I’ve got to admit, Kale is a huge surprise. The last thing I expected to discover about Gabe Carter is that he might have a soft spot for kids, so I spend the whole ride to the batting cages in Kapolei running scenarios through my head as to why he’s doing this.

There’s the community service angle. The guy’s been known to have a serious attitude—it’s all there online, each run in with photographers and every drunken fight. I can use all my fingers and toes and it still wouldn’t be enough to count all the individual incidents I’d read about when I looked him up. With him being a former major leaguer, it would make sense for him to spend his community service teaching kids how to play baseball if he were working off some legal issue.

And then, of course, there’s the reason he proposed to me. To look good for Elite’s potential investors. It’s one thing to use a grown ass woman to make yourself look shiny, but the idea of him exploiting Kale irks me. By the time he parks his gray Audi in the parking lot of the batting cages, I’m gritting my teeth and shooting him a glare. He kills the ignition and turns to me, mouth open and probably ready to toss out something sexy, but then he pauses.

He spends a long time studying my features and then he twists around in his seat to look at Kale, who’s chatting about his volcano science project due next week. “Hey, kid, why don’t you go inside and suit up? Maggie and I will be in soon.”

He nods slowly, grinning. “You’re gonna kiss her, aren’t you?”

Gabe laughs and rolls his eyes as I draw in a sharp breath through my nose. He cuts a questioning look in my direction then glances back at Kale. “The lady looks like she’s about to rip my lips off my face, so I don’t think that’ll happen. Give us a few.”

Kale’s already climbing out of the car and swinging his duffel bag over his shoulder, but he pauses for a second to poke his head back in and arch an eyebrow at me. “He’s probably gonna warn you about my badass”—his grin widens when Gabe growls “language”—“skills. See you inside, Maggie.”

Gabe sits in silence, rapping his long fingers on the steering wheel as he watches Kale walk away. Once he disappears into the building, Mr. Fake Fiancé leans in close to me. “You’re confusing as hell.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “No, I’m not.”

He chuckles and shakes his head incredulously. “Oh, you sure as fuck are. You’re all smiles and blushes in my office and now you’re looking at me like I’m shit. Like I told Kale, I’m almost positive you want to rip my lips off.”

“You’re exaggerating.” I carve my fingers through my dark hair, fisting it into a ponytail that I let fall around my shoulders. He reaches out, the rough pads of his fingers skimming my collarbone, and brushes a wavy lock back. “Don’t do that?”

“Touch my fiancée?” he challenges. “I could have sworn we agreed that once you signed that contract, you were mine. And you have signed the contract, Maggie. Did something change between the Elite and here that voided it out?”

It sounds like he’s mocking me, and I dig my nails into my palms to keep from punching him. “No, I just—” I drag my gaze from his hazel eyes and focus on the car’s sleek center console. It’s a complete 180 from my ten year old Chevy SUV that’s due to be delivered any day now and another reminder of what I’m getting myself into. This man lives and breathes luxury. Working my fingers together, I meet his stare. “I just couldn’t help but wonder why you’re doing this for Kale, that’s all.”

His eyes thin to slits. “Excuse me?”

“I thought you might have been spending time with him for the same reason you want to marry me. Using him.” The second I say those words, Gabe’s face tightens and his hard smile sucks the air out of my lungs. I run my tongue over my lips and prepare to explain myself, but then he gets out of the car. My heart launches into my throat as he stalks around the front of the Audi, and I swear I’m not even breathing when he swings my door open. “Gabe, I—”

His hand closes around my wrist and he wrenches me to him, molding my body to his. There’s nothing rough about the way he’s touching me—one hand gripping my hip and the other tangled in the hair at the nape of my neck—but it’s the look in his eyes that draws a gasp from my lips. It’s piercing.

“Make no mistake, Maggie. Yes, it’s fucking icing on the cake that I’ll get what I want for the Elite, but we both know I could’ve accomplished that goal with any other girl on this island. I’ve been crazy to get a taste of you ever since you crashed my party and I can already guarantee that you won’t even think the words “fake marriage” after I use you the way I want—and vice versa.”

He moves his hand from my hair to cup my face, tilting my gaze up to his. “I want you. And I want to spend time with Kale. He’s a good kid. Reminds me of…”

I shiver when he drops his hand from my face and takes a step away from me. Instinctively, I lift my fingers to the spot he just touched and close my eyes. “Of yourself?”

I open my eyes to find him nodding. “Kid loves baseball, lives with his grandparents, lost a parent in a car crash and—” At my raspy gasp, he shoves his hands into the front pocket of his shorts and gives me a ghost of a smile. “Not everything about me is on Wikipedia, Maggie.”

Shame churns in the pit of my stomach, so I press my hand against it as I murmur an apology. Over and over, I say the word “sorry.” He closes the space between us and trails his thumb over my cheek before carefully tracing it over my lips.

