the horizon. I’ve been dying to do it all day. He listens intently and throws in a few ideas. And here I can really see the difference with him. He’s fully invested in me and our life. I know that I come before everything with Gabe, and when we’re together I have his full attention. I also know that I’ll end up taking his advice, not because he forces it on me, but because he’s incredibly wise, and the advice he gives me will always have my wellbeing and happiness at its heart. Those are Gabe’s priorities now.
I rest my head on his shoulder, listening to his deep drawl. I love him so much. It gets deeper as time passes. Richer and fuller, like it’s slowly expanding to fill my whole heart and body. He sometimes makes me ragey, but he always makes me happy. I feel alive with him, as trite as that sounds.
The car slows, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I look curiously out of the window. We’re in Kensington and we’ve stopped in front of a tall building with a dark blue door. A golden glow lights the building’s signage.
“A banya?” I ask, turning to Gabe. “Isn’t that a Russian spa?”
He lifts my hand, dropping a quick kiss on the back of it. “I thought you could do with a good spa treatment. You’ve been stressed lately and having headaches. You can have a massage and a sauna, and I can have some vodka.”
I stare at him. “You’re not having any treatments?”
“No,” he says patiently. “Weren’t you listening when I spoke about the vodka?”
“Oh no,” I say, getting out of the car. “If I’m having a treatment, so are you.”
He steps out of the car looking as urbane as ever. “I don’t like people fiddling with me.”
I open my eyes as wide as they’ll go. “Gabe, three-quarters of London and most of the Home Counties have fiddled with you.”
He rolls his eyes. “You vastly overestimate my sexual process.”
“I don’t think I do.” I hug him, feeling the heat of his lean body against mine. “Oh, go on,” I say. “Go on. Go on. Go on.”
“You sound like Mrs Doyle in Father Ted,” he informs me. “That is not going to get you laid tonight.”
“She was a fascinating woman.” I poke him in his side. “Go on. Have a sauna too.”
He gives a put-upon sigh. “Okay, but then I get vodka.”
“Yes, dear,” I say patiently, following him into the spa.
It’s lovely inside and full of the scent of eucalyptus. Soft music plays, and the whitewashed walls and woodwork and greenery give it a very tranquil and zen feel.
We’re greeted by a burly, bearded man who introduces himself as Alex and we follow him to a changing room where two luxurious white robes wait for us. I wink at Gabe as I strip off and put my clothes in the locker provided before climbing into the swim shorts he hands me from the bag.
“Think we can nick the robes?” I ask, purely for the doubletake he does.
“No,” he says in a horrified voice. “I do not.”
“Never done that before?”
“No. I’m afraid I’ve led a very dull life, Dylan. If I wanted a bathrobe, I bought one.”
“Or got your assistant to buy you one,” I remind him.
He rolls his eyes. “Yes, that’s still engraved on my brain. There was absolutely nothing about me that even remotely suggested that I wanted a Buzz Lightyear towelling dressing gown.”
“Then you should have been more specific,” I say sweetly. “It was a life lesson.”
“It was a humorous life lesson,” he corrects me. “Or at least you thought so. I seem to recall you laughing like a drain for a few hours that would have been better spent in doing work.”
I ignore the sarcasm and eye him appreciatively. He looks as sexy as ever, even in just a simple white robe. It brings out the olive tone in his skin and that dark wavy hair.
He smiles at me. “Like what you see?”
I come closer and steal a kiss. “Especially when it’s all mine.”
“Every millimetre,” he informs me and immediately looks slightly abashed, as if he’s going to be arrested for crimes towards sentimentality.
I take pity on him. “We’re not just talking about your cock, are we?” I ask in a serious tone and squawk as he pinches my arse.
“Sassy. Get out there and get pummelled
“Pummelled? What do you mean?”
“Well, the massages are rather… strenuous in here.”