His Unlikely Lover (Unwanted #3) (35 page)

“He has to present a certain image to the world,” Theresa continued. “And when it’s just the two of you, or you’re going out to the pub or hanging out with us, nobody cares about the way you’re dressed. That’s just packaging. But there will be times when your usual getup of jeans and T-shirts, or even that navy-blue dress, just won’t cut it. You’d humiliate both yourself and Gabe. Who would take him seriously in the business world if you appeared on his arm dressed like that?”

“Why should the way
I
dress reflect badly on him?” Bobbi asked defensively, even though she could see the sense in what Theresa was saying.

“Don’t be obtuse, Bobbi,” Bronwyn said grimly. “And stop being so damned stubborn. Obviously it would reflect badly on him; how could anybody trust a businessman with bad judgment? And that’s what it would look like to everybody else. Bad judgment if he showed up with you on his arm and you were dressed as if you were still back in your workshop.”

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable. I wouldn’t feel like myself,” Bobbi whispered.

“That’s probably because you haven’t found anything that you like yet.” Theresa reached over to give Bobbi’s hand a supportive squeeze. “You don’t go shopping; you get the easiest things off the rack and you’re done. Wearing a dress won’t change who you are, Bobbi. It couldn’t possibly do that, it’ll merely add a bit of embellishment.”

“Why don’t we turn our girls’ night into a girls’ day tomorrow and do some shopping?” Lisa suggested, and the other women hummed their approval.

“I don’t want some Cinderella makeover,” Bobbi said in a panic and they all laughed.

“Don’t be silly,” Theresa said dismissively. “You don’t need a makeover. Don’t you know that you’re gorgeous? You just need some guidance, that’s all.”

“I’m not sure,” Bobbi said. “I have work and other stuff.”

She was nervous at the thought of a shopping trip. Shopping wasn’t her strong suit, and she had never really had another woman’s guidance when going out to buy clothing. It meant the world to her that these four women, who had become such close friends in so short a time, wanted to guide her through the process, but Bobbi really couldn’t imagine shopping being anything other than an ordeal. Still, the idea was tempting, and if anybody could turn a day of tedious shopping into something fun, it would be these four.

“Bobbi,” Theresa said. “I promise you we will make it as painless and fun as possible. All we’re doing is finding some clothes that suit your awesome personality. I mean, what do denim shorts and T-shirts say about you, really?”

“I like comfort?” Bobbi ventured.

“Yes, but how about the fact that you have a sense of fun and an adventurous spirit too?” Theresa responded. “Clothes don’t have to be just practical, you know, and evening dresses don’t
have
to be intimidating, sexy sheaths. They can be fun and flirty and edgy and cool.”

“You need to stop watching
Project Runway
,” Bronwyn said with an eye roll.

“I just watch it for the accessories.” Theresa went to her stock-in-trade answer.

“
Sure
you do,” Lisa said.

“Anyway . . . we’re going shopping,” Theresa repeated

“Yes, we are,” Bronwyn confirmed, as did Alice and Lisa.

Comprehensively outvoted, Bobbi shrugged and bowed to the inevitable.

“I guess we’re going shopping.”

Sandro was the first man, as always, to break free of the hypnotic effect of the grill, and he climbed up the bleachers to slide in behind Theresa and drag her back between his spread thighs.

“You ladies look so serious,” he observed, nuzzling Theresa’s neck in between words. “What are you talking about?”

“Girls’ stuff,” Lisa said enigmatically, smiling at her husband, who had come to join them. Bryce and Pierre soon followed Rick and all three men sat down close to their wives. That was the way it usually went. The men huddled by the grill for a while, and then the married guys would drift over to join their wives in the stands. The single men usually remained trapped by the fire’s enthralling spell. That’s why Bobbi was heartened when Gabe glanced up them, smiled when he caught her eye, and, without a backward glance to the siren song of the flames, made his way over to her. He sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist until she was practically melded against him.

She leaned against him with a contented sigh and rested her hand on his thigh and her head on his shoulder. One of his hands was resting on her leg, just above her knee, and when it went down to cup her kneecap, she twisted her head to meet his eyes.

“What happened here?” he asked gruffly, gently brushing a finger across the grass burn on her knee. She had taken a tumble during the game, which he—fortunately—hadn’t seen, but she had scraped her knee pretty badly.

“It’s just a grass burn,” she explained. “I tripped over my own feet.”

“Good game tonight,” he said. “Although having both Chase and Kinsley on my team wasn’t exactly ideal.” Chase wasn’t great at football. Cricket was more his sport.

“Did you like my goal?” She smirked, and he glowered at the brightly lit field.

“I would have liked it a hell of a lot better if you were on my team.”

“Stop being such a sore loser,” she chastised. Gabe’s team had lost 3–0 and he was clearly still moody about it—despite the therapeutic fire-heals-all-wounds postgame session at the grill.

