Chapter 5
Chapter Five
GABE
“This is me,” Alex says, pointing at the blue house on the left. “You can just pull into the driveway, and I’ll be right back. What do I need besides a swimsuit?”
“Just pack a bag for a few days,” Adam says, but Alex shakes her head, a stubborn expression crossing her sweet face.
“I’ll just need stuff for today,” she insists, and I see Adam’s jaw firm, but he doesn’t argue.
“Just bring whatever you’re comfortable with, Shorty,” I tell her as I climb out of the back of Adam’s SUV so I can open her door. Reaching for her hand, I help her out of the car. “Bring a swimsuit and a change of clothes. We have towels and everything else you’ll need on the boat.”
“Okay.” She grins and gives my hand a squeeze before she turns to head inside, and I sit in her seat, next to Adam, while we wait for her.
“She’s not going in the house,” he says with a frown, and we watch as she climbs the steps next to the garage.
“There must be an apartment up there,” I reply.
It’s been a fun twelve-ish hours with that gorgeous woman. The sex was off the charts, but add in a little breakfast this morning, all three of us cooking together in our big-ass kitchen, and it was almost like the three of us have been together for years and not mere hours.
“I don’t like it,” Adam grumbles next to me.
He’s gone into grumpy mode, which is how he gets when something new, something that’s good, comes along and he’s having a hard time trusting it.
It’s exactly how he was at the beginning of our relationship.
I know it stems from a fucked-up childhood and being disappointed over and over again. He can’t help it.
I reach over for his hand and lace our fingers, giving it a squeeze.
“I bet it’s cute up there,” I tell him with an easy smile, and he turns to look at me with serious gray eyes. “It might be small, but that doesn’t mean it sucks. When it comes to apartments, anyway.”
I smirk, but I don’t get a smile out of him.
He runs his hand down his face. “Did she just turn us down on staying another night tonight?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” I nod and kiss the back of his hand. “It’s okay if she wants to take it slow, you know. If she wasn’t interested in hanging out with us anymore, she wouldn’t be spending the day with us.”
“Obviously.” His eyes soften, and he lets out a breath. “I’m not good at being told no, baby.”
“You’re kidding.” I laugh when he narrows his eyes at me. “Day by day, remember?”
We watch as Alex comes bouncing down the stairs.
“Fuck,” Adam murmurs, and I nod in total agreement.
Because fuck, she’s the most beautiful thing.
She’s in short denim shorts that barely cover her ass, showing off legs that were wrapped around my waist perfectly only hours ago as I pushed inside her tight, wet pussy.
A loose green tank top shows off plenty of skin, and her dark hair is piled on top of her head, with stray tendrils flowing down her perfect neck.
Her little feet are in black flip-flops, her pretty blue eyes hidden behind sunglasses, and she has a red duffel bag slung over her shoulder.
We both push out of the car, and I feel my gut clench when Alex smiles at us and Adam takes the bag from her shoulder.
“I’m an over-packer.” She shrugs. “You never know what you might need.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” I drag my fingertips down her sweet face, then open her door for her, and she smiles up at me before sitting in her seat. Adam stows her bag in the back, and within minutes, we’re headed out of Bitterroot Valley.
“So how did you know that blueberry pancakes are my favorite?” she asks Adam. “Because yours might be the best I’ve ever had.”
“Lucky guess,” he says.
“Your kitchen is a dream,” she replies. “I love to cook. I have my mom’s recipe box, and I like to try her recipes. I haven’t had time to cook much lately, though.”
“I like to cook, too,” Adam says and brings her hand to his lips.
“Where is the boat?” Alex asks with a frown. “And why isn’t the boat with us?”
“I have a slip for it in the summer,” Adam replies and kisses her hand again, making me grin. He might be broody, but he wants to touch her as much as I do. “Makes it easier.”
“Where?” she asks again. “Like, which lake?”
“Seymour Lake, on the other side of Silver Springs,” I reply.
“Isn’t that an exclusive lake?” she asks with a frown. “There’s a resort there, I know that, but I heard that you have to own property on the lake in order to use it.”
“That’s right,” Adam says and shoots her a smile. “You’ll love it.”
“Okay then,” she whispers.
“What do you do, Alex?” I ask her, changing the subject.
“Oh, I work for the Bitterroot Valley News,” she says as she turns to smile at me. “I’m a reporter. Mostly work from home, which is really nice. People get on my nerves, so I don’t have to play nice in an office.”
“You live and work up there in your apartment?” I ask her.
“Yeah, it’s perfectly located. Right in the heart of town, so I can get to any scene fast.”
“It doesn’t look that big,” Adam says. “How many bedrooms is it?”
“Oh, just one. My office is my living room. However, I don’t watch TV, and I’m a workaholic, so it suits me just fine. I will say, though, that this is my first summer in that apartment, and I'm not excited about the heat wave this week. It already gets hot up there.”
“No AC?” Adam asks. Even though he’s keeping his voice even, I can hear the strain in it. He doesn’t want Alex to be uncomfortable.
“Nah. It’s an older home, and back in the day, AC wasn’t typical around here.
I don’t think I’ve ever lived in a place with air-conditioning, now that I think about it.
” She taps her lips with her finger, and Adam and I share a look in the rearview mirror.
“Anyway, I’m a pro at opening windows at night to cool everything off and then closing them up before it gets too hot.
It’s a writing cave. Nothing can be as bad as the house I grew up in, so it’s all good. ”
“What kind of house did you grow up in, Princess?”
“I’d really love an iced coffee on the way,” she says, rather than answer the question. Adam and I share another look. “And I warned you that I’m a workaholic. I might have my laptop with me, in case we’re just floating along, and I have time to keep typing the project I’m currently working on.”
This conversation definitely isn’t over. But we can table it for now.
“There’s a great coffee place in Silver Springs that we always hit up on our way to the lake,” I reply. “Buzz is great. You’ll like it.”
Ten minutes later, we park in front of the coffee shop, and as we’re walking to the door, Alex between us, a man with a tiny miniature poodle comes out of the door, and Alex immediately shifts behind me, skirting around so I’m always between her and the dog.
Her face doesn’t change. She doesn’t make a sound, and she doesn’t tense up.
But she wants nothing to do with that animal.
Fascinating.
I sling my arm around her shoulders and pull her against me. She melts right into me as if she were made for me.
Because maybe she was.