Unexpected Love (Timid Souls Book 3) (6 page)

Gabe

I didn’t take her to a five-star restaurant. Sure, I could have afforded the best and maybe a lot of guys in my position would have done so. But in the time I had known Felicity, it hadn’t been hard to figure out that she wasn’t into wealth and all the other materialistic bullshit that went along with it.

Not like my ex.

But I still took her to one of the best restaurants in the city, in my opinion anyway. It sat right along the Potomac River, close enough that you could feel the breeze as ships passed you by and practically feel the spray of the water on your face as you sat on the patio. It was just a small American grill with the same menu it’d had for the past thirty years, and its only form of advertisement was the sign on the building itself. But it had stayed open for all these years because patrons appreciated the atmosphere it provided as well as the food and beer options.

A former client had turned me on to the place when I first moved to D.C. and I had fallen instantly in love.

The place was small so it didn’t take a genius to figure out why it wasn’t very well-known. But those of us who knew about it had one of the best-kept secrets in the entire city. And this was Washington, D.C. for crying out loud, where secrets were abundant.

“Would you like to dine inside or outside?” the hostess asked us as soon as Felicity and I walked through the door.

“Outside,” I immediately responded. Eating outside at The Rusty Can with the river right in front of you was part of the whole experience and not something to be missed. That was part of the place’s entire charm, other than its ironic name. There was nothing “rusty” about the place.

The hostess led us outside and placed our menus down as I held out Felicity’s chair for her. She had done as I requested—something that pleased me immensely—and wore a dress with a tight bodice and a flare skirt with the sexiest pair of heels I had ever seen in my life. Her short blonde hair was curled a little and she had eyeliner at the corners of her eyes that seriously made her look like a retro Playmate.

I had immediately wanted to lick her from head to toe as soon as I’d laid eyes on her. Her dress was red, making her look like a cherry Popsicle so it wasn’t as if anyone could blame me.

“I can’t believe I’ve lived here since I was twelve and never knew about this place,” she mused as she took in her surroundings, appreciation in her tone which I was proud of myself for.

“Not many people do,” I replied, not bothering to look at the menu because I already knew what I wanted. “But those of us who do become regular customers.”

After putting in our food and drink orders, I was surprised with how easily we fell into conversation. This was the first time that Felicity and I had actually been in a situation out of the context of work, so I was somewhat worried that we might not have much to talk about.

“I won’t lie,” I said with a smirk that I tried to hide behind my glass but was unsuccessful. “I’m very curious about that whole gymnast thing.”

She laughed and leaned back in her chair as she ran her fingers around the rim of her wine glass. She had earlier mentioned that she wasn’t a big drinker and didn’t typically go for anything stronger than wine.

“From the time I was three years old until about age fifteen, I lived and breathed gymnastics,” she said. “I was at the gym at five every mornin’, competed in tournaments, and won medals. Balance beam, vault, uneven bars. You name it, I did it.”

I could picture that with her body and energy. “So, why did you quit? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Her eyes hardened a bit and she sighed. “One of my good friends on my team took her dieting a little too far and made herself sick. That was when I realized that it wasn’t somethin’ I wanted to do long-term and it certainly wasn’t somethin’ I was willin’ to hurt myself over.” She shrugged. “I quit and haven’t looked back since.”

I narrowed my eyes as I considered that. “What else don’t I know about you?” I asked. “I’m sure there’s plenty and I’d like to hear more.”

She grinned and lightly tapped her finger on the table. “I was also in beauty pageants.”

I took in every inch of her face with careful scrutiny. She had the face of an angel, no question. Soft features in the shape of a heart, innocent eyes, and lips so sweet you wanted to suck on them just so you could have their taste in your mouth all day.

“That I can definitely picture.”

She smiled and shook her head. “I hated it, though. Those girls were so vapid. I even got in a fight with one.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “You? Miss Felicity Paxton got in a fight?”

Another shrug from her. “She made some rude comments about my sister and I didn’t like it.”

I shook my head and felt my shoe touch her toe underneath the table. “You constantly surprise me.”

Our server dropped off our food and we dug in while a guy started playing an acoustic guitar and singing in the corner of the patio area. I forgot they had live music here on weekends, and I was pleased when Felicity smiled and looked over at him, seeming to appreciate the tune.

“Can I ask you somethin’ a little personal?” she asked a few minutes later.

I swallowed the bite of bourbon chicken I had in my mouth, already pretty sure of where this line of questioning was headed. “Sure.”

My attention was drawn to her lip when she bit the lower one in hesitation. “I know it’s none of my business but what’s the situation with your ex? You mentioned once that you were in the middle of a big custody mess over Penny with her.”

