Page 68 of The Tip-Off
“For blowing off the men and women who control your future or for giving me an ulcer?” Her laugh is small, but it makes me feel a tiny bit better.
“The second one.”
“Just, promise me you’re going to be on that flight to Denver on Monday.”
“I promise.”
I open my email and look at the meetings Sara was able to reschedule. Between those and my trip home to see my mom, the next month is going to be chaotic. I tuck my phone into my pocket and go to find Gabby. She’s lying in bed, but instead of sleeping, she’s got her phone in front of her face. When she sees me, she sets it down and sits up, leaning on one elbow. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, Sara got the meetings rescheduled.”
“Good.” She visibly relaxes.
I slide into bed beside her and pull her carefully on top of me. “How’s your wrist?”
“It’s fine.”
“Good because I leave Monday morning and I want to spend every second I have left in Valley kissing you.”
“What does that have to do with my wrist?”
I grab her good arm and pin it above her head. “It’s never just kissing with you.”
She brings her lips to mine, proving my point by grinding against me with her lower half in the process. Kissing turns to groping over clothes, but neither of us pushes for more right away. We’re savoring every minute. I’m memorizing her face and the sounds she makes when she’s happy, a little contented sigh, and the feelings that doing this brings out in me. I never want to forget any of it.
I’ve finally got my hand up her shirt when Vanessa gets home and calls out to see if anyone else is here.
“Shit, I forgot to close the door,” I say, pulling back and eyeing the open bedroom door.
“I got it,” she says. She walks to the door, says hello to Vanessa and then adds, “We’re about to have sex, so I’m gonna shut this, okay?”
A laugh rumbles in my chest and Gabby shuts the door and then presses her back against it eyeing me with a look of pure want and desire. I’m on my feet. I can’t wait one more second for her to be in my arms again.
I fist her shirt and use it to pull her to me. I lean in to kiss her, but she pulls away. “Wait.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I know you’ve seen the scars on my stomach, but…” Her chest heaves with breaths coming fast and ragged. “They’re all over my body.” She waves a hand down her left side. “If this is our last weekend together, I want to be with you. Really be with you, with nothing between us, but I don’t want you to be surprised by just how extensive the scarring is, and if it’s too much for you to deal with, I’ll understand.”
A vise squeezes my heart. “I don’t care about the scars.”
“You’re a good guy, Zeke, and I know you’d never cut and run or leave me hanging, but I don’t want this to turn into a pity fuck.”
“Are you serious right now?” My voice comes out louder than I’d intended. Hot rage bubbles inside me that she could believe I’m capable of doing such a thing. Can she not see how crazy I am about her?
I lower my voice. “Listen to me, you are not a pity fuck. Not to me and not for any other guy out there. You are beautiful inside and out. Those aren’t just words, they’re facts.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re about to get laid.” She laughs, a hollow, brittle sound.
“No, I’m really not.” I run the pad of my thumb delicately across the scars on her face. “You are beautiful. Not in spite of the scars, but because of them.”
She rolls her eyes. “If you tell me they make me unique and special, I swear to you I will throw myself out the window.”
“You live on the ground level.”
Her brow arches and I chuckle as I search for words to make her believe that when I look at her, I don’t try and see past the scars, I don’t even avoid looking at them. They’re part of her. Maybe not a part she likes, but they make up the person I know as Gabby and I don’t secretly wish she were any different than she is.
“You know what I love most about them?” I bring both hands to her waist and lift the shirt over her head. Next, I unclasp her bra and slide the straps down her arms.
“What?” The whisper of the question comes as the lacy black material hits the floor.
Her nipples are a soft pink that tighten into buds when I follow the path of the scars on her stomach up to where one particularly large one ends on the side of her left breast.