“Meat’s done,” Chase called from the grill, and Bobbi moved to get her food, but Gabe’s hand tightened on her leg.

“I’ll get it. I don’t want you straining that leg too much.”

She gaped at him.

“Gabe, it’s a
grass burn
,” she pointed out.

“It’ll still sting,” he said. He kissed her quickly before lithely jumping off the stands and heading toward the grill.

“You guys are really sweet together,” Bron pointed out after the others had drifted down for food as well. Most of the children were asleep on picnic loungers and covered with blankets just next to the bleachers, but Bronwyn had her sleeping two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Kayla, tucked against her chest, which meant Bryce had gone for their food. “It’s interesting because you were such good friends that I expected a bit of awkwardness, but it’s like you’ve been a couple forever and he clearly adores you.”

“What makes you say that?” Bobbi asked curiously.

“The guy was watching you like a hawk throughout the entire game, every time it looked like you would fall we could see him tensing up, ready to fly to your side.”

“He didn’t see
this
happen,” Bobbi pointed to her knee, and Bronwyn laughed.

“Oh, he saw it all right, and if not for Chase grabbing the back of his collar and yanking him nearly off his feet, he’d have come dashing over to rescue you. Whatever Chase said managed to calm Gabe down enough to stop him from carrying you off the field.”

“God, that would have been embarrassing,” Bobbi groaned. “I warned him not to overreact to every tiny scrape, but he wouldn’t give me his word.”

She watched him climb back up the bleachers, carefully carrying two loaded plates. He stuck one on her knees before sitting down beside her again.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Happy to do it.” And he really seemed to be happy. Bobbi studied him for a long moment, reflecting on how eager he was to please her, and thought about her own reluctance to do the one thing guaranteed to please
him
. It left her feeling petty and selfish.

After everybody had left that night and Chase had made his way back to the house, Gabe took her hand and led her to the gate.

“I could stay,” she whispered, after a long and deeply satisfying kiss.

“Hmmm,” he murmured, his hands busily drifting up under her loose shirt, stroking up and down the skin of her back. When they moved around to cup her breasts through the thick cotton of her sports bra, she moaned and pushed herself more fully into his hands.

“Do you want me to stay?” she asked, more urgently, her arms winding around his neck. He didn’t answer, sucking and licking at the sensitive skin on her collarbone instead. Bobbi sighed and planted urgent kisses all over his strong jaw, the tip of her tongue tasting the salt on his skin with every caress.

“Gabe,” she said softly, rapidly losing her ability to think beyond the next drugging kiss. “Gabe, I’m staying.”

He lifted his head and looked down at her with hot eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice rough. “Because if you stay it’s through the night. There’s no negotiating on that. Are you ready for everyone to be aware of the fact that we’re sleeping together?”

“Chase knows,” she pointed out.

“But you’ve never had to face him over the breakfast table the next day,” Gabe said. “If you stay, there’ll be no sneaking out in the middle of the night like we’ve done something to be ashamed of, and no rushing off in the morning either. Are we clear on that?”

“As crystal,” she said, and he smiled.

“Then let’s go to bed.” He held out his hand and she took it without any hesitation, happy to follow him home.

Gabe gathered her into his arms the moment they set foot in his room and his lips immediately descended over hers. His rapacious mouth swallowed up a small sigh of pleasure, and after that she was just
lost
. His strong hands moved, one down to the small of her back and the other to the back of her head, where his fingers wove themselves into her short, silky hair. Her mouth opened helplessly beneath his and his hungry, searching tongue eagerly responded to the invitation. The kiss was better than anything else that had ever come before it, and it consumed her completely.

She was burning from the inside out and reveling in it. She pushed herself closer and closer, wanting to crawl into his skin, wanting to fuse herself to him and become a part of him. Bobbi could not remember ever surrendering so completely to anyone before. Not even that first time they had made love. This time felt different, it felt more significant, more loving. In that moment Gabriel Braddock was her reason for living and the sum total of her existence.

Bobbi protested when Gabe dragged his lips from hers and tried to pull him back down toward her. He laughed and said something beneath his breath before bringing his hands to the hem of her T-shirt and dragging it up over her head. He tossed it aside and focused on her sports bra. He pushed the straps down the slender slopes of her shoulders, his eyes intently focused on the golden flesh his large hands were revealing. Bobbi sucked in a shocked breath when she felt nothing but air on her breasts, and she groaned painfully at the first tentative touch of his finger on the sensitive peak of one mound. Her nipple surged to swollen life and he smiled in satisfaction before lowering his mouth to the aching bud and suckling it deeply into his hot, velvety mouth.

Bobbi squeaked in shock, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of sensation that raced through her body like an addictive narcotic. She was flat on her back in the middle of his bed by this time and had no clear idea of how she had gotten there. Her baggy football shorts were gone and she was wearing just white cotton panties—their only concession to her femininity being the tiny pink lace borders that were hemmed around the edges.