Fumbled (The Girls of Beachmont #1) (16 page)

“Yes ma’am,” I said,
returning the hug.

“But don’t kiss his
ass,” Abbi said good-naturedly.

“I’ll keep that in
mind,” I said. “I hope I get to see you both before you leave.”

“I’m sure we will,”
Marta said. “Be safe.”

Tabor threaded his
fingers with mine as we walked to the front door. I hated to leave him, but I
wanted to give him space. When we stepped onto the front porch, he looked down
at me and lifted my chin so we were looking at each other.

“Told you they’d love
you,” he said.

“They’re really great,
Tabor.”

“You know you don’t have
to leave.” He pulled my body against his, relaxing into me. “I want you to
stay.”

“I’d love to. But you
need to be with your family.”

“I
need
to be with you,” he shot back.

“Go inside. Call me
later.”

“Yeah,” he muttered and
kissed my cheek. “Okay.”

He walked me out to my
car and opened the door but didn’t shut it. Instead, he draped his arm over it
and gazed down at me.

“Text me when you get
home?”

I nodded and turned the
key in the ignition after he shut the door. He squatted next to the door and
tapped on the window so I rolled it down.

“Yeah?”

He wagged his finger,
beckoning me closer, so I did as requested and willingly accepted his final
kiss of the night. He ran his knuckles along my jaw and his lips quirked into a
smile.

“Goodnight,” he said.

“G’night,” I answered,
watching as he started walking away.

I threw the car into
reverse but when he called my name I stopped.

“I love you,” he said
with a smile. My heartbeat increased every time I heard those words come out of
his mouth.

“I love you back.”

D A N I

I didn’t plan on going
back to Tabor’s house the next day, but he insisted that his mom and sister
wanted me around. Marta and Abbi proved to be as charming and entertaining as
Tabor. Their closeness wasn’t contrived or superficial; it was real and sweet.
I felt at ease with all three of them because they were so similar to my own
family. I found myself joining in on the banter the more comfortable I became.

When I asked Abbi about
her fiancé Marshall and how they met, she looked at Tabor and scoffed. “Didn’t
tell Dani about the blind date from hell, huh?”

“He failed to mention
that,” I remarked. “Do tell.”

Abbi scooted forward as
if she was letting me in on a big secret. “It was the blind date from hell,”
she whispered before bursting into laughter.

Tabor laughed and I
looked between the two of them, waiting for the punch line, but it became clear
that there wasn’t one.

“Abbi was set up by
Tabor’s old girlfriend,” Marta explained, much to my horror. I knew there were
others, but I didn’t want to
know
about them. “Tabor and Jenny were on and off for years during college, and when
he was drafted—they were off. But when she heard Tabor was coming home
for the weekend she ‘accidentally’ ran into Abbi.”

“Yeah, on purpose,” Abbi
interjected. “She did the old ‘whoops, I didn’t see you there’ when I was at
the coffee shop. Chick nearly made me spill hot coffee on myself.”

“So what happened?”

“Jenny happened,” Tabor
pointed out. “She was always good at getting people to talk, and she’d pick the
bits of info that would benefit her.”

“Yeah, like when I
mentioned I was single, I swear, her ears perked up like a rabid dog. She was
practically drooling at that bit of information,” Abbi laughed. “She suddenly
remembered this friend of hers that just got out of a relationship and he was
ready to get back out there.”

“But there was a
stipulation,” Marta said.

“And that was?”

“Dear, sweet Jenny was
worried about this friend Max and didn’t want to abandon him.”

“And you went out with
him why?” The words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them and I slapped
my hand over it, completely mortified.

“That’s what I asked
when Abbi called me,” Tabor said, patting my leg. “But she insisted that Jenny
was up to something and she wanted to catch her in a lie. So she agreed to the
date.”

“Yeah, and she was
uncomfortable about being the third wheel, so she asked if I thought Tabor
would join—just as friends,” Abbi mocked, using air quotes.

“So what happened?” The
tale was entertaining, but I liked the glimpse into the sibling dynamic they
shared.

“Abs told me about her
theory, so I went for the show. When we walked up, Jenny was in deep
conversation with the friend. She saw me and started smiling and waving at us,”
he said with a smirk.

