Change of Heart (12 page)

G
AGE HURRIED OUT
the front door, answering the phone as he looked up to see Jessie watching him curiously from the corral where she was tossing hay to several horses inside. He turned his back on her questioning scrutiny. He didn’t have any more answers for her than he did for his partners.

“Hey, Georgie.”

“Don’t Georgie me, Gage. We’ve got real trouble brewing here. You need to get in touch with Cooper. He’s calling for an emergency meeting of all the stockholders. Since he can’t do anything about the shares you own, he’s going to push for them to call for your resignation.”

“What? If not for me, we would never even have had a product.”

“Yeah, well the last one isn’t exactly doing anything good for our bottom line. It’s going to cost us even more than we thought. We just had three more banks claim our system resulted in a major loss. This is costing us millions.”

Gage pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled slowly. “How soon?”

“He’s trying to get everyone together two weeks from today, in the San Francisco office. The corporate bigwigs are all gung-ho to see the new office, and I think he’s trying to use the opportunity to schmooze them and make sure you don’t have any excuses as to why you can’t show up.”

Gage didn’t miss the accusation in George’s voice. In reality, he deserved every bit of it. For the first time, it was likely that the company would end the year in the red.

“I’ll be there.”

“Screw being there. What if you just make a decision and let us know, Gage? We’re all waiting on you. You know what Cooper’s going to do to this company if he can get your resignation, right?”

“Yeah, I do.” Gage rubbed his hand over his eyes as he made his way down Leah’s porch, pacing along the walkway between her place and Jessie’s, the gravel crunching loudly in the quiet morning. “And the other shareholders will be happy about it because he’ll make them a huge profit.”

“This isn’t just about profit. This is
our
company. We started it, together. They only joined us because they had the money to back us. Without our ideas . . . ” George sighed into the receiver. “They’re going to lay off four hundred people, Gage, all because they can hire kids out of college cheaper. These are people who have worked for us for years. Are you seriously going to just roll over and let all this happen? That’s not like you. You know we can’t let them do that.”

The pleading note in George’s voice tugged at Gage. George had known him since college. They’d written code together, graduated together, and created their first security program together. George had also been the first to warn him about the potential problems with Titanium, their latest security flop, but he’d ignored George and signed off on it anyway. He owed it to George to at least commit to showing up for the meeting.

“I’ll call Cooper. If there’s a meeting, I’ll be there. I promise.”

“Gage, man, what is up with you? It was a mistake. Move on before you bury yourself and the rest of us in this.”

He knew George was right. He should just forget about it, move on to the next program, and immerse himself in code and their next project instead of dwelling on this one error. It happened to everyone. Except it didn’t happen to him. It never had.

Growing up, he’d owed it to his mother and Dylan to be perfect. He’d made the choice to never let anyone to see what how much that precision cost him. Gage buried his concerns into a deep well, letting everyone see only the confident, successful super-human he wanted them to believe he was.

“I’m fine, Georgie. I just wanted to spend some time with my brother and my new niece.” It wasn’t a total lie. “Give me a few more days and I’ll call Cooper and straighten this out. I’ll call our lawyers, too.”

“I hope so, Gage, because I wouldn’t want to try to handle those two without you. We started this together. I want to finish it that way.”

George didn’t give him a chance to say anything as he disconnected the call. Gage wondered if George realized that it was just as likely as not that Iconics was finished, that Gage might not be returning at all.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Jessie’s voice snapped Gage from his concerns about Iconics and his partners. He looked up to see her storming toward him with some kind of whip-like object in her hand. She looked like a woman on a mission, and he was afraid that he’d just become her target.

“Nothing?”

The skeptical arch of her brow didn’t leave any question as to whether she believed him. “You come strolling out of my new therapist’s house before six-thirty in the morning and I’m supposed to buy that load of crap?” She poked a finger into his chest. “Let me make myself crystal clear to you, Gage. I like your brother and I like you, but don’t think that means I’m going to let you screw around and chase off the person I’ve worked my tail off to find for Heart Fire. She is going to make this place into what I’ve dreamed it could become. If you ruin this—”

Gage crossed his arms over his chest, taking a deep breath. “I’m not going to ruin anything, Jessie. Nothing happened. We were taking care of the kittens and fell asleep watching a movie. It was completely PG, okay? Relax.”

