by Katee Robert
No way could she find any single person in there. Elle smacked the next number down, wondering if maybe she should just wait by the front door. Eventually Gabe was bound to finish with his business, whatever it was, and come looking for her. When he didn’t find her on the country floor, he’d try to find her.
Wouldn’t he?
This time when the doors opened, it was techno blasting through the space. Even though this room was slightly less crowded than the other, the dancing was just as suggestive and the music…cripes, she didn’t even hear words.
Elle was so out of her element it wasn’t even funny.
There were only two options left—the main floor or the top one. Crossing her fingers, she pressed the number five and hoped for the best. At least there was no one in the elevator to witness her spiral into self- doubt. Or, worse, trying to chat her up.
At least this time when the doors opened, there was only the faint sound of classical music and a soft murmur of voices. Finally, something she could relate to. Even if Gabe wasn’t here, she could actually ask someone where the best place was to find him.
Plan in place, Elle marched over to the bar. Then man behind it was either in his early forties or one of those guys whose hair went silver early. After taking in his unlined face, she decided it was probably the latter. He gave her a winning smile that had to earn him a lot of tips. “What can I get you?”
The very last thing she needed right now was alcohol. “I’m looking for Gabe Schultz. We were on the country floor and the bouncer said they had a problem he needed to take care of.” Crap, what if she wasn’t supposed to tell him that?
The guy didn’t look surprised. In fact, his smile never even flickered.“Offices are on the first floor. Not sure if that’s where he’d be but, as you can see, he’s not up here.”
Seemed easy enough, and she was smart enough to recognize a dismissal when she heard it. Obviously this guy wanted nothing to do with her as soon as he pegged her as a nonpaying customer. “Thanks.”
She waited for the elevator, suddenly exhausted. After all the excitement and chaos, she just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. If she got to do it in
Gabe’s arms, then all the better for it.
The street-level bar was quieter than the rest, but maybe that was just by comparison. Aside from the handful of people around the pool tables, everyone was sitting and drinking. She looked around, wondering where the offices were situated. Since she hadn’t seen any possibilities of hallways or doors while walking in, they had to be in the back.
Elle wove through the tables, walking parallel to the bar. Sure enough, there was a hallway tucked into the back corner of the room. She followed it, noting the restrooms just around the corner, and kept going. The offices had to be back here somewhere. As she turned another corner, she caught the murmur of voices—a woman and a man.
That wasn’t Gabe…right?
Walking slower, she strained to hear what was being said, but it was no use. There was only the tone. She couldn’t catch a single word. Finally, Elle gave up and pressed her ear to the door, ignoring the guilt of eavesdropping.
A woman laughed. “Oh, sweet cheeks, you have no idea.”
“I’m sure I do. I’ve been around the block a few times. This is nothing new.”
There was no mistaking the amusement in Gabe’s voice. Elle’s heart gave a half beat and took up residence somewhere south of her right ankle. Surely he didn’t mean what it sounded like?
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Only the pretty ones. I can’t believe you flew up here.”
“How else was I supposed to get you back to L.A.? Because all my phone calls obviously weren’t cutting it.”
All her phone calls? Oh God, he’d been on the phone with this woman while he was in Elle’s house.
“I know you were having a hard time and I’m sorry for taking so long with stuff up here. As soon as I get back down to California, we’ll figure this all out.” Wait, what? He was going back to L.A.? And he hadn’t told her? Not to mention the woman he was going with.
“I’m just glad you’ll be back.”
Elle’s breath tore through her lungs. Surely this was a mistake. She was misinterpreting what they were saying. She had to be. Panic welled, so thick in her throat she could barely breathe past it. The door was heavier than she expected—which probably accounted for the muted voices—but she got it open enough to slip into the room.
The sight that met her stopped her in her tracks. Gabe stood close to a tall, purple-haired woman.
Too close. At the sound of the door, he turned to face Elle, wiping his mouth. The world went white around the edges, the entire room spinning slowly before slamming into focus. There was no mistaking the lipstick smeared across the back of his hand, or the conversation he just had.
In a rush, all of Elle’s fears swarmed her, each demanding their due. In a flash, she was nineteen again and standing in the middle of a group of her friends. Jason had his arm around a new girl, despite the fact he’d taken her virginity less than forty-eight hours ago. Her heart thudded in her chest as his grin turned vicious. “What? Did you think I’d ever be satisfied with a frigid bitch like you? About as sexy as fucking a corpse.” And then he’d turned and walked away, laughing at her the entire time.
Not again. Never again. She’d been so sure Gabe wasn’t a lying, cheating bastard after their week together, but apparently her first impression had been right. They just had sex and he was already kissing some other woman and making plans to jet off to California. Oh my God, he’d played her for a fool. Not only that—he’d brought her down to his level.
Her mother had been right all along.
“You…” So many words crowded forward, she couldn’t get more than the single one out.
