My mother blinked at me, seeming to remember that I didn’t know anything. “Cary was told to keep his hands off ‘her’-whoever ‘her’ is. The detectives will be coming back later today to try to pull some names out of him.”
“Jesus.” I scrubbed at my eyes, needing my face wash badly and a cup of coffee even more. “They need to talk to Tatiana Cherlin.”
“Who’s that?”
“Someone Cary’s been seeing. I think she’d get a kick out of something like this. Cary’s boyfriend caught them together and she ate it up with a spoon. She loved being the cause of the drama.”
I rubbed at the back of my neck, then realized the tingle I felt was for another reason entirely. I looked over my shoulder and saw Gideon approaching, his long legs closing the distance between us with that measured stride. Dressed for work in a suit, with a large cup of coffee in one hand and a small black bag in the other, he was exactly what I needed at just the moment I needed him.
“Excuse me.” I walked toward Gideon and straight into his arms.
“Hey,” he greeted me, with his lips in my hair. “How are you holding up?”
“It’s awful. And senseless.” My eyes burned. “He didn’t need another disaster in his life. He’s had more than his share.”
“So have you, and you’re suffering along with him.”
“And you’re doing the same with me.” I pushed up onto my tiptoes and kissed his jaw, then stepped back. “Thank you.”
He handed me the coffee. “I brought some things for you-a change of clothes, your cell and tablet, bathroom stuff.”
I knew his thoughtfulness had to come at a price-literally. After a weekend away, he should be digging his way out of a small mountain of work worth millions, not running around taking care of me. “God. I love you.”
“Eva!” My mother’s startled exclamation made me wince. She advocated withholding the words
“Sorry, Mom. Can’t help it.”
Gideon brushed coffee-warmed fingertips down my cheek.
“Gideon,” my mother began, coming up right beside us, “you should know better than to take Eva away without any means of calling for help. You do
She was clearly referring to my past. I wasn’t sure why she thought I was so delicate that I couldn’t function on my own. She was far more fragile.
I shot a sympathetic glance Gideon’s way.
He held out the bag he’d brought for me, the calm and confident look on his face conveying his total comfort in dealing with my mother. So I left him to it. I didn’t have it in me to deal with her until I’d caffeinated myself.
I slipped back into Cary’s room and found him awake. Just the sight of him made the tears well and my throat close up tight. He was such a strong and vibrant man, so full of life and mischief. It was the worst pain to see him looking so broken.
“Hey,” he muttered. “Quit the waterworks every time you see me. Makes me feel like I’m gonna die or something.”
Hell. He was right. My tears didn’t do him any good. Instead, what little relief they gave me just put more of the burden on him. I needed to be a better friend than that.
“I can’t help it,” I said, sniffling. “It sucks. Someone beat me to it and kicked your ass before I could.”
“Is that right?” His scowl faded. “What’d I do now?”
“You didn’t tell me about Brett and Six-Ninths.”
“Oh yeah…” A bit of his old sparkle came back into his eyes. “How’d he look?”
“Good. Really good.” Very hot, but I kept that thought to myself. “Although right now, he might not look much better than you.”
I told him about the kiss and the resulting fight.
“Cross threw down, huh?” Cary shook his head, then winced and stopped. “Taking on Brett took guts-he’s a barroom brawler who loves a good fight.”
“And Gideon is a trained mixed martial artist.” I began digging through the bag Gideon had brought. “Why didn’t you tell me Captive Soul had signed with a major label?”
“Because you didn’t need to fall into that hole again. There are girls who can date rock stars; you’re not one of them. All that time on the road, all those groupies… You’d drive yourself and him insane.”
I shot him a look. “I’m in total agreement with you. But I’m insulted that you’d think I’d run back to him just because he made it big.”
“That’s not why. I didn’t want you to hear their first single if it could be helped.”
“‘Golden’?”
“Yeah…” He studied me as I headed toward the bathroom. “What’d you think of it?”
“It’s better than a song titled ‘Tapped That.’”
“Ha!” He waited until I came out again with my face washed and hair brushed. “So… you kissed him.”
“That’s the beginning and end of that story,” I said dryly. “Have you talked to Trey since Friday?”
“No. They’ve got my phone somewhere. My wallet, too, I’m guessing. When I came to, I was here, wearing this”-he pinched at his hospital gown-“freakin’ thing.”
“I’ll get your stuff for you.” I dumped my toiletries back in the bag, then went to sit in the chair beside him with my coffee in hand. “Gideon’s making arrangements to get you home with a private nurse.”
“Ooh… that’s a fantasy of mine. Can you make sure the nurse is hot? And single?”
My brows rose. Inside, though, I was so relieved to see him looking and sounding more like himself. “You’re obviously feeling better, if you’re feeling frisky. How did things go with Trey?”
“Good.” He sighed. “I’d worried that the party wouldn’t be his scene. I forgot that he knew a lot of the people already.”
Cary and Trey had met at a photo shoot, with Cary modeling and Trey assisting the photographer behind the camera. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“Yeah. He was totally set on
“So you tried… after you said you wouldn’t.”
“This is
“-and in love with you.”
He released his pent-up breath in a rush, wincing as his chest expanded. “No one’s perfect.”
I had to bite back a laugh. “Cary Taylor. Loving you isn’t a character defect.”
“Well, it’s not very smart. I was such an asshole to him,” he muttered, looking disgruntled. “He could do so much better.”
“That isn’t your decision to make for him.”
“Someone needs to make it.”
“And you’re volunteering because you love him, too.” My mouth curved. “Don’t you think that sounds ass- backwards?”
“I don’t love him enough.” All traces of levity were wiped from his face, leaving behind the wounded and lonely man I knew all too well. “I can’t be faithful like he wants. Just him and me. I like women. Love them, actually. I’d be cutting off half of who I am. Just thinking about it makes me resent him.”
“You fought too hard to accept yourself,” I said softly, remembering that time with more than a little twinge of sadness. “I totally understand and don’t disagree, but have you tried talking to Trey about it?”
“Yes, I talked to him about it. He listened.” He rubbed his fingers over his brow. “I get it, I do. If he told me he wanted to bang some other guy while seeing me, it’d bother the fuck out of me.”
“But not if it were a woman?”
“No. I don’t know. Shit.” His bloodshot green eyes pleaded with me. “Would it make a difference to you if Cross were banging another man? Or just another woman?”
The door opened and Gideon walked in. I held his gaze when I said, “If Gideon’s dick touched anything but his hand or me, we’d be over.”
His brows rose. “Well, then.”
I smiled sweetly and winked. “Hi, ace.”
