Concealed - A Hiding From Love Novel #2 (32 page)

And kiss her.

Her lips are cold and she’s got her mouth clamped shut for the first few seconds, but then I hear her moan and feel her lips soften before they open to me. I stroke inside her mouth and taste saltwater and feel her silky tongue on mine. My gut tightens and I move the arm at her waist lower until I’m cupping her ass, holding her as tightly against me as I can. I’m a damn good swimmer, but even I can’t keep up a make-out session in cold water with increasing swells bumping us around.

She moans again and I pull away gently. “Let me take you back to shore,” I whisper. “So we can do this the right way.” She nods, and I help her up onto her board before tying mine to hers and swimming us back to the beach.

When we get to the shore, I take the boards out of the water, and without saying anything, I carry them to the truck. Alexis follows, shivering. At the truck, I get the boards stowed then walk over to where she’s leaning against the passenger door. I take one of the towels Mike left for me out of the truck bed and gently dry her hair while she stands and watches me with big eyes. Next I slowly pull down the zipper on her wetsuit, gazing into her eyes the entire time. Her skin is covered in goose bumps, and all I can think about is running my tongue over every inch of it to warm her up.

The bikini she’s wearing underneath the wetsuit is turquoise, and it glows against her golden skin. I gently pull the suit off of her shoulders, down her arms, and then farther until her whole swimsuit is exposed. I have to catch my breath when I take in her perfect curves in that tiny suit.

I open the door to the truck. “Sit down with your legs out here,” I say quietly. She does what I say, and I peel the wetsuit down her legs until the whole thing is off. I toss it in the back of the truck and then grab the towel again and start drying her off. From head to toe. I take my time. I make every moment of it count, thinking how much I’d like it to be my mouth in the place of that towel.

When she’s finally all dried and has stopped shivering, I ditch the towel and put my hands on either side of her thighs as she sits on the edge of the truck seat with her legs hanging out the door. I lean in and touch my forehead to hers.

“I didn’t mean to lie to you, sweetheart. I tried to come clean to you a few times, but you kept telling me to shut up and let you show me that you loved me. I’m sorry. I should have tried harder. It wasn’t to punish you or make you feel stupid, I swear.”

She sighs and swallows, her head still touching mine. “Can you tell me about her? I mean, were you… Did you…love her…”

I interrupt her. “God, babe. How can you even ask that? How can you think I’ll ever love anyone but you?” I lean back and run my hand through my soaking wet hair. “She’s a great girl. Her name is Carla, and she’s Mike’s cousin. She was a friend, and then after you went to Floresville, it just sort of happened. I was hurting, I didn’t think you’d ever come back to me. I knew I didn’t want anything serious with her, but she was just there…and you weren’t.”

She sighs and looks down at her lap.

“Alexis.” My voice is hoarse. “I never slept with her. You need to know that. I couldn’t. I couldn’t live like that again. But she liked being with me and you didn’t. I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry. Mike told me not to do it, and I should have listened to him. I hurt you and her, and I wish I could take it back.”

“So where does this leave us?” She looks at me with those big wounded eyes again.

I clear my throat. “I’m not sure. In love?”

She smiles at me a little and my heart double beats for a minute. “I do love you, Gabe. I’ve been trying so hard to show you how much. I have one more thing I need to do.”

I shake my head. “I don’t want you to do this anymore. This isn’t some test you have to pass. I should have put a stop to it a long time ago. The trust – it’ll come back. We just need to keep spending time together, and when life throws us some curves and we make it through, the trust will happen all on its own.”

“No.” She’s defiant. “I’m not going to keep limping along like this. It’s better than being without you, but I want one hundred and ten percent of us, the way we were before. I love you. Even though you have way too many women lurking around and you said I suck at surfing. By the end of today, you are going to know I’m in this always no matter what.”

I look at her with an eyebrow raised. “So what is this big thing you’ve got planned for us?”

“We just need to hit the showers and get dressed. Then I’m driving.”

“Okay. You’re the boss.” I take her hand and we head down to the showers at the beach.

Alexis

A beber y a tragar, que el mundo se va a acabar.

Eat, drink and be merry – for tomorrow we die.

B
ETH,
Ramon, and I have been planning this Saturday evening for weeks. She’s made sure to keep my parents onboard but in the dark. Ramon’s got cousins in Floresville, so it worked out perfectly. His cousin Lupe is doing the
carne asada,
and once my mom figured out Lupe was related to her own first cousin, Pete, by marriage, it was all good.

When we pass the signs welcoming us to Floresville, I see Gabe start to get antsy.

“So, we’re in your hometown?” he asks.

I nod.

“What have you done, Alexis?”

I turn and look him in the eye. “Something I should have done a long time ago, and stop worrying. It’ll be fine. I promise.”

We pull up to Lupe’s house right on time. I can see that Ramon brought Betty, and I have to smile. It takes a minute before Gabe notices, but once he does, he’s even more confused.

“Is that Betty?” he asks as he climbs out of the truck. “No way. It can’t be.”

