The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [213]
“Smitten is a stupid word, Ceily,” he groused. “Let’s just call it intrigued, okay?”
“Intrigued, smitten…doesn’t matter what you call it, Gabe, you’ve still got it bad.” She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. “Care to tell me why?”
Gabe lifted one shoulder in a shrug as he dried his hands on a frayed dish towel. “Lizzy is different.”
“You’re telling me!”
Gabe snapped her with the towel. “You are feeling sassy today, aren’t you?”
She yelped, then rubbed her well-rounded hip. There was a time when Gabe would have helped her with that, but he had no real interest in touching any woman, even playfully, except Lizzy. She had invaded his brain, and it was taking a lot of getting used to.
Ceily was still frowning when she said, “It’s not every day I get to witness the fall of the mighty Gabe.”
Lifting one brow, Gabe announced, “I didn’t fall, I jumped.”
“So it’s like that, huh?”
Gabe propped one hip on the side of the sink and watched Ceily. She was his friend and he’d always been able to talk with her. He loved his brothers dearly, but he could just imagine how they’d react if he started confessing to them. He’d never hear the end of it.
“It’s damn strange,” he admitted, “if you want the truth. One minute I didn’t like her at all, then I was noticing all these little things about her, then I was lusting after her….”
“Uh, I hate to point this out, Gabe, but you tend to lust over every available, of-age woman you meet.”
“Not like this.” He shook his head and considered all the differences. “You know as well as I do that most of the women have come pretty easy for me.”
Her look was ironic. “I have firsthand knowledge of that fact.”
Gabe looked up, startled. A slow flush crept up his neck. “I wasn’t talking about you, doll.” He reached out and flicked a long finger over her soft cheek. “We were both too young then to even know what we were doing.”
Ceily’s smile was slow and taunting. Despite the fact they’d once experimented a little with each other, their friendship had grown. Gabe was eternally grateful for that.
“As I recall,” she purred, teasing him, “you knew exactly what you were doing. And it was nice for my first time to be with someone I trusted and liked.”
Gabe felt as though he was choking. Ceily hadn’t mentioned that little episode in many years. And never would he point out to her exactly how inept he’d been back then. When she found the right guy, she’d realize it on her own. Curious, since she had brought it up, he asked, “Did you ever tell anyone?”
“Nope. And I know for a fact you haven’t, so don’t get all flustered. Besides, I’m not carrying a torch for you, Gabe. It was fun, but I want more.”
Gabe slid off the sink to give her a bear hug. Ceily was a very special person. “I know. And you’ll find it. You deserve the very best.”
She returned his hug and said with a hoity-toity accent, “I tend to think so.” Then she shoved him back a bit. “But I know what you mean. All the women for miles around come running when you crook your little finger.”
“Not all.” Gabe almost chuckled at the image she described, but felt forced to admit the truth. “I have been turned down a time or two, you know.”
Ceily scoffed. “Never with anyone who mattered.”
Gabe stared at her, and her eyes widened. “Oh, wait! Are you telling me Elizabeth Parks turned you down?”
Scowling, Gabe shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m not telling you anything about Elizabeth. My point was just that most women want me because of my reputation, because they think I’m good-looking or sexy—”
Ceily bent double laughing.
Gabe glared. “Oh, to hell with it. There’s no talking to you today.”
He started to skirt around her, but she caught him from behind and held on to his belt loops, getting dragged two feet before he finally stopped. Still chuckling, she gasped, “No, wait! I want to hear what it is that she wants from you.”
Gabe heaved a deep sigh, then without turning to look at her, he admitted, “She thinks I’m some kind of damn hero and she wants to learn more about me, about my character and