Wild Forces: A Friends to Lovers Romance (O-Town Book 2) by Karen Renee (summer reads .TXT) 📕

shadow me, and we’ll let T-Minus take your place in the booth.”

I smiled. “Whatever you say, boss.”

A little after two-thirty in the morning, Adam found me behind the bar loading test-tube shaped shooters into trays for the waitresses to sell to the dancing masses.

“You had your fill?” he asked.

I shot him a sideways smile. “Not exactly, why do you ask?”

He shook his head. “You’re lying. But I ask because I’m thinking about sending you home early.”

Slipping the last tube into the tray, I tossed my hands out like a dealer in Vegas. “Whatever you think is best, boss-man.”

The music blared, but I still heard his chuckle. “Stop calling me ‘boss-man’ and you can leave right now.”

I nodded and smiled. Wiping my hands on a nearby bar towel, I wasted no time getting out of there.

Over the past six weeks, I’d perfected quietly unlocking Cassie’s door. For whatever reason, she hadn’t taken over the master bedroom in her apartment even though she wasn’t seeking a new roommate. In an effort not to wake her, I showered in the master bath before I climbed into bed with her. Even though I went home ‘early,’ I was exhausted mentally and physically.

Between a thunderstorm and my first dream being a nightmare, I had trouble getting back to sleep.

I sat on the balcony listening to the pelting rain. Over the past two weeks, I had dreams about Asher shooting Cassie. Even though I never saw the first shot, his threat to shoot her again replayed in my mind at the worst times. My subconscious had latched onto that damn memory and served it up to me in my sleep.

The rain fell sideways in sheets and was so noisy I didn’t hear the sliding glass door. Cassie’s hands slid over my shoulders and down my chest.

I leaned back, looking over my shoulder. “I didn’t mean for you to wake up, baby.”

“You didn’t wake me, the pouring rain did. Why are you sitting out here?”

Rather than answer her question, I wrapped a hand over her arm and stood up, forcing her to come around the chair.

“Gabe,” she cried.

Once I felt her body heat at my back, with my free hand I grabbed her leg. “Hop up, Cassie. Can’t give you a piggy-back ride if you don’t.”

“I don’t need—”

Squeezing her knee, I squatted and jerked up and she wrapped her legs around my waist.

“This is silly, Gabe!”

I closed the sliding glass door behind us, broke into a slow jog and went the long way around her sofa. Her laughter, absolute music to my ears, made me smile. Positioning so she wouldn’t hit her head, I sat down on the sofa and leaned back.

“Gabe, you are crazy!”

She tried to let go, and I grabbed her arms. “Not crazy, Cassie.”

“Totally crazy,” she whispered.

“Why are we whispering?”

She shrugged. Her hands started roving along my chest with purpose.

“Cassandra, are you starting something?”

She hummed in deliberation. “Not really. I want to know why you can’t sleep, G-Rock. It’s not like you haven’t been up for nearly twenty hours.”

I shook my head and sighed. “Just having trouble sleeping, honey.”

With surprising nimbleness, she slid out from behind and quickly straddled me. “It’s more than that, Gabriel.”

I put my hands on her hips. “It is, but I don’t want to saddle you with it.”

Her chin dipped. “Tell me.”

I stared into her eyes in the dimness. “I can’t stop hearing what he said when we found you.”

“Who?”

“Asher, honey.”

I felt her body stiffen before she said, “Oh.”

“Yeah. And that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Are you having dreams about it?”

“Sometimes. We walked in and he threatened to shoot you again. In my dreams, he’s taken aim and I always wake up right after the gun goes off.”

She hugged me, and kissed my neck. “God, Gabe. Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“The dreams have only happened a few times.”

She leaned away. “Which really means five or six, I’m sure.”

I sighed, which gave me away.

She chuckled. “I knew it. So, I don’t remember much of that because I had conked out after seeing people enter the room. Why didn’t he shoot me?”

My eyes closed and I turned my head for a moment because just thinking about it angered me.

Looking back to her, I said, “Because Clint shot him first.”

“Really?”

I stroked her hips. “Yeah. In fact, that reminds me. I never thanked him enough for that alone.”

She cupped my cheeks, her thumbs rubbing my beard. “Can’t say I’ve had a lot of time to think about Asher’s death with all my ongoing family drama. I’m certainly happy Clint kept him from shooting me again. And seeing as you two work out together like crazy, I’m sure Clint knows how grateful you are.”

I shook my head. “Not so sure, but I’ll be sure to remind him tomorrow.”

Lightning lit the room just long enough for me to see the devious smile on her face. “You mean later today. And since neither of us are sleeping, it’s a fabulous time to tell you, I’ve been given the green light on sex and I’m on the pill. So, pretty sure I can help you relax.”

I squeezed her hips. “How long were you gonna keep that from me, Daughtry?”

“Had your mother not dropped by earlier, I’d have told you then, Sullivan.”

I smacked her ass. “That’s for calling me ‘Sullivan.’”

She laughed while trying to pull up my shirt. I yanked her shirt over her head. Since that forced her hands away from me, I quickly pulled off my tank. Her hands roved my chest, but I sucked her nipple into my mouth.

“Gabe,” she gasped.

“Yeah,” I murmured against her breast.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said.

Then, I made love to her with Mother Nature’s strobe lighting as an accompaniment.

WE DIDN’T GET UP UNTIL after eleven-thirty in the morning. Clint didn’t eat lunch until much later, so I gave him a call.

“Ramsey,” he answered, and I knew he hadn’t checked the display which was unusual.

“It’s Gabe. You busy?”

“I got a moment. What’s up?”

“Cassie and