“Tabor said hello and
Jenny stood up, expecting a hug or something. The look on her face when he just
sat down was priceless. I was waiting for her to introduce me, and she was so
lost in her own head that she waved at the guy next to her—‘Marshall, this
is Abbi.’ And the moment the words came out her eyes shot open. ‘Marshall
Maxwell. I call him Max. Or Marshall.’ She was caught in her lie, but she just.
Kept. Going,” Abbi said as she laughed.

“Marshall actually
looked pretty entertained too, because he sat back in his chair sipping his
coffee as the crazy Jenny show unfolded,” Tabor said.

Marta was shaking her
head and chuckling at the story while I looked on, waiting to see how it played
out.

“So Tabor looks at
Marshall and points at him. ‘So how do you know Jenny?’ And Marshall just shook
his head. ‘Just met her five minutes before you two walked in. She was in the
middle of begging me to play along with her game.’ The look on Jenny’s face was
perfect,” Abbi said through her laughter.

“Turns out, Jenny had
been running around telling people that we were still dating and when she found
out I was coming home for a visit, she had to do something to make it all
believable,” Tabor said. “That was the last time I saw her.”

“She ran out of there so
fast,” Abbi said.

“And Marshall?” I asked.
He was, after all, the reason for the story.

“I walked over to
introduce Tabor and myself and apologize for Jenny and her crap. He was
adorably sweet and barely paid any attention to Tabor. And a big selling point,
he didn’t know who Tabor was.” She smiled shyly before narrowing her eyes, a
playful gleam in them. “I think you and Marshall have something in common.”

“So I left the two
lovebirds alone and the rest is history,” Tabor finished.

“Not exactly,” Abbi
interjected. “Because about a week later, Jenny showed up to the same coffee
shop and tried to get Marshall to go out with her. I guess it was some sort of
payback, but he turned her down and said he was seeing me. Needless to say, she
was
not
happy. And word got around
what she tried to pull.”

“Wow, that’s pretty
bad,” I huffed when the story was done. “When was the last time you saw her?” I
asked Marta and Abbi.

“I see her every once in
a while at the grocery store, but she practically runs in the other direction,”
Marta said.

The rest of the
evening’s conversations were full of stories about Tabor as a kid and how much
he and Abbi fought growing up. They were so easy to talk to and made me feel
like one of them. It must have been a Hunter family trait. Despite my efforts
to give them alone time, they insisted that I go to dinner.

When dinner was over,
they suggested we go back to Tabor’s for dessert and a movie.

And when the movie
ended, they demanded that I stay the night because it was late and staying at
his place would be safer.

“Goodnight, you two,”
Abbi teased. “Just keep in down, will ya? Some of us have a long plane ride
tomorrow.”

My cheeks burned and if
I’d known Abbi a little better, I might have pushed her or come back with
something witty. But my mouth was frozen shut and I wanted to die.

“Ignore her,” Marta
cooed, wrapping me in a warm embrace.

“I have a sister…I know
how it goes,” I confessed.

“Thank you for loving my
boy,” she whispered in my ear.

She released me from her
hold and gave me a knowing wink, but all I could do was nod lamely.

Walking into Tabor’s
room felt weird with his family in the house. Nothing was going to happen, but
it still felt inappropriate. Tabor tossed me a T-shirt and I scurried off to
the bathroom to change my clothes. I pulled the shirt on and it swallowed me
up. Of course it did, considering Tabor’s size. I laughed and pulled my hair
into a ponytail so I could wash my face, and when I looked down I spotted a
brand new toothbrush on the side of the sink.

I peeked my head out of
the door and saw him reclined on his bed, flipping the channels on his TV.

“Is this for me?” I
asked, waving the package in the air.

“Sure is,” he said
without bothering to see what I was talking about.

I loved that he did this
little thing, because it meant so much. Sure, it was just a toothbrush, but it
also showed that he cared and he wanted me to be comfortable in his place. And
I was.

As I finished getting
ready for bed I stared at my reflection, wondering where the time had gone. I’d
met Tabor over a month ago, but I felt like I’d known him forever. Despite my
comfort with him and his family, I was not so at ease with the sleeping
situation. He had undressed into nothing more than boxers and was still channel
surfing.

Sleeping at his place
the other night had easily been the best sleep I’d ever had. I wasn’t sure if
it was him or the bed that lulled me into my rest, but I was willing try over
and over again until I figured it out.

