Can't Help Falling In Love Part 6

Jake's laughter rang out in the cold backyard. "In love?" he repeated. "Not even close. And I don't see it happening any time soon."

Clearly b.u.mmed that she hadn't gotten more dirt out of Jake, Lori spun to face Gabe. "Your turn."

The last thing in the world he was in the mood for was this game, but it was usually easier just to play along with Lori.

"Dare." Lord knew, truth wasn't in the cards tonight, not with Megan sitting too close, looking far too beautiful in the firelight.

Lori gave him a slightly evil grin. "Sing us a campfire song."

Marcus groaned and held his hands over Nicola's ears. "Asking Gabe to sing is more like a dare for the rest of us."

Marcus's pop-star girlfriend shoved his hands away and smiled at Gabe. "I love it when other people sing."

Rather than being p.i.s.sed off at Lori, Gabe decided that, if anything, he should be thanking his sister for the dare. Because after hearing him sing, there was no chance of anything happening with Megan.

He launched into a version of "Home on the Range" that had all the dogs and cats in the neighborhood joining in. At Nicola's faltering smile he decided to play it up for all it was worth, and soon she had her hands over her ears, too.

Marcus, whose voice was nearly as bad as his, joined in with a G.o.d-awful "harmony" and everyone laughed so hard, including Megan, that he forgot for a minute not to stare at her in front of everyone.

Yes, she was a gorgeous woman. But she was also fun and fit perfectly into his family.

d.a.m.n it.

Their gazes collided and both of them stopped laughing. She abruptly pushed her chair back. "It's way past Summer's bedtime."

Gabe stood, too. "I'll drive you both back to the city."

As they said their goodbyes, he prayed no one would say anything to make Megan uncomfortable about the two of them leaving together.

They were almost back in the house when Zach called out, "Don't forget to call when you're up tomorrow, Megan, and I'll drop by to fix your flat. You've got my cell, right?"

Gabe had run up and down hundreds of flights of stairs in zero visibility countless times over the years. But hearing that his brother had already arranged to see Megan again-under the guise of helping her with her car-was what finally had the breath clogging in his chest.

He knew he shouldn't be getting so upset about it. If he was half the man he liked to think he was, he'd be happy that his brother was finally choosing a nice girl for once. After all, hadn't he just thought how great she fit in with his brothers and sisters?

But none of that helped the knot in his gut loosen as he and Megan silently headed down to the bas.e.m.e.nt, where they found Summer asleep in front of the old TV. Some of the bigger kids were still up watching a Disney movie, but she was curled up in a ball on the old couch his mother had covered with the same afghan from when he was a kid.

Megan went to scoop her up, but he said, "Let me," in a low voice that wouldn't wake Summer, and lifted the little girl off the couch.

As Megan said thank you and goodbye to his mother, he gently laid Summer down upstairs and went to get his truck. When he got back, they were waiting for him on the sidewalk, Summer in her mother's arms, just as he'd first seen them. Summer wasn't big for her age, but he knew she had to be heavy for Megan. He quickly jumped out to help get her buckled into the backseat of his truck, using a sweatshirt as a makeshift pillow.

In the dark on the freeway headed back to San Francisco, neither he nor Megan spoke, a repeat of their drive in the opposite direction.

Earlier in the evening he'd been glad for Summer's constant questions and chatter to fill the s.p.a.ce so that he wouldn't make the mistake of getting closer to Megan. He should be happy about her silence now, too. So then why wasn't he? Why did he wish he could get to know her better, instead?

Parking in front of her building a while later, he unbuckled Summer and moved to carry her inside Megan's apartment. This time, as she turned on various lights to help him find his way through the small rooms, he noticed how comfortable her place was. She hadn't been there two months yet and he knew it was only temporary. Still, he found he liked being there.

Gabe's house was in a fantastic location with lots of sun and great views from his top floor rooms. But it had never felt like home to him. Not like this did.

"Thanks so much for the ride," Megan was saying when she'd gently pulled the covers up over her daughter, kissed her cheek, and closed her bedroom door.

In the living room, the lights of the small Christmas tree blinked behind her, lighting her up like an angel. She looked a little nervous. This was the first time they'd ever been alone together. Summer was down for the count. Considering that the little girl hadn't stirred once during all the transporting from the bas.e.m.e.nt to the car and then to the apartment, he knew she wasn't getting up any time soon.

"Can I get you a cup of coffee or anything?"

