The Matchmaker's Replacement - Rachel Van Dyken Page 0,90
myself, but he wanted this to be his gift to us for our anniversary!”
My eyes filled with tears.
Damn, Ian! He had to go and do something nice and make me remember yet again why I loved him so much—why he was like a brother to me.
Why I couldn’t lose him. No matter what.
Chapter Forty
Lex
I’ve never met a tamale I wouldn’t devour.” I grabbed a fourth helping, then balanced a Corona in my other hand as I joined Gabi’s dad, Earl, in the living room.
“You sleeping with my daughter?” he asked without looking up.
Luckily, I had no food or drink in my mouth, though choking to death sounded a hell of a lot better than having that conversation. “Sir, I don’t know what Gabi has told you, but—”
“My wife. She has been suspecting for a while, and she says today she sees proof in how you stare at Gabi.”
I set down my beer and stared down at the floor, then back up at him. He had a dark salt-and-pepper mustache that curled around his lips. His white hair was cut close to his head and his stature was bulky, well fed. “Sir, I like your daughter, but—”
“Marie told me.” He motioned for me to lean closer. “I figure I don’t have to kill you; Ian will do the job for me. That way I don’t have to get my hands dirty.”
“Throwing your own son under the bus?”
“He’ll do better in prison.”
“He’s prettier, he’d get wrecked. Whereas you’re old, senile.” I smirked while her dad waved me off with a chuckle. At least I’d broken the awkwardness. “I give him two days, tops.”
“Boy wouldn’t last twenty-four hours.”
“Maybe we should just toss Ian in, take bets on his life?”
“Toss me in where?” Ian walked in, his eyes darting between us.
“Prison,” we said in unison.
“Who’d I kill?”
“Nobody.” Earl stared me down. “Yet.”
“You know”—I stood and patted my stomach—“I’m just gonna go find the restroom.”
I darted out of the living room and nearly collided with Gabs in my desperate escape.
“Whoa!” She tilted her head up at me. “Why are your eyes so big?”
“Honest moment, Gabs, was your dad ever involved with the Mexican mafia?”
“My dad voted for gun control.” Her cute little forehead furrowed.
“Yeah, he may be whistling another tune now.” I sidestepped her. “I had to make a quick escape. All the talk of prison and bets got me nervous.”
“Prison?” She laughed. “He threatened prison?”
“No.” I turned and smiled. “It was more along the lines of killing. Death. I’m sure dismemberment.”
She covered her mouth with her hands and choked out a strangled laugh.
“Oh, you think this is funny?”
She nodded her head while I charged her and carried her down the hall. “Where’s your room?”
“First one on the right!” she squealed. I deposited her on her feet in her childhood bedroom.
“Gabs . . .” I tsked. “Easy access? First floor? I could have just waltzed in here without a ladder? Man, I wish I would have stayed in Bellevue and gone to high school with you. Things would have been so much easier.”
“Scaled a lot of houses, did you?” She leaned against the doorframe, her smile wide, eyes happy. God, I just loved seeing her like that.
“You have no idea.” I fell back onto her bed and let out a loud exhale. “I have the slivers to prove it. Scaling walls isn’t for the weak, Gabs.”
“Good to know.” Waves of her laughter hit me square in the chest as she moved casually to the bed. Once she sat down, I moved to the side and hovered over her, needing to touch her lips so desperately that I’d completely forgotten the door was open.
“Gabi.” Her mother cleared her throat from the door. “A minute?”
I jerked away from Gabi as if we’d just gotten caught having sex, while her mother’s lips twitched in amusement. At least I had one fan.
I refused to count their dog, since it sniffed my ass and walked away as if I was a lesser human.
“Be right back.” Gabi tugged her T-shirt down over her thin frame and on wobbly legs made her way to the door. Too cute. It did something to me, something . . . powerful, to know I affected her that way.
I stood in the room for a few minutes, then realized I really did need to use the restroom. With a sigh, I walked out and blindly made my way down the hall, hoping I’d discover a bathroom.