Place Your Betts (The Marilyns) (18 page)

“I don’t need one.” Her life had always been about her career. Now was family time. “I’ve never taken a day off, so I’m due. Make it happen.” Betts ended the call.

She’d never hung up on anyone before, but this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Tom was her priority, and she’d be damned if she’d miss another minute of his life.

“Trouble in paradise?”

Betts turned around. Gabe looked amused in an I-knew-it sort of way. Tom stared at her like a lost boy whose personal idol had taken a tumble from the pedestal he’d built up.

Her heart crumbled into a million pieces, and she wished she could snap her fingers and rewind the last five minutes. Manners were very important to him, and she’d completely forgotten hers. She should have handled it differently. Losing her temper only made her a loser in his eyes.

“You have to understand. They threatened me. I want to take some time off to be with…um...to rest.”

She chewed on her top lip and willed Tom to forget that she’d gone all diva.

“I need to get going.” Tom pushed past her and walked out the front door. Outside, a car door slammed, the Mustang’s engine fired up, and the car rumbled down the driveway.

Gabe propped his feet on the coffee table. “Nice to know the old Betts is still in there.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her voice was an octave higher and teetered between tears and rage. If he wanted a fight, she was a walking, talking hurricane of pent-up emotion. Fighting with Gabe would feel a lot better than sitting around, beating herself up over hurting Tom.

“Someone backs you into a corner and you come out swinging.” There was no mistaking the pride in his voice. “No matter what it costs you.”

“Thanks.” She crossed her arms as her mood mellowed. “I think.”

It was pretty damn hard to pick a fight with level-headed Gabe.

“It was a compliment.” He took a step toward her. “You’re scrappy. I use to think it had something to do with your redheaded temper, but no, you’re a fighter.”

“Oh. Um.” Her eyes met his, and all the sincerity there had her looking away. Her stomach did a roller coaster drop. His approval meant more than it should.

He took another step closer until they were only inches apart. His glance shifted to her lips.

“What are…” Her voice cracked so she cleared her throat. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to kiss you.”

“Why?” She wheezed out—more asthmatic than sexy. Her heart rate revved up, dispatching heat to some very interesting places.

As if he were handling fine china, his hands cupped her face.

“I like kissing you, and I haven’t done it nearly enough.” He was so close she felt the hiss of hot air as he spoke.

His mouth came down softly on hers. Gone was the randy teen of his youth. In his place was a man who wanted to savor as he reacquainted himself with the taste of her. Taking his time, he made sure she was thoroughly kissed.

Slowly, he drew back and stared into her eyes. Everything else melted away. Right now, she was his whole world. She felt small and delicate and precious. He was taking her idea of scheduled fornication and turning it into lovemaking. The desire for that to mean something was pointless, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Why now?” Betts leaned into him, snaked her arms around his neck, and kissed him back with everything she had. When it came to Gabe, she had no reserve.

He kissed her jawline. “Your indecent proposal. Something about ‘bring condoms’ and ‘hair of the dog.’”

“It’s just sex, no strings.” She wasn’t exactly fishing for his emotional sentiment, but if he had some to express, she’d be okay with it.

“Sex always comes with strings.” His lips found hers again, and she practically forgot her own name. Opening her mouth, she tried to deepen the kiss, but he pulled back.

“Slow down,” he murmured against her mouth. “Where’s the fire?”

“All over. Jesus, where did you learn to kiss like that?” Betts wanted to believe they could keep it casual, but every touch was deliberate and delicate and meant something to her.

He kissed her cheek and worked his way to her ear. “When I was in high school, I dated this fiery little redhead. She spent hours teaching me the finer points of kissing.”

So he had a thing for redheads…shocker. Her warm, lusty haze turned chilly. If he’d wanted to hurt her, talking about ex-girlfriends while he was kissing her would do the trick.

His tongue found that spot right below her ear and sucked lightly. That was the one place that made her body melt. The chill heated up.

“She liked a kiss, right here.” He blew on the spot where he’d just sucked. “Looks like she still does.”

He was talking about her? Pleasure shivered down her body.

“Sounds like a smart girl.” Betts smiled to herself as her fingers worked their way to the snap on his jeans.

