The Honeymoon Period (The Austin Series) (15 page)

‘After you
flaunting yourself last night I felt an uncontrollable urge to show everyone
that you were already taken,’ he said with an unapologetic shrug.

‘I’ve got a
bloody tattoo with your initials Gabe, I’m already showing everyone I’m taken.
Jesus Christ, now I’ve got to wear polo necks until they fade.’

‘Dad’s
taking us to a nice restaurant tonight, you’ll need to dress up.’

‘I can’t
wear a dress, none of my dresses will cover this up,’ I hissed pointing at my
neck.

‘Use makeup.’

‘I don’t
wear foundation Gabe, and I think these are too dark to cover even if I
borrowed Lexi’s.’

‘So we’ll go
shopping and get you a dress that covers it up, easy.’

‘No, the
easy option would be you not marking me in the first place. If we find a dress,
you’re buying it for scarring me. Don’t do it again Gabe, I
hate
them.’

‘You’re so
adorable when you’re angry, kiss me.’ He tried to pull me to him and I pushed
him away.

‘No, go
away and let me get ready, I’m mad with you. No kissing until I’ve calmed down.’
He grabbed me and tightened his arms around my waist and I pushed on his abs as
I wriggled. ‘I mean it, let me go. How would you like it if I chewed all over
your neck and left hickies?’

‘Do you have
any idea how much you’re turning me on fighting me and pouting baby?’

‘Gabe,
seriously let. Me. Go.’ I slapped his chest and he just laughed and moved in to
run a trail of light kisses up my neck. ‘Gabe, stop I need to … to get ready.’

‘You really
want me to stop?’ he murmured as he hit my favourite spot.

‘Yes,’ I
moaned.

‘That
sounded like a no.’ He moved round and sealed his mouth over mine and I slipped
my arms around him and gripped his buttocks as I slid my tongue into his mouth and
enjoyed kissing him. He went to pull away and I dug my nails in, breaking the
surface of his skin.

‘Owwww, you
did that deliberately.’

‘May have,’
I shrugged. ‘Now you have some marks as well.’

‘Fuck, if
we didn’t have this appointment, I swear …’

‘You swear
what
?
How would you punish me, Gabe? I love when you spank me and withholding sex
will never happen, so what would you do?’ He gave me a scowl and wiped the strips
of blood off his bottom knowing I was right.

‘I’ll think
of something, don’t worry.’

I smiled
sweetly and made a start on my hair which I left slightly damp and loose and
did my mascara. I found my red polo neck ribbed jumper in the wardrobe and put
that on with my black skinny jeans and my new high heeled black ankle boots and
found him in the bedroom stuffing his phone and wallet into his black jeans. He’d
put on a pink shirt and his favourite pair of black wing tip oxfords.

‘I love
that you don’t dress like normal teenagers.’ I walked up behind him and
squeezed his butt.

‘I’d have
thought you’d have loved seeing me with my toned arse and pants hanging out the
back of a pair of oversized joggers.’

‘Much as I
love your arse, no. I like my men to look smart and you fit the bill.’

‘So do you,’
he replied as he turned around and eyed me up and down. ‘Wow, polo necks make
your tits look
huge
.’

‘They are
huge Gabe, stop eyeing them up. I need to go and face your dad and we need to
get going. Are you ready to drive yet or shall I?’

‘I better
wait and see how I get on next week if that’s ok with you?’

‘Sure, come
on. I’m not facing him alone.’ I tucked my purse and phone into my handbag and
we headed downstairs and found Robert in his lounge reading the paper. I felt
sick and felt my face turning pink and Gabe squeezed my hand as we went in. Robert
looked up and gave me a great big Austin copyright smile and put his paper down
and stood up.

‘Hello Mia,
I’m so sorry about earlier, I should have rung the doorbell before coming in.’
He stepped forward and held my shoulders and kissed each cheek.

‘Please Mr.
Austin, it’s your house, it’s me that should be apologising, I feel rather
embarrassed.’ I looked down at my feet as he stepped back.

