See Jane Love (16 page)

“I will not,” she said, jerking her head back and forth between the two of them. Sara sat in a chair, mumbling something that sounded like a prayer. “You’re talking about me like I’m not even here. Like I’m a child.”

“You
are
a child, as far as I’m concerned. I think of you as my little sister, and when I think of what he did to you, the way he took advantage,” Alex said, pointing a finger Gabe’s way, “it makes me sick inside.”

Gabe pushed himself to his feet. “You’re right. I took advantage of her.”

“You’re damn right you took advantage!” Alex balled his hands into fists at his sides, his face turning a deep shade of magenta. “I want you out of here. Now!”

After a quick glance Janie’s way, Gabe said, “Fine. I was leaving tomorrow anyway.” He turned and headed toward the door.

“Wait!” Janie shouted, hurrying after him. “Gabe, tell him the truth. Tell him this is all my fault. That I practically threw myself at you. That I begged you to make love to me.”

Gabe laughed in her face. “Janie, my brother isn’t stupid. He knows you’re a nice girl who would never do anything to ruin her reputation. Me, on the other hand, I simply don’t care what people think of me, or who gets hurt in the process.” He chucked her under the chin and offered her the faintest of smiles.

Janie felt a heaviness center in her chest. “That’s not true,” she whispered, meeting his dark eyes. “You’re just trying to protect me. I know you--”

“You’re wrong,” he interjected. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“So, that’s it? You’re just going to leave?”

He looked deep into her eyes. “Janie, we both knew I’d be leaving when--”

“What if I said I’d fallen in love with you?” she asked, risking her heart and telling herself she was a fool at the same time.

“Don’t,” he said quietly. “You deserve better than me.” He swallowed noisily. “You deserve someone who will love you back.”

And then he turned and walked out of her life, leaving her heart shattered in a million pieces.

Janie stuck her head in Sara’s pantry. “Do you have any saltines?”

“Second shelf, toward the back,” Sara said, scraping a kitchen chair across the ceramic tile floor and dropping into it. Taking a sip of herbal tea, she massaged her watermelon-sized belly and sighed. “Only one more month.” She set the cup aside. “Are you sure you don’t want any tea?”

“I’m sure.” Joining Sara at the table, Janie ripped open the box of crackers and bit into one.

“I just hope I don’t go into labor on Christmas,” Sara continued. “Since my due date’s the twentieth I should luck out, considering I was early with both Travis and Livvy.”

Janie nodded in agreement, swallowed, and reached for another saltine.

“Don’t forget, Thanksgiving is a week from tomorrow.”

“Sara,” Janie said, showing her annoyance. “I know when Thanksgiving is.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure. You’ve seemed so pre-occupied lately. Anyway, Mom and Dad will be here Wednesday evening and they’ll be staying until New Years. Alex got a twenty-four-pound turkey. He wants to make sure we have plenty of leftovers for sandwiches.” Sara smiled, then added, “Why don’t you invite Gertie?”

“Gertie’s going on a cruise,” Janie said between bites. “She asked me to go along, but the thought of those waves . . .” She rocked her hand back and forth and made an unpleasant face.

Sara stared at her quizzically, then glanced at the box of crackers. Suddenly, her gaze fell to Janie’s stomach. “My God, you’re pregnant!”

Janie didn’t bother to deny it. She’d been wanting to tell Sara for some time now, but just didn’t know how or what to say. Now, she wouldn’t have to. Since she’d only gained four pounds, she didn’t look pregnant. Although she finally had breasts she could be proud of.

“It’s Gabe’s, isn’t it?”

“Duh?” was all Janie said, munching on her cracker.

“Does he know?”

“Not yet. I thought morning sickness was supposed to go away after the first three months.”

“For most women it does. But I remember reading where some women are nauseous the whole nine months.”

“That’ll be just my luck.”

Sara stared at her, blinking. “You’re four months along?” she asked, counting on her fingers. “My, God, what are you going to do?”

Shrugging, Janie said, “I’m going to have a baby.” She offered her sister a quick smile, then burst into tears.

“Aw, honey.” Sara struggled to get to her feet, then leaned over Janie and hugged her. “Don’t cry. Everything’s going to be okay.”

“I can’t help it. It must be my hormones,” Janie said, whimpering. When Sara pulled away, Janie wiped at her tears with a napkin. She’d been crying a lot lately, and it was embarrassing. It didn’t matter whether it was over an old movie, a good book, or just thinking about Gabe. She sighed miserably. “I love him, Sara.”

Sara eased herself back into the chair and met Janie’s gaze. “I know you do, honey. But it would never work between you two. You said so yourself.”

Janie sniffed. “I know. But I have to tell him about the baby.”

Sara’s expression was one of sinking despair. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Then her face brightened. “Don’t worry, Alex will tell him.”

“Sara, I’m not going to ask Alex to tell Gabe something like this. I’m going to tell him myself. Face to face. In fact, I’ve already booked a flight to New York. I leave in the morning.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“I would think you’d be a little more excited about the offer from J & B Publishing. Seven figures is nothing to scoff at,” Doree Meyers said, dabbing her mouth with a white linen napkin.

Gabe sat across the table from her at Sardi’s, picking at his linguine with clam sauce. Doree had been his agent ever since he’d sold his first book. The offer was for the sixth book in his detective series. “I’m not scoffing. I’m just not in a very good mood.” He pushed his plate aside, his appetite gone.

“You haven’t been in a good mood for months.” She looked at him above her tortoiseshell half glasses, took a bite of salad, and chewed. Doree was a rail thin woman in her late fifties. She had spikey, silver-streaked hair and was as savvy as they came. “So, who is she?”

Gabe shrugged and averted his gaze. “Nobody. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The woman that has you in such a foul mood.” He felt the intensity of her look. “I get it. You don’t want to talk about her.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. It’s over.”

