Chapter Sixteen Gavin
Chapter Sixteen
Gavin
Me: Tell Maya you’re going to grab some coffee and come inside the shop across from your building.
Emily: How do you know I’m still with Maya?
Me: Because I’m sitting by the window of the coffee shop, and I can see the two of you walking toward the rehab center.
Emily: What if she wants to come with me?
Me: Convince her not to.
Emily: I only have about ten minutes before I have to get back to work.
Me: I won’t keep you any longer.
Light orange wasn’t a color I’d ever pick for Emily, but the woman looked fucking breathtaking.
The top of her scrubs was tucked into her waistband, giving me a view of that perfect body.
And because of the way I was sitting, I could also see the conversation she was having with Maya, working an angle to get herself alone.
I couldn’t hear the words, I could barely see her lips moving, but I knew the result once she hurried across the street, the bell above the glass door chiming, signaling she’d come inside.
She skimmed the small room, her eyes quickly landing on mine. I could tell she was trying to fight her smile. She was flattered I was here and didn’t want to admit it. But as she walked over to my table, she gave in, and one hell of a grin covered her face as she took the seat across from me.
“Hello, gorgeous.”
“What are you doing here?” She glanced at the small high top, holding the end of her braid. “And what is all this?”
I lifted my coffee and held it near my chest. “I didn’t know if I’d be able to get you alone while you were at work, especially with Maya there.
So I had to create my own alone time. And this”—I nodded toward the table—“is every dessert the coffee shop makes. Aside from strawberry cupcakes, I had no idea what your favorite is.”
“So you ordered everything?” She laughed.
It was my turn to hide a smile. “It isn’t that much.”
“There’s enough dessert here for my entire wing.”
This was the only available table, and I’d had to overlap most of the desserts just so they’d fit. There were probably twenty total, ranging from cinnamon buns to doughnuts. There was even some kind of tart thing that I would fucking hate, but maybe she’d dig it.
“You can box up whatever you don’t eat and take it to the nurses. I’m sure they’ll love something sweet.”
She sucked her lips in as she inventoried the buffet. “And I’m just supposed to tell Maya that an urge came over me and I bought the entire dessert-display case?”
I took a drink of my coffee and set it back down. “You said you like to give gifts, didn’t you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “You remember . . .”
“Just like I remember not getting an answer about making that introduction in person.”
She broke one of the doughnuts in half and took a bite. “It’s strawberry.” Her eyes acknowledged that she was still avoiding a response.
“That’s why I got you two of them.”
“You’re so interesting, Mr. Worthington.” She shook her head as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Question: Why didn’t you bring Ben when you knew Bettie would love to see him?”
I set my shoe on the footrest of the tall barstool. “If I brought my son, I wouldn’t be able to do this.”
“Which is?”
“Spend time with you.”
She took another bite. I swore it was to mask whatever expression wanted to burst through her face. “And why do you want to do that?”
“You have a lot of questions, Emily.”
She turned silent for several seconds, but her stare told me that nothing was quiet in her head.
“I’ve been with you—if that’s what you want to call it—three times.
And now, suddenly, you want my number and you want to ask me out.
” She fisted a napkin, wiping the sides of her mouth with it.
“This doesn’t seem like you, Gavin. I want to know what brought on the change. ”
“You.”
She immediately looked away, taking the last bite of the doughnut half, holding her hand, balled in a fist, in front of her mouth while she chewed. When her eyes returned to me, I could see the pleasure inside them.
I could even see the smile that her hand was blocking.
“What, you don’t have more questions for me?”
She swallowed and her hand stayed. “Oh, I have no less than a million.”
“Let me see if I can answer them all at once.” I rubbed my palms over my suit pants before I crossed my arms. There had been sweat on them.
This wasn’t my specialty—the kind of talk I wanted to have with her—but I was trying like hell.
“Here’s the deal: I’ve been thinking about you.
A lot. At night. In the morning. When I’m with Ben.
