Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Jason ached from his head to his toes. After the weekend with Gabby, he had attacked the remodel with dogged determination. Only by working himself into the ground was he tired enough to sleep every night.
Even then, he dreamed about her. Vivid, adult-rated sex dreams with color and sound and so much damn heat he woke up hard as a pike. It was a vicious cycle.
On the other hand, the house was coming along at a good clip.
He wasn’t going to attempt the new wiring and plumbing. He knew his limits. But if he kept up this pace, he’d be on schedule to bring in the experts at the first of the year.
Gabby had been annoyingly uncommunicative since he left her apartment Sunday night. He’d kept his promise not to call from nine to five. But in the evenings, he had tried to initiate a text exchange or two.
Her answers were friendly but not wordy.
Wednesday night, he caved and called her.
When she answered after two rings, he tried for a casual tone. “Hey, it’s me. How’s your week going?”
“It’s fine, Jason. Nothing out of the ordinary. How about you?”
“Dust and noise and a half a dumpster full of trash. About what you’d expect. Do you want to see it sometime?” He hadn’t known he was going to say that.
She hesitated. “Sure.”
“Gabby...”
“Yes?”
“I want to take you to the gala Saturday night. It would mean a lot to me.”
Long silence. “Why?”
He rubbed the center of his forehead with two fingers. “Why not? Christmas parties are festive and fun. I like spending time with you.”
“Does that mean sex afterward?”
She might as well have punched him in the gut. “I guess that would be up to you,” he croaked. “But the invitation was just for the party.”
“I’m not sure I have an appropriate dress to wear.”
“Surely you’ve been to some Grimes & Hancock events with high rollers.”
“A few.”
“Look, Gabby. You’ll be stunning in anything you wear. And besides, there will be several hundred people there. We can get lost in the crowd.”
“But I’ll have to say hello to your parents, right?”
“It would be the polite thing to do.”
On the opposite end of the line, he heard a long-suffering sigh. “Fine,” she said. “But I don’t drink much alcohol, and I definitely don’t dance.”
“How about sitting on Santa’s lap?”
“Is that a sex joke?”
He chuckled. “What do you think?”
“Good night, Jason.”
“Good night, Gabby.” He ended the call with a smile on his face. His week had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.
Thursday was a fantastic day. The sun was shining, his flooring was delivered two weeks early, and he had a date for the gala. Everything was going his way. Right up until the moment his doorbell rang. When he unlocked the dead bolt and swung the door wide, two familiar people stood on his small concrete stoop. Cate and Harry.
His stomach fell to his feet. “What are you guys doing here? How did you even know where I was living?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “It didn’t take much detective work. I talked to your dad. He gave me an earful about your questionable life choices.”
Cate swatted Jason’s shoulder with her hand and eased past him. “We’re here for an intervention,” she said.
Harry followed her. “What she said.”
Jason closed the door and watched as they assessed his living quarters. Cate’s expression was horrified. Harry shot him an incredulous glance. Jason tried to look at it through their eyes. He had a decent mattress on the floor. The sheets and blankets were rumpled, but he wasn’t picky. Nearby, he’d plugged in a minifridge and a microwave. Clean clothes spilled out of his duffel bag.
When they both stared at him, Harry shook his head slowly. “What the hell, Jason? Have you lost your mind?”
Jason folded his arms across his chest. “I bought a fixer-upper. That happens to be a perfectly acceptable thing to do. Dozens of cable channels devote entire hours of programming to this very activity.”
Cate ran a hand along a dirty windowsill. “But you could hire somebody, Jason. Or twenty somebodies.”
Harry nodded. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“Maybe you both forget that I worked construction the summer between my freshman and sophomore years. Bubba’s dad hired him and me. Remember?”
“That was almost a decade ago,” Harry said. “And you’re a brilliant man. I fail to see how this project is utilizing your many talents.”
Cate dusted off a camp chair with her hand and sat down. “We think you’re hiding out, Jason. And we don’t like it. The past is in the past. We’re living a whole new chapter. Harry loves me. But we both love you, too, and you’ve avoided us. It hurts.”
Jason should have known this day of reckoning would come. He’d spent a little time with Cate and Harry in the last nine or ten months, but those occasions had been short and generally buffered by other people. “I don’t know what you want from me,” he said.
Cate’s beautiful eyes were shiny with tears. “You’ve been my best friend forever, Jason. I have Harry now, but that doesn’t mean I can just slice you out of my life. I want us to get back to where we were.”
