Gabe pushed his chair back from his desk, and Bex smiled at him from his computer screen. He’d pulled the images from their photo shoot into his computer to select the best shots for processing, and staring at her, here—naked and gorgeous, with the morning light glowing on her skin—felt like sharing an intimate moment with her. Only she wasn’t here right now, and she should be.

He tossed his phone from hand to hand before dialing. It was only yesterday that he’d dropped her back at her place, made love to her again on the couch in her living room, shadows spilling across the wall. He felt like the whole thing was one long date, yesterday blending into today. Was that how people built a life together—day by day?

A vision of Bex in her white dress sang to him. He was going to sound too eager if he called her now. Except he was eager. So why the hell lie about it?

“Hello?” Bex’s voice on the line was like a light in the morning.

“I’m about to look at your pictures.”

The purr of her voice. “Is that so?”

“Yes, but I keep feeling like it’s not fair that I get to look at these alone.”

“Well, I’d love to come look at them. But I have a thing at my house at noon. Want to come over and show me them here?”

Yes, he did.

“There’s nothing I’d like more.”

Bex opened the door wearing a pair of cutoff jean shorts and an emerald green tank top, her hair piled on her head in a bun.

“Morning, gorgeous,” Gabe said. Bex hadn’t told him when to come over, so he’d arrived early. He was going to drink in every moment with her. Why the hell not?

“Morning,” came her smile back.

She held the door open for him. “Maybe you can set up in my office?”

Gabe nodded and carried his laptop into her house. Most of the time he avoided showing his images raw, and he waited until the photographs were perfect before he displayed them for anyone. The processing you did was half the magic of photography. In post-production you could manipulate colors and make everything seem like real life, but better.

But he pulled out a chair for Bex and located the images of her on his computer. The laptop screen cast its glow onto her skin, and she looked luminous and content as she sat beside him.

They flipped through the photographs, and Gabe grew more and more nervous because she didn’t say anything and her pretty eyes filled with tears.

At last, they reached one of the final images from the shoot. It was a photograph that Gabe had taken after they’d had sex—a picture just for him. Her body was relaxed, and her face was soft in those moments just before she’d pulled her dress back on.

“I look…” Bex’s voice trailed off. She started again. “I look adored.” She pressed a hand against her lips, and her voice wavered. “How come you look at everything like it’s beautiful?”

He pressed a kiss to the soft curve of her shoulder. “Because everything is beautiful. Even the dark, ugly parts you want to hide. They’re proof of a life you’re living.”

“I want to live,” she said, scraping her hands through his hair. “Maybe I’ve spent all this time just existing because it felt safer.”

He nodded with his lips still on her skin. “There are no guarantees in life. I think we both know that to be true.”

A raw laugh burst from her. “Yes.”

Gabe pulled back and captured her eyes. “So live with me, Bex.” He spun her chair to face him, letting Bex see his face, so open for her. She looked terrified, but also half in love. “Love with me. And I’ll show you how beautiful it all is, too.”

She smiled and reached for him, pressing a kiss on his lips. “You sure know how to talk pretty, Gabriel Marx.”

“I know,” he teased. “Speaking of pretty. I can’t wait to show these off.”

She bit her lip. “Even the naked ones?”

“I’m going to be honest with you, honey. I don’t really want to share you with the world. But these pictures…” They could make my career.

“No, it’s okay.” She nodded at him. “Just maybe not the last one.”

His shoulders loosened, and he kissed her forehead. “Deal. You are an angel.”

She smiled. “So where are they going to be shown?”

“The Illusion Arts Gallery. I was hoping to take you there today.”

“Sounds like a date, Gabe.” There was a smile in her voice, on her lips.

Gabe shook his head and teased her back. “It’s not a date. It’s a business meeting.”

Bex snorted. “Right. How is it that you can sound so convinced when you’re talking out of your ass?”

He dropped his hands to her bare knees. “Is that a yes, then?”

She rolled her eyes. “Okay. If you can wait until after lunch. There’s a crowd coming if you’re okay hanging around.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

Bex led him into the kitchen and hauled an old waffle iron onto the counter with a thunk.

“Waffles?” he asked.

“And bacon.” She lifted a shoulder. “It’s a thing.”

“Okay, then.”

Gabe sliced strawberries while Bex manned the waffle iron, and somehow, when Sam and Aderyn and Emma and Colton piled into her house, he wasn’t surprised. For as much as Bex claimed to keep her heart to herself, it was wide open—filled to the brim with loving her friends and family.

She deserved that kind of open love back. He was going to give it to her. They were already getting so much closer. After yesterday in the desert, everything had shifted. Everything was starting to mean more.

“You again,” Sam said without heat as he ambled into the kitchen. Bex had moved into the dining room to set the table, leaving Gabe and Sam alone.

“Me again.”

“You better take good care of my sister.”

“Oh, god. Stop it, you two,” Bex shouted from the other room. Gabe grinned, picturing her cringe and the way she would be rolling her eyes.

He looked back at her brother. “It’s nice that you’re so protective of her.” His stomach clenched. “I’m not used to having people to answer to.”

“No?”

