist to prevent them from falling down around her ankles.

“Morning,” she mumbled, and sat down opposite him.

“Hey,” he greeted, fumbling with the newspaper. She noticed that he was also flushed with embarrassment, and she lowered her eyes to the table and helped herself to some fruit juice and cereal.

“So . . . did you have a good night?” she asked.

“Yeah, it was okay. Did you?” The question was automatic and her hand halted in the act of reaching for the jug of milk. Her eyes flew up and she saw that his face had gone an even brighter shade of red, and when their eyes met, they both froze for a horrified instant before a hysterical sound burbled up from Bobbi’s throat and spilled out in the form of a giggle. Chase’s face relaxed into a grin and a soft chuckle burst from his lips. Before they knew it they were both convulsed in laughter, and when Gabe walked out onto the patio he frowned at the sight of them bent over in amusement.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, and that just set them off again. In the end Gabe gave up on getting a straight answer from them and just sat down and watched them with a bemused smile. By the time their laughing fit had faded into nothing but intermittent chuckles, they had both overcome their initial embarrassment and had rediscovered their camaraderie.

“So, I’m guessing the answer to that question was yes?” Chase smirked, and Bobbi tossed a grape at him, unable to prevent the slight flush that crept back into her face.

“Shut up before I decide to share details,” she threatened, and he winced.

“You wouldn’t?” He looked horrified, and she smiled smugly.

“Don’t test me.”

Gabe rolled his eyes at the banter and sighed.

“I don’t think I want to know,” he admitted, and Bobbi turned a beatific smile on him before blowing him a kiss.

The rest of breakfast passed pleasantly and before she knew it, Bobbi was waving good-bye to Chase and Gabe was walking her home.

When they reached the gate, she told him she could manage the rest of the way herself, but he insisted on walking her to the door, and she cringed at the thought of her father being at home and seeing her in the state she was in. She wasn’t only obviously wearing Gabe’s clothes; she had whisker burns on her face and neck and a couple of bruises on her arms that the shirt didn’t cover. To his credit, Gabe had been horrified when he’d seen the bruises all over her body that morning.

He held her hand all the way home and when she let herself into the house, it was so quiet she immediately knew that her father wasn’t around. She heaved a small sigh and gifted Gabe with a gorgeous smile of relief.

“He’s going to find out eventually, Bobbi,” he said.

“I know that, but at least it’s not today.” She hugged Gabe happily. “I mean we
just
told him that we were dating and then two nights later we’re sleeping together? Better to get him used the whole dating thing first.”

Gabe kissed her cheek before reluctantly letting her go.

“I’m going to miss you today. Stay safe okay?”

“Theresa, Alice, and Bron all have security details. I’ll be perfectly fine while I’m with them,” she reassured brightly, and while he didn’t look completely happy, he looked somewhat mollified.

“Don’t speed,” he warned as he turned to leave.

“Won’t.”

“I mean it,” he stressed, obviously not convinced.

“So did I.” He sighed and gave up, leaving with a frustrated wave.

Bobbi watched him go, keeping that bright smile plastered to her face until he had turned toward the back of the house as he headed for the gate. The smile fell from her lips to be replaced by devastation the moment he was out of sight.

She had told him that she loved him so many times last night and he hadn’t come close to responding. It was terrifying to feel so much for someone and have them feel nowhere near to the same emotion in return. At least he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her, which was somewhat comforting, she supposed.

She shook her head and went upstairs to get changed for her outing with the Mommy Club ladies. If nothing else, they always cheered her up.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

A
s the Valentine’s Day Ball grew closer, Bobbi became more and more of a nervous wreck. She had a dress all picked out for the occasion, one of the many she had bought the week before when she had gone shopping with her friends. She had been astonished to find that after she had been dragged from one boutique to the next that she had a clear fashion point of view that was uniquely hers. The dresses she had chosen made her feel like
Bobbi
. In a dress.

