I tried to think of a witty comeback, but he had me too dazed, and after studying for the past two hours, my head was mush. Trudging back in, I grabbed my flip-flops and returned with a delayed response. “I thought you liked them bare.”
His body shook with his laughter. “That’s all you could think of? You’re off your game today, Tori.”
He held my purse out to me, something else I’d forgotten, and I snatched it from him, sticking my tongue out before walking past him. His laughter didn’t stop the entire way to the car.
I tried to pout on the way to my apartment, but it was too hard to be irritated with Gabe. Within minutes he had me smiling again. By the time I’d run upstairs and changed, my cheeks hurt from the action. He made me too happy to ever be mad at him. Being with him was a constant state of bliss that I never wanted to fade.
When we pulled into a parking spot, he hopped out of the car, opened my door, and extended his hand. “We’re about thirtyminutes early for our reservation,” he told me as he helped me from the car.
“I thought we didn’t need reservations?”
He shrugged. “I may have called while you were getting ready.”
The buzz of his phone distracted him, and he pulled it out of his pocket to look at it. A frown formed before he tucked the phone away.
“All good?” I asked.
It was strange for him not to answer a text. His phone buzzed often, and a serious look would cast over his features while he read and replied. He never talked about them, brushing them off as business, but I was growing curious about what kind of business meant texts on the weekend and at night. If he hadn’t devoted his time entirely to me, I would have suspected another woman, but Gabe spent every waking free hour with me and, lately, his sleeping hours.
“Yeah, nothing important,” he answered, his brows knitted. “Let’s go down to the river while we wait.”
With a squeeze of my hand, his expression softened.
“That sounds good. Just like our first date.”
“And our first kiss,” he added, taking my mind back to that moment. My stomach somersaulted when I thought of how he’d told me he wanted to kiss me, then proceeded to leave me wrecked.
We walked in silence to the riverside, and I could see the text was still on his mind. The river was quiet, the lights reflecting in the calm water.
“Gabe,” I started, and he turned his gaze to me. “Is there something wrong? Something you’re not telling me?”
He stopped us and repositioned my body so I was facing him. Concern lined his eyes, and my fingers traced the creases it left.
His throat bobbed, and he took my hand in his. “There are things…things I haven’t told you. Some of which I can’t, not yet. But one day I will, I promise you.”
“I know you have secrets.” His cringe confirmed they were ones he would continue to hold on to. “And I’m okay with you keeping them if you must, but can you give me some hint? Some confirmation that you don’t have another family in Kansas you’re hiding from me?”
His head went back with a laugh that lasted until he took my face in his hands. “I can promise you, there is no one but you, Tori. There isn’t room in my heart for anyone else because you take up every crevice.” The air struggled to reach my lungs as he closed the remaining distance between us. “I love you, Victoria Hent, and I never want to love another woman again. If you were to leave me today, I would continue to love you until the day my heart shrivels and dies.”
Tears pushed behind my eyes. He loved me. We had left the words unspoken. There had been moments and actions, a look in his eyes as he made love to me, but never had we spoken them.
A tear slid down my cheek, and he brushed it away. “Please don’t cry, luna mia. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
I sniffed and threw my arms around him. He held me close, his embrace warming my soul. “I love you, Gabe. From the moment you walked into that room with your flirty grin and sat next to me, I fell for you, and every day since, I’ve fallen deeper.”
Fingers in my hair, he brought my face to his. Hazel eyes left me breathless before his mouth crashed into mine with a kiss that seared a brand on my soul. Claiming me again and asserting ownership of the other half of it.
I clung to him, my emotions an erupting volcano I could no longer contain.
“Maybe we should skip dinner?” he asked, his lips seducing mine further.
No answer came. I was too caught up in the magic of the moment, the revelation of his confession, the strength of his hold. When I thought my body had gone too limp to stand, his lips drew away. Dragging his mouth over my forehead, he continued to hold me.
“Maybe we'll eat and save this for dessert,” I said, still panting.
His lips curved on my skin. “I like that idea, and I know exactly what I want to taste for my first dessert.”
Heat blossomed in my chest. “First?”
