Concealed - A Hiding From Love Novel #2 (29 page)

When I get home from Beth’s, it’s after midnight. I’m getting out of the truck when Gabe’s door opens. He’s standing in the dim light from his apartment, and he’s in grey sweats and no shirt, his hair mussed like he’s been asleep. I can see the TV flickering inside.

“Hey.” His voice deep and rough.

My heart flutters and I try not to look at his incredibly toned chest and arms as he leans against the door jamb.

“Are you the girl from Merry Maids?” he asks with a grin.

I smile back. “Could be,” I answer coyly.

He pushes off the door frame and stalks over to where I stand, the truck door still ajar. Once he’s right in front of me, he quietly reaches around and pushes the door shut, brushing my shoulder as he does. He draws his arm back very slowly, and I swear I can almost taste his desire to touch me. But he doesn’t, and I’m left with an aching deep in my gut as I’m faced with his bare skin and the tender look on his face.

“You didn’t need to do all that,” he says softly.

“I know. I wanted to,”

“Alexis, there’s something…”

“Sshh,” I interrupt as I place my index finger against his lips. I hear his breath hitch. “You don’t need to say anything. I know you appreciate it, because I know you. And I also know you don’t ask enough out of me, and the few times you have asked for something, I didn’t come through. I don’t want you to let me off the hook easy this time.

“I love you so much it’s like my insides are on fire. I look at you and my world suddenly has colors when it was all black and white before. I hear your voice and there’s music where there wasn’t any before. I touch you –” I place my palm over his heart, against his bare skin, and he lets out a hiss – “and I’m warm all over for hours. Let me show you all of that, Gabe. It’s my turn. I don’t want you to ever have to doubt me again. When you can say that, when you can say you have no doubts left, then my turn will be done, but not until.”

He’s so still and so quiet that he looks like a statue. His eyes are fixed on my face and the intensity of his gaze is stunning. I lean forward, stand on my tiptoes, and place my lips against his gently. A soft sigh comes from deep in his chest almost as if it’s his heart letting go of a tiny piece of pain. Hesitantly he puts his hand on my waist and runs his tongue along the seam of my lips. I open my mouth to him for just a moment and taste his warmth before he pulls away and puts his forehead in the crook between my neck and shoulder.

“God, babe.” He shudders.

I stroke his hair for a moment like he’s a little boy. And I realize with more awareness than I’ve ever had just how much power I have over this man – and how abusive I’ve been with it. It breaks my heart to think about what he’s endured in his short life and how amazing he is in spite of it all. He never gives up, he never falters, and he cares for everyone around him. Now I’m going to take care of him, whether he understands it or not.

“I’ve got you,” I echo the words he’s said to me many times before. “I’ve always got you.”

Gabe

Las aparencias engañan.

Appearances can be deceiving.

I
’M
sitting on a folding chair in the office at work, eating leftover spaghetti with marinara sauce. Mike is eyeing my lunch, drool practically running down his chin. He looks forlornly at his own peanut butter and jelly sandwich then back at my pasta and garlic bread.

“Dude,” I mumble around a mouthful of food. “You need to learn how to cook.”

“Screw you, Thompson. You don’t know how to cook either. How long are you going to let Alexis try to bake her way back into your bed anyway?” he asks bitterly.

“That’s not what she’s doing.” I’m defensive. “She’s rebuilding my trust, and after she left me
twice
, maybe that’s necessary.”

He tosses his sandwich down on the desk in disgust before he snakes his hand out and grabs my garlic bread. I let him have it but curl my arm around my plate of pasta and bare my teeth at him.

He throws his hands up in the air, one loaded with my bread. “Fine, I won’t touch the damn spaghetti.”

“So, if I tell you something, will you promise not to get all judgmental?” I ask.

“No, but you’re going to tell me anyway.” He smirks.

Shit. He’s right. “Fine. Well, Alexis…see… I’m not sure how to say this.”

“Just spit it out, man, I don’t have all day.”

“She sort of thinks I’m still seeing Carla.” I duck my head and shovel food in my mouth before Hurricane Mike hits.

“She
what
?”

I look up to see his eyes wide with shock.

“She seems to think I’m still seeing Carla. I didn’t tell her I was,” I amend quickly. “But every time I try to correct her, she tells me to shut up and let her prove herself to me.” I shrug. “So, I’ve sort of let it go on, and she seems to think she’s winning me away from Carla or something.”

“You lucky son of a bitch,” he says in awe. Not really the response I was expecting.

“Seriously? You’re not going to lecture me about what a dick move this is and how it’s all going to backfire on me later?”

“Well, hell yeah, all that’s true, but it might be worth it. I mean, shit, she thinks she’s got competition, so she’s going all out. I’ll bet you can get a hell of a lot better things out of this than some free meals. I mean, whatever kinky fantasies you’ve got, I’m saying now’s the time to see how they pan out in reality.”

“You’re a twisted individual. You know that, right?”

“Just calling ‘em like I see ‘em.” he grins.

“But seriously, man. I want to tell her the truth, but she keeps stopping me, and I guess in a way I do like that she’s having to work a little at it. I mean, I’m not completely there yet, even though I want to be. It’s tough. She messed with my head pretty bad this last time. I know when everything’s smooth sailing she’s all in, but what if her parents put pressure on her again? What if one of her brothers doesn’t like me or she decides she wants to go to Africa to do aid work and I’m not able to come along? I don’t know if we have what it takes to survive the hard stuff.”

