Page 60 of I Do, or Dye Trying
Telling me to hurry was completely unnecessary because I never missed an opportunity to get wet and naked with Gabe. I tossed the clothes and detergent in the washing machine then fired her up before I snagged two beers out of the refrigerator and headed upstairs.
“We need a mini-fridge in…” The words died in my throat as my eyes locked on my husband through the glass shower doors. He was sliding his soapy hands up and down his ass crack to clean away the remnants, and it had to be in my top five list of hottest things I’d ever seen.
Gabe looked up when I didn’t finish my sentence then smirked when he saw where my attention had gone. That smirk grew into a full-on wicked smile as he switched to washing his cock and balls. “You just going to stand there or are you going to bring me one of those beers?”
“Maybe they’re both for me,” I said, tipping one back for a long drink.
“I got a longneck for you to drink down,” Gabe said causing me to nearly choke on the beer. “Sorry,” he said when I sputtered. “Too cheesy?”
“A touch perhaps, but still adorable,” I told him.
Gabe opened the shower door and crooked his finger at me. “Get in here.” There was no point being stubborn when being with him in the shower was where I wanted to be, and I saw no point in denying myself what my heart, and his, desired most. I expected him to reach for his beer right away, but he took both from me and set them on the shelf. Gabe cupped the back of my head with one large hand and said, “Thank you.”
“For?” I was being deliberately obtuse to force him to come clean with me.
“Pulling my head out of my ass again,” he said with a wry smile.
“Is this about Jimmy?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.
“Yes,” Gabe admitted. “I want him captured and out of our lives, Sunshine.” The determination I heard in his voice concerned me.
“You have a plan to do that, don’t you?” I asked.
Gabe inhaled deeply and released his breath slowly, but I wasn’t sure if it was done to calm himself or delay the freaked reaction he was sure to get from me. “Okay, don’t freak out…”
“No conversation that starts with those words ever goes well, husband of mine,” I told him. The constipated face he got when he was concentrating faded into a beautiful smile. “What?”
“I’ll never get tired of hearing you call me your husband or hearing you say that you’re mine,” Gabe told me. He pressed his lips to my forehead, knowing damn well what a sucker I was for those kisses. He was trying to disarm my defenses before I fully erected them. “I love you so damn much, which is why I just can’t sit back and allow Jimmy to strike whenever it’s convenient for him. I need to go on the offensive.”
No amount of forehead kisses was going to prevent the shiver of fear that worked its way through my body after hearing those words. “How do you plan on doing this?” I asked.
Gabe’s eyes took on a faraway look when he said, “I need to find a way to draw him out of hiding.”
“Baby, have you given serious consideration to the possibility that Jimmy was heading north for Canada and not Ohio? It’s been more than a month and what would be the point of waiting? He’s had plenty of opportunities to hurt us and hasn’t taken them,” I said softly.
“I wish you were right, but I saw his hatred for me when we locked eyes in Miami. Escaping to Canada is a lot less probable than escaping by boat to the Bahamas. He didn’t just disappear into the Smokey Mountains either. I want him on my turf and on my terms, but I need to do it in a way that doesn’t jeopardize you or anyone else in this community.” Gabe blinked, and his eyes met mine. “It’s the only way.”
I wasn’t keen on the idea at all. Gabe made it sound like he wanted to paint a large red target on himself and parade around. The idea terrified me, and I wanted to argue that there had to be a better way, but I saw the determination in his dark gaze and the resolution in his firm jaw. The only thing I could do was give him the support he needed and hope Jimmy was captured soon.
The next morning, I decided to head to the grocery store by myself when it looked like Gabe might sleep until noon. I figured he needed the rest so he could go Clint Eastwood on Jimmy, but Gabe wasn’t amused when he woke up, and I was gone. I had discovered some new music while in Hawaii and smiled when my new ringtone for Gabe went off. I just loved the peppy music and words in Anuhea’s “Simple Love Song.” He was surly on the phone when he demanded to know where I’d gone, then annoyed that I didn’t wait for him.
“I wasn’t aware that you liked to grocery shop so much,” I said to him as I looked through the assortment of green apples. I could tell I was going to have to bring out my big guns to calm him down. “Or are you mad that you didn’t get your morning blow job?” A startled gasp reminded me that I needed to keep my voice down. “You should try it some time,” I said to a retreating Mrs. Adams, whose back was as stiff as her unfortunate-looking helmet hair.
She was one of the few openly hostile people in my town that weren’t afraid to tell me what they thought of my “lifestyle.” I hated that terminology. I couldn’t change who I was any more than she could change herself. I’d never make her understand that I was born to love Gabe. I preferred people show their true colors, rather than be nice to my face only to cut me behind my back. I normally just ignored her attitude, but I wasn’t in the mood that day.
“Josh,” Gabe said in a warning tone.
“Gabe, I’ll be extra cautious, but I won’t be a prisoner to fear. I’m going to buy groceries so we can have a fun time catching up with our friends when they come over for dinner tonight.”
“Dinner?” Gabe asked.
“It’s Sunday,” I told him using myduhvoice.
“I know what day it is, Sunshine. I just figured you’d want to take tonight off since we just got back from our honeymoon.”
“Never,” I said like it was the most shocking thing I’d ever heard. “Our friends want to watch us open the gifts they bought us for our wedding, and they want us to feed them.” I had the text messages from Chaz, Kyle, Deanna, Mere, Emory, and Sally Ann to prove it.
“Okay, we’ll just keep it simple with hot dogs and hamburgers or something,” Gabe said.