Gabe stiffened. “I’ve only been in Vegas a few years, so I’m more of a lone wolf at this point.”

Sam’s hand landed on his shoulder. “We’re sort of a pack, here, Gabe.”

“I can see that. And for the record, I don’t plan to hurt her.” But what if he did? Bex was terrified of bad things happening, but he knew as well as anyone that there were things he couldn’t control. Like the possibility of getting sick again.

Sam nodded. “Good man.”

Gabe followed Sam into the dining room, but his chest felt tight. What if he became the thing she was so scared of?

Bex smiled at him from across the table and pulled out a chair for him. He forced the thought away and took his seat.

They all sat, elbow to elbow at Bex’s dining room table, eating waffles and drinking mimosas and beer. Gabe remembered the uneaten pancakes he had cooked for Bex. Maybe this was a breakfast-food truce. So far, today had brought him much, much better results.

At two o’clock, Bex started cleaning the table, which didn’t seem that unusual until Emma called her out on it. “Is this a sign that we should be leaving? Are you kicking us out?”

Bex blew a hair out of her face. “No, just, Gabe was going to take me on a business meeting. And I don’t know what time we’re supposed to get there.”

“Uh-huh.”

Bex blushed, which made Gabe smile.

“We’re good until five,” he told her.

“So you guys can stay,” Bex announced.

Emma rolled her eyes and drained her mimosa. “We’re taking the hint.”

“Are we?” Sam asked.

Aderyn steered him by the elbow toward the door. “We are.”

“Same time, same place, next week?” Colton asked.

“Of course.”

Bex gave her friends a round of kisses and hugs, and then she was Gabe’s again.

“You still want to see the gallery?” he asked.

“Well, that’s why I really invited you to stay for lunch. Not for your talent or your amazing body. For your insider status.”

“My amazing body?” he teased.

Bex shook her head. “Let’s go.”

The gallery, to Gabe’s relief, did not disappoint. Bex’s mouth rounded in an O as she stepped inside the Illusion Arts gallery.

“I have to admit, you are good at surprises.”

His chest warmed, and he whispered down by her ear, “I know. Although, I think your surprise in the desert was the best one yet.” He nibbled her ear, and she squealed, her laughter like sunlight.

“Gabriel Marx.”

The two of them spun to see Kevin descending the stairs from the gallery’s upper level. Kevin sure did like a power play, didn’t he?

“And who is this young lady?”

Smart ass. Kevin knew who Bex was. He’d seen the pictures, and she didn’t have the kind of face you forgot.

Gabe kept his hand on the small of Bex’s back. “My friend, Bex Kingsley.”

An uncomfortable look crossed Bex’s face, and he wasn’t sure if it was because Kevin pressed a kiss on the back of her hand or because of what he’d said.

“Always a pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman.” Kevin laid it on thick and oily, and Gabe swallowed a spike of anger.

“Any chance you have a moment to talk in the back, Kevin?”

The gallery owner looked between him and Bex. “Yeah, okay.”

They strode toward the back room, but even though this meeting was Gabe’s idea, Kevin was the one to speak first. He slouched against the back wall of his storage room. On the shelf at his back lay a stack of mats, a coiled measuring tape, and extra brochures to fill the caddy out front. “That’s the girl. You sleeping with her?”

Yes, Gabe thought. He forced the image of Bex aside. “None of your business, Kevin. But she’s spoken for.”

Kevin smirked. “Pretty piece of ass like that? Can’t blame me for asking.”

Gabe wanted to shove Kevin—hard. Instead, he forced his face into a measure of calm. “Are we still good for the showing?”

“Yeah, bud. As long as you come through on your end.”

He bristled. They were not buds. “Okay, thanks.”

Gabe followed Kevin out of the room, and Kevin moved back to Bex’s side like a fucking magnet. He wrapped an arm around her and whispered something in her ear.

Dammit. Gabe needed to get his woman out of here. “Thanks again, Kevin,” he called over his shoulder as he steered Bex out of the gallery and onto the sidewalk.

His heart thumped in his chest as he stopped her half a block away. “What is this thing with us, Bex?” It felt wrong to do this here, but he was paralyzed by anger.

“I don’t know.”

“Because Kevin just asked me if we’re friends or lovers and I don’t even know anymore.” He reached for her hand. “It feels like both to me.”

Bex’s face pulled tight. “I know Gabe. I’m just—I have a job to do.”

He sighed. He’d thought she’d gotten over that. “I don’t want you to stop doing your job, gorgeous. I just want you to give up looking at every man like he’s an opportunity. I want to be the only one for you, Bex. I want you to be mine.”

Bex hesitated and bit her lower lip, and dammit—dammit—he was going to lose her. He knew she was skittish, and she had her reasons, but they didn’t seem like enough to stop them from this thing that could be so great if they could just give it a try.

Gabe pulled her close with a hand at the small of her back and the other cupping the back of her head. “Say yes, gorgeous. Be mine.”

Bex drew her nose alongside his, and Gabe could feel her tremble. “Okay,” she said, so close that when she gave her answer he could taste it. “Yes.”

“Thank you.” He cupped her chin and drew her lips to his.