Stranger in Town (Dundee, Idaho #5)(61)
Author: Brenda Novak

Gently pushing Lazarus away, Gabe took hold of her upper arms and lifted her enough that he could reach her mouth. Then he kissed her as though she’d break if he pressed too hard, coaxing her lips open and her tongue into a rapid response until they were kissing as hungrily and breathlessly as last Sunday.

“There you are,” he breathed, rubbing his thumb over her wet bottom lip. “Welcome back.”

GABE KNEW he should’ve told Hannah that his days in Dundee were numbered. He’d meant to. But their lovemaking had progressed too fast and become too powerful to think of anything else. They’d started in the shower before moving to the bed. The past hour had been a heady experience, almost better than before, because of the relief he felt at having her with him again, responding so readily, so eagerly.

He supposed he could tell her about New York now that she was lying, completely spent, across him. He had to do it sometime. But Lazarus had finally quit whining at the door, and he didn’t want to break the contented silence.

Unfortunately, the phone intruded.

When he didn’t move, Hannah lifted her head to look at him. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”

He gave her a challenging grin. “Why don’t you?”

Her eyes darted to the phone, and he knew she had to be thinking of the big stir they’d already caused. Obviously, if she answered his phone, they’d be making a statement. “You don’t think I’ll do it,” she said.

“I think you should. People lose their power if we don’t care about their opinion. If they say we’re sleeping together, we say, ‘Damn right, as often as possible.’ Where can they go after a response like that?”

It was bold, she had to give him that. But Gabe had always been larger than life. “True,” she mused and returned his smile as she reached for the handset. “Hello?”

Gabe could tell she’d tried to clear the sleep from her voice, but he thought the person on the other end would have to be deaf not to hear the huskiness in it.

“No, it’s Hannah.” She made a face to indicate she didn’t like whoever it was, which piqued Gabe’s curiosity. “What did you say? Yes, he’s here. Just a minute.”

“Deborah Wheeler wants to talk to you.” She handed him the phone, then licked his ni**les to distract him when he tried to answer.

Laughing, he hooked his arm around her neck and pulled her down on top of him so she couldn’t torture him anymore, reveling in the feel of her br**sts as they pressed up against him. He should have gotten to know Hannah much sooner, he decided. “Hello?”

Deborah didn’t answer for a moment.

“Hello?” he said again. He was about to hang up when she finally spoke.

“If you can pull yourself away from your new lover for a few seconds, I’ve got something to tell you.”

“I’m not sure I want to hear it,” he said frankly.

“I’m pretty sure you do.”

He frowned as he ran his fingers through Hannah’s silky hair. “What?”

She hesitated, but when she spoke again the tone of her voice had changed. “Never mind,” she said briskly and hung up.

“What did she want?” Hannah asked in surprise.

Gabe stared at the receiver for a few seconds, then slid over to return it to its base. “I don’t know. She never said.”

“I guess she wasn’t too happy to find me here.”

“Evidently.”

“She’s a pretty devoted admirer.”

He grimaced. “Are you kidding? She hates my guts.”

“Only because she can’t have you.”

He didn’t want to talk about Deborah. “You hungry?” he asked, rolling her onto her back and leaning over her to nuzzle her neck.

“A little. What’ve you got?”

“Champagne and sandwiches.”

She grinned as he rubbed his nose against hers, butterfly fashion. “Nice combination.”

“I’m thinking if I can get you drunk, I might be able to take advantage of you again.”

“Yeah, I put up such a good fight last time,” she said sarcastically.

He smoothed the hair off her face. “Maybe not, but you didn’t come here planning to sleep with me. And you didn’t call me all week,” he added sulkily.

“I told you I wasn’t going to.”

“You knew I wanted you to come back.”

“I was still trying to save myself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Good thing you needed that picture, or I might have had to stoop to drastic measures to get you out here.”

“Such as…”

“Such as offering you another piece of furniture.”

“I like your furniture.”

“I know.”

“I like you, too,” she said. “A lot.”

He could tell by her expression that the words had slipped out, that she wasn’t sure whether she should’ve made the admission. “But as far as bribes go, your furniture will always work,” she added quickly.

A fissure of guilt made Gabe uncomfortable enough that he started moving away from her, so he could get dressed. “I’ll give you your choice of it all before I leave for New York, okay?”

“Leave for New York?” she echoed, leaning up on her elbows. He’d thought he might be uncomfortable around a woman, especially in such an intimate situation, having to maneuver the way he did. But he saw nothing in Hannah’s face that led him to believe his handicap bothered her.

“I have to fly out on Saturday,” he said.

She sat up, but he felt the sudden strain between them when she pulled the sheet up to cover herself. “What for?”

“A job offer.”

“Oh.” She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth as she absorbed this news, then, “Is it a good one?”

“Most people would think so.”

“What is it?”

He felt reluctant to tell her. “ESPN wants me to host their NFL Sunday Countdown.”

“What?” Her jaw dropped before she could recover and clamp her mouth closed. Then, “That’s huge, Gabe. How…how exciting for you.”

The false cheer in her voice told him she was putting a lot of effort into acting pleased.

“So will you be moving to New York for good?” she asked.

Lazarus started whining again at the door.