“She thought she was.” He pulled her fingers away and brought them to his lips and kissed her palm. “She was always in a hurry. Never learned the value of the slow path.”

“That’s because she wanted to get where she was going.”

“The destination is always good, but the journey is almost as much fun.” Gabe brushed a knuckle down her cheek into the hollow of her throat. “We have all the time in the world. My old man’s out of town for the weekend, and your grandmother’s already asleep. You’re good at sneaking out. She won’t miss you until breakfast.”

“So what, we’re going back to your house to sleep in your room? Don’t you think some of your daddy’s ranch hands will figure it out?” Betts played along. Back then and now, they had to sneak around. It was poignant and painful and oddly comfortable.

“No, ma’am. I’m one step ahead of you. You see, there’s this cabin on the other side of the ranch.” His voice turned serious. “It’s the best I have to offer.”

Gabe had always given her the best of what he had. Whether it had been the new CD player he’d gotten for Christmas or the keys to his prized Camaro, he’d offered her whatever he had to give. It had never been about showing her that he was from the richest family in the county; it had been about her comfort and happiness. How had she forgotten that?

And now his best was a shabby cabin.

The reversal of fortune stung her heart.

She touched his cheek. “It’s perfect.”

Things were getting way too heavy.

His eyes crinkled in the corners as his confident half smile made an appearance. “You want me bad.”

Thank God, he’d felt the need to shy away from heavy topics too.

Betts feigned a yawn. “I did until you started with the small talk. Shall we discuss the weather?”

“Shut up and take off my clothes.” Gabe eased her down on the sofa under him, careful not to put all of his weight on her. He’d always been worried that he’d crush her. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him down on top of her.

“Can’t, I’m too much of a lady. We, of the gentler fair sex, like to be wooed and seduced.” She finally got his belt buckle unfastened, popped the snap on his jeans, and circled him. He was hard and ready.

“If you don’t stop wooing me, I’m going to embarrass myself.” He stilled her hand. “Slow path…don’t forget.”

“I didn’t forget, I just don’t agree.” Betts popped the snap on her jeans. If he went any slower, they’d be members of AARP by the time he got down to business.

“Let me.” Gabe yanked her tee shirt up and over her head. “Stubborn. Your way or the highway.”

“I like to think I’m persistent.” She shoved his jeans down and pressed her hips to his. “And I’m open to new ideas as long as they match mine exactly.” She reached behind her to unhook her bra.

“Oh, no, you don’t. That’s for me.” He reached around her, unhooked her bra, and slipped each strap down her shoulders. Then he unzipped her jeans and, in one long movement, peeled them off her legs, taking her panties too. “Happy now? You’re naked from head to toe.”

“Not exactly. I’m wearing body lotion.” Raking her nails across his back, she wanted to leave her mark. He was hers, no matter what happened later. Right now, he belonged to her.

“I’m not going to pretend that wasn’t sexy as hell.” His tongue fondled one nipple and then the other. He took his sweet time sucking and licking. Shifting his weight to his arms, he kissed his way down her belly.

He froze. “Oh my God, what happened to you?”

She glanced down. Her cesarean scar. She’d forgotten it was there. Now was not the time to talk about Tom’s birth. That bridge needing crossing…later…much later. She wrapped her thighs around him and pulled him back down on top of her. “It’s nothing. I had to have a little surgery…. It was a long time ago.”

“But—”

“I’m fine.” Cupping his chin, she turned his focus from her scar to her face. “It looks worse than it was.” She gave him a loud smacking kiss on the lips. “Sex now…don’t get distracted.”

The concern in his eyes faded into a lazy desire. “Your wish is my command.”

“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all day.”

He kissed his way down her throat, lingered a moment at each nipple, continued down her belly, and hesitated at the scar that ran from her left hip almost to her right. He started on the left and tenderly kissed the jagged line that had brought her son into the world.

The gesture should have been sweet, but it made her feel self-conscious, and she fought the urge to cover her scar with her hands.

“Wow, you never do anything halfway.” His tone was playful as he kissed it one more time.

“That’s me. Go big or go home.” She arched her hips in invitation.

