As she approached him, his eyes went wide. “Temperance—”
“Where’s Fred?” she said, cutting him off. “I can’t believe you kidnapped him.”
“Technically, it’s stealing, since he’s not a kid,” he corrected.
“Whatever,” she fumed. “Well, I’m here. Where is he? I want him back.”
“I’ll give him back,” he began. “If we can talk.”
“Talk? About what?”
Gabriel paused. “Last night.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You walked out on our date without an explanation.” He folded his arms over his chest. “I know I don’t deserve anything from you, but at least tell me what I did wrong so I can apologize properly.”
Her chest seized up. She was expecting a fight, a sense of entitlement because he was paying for the date, or even some kind of gaslighting tactic to make it seem like she was imagining things, but not this. Gabriel seemed to surprise her at every turn, and she didn’t know what to do. “You didn’t do anything,” she conceded.
“Then why run away? Because of Vicky? What did she say to you?”
The other woman’s name on his lips made jealousy flare up in her. “Nothing. She didn’t have to say anything.” Taking a deep breath, she decided that Gabriel at the very least deserved honesty. “We’re a terrible match, don’t you see? You deserve to be with someone like her. S-someone beautiful and perfect. The way you’re beautiful and perfect.”
“Temperance.” His voice darkened as he took another step toward her, crowding her against the railing. “First of all, Vicky may look beautiful on the outside, but she’s rotten to the core.” He swallowed audibly. “And yes, we were in a relationship, but mostly because our families were, uh, close. Her father and my sister encouraged it, but they only saw one side of her. I, on the other hand, got to see how truly toxic she is. We’d only been dating a few weeks, but she would go on these jealous rages if I even looked at another girl, then make me go through hell to earn her forgiveness.
“Things would be fine after that, and then something would set her off again. It would be some cashier at the supermarket flirting with me or a bartender at a club handing me her number without me asking for it. She would see this and the cycle would begin again—her flying off the handle, me getting down on my knees pleading with her to forgive me. Then one day, I found out the truth—from one of my coworkers actually. Vicky had come to her, and offered her money to come onto me.”
“Wait—what?” she asked. “She was paying those women?”
His head hung down, then he looked up at her sheepishly. “Yeah. I don’t understand it either—I think she got off on seeing me begging for her forgiveness and looking like she was the ‘good girl’, and I was the playboy she was going to eventually reform. I broke it off with her right then and there.” He took a deep breath. “I’m not proud of what I did after—basically slept with a bunch of women, even tracked down those other girls she paid off and slept with them to get back at her. She’d already accused me of having sex with them, so why not? I was spiraling out of control, drinking and sleeping my way through town, mostly to piss off Vicky.”
His knuckles turned white as he curled his hands tightly at his sides. “Then Damon came back, messed up from the Special Forces, and he needed my help. I joined the rangers so I could watch over him, even though I hate being outside.” He managed a chuckle. “He always said I was the one who saved him from his demons, but I think we kind of saved each other. Who knows what would have happened if I kept going the way I did?”
Her heart lurched thinking of the pain he had gone through, and she stood there speechless for a moment before she found the words she wanted to say. “Why are you telling me this?”
“I’m not really sure.” He scratched at his chin. “But, well, I’m not perfect, see? Maybe I was acting crazy because of Vicky, but I was an adult. And what happened after, I’m not proud of it. I was pretty rotten, too, and I regret that I may have hurt people along the way.” Carefully, he took another step closer to her. “Maybe you’re right, I do deserve to be with her. We’re the same, she and I, using people like that.”
“Oh, Gabriel, that’s not—” She paused for breath. “You don’t …. You’re not … I mean, she was a terrible, toxic person and turned you into one too. But you changed, and obviously, she hasn’t.” It was strange to see this side of Gabriel—vulnerable and raw. “I’m sorry I ran out on you last night without any explanation, that was childish of me. I should have waited for you to explain. I just saw you guys getting so … close, that I thought maybe you had changed your mind and you would rather have been with her.”
“What? Oh no, baby.” A hand reached out, landing on her shoulder. “I don’t want her. I want you. I like you. Is that so hard to believe?”
That voice of doubt in her screamed yes. But, looking up into his sky-blue eyes, seeing raw emotions play on his face, it was hard to believe his words weren’t sincere. “I like you too,” she whispered. “Can we start again, Gabriel?”
A look of confusion passed across his face before he broke out into a dazzling smile. “Baby, I would love nothing more.” His hand crept up from her shoulder to her neck, cupping the left side of her jaw, then he leaned down, his head lowering toward hers.
Oh God, he was going to kiss her!
Yes! “Um, can I ask you something first?”
His golden brows knitted together as he stopped halfway. “Okay?”
“Would you really have
