Bedding The Best Man (Bedding the Bachelors Book 7) (17 page)

The doorbell rang. “Oh, terrific,” she muttered. Maybe Mom had been sitting outside the building when she called.

But it wasn’t Kathleen Whitcomb. It was Gabe.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, feeling exposed all of a sudden. Why should she? It was her place. He was the one who should feel uncomfortable.

“Hi to you, too.”

“Don’t play cute,” she said, narrowing her eyes. It had to be the wine. She was feeling feistier than usual.

He smiled. That only irritated her more.

“Sorry. I just had to see you.”

“For what? Feeling a little horny? Wanna go to bed, then have second thoughts later on?”

“Ouch.” He sighed. “I actually came over to see if you need any help getting things together for your event,” he said. “That’s all.”

“Oh.” She looked at the floor. “I thought when I was redirected to an assistant earlier today that you weren’t interested in helping me anymore.”

“That’s not the case at all, Brianne. I was at the gym, and wanted to be sure you were taken care of when I wasn’t around the office.”

She looked up again. “Really?”

“Really.”

She stepped back. “Sorry. Come in. The neighbors are going to start wondering why you’re still standing outside.”

Gabe stepped into the living room, a grin on his face. She knew he was reacting to her ashtrays again, but she ignored it. She had to stay in control of the situation. He wanted to help her. She needed the help. It was up to her to keep things professional.

“How’s it going?” he asked, sitting on the couch, peering at her laptop.

“Not as well as I’d like,” Brianne admitted. “I’m running out of time fast.”

“Maybe this will help you,” he said, grinning. “The whole set-up we had yesterday? I mean, soup to nuts?”

“Yes?”

“It’s yours. Fifty yurts. The whole thing. Enough facilities for everyone, top of the line—nicer than some people have in their own homes, frankly. My assistant got in touch with decorators for you, people who specialize in indoor/outdoor furnishings and decorations. Generators, seating, food prep arrangements, stage setup, a dance floor, everything. Even a First-Aid tent. All you need to do is find entertainment, caterers, and the other odds and ends you want people to enjoy. Like the color-coordinated marshmallow roasters you talked about when I took you home from the club.” He grinned.

Brianne’s head spun. “Are you serious?”

He nodded. “Nothing but the best. I mean it. Whatever you want, you have it.”

“How? I mean, honestly, fifty of those yurts? With all those fabulous furnishings? I don’t know if I can afford that.” She wasn’t exactly flush with cash, thanks to the recent drop-off in business. Using her own money would cause tax complications.

“Bri, I wouldn’t have reserved this for you if I wasn’t planning to help you with it.”

“Help me?”

“Yeah. Like, helping you pay for it. I want you to win this.”

She was conflicted. She wanted desperately to win. But was this cheating?

“Look,” he said. “If you feel weird about it, you can always pay me back from all the business you’ll be getting from the spread in
Life and Society
. We’ll work it out. Besides, you’re the one who came up with the glamping idea. It’s not like you stole the idea from someone else. It’ll be seen as daring, unique, exciting. A sure-fire winner.”

She couldn’t help it. She was intrigued.

“That’s great,” she said, “and I appreciate it. Believe me. But that doesn’t help me find the people you talked about. The caterers, the bands, everything. We only have two weeks.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Gabe said. “You always do.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” she murmured, staring at the spreadsheet on her screen. Nearly all of her go-to food service companies were highlighted in red, meaning she’d called and been nearly laughed off the phone.

“What about a culinary school? Maybe they could come out? It would probably be less expensive, too,” Gabe suggested.

Brianne’s eyes lit up.

“You’re a genius,” she said. “I’ll start making calls in the morning.” She glanced over at him from the keyboard as she typed up notes. “I’m glad I let you in,” she winked.

“Me, too. I’ve been regretting the way we left things, all day.”

She stopped typing and set her laptop aside. “Me, too,” she admitted. “I’m sorry I got so angry.”

