Page 26 of Mr. Infuriating (Mister #1)
Gabe
“Mrs. Wainwright!” the teenage boy behind the counter at Caruso’s called when we walked in.
I fucking hated hearing her called that.
It took her a second, but Gretchen replied, “Landon?” with a bright smile.
He came around to give her a big hug, and she laughed when she looked up at him.
“You’ve gotten so tall!”
“I hit my growth spurt the summer before my freshman year like you said I would.”
“I told you that you just needed to be patient.”
He gave her a sheepish grin. “It’s hard to be patient when your friends are all towering over you.”
“Well, look at you now.”
“Yep. I’m even the captain of my baseball team. You should come watch us play sometime.”
“I would love to.”
“Great! Our schedule is online.” He looked over at me and stuck out his hand. “You must be Mr. Wainwright.”
Oh hell no.
I took his offered hand, but before I could even correct him, Gretchen intervened.
“No. This is Mr. Mitchell. Um, I’m divorced now.”
He looked between the two of us with wide eyes. “Oh, gosh. I’m sorry. ”
I didn’t know if he was saying he was sorry because she was divorced or because he got it wrong.
“Gabe Mitchell, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, too, sir.” He cast a sideways glance at Gretchen. “You’re a lucky man. Mrs. Wain— er, Ms . Wainwright is the best.” He stole another look at his former teacher, and I recognized there was more than admiration on the young man’s face.
And I didn’t like it one bit.
Possessively putting my arm around her with a grin, I replied, “She is indeed.”
****
Gretchen
Gabe and I ordered, then sat in a corner booth as we waited for our pizza and beer.
The pitcher of Modelo arrived first, and after Gabe poured us each a glass, he held his drink up and offered a toast.
“To unexpected surprises. When I woke up yesterday, I would have never imagined I’d be spending my weekend with such an amazing, beautiful woman.”
“To unexpected surprises,” I murmured and clinked my mug against his.
I took a sip of the ice-cold beer, then set it on the scratched, wooden table.
“When I got your lawyer’s letter yesterday, I never in a million years would have thought I’d spend the weekend with you . ”
He let out a low chuckle. “You didn’t imagine you’d be getting naked with the ‘infuriating Jerk of the Year’?”
“After getting that letter? No, I had a few ideas what I wanted to do to you and getting naked was nowhere on the list.”
“I’m sorry about that. I needed to get your attention, since you wouldn’t respond to Rick.”
I was still harboring a little resentment with how aggressive the letter had been.
“There are other ways you could have gone about it, you know.”
“True, but to be fair, you wouldn’t return Rick’s calls, and I needed the cabinets out of the shop to make room for a lumber shipment I have coming on Tuesday.”
“And they’re almost out. No lawsuit necessary.”
He seemed unfazed by my sassy response and raised his glass again.
“Like I said, to unexpected surprises.”
“Hopefully, that will also include a payment plan I can afford.”
Gabe set his glass on the table without taking a pull.
“I’ll talk to Maverick on Monday, I promise. But for tonight, let’s forget about the cabinets and enjoy our time together.”
“You’re right. Tomorrow will be here before we know it, and it’ll be back to reality.”
His voice was soft when he replied, “Yeah.”
A tiny part of me wanted him to ask for more than the weekend with me .
I knew that was my pride rearing its ugly head. We were at two different stages in life, and he’d already told me he didn’t want more kids. But my ego didn’t care. I wanted him to want me for longer than the weekend.
The sex had been incredible, but it had seemed like it was deeper than that. I mean, we were out to dinner and not naked in bed together. Granted, it was the local pizza place, but still. It felt like Gabe was interested in more than just getting between my legs.
It doesn’t matter!
I’d purposefully not mentioned Jake and had even put his high chair in the pantry when I got home from breakfast. It’d been tucked in the corner and the second I noticed it as we were leaving, I’d ushered him out the door.
Not because I was ashamed of my son, but I didn’t see the point of bringing him up when I knew my fling with Gabe had an expiration date of tomorrow morning.
What would be the point of putting a damper on things tonight?
He casually put his arm along the back of his chair.
“So, tell me more about you. Did you grow up in Lancastle?”
****
Gabe
We finished the pizza and beer, then even shared a slice of cheesecake, laughing and talking the entire time, then opted for a pitcher of soda as we continued getting to know each other better .
Which may have been a mistake because I found I liked her even more than I had last night. She was witty, insightful, and just a tad nerdy.
And hot as fuck without even trying to be.
The next thing I knew, the staff were putting the chairs on the tables, and I looked around to realize we were the only customers left in the place.
Gretchen seemed equally surprised because she looked at her watch and gasped, “Oh my gosh! How did it get so late?”
With a wink, I replied, “We were having so much fun, we lost track of time.” I lowered my voice as I glanced around again. “We should probably go before they throw us out.”
She let out a small giggle. “Good idea.”
I stood and offered her my hand to help her out of the booth and didn’t let go once she was on her feet.
It just felt right to hold her hand as we walked to my truck.
I knew one thing for certain. I didn’t give a damn what my brother had said about not spending another night with her. The only thing that could keep me out of her bed tonight was if she told me I wasn’t welcome.
But the way she wrapped her other hand around my arm and leaned her head on my shoulder, I wasn’t worried.