I took a long swig of my drink before I started to tell her the whole sordid history of my past relationship with Vanessa. The marriage, the life in New York, the move to D.C., the cheating, her career, the divorce, and up to the convoluted situation we were currently in. She sat there silently the entire time, hanging on every word as she sipped her wine. It was never a topic I enjoyed talking about, but if I wanted to have any kind of relationship with Felicity, I knew this conversation was unavoidable.

“And ever since we split, Penny’s just sort of become withdrawn. It kills me every time I see her not being as happy as she could be. As she
should
be.”

Felicity reached across the table and entwined my hand with hers. “It’ll get better,” she said softly. “Once everything in court settles and you move into the new house, she’ll have a regular routine and she’ll feel more secure.”

I met her eyes. “I know that divorcing Vanessa was the best thing for me. But I need to know that it was the best thing for Penny, too. That’s what’s killing me.”

She squeezed my hand, understanding shining in her baby blues. “Unhappy parents are never what’s best for a child to be around. She may not understand that now but she will in time. I promise.”

She seemed so sure and as crazy as it sounded, every bone in my body knew to trust her. It felt right to trust Felicity. Like there was something deep inside me that was telling me it was okay to do so because she would never betray me like Vanessa had.

And suddenly, the air became electrified between us. My fingers tingled where they touched hers and everything around us all of a sudden felt too hot. My mouth became dry and my pants became uncomfortable as I stared across the table at the woman I was developing way more than just a crush on.

She seemed to sense what was going on, too.

I watched her throat work as she swallowed slowly, her eyes flicking down to my lips before coming back up to rest on my eyes, which I knew were communicating my every lustful impulse. I couldn’t believe how crazy this woman made me. I had never experienced such powerful urges before.

“I-I’m goin’ to the bathroom,” she stammered and abruptly yanked her hand from mine as she stood up to head inside where the restrooms were.

I thought about it.

I talked myself out of it, then back in.

Then, I forgot all the reasons not to do it.

I got up and went inside the restaurant, taking long strides to the restroom, my walk purposeful. I had a mission to accomplish and she was giving me the perfect opportunity.

I needed me some Felicity and I needed her
now
.

I stopped in front of the women’s restroom and knocked, quickly scanning the area around me to make sure a staff member wasn’t watching. “Just a minute,” I heard Felicity say on the other side of the door.

A few seconds later, she opened the door and I immediately shoved her back through, pulling the door closed behind me before anyone could spot us and locked it. I was grateful that the restaurant was so small the restrooms were only single-person facilities. Offered more privacy for what I was about to do.

“What are you doin’?” she asked, backing up to the opposite wall.

I followed her, matching her step-for-step until her back touched the tiled surface. I pressed my hands against the wall and leaned in, boxing her in and allowing no escape. “You know what I’m doing.”

“We can’t,” she said breathlessly. “Not here.” Her words said one thing but her eyes…her eyes were saying something a whole lot different.

I took her hand and placed it on the hard bulge in my pants, wrapping my fingers around hers, forcing her to squeeze it in her palm, eliciting a moan out of her. “Still don’t think we can?” I whispered against her lips.

She lunged at me and attacked my mouth with hers, her tongue plunging inside my mouth. Not seeking or exploring but ravaging every inch she could reach. I roughly grabbed her underneath her thighs and lifted her up my body, slamming her against the wall and propping her up with my hips. Her tiny legs wrapped themselves around my waist, lifting her dress up higher in the process. Our mutual sounds of pleasure when her center connected with my cock sent shockwaves through our mouths, straight down to where we were about to join.

The desperate need I felt to be inside her was almost painful.

I didn’t care about her panties.

I ripped them off of her without thought. I’m sure they were hot, but anything that was keeping her wet heat away from me was a nonissue in that moment. Her mouth was sucking at the skin on my neck and I was devouring her tits, which I had pulled out of that fuck me pin-up dress of hers. She had been teasing me with that cleavage all night and I was finally going to bury my face in her heavenly sweetness.

I was so caught up in what I was doing up top, I forgot about what I needed to do down below. I felt her small fingers fighting to reach my pants button, so I reluctantly let go of her puckered nipple and worked my belt loose. I had my cock at her slit within three seconds and was pushing inside so hard, I almost shot right then. I wanted this to last longer, but we were in a restaurant bathroom, surrounded by dozens of strangers, and we needed to make this quick.

Dirty, fast, and hard.

That I could do.

Felicity muffled her moans and screams into my neck, her warm breath adding further sensation to the experience, bringing about a faster release for me. I rammed myself inside of her, determined to go farther than I had with her before. Unfortunately, I was so turned on that I couldn’t wait much longer for her, so after I let myself go, I dropped to my knees between her open legs.

The sight of my seed dripping down her creamy thighs was a sight that I would carry with me to my grave.

