Change of Heart (21 page)

Empathy ripped at her for the anguish she could see in his face as she gave him a sad smile, cupping his cheek. “I know you probably don’t want to, but we can go outside and talk.”

Blake shook his head, dropping it so she couldn’t see his face. “Some blind date I make, huh?”

“I’m not exactly in a dating frame of mind either.” She glanced back at the table where Jessie, Nathan, Julia, Dylan, and Chase all waited, watching Bailey. “You sure you don’t want to just skip out and leave them behind?”

“Bailey would never forgive me.” He looked at the woman on the stage. “She thinks she’s saving me from myself. She has no idea.” His blue eyes cleared suddenly, as if he slipped on a mask, and he smiled brightly at Leah. “I think we need drinks.”

“I don’t think—”

Blake pulled her toward the bar. “Then I need one. I’ll get you a soda.”

Leah clearly recognized an attempt to drown misery. She couldn’t fault him, she’d done it enough in her life. “Okay.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they approached the bartender. “Bart, I need a Coke for my girl here, and give me a double Gentleman Jack neat.”

“Now that’s a drink I can get behind.”

Leah felt her breath catch in her throat. She could pick that husky voice out in a crowded room. What was he doing here?

Gage turned around, letting his gaze slide over her slowly. “Don’t the two of you look cozy?”

“G
AGE
!”

He didn’t miss the surprise in her whiskey-colored eyes, the same as the drink he was about to finish. Gage tossed it back in one swift motion, trying to dull the pain of finding her on a date with Bailey’s friend.

He’d hurried back to Jessie’s after his meetings, hoping to find her at her place so that they could celebrate his success. Not only had he been able to keep his company intact, but he’d also been able to acquire four new investors in Apotheo, more than enough to get started before the first of the year. He was finally going to tell her the truth about why he was at Jessie’s and tell her he was going to find a house in town, and he wanted her to stay with him.

But when Dylan texted him and told him to meet everyone at The Watering Hole to watch Bailey sing, he figured the conversation could wait until they were alone. He just wanted to see her and hold her in his arms again. The last thing he’d expected to see was Blake dancing with her, the two of them snuggling on the dance floor like lovers.

Okay, so maybe
snuggling
was a bit of an exaggeration. But that didn’t stop the raging jealousy from knotting and twisting his stomach. Bile rose in his throat making the whiskey taste sour as he slid the glass toward the bartender.

“Bart!” He pointed at his glass, motioning to the bartender that he wanted another. “Put the drinks for the happy couple on my tab, too.”

“Gage.” Her voice was as cold as his was. “I’m surprised to see you back so soon.”

“Obviously.” He glanced at Blake. “Good to see you again, Blake.”

Blake looked from Leah back to him. “Do you want me to go?” he asked, directing his question to Leah.

“Yes,” Gage answered.

“No.” She glared at Gage. “Would you like to join everyone at the table? I’m sure your brother would like to see you.”

Gage slid from the barstool and looked up at the stage where Bailey sang. She’d just finished a fast-tempo song that had most of the dancing crowd heading back to their tables to quench their thirst and launched into a melody he recognized as a slow ballad, her voice rich and sweet.

“Mind if I steal your
date
for a dance, Blake?” His gaze never left Leah’s face, even when her eyes shot flames at him. He could see more in the depths, something that looked more like pain. Why would she be hurt? She’d been the one to make love to him and go out on a date with a stranger just a few days later.

Blake looked to Leah for confirmation. Gage didn’t miss her slight nod just before Blake took his drink and leaned toward her, whispering something he couldn’t quite make out.

“Aw, is lover boy mad about sharing?” Gage asked as Blake headed back to the table. He reached for her hand to lead her out to the dance floor, but she jerked it away from him, following him without touching. “You’re going to have to let me touch you if we’re going to dance, Leah.”

She let her hands drop onto his shoulders, but she kept her distance. He wasn’t about to let her off that easily. He hadn’t forgotten the way she melted in his arms, so he slid his hands around her waist, drawing her close, until the front of her body was crushed against his.

“What do you want, Gage? Another romp in the sack, so you can bail at first light? Once wasn’t enough?”

“Excuse me?” He looked down at her and could see the betrayal in her eyes. “I wasn’t the one practically humping someone else’s leg on the dance floor.”

“You’re disgusting.” She shoved him away and went back to the table, retrieving her purse. “Tell Bailey I’m sorry, but I can’t stay.”

Jessie stood up quickly. “Do you need a ride home?” She looked at Nathan. “Come on.”

“I’ll take her home,” Blake stood up.

