Wished Away: A Broken Fairy Tale (23 page)

He nibbles on my bottom lip when he makes work of the button to my jeans and has them hovering just above my waist making me go crazy with desire. When he makes his way back to my mouth, he pauses for a moment and I swear, I feel my heart weave into his, because the look of true adoration has never been so clear. Our frantic pace is frozen in this moment and I try and memorize everything about it knowing how soon everything can be taken away. I notice the way his eyes fill with excitement when I trace my fingers along his bare chest, along his beautiful tattoo, and how the faint scar on the side of his broad chin is the only place that doesn’t have the rough stubble that I assume is purposely there, and I love it.

When he moves to kiss me again instead of ripping off my clothes like I wish he would, I see hesitation sneak across his face and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let another night go by without being with him. “Gage, please, take me now. I’ve waited too long, and don’t want to wait anymore.” I find the boldness that makes me, me, and am pulling Gage’s pants down before he can answer. I hear the deep gruff of his laugh, and I can see just how much he wants me by the enormous bulge in his tight, grey boxer briefs and let my gaze take in every curve of his divinely cut abs. Before I can get my hands back on him, Gage takes my hands and brings me back up to my feet and lifts me up and lays me down on my bed. He’s like an angel from Heaven, standing over me, the light from the hallway shining on him like a goddamned halo. I can only think to myself,
if this isn’t a sign I’m doing the right thing, then I don’t know what is
, and the thought makes me smile.

Gage smiles down at me as he hovers above me, his eyes drinking me in. “I told you before, Jessica,” he leans down and kisses between my heaving breasts, taking them in his hands and caressing them as he trails kisses back up my neck. “I’m going to spend this
entire
night showing you how much I love you.” He nips at my ear and pulls back and looks me square in the eyes, reaching my soul. “You fill the hole in my heart.”

I don’t know why, but when he says that I’m his, I turn to butter and want nothing more than for it to be true. “I’m all yours.”

He laughs momentarily before kissing me so passionately that I almost explode with ecstasy.

The night is just as he promised. He made sure every inch of me, mind, body, and soul knows that he truly does love me, and for the first night in years I think only of him. Only of Gage.

I wake up looking out onto the lagoon just as the sun begins peeking over the houses thinking it is the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen. I roll over hoping to have an opportunity to unabashedly gawk at Gage’s sexy body when I’m met with bright blue eyes and a hotter-than-hot face grinning from ear to ear, and smile back while self-consciously pulling the blanket over my nearly naked body. He grabs my hand to stop me. “Oh no you don’t. I was enjoying myself.”

“I bet you were,” I joke, and continue to pull the covers up, “but it’s twenty degrees outside and I’m cold.”

He reaches over and easily pulls me up against his warm, hard body. I love the feeling of his skin next to mine and don’t think it’s something I can ever get sick of. I already love the way our bodies seem to fit together perfectly, as if made just for each other. A part of me thinks that could actually be true. After everything we’ve both gone through, there’s no one else who could truly understand me, the
new
me, the way he does. I don’t have the nagging guilt I usually feel when I think of a future with Gage, and for a moment, I actually allow myself to imagine one. But then my love sick haze is cleared with a bitter gust of reality, and I remember that Gage could be leaving me, and my bliss is quelled with fear. I was so caught up in my longing to be with Gage, my need to connect with him, that I forgot that fleeting topic that Joey revealed at dinner.

“What’s going on in that little head of yours?” He presses a kiss to my forehead and tilts my chin up so I’m looking into eyes so caring, that it almost breaks my heart in two.

I decide not to ruin the moment. “Just thinking about last night,” I say and lean in, placing a kiss on his full lips.

“Oh, no you don’t. What’s wrong, babe? I can see it in your eyes. Are you ok?” He looks as if he’s trying to read my mind when he tucks my hair behind my ear and a look of understanding crosses his face. “Does this have to do with what Joey said last night?” He answers his own question before I get the chance. “Of course it is.”

I try to sit up so that we can have this conversation, but he doesn’t let me, and pulls me down up against his naked body and turns my face so that I have no choice to look at him, fully dominating me in every way. “I won’t take it if you and Charlotte won’t come with me, Jess. I want you to know that before anything else is said.” His voice is so steady it almost unnerves me.

“But…”

He cuts me off, his voice deep and demanding. “No buts, Jessica. I know it all seems to be happening so fast, but we have both been broken hearted for so long, I don’t want to wait anymore. I love you, Jessica, and I’m not going anywhere without you.”

I don’t know if my heart will let me get the words out if I look into those compelling eyes, so I look down at our entwined hands. “I love you too, Gage, more than you probably realize. More than I ever thought possible.” I make the mistake of looking up at him to see the sadness looming because he knows what’s coming next. “Joey said this is a chance of a lifetime. Your dream. And I want nothing more than for your dreams to come true. But it’s not just me I have to think about. I have Charlotte. And I can’t take her away from her friends and family when she’s lost so much already.” I brush the stray hairs that hang so perfectly off his brow, knowing that I’ll never be able to get him out of my heart after last night. “It doesn’t have to mean the end for us though, does it? I could visit…”

“Just take a deep breath and shut up, Jess.” Gage is almost laughing at me and I have no idea why. He presses his forehead to mine, taking in a deep breath with a puzzling grin playing on his sexy face. “Yes, it’s an opportunity of a life time, but so are you, Jess. Some people spend their entire lives looking for true love, and I’ve been lucky enough to find it twice, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose it again.” His voice is harsh and captivating all at once.

