The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [199]
No sooner did he say it than he looked struck by that thought and twisted to look behind him. Elizabeth peered over his shoulder just in time to see a curtain drop and several heads duck out of sight. Gabe cursed.
Unable to believe what she’d seen, Elizabeth asked, “They were spying on you?”
Gabe looked livid but accepting. “Don’t sound so incredulous. I’d have done the same.”
“You would have?”
“Sure.” Then he laughed and scrubbed both hands over his face. “Oh, hell, the cat’s out of the bag now. I’m never going to hear the end of it.”
“The end of what?” Surely he wasn’t embarrassed because he’d been a hero. That didn’t make any sense at all.
“Never mind.” He turned to her, shaking his head. “Maybe I should just do like Morgan and build my own place. ‘Course, Honey’d probably have a fit.”
Elizabeth had a hard time keeping up with his switches in topic.
Gabe pointed toward a spot on a hill overlooking the main house. “See that house up there? That’s Morgan’s. He and Misty moved in there last year. Until then, we all lived in the house together. Morgan lived in the main part of the house with Sawyer and his son, Casey. Have you met Case yet? No? Well, you’re in for a treat. Hell of a kid.”
She reached for her notebook to jot down the name, but Gabe caught her wrist with a sigh. “Forget I said that. Leave Casey alone.”
“But you said…”
“You’ve done enough meddling, Red.”
There was definite menace in his tone. Elizabeth committed the name to memory, determined to write it down as soon as she was away from Gabe. To distract him, she said, “Tell me about these living arrangements.”
He gave her a narrow look, then shook his head. “Why not? There’s no secret there. I live in the basement. I have my own entrance and it’s nicer than most apartments. Jordan lives in the rooms over the garage.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Four grown men all live together?”
“Yeah.” Gabe squinted against the sun, then his eyes widened and he cursed. “Damn it, here I am, keeping you out in the sun again! Woman, don’t you have any sense at all? Get on home.”
“But—”
“No buts. I’ll give you a family history on Friday. After I explain how disgruntled I am with you for trespassing with my family.”
Elizabeth huffed. “I didn’t trespass. Honey invited me over.”
“Yeah, I just bet she did.”
Elizabeth sat carefully in the car, trying not to scrape her tender flesh on the seats. Gabe closed her door for her, then leaned in to give her another quick kiss. “Drive careful. And when you get home, get naked.”
“Gabe,” she admonished, embarrassed by his frank suggestion. She wondered if she’d ever get used to him.
She started the engine and put the car in reverse. Gabe leaned in the window once more. “And Elizabeth?”
She paused. Gabe stared at her unconfined breasts in the loose dress, then whispered, “When you’re naked, think of me, okay?” He touched the end of her nose and sauntered away.
Elizabeth stared after him, goggle-eyed and flushed, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it—and dead certain that she’d do exactly as he had asked her to.
GABE CURSED HIMSELF the entire way there, but he couldn’t make himself not go. He tried to talk himself out of it. He’d even made other plans—then had to cancel them.
He was worried about her, and damned if that wasn’t a first. He’d never had a woman consume his thoughts so completely.
But the sunburn was his fault and he felt responsible. Plus he’d yelled at her and she was so sensitive, so inexperienced, she probably felt bad because of it. Besides, he wanted to know what his damn meddling brothers had told her, because they hadn’t given him so much as a clue. Even Misty and Honey were staying mum, refusing to reveal a single word.
Gabe squeezed the steering wheel tight and called himself three kinds of a fool, because the bare-bones truth of it was that he wanted to see her. There. He’d admitted it. He liked her and he wanted