“That’s one of the things I admire most about you. Life’s never dull when you’re around.” He nuzzled her inner thigh. His hands gripped the backs of her knees, pulling up and opening her to him. “Red, I sure have missed you.” His mouth came down on her center, no preamble, no warm-up, just right to the sweet spot.

All self-consciousness fell away, and her body would have blushed if it weren’t already rosy with lust. He hadn’t named her Red because of the hair on her head.

His tongue was gentle but demanding. Some long-ago comment he’d made about liking the way she’d tasted and how hearing her moan as he pleasured her drove him wild drifted through her mind. He’d said that her pleasure was his pleasure—he’d meant it. Betts arched, opening wider to him, closed her eyes as the world fell away and every muscle in her body tensed little by little, the orgasm back building like a late-summer thunderstorm. Her hips moved against his tongue, prolonging the torture.

“Harder.” She could barely breathe. “Please.” She hovered on the brink.

Gabe slowed, and his mouth turned gentle. His light touch was agony.

“Bastard.” Her hips thrust hard against his mouth, urging compliance. The slow path.

He cupped her ass and held her still. Gabe took his own sweet time, his tongue stroking…sucking…stroking. Betts fisted her hands in his hair as her hips arched and body quivered toward the edge. His mouth turned savage again, and the tidal wave of orgasm took her. The slow path had some merit.

Gabe plunged into her to the root, and the breath caught in her throat. Thrusting hard and deep, over and over, his body was as hungry as hers. Betts increased the pace and gave as good as she got. The second orgasm took her by surprise, and as she rode the warm, liquid wave all the way to the shore, she heard him gasp, and then his body relaxed against hers. He’d made sure she’d gotten her pleasure before he took his…just like before. He’d always given before he’d taken.

And just like her teenaged self, she’d noticed his kindness. Tenderness for a man she’d once loved squeezed her heart.

Gabe rolled to the side, gathered her in spoon fashion in front of him, kissed her shoulder, and buried his face in her hair. Her body fit perfectly against his.

The air conditioner clicked on, and Betts shivered.

“Cold?” Gabe reached around her, plucked up his shirt, and took great care covering her.

This was too familiar. Too much like old times. Alarm bells went off in her head, and she took a couple of deep breaths. She would not lose herself again.

In a matter of seconds, seventeen years of self-control and sophistication fell away, and she was the same plain girl who had fallen head-over-heels for the handsomest boy she’d ever seen. This was all her fault. She needed to get out of here before things got worse and she blurted out her undying love for Gabe.

Oh God, she was in love with him. She sat up. Not falling in love, but in love because she’d never stopped.

This was supposed to be about sex and only sex. Love wasn’t part of the plan. She needed to leave; she had to think and work out what to do.

Betts scrambled up, snatched her jeans off the floor, and struggled into them. She couldn’t look at him. Tonight, she’d met the same boy she’d fallen for, only now he was rougher around the edges and twice as dangerous. Life had just gotten incredibly complicated.

Gabe stared at the wall as the front door slammed shut. Betts was pissed, and he didn’t have a clue why. They’d wanted each other, had each other, no emotion—just like she’d wanted.

He sat up. What did he want?

True, she could get under his skin, and sex between them had always been volatile, but it had been grounded in love. Now the foundation was missing. They’d mutually gratified instead of made love. He combed his fingers through his hair. It sucked.

He swallowed.

It was the past all over again. She was the one person in the world who could truly make him angry. He stood and gathered his clothes. Betts was also the only woman in the world who had ever made him feel loved. Happiness had been easy around her.

Every minute he spent with her made it harder and harder to remember why they hadn’t made it. And he still didn’t have a clue what she wanted.

***

Tom pulled the Mustang up to the curb in front of Kaitlin’s house. Nerves made his hands shake as he picked up two red roses and carefully extracted himself and the flowers from the car. He hadn’t had time to run into Longview to buy some nice flowers, but Manny’s Mini Mart sold single red roses. After a short internal debate about candy and deciding that peanut M&Ms weren’t the best love offerings, he’d picked up two roses—one for Kaitlin and one for her mother. He’d never been on a date before. Weren’t flowers and candy part of the deal? Next time—God please don’t let him screw this up so there’d be a next time—he’d have a huge bunch of flowers for Kaitlin and a box of chocolates.