My Father's Best Friend(26)

"I can drive over, you know."

"Nope," she shot back. "No way. No how. This calls for alcohol and you're drinking with me."

I glanced down at the screen of my phone. "It's only nine o'clock in the morning and I have my last final tomorrow."

"Too bad, so sad," she sighed. "'Cause you're coming over and you're  drinking bloody marys or mimosas with me. Depending on how the  conversation goes, we may move on to the harder stuff at lunch. And  don't even try to tell me you're going to study today because we both  know you've been ready for your exams for weeks."

I couldn't really argue with her. Not when she was right. "Whatever. Give me an hour to get ready."

"Just so long as you don't fall back asleep, or else I'm going to come over and pull you out of your bed," she threatened.

"Fine," I grumbled, tossing the blankets off my body and apparently  talking to myself as I heard three beeps letting me know the call had  ended. Odds were good that Elisa was already on the phone with a car  service. I climbed out of bed and headed into the bathroom to get ready  because I didn't have any time to waste. It was a good thing, too,  because there was a call from the doorman to my cell phone fifty minutes  later to let me know my car was here. When we pulled up in front of my  sister's home, she was waiting for me on the steps with a drink in each  hand.

"You decided mimosas weren't strong enough?" I asked, taking one of the bloody marys from her.

"No, I decided I was morally against mixing two thousand dollar champagne with orange juice."

Startled laughter bubbled up from my throat. I pointed to the four  million dollar house behind her. "I think you guys can afford it."

"You've gotta draw the line somewhere."

I followed her into the house, chuckling softly while we settled on the couch in her living room.

"Drink up and then tell me everything that's happened with you and  Professor Hottie." I blushed at the thought of telling her about all the  things Gabe had done to me in bed last night. She raised her eyebrows  at me, her gaze scanning my face. "Okay, maybe you should leave out a  few details. You are my baby sister, after all."

I told her about the time I'd spent with Gabe, what happened with the  dean and his subsequent proposal. "I'm worried this is all moving too  fast. I've longed for him from afar for four months, but we've only  really been together for three days. And I can't help but think the only  reason he popped the question is because he doesn't want me to go to  Berkley in the fall."

"I'm the last person to judge you for the speed of your relationship,  Charlotte. Remember me? You've known Gabe for about four times as long  as I knew Brysen before I married him-married, not just accepted his  proposal. And that was three days into our actual relationship."

I thought about how perfect Elisa and Brysen were together, how I'd seen  it for myself from the moment I brought our mom's wedding dress to her  in Lake Tahoe. They were proof that whirlwind romances could work, but  their story was different from mine and Gabe's. "Brysen didn't have any  ulterior motives when it came to asking you to marry him that weekend.  Nothing other than wanting you to be his wife right away."

"The best advice I can give you is to talk to Gabe about your worries.  Let him know what's in your heart. The only way to build a solid  relationship is to communicate with each other, even when it's hard."  She paused for a moment. "Actually, scratch that. Especially when it's  hard."

I knew she was right. I needed to talk to Gabe when he got home tonight.  I gulped down my bloody mary and reached for the pitcher on the coffee  table to refill my glass. I needed some more alcohol to settle my  nerves.



I was sitting and waiting for Gabe in his dining room when he got home,  dinner on the table. It seemed to be our thing, and I wanted our  conversation to go as smoothly as possible. Although Gabe was an  excellent cook, my skills in the kitchen were lacking so I'd ordered  take-out and picked it up on my way back from my sister's house.

Gabe's gaze swept over me, lingering on my legs as I uncrossed them  before standing next to the candlelit table. "Aren't you just a sight  for sore eyes?" He dropped a quick kiss on my lips and then settled into  the chair next to me. "But you didn't have to make dinner. I would have  done it. I like feeding you."         

     



 

"And I like being fed by you."

His eyes heated at my response, his gaze dropping to my lips and I knew  he wasn't thinking about watching me eat but seeing something else slide  into my mouth instead. I licked my lips at the thought of tasting his  cock and then shook my head, trying to fight the sensuous fog I quickly  fell into when I was around him. He was too damn sexy for my own good.  The food would get cold, but I knew if I didn't start this conversation  now, the odds were good I'd forget what I wanted to say and we'd end up  in bed together without talking at all.

I took one deep breath to settle my nerves and then dove right into the  heart of the matter. "We kind of got sidetracked last night and didn't  talk about the timing of our engagement and what you see happening  next."

"The timing of our engagement? What's there to talk about? I asked, you  said yes. It's done. My ring is on your finger." He tugged my hand into  his. "And that's where it's going to stay forever."

"But we didn't really talk about why you asked me now instead of later."

His fingers tightened around me. "I thought we moved past this last night?"

"You kind of avoided the question and distracted me."

"There was a chance you were going to leave. I didn't want that to  happen. Getting married solves this problem. I admitted then that asking  you to marry me was influenced by my desire to keep you here. You still  said yes. End of story."

His tone was harsh and I hesitated to push forward, but I kept my  sister's advice in mind. "You can't just make decisions like this for  both of us without talking things through with me first, Gabe."

"I know, sweetheart."

I narrowed my eyes at his placating tone. "No, I don't think you do.  Don't try to feed me some macho bullshit about how you'll talk to me  about this later, not until you actually stop and think about this. We  both know there will be a next time, an instance when we're faced with  an important decision and you'll want to decide what's best. I need to  know that we'll make those decisions together. Do you get how huge this  is to me?"

"I get it," he murmured. "I'm not just telling you what you want to hear  so you'll be quiet. I saw a problem and I looked for a solution. It's  how my brain works. I needed to keep you by my side, couldn't risk you  going to California without me. It killed me to know you had that option  and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it because I can't go  with you, sweetheart. Not until my contract is done."

The last little bit of his speech jumped out at me. "What if I defer my  acceptance to both schools? Buy us some time while you finish out your  contract here and see what happens before I have to make a final  decision."

"There isn't anything to see," he growled. "You said yes last night,  sweetheart. You want to marry me, same as I want to marry you."

My head was spinning. "Someday, yeah. But this is going so fast."

"Four months we wasted, both of us devouring every written word we could  find from the other while we couldn't be together. One hundred and  twenty-nine days is not too fast. Not when we fit together perfectly as a  couple."

"I'm scared," I admitted.

"I get that," he replied, turning in his chair so he could pull me onto  his lap. "I really do. But what I haven't heard you say is you don't  want to be my wife."

Of course he hadn't heard me say that, because there wasn't any way I  could force those words past my lips. Not when it's what I wanted more  than anything in the world, but I needed to know he wanted it the same  way I did-a fear he'd vanquished the second he'd told me the exact  number of days we'd known each other, because I'd counted each of those  days too. Now, there wasn't anything else holding me back.





Chapter 13


Gabe


I sat in my car in the employee parking lot running over the events of  the last several days. After our big talk, Charlotte seemed more at ease  and accepting of our decision to get married. Her solution to defer for  two years was perfect, but something about it was bothering me.

She'd completed her last final and we'd begun moving her into my  apartment. Okay...I started moving her in while she was taking her exam.  She was a little irritated at my "high-handedness." But, it didn't take  me long to convince her around to my way of thinking. Especially after  the third orgasm.

No matter what she said though, I could see that there was  disappointment under a false bravado. She was eager to finish school and  become a teacher, like her parents. I knew she would be amazing, the  teacher every kid remembered years later. I wanted my sweet, genuinely  happy Charlotte back. But, I didn't have a fucking clue how we could  make it work.