When I’m without him. And our meetups have been random.
” I paused. “I don’t want them to be random anymore. I want to see more of you.”
“Meetups.” She moved some of the desserts so she could rest her arms on the edge of the table. “As in this is just sex?”
“No.” My reply came out faster than I anticipated.
“Do I love having sex with you, fuck yeah.” My eyes dropped to her chest, and I let out a small chuckle as I thought about what I wanted to do to her nipples, my dick part of every thought, always.
“But that’s not why I asked for your number and it’s not why I want to see more of you. ”
“This is . . . wild.”
“Why do you say that?”
She dragged her thumb over her lips before her hand returned to its original spot on the table.
“I just had a conversation about you with Maya on our way to lunch. She asked how it went when you dropped me off, and I was pretty bland at responding. You know, as a precaution. But the topic stayed on you, and she called you a forever bachelor and mentioned how you don’t want to bring a woman into Ben’s life. ”
“I’m sure she learned that from Jordan.”
She nodded. “She did.”
“She wasn’t misinformed. You know that—you and I have had the same conversation.”
“But what I’m hearing is that your opinion has changed.” She looked at her hands. “Am I right?”
“Yes.”
She eventually gazed up, her eyes wide and emotional. “And that’s what I find wild. Mind-blowing, in fact.”
“Emily, you’re the one who changed my opinion.
” I smiled, and it caused her to do the same.
“You know Ben is my priority and always will be. You know my dedication to him and the time involved as a single parent. That’s why I’m being up front and honest and talking to you about this rather than just letting things unfold.
Football may not be part of my day-to-day anymore, but I still follow a playbook in many ways. ”
“Communication is the sexiest thing alive, in my opinion. I’m literally eating up every second of this.” She turned her finger in the air. “Give me more.”
I loosened my tie a little and chuckled even though we were entering the most serious part of the conversation.
“About Ben. I don’t want to go there until I know.
Until I’m absolutely sure.” I tried my best to soften my voice.
“I need you to understand that, and I need to know you’re going to respect that. ”
“Gavin, of course. I know your life is different than mine. I know how seriously you take Ben’s feelings, and you and I are going to be separate from him and I until you’re ready to merge the three of us together.”
“And until you’re ready.”
She smiled. “I appreciate that.” She let out a short giggle. “I’m not going to lie, this might be the most mature conversation I’ve ever had.”
“I’m right there with you.” She was way too far away. “I’d reach for your hand if the sleeves of my suit wouldn’t get coated in every type of dessert.”
She laughed.
“Come here, Emily.”
As she got up from her chair, I turned in mine, separating my legs so she could stand between them, my hands going to her waist as soon as she was within reach.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this.
Since I’ve ever wanted something like this.
It’s just been Ben and me since he was born.
No one else. But this sexy nurse with the most beautiful blue eyes has fucking owned my thoughts, and I can’t seem to let her go.
” I tightened my grip, moving my face closer to hers.
“I’m rusty, Emily. You’re going to have to bear with me. ”
“Rusty is hot. It means I can oil you up any way I want you.” Her head fell back, and when she looked at me again, she had the biggest grin I’d ever seen on her. “What am I going to tell my coworkers when they ask why I’m smiling this hard?”
“That you just ate the best doughnut of your life.”
“Which is somewhat true.” She linked her hands behind my head.
“Do you want to still keep this from Maya and Jordan?”
She nodded and her shoulders lifted. “I like this bubble. I like that it’s just us.
I like that we’re learning and seeing and exploring and figuring out without any questions or pressure.
” She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to step outside that bubble yet.
At least not until things either really work . . . or don’t.”
“I have no problem with that.”
She inhaled again and nodded. “Good.”
My hands moved up her sides, across her shoulders, and stopped on her cheeks. “I need to kiss you. Right now.”
“Inside this coffee shop? That’s packed full of people?”
There was a smile etched across every part of my face. “Fuck yes.”