As Long As You Love Me ✓

17. The Sounding Sea

"You talked to him? How?" Gabriel shook his head. "Oh, you used Elena's phone."

"Nope. He's in town. Plans to stay the rest of the week." She sighed, "And I know you don't want to hear this, but it's probably as much about seeing your mom as it is me."

Gabriel frowned. Dammit. He didn't want his mother getting involved with Matthew Kline for a lot of reasons. Chance of getting hurt. Long distant relationship. Falling in love and moving away. He shuddered at the last thought. "I don't get it. He's a nice looking guy. A lawyer. Just the kind of combination women want. Why doesn't he already have a girlfriend?"

Zari snorted and wiggled the boot back and forth, then set it next to the other one, and peeled off both of his socks. "You ask as if I know. I don't even have a clue as to why I'm dating you, much less anything about his love life, or anyone else's."

Washing down another bite, and treading on dangerous ground, Gabriel dropped the subject before she bombarded him with questions he might not be able to truthfully answer. "How was your visit with Elena?"

Zari stood and twirled. "We went shopping. I bought a lot of stuff." She straightened the sweater. "Do you like this?"

"You look beautiful." He didn't mean to say it aloud, but the words spilled from his mouth before he could stop them.

She widened her eyes. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?"

He swallowed and smiled shyly. This was dangerous territory. "From the first moment I saw you."

Tears flooded down her cheeks, and she wiped at them with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry. Since I can't remember anything, that's the first time anyone has said that to me. I don't consider myself beautiful. Cute maybe and most of the time that's pushing it."

Now he snorted, shaking off the alarm of her sudden tears - glad she wasn't having an existential crisis. That, she was owed. It was a preposterous thought, that anyone, herself included, would not find Zari the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. "Well, you're cute, too," he grumbled.

She scooted a chair next to his, sat, leaned in, and planted a kiss on his cheek. "When is your next day off?"

"Day after tomorrow. Why?"

"I need to buy a car. Matthew arranged for me to get one. So, I thought you and I could go car shopping. I also need a laptop."

"Any idea what model you want to buy?"

"No. Nothing fancy. It can even be used."

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, I'm going to take a quick shower and go to bed."

*

Gabriel placed his hands flat against the tile, hung his head and let hot spray rinse the lather away. He didn't want to think anymore. Not about cars, or his mother and Matthew, or work tomorrow, or especially how gorgeous Zari looked kneeling in front of him.

She belonged to another man. Granted, one Gabriel didn't approve of, and who didn't deserve her, but still, her choice. And he had no right to question that. Needed to keep pounding that fact into his brain. Just as he'd never cheat on a woman, he'd never move in on another person's territory.

Turning off the water, he slid the shower curtain to one side and flinched when he found Zari waiting. Waiting there. Silently. In the bathroom. With him. Like a serial killer.

Her eyes roamed over him from top to bottom, then she grinned wolfishly and offered a towel. "Want me to dry your back?"

He shook his head, took the towel, and wrapped it around his waist, trying to stave off the alarmed pounding of his heart - at Zari finding him naked, or being surprised in a slippery tub, he didn't know. "Didn't expect an audience."