Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (9 page)

“You eat
constantly. How do you stay so slim?” Jake asked her.

Olivia
laughed and winked. “I have ways of working the calorie
s off.”

Gabe
choked on his beer and as if by design, the back door opened and Wyatt stepped
in, his attention going directly to Olivia. He raised an eyebrow when he saw
her grinning. Emma couldn’t resist smiling. She knew Wyatt didn’t stand a
chance
against Olivia. She used to think Olivia would
never have him but since coming to know her, she felt sorry for Wyatt. Once
Olivia made up her mind about what she wanted, nothing stood in her way. Emma
wasn’t sure what Olivia was waiting on but if anyone kn
ew what she was doing, it was her new best friend.

Later,
when everyone was in the living room, Jake cleared his throat and everyone
looked in his direction. He glanced at
Becca
, and grinned. “
Becca
and I are getting married in May,” he announced with prid
e.

“We all
knew that, Jake,” Gabe reminded him.

Becca
stuck her left hand out and something glittered on it.
“Yes, but now
it’s
official.” Olivia and Emma
squealed, hopped up from their seats, and rushed forward to hug
Becca
and check out her ring, while G
abe and Wyatt slapped Jake on the back. Each brother, in
turn, kissed
Becca
on the cheek.

After
all the excitement died down, Olivia announced she wanted to leave, but Emma
wasn’t ready to go home. Gabe said he’d take Emma home and she was happy he
would,
but knew it wasn’t like Olivia to end an
evening so early. Emma walked outside with Olivia. “What’s wrong, Liv?”

Olivia
blinked back tears. “It is so hard being around Wyatt. He completely ignores
me, and it hurts,
Em
.” She shook her head. “You know
I’m to
ugh but when it comes to that cowboy, I just
crumble and I hate it. I thought going out with Ryder would help, but it
didn’t. I’ll just go home and go to bed. I have to run the front desk tomorrow
so I need to get some sleep anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She got into her car and left. Emma watched the taillights
disappear down the long drive. She wished she could do something to help her
friend. When she heard the door open behind her, she glanced over her shoulder
to see Gabe coming toward her.

“Is she
a
ll right?” he asked as he put his hands on Emma’s
shoulders from behind. She leaned back against him.

“She has
trouble being around Wyatt, and the way he ignores her.”

Gabe
turned her around to face him. He kissed her, sweet and slow. “I’ve wanted to
do
that all night.”

Emma
smiled. “I’ve wanted you to.”

Gabe
chuckled. “We better get back inside.” He leaned down and nibbled on her ear.
“Maybe we can make out when I take you home.”

Emma
burst out laughing at his reference to something they might’ve thought
about doing before going straight to the big prize.
“Okay.”

Gabe
slung his arm around her shoulders as they entered the house and went directly
to the living room. They sat together on the couch and ignored the glances from
the others. Suddenly, Gabe clea
red his throat and
winked at Emma.

“Emma,
did Liv mention how her date with Ryder went?”

Emma
slyly glanced at Wyatt. Gabe’s ploy was working. They certainly had Wyatt’s
attention. “She said she had a great time.” What she said wasn’t exactly a lie
she was
just leaving the rest out. She noticed how
Wyatt clenched his jaw in reaction.

“She
didn’t tell me she was going out with him,”
Becca
said.

“They’ve
only gone out once. The first of many, I think.” Emma bit back a grin as she
watched Wyatt scowl as he sto
od to get another beer.
He took a long pull on it and slammed the bottle down so hard Emma was
surprised it didn’t break. He put his hat on, said a gruff goodnight, and left
without another word. Jake, Gabe, and Emma sat grinning at the outcome but
Becca
f
rowned
for a moment, and then Emma saw it dawn on her what had just happened, and she
grinned along with them.

“It
doesn’t matter how he acts, he’s interested in her. He just doesn’t want to
be,” Gabe said with a satisfied chuckle. Emma took note of the na
rrowed look Jake threw in their general direction, but
decided to let it go. She wasn’t sure she wanted the same kind of scrutiny
placed on her and Gabe.

“The
look on his face was priceless,”
Becca
added leaning into Jake’s chest.

Emma
laughed. “I can’t wa
it to see what happens. I thought
he was going to break that beer bottle.”

The four
of them laughed together, and then spent the rest of the evening discussing the
upcoming wedding.

* * * *

A few
hours later, Gabe drove Emma home. He pulled his truck up
to the back door and shut the engine off. He tugged on her
hair. “Come here, you.” Emma slid across the seat. He pulled her onto his lap.
As soon as his lips touched hers, they both sighed. He ran his tongue over her
lips then slipped it inside her mouth,
touching her
tongue with his. “Do you have any idea how good you taste, Emma?” he whispered
hoarsely. He saw her cheeks turn pink and laughed. “I was talking about your
kisses, darlin’, but you taste good everywhere else too.”

Emma hid
her face in the croo
k of his neck. He tipped her head
up so she was looking at him.
“None
of that, eh?
Kiss me.” She did as he told her, pressing her lips to
his, and then slipping her tongue into his mouth to touch the tip of his
tongue. When she broke the kiss, he didn’t ar
gue for
she ran her lips along his whiskered jaw to his ear. He shuddered when she took
his earlobe between her teeth and sucked it into her mouth, making him groan.
He pulled back from her and pressed his forehead against hers. “Are you going
to let me co
me in?” he whispered. She was worrying
her bottom lip with her teeth. “Emma, I’ve been drinking. Do you really want me
to drive home?”

