His kisses traced a path down my face. “Mm. First, I devour you. Second, I taste every inch of this tanned skin.” Fingers skimmed my arms, causing goosebumps to follow them. “And finally, I make love to you for the rest of the night.”
An exhale accompanied my shiver, and he smiled against my lips as he kissed me again.
He took my hands in his, resting his nose on mine. Amber eyes peered at me, and I could see his mind working.
“My sister,” he said.
Brows furrowed, I waited for more.
“That was the phone call. I told you we don’t get along.” He cleared his throat as he stepped from me, keeping my hand in his. “She’s on my case. Remember how I told you I invested most of the money from my trust fund?”
“Yeah.”
He tucked me into his side and started walking us back to the restaurant. “Well, it was only a partial truth. We both invested the money in…” I could see him struggling to find the words and wondered why this was so hard for him. His jaw clenched, that darkness that periodically surfaced overtook his eyes. “…an investment to honor our mother. It causes friction sometimes, and she’s been on my case about it and other things.”
I was trying to piece together why that would have been so hard to tell me, deciding he was still only giving me partial truths. There was more to it he wasn’t ready to divulge.
“Other things? Like me?” I wasn’t certain where the thought had come from, but his reaction confirmed it.
His head swiveled to me, his eyes so dark they almost looked chestnut. They searched mine as his jaw ticked. He reminded me of one of those dark romance characters, and as out of character as it was, it fascinated me. I wanted to know who that man was, the man he kept from me along with his secrets.
“Yes,” he admitted before looking away. “She doesn’t know about you. It’s better that way.”
“Why? What could possibly be so bad about me that you wouldn’t tell her about me?”
I pulled my hand from his and crossed my arms, stopping to await his answer.
An exasperated sigh came from him as he ran a hand through his hair. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he looked up at me, his eyes riven with pain, and my anger faded.
“Let me in, Gabe,” I said. “Please.”
He looked so torn that it was killing me. I wanted to take the burden from him, whatever that burden was that he didn’t think I could bear. Dropping my arms, I moved to him, tipping his chin up with my finger.
“I can’t. Not yet. Not until I figure this out.”
“What out?”
“Everything. My past isn’t as simple as yours, Tori. It’s…” He looked away, his brow pinched. “…complicated, and I’m not sure I can untangle it. But I’m trying.”
“These secrets you carry, are they dangerous?” I fought back my fear, praying I hadn’t fallen in love with a serial killer.
A tug at his lips told me I wasn’t even close to guessing. “No, nothing dangerous. Just personal and rife with…with lines.Some I drew, some others drew. And it's those lines that I have to untangle in order to keep you.”
My heart sputtered. “Keep me? Like you could lose me?”
“I…God, Tori, I can’t do this. We just confessed our love to each other. Let’s enjoy that and deal with this when I figure it out.”
“Gabe, you won’t lose me. Whatever you’re not telling me, I can handle it.”
He closed his eyes. “I know you can.” Opening them, he took my hand. “We’re going to lose our reservation.”
I studied him, seeing the resolve there. The conversation was over. He had shut it down, and he was asking me to let him. I did, even if it nudged at me the entire time we were at dinner.
As we lay in bed later that night, my head on his chest, his fingers stroking my hair, he murmured, “There’s a lot of pain in my past, Tori. My childhood wasn’t like yours.”
I picked my head up to look at him. He stared at the ceiling, his fingers continuing their pattern in my hair. Pain pinched his face, and guilt hammered me that I had pushed him too much.
Palming his cheek, I forced his eyes to mine. “I’m sorry I pushed,” I said. “I’m here when you’re ready, and I won’t love you any less if you’re not.”
