Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (19 page)

Gabe
nibbled on the back of
Emma’s neck as she slept. He
moved her hair away and gently took her earlobe between his teeth. He knew she
was awake when her breathing changed, and became deeper. His hand wrapped
around her waist and pulled her back against him. When she wiggled her but
t against his erection, he chuckled against her hair.

“I’m
trying to sleep, Gabriel Stone.”

He
snorted. “Sure you are.” He rolled her to her back. “Merry Christmas, baby,” he
growled before capturing her mouth in a deep kiss.

“Merry
Christmas to you too,”
Emma said grinning up at him.
“Is that my present I feel against my leg or are you just happy to see me?”

“It can
be one of your presents, I suppose.” He kissed her again then whispered against
her lips, “I do have something I want to give you.”

Emma
burst
out laughing. “I bet you do.”

He
groaned. “You have definitely been hanging around Olivia too much.” He nuzzled
her hair with his nose. “Seriously, I have a present I can’t wait to give you.”

Emma
pulled away and sat up.
“Really?
Can we go downstairs now?
”

He
chuckled, reaching for her again. “So you don’t want this present now?”

“
Pffft
…I can have that any old time.”
Emma jumped from the bed. He watched her put on her robe, and after visiting
the bathroom, she ran downstairs. He groaned and climbed from th
e bed to follow her.
 

Gabe was
in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee when she came in, stepped up beside him
to pour herself a cup, and then crooked her finger at him to follow her to the
living room. He grinned and happily followed her. They each retrie
ved gifts from under the tree. He pulled Emma down onto the
sofa and laid several boxes in front of her on the coffee table. She stared at
the boxes with pure surprise. “Open them, darlin’,” he told her. She glanced up
at him and smiled before grabbing one
.

He
watched her pick up the box ripping the paper off it. Emma lifted the lid and
gasped at the beautiful blue blouse. She rubbed her hands over it and lifted it
out. It was a maternity top made of silk. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you.” She
kissed him then
reached for another box. The next box
contained a new bridle and reins trimmed in blue. She ran her hands over them
and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

“I
thought with a new horse, you’d need new tack. There’s also a new saddle in the
barn for you.”
Gabe touched her hair. “You can see it
later.” He handed her another box and watched in delight as she opened it. Emma
inhaled with deep appreciation when she saw the new cowgirl boots inside. The
soft brown leather had blue weaving through the sides. She
put the box down and threw her arms around him.

“I love
them, Gabe. Blue’s my favorite color. I love everything and I can’t wait to see
the saddle.” Emma retrieved the gifts she’d set aside for him, and set them on
the coffee table. “Your turn,” she said
with an
excited smile.

Gabe
grinned as he picked up a box. He held it to his ear and shook it. Emma laughed
and slapped his arm. He laughed as he opened it. He pulled out two pairs of
leather work gloves, and new
piggin
’ string. “I needed these. I’m
always
losing my gloves, and my
piggin
’ string has about had it.
Thanks, baby.” He kissed her. She handed him another box. He was shocked when
he saw a new shearling coat. They were expensive coats. He kissed her again. “I
really needed this.” The last box she h
anded to him
was small. He opened it, lifted a book out of the box. He ran his hands over it
with appreciation, and then looked at her, smiling.
“How?”

“I found
it on eBay, and had it shipped to the feed store. Junior drove me crazy telling
me it hadn’t co
me in yet, and all the time, Daddy had
it in his office.” Emma grinned with obvious pride.

“I’ve
been looking for this book forever.” Gabe turned the book over in his hands. It
was a book about the history of the rodeo. He put his hand on the back of her n
eck and pulled her to him. “Thank you. This is the best
gift you could’ve given me, except the baby, of course.” He grinned as she
handed him yet another one. He opened it and pulled back the white tissue
paper. He lifted out the blue teddy. Holding it up,
he sighed and shook his head even as he stifled a grin.

“You
don’t like it?” Emma nibbled her lower lip with her teeth.

“I don’t
think it will fit me,” he said as deadpanned as he could manage. Emma gasped
and punched his arm. He laughed. “I love it, and
can’t
wait to take it off you.”

Emma
smiled, and then stood. “I’m glad you like it. How about breakfast first, and
then I want to see my new saddle.” She started to walk away, but he grabbed her
hand. She stopped, looked down at him, and cocked her head in
question.

“I have
one more for you. Please sit down.” Gabe waited for her to take a seat again,
and then reached into his jeans pocket. He pulled out a small box. Emma’s eyes
widened. She looked first at the box, and then at him. He placed it in her
hand.
She sat staring at it in her palm. “Open it,
Emma.” He watched as she pulled the paper off, and then just stared at the
black velvet box. “Aren’t you going to open it?” He chuckled when she shook her
head. “It won’t bite you. I might, but it won’t.”

Emma
handed it back to him. He was stunned. “Emma, please.”

“I
can’t,” she whispered not looking at him.

“Why not?”

“Because
it might not be what I think it is and I don’t want to be disappointed, or it
will be what I think it is, and I won’t know how to react.
”

Gabe
laughed. “Okay. I’ll open it.” He started to open the lid and stopped. He took
her left hand in his. “We got married too quickly. Neither of us was prepared
for it, but I felt bad that you didn’t get the kind of wedding all young women
dream about g
rowing up. I pushed you into it, I
suppose, but I think we’ve done pretty well together.” He opened the lid and a
one-caret princess cut diamond sparkled from inside. “I believe every woman
deserves an engagement ring, and although we were never engaged, y
ou deserve one next to your wedding band.” He turned her
hand over and slid the diamond on in front of her band then he lifted it, and
kissed the back of her hand. “I hope you like it.” In answer, she threw her
arms around him and they fell back on the cou
ch. Emma
rained kisses all over his face as he laughed and wrapped his arms around her.
Breakfast was late.

