18. Epilogue
One year later
~Jennifer~
Gabe’s arms wrapped around me from behind, his body firm and warm against my back. “So? Is it what you imagined?”
In front of me, three massive, intricately tiled buildings with domed tops and columns faced each other across a wide square. People bustled around us, exclaiming to each other in various languages, taking photos and buying souvenirs. The strong sun warmed my arms and face and a hint of spice still lingered in the air from the market we’d walked through. More than 7000 miles from Pasadena, everything exotic and new, I felt completely at home in Gabe’s embrace.
“You know I only said I wanted to go to Uzbekistan as a way to hit on you, right?” I teased, tearing my eyes away from Samarkand’s majestic Registan Square to look over my shoulder at the equally stunning sight of the handsome man behind me.
Gabe’s blue eyes were mere inches from mine as he placed a soft kiss on my cheek. “You can pretend all you want but I saw that sparkle of excitement in your eyes when we talked about it for an hour.”
“An hour in which you ignored every single innuendo I made.”
“Because I had a wife.” His arms tightened around me, his relief at the past tense as obvious to me as if he’d stated it out loud. With the six-month waiting period in California and all the various stages of paperback in California, his divorce had only gone through a month ago. “I think I’ve made up for it, though. ”
“You definitely have. You catch all my innuendos now and you brought me here. I’ll let it go.”
Hand-in-hand, we explored the centuries-old madrasas, old Islamic schools with beautiful tile mosaics and stunning architecture. Together, we picked out a hand-painted plate from one of the stalls to hang in our new house back in Pasadena. The jewellery tempted me and I spent a long time debating over a gorgeous but expensive ring before deciding I didn’t really need it.
We strolled through the garden alongside the square and spent the rest of the afternoon getting lost in the old city and Jewish quarter of the city, far from the sanitized tourist track. Without speaking a word of English, a man showed us how he baked the city’s distinctive round loaves of bread in a large clay oven, sticking them to the rounded dome of the oven while they cooked and peeling them down with a long pole when they were perfectly baked.
In the evening, we had a reservation at the restaurant in our hotel, a place Gabe needed to vet before recommending it to the clients of the travel agency he started working for within a month of moving to Pasadena. In just a few weeks, the inheritance from his grandparents would come through, all five million dollars of it, but he intended to keep working for a while.
“The only thing I would want to use it on is travelling,” he told me. “And my job lets me do that. For now, I’ll put it away until it’s needed.”
That worked for me. I already had everything I truly wanted anyway.
When we reached the beautiful internal courtyard of our hotel, the garden providing a haven from the busy, warm streets of the city, Gabe pulled us to a stop and kissed my hand. “There’s something else I need to check on for work. Why don’t you have a rest and get changed for supper and I’ll meet you back here in an hour?”
My head cocked to the side curiously. He hadn’t mentioned any other places he needed to go. “What is it? I’m happy to go with you.”
“It’s a barber shop,” he replied with a laugh. “Men only. I won’t be long. ”
With a shrug, I let him go and climbed the outside stairs to our room. Each guest suite had its own staircase leading to an outside sitting area that faced the internal garden. Inside, the double bed lay beneath a painted fresco resembling the desert sky at sunset. Each morning, the staff brought breakfast to where we sat on the rectangular platform that surrounded the table, pillows at our backs and our legs stretched out in front of us, laying out enough food to feed an army in front of us. Thankfully, all the walking we’d done that day helped me to work up enough of an appetite that I could eat again that night.
I sat on the bench with a book for half an hour before having a quick shower to wash the dust of the day away and to put on a light dress for dinner, as Gabe suggested. Returning to the courtyard garden, I didn’t see him immediately, so I took a seat on one of the benches, inhaling the rich, floral scent of roses and jasmine from the flowers around me. Another couple walked by, nodding hello to me on their way to the restaurant, but otherwise, I had only the chirp of birds for company. My eyes closed as I inhaled again, enjoying the quiet after all the excitement of the day.
