Chapter Nineteen
DIANE
Three days later, I finally woke up without even a trace of a headache. In fact, I seemed to be in top shape. I hadn't sweated my nightshirt through, and even after I pushed myself into a sitting position quite quickly, I didn't feel light-headed.
I glanced over my shoulder at Gabe, who was sleeping soundly. I couldn't believe I'd spent the past three days in bed with this handsome man. He’d worked from home but was at my side whenever I needed help. I'd never been treated so well.
Since I felt great, I decided to surprise Gabe for once. He'd brought me breakfast for the past three days. Actually, he'd fed me every meal. After attempting to prepare lunch once, he simply started to order in.
I knew he loved guacamole, though it was a strange choice for breakfast. We had everything necessary in the fridge, so I chopped tomatoes and the avocado and mixed it with salt and lemon. It was more of a salsa than guac, but it was delicious.
As I put bread in the toaster, I yelped as I felt an arm around my waist.
Gabe spoke in my ear. "What are you doing up?"
I plastered my back against him. He slept in pajama pants but nothing on top. This was one of those moments when I wished my nightgown was backless. "I'm feeling perfect, and I wanted to spoil you as a thank-you."
The bread popped out of the toaster.
"But you shouldn't get out of bed."
"I feel perfectly well. You know that moment when you can tell that an illness went away?
" I turned around, glancing at him. His gaze was cast down to me, laced with suspicion.
"Well, I do. My mind's clear. My body's full of energy.
" I tilted my head to the left and the right, then pressed myself against his pajama pants.
"You've got morning wood. I didn’t feel it before.”
“It was definitely here.”
“Hmmm… you should have pointed it out.”
He chuckled. "What do you want me to do? Say 'I've got a hard-on' instead of 'Good morning'?"
I closed one eye, looking at him with the other one. "So funny. Let me spread that guac on the bread."
We both ate standing at the kitchen counter.
"This is so much better than mine," Gabe said.
I barely held back laughter. His usually added far too many tomatoes, so it was a bit watery, but the man had made me breakfast for three days and took care of me, so I wasn't about to critique his cooking skills.
"Do you have plans for today?" he asked. "You said something about your tutoring clients."
I sighed. "I actually have three of them tomorrow, but none of them wanted to do a makeup session today."
Saturday was usually a busy day for tutoring, but not today. And my boss didn’t have any tours for me. Understandably, he’d assigned all of them to the other guides, not knowing when I’d be available.
Gabe put two fingers under my chin. "So you're free today?"
I nodded. "Why?"
"I was thinking we could go out for a bit."
"Really? And do what?"
"Go on a date."
I nearly swallowed my tongue. "I’m on board with that." I rose on my tiptoes, kissing one corner of his mouth. I liked pressing myself against his chest. I still couldn't believe it was so strong and muscular. Gabe was the whole package.
"All right," he said. "How much time do you need before we leave?"
"I haven't had a shower in a million years."
He glowered at me. "You showered yesterday, against my wishes."
"Because requesting someone not to take a bath when they're sick is so normal.”
"That's what my mom always said when we were little. We shouldn't wash until the fever broke.”
That was cute, and I completely lost my sass. I smiled. "How about half an hour?"
"That works," Gabe said.
I did not, in fact, only need half an hour; it was closer to an hour, but Gabe was great about it. He was on the phone when I came downstairs, and the second he noticed me, he straightened up, eyes fixed me on me. "We’ll talk Monday morning." He lowered his phone. "You look stunning."
"I know, right? The miracle of showering.
" I'd applied more makeup than usual. I wasn't even subtle about it.
This wasn't exactly morning makeup, but I wanted to highlight my best features.
I'd put on a dress too—one that showed my boobs and was very tight around my waist. It was my favorite color: bright yellow, like a daisy.
"Diane." His voice was a bit rough as he came closer. "This is what you want to wear today?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
As I took a step back and turned around, he said, "Woman, I want to romance you, not tear your clothes off."
Oh wow. "I trust you can do both. First be romantic and then take my clothes off."
He feathered his lips over the tip of my nose and the corner of my mouth. Then he went into a straight line to my earlobe. "You make it so damn difficult, but I'll do my best."
I was looking forward to spending the day out of the house with him. I loved the building, but I had a bit of cabin fever. "So, what are we doing?"
"First I need to drop by Maddox's house to pick up something."
"Okay."
"And after that, we'll play it by ear."
"Do we need to stop by your new house too?"
