Becoming (12 page)

Her usual outfits consisted of shorts or
faded, relaxed jeans (some of which she had worn holes through),
comfortable T-shirts (either with band logos or sarcastic sayings,
or those plain ones which she considered her “dress shirts”) and
socks and sneakers. She had brought along a serviceable, gray
cotton hoodie and a navy blue pea coat, knowing that Alaska summers
were a far cry from Georgia ones. But Gabriel’s enthusiasm for
treating her special on her birthday prompted her to consider
dressing the part.

Fishing through her suitcase, she pulled out
the sweater and jeans that she had bought in a moment of weakness.
Not long after the pool party, Alicia had invited Amber to go
shopping. Only because she knew she needed a few things for the
trip did she agree to go. They spent several hours hopping from one
store to another at The Avenue in Peachtree City because Alicia
declared she wouldn’t shop anywhere else. Eventually, Amber hit
pay-dirt at American Eagle Outfitters, managing to supplement her
usual wardrobe since they were having a huge sale.

Alicia dragged her along to several more
stores and still ended up buying less than Amber had. It was while
they were at the Gap that Alicia harassed Amber until she tried on
a girly sweater and what she was told were “skinny” jeans. When
Alicia saw her come out of the dressing room, she wouldn’t let up
until Amber broke down and bought them.

Although she had envisioned leaving the new
clothes buried in her closet, likely never to be worn, she had
found herself removing the tags and washing everything before she
changed her mind. And now here she stood, holding the deep
rose-colored sweater and the stylish blue jeans and wondering if
she would feel freakish the entire day if she put them on.

“Man up, Amber,” she finally muttered, and
started changing.

The sweater was fairly thin but warm, and
made of a soft, fuzzy material that she had to admit felt
incredible. It fit like a second skin, something she had known
would feel foreign to her, and ended right at the waistband of her
jeans. Alicia had insisted on helping Amber find the perfect bra to
wear with it, which, of course, meant she had to buy the matching
panties. Amber had griped heartily about that, as she had no
intention of showing anyone her undergarments, but Alicia had
clucked her tongue at her and marched her directly over to
Victoria’s Secret. Lingerie, for heaven’s sake, Amber had grumbled
at the time. But she had to admit now that the effect of the bra
under the contouring sweater was remarkable. The neckline of the
sweater scooped wide enough to show her collar bone on either side,
but didn’t plunge low, which she preferred.

The jeans were a dark shade of blue with
intentionally faded spots along the thighs and back pockets, and
they sat much lower on her hips than she was used to. Alicia had
gone on and on about how flattering they were, bemoaning that she
herself didn’t have the long legs to effectively pull the look off.
Amber had stopped short of buying a belt or accessories, knowing
they would be a waste of money. She didn’t even own a watch.

Now, she wondered if she should have invested
in some shoes other than her usual sneakers, but there was nothing
to be done about it. Besides, she and Gabriel would certainly be
walking, and sneakers were the most comfortable shoes for that. She
laced them up without another thought.

Grabbing her toiletry bag, she cautiously
opened the bedroom door and peeked out. Not seeing Gabriel, she
hurried over to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She
wasn’t ready to face her own embarrassment over what she was doing
just yet. Sighing over her behavior, she shook her head and looked
at herself in the rectangular mirror that ran the length of the
double vanity. The sweater was a lighter rose color at the top and
grew gradually darker as it went down. It was a much bolder color
than she was used to, but she could privately admit that it suited
her.

She ruthlessly tackled her hair with her
brush and the travel-sized styling products she had purchased from
Lulu the week before. It pleased her ridiculously when she removed
the tangles and frizz without too much effort. While she was
finishing that, she heard the bedroom door close and figured
Gabriel had gone in there to get ready. She pulled her hair back at
the temples and fashioned a braid beginning at the crown of her
head. Then she tied it off with one of her thick black elastics and
left the rest of her hair down, the way she knew Gabriel liked
it.