“You had every right to be angry. You felt used. I don’t blame you. I blame myself.”

“It wasn’t even so much that—I mean, it was sort of that. But even more, it was not having a say in anything. You know? Like I’m totally out of control. My happiness isn’t even in my hands. Eric walks out on the wedding. You tell me we can’t be together, that what we did was wrong. I understand why you’d say that but in the end…It didn’t
feel
wrong, Gabe.” She looked at him, imploring him to understand.

“I’m having a hard time not seeing it that way—at least, I was. I’m not so much anymore.”

“No?”

He smiled. “No.”

It felt as though someone turned up the thermostat. Brianne’s skin heated. Her breath picked up, her heartbeat pounded a little harder. Everything shifted. Electricity filled the air.

He moved closer to her, and she didn’t stop him when he began closing the lid to the laptop. “I swear to you, I didn’t come over here for this,” he murmured, his breath hot on her face. “I only came over to apologize, and talk things out.”

“So what happened to change your mind?” she whispered, trembling.

“I can’t be near you without wanting you. It was bad enough before we were together.” He kissed the tip of her nose, her forehead. “All I could do was fantasize about you.” He brushed his lips over her chin. Her mouth. She whimpered, then parted her lips. “Now that I know how good it is…better than any fantasy…” He kissed her again, this time touching her tongue with his. She moaned. “It’s impossible to stay away from you. You’re like a drug. I can’t get enough.”

“I feel the same way,” she breathed, then gasped as his hand caressed her neck, her shoulders. She closed her eyes, allowing him to seduce her. She hadn’t planned on this, either, but now that he’d started there was no way she’d let him stop.

She leaned her head back, eyes still closed, and whimpered as Gabe’s mouth slowly traveled down her neck. He was just barely making contact, his mouth brushing against her. It was nearly painful, the way she needed him. More than any dream, any fantasy. He lit her up, made her wet and throb with desire.

Every so often, as he explored her, his tongue would gently lick against her. She cried out softly, falling deeper and deeper into bliss.

“This feels so good,” she moaned, marveling at how incredible it was to be touched by Gabe. Her body had never felt the way it did when he was pleasuring her.

“You taste good. I need more,” he whispered, pulling her by the hips until she was stretched out on the sofa and he was kneeling on the floor, leaning over her.

He kissed her again, slowly, while his hand danced over her flat stomach. She writhed beneath him, arching her back to meet his hand. When his fingers crept beneath her camisole, she shivered, then moaned as he pulled the thin fabric up and over her breasts.

“So sweet,” he whispered, sucking her bottom lip between his teeth while his hand lightly played over her breasts. She groaned, wetness soaking her panties as his hand worked her.

His mouth replaced his hand, his tongue swirling in circles over her stiff nipples. Slowly, achingly slowly. Driving her mad. Didn’t he know what he was doing to her?

Of course, he did. And the more she whimpered and pleaded, the more she urged him for more, the slower he went. He wanted to know how far he could push her before she exploded.

While his tongue licked her, his hand slid down her bare torso, just skimming the patch of skin above the waistband of her pants. Her hips rolled, her legs pressed together to relieve some of the pressure between them. She was soaked, burning, desperate to be touched.

“Oh, God!” she cried out, arching her back, when the tips of his fingers dipped below her waistband as his mouth closed over her nipple and sucked. He was just above her mound, close but so far. “Please…please…touch me…” she begged.

When he pulled down her pants, she sighed. His hand slid between her legs, over the lace of her panties, rubbing. Flicking his fingers back and forth. Brianne spread her legs, thrusting her hips up to meet his fingers. Needing more.

“Harder…please!”

He only chuckled, now licking his way down her stomach. He dragged his tongue from one hip to the other, making her arch her back and cry out for more. When his fingers hooked around the waistband and pulled them down, she nearly died from relief.

