Perfect Fit

by Brenda Jackson

  Malcolm tapped the pad he’d been writing on and gazed up at her thoughtfully before saying, “Leanne and I went to dinner last night. We saw you.”

  Sage paused at her office door and tilted her head and met Malcolm’s gaze. Knowing more was coming, she said, “And?” She watched as a huge smile spread across his face.

  “And it seems you were enjoying yourself. I had to rack my brain to remember that you were indeed dining with the same man you wanted to feed to the lions when I left you here yesterday afternoon.”

  Sage gave him a small smile. “Yes, well, he stopped by right after you left and apologized for his behavior at lunch. And he even admitted the dinner theater was a good idea. We discussed it more rationally this time, and I even shared with him some of my other ideas and thoughts about Eden. He was very receptive to them.”

  Malcolm mustered a huge smile. “So now he’s on our side?”

  Sage chewed her bottom lip in concentration. “I wasn’t trying to win him over, since that’s not how I like doing things. I just wanted to present my ideas to him.”

  “And did you?”

  Sage blinked. “And did I what?”

  “Did you present your ideas to him?”

  “Yes.” Sage met Malcolm’s stare and noted his eyes shone with undisguised hope, not particularly for Eden but for her. The two of them had grown close since working together, and although she was his manager, she considered him as well as the other members of her staff as valued team players. But outside of work, she also considered Malcolm something of a big brother. She had confided in him about her breakup with Erol and the reason. She had needed another opinion, an unbiased one since both her and Erol’s families thought she had been too hard on Erol by calling off their wedding. Malcolm had agreed with her that what Erol had done was thoughtless and inconsiderate and that trust, once violated, was hard to regain. He had fully understood her reason for deciding not to marry Erol. But she knew that as a friend, he was also concerned with her decision not to get serious about another man because of the trust factor. He thought the best and quickest way to get over Erol and to put the past behind her was to move ahead into another relationship with someone she felt she trusted. He thought she was the type of woman who believed in romance, love and happily-ever-after. She inwardly admitted that a part of her wanted to still believe in those things, but unknown to Malcolm, her father had done a pretty good job of corrupting those thoughts in her mind.

  “Don’t read anything more into my having dinner with Gabe than that, Malcolm,” she said finally. “Gabe and I are nothing more than friends.”

  Malcolm lifted a brow. “Friends and no longer just business associates?”

  Sage frowned. Her and Gabe’s relationship had shifted from associates to friends, at least it was headed in that direction. But then, after talking with her mother on the phone that morning, she knew that unless she started getting out more, sharing her time with a man, even in just friendship, everyone would think that she was still carrying a torch for Erol. “Yes, Gabe and I decided to have dinner every once in a while as nothing more than friends.”

  “So the two of you will be dating?”

  Sage drew in a long breath. “I don’t exactly consider it dating since it’s not with the intent of anything serious ever taking place. I’m not ready to get involved with another man again, and Gabe knows that. In fact, what I didn’t tell you yesterday was that at lunch he’d even accused me of coming up with the idea of the theater just to extend my time here to make my ex-fiancé suffer before going back to him.”

  A small crinkle formed between Malcolm’s brows. “He actually accused you of that?”

  “Yes.”

  Malcolm smiled wryly. “No wonder you were fit to be tied yesterday and wanted to feed him to the lions. Even I know that’s not the case.”

  Sage smiled softly. “Yes, but then, you know the full story. All Gabe knows is that when we first met nearly six months ago, I was a happily engaged woman who was looking forward to her wedding. Now that’s not the case.”

  Malcolm shook his head. “But I still don’t understand why he would think that although you called off your wedding, you and your ex-fiancé would get back together. Couples decide not to marry all the time—sometimes at the ninth hour—and go their separate ways, without looking back. Why would your case be any different?”

  Sage shrugged as she remembered her conversation with Gabe over dinner and the reason he’d given her for thinking the way he did. “I think Gabe believes that two people who love each other can work through any problem.” She chuckled. “He’s right there in good company since my parents and Erol’s seem to think that way, too. After talking with Mom this morning, she even alluded that Erol was still holding out that I would change my mind, return to Charlotte and marry him.”