God, this was awful. He hadn’t a clue how to respond. He had missed Cate, too. But how did a man relate to the woman who had once been his fiancée? Especially when she had married his mentor and dear friend.
He shot a glance at Harry. “Was this her idea?”
“Both of us, actually. You may have walked out of your own wedding, but you walked out on me, too. I think you’re pissed that I married Cate. I’m not sure why. I adore her, and I’ll spend the rest of my life making her happy. I fail to see how that’s a bad thing.”
Though Harry’s words were even and quiet, Jason knew him well enough to hear the underlying frustration.
Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “I love you both. But I’ve kept a low profile because I didn’t want the gossip. The three of us? Together again? We might as well sign up for some stupid reality show.”
Cate nodded. “I get what you’re saying. People are bound to talk. After all, they crucified you and me online in those weeks after we didn’t get married. But that was a year and a half ago, Jason. We need to move on.”
“ You’ve moved on,” he snapped. “And I’m happy for both of you. But I’m not sure you get the call on my life.”
Harry moved to stand behind his wife. “Easy,” he said.
Jason saw the other man put a protective hand on Cate’s shoulder. Jason witnessed the almost palpable aura of love between his two friends. It wasn’t a lie to say he was happy for them...and relieved that his actions hadn’t ruined Cate’s life.
But still he wrestled a sharp shard of bitterness that in their little triangle, he was now the one on the outs. He had begged Harry to look after Cate while Jason was in Peru. Never in his wildest imagination had he expected them to end up together.
“You both are important to me,” he muttered. “Is that what you want to hear?”
Cate jumped up and flung her arms around his neck. “I want you to be happy,” she cried. “It’s killing me that you’re all alone and living like a hobo.”
Jason hugged her briefly, then put his hands on her waist and set her aside. “Pretty sure that word is obsolete.”
Harry pinned him with a steely-eyed gaze, the same one Jason remembered as a child. If he’d done something stupid, his mentor and distant cousin had been there to jerk him back in line.
Harry shook his head slowly. “You know I’ve loved you since you were a punk little kid of five or six. There were times when loving you was the only thing keeping me sane when my screwed-up family made my life miserable.”
For the inscrutable Harry, that speech was little short of astounding. Jason’s chest hurt. He’d blocked out the feelings of loss and abandonment because he hadn’t known how to come back into the fold. “You were always good to me,” he muttered.
Harry cursed under his breath. “Don’t make me beat the crap out of you. The three of us—Cate and me and you—are family. You made one lousy mistake, but Cate will tell you it was her fault, too.”
“It was,” she said, her cheeks damp with tears. “I knew something was wrong between us, but I was too scared to talk to you. We were getting married for all the wrong reasons. I’m so sorry, Jason. You saved us. You must know that’s true.” She wrinkled her nose. “June seventh last year was a day we’ll never forget, but I won’t let all that heartache ruin anything else.” She hugged him again.
Harry joined the embrace. “You might as well listen to her,” he said, his own eyes suspiciously bright. “She always gets her way.”
Jason felt two sets of arms close around him. His gut response was a mix of longing and uncertainty. Was it really that easy? He returned the hugs, unable to think of a single word to say. Cate was visibly disappointed. Harry frowned.
“Thank you for coming,” Jason said finally. “It means a lot. The next time you issue a dinner invitation or whatever, I’ll do my best to be there. I swear.”
Cate’s smile returned. “That’s good to hear,” she said.
Harry got in his space, nose to nose. “What are you going to do now? In this new year that’s coming? Besides putter with this house. I know you and Cate were going to do a gallery. That’s still an option.”
“No,” Jason said. “I’ve sold a few of my Peru pictures. I might even have a show of my work. There are a few possibilities there.”
“But?” Harry’s interrogation was implacable.
“But nothing.” Jason walked away. “I’m entitled to be aimless if I want. Nobody is depending on me. I’m taking time to make decisions.”
“Are you?” Harry asked. “Or are you goofing around and wasting your life?”
“Piss off, Harry.” He glared at his friend. “Not all of us can be wunderkind architects. Besides, I’m way younger than you. I’ve got time.”
“Ouch.” Harry grinned.
Cate got between them. “You two behave.” She took Jason’s hand. “I love you. Harry loves you. All our friends love you. Quit hiding out, Jason.”
“Sure,” he said.
His flippant reply made her sad. He saw it on her face and instantly regretted being an ass. He exhaled and pulled her into his arms, marveling that the two of them had ever been on the verge of matrimony. He kissed her forehead. “Honestly, Cate, I’m great. Maybe I haven’t landed on a five-year plan, but I’m in a good place, I swear. And for the record, I’ll always love you.”