But he wasn’t finished. Now his fingers slid along the outside of her slit, slick with her juices. She fell silent, her heavy breathing the only sound she could make as she focused on her pleasure. Eyes closed, her hips moved in time with his careful stroking. If only he would never stop…

“You want more, baby?” he murmured, licking deliciously lower and lower, until his fingers were spreading her lips apart.

“Yes!” Brianne cried out, her head rolling from side to side. “Lick me, please, Gabe!” When his tongue made contact with the hard bundle of nerves between her legs, she nearly screamed.

He seemed to love it, licking all around, thrashing her clit with his tongue. He paid attention to her reactions, sticking to what made her scream the loudest. It was better than anything she’d ever felt, and before she knew it his tongue sent her screaming over the edge.

“Yes! Gabe! Oh, God!” Her body shuddered, going limp against the cushions. All she heard was the sound of her gasps for breath and his heavy breathing. She knew he needed her, could tell from the way he panted as he continued licking her while she came down from the peak of pleasure.

Her cell phone rang but they ignored it.

“Please…” she begged, opening her eyes to find him staring at her with desire. “Please, take me…”

Quickly, he ripped at his clothes. Then he was inside her, filling her so completely, rocking her world as he moved in and out. Their bodies fit perfectly together, and they matched each other stroke for stroke.

“That’s it…do it…yes…” she whispered fiercely, staring into his eyes. “Give it to me…”

Brianne’s home phone began ringing, but of course they ignored that, too.

He pinned her wrists over her head, taking her roughly. She loved it, releasing control, letting him use her. She moved against him just as hard, taking her pleasure from him as he rode her.

“Gabe! Oh, yes!” she screamed, quivering from another orgasm as he continued to pound her, not slowing down, grunting as his forceful thrusts slammed their bodies together.

His grunts pushed her on, higher, hotter, and knowing he was loving their wild connection as much as she did touched her far more than physically. It made her feel in her heart of hearts that they were made to be together. She cried out again as another orgasm built, this one stronger than the others. “That’s it, baby, make me come for you,” she moaned, just on the verge…

Brianne’s answering machine beeped. And then a man’s voice came on the line.

Her eyes flew open, meeting Gabe’s own panicked stare.

It was Eric.

Chapter Seventeen

“Oh, shit,” Gabe mumbled, sliding out of Brianne, erection already receding in the face of panic. He pulled up his pants.

It was Gabe’s worst nightmare come true. How many times had he worried that Eric would find out how he felt about Bri?

Granted, Eric was simply leaving a message on the phone and couldn’t possibly know what was happening. Unless he’d tried to come by and seen Gabe’s car. Or heard them through the front door…

He was vaguely aware that Eric had stopped talking on the machine.

He looked at Brianne. Her face was pale, but she averted her gaze as she tugged down her top then pulled her panties on. Finally, she looked at him, and when she did, bitter laughter tore out of her.

Bitterness soon verged on hysterical. “God, if you could see your face right now.”

He’d fucked up, pulling out of her and away from her so quickly. As if her touch was toxic. But he hadn’t been thinking clearly. Only he couldn’t stand to see her looking so distressed. Abandoned once again. “Brianne,” he said, starting toward her.

She held up her hand. “No. Don’t come any closer.” Her voice was like diamond cutting through glass. “Tell yourself whatever you need to,” she said. “Whatever makes you feel better. Tell yourself you tried to do the right thing and I seduced you into being with me again.”

“Why would I tell myself that?” he barked. “It’s not true.”

“No, what’s true is you still think of me as Eric’s. That as soon as you heard his voice you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

“Brianne, please. You have to understand—”

“I understand perfectly, Gabe. And whether it’s that you feel guilty for stealing Eric’s woman even after he threw me away, or whether it’s that you’re afraid you’re going to give yourself completely to me and then Eric’s going to return and I’m going to pick him, I can’t do this anymore.”