I turned off the lights
and joined Tabor. He inched closer to me, until we were huddled together in the
middle of his king-sized bed. My back rested against his chest, the warmth of
his skin offering me contentment.

“What are you thinking?”
he whispered in my ear.

“Your mom and Abbi are
great.”

He nuzzled his face into
my hair and began kissing my neck, sending chills all the way to my toes. His
hand was splayed over my stomach, holding me against him, and my eyes began to
flutter closed but I jolted upright.

“What’s wrong?” he
asked, sitting up next to me.

Tabor’s hot breath was
tickling my shoulder before he started kissing a trail that had no rhyme or
reason. I shook my head, silently telling him to stop, but I didn’t really want
him to.

“I thought you liked
that,” he murmured against my ear before kissing my jaw.

“I do,” I answered
breathlessly. “But your mom…and Abbi…we can’t.”

I laid back and Tabor
leaned over, partially covering me with his body. My hands roved over his body
as he began to kiss me. His hand was caressing the side of my face and it was
absolutely perfect.

“Mercy,” I conceded
against his mouth and his soft snicker was my reward before he deepened the
kiss.

***

I woke up cradled in
Tabor’s arms as he slept. He was snoring lightly, his warmth radiating off his
body. I tried to free myself so I could get dressed, but he only held me
tighter.

“I need to get up,” I
said, turning to face him.

“No,” he mumbled.
“Sleep.”

“Your mom and sister are
leaving in a little bit and
you
have
to get ready to go to your friend’s house,” I said.

“
We
have to get ready,” he reminded me, probably knowing that I
really hadn’t forgotten.

“Okay, so now you really
have to let me get up.”

I kissed his neck and
pushed away so I could move. I threw some water on my face and tried to wipe
away the smudged liner and mascara that had escaped their boundaries in my
sleep. My clothes were still folded neatly on the countertop and I made quick
time of getting them on.

When I emerged from the
bathroom I found Tabor sitting on the edge of his bed, stretching and yawning.
I averted my eyes because it was like looking into the sun. That and I knew
he’d give me a hard time if he caught me checking him out.

“Are you leaving?” he
asked, his brows pinched together.

“No, just heading to the
kitchen.” I smiled. “Join me when you’re ready.”

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” I said,
adding a wink.

I closed the door
quietly behind me, but screamed when I turned around. Abbi was coming from the
hall bathroom and had her arms crossed over her chest.

Tabor’s steps could be
heard from the other side of the door, and when he opened it he looked between
Abbi and me, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Sleep good?” Abbi asked
and then cringed. “No. Never mind. Forget I asked.”

I laughed and looked at
Tabor, who was trying not to give her any more ammunition.

“Are you leaving?” she
asked, looking me over, ignoring the reason I’d given her.

“Nah, just getting
something to drink.”

“I’ll be there in a
few,” Tabor said, kissing the tip of my nose before closing his bedroom door.

“You do realize he’s
completely fallen for you, right?” Abbi said, dropping the volume of her voice
to just over a whisper. “I’ve never seen my brother as happy or at ease with
anyone as he is with you.”

“Really?” I asked.
Because I felt the same way, and it made my heart soar hearing her words.

“Really.”

Fifteen minutes later,
Marta joined me in the kitchen where I was frying a package of bacon and
scrambling eggs. Tabor’s fridge was stocked with enough food to feed an army,
but watching the way he ate, the army consisted of one—Tabor.

“Dani,” she said,
standing next to me at the stovetop.

I looked at her and
smiled, encouraging her to continue.

“I’m glad the two of you
found each other. Tabor’s wanted to find someone, but he’s never been able to
open up because it’s too hard. He’s been hurt a lot.”

I continued stirring the
eggs, though I was only going through the motions. I turned the heat down and
gave her the attention she deserved, considering she was opening up about her
son, the man I loved.

Marta took my hands in
hers and looked directly into my eyes. “Be patient with him. He can be stubborn
when he thinks he’s right, and even worse when he knows he’s wrong. But the way
he talks about you, I know he’s more serious than you realize.”

Tabor entered the room
and his face-splitting grin was infectious.

“Mom, you cooked for
me?”

“That would be the work
of your girlfriend.” She squeezed my hand and let go before walking over to
give her son a hug.