“Gage,” Jessie said, her tone a warning. “I need her here.”

“I get it, Jessie. Leah is going to take Heart Fire to the next level. Regardless of what everyone thinks, I’m not some player just out for a piece of ass.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You kind of implied it.” He cocked his head to one side, slid his phone into his pocket, and turned back to Leah’s place.

“Where are you going?” Jessie called.

Gage took a step closer to Jessie and lowered his voice. “Look, I don’t know what you know about her, but that woman in there needs a friend.”

Jessie glared at him. “Do you think I don’t run background checks? Nathan’s father was a politician, remember? If anyone knows how to dig up dirt, it’s Nathan’s guys.” She pointed the short whip at him. “Just make sure friendship is all you have in mind.”

As she pivoted on her heel and walked away, Gage realized he couldn’t make that promise, even if he’d wanted to. His heart had already taken his friendship with Leah to the next level, in spite of his reminders to himself to keep it platonic. He was already a goner.

W
HAT IN THE
hell are you doing?

Leah couldn’t believe she’d kissed Gage, not once but
twice.
She had never, ever, been so driven to be near a man. In fact, she’d always gone out of her way to avoid any sort of intimacy unless it was absolutely necessary. She couldn’t even blame it on being half-asleep since he’d caught her staring at him. Who knows what might have happened if he hadn’t taken that phone call. She’d let her emotions take over, lost control, and she didn’t like this feeling of helpless vulnerability.

She peered out the kitchen window to see him pacing the walkway with the phone to his ear. He didn’t look happy, and she was curious about the early morning phone call, but she wasn’t about to pry. He hadn’t pressed her for information last night when she’d opened up about her past, and she would extend him the same courtesy of privacy. She saw him disconnect the call as Jessie made her way to him.

Icy dread slid through her veins as she prayed her boss didn’t see him come out of her house. Jessie glanced at the house and Gage followed her gaze.

“Crap,” Leah muttered. They had to be talking about her, and from the looks of it, Jessie wasn’t happy. She debated going out and clearing up any misunderstanding Jessie might have but wasn’t sure what she could say.

Fat chance
, her mind whispered.
There is no misunderstanding. You spent the night with the guy, and the way you lost your head, you would have slept with him.

Leah turned away from the window and ran a hand through her hair before heading to fill the coffeepot. Jessie had every right to fire her. Even if Gage was only family by marriage, Leah was a new employee. She’d very nearly crossed a line that would’ve been career suicide.

“Are you making coffee?”

His voice was husky. She turned and caught her breath. Between his voice and the stubble shadowing his jaw, Leah was having a hard time keeping herself from being drawn closer to the early morning seduction standing in her kitchen. His gaze caressed her and Leah had no doubt from the heat she could see in his eyes, he would burn her. She couldn’t handle any more scars.

“I am. Have a seat and I can make some pancakes if you want.” She reached into the cupboard for two mugs. “Cream and sugar?”

“Just sugar.” She slid the box of small packets toward him across the counter, waiting for the coffee to brew. “Don’t worry about the pancakes. I need to get to work.”

She tried to ignore the stab of rejection, reminding herself that this was exactly what she wanted. There was no room for any sort of relationship.

“Leah, about earlier—”

She quickly raised her hand. “Don’t even. I shouldn’t have kissed you, especially after the things I said. Let’s just pretend it never happened, okay?” Gage snapped his jaw closed and she saw the flicker of indecision in his eyes. “We can be friends, but I don’t think either of us has time or inclination for anything more than that.”

He took a step closer, letting one hand fall gently on her shoulder and slide down her arm. “Are you sure about that?”

Goose bumps broke out over her arms, and Leah fought back the shiver of response to his touch. She wanted to lean into him, to go back to that moment on the couch, where he stoked the passion smoldering in her. He was intoxicating.

“This is my job. I can’t jeopardize it.” The words slipped out before she could stop them.

One side of Gage’s mouth curved up in a sad smile. “You saw Jessie.”

His comment didn’t tell her anything. It didn’t tell her if Jessie was angry or appalled. It didn’t tell her what he’d said.