They weren’t conventional or conservative or anything remotely similar to what any of Gabe’s former lady friends had worn, and Bobbi was anxious about what he would say. As a couple, they were growing closer by the day, and they spent as much time together as possible. Bobbi had slept at his place every night, and while her father obviously knew about it, he never mentioned it to Gabe
or
to Bobbi.

Bobbi told Gabe that she loved him often and while he accepted the words and even seemed happy to hear them, he never reciprocated. And every time it felt like a barb through Bobbi’s heart. Still, she was unable to stop and often said it while carried away in the moment.

In the meantime the flowers had started coming again, one a day, every day when she was at work. At least there weren’t heaps of bouquets anymore, which Quinton, the sarcastic delivery guy, was grateful for and Craig and Sean were grumpy about.

The cards, which were now in envelopes since he knew she would read them, contained information on what the flower meant along with a really bad “poem,” which always brightened up her day.

On Monday she received a single aster—which apparently meant contentment.

Tuesday (after a particularly raunchy night) it was a snapdragon—desire.

Wednesday’s white iris had meant that she inspired him.

On Thursday a pretty gardenia had told her that she brought him joy (that had made her choke up a little).

And Friday’s flower was hand delivered by the man himself, who had decided to take her to lunch. She was sitting flat on her butt next to the left front tire of a car and working on replacing a broken CV axle joint when he walked in.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he greeted as he crouched down next to her. He brought his hand out from behind his back. “I brought you a hibiscus. It commends your delicate beauty.” She laughed helplessly at that one, knowing she looked far from delicately beautiful at the moment.

“Thanks. Hold on to it for a while, will you? I’m rather busy right now.”

He nodded.

“You wanna grab some lunch once you’re done wrestling with that beast?” he asked.

“Hmmm, maybe. This might take a while,” she grunted.

“I can wait. I’m going to have a chat with Sean,” he informed, and she watched him turn and leave, admiring his butt as he walked away.

She went back to the task at hand and was halfway done when the drift chisel slipped as she was trying to hit the end of the CV joint and angled sharply downward toward her leg. The sharp end sliced through her overalls and scored into her thigh just above the knee. She sucked in a breath as the pain hit her, and the chisel and hammer clanged to the floor as she clutched at her thigh and bit back a scream. She clamped a hand over the wound as she tried to stem the flow of blood and immediately began to feel a bit woozy at the sight of all that red.

Sean was busy telling Gabe about girlfriend number two dumping him when they heard Bobbi cry out, followed by the sharp sound of metal hitting the floor. Craig and Pieter looked up too, and they all took an instinctive step toward her that broke into a full-out scramble to reach her when they saw her listing to the side.

Gabe’s heart stopped and he dashed over to where Craig and Pieter were already crouched next to her. Craig was swearing profusely and Pieter confirmed Gabe’s worst fears by yelling at Sean to call an ambulance.

Gabe slid to his knees beside her and all he could see was red . . . so much damned blood.

“What happened?” he asked, but everybody was bustling and panicking and Bobbi was unconscious and nobody would tell him. “
What the hell happened?
”

Craig looked up grimly; he had a hand clamped over her thigh and an arm supporting her back.

“Chisel slipped, I think,” he said succinctly. “I’m not sure, there’s a lot of blood. It may have nicked an artery.”

And in that instant Gabe’s own life flashed before his eyes—a future life . . . the one he should have with his Bobbi by his side. A future filled with laughter, joy, love, and children. One that he might lose before he even properly recognized that it was what he desperately wanted.

“No,” he ground out between clenched teeth. He would
not
lose her like this. It just wasn’t acceptable. He yanked off his tie and leaned in beside Craig, feeling sick at the sight of all that blood. It was actually starting to pool beneath her, and he tried not to think about how much she was losing and how dangerous it was. “Move your hand a bit but don’t let up on the pressure.” He instructed Craig, who did as he was told without question. Gabe used his tie to fasten a tourniquet around her thigh, just above the wound.