Chase waved him off. “You’ve been drinking. I can’t let you drive right now.”

“I’ll take her home,” Gage moved behind her, refusing to let her move past him.

“Go away, Gage. You’ve been drinking, too.” Leah tried to shoulder her way through, glaring at him.

“Here,” he said, slapping his keys into her hand. “Then you drive
me
home.”

“Gage,” Dylan warned. “Just let her take your car, and I’ll drive you back later.”

Gage narrowed his eyes at his brother. “Fine.” He looked around the table at the others. “Fine. Take the car, enjoy your drive.”

He leaned close to Leah so that only she could hear, his lips brushing over the spot behind her ear that he knew would make her shiver with yearning. “But I hope that every second you’re in it reminds you of the last ride we had together.”

“Trust me, Gage,” Leah said, smiling up at him sweetly. “It’s been easy to forget.”

J
ESSIE JAMMED A
finger into his chest. “I told you this was going to happen. I warned you to stay away from her.”

She threw her hands into the air, and Nathan reached for her wrist, pulling her toward him, trying to calm her tirade. Gage just clenched his jaw and looked around the table at the group. Jessie was furious, but Julia and Dylan looked concerned. Chase and Blake simply looked amused.

“What the hell’s going on over here? You guys were louder than the band. Where’s Leah?” Bailey asked as she wandered over.

“Ask this guy,” Blake said, tossing back what was left of his drink and jerking his thumb at Gage. “He took her out for a dance and pissed her off. Although your cousin seems to know more than she’s letting on.” He pointed at Jessie, deep in conversation with Nathan in the corner as he tried to settle her.

Bailey tipped her head to one side and gave Gage a reprimanding glare. “Please, tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Gage wasn’t about to be put on trial in the middle of the bar. He looked for his brother to back him. “You think you could take me back to the cabin now?”

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Jessie came rushing back to the table. “You can collect your things and stay with them.” She waved her hand at Julia and Dylan. “I’m not having you throw my entire operation into chaos because you can’t keep it in your pants.”

“Wait a minute, Jessie,” Julia began. “You don’t know what happened.”

Gage wanted to hug Julia for her desire to believe the best about him, but unfortunately, this time her trust was misplaced. He’d done exactly what Jessie was accusing him of, except he’d been the one to get screwed.

“Gage?” Bailey frowned in his direction. They’d been friends since he and Dylan had stayed with Julia while his brother trained his therapy dog. They’d even gone out a few times. She knew him better than this, but he wasn’t about to remind her of the fact.

“No.” Bailey shook her head. Relief coursed through him. Finally, someone who would be the voice of reason. “Gage might be a flirt but he doesn’t sleep around.”

“It doesn’t really matter though, does it, when I have a therapist who’s too pissed off dealing with romantic drama to work? You did this, Gage, you fix it.” Jessie jerked her purse from the back of one of the chairs and stormed out, leaving Nathan no choice but to follow.

“Well, this was fun.” Chase chuckled as he leaned back, hooking one arm over the back of the chair. “Why in the world would you even consider crossing Jessie? Her temper is the stuff of legends.”

“I guess this signals my night as a total bust.” Blake stood up and slid several ones onto the table to tip their waitress. “My
date
gets chased away by another guy who I now find out may or may not be sleeping with her.”

Gage glared at the other man. Blake waved him off. “Don’t even sweat it, man. She wasn’t into me anyway.”

“That’s not how it looked while you two were dancing.”

“Yeah? Well, trust me. Looks can be deceiving. She wasn’t the woman on my mind, and I certainly wasn’t the man on hers.” He gave Gage a pointed look. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you. I’m not sure I want to. But I do know that Leah is a nice woman with a kind heart and a soft spot for people hurting.”

Blake started to head toward his car when Chase offered him a ride. “I’ll be right back,” he promised Bailey.

When the pair had left, Bailey turned to Gage. “You really know how to make an entrance, don’t you?”

“Gage, what the hell were you thinking?” Dylan ran a hand over his eyes. “Now the whole family is picking sides. Everyone is mad.”

“I get it, okay? I fucked up.” The euphoric high from his successful meetings was long gone. “I guess that’s just what I do these days.”

“You can say that again,” Dylan muttered.

“Dylan, stop,” Julia warned. “Gage is getting enough crap from work, he doesn’t need you shoveling it on, too.”

Gage jumped up, the chair skittering out behind him as he slapped his hands on the table between him and Dylan. “What does that mean?” he growled.

