Kissing Under the Mistletoe - By Marina Adair Page 0,89
he didn’t want me. So when my mom died I had literally no one. Until Richard showed up, mature and handsome with his Italian roots and accent. He charmed me into believing I was special and wanted, and then charmed me right into bed.”
Gabe rested a hand on top of hers, and she melted at the look in his eyes. The look of a guy who wanted to make everyone’s world safe, but with her and their past, wasn’t sure how. “Do you still love him?”
“No. After Richard left I was crushed, but then Holly came along and I was too scared to be anything else. That last time he came to see me I realized that I was more in love with the idea of having a family than I ever was with him.”
“Thank God.” Gabe kissed her long and hard, his fingers fisting in her hair, holding her to him. It was as though with that one statement he had given himself permission to love her. He might not be in love with her, but she could tell in the way his body shook and how fiercely he collected her to him that he was feeling every bit of this intense bond that she was.
When they came up for air, Regan was straddling him, legs locked around his back, and Gabe was holding her as though he would never let go. As though she was his.
He kissed her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, and then buried his face against her neck. “It would have been difficult to go after someone that you loved.”
Everything inside Regan stilled. She didn’t let go of him; didn’t open her eyes; didn’t even breathe. “What do you mean?”
“After that night...” Gabe pulled back, cupping her face between his big, strong hands and staring into her eyes. “After I confronted you and Richard, he went to Abby, told her about the affair and begged for a second chance. Really, he needed time for the last round of funding for their new winery to close.” Oh. My. God. This could not be happening.
Regan knew exactly how much money Richard had raised. And the exact date it had closed. It had gone in and out of Holly’s fund in under thirty minutes. Unable to reach Richard, she’d called an old college buddy who was a lawyer, asking hypothetical questions about liability and possible ramifications. Hypothetically, if the account had been in her daughter’s name with Regan listed as one of the signers, she could be charged with aiding and abetting.
She’d never discovered whose money he’d stolen. Until now.
“We all thought he was serious about changing, about making it work with Abby. Hell, they were the couple of the hour. Six months later funding closed and the next day Richard and twelve million dollars disappeared. The bastard left Abby alone to face the investors and to take the blame, which is why she moved to Santa Barbara. She was too embarrassed to come home. And the cops started sniffing around, convinced that she had conspired with Richard, and made her life a living hell for two years.”
They’d sniffed Regan too—asking about the account, the missing money, treating her like she was guilty. As soon as they realized she was broke and going nowhere fast, they left her alone with the direct instructions to contact them if she heard from Richard. Which she hadn’t. Nor did she think she ever would.
Regan looked up at Gabe, all protective and fierce and incredibly handsome. And he was looking at her, for the first time, like part of that fierce protectiveness was for her.
It would be so easy to tell him the truth. Tell him that she wanted so badly for Holly to have something that proved her daddy loved her, she had naively helped Richard open that account.
She searched his face, looking for some clue that he would believe her. That what they had just shared trumped the past. He had believed her before, but it had taken six years and eleven jobs before he came around. Would he believe her again? And if not, what would that mean for her and Holly and their new hometown?
CHAPTER 14
Regan hurried out of Party to Go Go holding a bag full of favors for Holly’s tea. There were enough for fifteen kids, one for every classmate coming. Each kitty bag had a kitty pencil, kitty eraser, kitty candy, and sheet of kitty stickers.
An errand that without Holly at her side should have