He nodded. “I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll sand off the entire thing. I doubt it. I’ll probably just polish it up. You can’t plan too much with these things because there’s always something that comes out of left field and surprises you. But if I was going to take the lacquer off and take it back to the wood and then re-stain and re-coat it all, it would take me years. Between work and Bethany, I don’t get too much time in here.”
“I’ve imagined a hundred things that could have been behind this door,” I said. “But I didn’t suspect anything like this.”
“Are you disappointed?” he asked, smirking and lifting me by the waist up onto the workbench island.
I smoothed my hands over his shoulders, taking in the room from this change of viewpoint. “I should have guessed. I mean, I know you’re good with your hands.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “This place saved me after Penelope left.”
He’d never mentioned his wife before tonight, but apparently she was a shadow that loomed over him. Was she an ex-wife? Hollie had explained she’d walked out without any warning when Bethany was a baby, but I didn’t actually know if they were divorced.
“Distraction is a good thing,” I said, trying to keep neutral and not wanting to open a can of worms marked ex.
“It didn’t work so well with you,” he replied with a grin.
I shrugged. “I’m relentless,” I said on a yawn.
“We should get to bed.” He checked his watch. “It’s late and I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.” He took me by the waist and set me down on my feet. “You were right, though. I need to get back to the office.”
“Good. Remember this so that next time I don’t have to sleep with you to convince you to see it my way.”
“Okay,” he said, grinning as we filed out of his workshop. “But maybe I like having you convince me.”
“Yeah, I don’t mind that part so much either.”
He smiled one of those rare smiles I liked enough to count. I pushed my hands through his hair. “Thank you for showing me this,” I said. Gabriel unlocking that room and sharing it with me felt like a turning point between us. More than the flirtatious glances and the illicit touches. More even than the sex. Him showing the workshop to me was him letting me in. And I wanted to stay. But I knew better than most that real life didn’t have many happy-ever-afters. It had for Hollie, and there was no one more deserving, but there was no way London could be my salvation too, no matter how hard I wanted it to be.
Thirteen
Gabriel
It had been almost a week since I’d been with Autumn, but I’d barely seen her. I couldn’t wait to get home tonight. I’d have missed dinner with Bethany, but I would get to put her to bed at least. I unlocked the door, went inside, and was greeted by music coming from the living room. “Hello,” I called but no answer. It wasn’t bath time yet. Where were they?
I set down my things and took off my coat and went to investigate.
I poked my head around the door to find Autumn sitting on the floor, her back against the sofa, surrounded by pillows and a duvet over her. She was grinning up at Bethany who was dancing in front of the TV.
“Good evening,” I said, wondering what the hell was going on.
“Daddy!” A pajamaed Bethany squealed and ran into my arms, officially making it the best part of my day so far.
“We weren’t expecting you so soon,” Autumn said, smiling at me.
“It’s movie night,” Bethany explained. “We have popcorn.”
I glanced at the coffee table, covered in plates and drinks.
“We made it in the mic-wave.”
“This is very cozy,” I said as Bethany put her arms around my neck and squeezed. I swear the girl was half-human, half-anaconda.
“Come join us,” Autumn said, patting the floor next to her.
“Yes, Daddy. Eat popcorn. Please stay and don’t work.”
How could I say no to an invitation like that? “Okay but you’ve got to tell me what I’m meant to do.”
Autumn laughed. “You need instructions to relax, watch a movie, and eat popcorn?” She shook her head. “It seems we have some work to do on your daddy, Bethany.”
“In my defense, it looks like you have more going on here than that.”
“You want in?” She lifted the duvet.
“Yes, Daddy. You have to be under the duvet if you’re sitting down.”
Autumn shrugged. “The rules are the rules.” She offered me the bowl of popcorn and I shuffled under the duvet and took it from her.
“This was dinner?” I asked as I toed off my shoes and took a seat next to Autumn, making sure I wasn’t touching her in case that freaked Bethany. I didn’t want it to look like I was deliberately not touching her either.