“Thanks for saying that,” she said. “I’ll always love you, too. We were kids playing at love, I guess.”
Harry cleared his throat. “Let’s not get too chummy,” he groused.
Cate and Jason laughed at him. Cate went to her husband and kissed him right on the mouth. “You know I’m yours forever.”
Jason made a gagging noise. “Get a room,” he said, smiling.
Harry raised both eyebrows and made an exaggerated visual tour of Jason’s less than impressive abode. “Maybe you’re the one who should get a room.” He sniffed the air. “Do you even shower?”
“Very funny. The bathroom is in full working order.”
Cate glanced at her watch. “We should go, Harry.” She turned back to Jason. “I thought you’d have a new girlfriend by now. Have you been seeing anyone?”
“No girlfriends,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. Gabby was a lover and maybe a friend. But she was certainly not ready to accept girlfriend as a descriptor.
Harry took his wife’s arm. “C’mon, love. We’ve done what we came here to do. Jason isn’t going into a decline anytime soon.”
“Hysterical,” Jason said as he followed them to the door.
When they were outside on the stoop again, he looked at two of his very best friends, realizing how lucky he was. “Thanks, guys. I mean it. Thank you for worrying about me. I might have lost my way for a little bit, but I’ll be fine.”
Harry nodded. “So we’re good, man?”
Cate searched Jason’s face. “Are we?”
He nodded slowly. “We’re good. I love you both. Now get out of here and let me demolish something.”
Saturday morning, Gabby wondered what it felt like to have a panic attack. The Christmas gala at Jason’s parents’ house was a little more than eight hours away. She was sure she had made a mistake, but she also knew Jason would never let her back out now.
She looked at Tanya sitting on the bed with the twins while Gabby tried on dresses. The boys were playing with hairbrushes. They had started out trying to style each other’s hair. Now the brushes had turned into instruments of battle.
Tanya was unfazed. “So which one is your favorite?” she asked. “I think a woman always feels her best when she’s comfortable but at the same time positive she’s making a kick-ass impression.”
“I do not want to stand out,” Gabby said, feeling dread curl in her stomach. “These people will be rich and snooty. I want to blend in with the woodwork. I know nothing about their world.”
Tanya shook her head. “Don’t hand me that tired line. You’ve been best friends with Cate Penland for the last nine or ten years. I know you’ve been to her house a million times. This isn’t some socioeconomic gauntlet.”
“You’re right about Cate’s family. They’re very well-off. But the Brightmans are next-level. Jason probably ate with a real silver spoon as a baby. Their house is big enough for two or three hundred guests.”
“Take a deep breath,” Tanya said, laughing. “Besides, I’m living vicariously through you. This evening is for both of us. Try on that first one again.”
The sleeveless gown was from last year. Gabby had been asked to participate in a charity fashion show sponsored by Grimes & Hancock. She knew that her height and general size had gotten her the invitation. The whole thing had been exhausting.
But at the end of the evening, she got to keep the couture dress.
Now she stripped down again and changed back into the one Tanya suggested.
The bodice was red satin, fitted at the bust and waist. The long, narrow skirt was fashioned of high-end black velvet. The gown swished when she walked, and though she would never be a fan of spending a couple of thousand dollars on a dress, she had to admit this one made her feel like a princess.
“I guess it will do,” she said, looking over her shoulder at her image in the mirror. Her butt did look nice in black velvet. Thinking about Jason seeing her in this dress made her heart race. Was she going to invite him to go home with her after the party?
She wanted to...more than anything. But such a move would be diving deeper into a relationship that was never going to work. Would Jason accept sex and nothing else?
And how would she feel if that arrangement was okay with him?
The five days she had asked for were over. Yet she was no closer to knowing what to do about Jason and their relationship.
Tanya waved a hand in front of her face. “Hello? Are you zoning out on me?”
Gabby flushed. “Sorry. I’m freaking about tonight.”
“Well, don’t,” Tanya said firmly. “That’s the dress you should wear. The boys and I are going to get out of your way now. We have Santa pics at twelve thirty. I’m going to feed them an early lunch and change their clothes.”
“I could go with you,” Gabby said.
“Nope. Get a manicure. Do your hair. Experiment with makeup. Tonight is going to be great. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
At four p.m., Gabby nearly sent Jason a text bowing out of the evening. Only pride made her hesitate. She didn’t want him to think she was a coward.
She wasn’t a coward . Not really. But she knew her limits.
This party was going to be a marathon of societal torture. How long could she smile and nod and not give away the fact that she didn’t belong?
