Page 21 of A Lot Like Adiós
“What were you going to do? Sneak out while I was asleep, call for a car, and have them drop you off at a hotel?”
“What else am I supposed to do?” From his defensive tone and the look on his face, she could tell she’d hit the nail on the head.
“You’re supposed to stay and deal with your problems instead of running away again,” she shot back. “You and I have a lot of unfinished business, Gabe.”
He stepped down to the floor and set his suitcase beside him.Michelle didn’t back up, though, and the move left them toe to toe, both breathing hard.
Her heart thumped at his nearness, at the spark of anger in his dark eyes. Maybe it was perverse, but she liked him like this, pissed off and prickly. The Gabe she’d known had shied away from conflict, never raised his voice, and let her take the upper hand in all their arguments. This Gabe wasn’t backing down, and it was as sexy as it was infuriating.
He leaned down to look her right in the eye. In a deceptively soft voice, he asked, “Do you know why I left?”
“No, I don’t know why!” The memories flooded back—the betrayal, the hurt. How much she’d missed him. The missing had been like a sickness, taking up permanent residence in the pit of her stomach. “You didn’t even talk to me about it.”
“I did, actually.” His jaw was like granite. “I tried to talk to you about my parents. But every time I brought it up, you defended them. You didn’t see that I was drowning here. If you had, it wouldn’t have surprised you that I wanted to leave.”
“Fuck your parents!” She pressed her hands to her face, embarrassed by the outburst. “Sorry, I don’t mean that. But this isn’t about them. You also abandonedme.”
In a nervous move she remembered, he took off his Yankees cap and smoothed a hand over his hair. “I had to get away from here, get out of this life.”
“That doesn’t explain why you ghosted me.” Her voice hitched, and she hated it. “It doesn’t explain why you didn’t reply when I reached out, why you—”
“Michelle.” Gabe interrupted her tirade and wrapped his fingers gently around her wrists. She hadn’t even noticed she’dbeen waving her hands around. His thumbs stroked her skin, right over her pulse, and she calmed slightly.
“I needed a clean break, and you...” He let out a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. “You were the only person with the power to drag me back here.”
The silence that followed his words settled onto her skin, making her feel tight and tense.
“Why?” she whispered.
He released her wrists. “What do you want from me, Mich?” He sounded tired. Defeated.
But he’d called herMich.
She stepped closer, if such a thing were possible. Their bodies brushed, the points of her breasts nudging his torso.
“Why was I the only person?” she pressed, her tone insistent. “Why, Gabe?”
The spark in his eyes was her only warning.
“Because of this!” The words burst out of him like a storm. He curled his big hands around the thin straps of her tank top, clinging like they were a lifeline, and lowered his forehead to hers. His voice was harsh with longing. “God, Michelle, I want you so fucking bad I can’t think straight.”
Desire coursed through her, hot and dizzying. Was it the answer she’d expected? No. Would she take it?
Hell yes.
She leaned in further, pushing her body into his. Her hands came up to grip his thick forearms. “This is why you ignored me?” she demanded, her voice breathy. “Because I’m too sexy and amazing?”
He groaned, his fingers tightening on the delicate straps ofcotton. She imagined him ripping them, her shirt falling off her body.
Yes. Take it off. Touch me.
It was what she’d said back then, the memory burned into her brain. She was very close to saying it again now.
“It’s because I can never say no to you,” he ground out. “Seemed smarter to keep my distance, in case...”
“In case of what?”
His voice was low, the backs of his fingers hot against her skin. “In case you asked me to stay.”