Next, she pulled out her makeup. She hadn’t
worn much of it since Lulu styled her out the day before the pool
party. She had to admit that at the moment, just looking at it
invoked waves of anxiety. Once again telling herself to get over
it, she opened the container of powder-base and got started.

The bedroom door reopened just as she got
started on her makeup. Trying not to think about how clichéd it was
for the guy to be sitting and waiting on the girl to finish getting
ready, she carefully applied the makeup until she was satisfied
that she didn’t resemble a clown. In fact, she thought the results
turned out surprisingly decent. Reaching back into the toiletry
bag, she pulled out the travel-sized body splash from Bath and Body
Works that Alicia had given her and put a couple of squirts on her
wrists. After rubbing her wrists across her neck to trail some of
the scent there like Alicia had shown her, she figured she was as
good as she was going to get.

Her stomach fluttered nervously as she
reached for the doorknob, and she mentally chided herself. This was
Gabriel, for goodness’ sake. She opened the door at last, but
didn’t see him down the hallway. Figuring he was sitting in the
living room, she tossed her bag onto the bed in their room and
walked out to join him.

The back of his head was visible from where
he sat on the sofa watching SportsCenter on the television. At the
sound of her shoes on the wood floors, he called out, “You
should’ve seen the highlight they just showed, Am.” He turned with
a smile as she paused a few feet into the room. “You would’ve—” The
smile dropped from his face, his mouth hanging open on whatever he
had been about to say.

He slowly got to his feet, but his eyes never
left her. Amber instantly decided all of her effort had been worth
it just to see his expression right now.

As he stepped closer, his gaze moved from her
head to her toes and lingered in places that brought a hot blush to
her cheeks. His expression intense, he reached out, took her hands
and slowly lifted both of her arms up above her head. When she felt
the cooler air in the room against her suddenly bare midriff, she
tried to pull her hands away from his.

“Uh-uh,” he argued, his grip tightening to
hold her in place.

Then he started turning her, his gaze settled
on her waistline. Fighting back her blush, she indulged him by
turning in a complete circle.

“My, oh, my.”

He drawled out each of the words as she once
again faced him and caught his gaze. His eyes had picked up the
sharp blue of the T-shirt he wore and were filled with male
appreciation. He released his hold so she could lower her arms, but
his hands moved to either side of her hips to pull her within a
couple of inches of his tall frame. His thumbs ended up resting
against her skin where her sweater didn’t quite meet her jeans, and
his touch evoked an excited stutter in her heartbeat.

“Wherever did this come from?” he asked, his
gaze searching her makeup-enhanced features.

Trying to sound nonchalant, she replied,
“Alicia took me shopping. At the Gap.”

“Did she now?”

She nodded as his hands idly caressed the
bottom edge of her sweater. Her skin flushed with heat wherever he
touched. “And Victoria’s Secret.”

He blinked a couple of times as he processed
that blurted admission. Finally, he managed, “Is that right?”

His eyes had darkened a bit in color and he
had swallowed hard after her last statement. So she added, “And
Bath and Body Works.”

Rather than comment, he closed the meager
distance between them by pulling her up against him. Then he leaned
down toward her neck and slowly drew in her scent. The feeling of
his warm breath against her skin made her entire body simmer with
pleasure. With barely a thought, she tilted her head sideways to
give him better access. His lips gently brushed her exposed neck
and collarbone, making her pulse race.

“I’d thank Alicia, but I think she’s trying
to kill me,” he whispered into her ear. She gripped his arms and
closed her eyes as all of her nerve-endings blazed. His lips then
moved along her jaw line. “Still, I can see you intend this to be a
kind of a present for me. I can’t help but appreciate it for what
it is.”

Then he captured her mouth. Her every thought
centered on him as passion flared. His scent: like the ocean wind
before a storm, calm with the potential for aggression. His taste:
rich, potent and heady. His body: hard, strong and enveloping.