* * * *

Now
eight months pregnant, Emma felt more like one of the heifers in the pasture
than normal. She could no longer even see her feet. Until
her seventh month, her baby bump was barely visible but
then all of a sudden, it just popped out. She now looked like she had a
basketball stuffed under her shirt. When March roared in, so had the baby and
now she no longer walked but waddled, and her hor
mones
were driving her crazy. Poor Gabe never knew what to expect from her or what to
do when she was acting insane. There were days he steered clear of her
completely and she couldn’t blame him. He gave her flowers one day and she
burst into tears. The da
y he’d mentioned she looked
tired she’d almost taken his head off. He’d literally backed out the kitchen
door.

Emma
lowered herself to the sofa and placed her hands over her swollen belly. “I
hope you’re enjoying yourself in there, because I’m not having a
good time out here while you dance.” She received a strong
kick for that comment, and she was so concentrated on her belly she hadn’t
heard Gabe come in so when she saw his boots in front of her, she flinched in
reaction. “What?” she snapped at him.

Gabe
cleared his throat cautiously. “I think we should pick out
names. What do you say?”

“I want
to name her Sophie Ann.” She folded her arms across her chest, not being in the
mood to argue.

“We can
name the next one Sophie Ann. This one is a boy, and I want t
o name him Joshua Gabriel.”

She
snorted. “This is a girl. The next one can be Joshua.” She couldn’t believe
they were calmly discussing having another child. They’d never even exchanged
words of love and they were talking about the next kid.

Gabe sat
down
beside her, gently pushing her legs aside.
“Okay. We like the names so whatever he is, we’ll choose those names.”

She
turned to glare at him, but then nodded her agreement. “Can we go for a ride?”
she asked in a less snappy tone.

“On a horse?
No fucking wa
y,” Gabe growled.

“In.
The
. Truck,” she said through
clenched teeth, not in the mood for his macho overprotective nature at that
moment. “I need to get out of this house or I’m going to kill someone.” She
gazed at Gabe, letting him know who that someone mi
ght
be.

Gabe
stood and put a hand out to her to help her up. “Sure. Let’s go.”

Together
they made their way to the truck, Gabe patiently moving with her while she
waddled. Once there, Gabe helped her up into the front seat of the truck. Emma
could smell sp
ring in the air, the sun was shining,
and the day was beautiful. The blue sky was cloudless. She smiled as she
slipped her sunglasses on then watched Gabe get into the truck and settle in
behind the wheel. He put his sunglasses on too, and after smiling at
her steered the truck out of the driveway. He turned left
onto the road toward Wyatt’s ranch, but drove on past it.

A few
miles further, they passed Ryder Wolfe’s place. Emma saw his horses enjoying
the day in the pastures. He had the most beautiful Paint
s she’d ever seen. Tantamount proof was Beauty. She hadn’t been able to
ride the beautiful animal yet, but she was looking forward to it. She looked
over at Gabe and smiled. For a couple who hadn’t married for love, it seemed to
be working. She loved him,
but she also knew he
didn’t love her. Maybe he would one day. At least, she hoped he would. She knew
he loved the baby and he seemed to enjoy making love to her.

Emma
suddenly couldn’t keep her eyes off her gorgeous husband. Her gaze drifted down
to where
his legs met, his jacket parting just so,
framing his crotch. Oh my, she was horny. She wanted to laugh at the thought of
how far she’d come since losing her virginity and slapped her hand over her
mouth.

Gabe
glanced over to her. “What’s funny?” He smiled
at
her.

She
shook her head, embarrassed by her thoughts. There was no way she was going to
tell him. He hadn’t even acted like he wanted sex lately so she wasn’t going to
be the one to bring it up. Then again, why would he want her? Could it be
because yo
u look like the Goodyear blimp? She
narrowed her eyes at him. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t still have sex. Now,
her good mood was turning into a bad one. How dare he not want sex? Was he
getting it somewhere else? The thought he might be, sent a pain thro
ugh her heart. She shook her head. No. He was either in the
arena training or with her. There was no time for another woman. He just didn’t
want her.

She
folded her arms across the top of her huge belly and huffed. She noted the way
Gabe’s head snapped to
the side to look at her. She
almost laughed at the fear on his face. He was so afraid of her moods. “What’s
wrong now, Emma?”

“What’s
wrong now?” She heard Gabe swearing under his breath.

He
sighed. “I just meant, what’s bothering you?”

“It
doesn’t matter.
I want to go home.”

“We just
left home,” Gabe shouted, slamming his palm on the steering wheel.

She
turned in her seat to stare out the window. “Take me home, Gabriel Stone!” She
heard him sigh as he pulled off the road and turned the truck around to head
home. After he pulled into the driveway, Gabe stopped the
truck by the back door, shut it off, and turned toward her, laying his arm
along the back of the seat. He tugged on her hair. She refused to look at him.
He did it again and she still stared straig
ht ahead.
When his hand reached for her hair again, she jerked away from him.