Kiss of a Stranger (Lost Coast Harbor #1) (27 page)

At last, with Maddie wrapped safely in his arms, Gabe allowed himself to appreciate the moment. It filled him slowly, a relief so profound it took over his entire body.

“Me too,” he whispered. “Me too.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

M
addie stabbed the spade into a thick mound of soil. Gardening was supposed to be soothing. Calming. She was nurturing life, damn it.

It had been a week. Seven days. That’s how much time had passed since she’d seen or heard from one Gabriel Reyes.

The feds separated them while they took statements. Because of his history with the Hastings, Gabe’s took a lot longer, so Oliver drove her home. Gabe was supposed to join her in the middle of the night. Instead, she woke to a handwritten note promising he’d return, but it hadn’t contained any specifics.

She sent a clod of dirt flying, then sat back on her heels. There was no point taking her rage out on her plants.

Somehow, she’d believed him when he said she was forgiven. He’d come to save her, hadn’t he? Swooped in like some damn hero and led her…well, he led her right back to Peter Hastings, but it worked out in the end. And afterwards, with his arm wrapped so tight around her, it felt like everything was exactly the way it supposed to be.

Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe he cared just enough that he didn’t want her to die because of his quest for vengeance. It was the least a decent man would do, and Gabe was far more than a decent man.

But decent men didn’t try to take a bullet for you. They might try to patch you up afterwards, but they didn’t sacrifice themselves for no good reason.

She thought she knew what that reason was. Hoped she did, at least. Then a week passed. A week where her phone was silent and no one knocked on her door. A week where no one in their tiny town reported seeing the ex-con who’d taken down Peter Hastings.

And that was all people were talking about. Some talked openly over breakfast at the diner or hair cuts at the barber shop, about the scandalous history that took place right under their noses. Many more were worried, wondering what this meant for their homes, their businesses, their futures in a town owned by a man who now sat behind bars.

And then there were those who whispered and cast suspicious glances at their neighbors. Everyone knew Peter Hastings hadn’t worked alone. Harold and Vince had already been arrested, but it was obvious more people were involved. The investigation had only begun. Lost Coast Harbor had been cracked open, and for the first time, people saw the filth that lived just under the surface. Somewhere in town, there were guilty people who went unpunished.

While the town whispered, Maddie got back to her life.

Maybe Gabe was doing the same. When the feds took him, no one placed him in cuffs or even stared at him with narrowed eyes. The feds treated him kindly, with deference even, and Oliver made sure the local prosecutors were working to clear his name. The life waiting for him now was a far cry from the one that greeted him when he first left prison.

The last time she saw him, he was passing the room where she was being questioned. Their eyes locked, a moment that lasted for ages and ended far too soon. He mouthed something with a lifted brow, but she didn’t figure out what he said until much later, when they were both free and he was long gone.

“Boyfriend?” he’d asked.

Maddie stood in frustration, setting the tools on the nursery’s potting bench.

She’d apologized profusely for spending two hundred thousand dollars of her boss’s money just to prove to Gabe that she wasn’t a coward, but Oliver found the whole thing funny and insisted the money was intended for her anyway—and he’d much rather she spent it building a life in Lost Coast than hiding from his family in Palo Alto.

Despite his generosity, she insisted he take it back. The bank gave her a loan based on years of excellent credit.

Oliver agreed to accept the money on one condition. “There was a reward from the feds,” he told her. “I’ll put it toward the down payment on the nursery.”

Maddie doubted that was how reward money worked, but no amount of protesting convinced Oliver to change his story.

She couldn’t help smiling as she glanced around her nursery. She was delaying school for a semester while she got everything set up, but she would have that associate’s degree next year. She might even get her business degree after that, to help her run the nursery.

She was going to build something here, something that grew and flourished. Something that was all hers.

The thought wasn’t quite as satisfying as it should have been. Maddie didn’t want her life to be all hers, not anymore.

“I was hoping to see a help wanted sign.”

