Kissing Under the Mistletoe (30 page)

“Lauren was telling me that all three of her daddies want to go to the Christmas musical. But every kid only gets two tickets and I only have one parent.”

Gabe saw where this was going and his heart ached for the little girl in front of him who wanted to make her friend happy, but desperately wanted more than one person in the crowd clapping for her.

Holly mushed a soggy flake against the side of her bowl with the spoon, then her hand stilled. “Ms. Isabel asked me if my daddy was coming.”

Everything inside of Gabe stilled. He’d already decided not to even tread there about Richard. Now the opportunity his brothers had been hounding him for was being handed to him. Only it meant using a little girl’s sadness about missing her daddy.

“Is he?” Gabe asked with a forced a casualness that he sure as hell didn’t feel. The last thing he needed was for Holly to pick up on his tension and mention this conversation to her mom.

Eyes firmly on her cereal, she shrugged her little shoulders. “I don’t think so. He’s not around much. So Ms. Isabel said it isn’t nice to waste and that I should give my extra ticket to Lauren so all her daddies could go.”

Gabe rested his elbows on the counter and resisted the urge to hang his head in his hands. He would do anything to find Richard if it meant putting an end to this entirely
screwed-up situation. Unless that anything included hurting Holly. Or Regan.

“Were you saving it for your dad, hoping he would come?”

Holly looked up at him. Her eyes vulnerable and uncertain. “I was hoping you would come.”

Strong hands massaged Regan’s back, easing her from a dead sleep. Feeling like a content cat, she rolled over and stretched. She opened her eyes and blinked twice, trying to get her bearing, but all she could see was the most gorgeous set of brown eyes staring back at her.

Regan was flat on her back in Gabe’s guest bed, his hands were up her shirt, and, when she shifted her hips, she wasn’t wearing any underwear. And she might have been purring.

“Morning.” His voice was gravely and soft and sexy as hell. He nipped at her lip and then delivered a toe-curling kiss. Yup, she was definitely purring.

Morning?

Regan stopped midkiss. Her lids snapped open, the blinding light from the sun pierced her eyes and instantly cleared her mind from the sex-fog that was Gabe DeLuca. She took stock and, realizing just what she was doing, shoved him off and pulled the sheets to her chin. “What are you doing in my bed?”

“It’s my bed, but I’m more than willing to share.” He grinned, tugging on the blanket.

“What?” She frowned, then said, “Oh, my God! What time is it?”

“Eight fifteen.” He rested back against the headboard, calm as could be.

“I’m late. And it’s Holly’s last day of school before break. She has her party. Her cookies—” Regan scrambled out of bed, felt a cold draft on her bottom, and leaped back under the covers, wrapping them securely around her. “Her cookies and our clothes are at home. You have to leave so I can get dressed.”

“I’d rather you stay naked.” He ripped the blankets back and she squeaked. “As for Holly, ChiChi picked her up ten minutes ago. Showed up with a change of clothes, a bag lunch and enough of Pricilla’s special Christmas cookies to get twenty-four kids hopped up on sugar and food coloring.”

Regan felt herself relax and, after covering herself in a cocoon of pillows, actually flopped back on the bed and closed her eyes. Then they snapped open only to find herself staring up into Gabe’s eyes—again. Gabe, who was now missing a shirt.

“How did she know I was here?”

“She makes it her business to know, and before you start freaking out...” He smoothed the stress lines out of her forehead and the pillows off her legs. “I think last night was a setup. Actually, I think she has been setting us up from the beginning.”

“Really?” Regan didn’t know why that made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but it did.

“She sent you the job offer from Ryo.”

“She did?”

“Then made me bring you that cake. And she’s been doing everything in her power to get us in the same room.
Alone and often. In fact, she gave me explicit instructions to go back to bed when she left.”

“Gabe, are you trying to tell me your grandma wants you to sleep with me?” Suddenly she didn’t mind the lack of clothes.

“Sweetheart, I’ve been waiting forever to get you in my bed. Sleep is the last thing I had in mind.” He rolled on top of Regan, and she realized he wasn’t wearing any pants either. He was blessedly naked and, as he slid between her legs and pressed against her, ready to go.

“This isn’t
your
bed, exactly.” Not that she cared. When he held himself over her like that, his arms did the most amazing thing: they got even bigger and bulged and she couldn’t help but slide her hands up them.

“We’ll get there.” He kissed her languidly, taking his time to build the heat, until her whole body was shaking with need. “We’ve got a couple couches to try out first. Oh, and I have this swing on the back porch that I went out and bought cushions for.”

“You bought new cushions? Why?” Regan choked out as he nibbled at the sweet spot right behind her ear.

“Because watching you sleep naked, outside on that chaise with your hair all wet and your body slick, was about the sexiest thing I’ve seen.” He rested his weight on one elbow, freeing up his other hand. Grabbing her shirt right below her breasts, he slowly tugged it up, baring her stomach, her nipples, and over her head, his eyes taking in every exposed inch. “Been thinking about it for days. Wondering what it would have been like to splay you out so I could lick every inch of you.”

Regan slid her legs around the back of his thighs and, arching her hips, slid right over his length. “Want to move to the porch?”

“First, I want you here, in this bed, so I can touch every inch of you with my hands until you explode.” His hands already roaming over her chest, belly button, hips, everywhere. He trailed a single finger down her stomach and right over the center.

“Then where?” she whispered.

“Where am I going to touch you next, or where am I going to take you next?” His finger made the same mind-blowing pass; this time, though, he lingered, making slow, mind-blowing little circles.

“Both,” she gasped.

