Trusting Gibson (Last Score Book 2) (11 page)

Suddenly the penny dropped. Chloe was intuitive, so the chances were, she’d know that if Morgan had been around me for a long time, that I’d probably fucked her. And I had…multiple times. And up to as recently as last month in fact. But to the both of us it was like going to the gym. A workout. There were no feelings involved, just two people who loved to have sex and she was a good match.

Why the fuck didn’t I warn Morgan not to come to the cabin? How did she even know I was here? I couldn’t remember telling her where we were going. We’d spoken when she rang just after Charlotte called me with the news that Chloe’s apartment had been ransacked, but I never mentioned that I was coming here. When Morgan asked if she could come over to the hotel before we left for the cabin, I had mentioned that I was heading out because of a security issue.

Guess she knew me better than I knew myself and figured that I would come here and didn’t realize that Chloe would be with me. How the hell had she got here so quickly? How Morgan had the ability to turn up in different states was beyond me. Wandering into the kitchen, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Morgan stopped, looked up at me and gave me that beautiful smile that was like a warm drink on a cold day.

Smiling warmly back, my eyes darted to my phone to check the text from Johnny.

Johnny: Roger that. You have until the morning at least. It wasn’t easy talking her down from the ledge.

As soon as I saw the text, I just wanted Morgan to disappear. I had one night to convince Chloe that she should be with me and that wasn’t going to be easy with a fuck-buddy hanging around. So I texted him again.

An hour. Emergency with Morgan. Take her away.

Once I’d informed Johnny that Morgan was on the scene, I knew he’d come good on figuring a way to get her out of the cabin. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I wasn’t going to let my friendship with her get in the way of what was happening between Chloe and me.

I suppose I could have tried to speak to Morgan about Chloe, but I felt weird because I’d been fucking her for a couple of years and I’d never been in the situation where I had a girlfriend and a fuck friend in the same place at the same time.

Hell, I hadn’t even thought about Morgan in the time I’d been with Chloe. We saw each other a few times a year and spoke on the phone quite often, but she was always in some kind of drama and she did use the fact that she was ‘Gibson Barclay’s friend’, which pissed me off sometimes. She said it opened doors for her, but I’d never have used her name if the roles were reversed.

But she was the only woman I’d met that gave me a run for my money as far as being hooked on sex and she was fun, like one of the dudes—but with a pussy. Morgan hit on me. In fact, I don’t remember instigating a single session we’d ever had, those particular ideas were all on her.

“Hungry? I figured eggs were the way to go as it’s late. Good gig?” Morgan had prepped everything in a bowl that she took from the fridge. She’d obviously been here some time to have managed that, but waited until I arrived to start making us an omelet. Reaching into the fridge again she took out a tossed salad and a large bottle of white wine. Sashaying past me, she placed it on the table beside the two glasses and place settings that were laid out.

Watching Morgan work around the kitchen, I looked at her and back to the table then wondered why she hadn’t set it for three, because she undoubtedly knew that Chloe was here. I sat down casually.

“Did Chloe not want something to eat?” Morgan spun around with a confused look on her face.

“Chloe?”

Morgan may have thought she was being smart, but I was way too clever to fall for the bullshit I felt was coming.

“Chloe…is that the chick you’ve been boning? Must say I was surprised you brought her back to your personal space Gibson, she looks a little needy. I tried to converse with her but she was pretty pissy with me. You know the funniest part? She called herself your girlfriend.” Morgan was smirking with her eyebrows raised, like Chloe had said something incredulous to her.

Pushing back the chair with my legs I stood and began walking down the hall again. Morgan called out after me. “Hey, where are you going, Gibson? The eggs will get cold.” Ignoring her, I pushed the bedroom door open and I saw Chloe lying on my bed. She’d been crying, her tear stained face all blotchy, and I wanted to scream in frustration that someone else had hurt her while I wasn’t around.

Being mindful of not startling her again, I murmured softly. “Chloe…are you awake, darlin’? Her eyes fluttered open slowly and they were dull with sorrow, it almost destroyed me. To think how she was feeling was somehow my fault made my heart ache. Walking slowly toward the bed, I said, “Morgan is a friend, Chloe. Nothing more.”

