The second time, she looked up wryly. “Just so you know this is not the fault of any educational institution I attended. I learned the basics, and that’s about it.”
“You’re doing fine.”
“No. You’re doing fine. I’m just along for the ride.”
And loving it more than she should.
“Speaking of riding along, why did you change your mind about coming tonight?”
The question startled her, making her stumble again, but his strong arms steadied her. She couldn’t tell him it was because she was curious about the available support for victims of attacks like the one she’d experienced. That would be revealed on a need-to-know basis, and a serious relationship was the only reason he would need to know. That wasn’t going to happen.
Gabe had taken some horrible emotional hits and flat-out said he didn’t want to care again. Neither did she. The fact was, if this benefit wasn’t for a cause close to her heart, she wouldn’t be close to Gabe. She would have turned down his halfhearted invitation.
“I don’t think I can put into words why I changed my mind. I guess it just comes under the heading ‘seemed like a good idea at the time.’”
He pulled her just a little closer. “Well, I’m glad you did.”
Just like that, so was she. And therein was the problem. She didn’t want to be in a place where she had to take a risk again. She didn’t want to confide her own violation and the violence she’d experienced. She didn’t want…
Whoa. Time out. As usual, she was making things far more complicated than necessary. This was one night, for a good cause and she was making it into a bare-your-soul experience. He had two tickets and she was available. End of story. There was no reason to borrow trouble.
There wasn’t now, nor would there ever be, a reason for her to tell him what had happened to her.
About five minutes after leaving The Palms, conversation from the right-hand seat had ceased. Of course the fact that it was midnight could have something to do with that. Gabe looked over to see Cinderella leaning back with her eyes closed. Either Rebecca was avoiding conversation or she was worn out. Or both. It didn’t matter, really, but he couldn’t help being curious. She’d been different tonight. The wary woman he normally saw when he was with her had eventually disappeared. In her place was a fun lady doctor with a wicked sense of humor and a way with a waltz.
He glanced over again and couldn’t help smiling. She looked comfortable. Relaxed. And so beautiful the sight of her made his chest hurt. But that wasn’t why he was glad she’d come with him. He’d missed having someone in that passenger seat. Someone not his sister.
Gabe made the transition from the 15 South to the 215 Beltway East, toward Henderson. Rebecca was still asleep and started a little, sighing softly. The sound seared through him, stirring up lust. At the same time a feeling of tenderness took hold and squeezed.
When he’d extended the invitation for the benefit, he was relieved when she’d turned him down, decided it was for the best. And he wasn’t sure what had made Rebecca change her mind about coming with him tonight. It was right after he’d told her what the benefit was for.
When he’d picked her up at her condo, it had not looked at all promising for a positive outcome to the evening. He hadn’t done this in a really long time, and she’d acted as if she expected him to put her up against the wall and shoot her. After he’d confessed his nerves, her attitude relaxed, softened somehow. It was as if he’d passed some kind of test.
Now she was sitting beside him. He liked having her there. He liked her.
After exiting the Beltway, he turned right on Green Valley Parkway, then right again on Paseo Verde and passed The District and Green Valley Ranch Resort before turning left into Rebecca’s complex. When he came to the closed gates, he was glad she’d told him that the last four digits of her home number were her gate code because he didn’t have to wake her to get them inside. All too soon he pulled up in front of her place and turned off the ignition.
He expected her to wake, but she didn’t. In fact she was sleeping pretty deeply. Apparently, a couple of late-night deliveries and the unforgiving pace of a doctor’s life were taking a toll. If anyone deserved some rest, it was the special lady who helped life happen.
Maybe he could get her inside without waking her. He picked up her purse and took her key, then quietly let himself out of the car and unlocked her front door. Gently he opened the passenger door and undid her seat belt. Very carefully, he slid one arm behind her back and the other beneath her legs and checked to make sure he hadn’t disturbed her. The streetlight drew his attention to the dark sweep of her long lashes, the curve of her cheek, the fullness of her lips. Something tightened inside him, something rusty and unfamiliar, but so compelling and intense that adrenaline surged through him.
He wanted to kiss her. Maybe if he didn’t know that she tasted like heaven, he could have resisted. But he’d already made that mistake once; now resisting temptation turned painful. He needed the touch more than his next breath.
Gabe lowered his mouth to hers, deliberately keeping the contact soft, hardly more than a brush of butterfly wings. Instantly he felt her tense just before he heard her gasp. He lifted his head and saw that her eyes were wide and scared.
“No.” She put her hands flat against his chest and pushed. “Get off me. Let me go!”
“Rebecca, it’s okay. It’s me. Gabe.”
“Let me go.”
Was she still asleep? Having a bad dream? “Wake up, Rebecca—”
“Don’t touch me—” Panic laced her voice. “Get your hands off.”
He did, but everything in him wanted to gather her in his arms and reassure her that she was safe. That he would never hurt her.
He made his voice as calm as possible when he said, “Rebecca, it’s Gabe. We went out tonight. Remember? You’re in my car. In front of your house. You’re home.”