  She crammed her hands into the pockets of her skirt. “Well, enough about that. I can’t help what Erol or Gabe think. In time I will just prove them wrong, as well as everyone else. There is no way Erol and I will ever get back together.”

  A few hours later Sage leaned back in her office chair and listened to the slow ticking of the clock on the wall. It was the only sound around since Malcolm and the rest of her staff had left for lunch.

  She glanced down at the legal pad on her desk that contained a lot of the notes she had made. She was just about finished and would have her secretary type up everything to have ready for her meeting with Mr. Landmark. Gabe would be at that meeting as well. She smiled when she remembered how he had sat in her office last night, on the other side of her desk, going over the papers she had given him to look at. She had been utterly quiet, and the only sound that had marred the tense silence was the same one that was marring it now, the ticking of the clock on the wall.

  She could recall and would now admit that the woman side of her, the one that naturally appreciated the sight of a good-looking man, had studied him while he’d been unaware of it.

  He’d been impeccably dressed in a tailored suit with the words intelligent, competent and business-minded written all over him. And then later, at the restaurant when he’d smoothly pushed all business aside, he had brought out the charm. Not in an overflowing way but in a way she wasn’t used to. While talking business he had succeeded in keeping his expression impassive, the trait of a good businessperson. In his line of work it was good not to let a business opponent know what you were thinking. But when the business side of dinner had concluded, he had bestowed upon her a slow smile, one that had nearly turned her bones to mush before she had quickly pulled herself together, reminded that Erol was also a charmer—although in her opinion, not of the same caliber as Gabe. Gabe’s charm seemed to come naturally, it seemed to be genuine, and if a woman wasn’t careful, it could prove to be lethal.

  Sage rose from her chair and walked over to the window. It was still snowing but not as heavily as earlier when she had arrived at work. Tonight was her pamper-yourself night, and she looked forward to lighting the candles in her bathroom and taking a well-deserved leisurely bath. Already in her mind she could smell the scent of vanilla. She smiled as she closed her eyes. She saw herself easing into the big tub filled with bubbles while the candlelight flickered across her naked skin with the soft sound of Kenny G and his saxophone playing in the background. And as the water and bubbles covered her body and she leaned back, she slowly glanced to the side. A man was standing in the shadows watching her. When he stepped forward, his image became vivid and crystal clear.

  Gabe.

  Sage snapped her eyes open and quickly turned away from the window. Sitting back down to her desk, she couldn’t help but consider just where her mind had taken her a few moments ago.

  She frowned. Although the path her thoughts had taken her down had been forbidden, challenging and … she had to admit … for a brief moment, an exhilarating experience, on a common sense level it really made no sense, at least not in any logical form.

  There was no reason for her mind to have
placed Gabe Blackwell in her bathroom watching her take a bath.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Mr. Blackwell?”

  Gabe lifted his gaze from the documents he was reading upon hearing the sound of his secretary’s voice over the intercom on his desk. “Yes, Caroline?”

  “Mr. Cabot is here to see you.”

  Gabe smiled. “Please send him in.” He stood for the man who as usual was doing a fantastic job in getting the construction of Eden under way. He gripped Parnell Cabot’s hand in a firm handshake the moment he walked in. After Caroline left, closing the door behind her, he offered him a chair.

  “I would offer you something to drink, but I know you’re still on duty,” Gabe said jokingly.

  “Yeah, and after today I’d be tempted to take you up on that drink, even though I would know better.”

  Gabe lifted a brow, and a concerned expression immediately appeared on his face. “Any problems that I should know about?”

  Parnell shook his head as he eased his frame into the chair across from Gabe’s desk. “Nothing with Eden, so let me rest your mind about that. My live-in sitter, Mrs. Summers, informed me this morning that she might have to leave Anchorage for at least six weeks to care for her sister who’ll be undergoing hip replacement surgery in Florida. That means that I’ll have to try and find a new live-in sitter for the girls.”

