Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (98 page)

"No he won't."

"Maybe he won't.  I don't know.  I'm going to give it a few more nights and if he doesn't quit, I'll sleep on your couch.  We'll talk to Jenkins and change your locks and put locks on all your windows."

"You are not sleeping on my couch."

He grinned.  "Would you rather I slept in your bed?" His grin quickly faded.  "I was only kidding."

"Why do I need to move in with you if we're going to change my locks and put locks on my windows?"

He sighed.  "Right now Carson is right downstairs and he's got me on speed dial.  If something happens, I'm only a few minutes away and Carson's right there.  They're moving way out on the other side of town, almost to the city limits.  Sometimes five minutes is life and death Ami, and there's no way in hell I'm going to take that chance with you."

"If you weren't such a jerk that might actually sound sweet.”

"Believe it or not Ami, before I met you, people would have said I was one of the nicest guys in town."

"So I do bring about the best in everyone.”

"Ha ha.  I didn't mean it like that."

"It's true.  I drove you to sleep with a couple of nasty chicks you met at the bar." She pointed across the street at Gabe.  "And I drove him to be even crazier than usual.  Maybe I should just go away and save all of you a lot of trouble."

"Don't even think about it.”

"Why not?  You would be free to find some girl who fits into your picture of the perfect relationship better than I do.  And Gabe would have to move on and find some other chick to harass."

"First of all, Ali would kick all of our asses if we let you leave before the baby comes and who wants to mess with a pregnant woman?" He smiled tiredly.

"She would not.  She would understand."

"You're not leaving.  Now go upstairs and go to bed.  We'll discuss all of this when I get off of work tomorrow night."

"You think so, huh?  You're just going to go blab to your girlfriend Carson and he's going to blab to Ali and then you'll all gang up on me."

He smiled.  "Carson's my girlfriend huh?  He'd love that one."

"You two tell each other everything like you're sixteen year old girls.”

He laughed.  "Are we supposed to grunt and point?  Or just talk about nothing but tits and asses when we hang out?"

"Sounds good to me.  Sounds better than having you blab everything we do to him.  Did you describe to him in detail how I seduced you?"

"Well, that sounds more along the lines of what men are supposed to talk about doesn't it?" He grinned.

"Ass.  I’m never having sex with you again."

"Yep.  Goodnight Ami."

"You are just as cocky as Gabe.  I don't want you anymore.”

“Uh huh.” She could see that he was hiding a grin.

"I don’t.”

"Then go upstairs."

"I don't want you down here.  And I don't want his stupid ass over there.  I'm going to go tell him so that you can go home and get some sleep."

"No you're not."

"I am too.” She started to move away from him but he reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me."

"As soon as you tell me that you're going to go upstairs."

"I want to talk to Gabe.  I am a grown woman and I can do what I please."

"I'll throw you over my shoulder and carry you upstairs.  Would you like that?"

"No.  Let me go or I'll scream."

"Try it and I'll make sure you can't talk, let alone scream." He gave her a wicked grin.

"You're enjoying this almost as Gabe is, aren't you?" Though she was enjoying it more than she wanted to admit.  Her pulse was racing.

His smile faded.  "Hardly." He let go of her arm.  "Go.  Talk to him.  I don't give a shit."

"Okay.” She could feel his eyes on her as she crossed the street, but he let her go.

Gabe rolled his window down when she approached.  "Hello darling."

"Hello asshole."

He chuckled.  "What did you have to say to your boyfriend to get him to let you come over here?"

"Nick is not my boyfriend.  Neither are you.  We discussed this already.  Now why don't you get a life and go away?  Better yet, why don't you get some parenting skills and go home to your children?"

Gabe laughed.  "My children are fine.  My wife is fine.  She had false labor pains.  The doctor told her to take it easy and sent her home."

"Screw you Gabe.  Is it Gabriel?  Can I call you Gabriel?" She wanted to do anything to piss him off.

He shrugged.  "If you prefer.  You can call me anything you like, Ami."

“Jerk, pervert, stalker, sex addict, freak, crazy, psycho, pathetic loser.  Would you like me to go on?   I think I could go on all night.”

He smiled.  "You amuse me darling."

"Well, you don’t amuse me.  Please leave me alone.  I’m begging you."

“No need to beg.  I only like to women to beg when they’re beneath me with their legs wrapped around my waist, or their beautiful womanhood is in my face.”

“Ugh.  I told you were a pervert.”

“Do you not enjoy it when a man performs oral sex on you?   Or has a man never pleasured you in that way with his tongue?   I would be more than willing to do it for you right now.  I could take you places you’ve never been before.  All of the dogs in the neighborhood would howl when you cried out my name if you’ve never been to that particular height of ecstasy before.”

Ami rolled her eyes.  “Give me a break Gabe.  Corin did that to me all the time.  I think he liked going down on me even more than he liked having me go down on him.  And Nick already did that to me the other night and I’m sure he’s much more talented at it than you are.”

Gabe laughed.  “I think that Nick was too hot to get inside of you with his manhood to worry about offering you that divine pleasure.  Maybe he doesn’t care for it.  Some men don’t.  I love it though.  The taste of a woman is like no other.”

Ami made a face at him.  “I wouldn’t give a shit if a guy never went down on me again in my life, as long you stayed the hell away from me.”

Gabe shook his head.  "Fine.  If you must hit rock bottom in pain with your current lover to realize what you have right in front of you, then you must I suppose.  But guys like Nick will always disappoint you in the end."