“Yes.” Her brain yelled at her to push him away, but her body ached for his touch, her blood pounding in her veins.

“Leah, I won’t do anything to put you at risk. You are one-hundred-percent safe with me. I promise you.” He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting his hand fall away from her as he took a step back. “Friends.”

Gage poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip. She wondered if he was aware of the sigh of pleasure that slipped from his lips. When he opened his eyes and met her gaze again, she recognized the desire she’d seen in them on the couch.

“For now,” he amended.

L
EAH WAS HAVING
a difficult time standing still as the truck came down the driveway. She’d been fidgeting since Jessie pointed out Chase’s truck, loaded down with four teenage boys he was bringing for the weekend. She’d worked with plenty of teen boys at her old clinic, but this would be the first time she was responsible for every aspect of the sessions. There were no guidelines, no requirements, and no paperwork. The freedom was as exhilarating as it was frightening. She was completely on her own to decide what would be best for each young man after meeting with him.

“Relax,” Jessie said with a chuckle. “You look like you’re about to throw up.”

I think I might.

Leah didn’t trust herself to speak. As the truck pulled to a stop at the corral, she saw a tall man slip from driver’s seat, turning to open the back door for a large black shepherd. “Hey, knock it off, Cody, or I’m going to sic Gracie on you.”

He pointed at the boys in the truck, and the dog barked happily as he moved around the front bumper. The four boys—young men, Leah corrected herself—poured out of the truck amid a cacophony of noise.

“Morning, ladies. I’m Chase,” he said, holding his hand out to Leah.

She shook it firmly, eyeing the dog who sat at his feet. “Leah McCarran.”

She wanted these young men to see nothing but confidence from her at the get-go.

“Our new therapist,” Jessie added. She pointed to the cabin to the right of Gage’s and addressed the boys. “Hey, guys, you’ll be sharing that cabin right there.”

Chase arched a brow and his mouth quirked into a quick grin. “You’re trusting these guys to stay in the cabin alone? I hope you don’t plan on it staying in one piece?”

“It had better.” She leaned closer. “Gage already told me he’d keep an eye on them since he’s next door.”

Leah’s heart immediately picked up its pace at the mention of Gage’s name.

Stupid pulse,
she thought, cursing the way her body betrayed her.

“Well, they should be fairly quiet. All four of these guys are in the same foster home, so it’s not like they aren’t with one another all the time. They’re friends. Melody runs a pretty tight ship at her house, from what the boys have said.” He turned to Leah. “Jessie gave you their files, right?” Leah nodded and Chase lowered his voice. “Then you know about Miguel and Hector’s abuse, and that Jude is the usually the mastermind of any trouble they get into.”

Leah watched the four boys push and shove at one another playfully as they entered their cabin. To an outsider, they looked like any other group of friends enjoying one another’s company. Looking at them offered no clue to the physical abuse they’d endured—two from their father, and one from his grandmother. But Jude was different, he was simply ignored by his family, until he’d hacked into the school computer system and sent a threat to his teacher. All four of these boys shared a common dysfunctional thread, which had brought them together in a foster home and bound them for life.

Leah felt an instant connection to the boys and a surge of inspiration. These boys were at a precipice in their lives. Not boys but not quite men, at least not in anyone else’s eyes. She knew exactly what they could talk about tonight at the campfire, provided she could get them to open up and trust her in the next few hours.

She had to. There was no other option. If she couldn’t do this, she might as well pack up her belongings and head out with her tail between her legs. This was her chance to either prove herself or fail miserably.

G
AGE WATCHED
L
EAH
and Jessie trying to give the four boys a riding lesson. Neither of those women had any idea that those kids had absolutely no desire to learn how to groom horses. They were far more interested with watching the curves of the two women trying to instruct them. They might be troubled teens, but they were still teen boys, and like all sixteen-year-old males, they were walking, talking, raging hormones in semihuman bodies.

“She has no clue, does she?”

Gage turned to see Nathan walking to the small porch of his cabin, and he laughed with Jessie’s husband. “I’m not sure who’s going to get the more painful wake-up call, those women when they realize those boys aren’t listening at all or those boys when either of those two figure out what the boys have been paying attention to this whole time.”