“Not true, Gibson. Women don’t just appear in cabins in the wood miles from anywhere with a key to let themselves in and know where everything is instinctively in your home. It seems pretty clear to me that she’s well versed at being here. You told me you didn’t have a girl, but as far as I can see Morgan is as near to one without the title as you could call it.”

Fuck
. Chloe was right. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention to how Morgan had snuck more and more into my life. But, I didn’t think there was anything ‘together’ about us. We were just two people who got together now and again, had fun and fucked each other’s brains out. So when I looked at it that way, I knew that ultimately I was going to have to choose between Chloe and Morgan.

Another thing that I had only just realized during our conversation was that Morgan hadn’t tried to welcome Chloe, she’d tried to ostracize her by making me dinner so that I’d spend time with her, knowing that Chloe was elsewhere in the cabin.

“Get up, Chloe. Get the fuck out of that bed and come with me. Let’s get this sorted out.  What did Morgan tell you? I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. Morgan is a friend but she’s not indispensable. Not when she comes between us, darlin’.”

Chloe stood up and I could see the hesitancy and insecurity on her face, so I tugged her tight to my chest. Smelling her hair and that awesome feminine smell she had affected my dick like no other woman ever had. I was still horny from the gig but I had to deal with this with my other head and not the one on the end of my dick.

She was tense in her stance and I couldn’t stand the resistance, so I squeezed her tighter and waited to feel her body relax enough to submit to me hugging her. Once she did, I felt it was salvageable but it depended on how I treated both women.

There was no way I wanted to humiliate Morgan, but I had to make it clear that Chloe was the girl that was going nowhere. Actually, I was fooling myself because being with her meant that Morgan and I were never going to be in the same place again… if I was serious about being with Chloe.

Leaning back to look up at me, her eyes full and brimming with tears, Chloe’s soft broken voice sounded hurt.

“I can’t bear that you’ve been sleeping with that woman Gibson. She’s different than all the others. This one has a name…and a voice and knows her way around your place. Please don’t make me go out there.”

 Chloe pleading with me gave me a tight feeling in my chest. On the one hand, she was telling me she was hurt and that would have ripped my heart out, but there was this excited little skip that happened, like it missed a beat and that made me feel elated because she was jealous. If she was jealous, she was definitely feeling some of what I was feeling.

Bending forward, my lips brushed her ear and I whispered in a calm voice. “Trust me, Chloe. I got you, darlin’.

Initially she looked hesitant then I felt her tiny hand slip into mine. I squeezed it to reaffirm that I had her and there was nothing anyone was going to do to change that. At that moment, Chloe dug deep and started to walk with more confidence although I saw that waver when her eyes dropped in the direction of the floor. I lifted her chin and kissed her softly on the cheek then slipped my hand from hers, slid it around her waist and drew her close.

By the time we reached the kitchen her hand was around my waist in return and the picture we presented was one of unity. As soon as I saw Morgan’s face, I felt sorry for her. The shocked look she had told me that maybe she had begun to think there was more going on with us than there was.

Maybe it was me that was in the wrong and strung her along? From my perspective, I had never once said anything that even hinted we were more than friends with benefits. Morgan had done all the chasing but I never saw it that way until tonight. I just thought she had more time on her hands, so had been the one that kept the contact between us going.

“So Morgan honey, what’s in this omelet you made?” Walking past her, I reached into the cupboard and got a plate and began to put together a place setting for Chloe.

“You must be starving after all that energy you expelled this afternoon, Chloe.” Seeing the pink tinge on Chloe’s cheeks was always a turn on, especially when it was me that put it there, so I smiled and leaned in to kiss her slightly parted lips. Chloe’s eyes flicked in Morgan’s direction and I placed my hands on her cheeks, knowing that it would block her line of vision from Morgan, and took her mouth in a hungry kiss.