Gabe leaped away from the woman, as if she’d caught fire. It was far too late for that, though. Elle had already seen the truth. Distantly, she noticed how beautiful the woman was in her designer clothes and edgy purple hair. Just the kind of woman Gabe would really want, the kind who understood the game better than Elle ever would.
The room blurred and swirled around the edges.
She had to get out of here. Right now. Because next he’d say he could explain and, if she sat around long enough, she’d probably believe him. Because, God, hadn’t he talked right over every single one of her fears, lulling her into believing he actually cared? In the face of everything that happened tonight, the very idea was laughable.
Gabe crept toward her, hands out like she was a skittish horse. He should know better. “Elle? Babe, breathe.”
She shook her head. He’d lied to her then, and he’d lie to her again if she gave him half a chance. And, chump that she was, she’d fallen for it. Guess she really hadn’t learned from her mistakes with Jason.
Well, darn it, she was going to learn from them now.
The resolution calmed her frantic breathing. She backed up, holding up a hand when he made as if to follow. “Look, you’re obviously busy here, so I’ll just leave you to it.”
“No. Goddamn it, Elle!”
The damn door was nearly her undoing. As Elle fought it open, she could feel Gabe walking toward her as if they were bound by some freakish connection. But that was crap. There was nothing connecting them but a string of bad decisions.
She should have kept her damn panties on. Finally, the door opened enough for her to slide through. She thought she heard Gabe yell her name, but Elle didn’t stick around to find out. Tears blurred her vision and her entire focus narrowed down to getting the heck out of this stupid club and getting herself home. She’d been a damn fool to show up in the first place.
Choking back a sob, she burst onto the street, nearly tripping over her own feet in the process.
A sudden, completely irrational urge to call her brother arose. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pulled out her phone and flipped through the contacts. It was only when she pressed the phone to her
ear that she paused to wonder what time it was in Japan right now. Before she could change her mind and hang up, Ian answered, “Hey, Ellie.”
She sniffed, trying to get control of her emotions. “Hey.”
“What’s wrong?”
Elle shook her head, wiping at her eyes, but the tears wouldn’t stop. Now that she had him on the line, she didn’t know what to say.
All the warmth disappeared from his voice. “Tell me what happened. Now.”
This was a mistake. She should have known better than to call Ian, especially when she couldn’t stop crying, but there was no help for it now. If she hung up on him, he’d be on the next plane home. A little thing like going AWOL would mean nothing to her brother if he thought his little sister in trouble.
“Who is he?”
Of course he’d pick up on the fact this was about a guy. Her brother was too smart by half. Elle swallowed, wishing she had a tissue to blow her nose. “It’s not a big deal. I’m sorry I bothered you with this.”
“Ellie.” Ian sighed, some of the stone-cold-killer leaching out of his tone, replaced by the brother who’d wiped her tears when she dumped her bike and skinned her knee. “Please tell me what happened.”
She sniffed again. “I…I think I made a mess of things.” The tears started up again, worse this time. “I really l-liked this guy, a-and it’s ruined. Everything’s r-ruined.”
“What guy? Your boss?”
“N-no.” The enormity of the last two weeks cascaded down around her shoulders. Not only did she try—and fail—to seduce Nathan, she’d slept with his brother. Then…then she went and lost her idiot head and actually started to fall for him when all he wanted from her was sex to take the edge off before he could get back to L.A. and another woman. Elle pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to stifle the sob threatening to emerge. “I d-don’t know w-what to do.”
“You can’t go to Mom and Dad’s like this. Mom will freak out. Are you still friends with that woman— Roxanne or whatever her name is?”
“Yes.”
“Call her. Either get a cab or have her come pick you up, but don’t drive tonight, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered. Just like always, Ian’s take- charge attitude centered her, even if it didn’t quite counteract what she’d just done. If he knew… No, she couldn’t tell Ian. He’d kill Gabe.
“Do you want me to call her? Or, shit, is there anything I can do but sit here and listen to you cry on the phone? Not being able to help you is killing me, Ellie.”
She wouldn’t be able to hold back this sob forever—Elle had to get him off the phone before she gave it voice. “Can I call you tomorrow, when I’m… you know?”
“Yeah.” He sighed.“Do that. I’ll be home in a few weeks—everything will be better then.”
Everything would be better and nothing would be better. Having Ian around wasn’t going to change how things had blown up in her face with Gabe.“I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Picking a direction at random, she started walking. Once she calmed down, she’d find a place and call a cab. Except the idea of riding home alone in the back of one nearly sent her to her knees. Without her brother’s calming presence, her sobs came so fast now they were nearly one long keen of despair. Elle wrapped her arms around herself, wanting her brother, wanting her friend, wanting to go home, basically wanting a freaking time machine to take her back two weeks so she could beat herself over the back of the head for ever thinking that climbing into bed with Nathan was a good idea. It wasn’t a good idea. It was the worst freaking idea she ever had, and it’d sent her into an unmatched downward spiral.
She didn’t even recognize herself anymore.
