Chapter 26
Eve’s doctor gave me the best Christmas present I could’ve hoped for. My baby was coming home in two weeks.
I must have cried happy tears for an hour straight, and thankfully Eve was too preoccupied with opening her gifts and visiting with Santa to notice that her mother was a basket case. Only this time I was a basket case in the best sense of the word; I hadn’t been this happy in months.
So of course Gage would have to ruin my Christmas with his mere presence.
“Merry Christmas,” he said, nodding toward Santa as the big guy in red and white exited Eve’s room. Gage shut the door and took the empty seat on the opposite side of her bed.
I gawked at him as he began removing presents—all of them wrapped in shiny paper splashed with Santa’s reindeer and adorned with fancy bows.
I wondered if he’d wrapped them himself or if he’d paid the department store to do it for him.
He smiled at Eve, a grin so huge and unguarded that I did a double take.
When she sat up and grinned back, something within me unleashed.
I bolted from my chair and pulled him away from her.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
He had the nerve to look offended. “It’s Christmas. What do you think I’m doing here?”
“Mommy! Can I open them?”
“Of course you can,” he answered before I was able to. “I brought them especially for you.”
I glared at him. “I won’t let you use her to get to me.
I don’t want you anywhere near her.” I lowered my voice amidst Eve’s enthusiastic package-opening.
“Do you understand? She’s off-limits to your sick games.
You can play them with me all you want, but you’d better leave her out of it.
” If I hadn’t been so worked up myself, I would have been alarmed by the fury that crossed his face.
His gaze darted behind me, and I turned around and noticed Eve’s curious expression.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door.
“I need to talk to your mom. Merry Christmas, Eve.” He practically dragged me from her room, and I saw him strain under the effort it took to keep from slamming the door.
He moved against me, both arms trapping me between him and the wall.
“Let me go. This is not the place.”
“Don’t you think I realize that?” He ground his teeth. “Let’s get something straight right now.” He leaned even closer and spoke to me nose-to-nose. “I would never…never…hurt Eve.”
“You expect me to believe that after the last beating you gave me?”
He buried his face in the hollow of my shoulder, and I felt him inhale deeply. “If I could take it back, I would.”
I went still. I’d guessed he was dealing with some amount of guilt, but I never thought he’d admit it. “Why’d you do it?” I squeezed the question past my constricted throat.
“Get your hands off her.”
Gage pushed away from the wall and glanced at Ian, who looked ready to greet him with his fists.
“Dr. Kaplan,” he said, his tone unworried.
He returned his attention to me, as if Ian’s presence didn’t matter.
“Next weekend, Kayla. I’ll pick you up at seven.
” He brushed his lips across my cheek. “Wear something sexy.” My face flamed, both from anger and embarrassment as he took off down the hall.
“What is he talking about?”
I studied the worn carpet. “He said he’d let me out of the contract if I gave him one more weekend.”
“And you believe him?”
I was tired of trying to figure everyone out, of trying to understand my own reactions to a man whose presence should send me running in the opposite direction. “I don’t know what to believe.”
“He’s gotten under your skin.”
I wanted to deny it, but it’d be a lie. Gage had gotten under my skin, only I hadn’t realized to what extent until now. Until Ian had thrown the truth in my face. Gage hadn’t just cast the line; I’d opened my mouth and let him hook me.
Ian let out a curse. “After everything he’s done, how can you have feelings for him?”
“I don’t.” I stepped back against the wall and folded my arms.
“Then why are you agreeing to this?”
“It seems like the best way out.”
“You could go to the police. It’s not too late.”
“Not if Jody’s involved.” It didn’t matter if she’d betrayed me as a friend. I wouldn’t drag her through this situation. “It’s only one more weekend, and then it’ll be over.”
He dropped his head. “I can’t talk you out of this, can I?”
I silently pleaded for him to talk me out of it, to pull me back, because I feared Gage had me in his sights and there was nowhere to hide. Nowhere for me to go but downhill from here, and what really sucked was how familiar this path was.
So was the same sense of helplessness I felt.
His composure fell apart, and he leaned against the wall, his arm hiding his face. “This is my fault. I did this.” Before I could refute or question his claim, he pushed away from the wall. “I’ve gotta go.”
He bolted down the hall, and I felt more confused than ever.