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She didn’t choose me.
That was what it came down to. If she’d given him any indication that she had started this process with some sort of feelings for him beyond friendship, he would have a right to ask for more. Yesterday she’d even gone so far as to try to explain that she didn’t want to lose him as a friend, and he’d leveraged that fear into getting her to agree to give them a trial run.
His shoulders slumped. “Fuck me, you’re right.”
“I’m not saying it to be a dick.” For once, Roman sounded downright apologetic. “You’re my friend, and if she was any other woman, I’d say to hell with her plans—play dirty. But this isn’t any other woman. This is Lucy we’re talking about.”
And, because it was Lucy, that changed everything.
Gideon took out his phone and stared at it for a few moments. He knew what he had to do. The honorable thing—the thing he’d promised to do.
He had to set her up with another man.
Lucy woke up disorientated. The day before had been an emotional roller coaster, and she’d seriously looked forward to spending a lazy Sunday with Gideon, letting their time together ease her concerns over the whole thing.
Then she’d woken up alone.
She touched the side of the bed Gideon had slept on, but it was long since cold. Telling herself there was nothing to worry about, she went through her morning routine and then headed into the kitchen. A full pot of coffee sat waiting, along with a sticky note with a hastily written explanation. “Breakfast with Roman. Back soon.” Lucy smiled a little and poured herself a cup of coffee. If he was occupied for a little bit, it wouldn’t hurt to check her emails and make sure there was nothing requiring her immediate attention.
He still hadn’t arrived by the time she was done with that, so she scrambled up a pair of eggs and went back to work on her files. Normally she had no problem losing herself in the facts she was compiling, but Lucy couldn’t help keeping one eye on the clock as an hour stretched into two.
Did Gideon feel as strangely about what happened yesterday as she did?
Maybe he had regrets.
She wished he was there so his presence could keep her from second-guessing every single thing she’d said or done yesterday. Had she been too honest at dinner? He’d said he wanted honesty, but there was honesty and honesty. The sex had been even more outstanding than she’d come to expect, both the tender touches and murmured words and the rough and possessive...
“Stop it.” She poured herself a third cup of coffee and headed for her living room. Obsessing over what Gideon did or did not regret would only drive her crazy. Crazier.
Work would steady her. Work always steadied her. It was her job that had gotten her through the worst times of her life, the ability to lose herself in the facts and how to use them to create the story she wanted the judge or jury to believe.
Except this time it didn’t work.
Lucy kept glancing at her phone, waiting for a call or a text or, hell, a smoke signal. Something from Gideon. Something to prove that he didn’t think this whole thing was a terrible mistake. Something to reassure her from deciding she needed to find a different way to accomplish her aims.
When her phone finally buzzed, she dropped the paper she’d been staring at for five minutes without reading and snatched it up. It was from Gideon, but only a few words.
The Blue Lagoon 7pm.
She hesitated, wondering if she’d missed something, and typed out a quick reply.
Dinner?
Yes. Wear something nice.
Lucy waited, but no information was forthcoming. She glanced at the clock. Two hours until he wanted her there. Where has the day gone? She could keep pretending to work, but the nerves bouncing in her stomach spoke of the futility of it. Something had changed with Gideon, and she wasn’t sure it was a good sign.
Yesterday he’d been almost in her face with how much he wanted her—wanted this—and now he was playing least-in-sight. She’d thought Gideon was too direct a man to ever disappear on a woman, but she should have known better.
She’d watched him do it before, hadn’t she?
She and Jeff even used to joke about the Gideon Special. He’d grow distant from whoever he was dating, showing up more and more at their place, and if the woman didn’t allow him to fade gracefully away, he’d take her out for dinner and cut it off.
Kind of like the dinner he had planned with Lucy tonight.
She shot to her feet. “No. I’m being paranoid.” Gideon wouldn’t have said the things he’d said if he was planning on turning around and dumping her on her ass. He wouldn’t have changed the perfectly good set of rules to push her to put her heart on the line.