  Gabe nodded. He knew that Parnell’s four-year-old twin daughters had made the adjustment to Anchorage rather easily, thanks to Mrs. Summers. According to Parnell, it seemed the elderly woman had been a godsend. “Well, I hope things work out for you on that end, which I’m sure they will,” he said, hoping to ease the man’s worries somewhat. He knew how much it meant to Parnell to have his daughters properly taken care of.

  “I’m sure they will, too.”

  Gabe smiled as he sat down behind his desk. “No matter who fills in for Mrs. Summers, once they meet your girls, they will be totally captivated. They’re special.”

  Parnell beamed proudly. “Thanks, Gabe. I think that they’re special, too, and they’re pretty smart for their age; even Mrs. Summers said so.”

  Gabe grinned. Parnell’s words had been spoken like the proud father that he was. Deciding to move on to the reason that he had summoned Parnell to his office, he said, “I hate to take you away from your busy schedule, but there’s a new development that I need to cover with you.”

  Parnell nodded. “All right. Shoot.”

  For the next fifteen to twenty minutes, Gabe covered Denmark’s marketing proposal regarding the dinner theater. Afterward, Parnell leaned back in his chair and asked, “How soon will the architect have plans for us to look at?”

  “In a week. One good thing is that nothing with the foundation will change. Every modification is with the interior.”

  Parnell acknowledged what Gabe said. “Yes, but depending on what they want inside, we may have a long wait for building materials, so the sooner we can get those plans in our hands, the better off we’ll be.”

  Gabe agreed. “That means that Landmark will need to get his interior designer working on this right away. I have a feeling he wants this as elegant as the dinner theater that’s in the White House.”

  Parnell raised a brow. “There’s a dinner theater in the White House?”

  Gabe chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders. “Probably, since it has just about everything else. All I’m saying is that after talking with Landmark, no expense will be spared on this. He’s very excited about it.”

  Parnell nodded. “I’m curious as to why those Denmark folks just thought of it.”

  Gabe replied, “Because at the time the original proposal was submitted they didn’t have Sage Dunbar managing things. She’s one sharp lady.”

  “Yeah, and a very good-looking one, too.”

  Gabe shot his eyes up from the papers on his desk, suddenly feeling ill at ease. Parnell’s words had struck a chord within him, a very unexpected jealous chord. He met the man’s gaze. “You think so?” he somehow managed to ask.

  Parnell chuckled. “You’d have to be blind not to notice.”

  Gabe looked at Parnell for a long time. Suddenly, his mouth felt as dry as dust. Could Parnell be interested in Sage? “And you’ve noticed?” he asked quietly, curiously, cautiously.

  Parnell’s mouth titled into a full grin. “Yeah, haven’t you?”

  Gabe’s mind suddenly focused on all the things about Sage that he had noticed, although he hadn’t wanted to. “Yes, I’ve noticed.”

  “That’s good.”

  Gabe leaned back in his chair and lifted a brow. Parnell was smiling, and Gabe had a funny feeling that he was somehow the joke. “Is there something going on that I should know about?”

  An innocent expression covered Parnell’s face. “Something like what?”

  Gabe frowned as he continued to stare at Parnell. Then a thought suddenly came to his mind. “My mother. Have you spoken to her lately?”

  He watched as Parnell shifted uneasily in his chair. “What gives you that idea?”

  “Just a hunch.” When Parnell said nothing else, Gabe said, “Well, have you?”

  Gabe lifted a brow when Parnell shrugged his shoulders. “Uh, I do seem to recall her calling a few nights ago to check on the girls. She does that sometimes, you know.”

  “Yes, I know.” And I’ll bet every penny I own that the girls aren’t the only person she’s calling to check on. He leaned forward in his chair and shook his head. This is so typical of Joella Blackwell. First she enlists the help of Christopher and now Parnell.

  “The next time you talk to my mother, Parnell, assure her that I’m dating.”

