Page 51 of Gypsy's Lady
Music and the quiet murmur of conversation trickled up the hall behind them. The rooms they’d been assigned were deep within the warren of halls and doors inside the building, but the numbering convention in the guest space made sense and he quickly found their room.
Inside, there was a package on the bed, anda small pile of things on the tall dresser shoved up against one wall. Kelsey eased away from him and went to look, exclaiming over the thoughtful personal items someone had left for them.
Gypsy settled on the mattress and picked up the manila envelope, the weightandway it was rounded from whatever was inside not giving him any clues. He pried back the tiny metal clasp and lifted the flap tosee papers and photos inside. He reached in and plucked out a picture, startled for a moment to see his own face staring up at him. In a suit and tie, he stood shoulder to shoulder with three other men, one of whom was now dead. Gypsy, at that time known as Doug Tatum, Joel Graham, Nick Thornton, andon the end, angled away from the other three was Dirk Norwood.
“Is that you? It is, isn’t it?That’s you right there.” Gypsy startled as Kelsey bent close, giving him an inadvertent view down her shirt to the tiny, red bra she wore. It curled around the curves of her breasts, cradling them. Every breath she took changed the geography slightly, and he mapped each shift with eager attention.
Fuck.
Tearing his gaze away, he looked back at her, mouth open to answer her question. The expressionon her face stopped the words in his throat, shock rendering him mute.Desire.
Instead of covering up by pressing the fabric of her shirt to her chest, Kelsey took a deep breath. She arched her throat, changing the topography once more and he was staring at her breasts again. Her nipples had pebbled, growing taut in the moments he’d looked away. His mouth watered, tongue smoothing against theinsides of his teeth as he imagined taking a plump mound in his mouth. She’d taste like rich caramel, smell like the vanilla scent she wore, and feel glorious under his hands. He’d lifted one hand, beginning to reach for her when she called his name. “Gypsy?” The one word snapped him out of the daze he’d fallen into,andhe closed his eyes, hand falling to rest in his lap.She trusts you, asshole.
“Yeah,” he forced out, throat and tongue uncooperative antagonists against speech. “I’m there.” He pointed. “That’s Blue Line next to me.” Gypsy tipped his head down before opening his eyes, focusing on the envelope in his hands. “He must have kept these. I don’t know why. Those men, the ones we were way back then? They’re dead and gone.” He shuddered, the physical crawling of his skin too muchto contain. The words he’d said rode close to the truth, and he knew it. “Idealistic and young. We were stupid. Certain we were bulletproof and right. God, we were so fuckin’ arrogant.”
“Gypsy?” Just his name again, but this time the word was filled with a questioning pain. He knew if he looked at her, he’d break. He’d break and reach and take. Take and take, until she’d given him everything,whether she wanted to ornot,because sweet Kelsey would never tell him no. Even when she should. “I-I don’t understand.” He shook his head, jackknifing up from the edge of the bed, stepping away from where she stood. “Wh-what’s wrong?” That fucking, fucking stutter was back, and he was the one who’d put it in her mouth again. His hot-and-cold dance kept her on edge. How could it not when it didthe same to him? So he’d looked his fill and turned away, leaving her twisting, and had fed the stutter through her throat, each stammered syllable a knife in his chest.I’ve got to get away from here.
“I’ll be back. Wanna touch base with Blue Line before he heads home. See what he wanted from me with this.” He gestured vaguely with the envelope filled with memories he didn’t want. Three stepshad him near the doorandhe finally deemed that enough distance to dare look at her again. She stared at him, blinking wet from her eyes. “Lay down, honey. Rest.” In the hallway and pulling the door closed, he stared at her through the shrinking gap. “I’ll be back.”
***
Kelsey
Why won’t Gypsy do anything?She was stymied on why he kept pushing her away when there was an obvious attraction.Nothing made sense.He wants me. Face burning hot with embarrassment, Kelsey lay back on the pillows.Even Maggie said she saw it. Her eyes stung and swam with tears she wouldn’t allowto fall. She took in a deep breath, wincing as her chest hurt, a huge pressure building inside as sheswallowed repeatedlyto force down the tears. Gypsy had told her often enough it didn’t matter what had happenedat Baxter’s compound, but then he turned tail and ran as soon as the heat between them began to rise.
Will he ever recognize me as the woman I want to be?
They’d been together only months, but every interaction was dependent in some way on Gypsy. The rescue and then coming to the States: Gypsy’s intervention in every aspect. He hadn’t gotten a chance to see her as the confident person she’dbeen before.That’s the problem, she decided. He’d only ever seen the ghost she’d become through those months, and now, even as she regained her confidence and belief in herself, he held onto that view of her.
I just need to show him who I am. Who I can be.
Easier said than accomplished, she knew. Now that it was set in stone for so long, it would take an act of divine intervention to have Gypsychange his opinion about her now.
Or an act of Kelsey.
She blinked and blinked, forcing the room back into focus. She sat on the edge of the bed and thought through her options. Finally decided, she stood and stalked to the bathroom, flicking the light on to survey the damage her emotions had caused. A quick wash of her face later and she turned towards the door, taking in a steadying breath.“I can do this.” Chin up, she exhaled slowly, firming her lips when they wanted to quiver. “You bet your arse I can.”
Every step down the hallway felt as if it added a kilo to each leg and Kelsey found her pace dragging. Pulling to a stop outside the main room of the clubhouse, she stared through the doorway over to where Gypsy sat on a couch.I can do this. Kelsey straightened her spine andlifted her chin, then walked towards him, each step more freeing than the last. She marked the moment he caught sight of her, lips parting as if he’d had to take a gasp of air. Kelsey smiled softly, holding tightly to the idea she could affect him so.
She hadn’t made it more than three paces when she was liftedoffher feet by a wave of hot air, and the world went black.