Part of me felt shitty for doing that to Morgan, since Morgan was maybe the one girl I did have some thoughts about, but not in the way I thought about Chloe. Thoughts were one thing but my feelings… they were all for Chloe, so I couldn’t afford to be that considerate with so much at stake between us. I’d speak to Morgan another time and explain my feelings and apologize if I had ever given her the wrong idea.

Chloe surprised me by sitting down at the table and chatting as if nothing had happened and Morgan, who was usually very extrovert, in her conversation, was practically silent. I had to hand it to her, as tiny as she was…Chloe could do sassy when it mattered.

At one point near the end of the meal, Morgan seemed to rally and tried to put Chloe down by not remembering her name then saying she was sorry, because she’d seen that many girls with me. I could have kicked her ass about that and scowled at her because I knew she was trying to raise my temper and embarrass me.

Morgan should have known better. Nothing embarrassed me about the women I had been with. I just had a few regrets about it now that I knew Chloe. Chloe had been there and seen me at my worst for herself. The fact that she was still with me, and had taken a chance, showed the strength of character that was somewhat buried beneath the timid way Chloe conducted herself most of the time, but I had no doubt about the awesome woman she was inside.

Chloe pushed her chair back and carried her plate and mine to the counter top.

“Morgan, that was beautiful, I’m stuffed. You make a mean omelet. It was nice of you to come all this way to cook for Gibson after his concert.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow at Chloe and got up with her plate, wandering around the counter to place hers in the sink.

“Gibson has a huge appetite, Chloe. I know that all too well. He’s kind of insatiable when it comes to putting things in holes.”

Morgan’s challenging smirk to Chloe was delivered to intimidate and shock her. Chloe’s irritation was clear in her eyes when they flicked to mine and I saw a fleeting look of annoyance before she bit her lip. For a second I thought she was going to cave, when she brought her forefinger to her lip and tapped it and adopted a kind of dreamy look.

“Mmm… doesn’t he just. And he does it with incredible precision and skill as well.”

Chloe had a slightly pink tinge in her cheeks again, but this time she was smirking knowingly and there was a look of defiance as she wandered over to me. Snaking her hand up my bare abdominal muscles to rest over my heart, she landed a quick kiss on my mouth.

“I don’t know how I got through that entrée when dessert was in full view, Gibson.”

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth and I knew she knew she’d delivered a corny line of her own, but Morgan’s face was ashen and there was a kind of panicked look about her, as if she had finally realized what Chloe was to me.

We heard the outside door close, and Johnny called out, “Where is everyone?”

Pretending to be surprised, I called back before he came into view, “Johnny, what are you doing here at this time of night?”

Johnny stepped appeared from the hallway with a grim look on his face, and I made a note to give him a raise, he was playing the part.

“Jerry is a mess, he’s in the van. He’s in a real state. He found out his wife was having an affair and he’s been drinking heavily, but so have I. He won’t stay with me and insists on driving. I need someone to drive him to a hotel.”

Johnny turned and addressed Morgan, “Oh, Morgan. Hey, honey, I didn’t know you were here. Can someone give me a hand? You were drinking with me at the gig, Gibson, so I know you can’t help. You haven’t been drinking have you, Morgan?

 Morgan threw the towel on the side. Johnny knew she had a sweet spot for Jerry. They were great mates, but I don’t think she ever fucked him.

“I’ve had a glass of wine but I should be okay to drive. Let’s see if we can talk him in here first, I’d rather he stayed with us if he’s as emotional as you say he is.”

Morgan pulled on her long black leather boots and her black faux fur jacket, flicking her long shiny brown hair over the collar, then headed for the door. Johnny winked at me and turned to follow. I fucking loved that guy almost as much as Chloe at that point for coming up with a clever plan to remove Morgan from the scene with minimum drama.
Wait. Do I love Chloe?

CHAPTER 10 - SPEECHLESS

Chloe

When Johnny told Gibson about his wife, my heart went out to Jerry. I knew how he felt from the first time Kace cheated on me, but after he’d hit me a few times his affairs were a distraction and a welcome relief for me.