“Yeah, what those
boys
are paying attention to.” Nathan laughed, leaning over the railing. “What do you say we go save those poor kids before they get caught staring, too?”

“I don’t know.” Gage didn’t really have any excuse to offer, especially since Nathan had just caught him ogling Leah. “I’m sure Leah and Jessie have some kind of agenda. I wouldn’t want to mess anything up.”

“Come on,” Nathan coaxed. “Jessie said I’m supposed to lead them on a ride up to The Ridge. The more the merrier.”

“She doesn’t have enough horses saddled.”

“I’ll grab Grady for you to ride. Besides, I think those four boys need to see an example of how men should treat women. With respect instead of like pieces of meat.”

Maybe, if he got to know the boys, it might make things go more smoothly later. Gage had already promised Jessie he’d keep an eye out for any trouble tonight, since he was sure to be up late with the kittens, although he wasn’t really sure what she expected him to do other than report if they left the cabin. He didn’t need any more trouble while he was here.

Gage stood up. “Okay, but only because those four need to learn a lesson.”

“Yeah,” Nathan said with a chuckle, as he eyed the group in the corral. “I’m sure it has nothing at all to do with the new, very single, therapist you rescued on the side of the road.”

Gage let his gaze slide over Leah, from her high ponytail and flushed cheeks to her long legs, encased in denim and what appeared to be a pair of Jessie’s cowboy boots. As much as he craved spending time with her, it was a dangerous proposition.

Leah was already winding her way around his heart, and he wasn’t in a position to commit anything to anyone, especially someone who needed the kind of patient tenderness she would. It was already taking every bit of fortitude he had to hold himself together long enough to focus on the decision he had to make about his business. That didn’t even take into account that now he had to prepare a rebuttal to the accusations Cooper would make to the shareholders.

“Hey, I was just kidding.”

Gage realized he was frowning and smoothed his brow. “Sorry, just thinking about a project for work. I’ll change while you get the horses, then I’ll meet you in the corral in a few.”

Gage hurried into the cabin, wondering why he was giving in to Nathan’s request. He might not really have any work to do, but he should make a call to Cooper. He needed to find out what Cooper’s intentions were and whether he was actually going to force Gage out of his own company. The scuttlebutt George had passed along wasn’t looking promising. The quick email he’d shot off to his assistant hadn’t done anything to make him feel any better, especially when his return email informed Gage he’d been reassigned to Cooper. Gage got the feeling that there was a coup in the works and being on the wrong coast wasn’t helping him mount a defense.

He slid the boots Julia and Dylan had bought him last Christmas over his stocking feet and hurried back out the door toward the corral, cursing his stupid desire. Leah didn’t want him on this ride, and Jessie wanted him there even less.

Then why are you going?

Because, regardless of his professional troubles and her request to keep things platonic between them—not to mention his assurance he would—Gage wanted more from Leah. He wanted to see her eyes darken again, the way they had when she’d kissed him this morning. He wanted to feel her melt against his body again, to have that warm desire slowly trickle through his veins when her hand pressed against his chest. He wanted to let his fingers run through her long waves again, to smell the sweet scent of her shampoo, and to hear her make that agonizingly sexy sigh while she slid her hand around the back of his neck and dragged him back down to her mouth.

Unfortunately, Leah had made it perfectly clear, she had no interest in any sort of relationship.

“W
HAT THE HELL
?” Leah didn’t miss the aggravation in Jessie’s voice when she looked up and saw Nathan heading into the corral with two saddled mounts instead of one. “Why is Grady saddled?”

“Gage is coming.”

“Why?”

Nathan turned his back on his wife to loop the reins over the railing, avoiding the death-glare she shot at him. Apparently, Leah wasn’t the only one hesitant to have Gage with them for the ride, although she doubted she and Jessie shared the same reasons for the feeling.

“Why not?” Nathan asked as he turned back toward her and arched an inquisitive brow.

Jessie took a deep breath. Leah could see she was trying to control the desire to spit out a quick rebuttal when Nathan crooked his finger at her, indicating she should come closer, and then he leaned forward to whisper into her ear.

Leah couldn’t hear what he said, but she could tell from the way Jessie narrowed her eyes that she wasn’t happy and someone was in trouble.