“Stop saying you’re sorry. Look, I get it, Maggie. I can be a cocky dick.” When I murmur in agreement, he hovers his mouth a few centimeters from mine and the edges of his full lips quirk. “But stop assuming I’m a dick about everything, okay?”

“When I start calling you a cocky dick, just remember those were your words, not mine.” My retort is enough to shift the tension between us, because he throws his head back and laughs before he crushes his lips to mine. The kiss makes my head spin. Sends butterflies spiraling through me and causes every nerve in my body to come alive. When he pulls away, I can barely hear the sexy chuckle he lets out because I’m so dizzy.

He pulls my hand in his. Links our fingers. “Come on, Kale’s probably anxious to show off his badass skills.”

* * *

Witnessing him interacting with Kale is a far cry from the Gabriel Carter I've gotten used to over the last couple weeks. The confidence is still there—I don’t think there’s anything that could rip that away from the man—but he’s different. And I can't say I don't like it. I knew that he had at least somewhat of a generous side, after all, he does host parties exclusively for his staff, but there’s an easy smile on his gorgeous features as he works with Kale out on the field. I watch them from the mini-stands, ignoring my phone as texts from Lani bounce through. I’m far more interested in the ripple of Gabe’s muscles as he demonstrates the perfect swing or the way they almost collapse from laughter at something one of them says. After an hour of practicing one-on-one, Gabe sets up the pitching machine and starts in my direction.

My mouth goes dry as his smirk returns and he slips onto the bleacher beside me. “Sorry that took so long. He wants to impress a girl, so he really wants to work on his technique.”

I laugh. “Is that how you impressed girls? Working on your technique?”

“Definitely.” He slips closer to me, brushing the outside of our thighs. He pins me with a look that’s so intense I swear it’s undressing me. “Though my technique for impressing is a little more involved.”

Warmth courses over my skin. Scooting away from him, I lick my lips. “You know, I’ve lived in Honolulu a third of my life, and I had no idea we had batting cages up until today.”

“Other than this one, there’s only one more.” When I frown, he adds, “My granddad was always a huge baseball fan, so from the moment I moved in with them on Big Island, he started teaching me how to play. When I came here and realized there weren’t many batting cages, I had this one built. Lots of good kids like Kale around so it would be a shame if they didn’t have every opportunity I had.”

And there's another shock. “The sign on the front said the Alvin Hughes Batting Cages,” I stutter.

“It doesn’t have to say my name, does it?” He smiles at me like I’m a fool. “Alvin Hughes was my pop, my mom’s father. They were a lot older than my other set of grandparents but far more interested in taking me in. My dad’s parents wanted to spend their retirement in their RV, visiting the world’s biggest ball of twine and cheese museums, or whatever the fuck they were into.”

“Sounds … fun.”

“About as fun as getting a root canal. I’m grateful for Mom’s folks. They were good people, hard-workers. I figured it was fitting to name this place after Pop since he was the one who got me into playing.”

Something tight forms in the back of my throat, so I have to clear it a few times before I start, “Are your grandparents…”

There’s a faraway look in his hazel eyes as he shakes his head. My heart sinks for him again. In just a couple of hours, I’ve learned more about Gabe than most reporters had ever discovered during his career, but it’s all heart-breaking. He’s lost everybody. “They’ve been gone for a while,” he admits. “I hate it because they would’ve loved to have met you. Watch me settle down and all the domestic stuff.”

“Even if I’m a fake fiancée?”

He snorts and a moment later, I suck in a deep breath when he lifts my hand to his mouth and presses a kiss to the heel of my palm. “That’s not fake. That flush you get whenever my hands or mouth is on you.”

I snatch my fingers back, rubbing my palm to stop the tingles. “You caught me off guard.”

“God, I love it when you lie.”

Jabbing my tongue into my cheek, I turn my focus back to Kale as he swings at a ball coming out of the machine. He hits it effortlessly, doing a silly dance as it sails across the field. “What happened to his parents?”

“His dad was never really in the picture but he passed away when Kale was four or five. Drunk driver. His mom is deployed. She's from here, so he lives with his grandparents while she's gone or in the field.”

I bob my head in understanding. Though I’d never been in the same situation, I can still remember how excited the moms in my unit were whenever they got to speak to their kids during our deployments. I have so much respect for Kale’s mom, and when I tell Gabe that, he nods. “Yeah, me too. Laurie is really great and fucking adores that kid.”

“Laurie,” I sigh. Her name immediately brings to mind the hurricane that got us into this mess. “I can't wait to meet her. That is, if we're…”

I don't know why, but it aches to even consider finishing that sentence. If we're still together when she comes home from her deployment. If you haven't gotten exactly what you wanted, and we've gone our separate ways.

There’s a strange look on his face, so I release a nervous laugh and clear my throat. “You surprised me today, Gabe. In a good way.”

He lowers his forehead to mine and my heartbeat flutters. “Then here’s to more of that, beautiful.”