Surely there would be women in attendance who were peeved that one of Atlanta’s premier bachelors had brought a nobody for a date. Already she could feel the weight of disapproving glances. Gabby Nolan was the last person who should be hanging out with the gorgeous, extremely eligible Jason Brightman.
Why couldn’t he see that?
When her doorbell rang at six, a sharp pain ratcheted through her stomach. She’d had chicken soup and hot tea for lunch. Now she was both hungry and nauseated. It was an uncomfortable combination.
Jason’s expression reflected stunned appreciation when he saw her. That made things a tiny bit better.
He stepped inside and closed the door, keeping the frigid air out. “Holy hell. You look amazing. Every man at the party will want to dance with you.”
The panic mushroomed. “No dancing,” she said firmly. “You promised.”
“Did I?” he said.
He walked a circle around her, shaking his head slowly. “I’m afraid to touch you, Gabby. You look like a model, runway-ready.”
“Oh, stop,” she said, even as his words bolstered her self-esteem. “I should be the one impressed. Jason Brightman in a tuxedo? You’re hot.” She held out her arms. “I’m not wearing lipstick yet. Feel free to kiss me.”
“Hell, yeah.” He grabbed her up and held her tightly. When he lowered his head and found her lips with his, her body quivered. He was cold from being outside, but his kiss was hot and tender at the same time. Desire curled in the pit of her stomach. Her breasts ached. More than anything, she wanted to feel his naked body against hers.
He inhaled sharply and put at least six inches between them, but still held her, his strained breathing audible. “I want to stay with you tonight. Or we can go to my place. But that would be quite a comedown after my parents’ house.”
She frowned. “Isn’t it your house, too? Didn’t you grow up there?”
“No,” he said, stroking her arms. “We used to have our place in Blossom Branch and a nice two-story in an established subdivision here in Atlanta. When Mom and Dad were fighting in earnest, they would separate. It’s true I went to Blossom Branch Elementary, but my attendance there was sporadic. I mostly grew up in the Atlanta house—went all the way through school in the neighborhood. Had a slew of great friends. Memories, too, for that matter.”
“So what happened?”
He released her and shrugged—his lips pressed together in an almost grim line. “When I went off to UGA for freshman year, my father decided he needed to take a step up. To buy a home that reflected his burgeoning success. They listed our redbrick colonial, accepted an offer, and moved out. Packed my childhood bedroom in boxes and put them in storage. I never even had a chance to say goodbye. There’s a time capsule buried in the backyard that my friends and I were going to dig up when we turned twenty-five. I suppose it’s still under the dirt near the dogwood tree.”
“ Jason. That’s awful. How could they do that to you?”
He shrugged again as if his tale was no big deal. “My parents aren’t the sentimental type. To them, it was only a house. They were excited to find something new that showcased their social and financial standing.”
She went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek over the spot where his heart thumped steadily. “We don’t get to choose our families, do we? I’m sorry your folks weren’t the warm, fuzzy type.” Her own mother faced challenges, but she had always made sure her daughter knew she was loved.
She felt his chest expand and fall as he drew in a heavy breath and let it out on a ragged sigh. He rested his chin on top of her head. “You don’t have to go tonight, Gabby. I know I pushed you. It’s not fair of me to make you uncomfortable.”
An odd mix of emotions swirled in her chest. “So you’re saying we would stay here instead? Cuddle in front of the TV?”
His laugh was hoarse and held little humor. “Oh, no. I still have to go. It’s a command performance where I’m concerned.”
Gabby walked away, pausing at the kitchen table to give him a frosty glare. “I said I would be your date for the party. I keep my promises. Besides, you went to church with my mother, so I owe you.”
Jason’s blue eyes were dark. He shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels. His tux was clearly custom-made. It molded to his taut, fit body perfectly. His golden hair shone in the glare of the overhead light.
He lifted an eyebrow. “And you’ll try to have fun?”
She chuckled. “ Now you’re pushing. How long do you think we have to stay?”
“A couple of hours maybe. Depends.”
“If your parents have strong opinions about your career choices, they probably see you ending up with someone like Cate. Are you trying to show them who’s boss?”
Jason frowned. “I’m taking you because I want to spend time with you. What my parents think of my love life is immaterial.” He rolled his shoulders, betraying the tension he felt about the evening ahead. “If we agree to come back here later, it will give me something to look forward to.”
“Nice try,” she said wryly. If the evening was a bust, she might end up pulling the covers over her head and licking her wounds. “I’m not making any promises about that .” She picked up her coat. “Let’s go.”