I’ll Be There (22 page)

Gabriella rolled her eyes.

“There'll be cake,” he said in a singsong voice. “And you know you like cake.”

“Well, now you're just being ridiculous.”

In a flash, Zach had her pinned beneath him. “I don't see it that way. Everything about us makes sense and everyone knows it. I'm telling you, there is going to be a collective sigh of relief when we're not arguing at work anymore.”

The laugh came out before she could even stop it.

“What? What's so funny?”

“Zach, it is in your nature to argue,” she said when the giggles stopped. “Things may be a lot more pleasant, but you're never going to stop arguing with me—or anyone for that matter.”

“I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?” Lowering himself down so he could nuzzle her neck, Zach felt Gabriella soften and sigh beneath him. He nipped and kissed his way up the slender column of her throat and when his lips finally covered hers, he felt as if he was coming home.

Slowly, her arms came around him and were soon followed by the silky glide of those long legs.

Perfect.

“Zach.” She whispered his name on a sigh, arching up to press more firmly against him. He knew they should be tired. He knew he should probably let them both rest. But his need for her was too great. He'd been denied the pleasure of touching her and kissing her for far too long, and he was anxious to make up for lost time. So he silenced her words with another kiss.

This time there was no uncertainty. This time, Zach had all the confidence a man could have. The thought of possibly not being able to follow through never entered his mind. The only thing on his mind was the woman moving restlessly beneath him, and pleasing her, loving her.

Keeping her.

Forever.

* * *

“For the tenth time, I don't mind.”

“It's not a big deal. I can totally cancel the session.”

“Zach, you've come so far with your therapy,” Gabriella said. “Now is not the time to start slacking off. Besides, I really wasn't…prepared for what happened here today. I've got things I have to do.”

“You're going to come back though, right?”

It wasn't that she didn't want to come back; she did. But having some time and space between them to digest the events of the day appealed. “Why don't we just play it by ear? You know, see how you feel after your session.” Walking over to him, she placed a kiss on his cheek and then finished buttoning her blouse. “Besides, you may be too tired. You've had quite the workout already.”

She hoped her teasing tone would lighten the mood.

It didn't.

“Do you think I'm still too weak to handle sex and a therapy session?” Zach snapped.

Rather than argue, Gabriella turned and leveled him with a glare. “I rest my earlier case on the arguing theory.”

Zach raked a hand through his hair. “You're right. I'm sorry. I just…” He stopped and sighed loudly. “I just don't want you pitying me or thinking less of me.”

And that took a bit of the fight out of Gabriella too. Walking over to him, she wrapped him in her arms and kissed him again. “Believe me when I tell you I certainly don't feel any pity for you, Zach Montgomery. You're the strongest man I know.”

He kissed her fiercely. It was hot and deep and ended just as quickly as it started. “Come back later.”

She chuckled softly. “We'll see.”

Knowing Alex was going to be arriving shortly, Gabriella went to work putting Zach's room back in order—making the bed, fixing the pillows, and making sure it looked as if they hadn't spent the entire day making love in it. When she was satisfied everything looked all right, she walked out to the living room and found Zach sitting on the sofa looking over one of the files she had brought earlier.

“I'm hoping we can start going through those tomorrow,” she said, doing her best to get back into her “assistant” mode before Alex showed up. “There's a lot of them, but I think together we can get through them and really have a leg up on some new business for when you get back to the office.”

She stopped. She wanted to ask him if he had a plan or a specific time frame in mind for when he'd feel ready to make that step, but so much had already happened for him, she figured she should just let it rest for now. When he was ready, he'd let her know.

“How did we let so many customers go without contact for so long?”

She shrugged. “We were getting new clients all the time and some of them were big accounts. These are all relatively small—not all of them, but the bulk of them. I think we were just focusing more on expansion and working with the clients who really needed us. When I was looking through the files the other day, it seemed like some of these were just consultations or one-time investors. But enough time has gone by that I think it might be nice to simply touch base with them and see if there's anything we can do to help them and their businesses.”

“Won't it sound a little bit like we're trolling for business?”

“Absolutely not. We're not cold-calling anyone and—” She stopped when her cell phone rang out with an incoming text. “Sorry. Excuse me for a minute.”

Zach sat back and watched her brow furrow as she read the text before sending off a quick reply and putting the phone back in her bag.

“Problem?”

“Hmm? What? Uh…no. It was nothing.”

“Gabs, come on. I know you better than that.”

Sighing, she turned and faced him. “Honestly? It was from your uncle.”

His brows rose. “My uncle? William?”

Gabriella nodded.

“What did he want?”

She really didn't want to get into this with him. Especially not today. Not after their wonderful, wonderful day. “It's nothing.”

“Gabs?” he prompted.

“Okay, fine. He was letting me know about a position that just opened up in the San Diego office. You know, the one your cousin Christian is running since Ryder went back to North Carolina.”

With his mouth firmly shut, Zach studied her for a moment as if trying to read her mind.

“I'm not interested in going to San Diego, Zach,” she finally said after letting him sweat it out for a minute. “I'm not going to lie to you, a couple of weeks ago I would have jumped at the opportunity, but now? I'm not looking to go anywhere. I'm exactly where I want to be.”

Rising from his seat on the sofa, Zach walked over and stopped right in front of her. “Are you sure?” he asked softly, his eyes scanning her face. “I know I didn't play fair. I pulled out all the stops to keep you here with me.”

“Was seduction part of it?” she asked as her heart beat wildly in her chest.

“No. I begged and groveled and apologized, and I played on your sympathy. I know that. But seduction had nothing to do with business. How I feel about you is another matter entirely.”

Gabriella swallowed hard. “How
do
you feel about me?” Her words were spoken so softly, she wasn't sure he even heard her.

