Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
“I’m sorry, Lucy.” His hand on her hip tensed, as if he wasn’t sure whether he should pull her closer or release her. “I didn’t know he’d show up. If I’d thought for a second it was a possibility, I wouldn’t have taken you there.”
“It’s fine.” It wasn’t, but she should be stronger than this. Being brought to her knees emotionally just from running into her ex was inexcusably weak.
It wasn’t even Jeff that was the problem. It was the fact that with one look, one carefully worded sentence, he could trigger every insecurity she fought so hard to banish. He wasn’t the issue.
She was.
“It’s not fine.” Gideon stepped to the curb and flagged down a cab. “Your place or mine?”
If she let him, he’d talk through this with her. Gideon might be gloriously rough around the edges with a temper that would do a Viking proud, but he never failed to be careful around her.
Except when she pushed him hard enough that he forgot he was supposed to handle her with kid gloves.
There’d be no pushing him tonight. He’d pour her a glass of something alcoholic, sit her down and demand nothing but perfect honesty about how screwed up she was in her head. He’d pull out her issues and do his damnedest to fix them. Or, worse in some ways, he’d be wonderfully understanding and tell her it was okay.
She just...couldn’t.
So incredibly weak.
Lucy didn’t look at him as he pulled open the back door of the cab. “If it’s all the same, I’d like to go home alone.”
Gideon tensed and, out of the corner of her eye, she watched him fight an internal battle. Finally he shook his head. “If that’s what you want.”
It’s not. “It is.” Maybe if she got some distance, she could get her head on straight again. It was so hard to think with Gideon so close, his presence overwhelming her in every way. She couldn’t handle it.
Lucy just needed time.
He stepped back, releasing her from her internal debate over whether she’d like him to force the issue or not. “Text me when you get back to your place.”
“I will.”
He waited until she slipped into the cab to say, “See you Saturday, Lucy.”
CHAPTER TEN
GIDEON MADE IT until Wednesday. Three long-ass days in Seattle while he met with the first of the prospective fits he had for one of his clients. The guy was an advertising genius, though he was a little too free spirit for Gideon’s straight-edged client. It might not be a deal-breaker, but it was something to take into account.
He shrugged out of his suit jacket and stared at his phone. Lucy hadn’t called and she hadn’t texted after the one letting him know that she was safely home. He had left New York with every intention of giving her the space she obviously wanted, but three days out of town had given him clarity.
She was running scared.
Seeing Jeff had screwed her up, and Gideon understood that. She hadn’t wanted to further break herself open for him, and he respected that.
But she was closing him out.
He tossed his jacket on the bed and dialed her before he could think of all the reasons it was a bad idea. She hadn’t brought him into this to work her shit out—she just wanted a husband and sex lessons. Too damn bad. She signed up for me—and that’s what she’s going to get.
“Lucy Baudin,” she answered.
“Hey.”
A long pause. “Hello, Gideon.”
He hated the awkwardness seeping into this conversation before they’d exchanged half a dozen words. If he let it, it would become downright painful. Unacceptable. Gideon had never met a challenge he wasn’t willing to go around, over or through, and a simple conversation wouldn’t be the thing that stopped him in his tracks. “How’s your week going?”
“Long, and it’s only Wednesday. One of my clients is being difficult, and I’m having to work around her just to help her, which makes everything twice as challenging.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“I always do.”
He dropped into the chair next to the desk. This wasn’t working. Lucy held herself distant—polite—but there was none of the intimacy they’d started building. He hadn’t even realized it was happening until that softness disappeared. One way to put them back on solid ground. “You home?”
“Yes. Hanging out with Garfunkel and wading through some old accounts for my current case—and drinking wine. This kind of investigating always requires wine.”
“Naturally.” He settled back into the chair and kicked off his shoes. “What are you wearing?”
Her surprised laugh was music to his ears. “Phone sex? Really, Gideon? Isn’t that a bit juvenile?”
“We already had this discussion.”
The amusement faded from her voice. “I suppose we did.”
“On second thought, don’t tell me what you’re wearing. Show me. You by your computer?”
“Always.”
“Give me two seconds.” He grabbed his laptop and brought it online. A few button pushes later and he had a video call going through to Lucy.