Reflected in You: A Crossfire Novel

I was so relieved to see him looking and sounding more like himself. “You’re obviously feeling better, if you’re feeling frisky. How did things go with Trey?”
    “Good.” He sighed. “I’d worried that the party wouldn’t be his scene. I forgot that he knew a lot of the people already.”
    Cary and Trey had met at a photo shoot, with Cary modeling and Trey assisting the photographer behind the camera. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
    “Yeah. He was totally set on not getting laid.”
    “So you tried . . . after you said you wouldn’t.”
    “This is me we’re talking about.” He rolled his eyes. “Hell yeah, I tried. He’s hot and great in bed—”
    “—and in love with you.”
    He released his pent-up breath in a rush, wincing as his chest expanded. “No one’s perfect.”
    I had to bite back a laugh. “Cary Taylor. Loving you isn’t a character defect.”
    “Well, it’s not very smart. I was such an asshole to him,” he muttered, looking disgruntled. “He could do so much better.”
    “That isn’t your decision to make for him.”
    “Someone needs to make it.”
    “And you’re volunteering because you love him, too.” My mouth curved. “Don’t you think that sounds ass-backwards?”
    “I don’t love him enough.” All traces of levity were wiped from his face, leaving behind the wounded and lonely man I knew all too well. “I can’t be faithful like he wants. Just him and me. I like women. Love them, actually. I’d be cutting off half of who I am. Just thinking about it makes me resent him.”
    “You fought too hard to accept yourself,” I said softly, remembering that time with more than a little twinge of sadness. “I totally understand and don’t disagree, but have you tried talking to Trey about it?”
    “Yes, I talked to him about it. He listened.” He rubbed his fingers over his brow. “I get it, I do. If he told me he wanted to bang some other guy while seeing me, it’d bother the fuck out of me.”
    “But not if it were a woman?”
    “No. I don’t know. Shit.” His bloodshot green eyes pleaded with me. “Would it make a difference to you if Cross were banging another man? Or just another woman?”
    The door opened and Gideon walked in. I held his gaze when I said, “If Gideon’s dick touched anything but his hand or me, we’d be over.”
    His brows rose. “Well, then.”
    I smiled sweetly and winked. “Hi, ace.”
    “Angel.” He looked at Cary. “How are you feeling this morning?”
    Cary’s lips twisted wryly. “Like I got hit by a bus . . . or a bat.”
    “We’re working on getting you set up at home. It looks like we can make that happen by Wednesday.”
    “Big tits, please,” Cary said. “Or bulging muscles. Either will do.”
    Gideon looked at me.
    I grinned. “The private nurse.”
    “Ah.”
    “If it’s a woman,” Cary went on, “can you get her to wear one of those white nurse dresses with the zipper down the front.”
    “I can only imagine the media frenzy over that sexual-harassment lawsuit,” Gideon said dryly. “How about a collection of naughty-nurse porn instead?”
    “Dude.” Cary smiled wide and looked, for a moment, like his old self. “You’re the man.”
    Gideon looked at me. “Eva.”
    I stood and bent over to kiss Cary on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
    We stepped out of the room and I saw my mother in conversation with the doctor, who looked dazzled by her.
    “I talked to Garrity this morning,” Gideon said, referring to Mark, my boss. “So don’t worry about that.”
    I hadn’t been, because he said he’d handle it. “Thank you. I’ll need to go in tomorrow. I’m going to see if I can get hold of Trey, Cary’s boyfriend. Maybe he can stop in while I’m at work.”
    “Let me know if you need any help with that.” Gideon glanced at his watch. “You’ll want to stay here again tonight?”
    “Yes, if that’s possible. Until Cary comes home.”
    He took my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine. “All right. I have a lot of work to catch up on. Charge your cell so I can reach you.”
    I heard a faint buzzing. Gideon backed away and reached into an inner jacket pocket to withdraw his phone. He read the screen, then said, “I have to get this. I’ll talk to you later.”
    Then he was gone, striding down the hallway as quickly as he’d arrived.
    “He’s going to marry you,” my mother said, coming up to stand beside me. “You know that, don’t you?”
    I