"You’re not exactly a blue ribbon either in case you haven’t noticed.  I find you to be rather pathetic myself.”

"If you say so.  When true love is staring you in the face and you still turn away, that seems rather pathetic in my opinion."

"What do I have to say or do to make you go away?"

"I’ll never go away."

"You are going to drive me to kill myself."

"You’d never do that to your son.  But you wonder why I watch you when you say things that make you sound unstable?"

"I wouldn't be unstable if you weren't bothering me all the time."

"I’ll go.  If you wish, I will stop watching you.  On one condition."

"This condition had better not have anything to do with my son and you’d better leave him the hell alone."

"I won’t involve your son.  If you weren’t so stubborn he could already be back in your life the way he should be.  But if you insist, I will not mention Charlie again and will not interfere.  I will leave and not come here, if you will promise to answer every text message that I send to you and be civil."

"I thought that it turned you on when I was mean to you.”

He laughed.  "It does.  Promise me that you'll always answer me and I'll go away until you tell me to come back."

"Yeah, right."

"I promise."

"Your promise means nothing."

"Okay.  Then I will continue to play with your boyfriend.  I will continue to sit outside your apartment.  I will leave you a note every day and I will talk Bobby out of hiring you.  I will pay your aunt a substantial amount of money and I will move your son into my empty house whether you are ready or not.  I’m sure he’d much rather be raised by you than some nameless nanny though."

"Fuck you.  I said my son is not part of this.  The fact that I was dumb enough to sleep with you has nothing to do with Charlie.  I only slept with you because I hadn’t gotten laid in seven years, you know that right?   And I was thinking of Nick the whole time."

Gabe made a face.  She thought that she’d finally managed to get through to him, if only a little, but he suddenly shoved a piece of paper into her hand.

It was a check for $5,000.  "What the hell?" She started to ball the check up and throw it back in his face, but then she paused.  "So now you're owning up and paying for the damage that you did, huh?"

"My back up plan."

"Fuck you and your back up plan.”  But she knew the money would cover her car and more than cover Nick's window.

"I'm not saying that I caused the damage.” But his grin was so cocky that she wanted to smack it right off of his face.  "I just figured that if anyone could afford to take care of it, it was me."

"Your money doesn't impress me.”

He shrugged.  "It should since you have a kid to put through college.  But then again, I'd give you any amount of money you wanted if you married me.  I’d adopt Charlie too, and we’d have beautiful children of our own.  I’m sure you were even more beautiful when you were with child."

Ami made a face.  "I’ll never have your child.  I’d rather die."

He smiled.  "What would you say if I told you I poked a hole in the condom I used with you?"

Her first instinct was to reach out and wring his neck.  Instead, she lit a cigarette.  "You're lying.”

He frowned.  "Though I suppose if you were pregnant there would be a chance it could be Nick’s child as well."

She stamped her cigarette out under her foot and spit in his face.  "Fuck you."

He laughed and reached into the glove compartment.  He withdrew a handkerchief and wiped his face.  "That was uncalled for Ami.  I only like your spit when it's in my mouth, with your tongue."

"If I was pregnant with your child, I would give myself an at home abortion and hopefully kill myself in the process."

"And you accuse me of being an unfit parent.  Charlie would miss you.  You’ve already let him down so much; you can’t continue to let him down."

"Fuck you.  And you said my son’s name again.  Shut the hell up about my kid or I’ll make sure that you continue to let your kids down because they’ll never see you again.”

Gabe snorted.  "So you did fuck Nick without a condom."

"You know what Gabe, any deal we had is off.  Sit out here every night for the rest of your life and fucking rot.  Take your check back.  You wouldn't have anything if it weren't for your wife anyway."

"Really Ami?"

"Really Gabriel.  And yes, I did fuck Nick without a condom.  Twice.  So if I was pregnant there wouldn't be much chance it was yours."

"I wouldn't care.  I would raise the child as if it were my own."

"You are brain dead.  I have told you over and over again that I want nothing to do with you.  I wouldn't let you near my baby even if it were yours."

"I thought you would abort it."

"I don't want you now nor will I ever.  Go away and leave me the fuck alone."

"Do we have a deal then?"

"Wow.  I have no idea how your wife has lived with you this long."

"Leslie and I have an arrangement."

"One that I have absolutely no interest in learning about.  You know what?  We do have a deal.  You leave right now and promise not to come back, I will answer every pathetic text message that you send me."

"You promise?" He looked so earnest; she wanted to spit in his face again.

She sighed.  "Yes Gabe.  I promise."

"Wonderful.  Goodnight Ami.  I love you."

"Goodnight Gabe," she said with a tight smile.  "I'll never love you."

She turned and started to walk away.  She controlled herself and was able to barely pause when he said "I really did poke a hole in the condom.  I've become quite skilled at it over the years."

She was steaming when she got back across the street.  Nick was sitting on the hood of his car, talking quietly on his phone.  He looked up when he saw her and said quickly "She's back.  I've got to go."

"Who was that?"

She felt like a cartoon with steam coming out of her ears.  She wanted to beat the crap out of Gabe.  How could he have done that to her she wondered?

"Carson.  Why?"

"Never mind." She glanced across the street and saw that Gabe was leaving.  "You can go home and go to sleep now.  And he won't be coming back so you don't have to worry about staying out here anymore."

He snorted.  "Why in the hell would you trust anything he said?"

"We made a deal."

"You might as well have made a deal with the devil Ami."

"I'm tired Nick.  Go home.  And give me back the money that I gave you please."