As he kissed her, his hands moved slowly from
her hips up along her ribcage, leaving a blazing path of sensation
behind. She could barely breathe as he reached ever higher. His
hands explored her leisurely, the feelings he generated with his
touch both intensely pleasurable and inexplicably tormenting. She
issued a ragged sound that might have been a sigh or a moan.

When he eventually broke away from her, he
stepped back and held her at arm’s length, his head lowered as he
caught his breath and struggled to center himself. Although the
move had been abrupt, she couldn’t take offense. It was obvious she
had inadvertently pushed him to an edge she hadn’t even realized
existed. She warred with delight and guilt over having trampled on
his usual gentlemanly sensibilities.

After a moment, he looked up at her and gave
her a rueful grin. “You smell—and taste—delicious.”

She smiled back at him. “I’m glad you’re
enjoying your present.”

He shook his head with a chuckle and glanced
over at the clock. “Speaking of presents, I know it isn’t even nine
o’clock yet, but I think it’s time for gifts four and five.”
Catching her gaze, he added, “I could use the distraction.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“Not here, though,” he said, suddenly
thoughtful. “Not quite right, I think.”

Curious, she followed him without a word as
he led her to the front door. After he grabbed his hooded
sweatshirt off the coat rack by the door and Amber collected her
purse, they left the house and made their way to the beach. He
studied the area as they walked, evidently looking for the perfect
spot. She couldn’t imagine what two gifts he intended to give her
that involved walking to a random spot without so much as a box,
bag or card envelope.

After several minutes of hunting along the
beach, they came across a small outcropping of rocks. There was a
large, flat rock surrounded on three sides by taller ones. They sat
on the flat rock facing each other and it was suddenly as though
they were isolated from the rest of the world.

Gabriel took her hands in his and gave them a
quick squeeze as he caught her gaze. “I know you’re wondering what
in the world I’m doing,” he said, his tone and expression
uncharacteristically serious. “You’ve always found it difficult to
accept gifts and the sentiment attached to them. I understand that
your past has a lot to do with that.”

She didn’t answer, but he saw her agreement
in her eyes.

“It pleases me more than you can know that
you came out here without question, knowing that I wanted to give
you something. That tells me you’re really ready to accept this
from me.”

He released her hands so that he could lean
back slightly to fish around in his jeans pocket. She watched him
curiously, wondering what he could have fit into his pocket and
figuring it had to be a piece of paper. Maybe two tickets to a
dinner show, she guessed. Then she caught the glint of something
shiny as he pulled his hand back out, and her eyebrows shot up.

“Gabriel, is that—a ring?”

He held his hand out so she could see its
contents. “Two rings, actually. One for each of us.”

Now it was her turn to gape, her mouth
opening but no words coming out. Each ring was made out of a
glimmering metal that was either bright silver or something similar
in coloring. The smaller ring had some intricate detailing around
the band, ultimately framing a golden-brown center stone in the
shape of a rounded-edged rectangle. The men’s ring was a larger
version with more squared off corners around the center stone and
more subtle engraving along the wide band.

As she stared at the rings, he said, “I’m
sure you remember the saleswoman in that little jewelry store in
Anchorage who harassed you into viewing and trying on a hundred
things you didn’t want while I shopped for something for Mrs.
B.”

Now her gaze shifted to his, and his charming
grin lifted the veil of disbelief that had settled over her
thoughts. “You put her up to that?”

He shrugged unapologetically. “I had to get
your ring size somehow. She was kind enough to force you to have
your ring finger sized with her handy little tool, and then she
took you off to the other side of the store so I could buy
these.”

Staggered, she merely breathed, “Okay.”

Patting her knee, he said, “I can see your
thoughts whirling around in your head. So let me get straight to
Part Two of this gift before you throw me and these rings off this
rock.” Shifting, he took the men’s ring and placed it in her right
hand, curling her fingers over it when she paused in confusion.
“Amber, these are intended as promise rings. Promise rings…well,
they symbolize a significant promise and commitment between two
people.”

She looked into his eyes. The gray and blue
warred for dominance, both colors conveying great depth of
feeling.