“You ever had phone sex before?” I circle the crown with my thumb and grin when her cheeks turn pink.
“No, have you?”
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Wanna get off with me?”
Her tongue peeks out. “I don’t have a lot of privacy here.”
“You don’t think you can be quiet?” I taunt.
“I’d like to suck that smirk right off your face.”
“I’d like you to suck something else off.”
She barks out a laugh, then slaps a palm over her mouth. “Give me a second.” She moves out of view of the video, and less than a minute later, she returns and drops a bunch of stuff on the bed, pushing it to the side.
“What’s all that?” I ask.
“Props.” She holds up a small bottle of lube and waves it in front of the camera. She drops it on the comforter and grabs the hem of her tank, lifting it over her head. “Get naked with me.”
26
BOXED IN
Clover
Even though I miss Maverick, I have New Year’s with him to look forward to, and it’s nice to spend time with my family. Everything is going great until Gabriel shows up on Christmas Day—conveniently an hour before dinner. And in true Gabriel fashion, he arrives laden with gifts and flowers.
My mother ushers him into the kitchen, where I’m busy pouring holiday sangria into glasses. I’m so shocked—though I probably shouldn’t be—that I drop the glass I’m holding, and it shatters on the floor.
I also lose my filter. “What the hell are you doing here?”
My mother rushes over to help with the glass, mouthingI’m sorry, but I put up a hand. “It’s all over the floor. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
The room is suddenly tense with the awkwardness of thesituation. My mother hates to be rude, and I’m sure she has no idea how to handle this—not to mention still wrapping her mind around it.
When I first left Gabriel, my parents thought it was temporary, but I made them promise not to tell him where I was or give him any information regarding my whereabouts. I know my parents support my decision to leave him now, even if it took them a while to fully understand how awful my marriage became.
But none of that changes the fact that he’s currently in their home.
I cross the room, heading for the closet where we keep the broom, but Gabriel stops me. “Stay where you are, love. I wouldn’t wantyouto end up hurt.”
I ignore him and bend to pick up the bigger shards, setting them carefully on an empty plate on the counter. I’m about to bend again, but his arm encircles my waist, and he lifts me off my feet. Gabriel fireman-carries me around the island, then sets to cleaning up the mess.
My mother and Nicki, my brother’s girlfriend, stand off to the side, seeming unsure what to do. Nicki hasn’t been around long enough to know Gabriel, and he’s generally not a topic of conversation. He dumps the pieces in the garbage, then grabs a fresh glass from the cupboard, all while chatting with my mother and Nicki like it’s totally normal that he’s showed up out of the blue.
“Are you visiting your parents?” my mother asks, trying desperately to be polite.
“I am. I have some business in town, so it made it easy to spend a few days with them.”
“How are Sylvie and Jacob? I haven’t seen them since we ran into you in the fall.”
I glance between my mother and Gabriel, tugging at thecollar of my shirt. It’s suddenly hard to breathe. “When was this?” I ask.
My mother waves a hand in the air. “A while back. Early October, maybe. We were at the same restaurant. They invited us to join them.” Again, there’s apology in her voice.
I wonder if that’s how Gabriel found out I was in Chicago. It would make sense, timeline-wise. As upset as I’d like to be, I’m aware that Gabriel is very good at getting information out of people and then using it against them. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask my mom. I could really use that drink now.
“You weren’t being very reasonable at the time, were you, now, love?” Gabriel cuts in. “I was still hoping things would change.” He crosses the room and folds my hands around the glass, his gaze dropping to my throat. He reaches out and fingers the crane charm on my necklace, and it’s everything I can do not to throw the wine in his face and slap him.