Zach closed the distance between them. “I'm in love with you.”

She gasped. It wasn't possible. “You…you can't be. It's too soon. It's—”

He placed a finger against her lips. “We've been there already today. I didn't plan on saying it like this but…there it is. I'm in love with you.” He removed his finger with an unexpected feeling of relief. And then he laughed with joy. “There. I've said it. I finally said it out loud. I'm in love with you, Gabriella Martine.”

“But…”

“I'm not pressuring you to say it back to me.” And then he kissed her, and Gabriella felt all the emotion, all the love he had for her in it.

When they broke apart, she skimmed her hands down his cheeks until they rested on his shoulders. “Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow,” he replied with a knowing smile.

While she wasn't ready to profess her love to him—yet—she couldn't deny how strongly she did feel about him. If only to herself. Before she could say anything else, the doorbell rang. “That'll be Alex.” She couldn't hide the slight disappointment in her voice even though she knew she needed to go. Even though just a few minutes ago she actually wanted to go, the kiss had her reconsidering.

“I know.” Zach didn't even try to hide his disappointment. “It's not too late for me to cancel our session. He'll understand.”

She playfully swatted him away. “Stop. This is important for you, and like I said before, I have things to do too.” Stepping away from him, she walked over to the door and let Alex in. Then she made quick work of getting her things together before Zach could change his—or her—mind.

Zach caught up with her at the door and kissed her hard. “Come back later.”

Dazzled by the intensity in his gaze, in his touch, she replied, “I'll be here later.”

* * *

Honestly, Gabriella didn't have anything to do. She needed to make sure Zach continued to commit to his therapy sessions, and if she hadn't left, he would have canceled. The last thing in the world she wanted was to be responsible for any kind of setback with Zach's recovery.

Driving around aimlessly, she chuckled. Heck, even if she hadn't known the extent of his injuries, his performance today would have been spectacular in and of itself. But knowing how hurt he'd been—how, up until a few weeks ago, he could barely walk—she was even more impressed.

She'd never had a doubt in her mind that Zach Montgomery was going to be phenomenal in the bedroom. Besides being incredibly athletic and physically fit, he was sex on a stick personified. Gabriella had lost count of the number of fantasies she'd had over the years about what it would be like to make love with Zach.

The reality was enough to make her blush.

It was hard enough to wrap her brain around the fact she and Zach were lovers. Hell, it was still a bit mind-boggling that they were working civilly with one another. But having Zach tell her he loved her? She was at a complete loss for words.

A panic attack was beginning to make her twitch and she knew she needed to talk to somebody. Calling Summer was her immediate thought but, as usual where Zach was concerned, it seemed a bit awkward. Unfortunately, Summer was the only one who could possibly understand what Gabriella was going through.

Ten minutes later, she kicked her shoes off and collapsed on her sofa at home. She closed her eyes and began to imagine the conversation with Summer. She'd explain how things had progressed with Zach, without too many intimate details because…well…gross. Then Summer would get all excited about Zach's profession of love. She'd ask how Gabriella felt about it and if she was in love with Zach.

Was she?

Could she possibly be? For real? After all this time?

It didn't seem possible. She could handle being Zach's assistant and even being his friend. But his lover? His… She stopped. That was what she couldn't let herself believe. If Zach was truly in love with her—and why should she even doubt it?—the next logical step would be to become his…wife.

She groaned.

“I so need to talk to Summer,” she muttered as she sat back up and reached for her phone. She nearly screamed when it rang as soon as she put her hand on it.

William Montgomery's name and number came up on the screen. She had texted him back earlier that she appreciated the offer for the position in San Diego but things were fine for her with Zach. Either he didn't believe her or he was making sure she really meant it.

“Good evening, Mr. Montgomery,” she said as she answered the phone.

“Gabriella! Come now, I thought we had moved on from all that formality. I insist that you call me William.”

She couldn't help but smile. The man simply had a knack for making her smile no matter what was going on. Maybe it was his voice or just his infectious enthusiasm for just about everything. Either way, tension seemed to release from her body as she sat back and relaxed.

“Okay…William,” she said, but it still felt like she was being a little disrespectful. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I'm calling to check on you. Last we spoke, you were pretty much all fired up to quit on Zach and seemed open to a move and even a promotion within the company. Are things really better between the two of you?”

You have no idea
, she wanted to say. “Actually, Zach and I finally had an intense heart-to-heart a couple of weeks ago. We got to the root of our problem with one another and decided we make a good team.”

“Really? Well, that's wonderful! Although I have to admit, I'm a little sorry you won't be going to San Diego.”

“Oh? How come?”

He sighed. “I don't think you've ever met my nephew Christian. He's my brother Joseph's son. He's been running our European division for the last six years. We didn't think anything would ever bring him back to the States but for some reason, when Ryder needed a break and wanted to take a leave of absence, Christian volunteered to come home.”

Gabriella had heard some of this before but wasn't sure where William was going with all of it. “I don't understand what this has to do with me, William. Last I heard, he was doing fine with the San Diego office. I've talked with his assistant many times—particularly after Zach's accident. What could I possibly do over there?”

“Actually, as I'm sure you're aware, his assistant Beth is pregnant.”

“I know,” Gabriella said with a smile. “It's her first child and she's been telling everyone how excited she is.”

William chuckled. “It's an exciting time, for sure. However, when she first found out about the pregnancy, she planned on taking maternity leave and then coming back to work.” He paused. “But she's changed her mind. She wants to be a stay-at-home mom now, and honestly, I think it's great.”

“I do too.” And Gabriella truly felt that way. She couldn't imagine not staying at home with her own baby—if and when she had one—no matter how much it would inconvenience Zach or whomever she was working for at that point in time. “So Christian is going to need an assistant.”