‘Yes,
Gabriel did say. So shall we forget?’

‘Like the last
incident?’ I dared to look up at him.

‘What
incident?’ He replied as he winked. ‘Do you have a minute to talk to me in
private, Mia?’

I looked at
him confused and then up at Gabe who nodded his reassurances and kissed my
forehead.

‘We need to
leave in five minutes Dad, I’ll go wait in the car.’ Gabe shut the door behind
him and I stood wringing my hands as Robert sat down.

‘Mia
please, I don’t bite, come and sit down.’ He nodded to the wingback chair
opposite and I did as I was told, he had the same confident and controlling air
about him as Gabe, but so much more so.

‘It’s
rather intimidating being asked to have a private conversation with your boyfriend’s
father after … well ...’

‘Mia, my
son’s happy, and part of that appears to be a very healthy sex life with you,
so please don’t be embarrassed or intimidated by me. The way you’ve looked
after him since his accident tells me how much you love him and I’m very
grateful that he has you in his life.’

‘I sense a
but coming, are you concerned about our living arrangements?’

‘Not at
all,’ he replied with a firm shake of his head. ‘I know he hates being apart
from you. I was the same with my wife at your age and with you both owning your
own properties, I’ve no concerns over that.’

‘I hate
being apart from him too, Mr. Austin.’

‘When did
we become formal again, Mia? It’s Robert, you’re practically family now.’

‘So what
is
concerning you, Robert?’ I asked as I bravely looked him in the eye. ‘I know
the look, you both have it.’

‘Mia, this
isn’t an easy thing for me to bring up, so I apologise in advance. Gabriel believes
very strongly in marriage and family, which makes me concerned because I
understand that you don’t want these things.’

‘O God,’ I
felt my cheeks flame. ‘
We
hardly talk about that and you want to discuss
my personal issues with me?’

‘I’m sorry very,
Mia. I understand that they are personal to you. That being said, by way of you
being with my son, along with the fact that he tells me he’s prepared to give
up something he desperately wants to stay with you, it makes it personal to me
too.’

‘I made it
clear that marriage and children weren’t on the cards for me from the start
Robert, I even tried to end it when he said he’d give that up to stay with me.
I don’t know what more I can do.’

‘Mia, I see
how happy he is with you, but I can’t see him sacrifice something I know he
believes in so strongly and I’m afraid to admit that I desperately want
grandchildren.’

‘So what
are you saying?’

‘I want you
to try and work on whatever issues you have with regards to marriage and
children and see if you can resolve them. If you can’t, then I’m asking you to
walk away from him.’ He said it softly, but as I looked back up at him, I knew
he meant it. I swallowed hard.

‘You’re
giving me an ultimatum?’ I was slightly stunned.

‘Yes, I am.
Much as I care for you Mia, I love my son more and I can’t sit back and watch
him suffer.’

‘I’ve
already had counselling Robert, Gabe doesn’t know, but it’s not helped those
particular issues.’

‘What sort
of counselling and where?’

‘At Uni,
through the support centre.’

‘Was it the
counsellors fault or are you already closed off to dealing with these issues?’
he asked with a cocked eyebrow as he crossed his legs. I bit my lip as I
considered his question.

‘Possibly a
bit of both.’

‘You’re not
prepared to try harder?’

‘You make
it sound easy, Robert. You don’t know my history and how hard it is for me.’ I
heard my voice raise a little, as well as the annoyance in it and bit my lip
again to try and reign it in. I didn’t do well with authoritative men, they
reminded me too much of my own father.

‘I’ve
offended you, please accept my apologies, that wasn’t my intention.’

‘Really?
Because I’m not sure what your intention was other than to ambush me with an
either or option, then expect me to make an on the spot decision.’

‘You’re
right, I have ambushed you and for that I apologise too Mia, however I needed
to make myself perfectly clear. I value your relationship with Gabriel, he has
changed for the better since he met you, but I know what he wants and I won’t
see him sacrifice that.’

