Page 44 of Justified Lies

“I hate to tell you this, but I have to go into the office.”

Lianna stiffened and he already hated himself.

“Oh, okay.”

Pulling herself free of him, she shifted off his chest and over to the corner of the bed. He regretted her absence and more importantly how lame his work excuse sounded. And on a Sunday? She pulled her shirt down to cover herself, her gaze refusing to meet his.

Gabe attempted to put a Band-Aid on the gunshot wound he had just inflicted.

“There was a homicide over the weekend that is an all-hands-on deck situation. I need to go in and follow up. I’ll be done by early afternoon. Think we can have dinner with the kids like we used to?”

Telling himself that he was only suggesting dinner to salvage her emotions, not because he was already desperate to see her again. She glanced up, looking surprised at his words.

“Sure, I’ll be cooking anyway so if you’re done come over. If it doesn’t work out, don’t worry about it.” Lianna’s face was achingly hopeful, devastatingly vulnerable, so he let things be.

When Gabe motioned for her to come closer, she looked at him skeptically.

“If you have to get to work, I don’t think I should come over there.”

Knowing she was right, he smiled.

Just then her phone chirped. She turned from him to reach over and grab it from the nightstand. She groaned and he instantly became alert.

“What is it?” he demanded, knowing he needed to tone down the whole guard dog reaction around her.

“It’s my sister-in-law, Nicki. I was supposed to check in with her when I got home the other night. She knew I was upset. But I got sidetracked.”

Lianna’s cheeks turned the prettiest shade of pink. It took everything he had to stop himself from reaching out for her. Instead, he forced himself to get up.

As Gabe looked around for his clothing, he tested the waters on the controversial theory he had been cooking up since Friday night.

“Do you think your brother-in-law could be behind any of this?”

Finding his pants under a heap of blankets by the bottom of the bed, he grabbed them. Lianna still hadn’t answered his question, so he looked up to see that her attention was focused elsewhere. She was staring directly at his package and somehow, he felt the blood start to rush down to that needy organ again.

Lianna met his gaze. “I mean, my God, is there anything about you that isn’t perfect.”

Thoroughly embarrassed by the complement, Gabe was at a loss for words. He hadn’t the slightest idea how to respond to her overly generous assessment of him.

He forced a laugh, very thankful for his beard to hide the blush now spreading across his face. Although he desperately wanted Lianna to see him that way, he knew the more she got to know the real him, the less she would feel that way.

Gabe managed to get his pants on, then gravitated over to her side of the bed. She rose up onto her knees and slung herarms around his neck. Leaning into him, she nuzzled just under his ear before finally answering his original question.

“And no, I don’t think Darren could be behind this. It isn’t his style. If he wanted to torture me, he’d come right out and do it, believe me.”

“I don’t like him,” Gabe grumbled.

“He wouldn’t like you either,” Lianna teased. He growled and she kissed his lips softly.

“What are you going to do all day?” He tested his control by kissing her neck.

“I think I’ll go for a jog, then grab the kids. I promised them Halloween movies and lots of treats.”

A cheek aching smile covered his face. Gabe wasn’t sure he had smiled this much in his entire life. Lianna touched something deep in his chest. To him, she was everything a mother and partner should be. He wanted her to be his, and not just for a night or a weekend. It was time to go.

Claiming her lips one last time, Gabe kissed her longer than he should have. When he retreated, he was panting, his lower half ready for another round. He reached down to adjust himself, not caring that she saw, hoping she knew what she did to him.

“I’ll see you tonight.” Then Gabe got out of there as fast as possible without running or confessing things he wasn’t sure he felt.

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