“Fine,” she said, glancing at Leah then at the four boys laughing near the horses before she eyed Gage, now walking their direction. “But that better be all there is to it,” Jessie warned her husband, jabbing her finger at his shoulder as she walked past him and to the boys.

Leah watched her walk away and turned back to Nathan. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he answered with a quiet chuckle. “Jessie just doesn’t like it when things don’t go exactly the way she wants them to.” He glanced at Gage. “He’s a good guy, you know.”

Leah felt her stomach drop to her toes. Had Gage told Nathan about their kiss that morning? Or worse, told Jessie? She seemed too concerned with Gage’s presence to not know there was something brewing between her and Gage.

Is there something?

Leah wasn’t sure what to even call it. She could say it was friendship. Gage was a nice guy, someone she
could
be friends with, but friendship wouldn’t cause this slow burn that traveled over her body, flushing her skin, nor would it cause the flutter in her stomach. But this wasn’t simply sexual attraction either. That would imply that this was just a moment of lust, that there weren’t tender moments or a shared emotional connection. Gage was far more than just a hit-it-and-quit-it kind of guy. Neither of them was interested in a one-night stand or meaningless sex. But as far as she was concerned, all of this was something she didn’t have time be distracted by.

She opened her mouth to respond to Nathan, but his grin let her know he was assuming plenty from her silence.

“Hey, Leah, looking forward to a ride?” Gage asked as he walked past her.

Leah’s eyes widened at his suggestive comment and was sure the blush that flamed her cheeks could have been seen from outer space.

Nice. That probably looks guilty as hell.

Either he enjoyed making her uncomfortable or he was the king of unintended innuendoes. She opted for the latter.

Nathan laughed. “She’s riding a pregnant mare who barely moves out of a walk. Between her riding Pumpkin and you on Grady, the two of you are going to be eating a crap-ton of dust at the back of the pack.”

Gage shot her a broad grin. “I’m sure we’ll be fine bringing up the rear, right?”

She was on this ride to spend some time getting to know the four boys before the bonfire tonight or they’d have little to discuss while there. In fact, that might be the only thing that saved her from riding next to Gage the entire way. If not, then it was going to be nothing more than an exercise in raising her heart rate and making her feel like an idiot for lusting after some rich playboy who was out of her league. Leah wasn’t about to be stuck at the end of a line of horses kicking up dust with no possible way out of the humiliation that she’d sentenced herself to.

“Sorry, I have to hang with the boys. Looks like you’re stuck bringing up the rear on your own.”

It came out more severe than she’d intended, and she bit her lip, as if that could draw back hastily spoken words. Gage lifted a daring brow and grinned at her boldness, looking amused by her comment rather than offended. Nathan clapped him on one of those bulging biceps.

“A strike out for the ladies’ man? I thought I’d never see the day you got shot down.”

Gage’s gaze never left her face. “We’ll see.”

Both of her brows arched high in surprise before Leah bristled at his braggadocio. “I doubt it.”

She didn’t want to continue the tête-à-tête when she was sure it would only end in frustration, especially when she wasn’t sure what she wanted, only what she
thought
she wanted. And that was something completely different from what she
needed.
That was what she was finding so confusing.

She’d come here to do a job, a great job, and instead was finding herself distracted by the one thing she had never wanted and had avoided at all costs for the last ten years. She was not about to fall for some rich playboy just because he was nice to her and made her feel a few tingles. Okay, maybe it was more than a few. Maybe it was more like an electric current charged from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.

“Leah,” Jessie called. “You ready to mount up?”

Leah hurried toward her boss and the mare she held, grateful for the interruption. Reminding Leah to check the cinch before mounting up, Jessie held the reins as Leah slipped her foot into the stirrup the way Jessie had shown her. She reached for the saddle horn and swung her leg over the saddle, settling into the barely padded seat and mentally preparing herself for the ride ahead.

Jessie reached out a hand and patted her calf. “You’ve got this. Just relax and let Pumpkin have her head. She’s as calm as they come. You focus on getting to know these four on the way up to The Ridge.”

Leah slid her hands around the reins as she nodded, and Jessie reached up to loosen them and press her hand onto the mare’s neck. “This will be a piece of cake. I promise.”