Emma
snorted. “You just drove me home.”

Gabe
chuckled softly. “You’re too smart for me, woman.”

He
watched as Emma slid a
cross the seat, opened the
passenger door, and got out. She walked around the truck and up the stairs to
the back porch where she stopped and glanced back at him. He sat in the truck
staring at her, not knowing what to expect. When she crooked her finger a
t him, Gabe got out of his truck so fast he went to his
knees in the gravel. He heard Emma laughing as he got up and ran up the stairs
to her. He tossed her over his shoulder.

She
squealed with laughter.
“Gabe, how
romantic!”

She
laughed harder when he swa
tted her behind. He carried
her through the kitchen to her apartment and straight to her bedroom where he
tossed her down on the bed and stood there looking down at her. He raised an
eyebrow. “Damn woman, hurry up and get those clothes off,” he told her as
he pulled his T-shirt over his head.

Emma sat
up. “That’s it? Get my clothes off. I may be new to this but where’s the
romance?
The foreplay?
What’s up with that, Gabriel
Stone?”

Gabe
grinned. He loved it when she used his full name. It was sexy and she d
idn’t even know it.
“Next time, darlin’.
I’m so hot for you right now I
might not make it out of my clothes.”

Emma
fell back on the bed laughing, watching him shuck his clothes, and then she
groaned when he stood fully aroused beside the bed gazing down at
her. She pulled her blouse off and started on her jeans
but Gabe was there, practically ripping them from her. She lay back on the bed
in nothing but her pink panties. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath
before reaching for the condom in his jeans.
He
hesitated, wondering if he even needed it. Not willing to take any chances, he
sheathed himself and lay down beside her. When he pulled her on top of him so
she was straddling him, he felt her hesitation. “Trust me, darlin’. You’ll love
being in charge,
” he said, trying to breathe through
his desire.

* * * *

Inch by
inch, Emma impaled herself onto Gabe’s erection. She realized she very much
liked being in charge. She lifted her hips, sliding to the tip of him before
taking all of him into her again,
each time a little
deeper. When she had him buried to the hilt, he moaned loud and long. His hands
went to her hips as she slid her own along his chest. Her hands moved through
the light smattering of hair to his nipples. Leaning down, she ran her tongue a
round one, then the other. She felt Gabe’s hands move up
her ribcage to her breasts and cup them in his hands. She kissed him and began
moving her hips. She pushed herself up and rocked her hips against him,
grinding with each movement. Her gaze locked wit
h
Gabe’s as she took charge.

“Take
your hair down,” Gabe groaned. Emma gave him a wicked grin and put her hands up
behind her head but didn’t release the ponytail, yet. She rocked against him,
looking into those dark brown eyes. She laughed softly when Gab
e narrowed his eyes at her. “You need to learn not to tease
a man, darlin’.”

“Is that
what I’m doing? Teasing you, Gabe?” She moved her hands down to her breasts and
cupped them. Gabe growled.

“I can
see I’ve created a monster.” Gabe moved his hands to cov
er hers. “Emma, baby, please…take your hair down.”

Satisfied
she still had
control,
Emma pulled her hands from under
his and took the clasp from her hair. Her long blonde waves fell over her
shoulders to the tips of her breasts. Gabe sat up and kissed her, dipping his
tongue into her mouth. She moaned but pulled back from him, and pushed
on his shoulders. Gabe fell back and closed his eyes as
she rolled her hips. She gasped at the sensation she was creating with her
movements. That wonderful feeling she remembered from before was coming over
her, and she so wanted it. Her hips moved faste
r and
ground against him. She began to pant when Gabe sat up again, wrapped his arms
around her, and flipped her onto her back. He slammed into her, and she wrapped
her legs around his hips, squeezing as tightly as she could. She screamed his
name as her o
rgasm raged through her. A moment later,
she felt Gabe stiffen and groan her name near her ear. She felt him throbbing
inside her as he came. He used his elbows to keep his weight off her, but
buried his face in her neck. Both of them were gasping for much
needed air. After a few minutes, Gabe rolled to his side
and pulled her against him. Emma put her head on his shoulder, and her arm
across his waist. She smiled when she felt his arms tighten around her. They
soon fell asleep.

In the
morning, Emma woke up
alone. She looked over to the
pillow Gabe had laid his head on. There was a note. She reached for it, and
smiled.

Emma,

I hate leaving you but I have a lot of
work to do on the ranch. You look so beautiful lying there asleep. I seriously
want to crawl ba
ck in bed with you. I’ll call you
later. I miss you already.

Gabe

She clutched the note
to her chest and smiled. She loved Gabriel Stone and even though he didn’t love
her back, she was happy. She got out of bed and stored the note in her dresser.
After d
ressing, Emma went out to start breakfast for
the guests.

Chapter Five

Two
weeks later, Emma knew she was in trouble. She’d missed her period and she was
always regular as clockwork. She was terrified. How could this have happened?
Gabe wore a condom
both times, she was sure of it.
She knew she had to tell him but she had no idea what was she going to do.
There was no way she’d have an abortion. She knew, without a doubt, her parents
would be there for her but what about Gabe? Would he be there for he
r and the baby? Would he be a willing father to their baby?