Not sure whether or not she was awake, he squatted beside her because he sensed that looming over her would be more frightening.
Her breathing was harsh, frantic and her chest rose and fell rapidly. The same streetlights that moments ago had highlighted her beauty now exposed the fear. He hated that she was afraid of him.
She shrank back, away from him, and her gaze darted from his face to her front door as if she were calculating her chances of successful escape. She drew in air as she touched a trembling hand to her forehead.
“Gabe—”
“I’m here.” Thank God she recognized him.
“I…I guess I fell asleep.”
“Yeah.”
But this was so much more than her being disoriented after waking from a deep sleep. He felt it in his gut that this was way more than a bad dream.
He held a hand out. “I’ll take you inside.”
Her gaze locked on his and shame mixed with alarm. She glanced around. “My purse—”
“It’s inside,” he assured her. “I used your key to unlock the door. I only wanted to let you sleep a little longer.”
“Oh. I…I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Not right now. But they would talk about this.
“I want to get out.” She sat there, struggling to get her breathing under control as she watched and waited for him to give her space.
Gabe stood and backed away. “Okay.”
She slid out of the car and rested her hand on the door for a second, steadying herself. He let her because he was afraid to touch her, afraid she would shatter. She gathered her composure for several moments without looking at him. And when she did, she couldn’t manage a smile. “Thank you for taking me,” she said, trying to follow the rules in spite of everything.
“Let’s go in,” he said.
“No.” She seemed to sense the sharpness of her tone and looked at him. “That’s okay. It’s late.”
“Rebecca, I—At least let me see you to the door.”
“Please, just let me go in,
” she pleaded.
Grimly he nodded. “All right.”
“Good night,” she said.
It had been. Until now. He watched her walk inside and shut the door without looking at him.
For a long time he stood there but couldn’t manage to make sense of what just happened. All he knew for sure was that the doc had issues. If anyone knew about issues, it was him. After losing first Hannah, then the baby within a week of each other, he would admit to personal wounds. Rebecca hid behind a facade of professionalism, but he knew there was something wounded in her, too.
He hadn’t asked to start feeling again, but somehow it had happened. And he wasn’t sure it was a good thing. In fact, there was only one thing he was sure of.
She’d managed to touch him, deep inside where no one had for a long time. When he’d touched her back, she’d been afraid of him. He couldn’t stand that. He hated the fear he’d seen in Rebecca’s eyes.
The question was, What was he going to do about it?
Chapter Nine
It had been a week, and Rebecca hadn’t seen Gabe since the night she’d—well—she’d treated him a lot like a criminal. It wasn’t her fault. She knew that. She’d been startled, and that horrible memory was always in her subconscious. It reared its ugly head at unexpected times. The blame for that ugly memory sat squarely with the man who’d forced himself on her. When she’d awakened from a deep sleep to find a man holding her, looming over her, she’d gone straight back to the bad place and panicked. And Gabe had paid the price for what another man had done to her.
In the years since the assault, she’d learned that though there was no shame, unfortunately there was no trust, either. Ten years and the bastard was still taking from her. She had a profession that she loved, but he’d stolen so much from her, including a personal life. No doubt Gabe thought she was a raving lunatic.
In the past seven days she’d spent far too much time and energy thinking about this because there never was going to be anything between her and Gabe. No one in Vegas would ever have bet on the two of them being a couple. But she couldn’t seem to get it, or him, out of her mind. Maybe when she saw him, got the first post-meltdown, face-to-face meeting over with, she’d be able to stop thinking about him.
And that meeting would be soon. Amy was here in the office, the last appointment of the day, and Gabe hadn’t missed one yet.
Rebecca lifted the chart from the holder on the outside of the exam room door. Before she saw a patient, the nurse would already have taken her blood pressure and weight and checked the glucose in the patient’s sample.
Rebecca noted all Amy’s numbers were within normal limits. She took a deep breath and opened the door, but bracing herself had been a waste of time. Amy was alone. Her brother wasn’t in the room.
“Hi, Amy.”
“Hi.” Amy did a double take. “You look weird.”
“I’m fine,” Rebecca said with far more enthusiasm than she felt.
She’d been dreading seeing Gabe and had no idea how much she’d actually wanted to see him until she didn’t see him. She shook her head to clear it. His sister was her patient, and that was the most important thing. “So, Amy, what’s up?”
The teen shrugged.
“Your weight looks good. How are you feeling?”
“Okay, I guess.”
“You guess? Any specific complaints?”
“I wake up every two hours to pee.”
“That’s normal. Other than that how are you sleeping?”
Amy rocked her hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. She put her hands on her belly. “I can’t get comfortable.”
“That’s normal, too. I like to think it’s Mother Nature’s way of getting you ready to take care of your baby when it gets here. Babies need to eat frequently. That means he, or she, is going to wake up during the night.”
Amy looked away, clearly not wanting to talk about caring for the baby. With approximately five weeks until she delivered, there wasn’t much time left to work on winning her cooperation. Rebecca had hoped the teen would come around by now. Very soon she was going to be responsible for the welfare of a child. Or make a serious decision.