‘So you are
asking me to finish with him?’ I felt my stomach churn and my heart constrict
and I had to break his serious gaze and look down in my lap.

‘Not
immediately, no. I’m prepared to pay for you to have private therapy with a
highly respectable therapist known for his results. I’d pay as long as it takes
for you to come to understand what drives your fears, Mia. The harsh fact
remains though, that even after this, if you are still resigned to not wanting marriage
or children, if you really love Gabriel as much as you say you do, you’d have
to let him go,’ he said firmly. I sucked in a deep breath.

‘It’s not
that simple, Robert,’ I replied as I looked back up at him. ‘Even if I did
change my mind I’m … I’m … fertility challenged.’

‘Yes, he
has made me aware and I was very sorry to hear that, Mia,’ he said sincerely.
‘I’m not opposed to the two of you adopting. That said, I would also be
prepared to pay for the best fertility expert to work with you both before we got
to that point.’

I sighed
and closed my eyes and pinched the top of my nose. I was out of my league
trying to negotiate with Robert and whilst I felt he’d unfairly put me on the
spot, I had to admire him risking the wrath of his son if I chose to walk away,
all in the name of protecting him. Mum would do exactly the same for me if she
thought I was unhappy. ‘Are you expecting me to give you an answer right now?’

‘No, but
equally I’m not prepared for this to drag on, Mia. The longer it does the
harder it will be for all of us. Please think about my offer and be assured
that money is of no consequence if you need a lot of time with the therapist,
as long as I know that you are trying, that will reassure me. I leave tomorrow
night, so if we don’t get a chance to talk in private you can always contact me
on my personal mobile number. Consider it open to you anytime you want to talk,
Mia. My son loves you, so that makes you important to me too. I want to help in
any way I can to make this work with you both,’ he said firmly as he looked at
me and let me see he was serious, he really was trying to help, not drive me
away. I exhaled and closed my eyes, this was heavy. Two months into dating too
heavy, but at least he hadn’t offered me money to walk away from Gabe, I’d have
been so insulted there would have been no coming back from that for my
relationship with Robert. I looked at him again and he smiled kindly at me.

‘Does Gabe
know that this is what you wanted to discuss with me?’

‘No,’ he
replied with a firm shake of the head. I had to admire his directness and
honesty.

‘What does
he think we’re discussing?’

‘Your
living arrangements. I’d prefer our discussion not to cause a rift between the
two of us, but I equally understand that you may need to share this with him.’

‘I wouldn’t
want it to come between the two of you, I know how much he values your
relationship.’

‘And I
don’t want to come between the two of you either, but I need to make sure my
son stays this happy.’

‘I
understand that.’

We both
jumped when the car hooted outside.

‘You’d
better go Mia, thank you for hearing me out and I’ll look forward to seeing you
both later for dinner.’ We both stood up and I looked at him awkwardly, what
was I supposed to say after all that? He moved toward me and pulled me into a
hug, surprising me. ‘Mia, you’re so good for him. Please think about my proposition
carefully before dismissing it.’ I felt him kiss the top of my head, just like
Gabe did to comfort me, then he let me go. I tiptoed up and kissed his cheek.

‘I will
think about it, I promise. See you later.’ I headed out of the room and pulled
the door behind me and let out a big sigh before rushing outside, getting into
Gabe’s car and starting it up before I looked over at him.

‘Ok? I told
you he’d be cool about us moving in.’

‘He was,
very cool about it and the incident this morning. He
really
loves you,
Gabe.’

‘I know and
I’m lucky we’re so close after we went through that rocky period. He loves you
too, you know, for being such an amazing girlfriend and making me so happy,’ he
grabbed my hand and kissed it before I put the car in gear and headed down the
drive. I focused on the road, at least driving around was helping me get to
know the city and driving took my mind of the terrifying dilemma I had ahead of
me. We were nearly at the apartment when I felt Gabe’s hand squeeze mine
resting on the gearstick. ‘Baby are you ok? You haven’t said a word since we
left.’