“
Fuck
. I’m going to make you feel so good, baby,” I told Felicity and her pussy.

And then I dove in, ate everything she gave me, swallowing it down like the finest dessert…because it was.

I got her off in record time—another thing I was proud of—and refused to wipe my mouth when I stood back up. I kissed her deeply, letting her taste herself on me until I was fully satisfied with how good I had made her body feel.

“Oh my God,” she panted as she fought to catch her breath. “That was…”

“Mind-blowing?”

She nodded, taking a few more deep breaths before she met my eyes. “But next time, it’s you who’s goin’ to be blown.”

All manner of thought left my brain.

She just smirked at me and sauntered toward the door, her luscious tits jiggling with every step she took.

Christ almighty.

What the hell was this woman doing to me?

##

Felicity

“I want to see the monkeys!” Penny said animatedly from the back seat. “And the elphelants.”

I smiled and looked over at Gabe who had a grin on his face as he glanced in the rearview mirror at his daughter. “El-e-phants, sweetheart,” he corrected her.

I glanced over my shoulder to see her little face scrunched up in concentration as she slowly sounded out the word. “El…e…phants.”

Gabe chuckled. “Very good.”

I won’t lie, I was surprised when Gabe asked me if I wanted to go to the zoo with him and Penny today. We still hadn’t had “the talk” about where the two of us were going or what either of us wanted out of this, but I thought that him asking me out on a date and trusting me enough around his daughter were both good signs.

The fact that the self-assured, genius millionaire sitting next to me had seemed nervous when he asked me to join them had been completely heartwarming.

I didn’t want the date to end. Hadn’t before, during, or after dinner but especially after that beyond-incredible orgasm he had just delivered in the bathroom.

Oh my God.

I just had sex in the bathroom of a restaurant.

I still couldn’t believe I’d done that, but I absolutely loved the way it made me feel. Daring, adventurous, sexy, wanted. What woman didn’t love a man who acted as if he couldn’t possibly wait another second to have her? Couldn’t restrain himself from grabbing her in the middle of a crowded restaurant and taking her mouth. Couldn’t take another moment without being inside of her.

Gabe had that sense of urgency in him every time we had sex and I couldn’t imagine a bigger turn-on. The knowledge that he
needed
me was unexpectedly fulfilling something inside of me that had never even been on my radar before.

He stopped his car in front of my townhouse and turned to me in his seat. The shy Felicity of old having bowed out three sex sessions ago, I angled my body in a way that afforded him the best view of my cleavage and pasted on a coy smile. His eyes flicked down to my chest briefly before flying back up to my face, a grunt rumbling out of his chest as he adjusted the growing bulge in his pants.

My confidence continued to soar.

I decided to take mercy on him and speak first. “I had a really good time tonight.”

His eyes searched mine, questions brimming in them that were left unspoken. “Me too.” He reached forward and clasped his hand over mine. “I’m not entirely sure what’s going on between us. But whatever it is, I like it. I want more of it.”

My breath caught in my throat. Aside from hauling me into the back seat for round two, he couldn’t have made me any happier in that moment.

“I do, too,” I told him with a squeeze of my hand.

He smiled softly and lifted my hand up to his mouth to lay a hot, lingering kiss on my fingers. Then, his smile changed into one of uncertainty as he seemed to contemplate his next question.

“If you’re not busy tomorrow, would you like to come to the zoo with Penny and me?” he asked.

And here I thought he couldn’t make me any happier.

There were so many emotions flooding my heart, my voice came out whisper soft. “I’d love to.”

His eyes snapped up to mine. “Really? Don’t feel like you have to or anything—”

I cut him off by leaning forward and laying a hard kiss on his lips. “I want to, Gabe,” I whispered against his lips.

His mouth spread into a devastating smile and it was he who initiated the next kiss. A kiss that quickly became heated and could have turned into more had a loud honk down the street not broken us out of our embrace.

His hazel eyes captured mine once again. “That’s good to hear,” he said with one last peck on my lips. “I’ll pick you up at nine.”

And there I was, walking through the doors of the National Zoo with a six-year-old girl pulling on my hand as she fought to make us walk faster, her other hand engulfed in Gabe’s large one. The sparkle in his eyes as he watched his daughter was about as bright as the one in Penny’s when she saw a giant painting of a tiger on the wall of the lobby, pausing to stare up at it with rapt fascination.

It was that moment I knew that I loved the little girl about as much as I loved the man.

“I hope those shoes are comfortable,” Gabe said to me after we bought our tickets and made our way to the first exhibit. “Because she won’t stop until she’s seen everything twice.”

I grinned as we dodged other families and small children on the paved path. “You forget, I was a gymnast. I’ve always been able to handle a lot of conditioning.”