“It means, we aren’t stupid, Gage. We watch the news and read the paper. We know about the trouble Iconics is in. I also know that final approval would have come from you, so that mess falls onto your shoulders.” Dylan shook his head, looking frustrated. “Why didn’t you just tell us what was happening? Why stay at Jessie’s? You could have stayed with us.”

Julia shot him a sympathetic smile. “You know we would have loved to have you.”

Of course he hadn’t been able to hide it from Dylan. As usual, his brother was still trying to take care of him. Gage felt the guilt wash over him. His brother had a wife and child to worry about. He shouldn’t be wasting his energy worrying about Gage at this stage in his life.

“You have a new baby, and you haven’t been married that long. I didn’t want to add any more pressure to your situation.”

“Gage,” Julia scolded, “you’re family. You should have let us know, so we could help.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, Jules, there are a lot of times when this family can help
too
much,” Bailey chimed in. It wasn’t exactly the way Gage would have said it, but it got the point across.

Gage dropped his face into his palm. “There was nothing anyone could do, Julia. I had to handle it, and being at the cabin gave me time to figure out a solution without any outside pressure.”

“And create some more trouble,” his brother said under his breath. Gage simply glared at him.

“What solution did you come up with?” Julia asked.

“To quit,” Gage admitted. “That’s why I went to San Francisco. But it didn’t work out that way. In fact, it couldn’t have gone better. Not only am I staying, but we replaced the COO, and I’m spearheading a new project, a program for highly skilled teenagers.”

“Then what’s with the long face?” Bailey asked, wincing when Julia elbowed her. “Seriously? You should be thrilled. You got more than you hoped for, and in spite of what you thought you saw, Blake says Leah wasn’t into him.” She slapped his shoulder. “Probably because she’s into you, you jerk.”

“Is this your idea of a pep talk, Bailey? Because if it is, you suck at it.” Gage ran a hand over his head. He didn’t need her to tell him he’d been a jerk and an idiot. He’d come back and immediately assumed Leah had played him, that he’d made yet another mistake. “What’s your point?” Gage asked with a sigh.

Bailey rolled her eyes at him. “My point is that you need to get your ass to Jessie’s and fix this with Leah. If I’d known there was anything between the two of you, I’d have never pushed her into a blind date with Blake. You and all your secrets have done nothing but create issues where there didn’t need to be any.”

Leave it to Bailey to be blunt, and right. “Dylan, can you give me a ride? There’s a woman who I owe an explanation.”

“If you were smart, you’d start off by apologizing to Jessie,” Bailey said. “She’s going to be harder to convince than Leah. She’d also be the one likely to throw your shit at the end of the driveway and kick you off the property as soon as you show up.”

L
EAH SAT CURLED
in the corner of the couch with both kittens purring contentedly in her lap. Bingo was sprawled out over her feet, while Razor and Chaz lay on the floor, watching her intently. She was trying to stay unemotional, as detached from what had happened at the bar as she could, but so far she was barely holding back her tears.

She’d never expected to hear the bitterness she had in Gage’s voice. Until tonight, other than his argument with Jude, she’d never even heard him raise his voice. But it wasn’t just the anger in his voice, it was what she’d seen in his eyes—the raw, agonizing betrayal. She had no idea why he’d looked at her that way.

He’d been the one to walk away without a word, to not reach out after the night they’d spent together. She’d opened her soul to him, the first person she’d let close in almost ten years, and he cast her aside, making it clear how worthless he thought she was.

She’d pegged him right from the start. Gage was a playboy, accustomed to getting what he wanted and throwing it away when he was finished. Leah swiped at the tear that managed to escape down her cheek.

Chaz stood up, laying his head into her lap and nudging her hand. Razor, however, turned toward the door, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

“It’s fine, boy. Lie down.” Razor did as she commanded but leapt back to his feet as a knock pounded against her door.

“Leah, let me in. We need to talk.”

She should have expected him to show up, especially now that he’d had plenty of time to self-medicate. She glanced at the clock. It’d been nearly an hour since she left him at the bar. Unburying herself from under the animals, she scooped Gage’s keys from the kitchen island and opened the door, slapping them against his chest.

“Here, you have your keys. Now go.” She tried to shut the door but he took a step forward, not forcing his way in but not letting it close either. “Go away, Gage.”

Leah wasn’t about to fight with him about the door, so she turned and walked back into the living room. Immediately, Chaz and Razor moved to flank her, the shepherd baring his teeth at the stranger who dared come inside.

“What the hell?” Gage froze at the entry. “Can you call off your guard dogs?”

“Sit,” she commanded, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. “I don’t remember inviting you in.” As if on cue, Razor growled quietly, his lips curling up slightly.