Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“Uh, okay well, it looks like you’re in good hands. I’m going to get out of here, but you call me if you need anything. Gabe, call if she needs us, okay?”
He nods and agrees but never takes his eyes off me.
I turn my head to look at Cat. “Thank you again.”
She just smiles at me. “Anytime, you know that.”
Cat leaves, and Gabe steps into the house, shutting and locking the door behind him. He brings one hand up to my cheek. “You could have called me earlier, ya know. I would have come.”
I sigh because I know I could have, and no matter what he was doing, he would have come running. “I know, but you had plans, and I didn’t want to—”
He cuts me off, shaking his head. “You call me from now on. I mean, if you need me or want me, you call me. It’s as simple as that. Don’t think about what I might be doing because no matter what it is, I would rather be with you.”
As I look into the depths of Gabe’s eyes, I can’t help the way I feel. Everything he says—everything he does—I wonder if it has a different meaning. This is the same way he’s always treated me, but it feels different now, and I wonder if it’s my feelings that are the reason I’m questioning everything.
I back away from him. “You’re going to ruin me for other men, Gabe.”
I turn away from him and take a shuddering breath, and I swear I hear him say, “Good.”
I stop and spin around so fast, I grab onto a chair to keep myself steady. “What was that?”
He rubs his hand across the stubble of his chin. “Nothing. You want some tea? Ice cream? What do you need?”
I shrug, feeling the weight of the day. “Nothing, really. I want to lay down and try to forget about today.”
He nods, and his jaw tightens. “Go ahead, get in bed.”
I don’t move because I don’t know how to tell him I don’t want to be alone, but I don’t have to say a thing. “Go ahead, honey. I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to get some waters, and I’ll be right there.”
My eyes widen. “You’re going to stay the night?”
He rolls his eyes. “You really think I’d leave you alone?”
“I hope not.”
He reaches for me, but before he touches me, he stops and pulls his hand back. “Go ahead. I’ll be right there.”
I walk down the hallway to the bathroom off my bedroom. I take care of business and brush my teeth, averting my eyes from the mirror. My eyes are still red-rimmed and my lips are swollen. When I finish, I walk into the bedroom, and Gabe is looking at the pictures on my bedroom wall. I stop next to him. “Did you see the new one?” I point at the picture of him from two months ago. “When you got promoted to captain and we all went to celebrate.”
I look at the picture I took, and it’s him with all our family. He nods, but he’s not smiling. “You’re not in it.” He turns his head to look at me. “Yeah, I have one with the two of us that night. Holden took one and sent it to me. I’ll send it to you.”
I nod. “I didn’t know he took one. That sounds great. Send it to me.”
I walk over to the bed and climb under the covers. We have slept in the bed together hundreds of times through the years, but for me, it feels different now. I look up at him and wonder if it’s different for him.
He pulls off his T-shirt and tosses it on the chair in the corner of my room. I shouldn’t be staring at him, but a bomb would have to go off in order for me to look anywhere else. He undoes his pants and pulls them off before laying them on the same chair. My heart is racing, and I pull the covers up over my chest to hide my erect nipples.
He’s smiling at me as he walks toward the bed, and I force my gaze from his black boxers up his chest to his eyes. He doesn’t seem affected at all, and I try to calm my nerves. He lies down on the bed, pulls the covers up over him, and then holds his arm out. “Come here.”
I move over to him and rest my head on his bare shoulder. His hand comes down on my arm, and he holds me to him. “You wanna talk?”
“No… yes,” I answer him with a soft laugh. My mind is working overtime, and I’m not sure what to make of anything today.
He doesn’t laugh; he just strokes my arm with his hand, waiting patiently.
“She was an elderly woman. She came in with chest pains, and she was all alone. I asked her if I could call anyone, and she said there was no one.” I suck in a breath, trying to keep the tears at bay. “She was having a heart attack, but we were able to get her stable. Dr. Jane was amazing; she was so patient with her and tried to calm her nerves. We were going to move her to a room and run more tests. We thought she was stable.”