He put his hand on my lower back, his other one still grasping Penny’s tiny one, as he guided us toward the African mammals area. His touch felt scalding, despite the layer of clothing between his hand and my bare skin.

He leaned forward and put his mouth right at my ear. “Trust me, I haven’t forgotten anything.”

Oh, I hope not.

##

It took a lot to wear me out. My momma used to say that I had been blessed with an extra dose of energy ever since I was born. That was one of the reasons why her and Daddy had put me in gymnastics when I was little; to burn off some of that boundless energy. Even in adulthood, I wasn’t one of those people who consumed caffeine like it was its own food group.

But being around young children was an entirely different matter.

And Penny Wexler had achieved the impossible. She had flat-out exhausted me.

It was a good kind of exhaustion, though. I hadn’t even noticed it until we sat down later that afternoon to have a snack and I could feel the stiffness in my joints. Gabe hadn’t been lying; Penny had been a little force of nature from the second we entered the zoo. She ran from exhibit to exhibit, pointing to every animal she saw, squealing in delight when one got right up next to the glass.

Monkeys were her favorite but she also loved the giraffes and thought it was hilarious when they stuck their tongues out. “Can I ride one of those, Daddy?” she asked. “Like a horsie?”

“They’re a little too big to ride, Peanut,” he responded.

“Look! There’s Simba!” she shouted as she pointed to the lions grazing in their patch of grass.

I watched as Gabe kissed the top of her head and pointed to the female lion next to the one she was pointing at. “That’s right, honey. And there’s Nala right next to him.”

And so it went with every animal. Penny would ask a ton of questions and Gabe and I would patiently answer, pointing things out to her, which she absorbed like a sponge. Gabe and I had a few opportunities for conversation whenever she was distracted, but our focus was mostly on her all afternoon, which was fine with me. It was a beautiful thing to see the two of them together, father and daughter. They had a close relationship and I fell deeper in love with both of them as the day went on.

I had to say that I was a little surprised with how easily Penny had adapted to me being there, too. I wasn’t sure if it would have been weird for her to have me there instead of her mom—something I think Gabe had considered, as well—but she had been completely comfortable with my presence from the minute Gabe picked me up that morning.

It was almost scary how normal it all felt.

Like we were a family.

Slow down there, girl.

Yeah, I really needed to. Because those thoughts were dangerous.

I shook my head and tried to push all of that to the back of my mind and just enjoy the moment, concentrate on the present instead of dwelling on the future. The three of us were sitting on a bench, each having devoured our snow cones, and were trying to clean up before we moved on.

Gabe and I looked down at Penny whose mouth was bright blue and whose hands were covered in a sticky liquid from the melted ice. “Let’s go wash your hands, Peanut,” Gabe said to her when he got back from throwing our trash away.

She shook her head and scooted closer to me on the bench. “I want Felicity to come with me,” she told her father.

I wasn’t sure whose eyebrows went higher, mine or Gabe’s. He looked at me with an amused expression, though I could see the apprehension there, then he looked back at Penny. “You have to ask her if that’s okay.”

Her dark head of hair whipped around to peer up at me. “Will you please come with me? To help me wash my hands,” she added as she held up her sticky blue hands.

Like I would ever say no to that face.

I smiled and held my hands out to her. I may have also gotten a blue raspberry snow cone and it may or may not have dripped onto my hands. “I think I need to wash my hands, too.” Penny giggled at me. “Let’s go,” I told her and led her to the women’s restrooms.

I didn’t look back but I could feel Gabe’s penetrating stare follow us all the way through the swinging door.

“Will you come back to my house and play horsies with me today?” Penny asked as I helped her soap up and scrub her hands in the sink.

My chest tightened with a feeling I didn’t want to name and an uncertainty of how to answer that. “Maybe,” I said as we dried off our hands. “You might be too tired to play horsies when you get home.”

“Nuh-uh,” she insisted as she shook her head at me. “I’m never too tired to play horsies. Daddy plays with me a lot, but he doesn’t really know how. He’s a boy.”

I stifled my laugh as the image of my masculine, dirty-talking Gabe playing with girly little horses flitted through my mind. I was definitely going to have to witness that at some point.

At the same time, though, my heart also broke for Penny. It was obvious that her mother wasn’t very active in her life and that she was desperate for some feminine company. An overwhelming compulsion to be that influence in Penny’s life had been taking over a little more every time I was around this girl, which was crazy. It wasn’t as if Gabe had asked that of me. It sure didn’t seem like he was looking for a new mom for Penny, let alone a new wife for himself.

He was still dealing with the backlash from his first one.

I’d had a crush on Gabe for months, had developed feelings for him before I had even realized it.

I never expected the same to happen with his daughter.

##