Page 88 of I Dreamt That You Loved Me

I took a sip and moaned. I don’t know what he did, but his coffee always tasted so much better than when I tried to make it. “This coffee is so good.”

“Fairtrade Guatemalan,” he said. Gabriel always made sure to check the beans’ provenance. He was serious about his coffee.

“I got you a bagel.” He dropped a paper bag into my lap and sat next to me on the bed with his own mug of coffee and another brown bag. “I’m going to sit here until you eat every last crumb. You nearly passed out at your last show.”

That was a huge exaggeration. The leadup to a show was always so busy and chaotic that I didn’t have time to eat. Plus, I was always nervous. But I forced down a bite of the bagel just to make him happy. “Thank you.”

“Open up.”

My lips parted on command. He popped a cherry into it. Sweet and juicy and a little bit tart. I grabbed his hand, turned it palm up and spit the pit into it.

He sighed and shook his head. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Just keeping it real. Everyone else is so busy kissing your ass,” I teased.

He was, after all, a global phenomenon now. I’d never doubted it for a minute. I knew he’d hit the big time and now, with three albums out, Gabriel had conquered America and his albums had gone platinum.

But he didn’t take his fame seriously. If anything, he went out of his way to avoid it.

Gabriel hated celebrity culture and all the trappings that went with it so all my qualms about the music industry changing him had been for naught. Gabriel was still Gabriel.

I held out my hand, palm up. “Eat a cherry. Spit the pit in my hand.”

“You’re so kinky. Watch that dirty mouth or I’ll make you late.”

Tempting but I had to get going and so did he. I ate as much of the bagel as I could and then it was time to get up and get ready for the day.

“You’ll be there today, right?” I asked after I got out of the shower in my towel turban and the silky black robe Gabriel bought me in Japan.

He was already dressed and ready to go in jeans and a black thermal that looked really sexy on him.

I ran my hands down his chest and rubbed my thumb and forefinger over the ankh for good luck.

He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

“The show starts at four but try to be there by three, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I know you don’t want to walk the runway so if you feel really uncomfortable, I’ll completely understand?—”

“Hey.” He cupped my jaw and lifted my face to his. “I told you I would, and I’ll do it proudly. You designed that shirt and jacket for me. No one else gets to wear it.”

I smiled. “You’ll be the star of the show.”

“You’llbe the star of the show. The rock star of the fashion world. Your career will never take a back seat to mine again, okay?”

I nodded. He’d made me promise that I would never ditch everything again to go on tour with him. “Okay. But I loved being on tour with you and I don’t regret a single minute of it. I’m going to arrange my schedule so I can join you this summer too, so you’ll just have to find a way to deal with it.”

“Like it’s such a hardship,” he said. “I set Kenny up with the music so he should be good to go. I can’t wait to hear it. The acoustics are great there.”

I loved that he was so excited for me, and so supportive that he’d even hired a sound guy and put together the playlist. “What would I do without you?”

“You’ll never have to find out.” He gave me a playful swat on the butt. “Now go get ready. I’ll see you at three if not before.”

Gabriel was really good about that. Whenever he said he’d be somewhere, he always kept his word. But I still had my arms wrapped around him and tightened my hold, not wanting to let go.

He knew what I was doing. Trying to delay the inevitable.