Page 40 of One Night with Cinderella

Eight

One week later

Monica lowered the rear window from her position on the back seat of the all-black SUV with dark tinted windows. “Gabe,” she called over to him once the vehicle he exited drove away and revealed him standing on the street.

Her heart raced at the very sight of him. His shortbread complexion seemed darker. His beard fuller. His body a bit more fit in the navy long-sleeved tee and dark denims he wore with cognac oxford sneakers.

He turned in surprise and looked up and down the length of the street before he finally noticed her in the SUV parked at the curb a few houses down from the Cress townhome. He smiled and it transformed his face.

Her heart raced and her entire body went warm.

The last month without him had proven nothing except that her feelings for Gabe ran beyond just the physical. Against her better instincts and rational thought. She was hooked. She couldn’t turn him loose.

Monica motioned for him to come to her before raising the window and disappearing behind the darkness of the glass. Her eyes stayed locked on him as he strode across the street. Her entire body felt like a bundle of nerves. There was happiness to see him. Desire to have him. But also fear.

She pushed the latter away as he opened the rear door.

“I am not ready to say goodbye to you forever, Gabe,” she admitted, feeling as if the moment was all or nothing.

He eyed her with such intensity.

Time slowed.

She licked at her lips, feeling as if they were suddenly dry.

His eyes dropped to take in the move she’d made in all innocence.

She gasped when he locked his gaze on hers and extended his hand. She looked down at it and then up at him before sliding hers into his.

“Get out,” he said, his voice deep.

It sounded so good to her ears.

He helped her exit the car. As soon as her feet touched on the ground, he pulled her body close to his and lowered his head to hers.

Her alarmed eyes looked past his shoulder to the family’s home. “What if someone sees us?” she whispered in a panic.

“I don’t care.”

And there, pressed against the side of the vehicle, they kissed with every bit of the hunger they felt for each other, with panting breaths and excitement beyond measure.

“What are we doing, Gabe?” she asked in between electric kisses.

He raised her chin with his finger to look into her eyes. “Taking a chance on each other.”

Monica released a grunt of pleasure as she wiggled her body back against Gabe’s warmth as he spooned her from behind. She had to admit that the nights he stayed over were the best. It had been a long time since she’d slept with someone, and even then, nothing compared to the security she felt from Gabe’s arm stretched over her waist and one of his feet lightly resting atop hers as they slumbered. It had been only two weeks since his return from Paris, and the nights he wasn’t with her, she felt his loss.

Her fear rose, but she pushed it down deep as she felt the warmth of his kisses against her shoulder. She raised her arm to stroke the back of his head before lifting her hair to expose her nape to him. He pressed a kiss there without fail, evoking a shiver. It was a sensitive spot that he’d discovered and exploited.

Monica lay on her back to look up at him. Giving him a smile, she stroked his face. “I’m glad you got rid of the beard,” she said. “The shadow is much better.”

He grabbed the rim of the sheet and flung it back from her body. “I like yours, too,” he mused, looking down at the thin layer of soft hairs covering the plump vee.

Arching a brow, she grabbed the side of the sheet covering him and flung it toward the foot of the bed. She took in his nudity before surrounding his inches with her hand. “You could use a trim,” she said, lightly playing in the soft curly bush surrounding his thick member.

Gabe chuckled. “You weren’t complaining last night,” he reminded her.

Monica flushed in embarrassment and playfully nudged his side with her knuckles. “Careful. Brag about it and it might be the last,” she warned.

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