"No. I've been a few times while you were asleep. Construction’s going well."
My eyes widened. “Wow. Talk about being out of it.”
He frowned. "You really were sick. I'd feel better if you went to the doctor, just in case."
I shook my head. "You worry too much."
"Just about you. I'm not usually a worrier, but I do everything differently with you."
I squirmed in my spot, putting a hand on my stomach. His words were like balm to my soul.
"I'll think about it," I promised him. Although I didn't really have time to go to a doctor, and I wasn't even sure my insurance would cover it. I'd lost some benefits when they cut back my hours. But that was another story altogether.
We drove in silence for the first part, and then I chatted his ear off about anything and everything under the sun. I was usually chatty, but I couldn't lie to myself. I was a bit nervous.
"So, where does Maddox live?" I asked him.
"In the North End, although I think he wants to move," Gabe said.
"Is Maddox older than you?"
"Yeah. Everyone's older than me," Gabe replied with a laugh.
"And what exactly do they do? I totally forgot.”
"Maddox has a company that provides organization and design to office spaces, Nick has fitness clubs, and Leo is into real estate."
"Do you see each other at work often?"
"Not really. Even though Whitley Industries is an entity, we each do our own thing. We do try to support each other as much as possible in business, though. For example, when I opened the bar, Spencer ran ads in all his magazines. He didn't even charge me, which I'm still not too happy about."
"How come?" I asked.
"Because that was prime ad space. But I'll find a way to pay him back somehow. Babysitting comes to mind."
My heart melted at that. "What gave you that idea?"
"He likes for the baby to bond with the family. I haven't really spent that much time with him, although I’ve wanted to. But when Ben was a baby, he looked so breakable that I was afraid to even hold him." He looked at me abruptly. "Don't ever tell him that or he won't trust me."
The corner of my mouth tipped up. "I won't say a word. But honestly, I think your fears are legitimate. I haven't been around babies too much. They’re adorable, but yes, they look extremely breakable. Especially when they’re super small and you have to pay attention to support their head and stuff. So no one in the family babysits?"
"Oh no, my grandparents often spend time with him, sometimes even overnight."
"Wait. Didn't you tell me that they’re ninety? Although, your grandmother does look pretty spry."
"They're both in great shape for their age, but Spencer always insists his regular babysitter be present, too, when Ben spends the night there."
We arrived in front of a gorgeous home a few seconds later.
"This is the one?" I asked when Gabe parked the car.
"Yeah."
It was a modern house with a lot of windows. "Why would he even want to move away?"
"I think he said something about it being too small."
My mouth formed an O. This looked huge to me, but then again, I'd been living in shoeboxes most of my life.
We walked to the front door and knocked several times, but no one answered.
"I'm hearing laughter. Is it possible they're outside somewhere?" I said, taking a step back.
Gabe nodded. "You're right. They're in the back. That's why they aren't hearing us. Let's go around the house."
As we walked, I kept admiring the construction. It truly was a thing of beauty. I liked the garden too; it was simple, with some sort of shrub around the perimeter.
Once we stepped into the backyard, I saw Nick, Leo, and Maddox. There was also a woman. Next to me, Gabe tensed, and I stared at him questioningly.
Maddox noticed us and practically jumped up from his chair. "Gabe, hi. Did you knock? I didn't hear it. Did you tell me you were coming?"
Gabe cleared his throat. "No, I just decided to this morning because I wanted to get those weights I loaned you."
"Hi! Nice to see you all again," I said.
He looked from me to Gabe but didn't say anything. Nick, Leo, and the older woman at the table rose too. "Diane, Gabe, this is my mother, Helen." Helen's eyes were fixed on Gabe.
"How do you do, Helen?" Gabe said, stretching his hand. "It's good to meet you. I forgot you were in the city this weekend."
"Nice to meet you, Gabe. I've always heard a lot about you from my boys."
"Diane and I aren't going to stay too long. We don't want to keep you."
"I'll bring your weights," Maddox said before disappearing into the house.
“Can’t believe you two are using home training equipment when I own gyms,” Nick said. Even though his tone was teasing, there was no mistaking the underlying tension.
Gabe shrugged. “I like to blow off steam at home too.”
"Do you want a coffee, or something to eat? I baked some cupcakes," Helen offered.
"No, we're good," Gabe said. "But thank you."
"Sit down, then. Maddox isn’t the most organized, so who knows how long it’ll take him to find what you loaned him.”