Page 10 of I Do, or Dye Trying
“He sounds perfect,” Gabe said. “Location, food, judge, and outfits,” Gabe said, making us sound like Ken dolls. “What else is there to decide?” he asked.
“Guest list, DJ, flowers, and the song that we’ll dance to as husbands,” I told him. “That’s all I can think of right now because I’m engaged to a liar.” I rubbed my leg against his erection.
“I guess my spunk monkeys were working overtime,” he said.
“It was the food talk,” I told him.
“No,” he said softly. “It was the beautiful picture you painted for me. I could see us standing at the altar and you’re looking at me in the special way that you do.”
“How do I look at you?” I asked him.
“Like I’m the only man you can see, the only one who you’ll ever love and share a life with.” Gabe’s words moved me to tears. I was silent for several long moments, unsure of how to respond.
“Well, duh,” I finally said, wiping away the hot tears on my face.Come on; I could only hold the snark at bay for so long.“You’re myeverything, Gabe,” I said after he stopped chuckling. “Of course, I’m going to look at you like that. It’s exactly the way you look at me too, and it’s why I’m just not willing to be afraid anymore.” I wrapped my hand around his dick and stroked him up and down. “We better take care of this so you can get some sleep. You gotta go back to being Bad Cop tomorrow.”
“Surely, things will slow down for us now,” Gabe grumbled, but I noticed he wasn’t distracted from reaching for the lube again.
What’s that saying about famous last words? I still needed to tell him my thoughts on taking off our rings until our wedding day, but we were too tired after round two of sex in the raw to do anything but sleep.I’ll tell him tomorrow,I thought to myself as I started to drift to sleep.
“LASTMONDAY OFF FORa while,” I said to Josh the next morning. He would begin shooting his new series for Channel Eleven the following week. “Inventory and the usual stuff?” I asked him.
“Actually, no,” he said, wearing a triumphant smile. “Chaz took that over for me when I began shooting the wedding series, and he did a wonderful job. In fact, he’s more intuitive about the trending product sales than I am. I’m thinking about asking him to take on more of a management role at the salon and hiring someone else to book appointments and stuff, especially since I plan on expanding the salon.”
I blinked at him several times in surprise because Josh was beyond hands-on with his business. It was his baby, and he wouldn’t just trust it in anyone’s hands. I wasn’t sure Chaz wanted the extra responsibility, but I knew without a doubt that he’d be honored when Josh asked. “Sunshine, that’s a great idea.”
“I know,” he said, brushing my hands away to take over the task of buttoning my shirt. I was used to him undressing me but not the reverse. He got to the second to the last button and paused. I saw his eyes soften as he studied the Saint Michael pendant he bought me for Christmas resting against my chest. The sentiment behind the necklace told me how much I meant to him long before he said the words. He ran his finger over the medallion reverently then leaned forward and kissed it. Regardless of his brave words the previous day, his actions told me that Emory’s premonition struck him harder than he wanted me to know. “I love you, Gabe,” he said tenderly.
“I love you too, Sunshine. More than anything in the world.”
Josh nodded as he swallowed down a lump of emotion. “That’s why I’m going to call the bank today to schedule an appointment with my loan officer so we can get the process started to buy Georgia’s mansion. I’m so excited to buy that house and marry you, Gabe. I just need to find out what they’ll want from my accountant to show my income. I’m going to guess the last two years of tax returns and a profit and loss statement for the current year. They’ll probably just need to verify your income and…” I held my hand up to stop him. “Is it too early in the morning for this kind of talk?” he asked me.
“No, it’s just not necessary,” I told him. “I might’ve downplayed my net worth when we discussed buying the mansion.” I grimaced when he narrowed his eyes suspiciously and took a step back from me.
“Downplayed how?” he asked. “Are you talking about the amount or how you obtained the money?” Josh loved to rile me up about my past run-ins with Internal Affairs. It had become one of his favorite snarky jokes when he was trying to throw shade my way.
“Both,” I said dramatically then had to bite my lip to keep from laughing when he reached between us and grabbed my balls hard enough to get my attention but not enough to hurt me.
“Quit playing around and tell me everything now,” he demanded. Josh squeezed my sac a little harder when I could no longer hold back my laughter. “You think it’s funny, do you?”
“I’m laughing about how easily you get riled up over IA but not about the way you’re gripping my cum depots in your fist,” I answered. Josh loosened his hold but didn’t remove his hand altogether. “I hope you plan on kissing them to make it better.”
“Can you please be serious?” Josh asked, which was a complete turn of events from our usual scenario. “What do you mean about the mortgage talk not being necessary, Gabe?”
“I might’ve already talked to Georgia’s lawyer before I proposed marriage and mentioned buying the house to you. I wanted to have an idea of what he wanted to sell it for before we discussed it. I also didn’t want him to sell it to anyone else until I was sure of your response.”
“None of that answers my question,” Josh responded impatiently. “You said you inherited some money from your grandparents that you wanted to use as a down payment on the house to minimize the mortgage payments. Now you sound like you don’t need a mortgage on the property at all.”
“Okay, this is the part that I think you won’t like,” I told Josh. The tilt of his head and the way he crossed his arms over his chest told me he was bracing himself for the impact of my words.At least he didn’t have a grip on my nuts any longer.“I thought that maybe we can just buy the house outright since you already have a mortgage here and…”
“No fucking way.” Josh shook his head emphatically. “We are going to be partners in all things. I’m not going to live in a house that you bought me. Besides, we’re going to need that money for the heathen children’s college funds.”
The talk of heathen children took the sting out of his rejection, but it was still there. “I have the means to buy the house forus,and you’re going to refuse it?”
“I am,” Josh said stubbornly. “I work for what I have, Gabe. I work very hard. I won’t be a kept man, and I don’t want any handouts!”
“Sunshine, this isn’t a ‘handout,’ and you won’t be a ‘kept’ man,” I told him, trying hard not to laugh at his outrage.Just when I thought I had my guy figured out.“No one is going to start filming the Househusbands of Blissville. Not that you wouldn’t be awesome,” I assured him when it looked like my attempt to soothe him only made things worse.
“Damn straight I would,” he said saucily. “Okay, let me take a step back here and try to explain this better.”