Maddie’s smile caught. She didn’t turn around. Not yet. Hearing his voice was hard enough. She wasn’t ready to see his face, see those dark eyes fixed on her. This was still the man who left without a word.

Still the man who made fun of her for calling him her boyfriend.

“How long are you in town?” Maddie busied herself with the gardening tools, moving them around in random patterns.

His voice was a little closer. “What do you mean?”

His genuine confusion pissed her off. A smart man shouldn’t act so stupid. She spun to face him, too annoyed to continue avoiding him.

“What do you think I mean? You’re done here. Hastings is locked up. Everyone knows what he did and what you didn’t do. Your conviction will be overturned. I know you’ll be leaving to meet up with your brother soon. I understand. I mean, he’s family. Your true north. So I’m just asking, how long are you here? Because it would be nice if you said good-bye this time, unless you think so little of me.”

She couldn’t seem to stop talking. The words poured over each other, and the more she fought to keep her dignity, the less she felt she had. At last, she shut her mouth and glared at the man who, in such a short time, had proved her ruin.

“I…think so little of you?” Gabe stepped closer.

“Do I need to remind you what you said?” Even now, the words stung.

Gabe never took his eyes from her. “You knew when you met me that I was a man who’d made a lot of mistakes.”

Maddie managed a nod.

“Well, I’m still making them, and calling you a coward was one of the stupidest mistakes I ever made.”

“There might have been a grain of truth to it.”

Gabe lips lifted into that close-mouthed smile. “You were brave enough to believe in me when no one else did. To help me when it was easier to walk away. That’s what I should have focused on, not some mistake you made long ago. Too many of us fucked up in one way or another because of Hastings. I’m tired of blaming myself for what I did, so I’m sure as hell not going to blame you.”

“What about you? How brave are you these days?” She couldn’t look away from him.

“As brave as you need me to be,” he said.

Perhaps she didn’t look convinced, so he continued. “I don’t know if I’m okay, but I’m a lot closer than I was. So, I’ve decided I’m the man you need. You said you wanted reliable. I think racing across the ocean to save you should count. A guy who remembers your birthday? I don’t know when it is, but—”

“May twelfth.”

“—But now I’ll never forget it. Anniversaries? Happy twenty-fourth day since we first met. I’ll do that every day for the rest of your life, if that’s what you want.”

“The rest of my…” Words failed her. She couldn’t form a single coherent thought.

“You said I didn’t like myself, and you weren’t wrong. I thought prison made me into a man no one could love. I hated being the asshole ex-con, and I didn’t think anyone would ever see me as anything else. You proved me wrong. I’m not that guy anymore. I’ve started making the right choices again, and I don’t plan to stop. Though I should warn you that, as soon as my conviction is expunged, I’ve decided to apply to law school. I might as well do something with that 3.8 GPA I got in prison.”

“Law school?”

“It won’t be one of the big fancy ones, but there’s a school a couple hours from here with a program for working students. I’d go once a week, so it’ll take a few years. But I said I wanted to do some good in the world, and I think I’d be a pretty good defense attorney. There are a lot of people who need someone to believe in them, or help them get a second chance after they make a mistake.”

“But…”

He kept talking, like he needed to get everything out before she made a decision. “So this means I won’t have a lot of money for a while, and I have no idea if I can do this. I’m taking a risk, and if you want to be with me, you’re taking a risk, too. I know that’s not your favorite thing, but I was hoping to convince you that we can be brave together.”

Finally, he stopped for a breath. He said nothing else, only watched her with dark eyes full of hope.

“Are you telling me you’re staying?” The words were hesitant. She couldn’t think of anything she wanted more.

“Where do you think I’ve been the past week?”

“I don’t know! You didn’t bother telling me. I know you were in prison for a while, but you know how texting works, right?”

The jibe had no effect. “I didn’t want to say anything until I was certain Mateo would come back with me. He’s down at the docks right now, filling out new employee paperwork. Oliver really does have a weakness for strays, doesn’t he?”

Maddie understood the words immediately, though it took her longer to believe them. “You’re really staying?” she ventured.