Rebecca was really getting worried about what would happen when the baby arrived. It wasn’t just Amy’s life she was concerned about. There was a child at risk, too.
“You’re going to need help, Amy,” Rebecca said gently.
“Gabe will help.”
Rebecca remembered the strained expression on his face when he’d looked in Mercy Medical’s newborn nursery. Her guess would be that he didn’t have a lot of experience with infants.
“I’m sure your brother will do whatever he can. But does he know about babies?”
“Gabe can do anything,” Amy said.
Not according to him, Rebecca thought. He didn’t think he was the right person to help his sister through this but he’d stepped up as best he could. Somehow they needed to convince this traumatized girl to want to take care of her baby.
“The point is, do you know how to care for an infant?” Rebecca asked.
The question was direct and she didn’t mean to be unkind, but the deadline was quickly approaching and facts needed to be faced.
“Are we done?” Amy started to slide off the exam table.
“No.” Rebecca put her hand on the girl’s shoulder, indicating she should lie on her back. “I need to check the baby.”
The teen did as requested, but not without eye rolling and a long-suffering sigh. Rebecca put her stethoscope on Amy’s belly and moved it around, listening for the fetus’s heart rate, which was strong. “The baby sounds good.”
Then she examined Amy’s ankles and calves for edema, which was moderate, not uncommon at this stage of pregnancy. “Your legs are a little swollen. I want you to avoid salty foods and put the salt shaker away. It makes you retain fluid.”
“Is that it?”
Rebecca held out her hand and assisted the girl to a sitting position. “For now. I’ll see you next week.”
“Okay.” Amy slid off the table and headed for the door.
Rebecca followed, to make certain Amy made an appointment, she told herself. As they approached the front office, voices drifted to them—one was Grace. The other was male and it didn’t sound like Gabe. Amy walked through the door, and Rebecca joined Grace at the reception window where she was talking with Jack O’Neill.
“I know your type,” Grace said.
He leaned an elbow on the counter, the movement blatantly flirty and a clear invasion of space. “And what type would that be?”
“The type who is self-absorbed and egotistical.”
He winced and put a hand over his heart. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“But I’m right, aren’t I?”
“Pretty much,” he said.
Grace laughed. “At least you’re an honest scoundrel.”
“Does it say somewhere that scoundrels are dishonest by definition?” His wicked smile widened when he saw Rebecca. “Hey. Nice to see you again.”
“You, too,” she lied.
It wasn’t exactly a lie. Jack was all right. He just wasn’t Gabe. She knew by the way her heart jumped into her throat, then thudded when it hit bottom again that it was a symptom and she was in a lot of trouble.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Gabe sent me to pick up Amy,” he explained. He looked at the teen and draped an arm across her shoulders. “Hey, squirt. Everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Grace, will you give Amy an appointment for a week from today?” Rebecca asked.
“Okay.” The receptionist typed in the commands and pulled up the schedule. “How about the same time?” she asked, looking at the girl.
“I guess.”
“Done.” Grace handed her a card with the time and date written on it.
“Okay.” Jack looked at Rebecca. “Did you have a good time at the benefit?”
It had be
en too much to hope he wouldn’t bring that up. Especially since he’d been responsible for pushing her and Gabe together in the first place. Had he asked Gabe how it went? Had Gabe mentioned that she was a lunatic? She had no way of knowing. There had been no communication since the night in question.
“I had a great time,” she said. That was the truth. Everything had been magical until the end.
It took every ounce of willpower she possessed, but she refrained from asking what Gabe thought of her. She was a grown woman. This wasn’t junior high.
“Good.” Jack looked at Amy. “Let’s get you home, kiddo.”
When she nodded, he looked at her, then winked at Grace. “Don’t let the scoundrels get you down.”
The outside door closed behind them, and Rebecca walked over to lock it. Amy was their last patient of the day.
“So you’ve met him before?” Grace asked.
“Jack?” Grace nodded and she said, “He’s a friend of Gabe and Amy’s from Texas.”
“You could have warned me about Mr. Slick.”
“I had no idea he would be here instead of—”
“Gabe?” Grace guessed.
“Yeah.” She shrugged.
It was for the best. No harm, no foul, Rebecca thought.
“Did you know that Jack is an outrageous flirt?” Grace asked, leaning back in her chair with her arms folded over her chest.
“You’re asking the wrong person. Social skills are not my specialty. Although I had a feeling.”
“In the future, a flirt alert would be helpful.”
“You can count on it. If there is a next time,” she said.
There wouldn’t be, at least for her and Gabe. Rebecca went to her office and closed the door. Leaning back against it she blew out a long breath. He hadn’t missed a single appointment until after the night she’d gone mental on him. It didn’t take superior social skills to understand the rejection. And the cut was far more than a superficial sting. She felt the rebuff as deeply as if he’d said she was too much trouble to deal with.
The Millionaire and the M.D. Page 10
