Sally Ann and Adrian had invited us over for Sunday football and chili once Gabe recuperated from his head injury. I can’t even be sure who or why it was brought up, but Adrian said something about Charlotte or Gabe’s obsession with Charlotte. At first, I was confused as fuck.Who the hell was Charlotte and why would Gabe be obsessed with her?I was overcome with an insane streak of jealousy and then I stamped that shit down quick. I never once got the impression from Gabe that he was also attracted to women and Lord knows there were enough sexually-engineered commercials on during football games to fire up any male remotely interested in lady bits.
Apparently long legs sold beer and models opening their mouths wide to eat a burger encouraged guys to want to eat at their restaurant. I didn’t so much as see a reaction out of him. Then I realized it didn’t matter who he was attracted to because I was the one he wanted. As insecure as I was at times, I was smart enough to know that attraction didn’t equal unfaithfulness. Billy Sampson’s behavior in high school colored my views for a long time, but I eventually figured things out. I also knew that Gabe wasn’t the kind of guy to stray, which was a reassurance I never thought I would have in a rel…something.
Secure in my place in his life, I laid my head on his broad shoulder and asked, “Who’s Charlotte?”
Gabe leaned away enough so he could look down at my upturned face. “I never told you about Charlotte?” I could hear the reverence in his voice when he mentioned her name and my earlier confidence started to fade.
“No, you certainly didn’t.”
“Oh. Hmmm.” His nonchalant attitude caused me to narrow my eyes at him. He knew damn well he never told me about this Charlotte. The smirk he wore on his jutted chin made me want to twist his nipple clean off.
I was just about to blast him with standard Josh-like snark when Adrian spoke up. “What is Charlotte, not who.”
Gabe sent Adrian a look that said he wasn’t at all helpful, but I didn’t agree. Charlotte wasn’t a person; she was a thing. I began to think of all the things that men owned that they named, specifically a woman’s name. I narrowed it down to two things: a boat or a car. Gabe didn’t own a garage, but rental units were plentiful in Carter County and some were large enough to shelter either of those things.
“Boat or car?” I asked him.
“You show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” was Gabe’s husky whisper in my ear. He then turned and leveled Adrian with a fierce scowl. “Not another word from you.” Adrian pretended to zip his lips then threw his hands up playfully in surrender.
Gabe threw down the gauntlet that day and I was not about to give him a show on the pole–well, not the one in the attic, anyway–until he showed me Charlotte. I spent more time than I should’ve trying to figure out if she was a car or a boat. My first thought was that she was a classic car of some sort because his dad owned an auto body shop in Miami, but then again, being from Miami meant he probably liked the water. In the end, I decided she was a car because most boats that sailed in the ocean weren’t the same ones that sailed on inland lakes in Ohio.
Even half dead, I would have heard his promise to take me to see her. It amused me when he tried to backpedal the next morning, but I wasn’t letting up. He was going to show me his first and I was going to reward him handsomely later. I wasn’t about to confess that I had a special song in mind for the first time I performed for him. I wanted to captivate him as surely as he had me and give him a night he would never forget.
It didn’t take Gabe long to limp into the living room after his quick shower. It wasn’t nice of me to laugh when he tripped over his shoe and cursed when he stubbed his toe. The wicked look in his eye promised that I’d be paying for my insensitivity. If he thought he scared me, he had another thing coming. I reached down and arranged my growing erection before I served up his scrambled eggs on a plate beside bacon and a blueberry muffin.
Gabe stepped behind me and pulled me tight against him. He rubbed his nose behind my ear and down my neck, knowing it drove me wild. “You spoil me.”
I turned in the circle of his arms, looking into his eyes. “I wanted to give you a morning that was as special to you as last night was for me.”
“I made you dinner and we watched television.” I didn’t like how he downplayed his kind gesture, but we both had our issues to work through.
“Well, I made you breakfast and then I’m going to bend over the hood of your precious car so you can fuck me.”
Gabe groaned my name before he captured my lips in a kiss so devastating that I almost confessed that I more than liked him. I was on the verge of using the other L world when he broke our kiss, but then I noticed that the look on his face had turned from lust to suspicion.
“What makes you think Charlotte is a car?” he asked.
“You’re not the only one with reasoning and deduction skills, Miami Vice.” I pinched his nipple playfully before I turned back around to grab our plates. “Our lakes aren’t deep enough for any boat you sailed in Miami and your father owns an auto body shop.” I placed our plates on the table and then put my hands on my hips. I gave him my best smug smile before I said, “It stands to reason that you have a classic car stored somewhere in this county.”
Gabe tipped his head to the side as if he was impressed then he shot my theory all to hell when he said, “Maybe it’s a motorcycle.”
My mouth dropped open as I pictured Gabe in a leather jacket and pants astride some manly looking machine. I imagined the vibration of the bike working its way through my body as I held tight to him with both my arms and thighs. “Well, I guess she better have one hell of a kickstand to support us when I straddle your legs and ride you.”
“Jesus,” Gabe groaned.
I may or may not have teased Gabe the entire thirty-minute ride to his storage unit with the things I wanted him to do to me. I was grateful that he was as worked up as I was by the time we stepped inside his unit because I couldn’t handle being the only one to feel it. He was on me as soon as he shut the door. At first, I was too caught up in our heated kiss and the way his hands felt against my skin when they slid beneath my sweater. Eventually two thoughts penetrated my lust-dazed brain: it was dark as night inside but warm as could be.
“It’s heated?” I asked after pulling back from his kiss.
“Nothing but the best for Charlotte.” Gabe licked the seam of my lips before he bit down on my bottom lip. “Ready to meet her?”
I was more excited than I thought I would be. I mean, it was a hunk of metal either way, but she obviously meant a lot to Gabe and he meant a lot to me. I cringed internally after my hunk of metal thought, because I sure as hell didn’t view my car that way. “Ready.”
Gabe flipped on the light and I blinked against the sudden brightness in the unit. I could tell by the shape beneath the cloth cover that we were definitely talking about a classic car. Gabe walked over and slowly began to remove her cover, as if he was performing some automotive striptease. The gleaming black hood came into view and then the rest of the car inch by inch until just the rear of the car was covered. Gabe yanked the cover the rest of the way off and held up his hands like a dorky, but oh-so-sexy magician.
“She’s a 1970 Dodge…”
“Charger,” I completed for him. “My granddad had a red one named Dolly. She was his pride and joy too.” I felt Gabe’s eyes on me when I walked over to the gleaming machine. “She’s beautiful.” I reached for the handle and opened the door. I was pleased to see that her black leather interior was just as pristine as the exterior. “I can see why you like her so much.” I heard and felt Gabe approaching me so I shut the door then turned to face him.
