Jacob's Ladder: Gabe (Jacob's Ladder #1)

“Mom, can you—” Linc started to ask.

“Nope, can’t. Ask one of your aunts.” While I did momentarily pause to make sure he wasn’t maimed or bleeding, I blew on past down the hall to the bathroom. Once again, I wouldn’t be winning any Mother of the Year awards any time soon.

I was pretty sure there hadn’t ever been a time I’d managed to shower and wash my hair in under ten minutes. Maybe back when I was playing for the league because I’d always feared some creep had put cameras in the showers in the locker room—it had happened to one of the other teams—but I was almost certain this time was a personal record.

After my shower, I left my hair wet while I slathered on foundation and eyeliner as fast as I could. Once I finished with my makeup, I dried my hair. Since I had yet to decide what to wear, I wrapped a towel around me. I burst out of the bathroom door and into a wall of hard flesh.

Oh shit. It took me less than a second to realize who I had bumped into. When I jerked away, I glanced up into Gabe’s eyes, and I saw so many emotions burning in his baby blues: fear, amusement, hurt, anger. I was sure the same emotions were reflected in my own.

“Um, hello.”

God, I’d missed hearing his voice. The deep, rumbling timbre that could make me feel comforted in one minute and incredibly horny the next.

Drawing my towel tighter around me, I said, “Hello.”

“I’m assuming since you don’t seem too shocked to see me, Sadie must’ve mentioned I was coming.”

Double damn. He knew I knew, which meant he knew I had just fixed up for him. “Yes, she mentioned it.” Smooth, Rae. Very smooth.

“You look good.”

“Excuse me?”

Gabe winced. “I mean, you look like you’re doing good.”

“Thank you.”

After jerking a hand through his hair, Gabe exhaled a ragged breath. “Why don’t you get dressed, and I’ll wait for you in the living room?”

“Maybe we should sit outside so we can be alone.”

The corners of Gabe’s lips quirked. “We are alone. The others just piled into Kennedy’s car and left.”

Well, wasn’t that an interesting development? I was standing in front of Gabe half-naked while we were completely alone in the house. “I see.”

“I suppose they felt we needed some privacy.”

“I guess so.” Before things could get any more awkward between us, I said, “Okay, I’ll go get dressed, and you make yourself comfortable in the living room.”

“Okay, I will.”

Gabe and I then proceeded to do that awkward two-step where one person moves forward and the other one does at the same time. Each time we tried to outwit each other, we ended up bumping together again. Finally, Gabe pressed himself up against the wall and motioned for me to go. I hauled ass into my room and then slammed the door.

Since Gabe had seen me in a towel, I figured there was no point worrying about what I was going to wear. I threw on my nicest pair of jeans along with a Hart and Daughter sweatshirt. After taking a deep breath, I opened my door and started down the hall to the living room.

When I got there, Gabe was sitting on the couch, his head in his hands. At the sound of me entering the room, he jerked up. After opening and closing his mouth several times like a fish, he blurted out, “I’m a fucking asshole.”

I blinked at him. “Nothing like cutting to the chase.”

Shaking his head, Gabe said, “I’m sorry. My head is spinning with all the things I want to say to you. While it wasn’t the most eloquent thing I could have come up with, it certainly expresses how I feel.”

Easing down beside Gabe on the couch, I said, “I suppose we can start with that. You’re an asshole, and I’m a bitch.”

Gabe’s brows shot up. “You are?”

“Don’t tell me you thought I was blameless in what happened between us?”

“No, I just wouldn’t put you in the bitch league.”

“Oh yeah, I belong there. I was a bitch to both you and Linc.” I drew in a deep breath. “Not only was I a bitch, I was wrong.”

“About what?”

“Linc playing the guitar. He isn’t his dad just like I’m not my mom.”

At the mention of my mom, Gabe winced. “Rae, I’m so fucking sorry I compared you to your mom. I was so hurt by you that I wanted to hurt you too.”

“Deep down, I know you didn’t mean it. It was just hard for me to hear.”

“Please know that I’ve regretted it every single day. It was the reason why I haven’t called you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was afraid that because of the things I said, you’d never forgive me.”

I widened my eyes at him. “I thought you hadn’t called because you didn’t want to forgive me.”

Gabe smiled. “It sounds like we could really improve on our communication skills.”

“I’d say so.”

“You know, I wrote a song for you about what happened between us.”

“You did?”

“Yes, but it’s terrible.”

I smiled. “That’s what you always say, but your songs are always works of art.”

Gabe chuckled. “No. Trust me. This one was so bad that Eli made me swear I wouldn’t sing it to you.”

“You’re kidding?”

“I wish I was. He thinks I could probably sell it to one of those screamer bands or some goth group.”

“Sounds like it was pretty dark.”

With a nod, Gabe said, “It was reflecting where I’ve been the past week without you. More than anything in the world, I wanted to make a grand gesture to show you how sorry I was, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make the right words come, the words beautiful enough to show you just how much I care for you.”

I swallowed hard. “You got writer’s block again?”

“I just can’t seem to write a song without you, Rae.”

With a sigh, I countered, “I can’t be with you just so you can write songs.”

“I’m well aware of that, and it’s not the reason I came to see you.” Leaning forward, he took my hand in his. “I can’t seem to do life without you.”

“You can’t?” I questioned softly as I fought to regulate my out-of-control heartbeat.

“If there’s one thing that has become abundantly clear this week, it’s that I love you.”

Oh God. He had said those three little words—the ones that any woman desires to hear from the man she cares about. Not only was my heart beating erratically, but now I found it hard to breathe as well.

Cupping my chin, Gabe tilted my head to look at him. “I love you, and I don’t want to be without you. I don’t know if you can ever forgive me for what I did, but I want you to know how sorry I am. If you do give me a second chance, I swear I will never undermine your parenting ever again. I will always be upfront and honest with you about even the tiniest detail of my private life. I promise that I’ll—”

“I love you, too, Gabe!”

A beaming smile lit up his handsome face. “You do?”

“Yes, I really do.”

“And you can forgive me?”

“Yes, but it’s going to take some time.”

Gabe’s elated expression slowly faded. “It is?”