Gabe wrapped a single arm around her waist. “If you’ll have me after everything that happened.”

At that moment, she couldn’t remember a single thing he’d done.

No, that wasn’t true. She remembered his touch. His kiss. The way he listened when she talked about her past and helped her dream of a future. The way he both upended her life and fit in it perfectly.

“I’ll have you,” she managed.

Gabe’s face crumbled for just a moment, as if he hadn’t been entirely certain of her response.

Then, with an oath, he wrapped his other arm around her back and pulled her against his body. He didn’t just kiss her. He possessed her with his lips, his touch almost feral in its need. His hands ran up and down her body and ass, pressing her against him with every touch.

He pulled back with a groan. “Maddie, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I deserve you.”

She grasped his head and pulled his face to hers, forcing him to look at her. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Don’t you dare forget that.”

When he opened his mouth to argue, she gave him something better to do with those lips.

They kissed with equal parts desperation and wonder, their hunger tempered by their need to savor the other. To slow this moment long enough that they would remember it for years to come. For the rest of their lives, if need be.

Maddie remembered every place he put his hands, the touch like a brand. She noted the scrape of stubble on his cheek, the soft skin beneath, the heat of his lips and tongue.

And oh yes. The hard length pressed against her hip.

Gabe’s hands spanned her waist, and he lifted her onto the potting bench. “So glad you wore a skirt today.” His hands ran up her thighs, heading straight for her hot core.

“Too bad I’m wearing tights.” She gasped as he ran a finger along her seam.

His grin turned evil, and he ripped the fabric. “Not anymore.”

Cold air hit her flesh, but Gabe moved into the triangle of her legs. Immediately, she felt warm again.

Maddie ran her hands across the front of his jeans. She pulled the top button loose, then yanked on his zipper. She sighed when her fingers wrapped around the hot skin of his cock.

Gabe’s breath caught, and he reached into his back pocket for his wallet.

She leaned back, denying him her lips. “Tell me you want me,” she said.

He didn’t need to think about it. “I want you.” He ran his lips along her neck while he ripped open the foil packet and slid the condom on.

“Tell me you need me.”

Gabe ran his fingers across her soft flesh, closing his eyes when he found her soaking wet. “I need you.” The words were too raw to be anything but the truth. He positioned himself between her legs.

She shouldn’t ask. She shouldn’t push…but still the words came out. “Tell me,” she whispered.

Gabe pulled back, just an inch. “Are you sure?” His breath was warm on her face. “You’ve seen what happens to people I consider family.”

They became a permanent part of his heart. It was where she wanted to spend the rest of her life.

“I’m sure.” And she was. Her voice was strong. Her doubts were gone. If he didn’t say it first, she’d scream it to the rooftops. She would yell it in the town square. She’d buy every damn condom they sold in that pharmacy and stamp his name on each box.

But before she could do any of that, she needed to put herself back together.

Because when Gabe pressed his lips against her ear and whispered “I love you, Maddie,” she fell apart.

And then Gabe was sliding inside her with long, sure strokes, and everything became right again. He put his lips to her ear and murmured words of want, and need, and love, and she returned them every time.

When they pushed each other over the edge at last, they knew their long, crooked paths had finally brought them home.

They returned to town in Gabe’s car. Apparently, he’d received enough reward money to buy an eight-year-old sedan. “I decided a lawyer needed a practical car,” he said, winking.

When they reached her house, Maddie stared at the vehicles lined up in her driveway and in front of her house. She recognized Erin’s soft-topped Jeep Wrangler, a van from Rogers Trucking, and Bree’s old truck. The rest were people from town.

If she knew her fellow townies, they were there for the gossip.

“Oh, god. They know you’re back in town, don’t they?” She reached for the handle, but Gabe was already rocketing around the car to open the door for her.

She let him. She was looking forward to letting Gabe do lots of things.

Gabe threaded his fingers through hers, and she held his hand tight. Let them stare and judge and comment on her terrible taste in men.