When I opened my eyes again, Gabe had appeared, standing a few feet away from me with a soft smile on his face. His dark hair had been cut short, his face clean-shaven, and he’d changed too, wearing pants and shoes instead of the shorts and sandals that he’d had on earlier.
“What?” My lips curled and my cheeks flushed under his attention, staring at me as if I might disappear if he looked away.
His voice sounded husky as he took a step closer. “All the men you flirt with have no idea how amazing you truly are. I’m so lucky that I figured it out.”
“I figured out how amazing you are first,” I teased him, getting to my feet and taking the arm he offered me. “You’re just lucky I made the first move.”
Rather than teasing me back, as he normally would, he readily agreed. “I am lucky. So damn lucky. ”
His lips pressed gently against mine before we turned towards the restaurant, but after only a couple of steps, something fell out of his pocket.
“Sorry, hang on.”
He crouched down to retrieve the item, and by the time I turned back to see what happened, he’d gotten to one knee.
The air flew out of my lungs and everything seemed to go into slow motion as he held out a beautiful ring to me, the same one I’d been admiring earlier that day.
We’d never talked about marriage in any concrete way. Until his divorce went through, there hadn’t been any point, and I didn’t want him to feel we had to rush into anything.
It seemed he had other plans.
“I told myself I wouldn’t ever marry anyone again without travelling with them first.” His eyes shone with humour, affection and love. “This has already been the best trip of my life, and I want a lifetime more of them. Will you take this adventure with me?”
“I will,” I agreed, beaming as he got back to his feet and slipped the ring onto my finger. Before he could kiss me, though, I placed my index finger against his lips. “On one condition.”
His eyebrows lifted in curious amusement. “What’s that?”
“We sign a prenup to state that your inheritance is yours, no matter what.”
He knew he didn’t have to worry about me trying to manipulate him, but I wanted it to be clear anyway. I didn’t want money to ever come between us, or between me and his family the way it had with Matt’s parents. Matt’s sisters and I had reconnected after one of them rented her house to me and Gabe last year, but his parents might never come around.
“I’ll sign anything you put in front of me, as long as you’re mine.”
Wrapping his fingers around mine, he pulled my hand away and kissed me. As it sank in that we were actually engaged, happiness and excitement bubbled up between us, heat growing in every touch, and Gabe pulled back just enough to look into my eyes.
“You know, this restaurant will still be here tomorrow. How hungry are you?”
“Room service sounds pretty good right now.”
With a growl of approval, he pulled me back towards the stairs and up to our room. The dress I just put on hit the floor as Gabe’s firm hands undressed me in no time at all. He fumbled with his pants for a second while I pulled off his polo shirt, and as soon as we were both naked, we tumbled onto the bed, my laugh turning into a gasp as his body covered mine and his lips found the spot on my neck that always made me weak. He sucked and nibbled on it until I squirmed beneath him, my legs rubbing together in a desperate bid for the friction my body craved.
His knee slid between my legs, spreading them open, and his hard cock pressed against my pussy as he continued to kiss me.
“We need to keep a list of countries we make love in,” he murmured against my skin. “This is number one.”
He thrust in just deep enough that I wanted more and my legs wrapped around him, pulling him closer.
“Number two,” I corrected. “We have to count the US too.”
His second thrust went fully in, burying him inside of me as I moaned.
“Two,” he agreed. “Only 190 to go, give or take.”
With each roll of his hips against me, he went in deeper, the base of his shaft rubbing against my clit. My nails scratched at his back as he began to move faster. Flush with the excitement of our new engagement, it didn’t take long for me to come, and he followed soon after.
“Two,” he stated again as the high of my orgasm faded and his lips pressed softly against mine. “But the first as my fiancée.”
For just a second, Matt flashed through my mind, but without the usual sadness. I only saw his smile as he waved in a gesture of farewell. I always told the women I helped that there were good men out there, and somehow, I’d been lucky enough to find two of them.
Gabe’s arms wrapped around me again as he pulled me into his side, pressing his lips to the new ring on my finger.
Neither of us were where we once thought we’d end up, but as long as we were together, we were exactly where we wanted to be.
~~The End~~