“She must have been pretty special.”

He struggled to maintain an even tone. “Nobody special,” he lied. “Just someone I spent some time with last summer.”

“Maybe you should think about seeing a shrink,” she said as she motioned for a busboy to refill her water glass.

“I don’t need a shrink.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about. I’ve been seeing one for years.”

Gabe snorted. “You have? Whatever for?”

“To learn how to deal with big time authors like yourself. I don’t like feeling intimidated. It makes it hard to do my job.”

“You? Intimidated?
That’ll be the day. You scared the hell out of me the first time we met. You still do sometimes.”

“Well, then, all the money I spent on therapy was worth it.”

Gabe laughed and rested his elbows on the table. One million, four hundred thousand dollars. He should be celebrating, but all he felt was empty inside. He wished he could call Janie and share his good news, but then he’d have to tell her he’d lied to her about his occupation. That would just open a new can of worms. Stupid idea, he told himself. Besides, would she really care? She was very likely dating someone by now. Especially after her sexual awakening. She’d be like a kid in a candy store, wanting to try all sorts of new things. Although, a part of him refused to believe that about her.

“We should talk about you doing a book tour,” Doree said, breaking into his thoughts.

“No tours. No signings. You know how I feel about both. That’s one of the reasons I write under a pseudonym. I enjoy my privacy.”

Doree studied him for a moment, then cocked her head to the side. “You still haven’t told your brother you’re a successful author, have you?”

“My brother and I aren’t exactly on speaking terms at the moment.”

“He still thinks you’re a cab driver, doesn’t he?”

Gabe averted his gaze and didn’t answer. He’d probably always be a screw-up in Alex’s eyes. Alex constantly reminded him about all the trouble he’d caused in high school, and now, after what happened with Janie, he’d probably never forgive him. Not that Gabe blamed him. What he’d done was stupid. As soon as Janie mentioned having an affair, he should have run the other way and not looked back. What a jackass he’d been.

“Oh, by the way, Marcy loved that Jed didn’t get the girl this time. It came as quite a surprise. Tell me,” she said, leaning forward, “why
didn’t
he get the girl?”

Marcy Polk was Gabe’s editor at J & B, and Jed Belmont was the protagonist in his series.
“Jed always gets the girl at the end. This will humble him a little.” Something Gabe knew a lot about. The pain he’d suffered walking out of Janie’s life is what propelled him to finish his last book. The raw emotions and the harsh realities that he’d wrote about were real. Pushing thoughts of Janie Callahan from his mind, he said, “Maybe we should order champagne. My treat.”

Doree waved a hand. “Don’t waste your money. We’ll do it next time, when you’re in a better mood.” Fat chance of that happening, he thought as Doree signaled for their waiter. “Check, please,” she said, pulling out a credit card.

Outside, Gabe put Doree in a cab, then hailed another one for himself. When they reached his apartment building, he paid the driver and hopped out. Through the glass doors, he saw a woman standing in the lobby who reminded him of Janie.

He swore. Every redhead he saw lately made him think of Janie. When was he going to stop thinking about her? he wondered, barely acknowledging the doorman as he stormed inside the building and headed for the elevator. He looked straight ahead with an unwavering gaze.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Janie’s mouth fell open as Gabe walked right past her without a single look her way.
He must be angry about something
, she thought, wondering if maybe she should leave and come back later. Then, squaring her shoulders, she hurried to catch up to him.

“Gabe?” she said just as the elevator doors opened. She saw his broad shoulders tense and then, slowly, he turned around to face her.

Although she’d never forgotten a single detail of his face, he looked different somehow. Tired maybe, she decided, seeing the dark circles under his eyes. And his tan had faded a little. But dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket, he still had that deliciously, sexy, bad-boy image.

“Janie,” was all he said as his eyes showed a hint of a smile.

Her memories of him were vividly clear. The way he’d kissed her, touched her, and made her come apart at the seams. A shiver ran up her spine, remembering, and she tried to throttle the dizzying current racing through her. This wasn’t the time to reminisce.

He looked her over slowly, seductively, his heated gaze lingering on her breasts a little longer than necessary, as far as she was concerned. She’d taken her wool pea coat off in the lobby, now wishing she hadn’t. Crossing her arms, she draped the coat in front of her and swallowed thickly.

After his thorough inspection, he said, “You look great.”

She wasn’t so sure she believed him. She’d had a nauseous stomach for the past two months. Most days her skin had a green tinge to it.

“What brings you to New York?”

“A little of this, and a little of that,” she said, avoiding his dark eyes. “I was hoping we could talk.”

His gaze ran over her once again, as if he were searching for something. Could he possibly suspect why she’d come?

Sara had begged her to call Gabe on the phone rather than confront him in person. But Janie had refused. She needed to see his reaction firsthand. And when she told him, how would he take the news? Would he be angry or happy? Oh, how she wished she knew.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he said, grazing her elbow and leading her into the elevator. She was conscious of his warm hand through the sleeve of her sweater.

When the doors closed, Gabe stuck a key in the lock marked Penthouse, and Janie’s brows shot up.
The high-rise looked pretty pricey as it was, but the penthouse?
They rode to the top of the building without speaking, Gabe occasionally glancing her way. Her knees were clacking so loudly, she was afraid he’d hear them over the hum of the elevator.

Moments later, the doors opened inside a fancy foyer and they stepped out. Gabe unlocked the door and held it open for her to enter. The apartment was enormous with gleaming hardwood
floors and lots of windows. Dropping her coat and purse on the black leather sectional, she walked to one of the windows and stared out at Central Park. “You must make pretty good tips to afford a place like this.” She spun around to face him, expecting him to laugh at her joke.