Candace handed Pitch the drink and then sat before him on the coffee table. “You’re making progress, though. At least you didn’t hit him.” She nudged his ribs with her fist and made him smile.
“I only stopped because you were here. What happens when you’re not?”
“Vic. Don’t.” Her brows drew into a frown. “You could never do that.”
“The brother who loves him couldn’t. The one who could stomp him like a rat?” Pitch let the answer go unspoken and raised his glass to Candace before he drank deeply.
~22~
“Sure you can’t see anything?”
“I’m sure.”
“Positive?”
Giselle laughed. “Positive!” She tried to put her hands on the blindfold over her eyes and got her hands slapped for her trouble. She could feel the car decelerate and then stop altogether.
“Gabe?”
“Patience, patience,” he sang.
Giselle heard the engine silence and then the car door slammed. Moments later the door was opening on her side of the vehicle.
“Here we go, beautiful,” Gabriel took his wife’s elbow and helped her out. “Sure you can’t see out of that thing?”
“Your secret’s safe,” Giselle confirmed once again.
They only moved a few steps and then Gabriel was stopping, drawing Giselle back against his chest.
“I’m having so much fun,” sarcasm lilted throughout her words. She shrieked happily when Gabriel gnawed the side of her neck.
“Be patient. I need to position you.”
“Uh-oh, for what?”
“Quiet. Are you ready?”
“Since we left your office,” she said, giggling when he tickled her side.
“Gonna have to do something about your mouth, later,” he threatened.
Giselle turned her head back and up. “See that you do,” she smiled in the direction she judged her husband to be and sighed when his lips met hers.
“Quit distracting me,” he said against her mouth.
“Okay,” Giselle made no effort to end the kiss.
Gabriel sighed as if having the cooler head was a chore. Determined, he braced both hands to her shoulders and positioned her yet again.
“Ready?” He queried once more.
Giselle only gave an obedient nod and waited. The blindfold slipped soon after and she blinked to get her eyes to focus. When her vision cleared, she frowned as though stunned. A look of wonder held her captive.
“Gabe...it...it’s beautiful,” her eyes were wide while taking in the brick home set far off the quiet road. The Tudor styled house was almost fully enclosed by a wealth of Fir trees.
“Can we see inside?” she asked, her voice as awe-filled as her wide-eyed stare.
“We can.”
“Who lives here?”
“Us.”
Her gasp seemed to echo and then she was whirling to face him.
Gabriel’s grin was a sly one. “Only if you want to,” he laughed, when she shoved his chest.
A hint of uncertainty flickered in Giselle’s silvery blues then. “Do you think we can afford it?”
Gabriel shrugged. “We should be okay since we only have to worry about the taxes.”
“How?” Uncertainty merged with suspicion then.
Gabriel winked. “A gift from my parents.”
Giselle’s smile continued to broaden even though the news had her feeling simultaneously happy and edgy. So much so, she folded into Gabriel’s embrace instead of moving closer to the house.
“Guess Ma forgives us for going with our version of a wedding.”
