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Apparently, he wasn’t listening, so I set my bag on the island and popped the lid on the first container. Smelled like heaven, so I kept going.
I pulled a Gatorade from the refrigerator, and by the time Gate found me in the kitchen, I’d taken two Ibuprofen, had downed half the Gatorade, and had a plate full of steak.
He crossed his arms and nodded, “Finish that before you go to bed.”
“That’s the plan,” I said, taking another sip. “Thanks for the walk-through, but it’s really not necessary.”
Gate leaned forearms on a barstool and grinned, “That wasn’t for you, that was for me.”
I cocked my head, “What does that mean?”
He shrugged, “I know you’ve got good security. Please don’t think that just because we weren’t married,” he threw air quotes around themarriedpart, “I wasn’t interested in what went on here. My kids live with you. Of course, I checked out the security.”
“You did?” My voice came out more squeak than I intended.
Gate left the barstool and stepped closer, “I did.”
I stepped back.
He kept with the stepping closer, until my back hit the sink and I didn’t have anywhere else to go.
“Never been upstairs in your house,” Gate continued. “Wanted to get the lay of the land, so to speak.”
He lifted a hand and stroked his fingers down my hair.
Barely a touch, but I felt it all the way to my core.
“I knew your security was tight. And I knew your house was swank. But I should have paid a hell of a lot more attention. You have my apology for that.”
“You don’t owe me an apology, Gate,” I whispered. “I’m the one who left you.”
“That you did,” he said, twirling a curl around his finger, “but I should never have let you go.”
“Ummmm,” I mumbled as my brain short circuited and all my linguistic skills went out the window.
Gate leaned down, closer, so that we were almost nose to nose. His scent wrapped around me, and I could smell a faint hint of his favorite cigar.
“Gotta warn you, Anna,” Gate started.
“Brent is….ummmm…” I tried to interrupt.
“Not here and nothing to me,” Gate finished, sliding his hand around my neck and under my hair. “And I don’t think he’s anything to you either.”
I sucked in a breath, but he didn’t give me time to argue.
“Make your decisions and do what you need to do,” Gate went on. “Because I’m not living the rest of my life without you.”
Then he closed the gap between us, his lips no more than a feather light touch against mine.
And then he was gone.
I held onto the counter so I wouldn’t melt into a puddle on the floor.
“Lock up behind me,” Gate called from the front door.
And then I heard the door close, and the rumble of Talon’s truck was a distant echo, as I touched fingers to my lips and let out the breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding.
*************************
