“Relax. He can’t hurt you anymore,” she whispered, consoling herself.
She watched as the approaching lights came over another dip in the highway and came to a stop after turning and parking behind her.
Gabe.
She hurried to his vehicle and threw herself at him the minute he exited the vehicle.
He caught her and wrapped his arms firmly around her waist. “Well, that’s quite a greeting, sweetheart. I think I’d like to rescue you more often,” he said in a voice that contained both worry and a little bit of humor. “But then you’d have to be in trouble, and I’d hate that.”
“I missed you,” she told him, holding onto his warm, strong body with everything she had, resting her head on his massive chest.
“I missed you, too. You okay?”
She hugged him tightly and wrapped her arms around his neck. She wasn’t going to tell him about James and his stalking. The last thing she wanted was for her sweet Gabe to be involved in her mess. She had a feeling that if she looked closely, she’d find a jagged piece of metal or some kind of object that had punctured her tire intentionally. James had set this up. She could sense it, and he’d acted way too unsurprised to see her stranded.
Bastard!!
“I’m good,” she whispered quietly into his ear. “I’m always good when I’m with you.”
“It’s cold out here. Get in the truck.” Gabe looked like he hated to let her go, but he untangled them and went to open the passenger side of his vehicle.
Before Gabe could lift her up, Chloe grasped the handle along the doorframe and hopped into the seat, using the running board. She needed a few minutes in the dark to compose herself, get her emotions under control.
He closed the door carefully once she was seated. He went to her truck and gathered the things on the seat, including her cell phone, and locked the vehicle, and then pocketed the keys.
Just being with Gabe made her feel safe, and she smiled at him as he got into the truck and handed her the phone and her bag.
“You should have worn a jacket,” he grumbled, closing his door and plunging the interior into darkness.
After he started the truck and put it into motion, Chloe said softly, “Thank you. Not having a spare was dumb.”
“I’d want you to call me anyway,” Gabe answered as he started his truck and maneuvered it onto the highway. “Those tires are too damn big for you to be handling alone. I’ll take care of your truck in the morning.”
Chloe’s heart wrenched as she heard the protective note in his voice. Truth was, she had handled her last flat tire alone. She hadn’t even thought about calling James. It had been a struggle, but she’d managed.
“You’re amazing. You know that, right?” she told him quietly.
“Sweetheart, changing a tire for a lady isn’t exactly a big deal.”
It’s a big deal to me. It’s a big deal that you care about my safety, and that you don’t want me to struggle. It’s a really big deal that you give a damn.
“Little things mean a lot,” she answered sincerely, knowing just how much they really did count.
“If you think so, I’m not going to argue with you. Anything that makes you like me more,” Gabe said jokingly.
Chloe smiled into the darkness, amazed at just how quickly Gabe could make everything right again.
She tried not to think about James and the look of pure evil in his eyes. What would have happened if she had married him? He wanted her for the material things she could bring to the table. All of her brothers had been haranguing her about getting a prenuptial agreement, but she had refused because James didn’t want it. He’d told her it was a sign that she didn’t trust him. Now, she knew she should have listened to them. By the time she had changed her mind and thought it might be a good idea to have an agreement in place, she’d already known she was never going to go through with the wedding.
Chloe’s eyes were wide open now, and she didn’t doubt that he might have arranged to have her disposed of after she’d said her wedding vows. Judging by the look in his eyes, he might have done it himself just to have complete control of her money.
God, I hate those thoughts, but I know it’s possible.
She wasn’t going to lie to herself anymore. James was an opportunist who had preyed on her naiveté, and then he’d systematically undermined her confidence because she already had hang-ups about her weight. Every word, every criticism, no matter how subtle, had been an attempt to make her self-esteem sink lower and lower. Lately, his remarks had been downright cruel, and he’d dug the knife in as deep as it could get, making her feel that no other man would ever love her—not that he did.
She understood everything so rationally…now. Natalie had told her that she thought James was a dangerous sociopath after Chloe had talked about some of the really dark incidents that she hadn’t shared with anyone else.
After seeing James tonight, Chloe knew Natalie was right.
“Hey, why so quiet?” Gabe queried in a husky voice.
“I was just thinking,” she replied honestly.
“About?”
“How lucky I am to have you as a teacher,” she answered in a teasing voice. It was getting more and more difficult to think of Gabe as just a learning experience or an affair as they’d agreed to do.
“Are you ready to graduate?” He sounded worried.
Chloe didn’t ever want to leave Gabe. She already knew that. She’d been lucky enough to find him, and she didn’t ever want to let go. Unfortunately, she’d made the arrangement to help her heal, and it had helped. Now, she was stuck with the consequences. “Not at all. I think I’m still a fledgling, and I still have so much to learn. But maybe you could advance me a grade or two.” She kept her voice intentionally low and sultry. If her intimate relationship with Gabe was going to eventually end, she wanted to experience all of him.