Mike belches and tosses the rest of his sandwich in the trash as he stands. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“Yeah, it gives me one too.” I take the last bite of my lunch. “That’s why I keep letting her cook for me and just enjoy it.”

“Amen, brotha’.”

I’m working late again, and Alexis has stopped by with a plate of barbecue ribs. The woman is outdoing herself with this shit and I’m starting to feel a little guilty. But I am a guy, and a beautiful woman is bringing me food so, well…

I remind her that she promised to stay and eat with me this time, and judging by her smile, she’s happy to do that.

“So,” I say as I try to keep from getting barbecue sauce all over my uniform shirt. “Has your sister talked to you about this guy at the halfway house?”

Alexis’s head snaps up. “How do you know about that?”

I swallow a mouthful before it’s chewed enough and almost choke on it. Reaching for my soda, I take a swig before I answer her. “I guess Beth never told you we keep in touch?”

She collapses against the back of her chair. “That would be a ‘no.’” Her face is a mixture of astonishment and irritation. I’m really hoping she’s irritated with Beth and not me.

“Well, it’s not a big deal. We just, I don’t know, touch base sometimes.” Shit. I charged into this without a master plan. Never a good idea with women. They’ll trip you up every time. “She sort of felt sorry for me after your mom’s heart attack and so we talk every few weeks, you know?”

Alexis just shakes her head. “You two sit around and talk about me?”

“No! Well, I mean, yeah, but not bad stuff. Just, you know, how you’re doing, how your classes are going, stuff like that.” I fade out, waiting for the explosion.

She sighs deeply then looks down at her plate, “So, you’d ask Beth how I was doing?”

My heart commences beating again. Thank God, I think I’m out of the woods on this one, although I don’t know if Beth will have the same good fortune. “Yeah. No matter how pissed I might get at you, I always want to know you’re okay,” I say truthfully.

She looks up at me, her cheeks pink, and her eyes soft. “Thank you. That’s probably more than I deserve.”

“Oh, babe,” I sigh.

“No, enough about that. What has Beth told you about Juan?”

“Is this the same guy you told me about in Afghanistan? The one you had the mad crush on in high school?”

“Yeah, the one who joined Latin King Nation and ended up in the State Pen.”

“Man, that’s what I was afraid of. What do you think of it?”

“I don’t know. It scares me, but I’ve also learned it’s wrong to get between people who love each other.” She gives me a significant look.

“So you think she’s in love with him? I mean, I couldn’t even tell if they were dating or if she’s just trying to be a friend to him.”

“I think she’s got some strong feelings for him, and I’m afraid she might have finally fallen in love.”

I digest that for a minute. “Wow. That could be really complicated.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I already told her this, but you need to make it happen. I want to meet him.”

“What? Why?” She looks at me suspiciously.

“Because I want this motherfucker to know there are guys nearby who are watching out for your sister. He knows your brothers, but neither of them is here in town, and I don’t want him to think Beth is alone in Austin. I don’t give a shit how much of a
vato
badass he is. I’ve been in a war – I’m not afraid of him or his gangbanging buddies. He needs to know I’m watching and so help me, if he makes one mistake with your sister, I’m coming after his ass.”

Alexis gapes at me for a minute, her eyes wide. Finally, she tells me, “You can be kind of scary sometimes. You know that, right?”

I lean forward and place my hand over hers. “And you know I’d never hurt someone unless I had to, right? And I’d never hurt a woman, Alexis. Ever.”

She nods her head solemnly. “I know that. I’ve never been afraid of you. And what you’re saying about looking out for Beth is…wow…really sweet. Which I know sounds weird, considering you just threatened to physically harm another person on her behalf, but still.” She laughs lightly.

“Will you get her to set it up? Take me over there with her next time she volunteers? I told her I wanted to meet him, but she blew it off. I think she suspected I was trying to check the guy out and didn’t want to let me get involved.”

“Yeah, totally. It’d make me feel better too. I’ll come along so it won’t seem like it’s you trying to handle things for her.”

“Huh uh,” I shake my head hard. “No way. I don’t want you anywhere near this guy.”

“What? You’re kidding, right?”

“Hell no I’m not kidding. I don’t want him to see you or know anything about you. In fact, I’ve been wanting to tell Beth that she should keep the mentions about you to a minimum.”

“Gabe. Seriously? You can’t tell her that. You also can’t expect she’ll be involved with this guy and I’ll never meet him or talk to him. Besides, he already knows me. He’s known me since I was about four.”

“He doesn’t know where you live, and he doesn’t know what you look like at twenty-one. I want to keep it that way. He’s going to be free to walk around town pretty soon, and I don’t want to worry that he’ll show up at your door or see you out somewhere and approach you.”

Alexis looks at me in a way that can only be described as indulgent. “Gabe. If this guy
is
my sister’s boyfriend, you can’t keep him from seeing me or hearing about me or knowing me. It’s just a matter of time until I run into him at Beth’s or she asks me to go to dinner with them or they stop by my apartment for something. Beth’s my best friend
and
my sister, when she dates someone I’m going to know them and be around them.”

I sigh, because she’s right. It bothers me more than I want to admit. This guy sounds fucking scary and I don’t want him anywhere near Alexis…or her sister.

“Okay, I know you’re right, and it just reinforces the fact that I’ve got to meet him. I need to get a sense of the guy and make sure he and I have an understanding about how things will go if he keeps spending time with Beth.”