  Parnell glanced at him dubiously. “Are you?”

  “As much as I want.”

  Parnell shook his head. “But I’m not sure that will be enough to suit Ms. Joella. She’s concerned with there not being enough women out here for you to properly choose from.”

  “And if there aren’t? What does she plan to do? Ship a bunch over here for me?”

  Parnell’s smile spread slowly across his face. “Well, yeah, she had mentioned the possibility of doing that.”

  Gabe suddenly sat up straight in his chair. “She wouldn’t.”

  Parnell shook his head as he grinned at Gabe’s incredulous expression. “You ought to know your mother well enough to know that she would.”

  Gabe closed his eyes briefly. Yes, she would. He reopened them, knowing he had to have a very serious conversation with her. She was getting too out of hand. The next thing he knew he would be instructed to pick up a plane load of Bible-toting single women from the airport who’d been sent by his mother to provide him good food, the good gospel and a good reason why one of them should become Mrs. Gabriel Blackwell.

  “I feel a headache coming on,” he said miserably, placing a hand to his forehead.

  “I’m glad it’s you and not me, Gabe.”

  “Don’t consider yourself immune to Joella Black-well’s shenanigans. Once she thinks I’m taken care of, she’ll quickly switch her attention to you.”

  Parnell appeared taken aback. “To me?”

  “Yes, to you. She won’t rest until she’s found a mother for your girls.”

  Parnell dropped his head into his hands. “Heaven help me.”

  Gabe started laughing. “Forget it. Heaven won’t help you. If I didn’t know better, I’d think my mother has special connections up there. You’ll be on your own, buddy.”

  Later that night after talking to his mother on the phone, Gabe sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace and tried to relax. His conversation with Joella Blackwell had been taxing at best. He knew that everything he’d said to her had gone into one ear and out the other. According to her, there was no good reason a thirty-two year-old man should still be single when there were so many good Christian women out there.

  When he had pointed out that it seemed to him that it was the Christian women with all of the issues, she had calmly replied that there had to
be a little rain in your life to appreciate the sunshine.

  He rolled his eyes, looking at the ceiling. A little rain he could handle, but a full-blown storm he could not, nor did he want to. And when he had told her that he didn’t appreciate her getting Christopher and Parnell involved in his love life, she had been quick to point out to him that as far as she was concerned, he didn’t have one.

  Gabe shook his head after taking a sip of the drink he held in his hand. Before hanging up, she had reminded him of his grandparents’ sixtieth anniversary party that was only two months away, and nothing would make her happier than for him to show up with a woman by his side. And, if he couldn’t find one on his own, she would be glad to help him out. He’d said, “Thanks, but no, thanks,” and had quickly ended their conversation.

  A few minutes later as Gabe continued to sit in the quiet room with the shifting of the fiery logs in the fireplace making the only sound, his thoughts went somewhere he’d tried avoiding all day.

  Sage Dunbar.

  His conversation with Parnell had brought her to the forefront of his mind, and there she had stayed for the rest of the day. More than once he’d been tempted to pick up the phone and invite her to dinner. But the more he’d thought about it, the more he’d decided that to do so wouldn’t be such a good idea.

  He leaned back to rest his head against the sofa as he pondered just what there was about Sage that caused him to continue breaking the rules. Rules he’d established after Lindsey, rules that had been fairly easy to follow until now.

  What was there about her smile, and her laughter, that made him want to make sure one or the other became a permanent fixture on her face? What was there about her that had him not thinking straight?

  After the ordeal he’d suffered through with Lindsey, the last thing he needed was to become involved with a woman on the rebound. Yet Sage was so deeply embedded in his thoughts that it wasn’t funny. He was the last one who wanted to be amused, but he couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face anyway. Ahh … Sage was temptation at its finest. Just looking into her whiskey-colored eyes could make even the strongest man fall to his knees. Her fiancé had been a fool for whatever he did to make her call off their engagement. Had Gabe been blessed to find a woman like her, he would have done anything and everything in his power to make her happy.