Anyone with a beating heart could have figured out that the offer was made out of politeness, nothing more. He knew what to do. Stick to his M.O. and get the h.e.l.l away from her. No big conversations. No letting down his guard.

But for all his strength of will, and the tight hold he usually had on his self-control, tonight Gabe couldn't quite bring himself to go.

Not when he finally had Megan all to himself.

Okay, so he wouldn't leave just yet. But he'd use the next few minutes as the perfect way to prove that he could control himself around her...and that she wasn't that much of a temptation.

"Sure," he said in an easy voice, "coffee sounds great."

She looked momentarily surprised by his agreement. No doubt because he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to be friendly with her. Not like Zach or Ryan had at the party.

"It will just take me a second, if you want to have a seat."

Gabe was pulling up a stool at the kitchen counter when she grabbed a bag of beans from a small pantry along the way and shook out a couple of beans. She gave him a cute little look of consternation and he had to wonder if it was caused solely by the lack of coffee beans or if having him there in her s.p.a.ce was the real reason.

"I have more beans," she said. "Somewhere." She turned and scanned the rest of her cupboards before admitting, "I still haven't quite gotten used to our new apartment. Sometimes I think I definitely have something and then I'll realize it was destroyed in the fire and I never got around to replacing it."

Gabe had to practically sit on his hands to keep from moving to her and pulling her into his arms to console her. Instead, he said, "It can take a while to process what happened, Megan."

She sighed. "I just didn't think I'd feel so lost and rootless without my things. Because they're just things, you know?" She shook her head and smiled at him. "Summer and I are fine and that's what matters."

He was struck, yet again, by how strong she always expected herself to be, and wanted to say something more to let her know that it was okay to grieve her loss, even of little things, when she snapped her fingers and said, "Wait, I know where the beans are." She pointed at a cupboard that went up to the ceiling. "Up there."

She was reaching for a stool that was stored between the fridge and the counter when he said, "I'll get them for you."

He could easily reach the bag of beans on the top shelf, but he hadn't realized just how small the kitchen would be when two people were in it. And somehow, by the time he turned around with the coffee, Megan was pressed back against the pantry shelves.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

But she didn't take the coffee from him and he didn't give it to her. Instead, both of them just stared at each other.

When he saw his own desperate need reflected in her eyes, he dropped the bag of coffee behind him onto the counter and took her face in his hands. He bent his head down just as she went onto her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and lifted her face to his.

Their mouths met a moment later, hot and hungry, long past gentle or sweet. It was a kiss that had been on the verge of happening more than once and was now completely out of control. She tasted like sugar and champagne and something else that was entirely Megan. Her hair was so soft against his fingers and the little moans of pleasure she made into his mouth as they kissed drove him crazy.

He ran his tongue over the plump curve of her lower lip and she melted deeper into him, her curves pliable and so d.a.m.n sweet as he tasted the corner where her upper and lower lip came together before plunging back into her mouth to tangle with her tongue.

Just as their kiss had gone from zero to one hundred in a millisecond, that's how Gabe wanted to take her. Fast and hard, up against the wall, the pantry doors banging as he slammed into her to take the intense pleasure their very first kiss was already promising.

And yet, despite how much he wanted her, Gabe knew he had to put the brakes on-and fast. But just as he started to pull away, Megan's hands abruptly moved from around his neck to splay flat across his chest so that she could push out of his arms.

The words "I shouldn't be kissing you," flew from her lips at the same moment he said, "I can't do this."

Chapter Eight.

He should have pulled away from her; she should have stepped out of his arms. But neither of them moved.

Not sure who he was trying to convince more, Gabe explained, "I don't date people I've pulled from burning buildings."

Almost before he finished speaking, she gave her own explanation. "I can't be with someone who could die at any minute."

It was a moment of pure honesty, their first one.

No, Gabe quickly admitted. That kiss had been their first truly honest moment together. Honest pa.s.sion...full-throttle desire.

As she finally slipped out of his arms and he moved to let her go, she added, "After the way Summer's father died, I just can't."

He should have been leaving, should have left five minutes ago so that none of this could have happened. But, Lord, he wouldn't regret that smoking-hot kiss. And he wanted to understand Megan's reasons as well as he did his own.

"How did he die?"

"He was a fighter pilot."

"Navy?"

She nodded, looking heartbroken, and he had a moment of serious jealousy over a dead man. What was happening to him?

"I don't date men like you with jobs like yours. Not anymore. Summer was only a toddler when David died, but it still hurt her. If I were to let her get close to another man with a job like that and one day he didn't come home..."

