Page 136 of It Couldn't Be You
“You excel.” He spun me around to face him. His arms around my waist, my arms resting on his. He looked at my lips.
“The only kissing that we should be discussing at this wedding is that of the Texan and the Canadian,” I said, against my own instincts. “Our kissing would definitely be discussed.”
He looked down at our embracing selves. “This won’t be discussed, though?” He raised a brow.
“Potentially,” I admitted.
He sighed deeply and released his grip on me. Then, he grabbed my arm and said with a gleam in his eyes, “I have an idea.”
He led me away from the reception party until we were at the front of the house where he always parked his janky old truck.
“You sure are bossy,” I teased, leaning my back against the truck, his hands holding mine.
“You sure are stubborn,” he countered, leaning into me.
“I ran off with you, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did,” he said, in that knowing way, only stupid, annoying, get-my-heart-beating Gabriel could. Like I was sixteen again, accidentally confessing I was a willing accomplice. But I wasn’t hiding anything anymore.
So, I leaned into the distance between us and kissed him. There we were, after all this time, on a hot summer evening. The guy still thrilled me.
Like nothing had changed.
Like everything had changed.
Epilogue
Islid open the window and let the crisp, lilac scented breeze sweep through the hotel room. I had just checked in, but Gabriel had arrived hours earlier than me. We’d been following each other across the globe like a game of cat and mouse the past year—me meeting him on his work trip, him meeting me on mine. Sweet River for holidays, and my new apartment in Austin when we needed to catch our breath. As a woman hopping from place to place, my favorite place was in Gabriel’s arms.
This reunion in Cambria was a little birthday trip he planned for me. I had been back in New York weeks ago for a friend’s book signing, when he sent me a photo of the flights, and the hotel from our trip over a year and a half ago, with a one word question.
Birthday?
I had promptly replied,
yes, please
It’s funny to remember where we were just a year ago, our relationship so new, so fresh. Staying up all night to rehash the past through laughter and kisses. Long phone calls across distance talking excitedly about our future.Our future.I’d fall asleep thinking:am I already dreaming?Gabriel was mine, all mine.
I was his first call. His home base. He bought me hiking boots and a backpacking bag, so I could accompany him and London on the trails. (Which terrified me, but nothing, not even the dog being a superior hiker to me, would keep me from this man again).
He was impulse to my hesitation. I would get lost up in my thoughts like the sun fading away on a cloudy day, but he would reach over and run a finger along my bottom lip and say, “I love your thinking face.”
I quickly slipped into a pink bikini top and a pair of linen pants. I pulled my hair into a thick French braid that fell down my shoulder. Our hotel had a walking path that led from the backdoor to a rocky beach. I basically ran down the path to him.
I arrived on the pebble laden sand, breathless and beaming. He was sitting on the beach only inches from the crashing waves, wearing a black tee shirt and linen shorts. His tan skin glowed in the sunlight. My smile widened when I noticed the pizza box beside him.
I bent my body over his planting an upside down kiss on his lips. He weaved his arms around my waist and pulled me into his lap.
We kissed, tangled up like that, as the sun set around us, all pinks and violets.
“I missed you,” I whispered into the side of his neck. We’d been together just a week ago, but I didn’t care. I would’ve loved a daily dose of Gabriel; an hourly dose ofthis.
He let out a gravelly breath that sent goosebumps everywhere. “I could do this all the time,” he muttered against my collarbone.
My gaze fell onto a little gift bag sitting beside the pizza box. “Is that my birthday present?” I wiggled my eyebrows. My bikini strap had fallen down my shoulder.
He traced his thumb over my exposed skin. “I had a whole thing planned, actually,” he said almost shyly. A new look on Gabe.