21
What the fuck was wrong with that woman? She came bursting into the room, took one look at him, and hightailed it out of here, obviously hell-bent on thinking the worst of the situation. She’d been so horrified to see him wiping lipstick off his face, she hadn’t waited around for an explanation.
Lynn hadn’t kissed him, not like that. She’d just done her usual kiss-on-each-cheek and Elle had opened the door before he’d had the chance to wipe off the smudge of her damned lipstick he could still feel mucking up his face.
By the time Gabe hit the street, Elle was long gone and not answering her phone. He got to his car in record time and practically flew to her house, but the lights were off and obviously no one was home.
Shit, what if she was in trouble? Spokane wasn’t exactly the crappiest place in the world, but bad things did happen from time to time. A woman walking alone at night could be more than enough to get the predators sniffing around. Especially if she was as pretty as Elle.
Goddamn it. If she hadn’t run off like that, they wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. He dialed without looking and held the phone to his ear. After three rings, Nathan picked up. “What’s going on?”
No point in going into how many ways the night had gone from fantastic to fucked up. “There was a misunderstanding and Elle took off. I can’t find her.”
“You sure she didn’t go home?”
“I just checked her house, and her phone is going straight to voice mail. Last I saw her, she was practically running away from the club.” From him. Again. Christ, this was becoming a habit he could do without. He’d thought they were beyond the snap judgments and her hoity-toity attitude. Apparently it was something they’d never get past. “Where would she go?”
“Her brother is deployed right now, so my guess would be either Roxanne’s or her parents’.”
Gabe thought fast. Elle would be a mess. Between the sex and the date itself, he didn’t see her being able to face her parents, especially not this late at night. “Do you have her friend’s number?”
“Let me see.” There was the faint sound of his brother tapping through his phone and then Nathan was back. He rattled off the number. “Look, man, there’s a good chance that if she’s there she doesn’t want to see you. I mean, if I’m reading the situation right.”
“You are.” Damn it, taking her to the club was a mistake. Gabe should have known business would intrude on their night, but he’d wanted to show her how his half lived. How it wasn’t as terrifying and foreign as she believed. There’s no way he could have anticipated Lynn showing up—or Elle jumping to the worst possible conclusion.
Look where that got him. “Thanks, Nathan.” “No problem. Fill me in tomorrow.”
“Will do.” Gabe hung up and barely waited for his screen to clear before he typed in the number. A female voice answered. “This is Roxanne.”
He placed her as the same woman Elle had been out to dinner with the night he’d given her the flowers. She’d been on his side before, maybe she would this time too.“Roxanne, this is Gabe. I’m loo—”The phone clicked and went dead.
What the? Gabe shook it, frowning. No way she just hung up on him. Who did that? Gritting his teeth, he dialed again. This time it barely rang once. “What the hell do you want?”
Obviously she’d talked to Elle. That was good. It meant Elle was on the phone before she turned hers off. Which meant it was far less likely that she’d been hurt or attacked.
“Do you know where Elle is?”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
Relief nearly sent Gabe off the road. She was okay. Pissed as hell, but okay.“Is she with you? Is she okay?”
“What are you talking about? Lord, I swear, men these days are idiots. Look, she doesn’t want anything to do with you so just leave her the hell alone. Okay? Okay.” Click.
Gabe forced his foot off the pedal and considered trying to track down where this Roxanne chick lived. No, he couldn’t do that. Elle was probably freaked enough without him showing up to shake some sense into her like some crazed stalker.
Even if that was exactly how he felt right now.
Flipping a U-turn, he headed back north. There was nothing else to do tonight but try to outrace the demons
in his head, every single one of the bastards demanding he give up and let her go. Elle thought she was too good for him. She always had. She’d had her fill of slumming it, and she was ready to get back to living the dream and waiting for a gentleman to come along and sweep her off her feet.
Well, fuck that. Didn’t she realize true gentlemen weren’t the type to sweep anyone anywhere? It was men like Gabe—the type of man she labeled Neanderthal and wrote off—who excelled at that sort of thing.
Well, he sure as hell wasn’t done.
Gabe scrolled through his phone and dialed Elle’s number again. This time it rang. “Hello.” Christ, she’d been crying. He could hear it in her voice. “Elle.”
“What do you want?”
Okay, so he hadn’t been expecting her to be okay with him after she’d taken off, but the frostiness in her voice iced him out more efficiently than if she’d hung up on him.
“Babe—”
“No, you don’t get to call me that. Not anymore.”
Every word out of her mouth was a knife in his gut. “What the—”
But apparently she wasn’t going to let him finish. “I don’t want your explanation.” She hesitated. “I don’t want you.”
So she was just going to sit on her throne of judgment and look down on him? The idiot woman was so sure she was right, she didn’t want to hear anything he had to say. So be it. He’d never had to explain himself to country corn princesses before and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start now. He didn’t need this shit in his life.
Gabe should have kept his goddamn mouth shut, but it was too much on top of everything else. “Yeah? Because you didn’t say that earlier tonight.”