She seemed to realize she'd said too much about herself and quickly turned the question back on him. "And I'm a.s.suming you don't date woman you save because-"

"It never works out." He'd heard what she'd said about not letting herself date a guy in his dangerous line of work, but he could still taste that kiss, could still hear her s.e.xy little moans as their tongues had slipped and slid against each other. Yet again, he didn't know whether it was for her or for himself when he said, "It's just not a normal way for two people to meet. It sets up expectations. Ones that can never be lived up to in everyday, real life."

Knowing he was the one saying too much now, he was glad when she took another step back from him and said, "Okay."

She gave him a smile that trembled slightly around the edges. "I'm glad we've got that out in the open." She licked her lips. "Settled between us."

He shouldn't have been standing there thinking how cute she was when she was nervous, but d.a.m.n it, that was exactly what he was doing. And he sure as h.e.l.l shouldn't have been on the verge of reaching for her and kissing her sweet mouth again.

Gabe shoved his hands into his pockets to keep them from straying back to her gorgeous curves. He needed to leave, the sooner the better. She'd make the coffee. He'd drink it. And then he'd say goodbye and go back to his place and not let himself think about her, d.a.m.n it.

If only he could have stuck to his original plan of staying as far away from her as possible. But she'd been to his mother's house. She'd met his family. She was friends with his sister, the same sister who clearly had designs on getting them together.

As if she needed something to do with her hands, too, Megan picked up the bag he'd dropped on the counter and poured beans into the coffee maker.

"Sophie's your friend and we're bound to see each other again-"

"-so we'll just agree to be friends," Megan said, finishing his sentence. "No big deal." She gave him another one of those not-quite-there smiles as she pressed the b.u.t.ton on the grinder. When the beans were ready for the coffee maker, she scooped them in and said, "I mean, now that we both know exactly where the other person stands, right?"

Still wanting her more than he'd ever wanted another woman, Gabe nodded.

"Right."

She was a blur of activity, clearing off a stack of Frosty the Snowman drawings she and Summer must have been working on, pulling out a pretty plate and arranging some white-frosted snowflake cookies on it.

He'd never dated anyone with kids. Not, he reminded himself, that he and Megan were dating. But it was the first time he'd seen anyone apart from his mother juggle more than just her own life.

She handed him the cup of coffee. "Why don't we go sit down?"

He followed her over to the small living room on the other side of the open kitchen, noting that she wisely chose to sit on the small, velvet-covered chair rather than joining him on the couch.

She slid her heels off and tucked her bare feet up under her, rubbing them with her free hand. "My feet were killing me in those heels."

Gabe wouldn't ever have called himself a foot man. Feet were just feet. But Megan's pink painted toes were incredibly s.e.xy. He wanted to push her hand away and replace it with his. He already knew how sweet her mouth was, how soft her hair was. What would her skin feel like beneath his hands?

He was blowing the "just friends" thing already. What made it worse was that not only was he just as opposed to falling for Megan as she was for him, but he also understood her reasons for not wanting to be with him. She had every right to want to be with a man who wouldn't die unexpectedly on her this time around.

There was no question whatsoever that he didn't fit that bill. At all.

There was a desk in the corner of the living room, along with a couple of large filing cabinets and a bookshelf that looked like it held reference manuals rather than novels.

Following his gaze, she offered, "I work from home. I'm a CPA."

Before tonight, Gabe might have a.s.sumed that all accountants were dry, pa.s.sionless geeks glued to their calculators and spreadsheets.

Megan definitely wasn't pa.s.sionless.

"Do you like being an accountant?"

"I do." She took a sip of coffee. "I like how numbers add up. I like the rhyme and reason. How they always make sense, and if there's a discrepancy, I know that as long as I look hard enough, I'll figure out what the problem is. And solve it." She blinked at him with those beautiful green eyes. "I take it you love being a firefighter?"

"I was never able to sit still when I was a kid. And I used to like playing with matches a little too much. Fire always fascinated me."

"Your mother must have loved that," she said in a tone that indicated just the opposite.

He acknowledged, "Not so much."

"I guess the fascination with fire makes sense," she said slowly, as if considering it for the first time. "Otherwise you might not be so willing to run straight into one rather than away from it like the rest of us."

Did she know that he was fascinated with her, too? That even when he knew he should be turning away from her, he wanted to move closer?

"You have a great family, but I have to say, some of you must have been a handful. My hat's off to your mother. And," she said with a slight question to her words, "your father?"