Gabe kissed his way across her jaw to her ear and proceeded to tell her in explicit detail where, why, and for how long he was going to take her.

Which was how she ended up in his bed four hours later, exhausted and ready for a nap. Gabe had given her the full and complete tour of his house, not excluding the laundry room or shower. But her favorite, by far, was his bed. It was big and soft and smelled like him. It was also because in his bed, he had pulled her close, holding her tightly as though he didn’t want any space between. And afterward he had hugged her with those strong arms of his and fell asleep with his face buried in her neck.

Regan had never been in love. Sure she had loved Richard, but that was a young love, one that was born out of loneliness and insecurity and the need to be loved back.

She tightened her arms around his middle and closed her eyes, just taking him in. This felt different. It didn’t make her feel anxious or hollow. With Gabe, all she felt was a sense of rightness.

Which was why her heart pinched painfully when he looked up, his face nowhere near right. In fact, he looked confused and angry—at her.

“Do you still see Richard?”

“What? No. Why?”

“Holly said she doesn’t see
much
of him.”

Holly? What the hell?

“You were talking to Holly about Richard?” Only moments ago his body pressed into her had felt safe, now it made her feel vulnerable. She tried to move, but he didn’t budge.

“No,
she
was talking to
me
. About him. And I just want to make sure if he decides to come and visit you two, that Abby is prepared.”

Of course. This was about Abby. Regan placed her hands on his chest and shoved. He didn’t budge, but he begrudgingly rolled off of her and leaned against the headboard.

Regan sat up and pulled the blanket up and around her chest. Just when she thought they had gotten past—well, their past—there it was again. Only this time it was like the past six years were in the bed with them. And the only shot they had to get rid of it once and for all was honesty.

“Holly saw him once. She was just a baby and doesn’t even remember.” Although Regan remembered every second of the visit. Richard had apologized, saying that even though he was working things out with his wife, he wanted to do right by his kid. Regan had wanted to kick his ass for being a liar and a cheat, but she’d thought of her daughter, of how it felt to grow up without a dad, and decided to try and be civil. Richard had agreed to pay child support, Regan snapped a picture of him holding Holly, and then he left.

“She has a picture of that day. Sometimes she pulls it out and looks at it or asks questions about him. Like if she has his nose or if he was a good speller. One time she brought it
to school, and her teacher told me she was showing it to all of her friends because they didn’t believe she had a daddy.”

That had happened right before they had moved to St. Helena. Regan had no idea she was being teased, and Holly had never said a word.

“What do you tell her? When she asks about her dad?” Gabe said softly. He didn’t look mad anymore; he looked miserable.

“The truth. That her daddy loves her very much, but just because you love someone doesn’t always mean you’re ready to be a parent.”

“So you don’t see him?”

Now it was Regan’s turn to get mad. She was answering a lot of questions, but none of her answers seemed good enough. “I already said no. Why don’t you just ask what you really want to know, Gabe?”

“Did you love him?”

And all of the anger faded. Was he jealous? Of her and Richard? Or maybe trying to gauge where her heart was at?

She reached out and placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Gabe, I’m a third-generation single mom. I never knew anything about my dad except that he was a French businessman and he didn’t want me. So when my mom died I had literally no one. Until Richard showed up, mature and handsome with his Italian roots and accent. He charmed me into believing I was special and wanted, and then charmed me right into bed.”

Gabe rested a hand on top of hers, and she melted at the look in his eyes. The look of a guy who wanted to make everyone’s world safe, but with her and their past, wasn’t sure how. “Do you still love him?”

“No. After Richard left I was crushed, but then Holly came along and I was too scared to be anything else. That last time he came to see me I realized that I was more in love with the idea of having a family than I ever was with him.”

“Thank God.” Gabe kissed her long and hard, his fingers fisting in her hair, holding her to him. It was as though with that one statement he had given himself permission to love her. He might not be in love with her, but she could tell in the way his body shook and how fiercely he collected her to him that he was feeling every bit of this intense bond that she was.

When they came up for air, Regan was straddling him, legs locked around his back, and Gabe was holding her as though he would never let go. As though she was his.

He kissed her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, and then buried his face against her neck. “It would have been difficult to go after someone that you loved.”

Everything inside Regan stilled. She didn’t let go of him; didn’t open her eyes; didn’t even breathe. “What do you mean?”

“After that night...” Gabe pulled back, cupping her face between his big, strong hands and staring into her eyes. “After I confronted you and Richard, he went to Abby, told her about the affair and begged for a second chance. Really, he needed time for the last round of funding for their new winery to close.” Oh. My. God. This could not be happening.

Regan knew exactly how much money Richard had raised. And the exact date it had closed. It had gone in and out of Holly’s fund in under thirty minutes. Unable to reach Richard, she’d called an old college buddy who was a lawyer, asking hypothetical questions about liability and possible ramifications. Hypothetically, if the account had been in her
daughter’s name with Regan listed as one of the signers, she could be charged with aiding and abetting.

She’d never discovered whose money he’d stolen. Until now.

“We all thought he was serious about changing, about making it work with Abby. Hell, they were the couple of the hour. Six months later funding closed and the next day Richard and twelve million dollars disappeared. The bastard left Abby alone to face the investors and to take the blame, which is why she moved to Santa Barbara. She was too embarrassed to come home. And the cops started sniffing around, convinced that she had conspired with Richard, and made her life a living hell for two years.”

They’d sniffed Regan too—asking about the account, the missing money, treating her like she was guilty. As soon as they realized she was broke and going nowhere fast, they left her alone with the direct instructions to contact them if she heard from Richard. Which she hadn’t. Nor did she think she ever would.