Billionaire Untamed - Tate(23)

Gabe had obviously known Blake was coming in. He’d probably met him out at the airstrip and followed him home for breakfast.

As she released Gabe, Aileen turned to her daughter, who had risen to throw herself at her brother, Blake. Her second eldest son was currently nearly squeezing the life out of his little sister.

Aileen asked her daughter jokingly, “You just got another marriage proposal, darling. Aren’t you going to respond to Gabe’s offer?”

“No,” Chloe answered irritably as she glared at Gabe. “I’m already spoken for.”

Aileen had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. The way that Chloe and Gabe sparred amused her. Secretly, she wished that her Chloe was marrying a man like Gabe. He’d keep her on her toes without bringing her down. Gabe was obviously fond of Chloe, but her daughter was having none of him. For some reason, Chloe avoided Gabe at every opportunity.#p#分页标题#e#

Gabe caught Chloe’s gaze and winked at her. “You know you were just waiting for a better offer to come along.”

“Then I’d have to wait forever,” Chloe told him in almost a hostile voice, but she shot him a fake smile. “Luckily I’m marrying the man of my dreams in just a few more months.”

“If you were my woman, I’d have a ring on that finger by now.” Gabe’s voice was light, but his eyes were intense.

“It’s a good thing I’m not your woman then,” Chloe answered sharply.

Blake spoke up to dispel the tension in the room. “Where is everybody?”

“Zane’s in Denver, working on a project. Marcus was due home yesterday, but he got delayed by the storm. He should be home today. And Tate is at home.” Aileen motioned for everybody to sit down and she went and dished up some breakfast for the two men. She didn’t miss the fact that Chloe was quick to pull her long-sleeved shirt all the way down to cover her bruised wrist.

“I think Tate has a thing for a woman who is staying here at the resort. I went to see if Lara was in the gym this morning and she wasn’t there. I think she might have ended up being stranded with Tate,” Chloe told Blake excitedly. She sat back in her chair, with Blake seated on her right and Gabe to her left. She ignored Gabe completely.

Blake’s eyes widened. “Oh? And who is this mystery woman, and why would she be stranded with my little brother?”

Chloe relayed what she knew about Lara, and how she hadn’t come back from snowmobiling yesterday before the storm. And then she proceeded to explain that Tate had gone out to look for Lara. “He texted me that he found her and told me she was safe, but she never came back to the resort last night. She has to be with him. I like her. She kicked James’s rear at judo.”

“Mr. Black Belt?” Gabe interjected sarcastically.

Without looking at Gabe, Chloe answered him defensively, “James is really good, but Lara is fantastic. She offered to teach me some of her self-defense moves.”

“So you think this Lara is still at Tate’s place?” Blake asked.

“She has to be. Maybe it was closer. The blizzard was pretty bad yesterday,” Chloe told her brother thoughtfully.

“And Tate has a Jeep with a plow that could have easily brought her back to the resort,” Blake reminded Chloe with a massive grin on his face.

Aileen put a heaping plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of Blake and Gabe. “Eat. And don’t tease your brother about liking a woman. He’s had a difficult year. It would be nice if at least one of my boys were thinking about marriage and grandchildren.”

Tate had transitioned out of the military Special Forces, a fact that had delighted Aileen to no end. She’d gotten tired of worrying about her youngest son putting himself in harm’s way every single day. But she knew he missed it, and that he was restless. A good woman might go a long way to helping her youngest boy become more content.

Tate had healed from his injury that had caused him to leave the military, an injury that he insisted had happened when he was skiing while he was off duty. Humph! Did her youngest son really think she bought that excuse? She knew he was trying to save her some worry, but she hadn’t bought that lame story for a minute. A mother just…knows.

“Mom, I’m a United States Senator. Do you really think I’d be immature enough to give Tate a hard time over a woman?” Blake protested before he dug into his plate of food.

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Chloe and Gabe both answered emphatically at the same time.#p#分页标题#e#

Aileen sat down with her coffee, happy as she watched Gabe and Chloe look at each other in surprise and exchange a small smile for the very first time.