“Why don’t you come on inside and find out.” I refuse to enlighten him.

He shakes his head at me and mumbles something about what happens when you let chicks be in charge. I laugh and take his hand to lead him to the door. I knock and almost instantly the door swings open. There stands Ramon with a baby in one arm and a beer in the other.

“
Guëro
!” He smiles at Gabe. “What the hell? They let you into town?”

Gabe smiles back, still completely confused. “Hey, man. I have no idea what I’m doing here. She’s in charge.” He gestures at me with his thumb as we step through the door.

Ramon laughs then hands Gabe the beer and puts an arm around his shoulders as he leads him inside while he introduces the baby he’s carting around like a sack of potatoes.

I come into the kitchen and an older, cheerfully chubby woman waylays me right away.

“
Bienvenidos, mija
!” she cries. “I’m Lupe. You must be Alexis.”

I hug her. “I am, and thank you so much for doing this for us. You’re amazing to help out people you don’t even know.”

“It’s nothing. All the
primos
down here are happy to see Ramon, and I know
Tia
Nancy remembers your mama from years ago. She’ll love to see your family.”

“Well, thank you. What can I do to help with the food?”

“Nothing. You’re one of the guests of honor. You go talk to Ramon and your man and just enjoy yourself.”

I blush a little and smile.

“And,
chica
,” she stage-whispers as she turns her eagle eye to Gabe and Ramon, “I have to say, if that was my man, I’d be doing all this to make sure my family liked him too. He may be a
gringo
, but darn. Even a fat, old woman like me can appreciate him.”

I have to laugh at that. I realize that I’ll always have to deal with women looking at Gabe. He’s too beautiful not to admire. But I know he only wants me. Now I need to prove to him once and for all that I only want him. No matter what the repercussions are.

It’s about fifteen minutes later that Beth arrives with my parents in tow. When they walk in, I’m talking to Gabe and one of Ramon’s teenage cousins. The girl is sweet, and she’s asking me lots of questions about UT. I hear the commotion at the front door and see my mom hugging and kissing various relatives of Ramon. Beth is scanning the room, looking for me. When she makes eye contact with me, she gives me a thumbs up and mouths, “Good luck.” I square my shoulders and nod back at her.

“So, who is that with Beth?” Gabe asks quietly as he leans toward my ear.

I turn and look him in the eye. “Those…are my parents.” Then before he can do or say anything else, I grab his hand and head toward them.

I can feel the tension rolling off of him as we cross the room, weaving in and out of people talking, laughing, and eating. Ramon has been paying close attention, and he reaches my parents before I even do. He stands nearby, not saying anything until I’ve walked up and lightly touched my mom on the shoulder, interrupting her conversation with Lupe.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Alexis!” she cries as she pulls me in for a hug. “Beth didn’t say you’d be here,
mija
. What are you doing?” I see her eyes jump from me to Gabe at my side.

“Well, Mama, I wanted you and Papa to meet someone.” My dad turns when he hears me say his name.

“Hi, Papa.”

“
Mija
.” He smiles at me and nods curtly at Gabe.

“Mom, Dad, I want you to meet Gabe Thompson, the guy who saved my life in Afghanistan.”

My mother gasps quietly, and my dad’s face hardens.

I look at Gabe, and he’s got a smile plastered on his face as he holds out his hand to my dad, who makes no return gesture. Gabe drops his hand and instead says, “It’s very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Garcia.”

My mother sort of stares at me in shock while my father is shuffling his feet in discomfort. Gabe looks at me like he doesn’t know what to do next. Then Ramon steps in.

“So, Alexis, you going to introduce me to your
padres
or what?” He’s all smiles.

“Oh,
lo siento
.” I’m hoping if I pour on the Spanish my parents will get those god-awful expressions of horror off their faces. “Mama, Papa, this is Ramon. He’s Gabe’s boss in Austin and Lupe’s
primo
.”

“Oh!” my mother flutters. I did mention Ramon’s a good-looking guy, right? “I’m Ana and this is my husband Miguel. It’s so nice to meet you.”

Ramon pours on the charm…and the Spanish too. He’s got my mom all blushing and gushing and my dad laughing in seconds. I haven’t let go of Gabe’s hand so I give it a squeeze as we watch Ramon work his magic. He doesn’t look at me but I can see the muscle in his jaw ticking. Gabe can handle being hated, but he’s not used to being ignored.

“So, Miguel.” Ramon puts a hand on Gabe’s back and pushes him forward a little so he’s more fully in the conversation circle. “This boy’s the one who introduced me to your girls. Gabe works for me at the repair shop. He’s getting to be a damn good mechanic, and my Tina thinks of him like one of the family.”

My dad grunts and mutters something like, “That’s nice.”

“The other night, we were having
carne asadas
at my house and
mi primo
Eric actually invited
guapo
here to lead the
Cinco de Mayo
parade with our car club.”

My mother’s eyebrows rise. “Really?” she asks.