“I know this is us. Thank you,” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his. “But, honestly, I haven’t even answered his phone calls.”
“Okay, I just want to make sure—”
Emily placed a silencing finger over his mouth, and he smiled. “Stop,” she said, removing her finger as she replaced it with her lips. While his tongue swept through her mouth, she tried to relax her nerves down from the conversation.
That didn’t take too long at all.
“You’re staying with me tonight again, I assume,” he whispered, his mouth grazing over her jaw.
She tilted her neck to the side as his kisses moved down her collarbone. “I can’t. I’ve been substituting for someone, and I have papers to grade when I get home. Besides, I have to be at the school by seven tomorrow morning.”
“You teach first grade, don’t you?” he asked as he lifted her arms up, gently pulling her sweatshirt off.
“Yes, that would be the grade I teach.” She unclasped her bra and tossed it to the side. “Why do you ask?”
Focusing his eyes on her luscious breasts, a reverent smile broke out across Gavin’s face. Wetting his lips, he remained silent.
Emily placed a finger under his chin, bringing his gaze back to hers. “Why?”
He pulled her into his mouth and started kissing her. “Why what?” he asked, nipping at her lip.
“Gavin,” she laughed. “You asked if I teach first grade.”
“Oh, right,” he chuckled, swiftly removing the shirt from his body. “You said you can’t stay with me because you have papers to grade, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t they all just automatically pass at that age?” he clipped, sweeping his hand beneath her knees as he rose to his feet and carried her to his bedroom. “I mean, it’s only coloring and shit like that.”
“No, they don’t automatically pass,” she laughed. “And they don’t just color.”
Placing her on the bed, he watched as she slid her naked body toward the pillows.
He quickly shed the rest of his clothing and climbed under the blankets with her. “There’s nothing I could say to you—wait, strike that. There’s nothing I can do to you that would make you change your mind about staying with me tonight?”
She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “I really can’t. But I’ll let you try to convince me,” she laughed.
“Mmm, you run a hard bargain,” he breathed out, feathering his lips along the curve of her neck. “But I’ll take it, Miss Cooper.”
Over the next several hours, both Gavin and Emily thoroughly enjoyed…dessert multiple times. Though he hounded and harassed her a little bit more about spending the night, he couldn’t get her to stay. By the time he brought her home—despite his best efforts with the passionate tender kiss he left on her lips and even going so far as offering to pay her a year’s salary for the night—he watched as she closed the door to her apartment. He cursed the fact that tomorrow was a Monday, and she had to work.
With his body racing with excitement and his heart soaring with a love unlike any that he’d ever felt, it was all that Gavin could do to make his way home without getting into a car accident. His mind replayed the last twenty-four hours repeatedly—like a vivid movie, a vivid love story. To hell with Casablanca, he was in love—and now he truly felt like a god.
Now he had it all.
He knew he looked like a goofy lovesick fool as he padded into his building, whistling to himself. The door attendant greeted him with the tip of his hat and a curious expression on his face, showing that he even knew something had changed in Gavin. Smiling, Gavin patted him on his shoulder, shook his hand, and headed for the elevators.
Deciding to forgo a shower—wanting to hold onto the smell of Emily’s scent emanating from his pores—it was well past eleven by the time Gavin sat down in front of his laptop to get some work done. It was also well past eleven when his front door buzzed. Snapping his head up, he couldn’t help the smile that washed over his face as he made his way down the hall. Emily had promised that if anything changed, she would come back. He reached for the doorknob, and upon opening it, he was met by familiar green eyes staring back at him.
Unfortunately, they weren’t the eyes he had expected to see.
Feeling the blood drain from his face, confusion clouded his head. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“That’s a nice way of greeting someone you spent a half a decade with,” Gina replied, wiping tears from her face as the smell of booze wafted through the air around her.
Gavin poked his head out from behind the door and glanced from side to side down the hall.
“What are you doing?” she asked, stumbling back.
“I’m looking for the fucking hidden camera crew—that’s what I’m doing,” he bit out. His brows furrowed like raven’s wings over his darkened eyes. “Is this some kind of joke?”
“No, Gavin, it’s not a joke” she choked out, slurring her words. “I know I’m the last person you want to see, but the only reason I’m here is because my father died.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he looked down to the ground and shook his head. “Gina, what do you want from me?” he asked, his voice calmer.
“Jesus, Gavin, I just told you that my father’s dead,” she sobbed, moving closer. “My brother’s in Greece right now. You know I have no one else,” she cried, burying her face in her hands. Bringing her bloodshot, swollen eyes back to his, her lips quivered. “Can you at least let me come in for a few minutes?”
Swallowing hard, he stared at her for a long moment as his thoughts ran over every possible scenario that might allow him to escape the situation. Watching the woman—whom he had spent so many years with—tremble and shake before him like a lost, broken-hearted child, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from weaving over to Emily. He wondered what the woman—whom he was now in love with—would think if he actually let his ex-fiancée come in.
“Please, Gavin. I just need someone to talk to right now,” she whispered, staring at the ground as her body swayed slightly.
“Gina, you do understand that you’re only coming in to talk, right?” She wiped the tears from her face and nodded. “I want to make myself very clear. I’m giving you fifteen minutes, and then you have to leave.”
“Okay,” she cried, looking into his eyes. “Thank you.”
Without another word, he ran a nervous hand through his hair and reluctantly stepped out of her way to allow her into his penthouse. His mind struggled with his decision as he snapped the door shut. She stumbled into the living room, removed her jacket, and discarded it onto the floor as though it were a used tissue.
“Do you have any alcohol?” she asked, sinking herself into the couch.
“I think you’ve already had enough to drink,” he replied, taking a seat on a chair across the room. “What exactly happened?”
“He hung himself,” she sobbed, folding her hands across her stomach as if she were in physical pain. “He got himself in deep and lost everything. I’m messed up. Financially, he dragged me down with him this time.”
Gavin knew immediately what she was talking about. He’d spent five years of their relationship digging her father out from one gambling mess to the next—everything from horse race betting to long weekend trips the asshole spent in Vegas. The tally was close to a $300,000, if not more.
With a heavy sigh, Gavin folded his hands together and leaned forward. “Do you need help with the funeral expenses or your rent? Which is it?”
Plowing her hand through her blonde hair, she sucked in an indignant breath. “How could you even say that to me right now? You think I came here for money?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m pretty fucking sure that’s why you came here.”
Using the back of her hand to wipe her nose, she stared at him, her mouth wide open. “I can’t believe what you’re saying to me, considering—“