“I…”

His lips crash against mine leaving me breathless and with no doubt that I’m not going to be able to argue the point. I allow the flicker of happiness that was ignited last night burn a little while longer as he once again proves his love for me.

I have no idea how he talked me into it, but here I am, standing hand in hand with Gage at the door to an old bed and breakfast in Bay Head that still looks as if Hurricane Sandy was yesterday rather than a few years ago. Its black shutters are chipped and hanging loosely against the worn gray shingles of the three story Victorian mansion and there is debris everywhere.

“Why is it we’re here again?” I ask wondering if it was even safe to be standing on this rickety, weathered porch.

“My family bought this property and the two others in this cul de sac. This one will be a restaurant, and the other two made into bed and breakfasts,” he says nonchalantly and walks over looking in one of the windows as if what he just said is something most families do. Sure, most people in Mantoloking are wealthy, but each one of these homes, ravaged by the storm, are still worth over several million each.

“Um, ok,” I say sarcastically. “How freaking rich are you, Gage?” Oh man, here I go talking before thinking, but this was all just too much.

“I told you I still hold stock in my family business. They need me to sign off on this stuff, but I don’t take part in much else. It’s not usually my thing.” He knocks on the splintered wood and smiles appreciatively. “Although, I may have to be a little more involved in this project. Something like this is much more fun than hotels.”

“How can you do this and be a doctor? Something like this will take a lot of time and energy. When will I ever see you before you leave for Ohio?” My voice is raised and I’m glad his parents are still nowhere in sight.

His deep laugh taunts me, but I can’t resist that playful, predatory smile he gets when he pulls me flush against his body. “Jess, do you ever listen to a thing I say? First of all, I’ve already told you, I go nowhere without you.” He kisses my nose and presses his forehead to mine, “and besides, this place needs so much work, it’d be like surgery putting it all back together, with the added bonus of being close to you.”

“Did you just compare home renovation to heart surgery?” I say trying not to smile, but then the reality of his situation hits me like a ton of bricks. “I can’t be the one to hold you back from your dream, Gage.”

He holds me closer. “Stop it, Jessica. You’ve done nothing but throw up road blocks every step of the way since last night. It’s fine, we’re fucking amazing, and I go nowhere without you.” He grabs me from behind and presses me up against him, letting me know the effect I have on him in the most intimate way. “And as soon as we’re done here, I’m taking you back to my house and proving how perfect everything is before we have to pick up Charlotte.”

He instantly eases my worries when he presses his lips to mine like a cloak of peace. Since the first moment I saw him in the hospital the day Dave died, he was able to touch something deep inside me that let me know things will be alright. And in this moment I think of Dave, and how he had the same effect on me, and can’t help but wonder if I will always compare the two--and if I’ll always feel haunting guilt whenever I let Gage win. My heart is still so tied to Dave, I wonder with the realization of his dreams at his fingertips, if it’s fair to let him give up his future for someone who can’t let go of the past.

Just then a blacked out Land Rover rolls up the graveled street alerting us of their approach before they see us intimately pressed up against each other like a couple of over sexed teenagers. I adjust my hounds tooth pea coat and smack Gage’s shoulder when I hear him growl out his plans for what he’s going to do to me under his breath. I silently scold myself when I think how sexy it is that Gage can be both compassionate and dominant at the same time, and think that I’ve never been so turned on by anyone in my life--anyone.

I’m surprised when I see a giant balding, chubby man emerge from the driver’s seat and wave up at Gage. He doesn’t at all look like the tall, gorgeous man at my side. Gage smiles down at me, and takes my hand in his before leading me to the edge of the porch. “You’re late,” Gage jokes and by the glimmer in his eyes, I can see how much he loves his dad.

I laugh when I notice Mr. Scott turn and give Gage the finger before opening the door for his wife. A gentleman just like his son. When his mother emerges from the car, I instantly see where Gage gets his stunning looks from. Her electrifying blue eyes are the first thing I notice when they meet my gaze with a contemplative expression, watching the way her son has his hand locked with mine. She’s wearing a red wool suit that is tailored to perfection, but quickly reaches back in the car for her jacket when the brisk cool wind picks up.

“Gage, Sweetheart, so sorry we’re late.” She walks up to us embracing her son, but keeping an eye on me the entire time.

Gage still has my hand in his, and when his mother finally lets go of him, he pulls me under his arm and looks down at me with an expression that can only be described as pride. “Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend Jessica that I’ve been telling you about.”

I get flutters in my stomach when he refers to me as his girlfriend. It seems so juvenile, but I love every second of it.

Mr. Scott smiles at me and pulls me tightly into a hug. “You told us all about the amazing things she’s done with her foundation and what a wonderful mother she is, but you left out that she’s a grade-A hottie!” He kisses my cheek and I know I’m blushing.

“For heaven’s sake Mike, give the girls some space. You’ll run her off before you have a chance to show her you’re harmless.” Mrs. Scott turns to me and politely extends her hand. “Please call me Peggy. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Gage has told us so much about you.”