Rush

flopped
     onto the couch next to her. Caroline handed her one of the mugs and Mia gratefully
     embraced it, wrapping her cold hands around the hot cup.
    “How are things with you and Brandon?” Mia asked.
    She felt terribly guilty because over the last while, she’d spent all her time with
     Gabe. Every minute. Every hour. She hadn’t even talked to Caroline in a
week
.
    Caroline smiled. “Good. We’re still seeing each other. It’s hard because of our schedules,
     but we’re trying to make it work.”
    “I’m glad,” Mia said.
    “What happened, Mia?” Caroline asked softly. “It’s obvious he hurt you a lot. How
     on earth did Jace and Ash get involved and why the hell did you come home in just
     a robe?”
    Mia blew out her breath. “It’s a long story. I wasn’t completely honest with you about
     my relationship with Gabe. It’s more complicated than that.”
    Caroline’s eyebrows bunched together. “I’m listening.”
    Mia poured out the entire story, leaving nothing out. By the time she got to tonight’s
     debacle, Caroline’s eyes were wide and then they narrowed in disgust.
    “Can’t believe he hung you out to dry like that. You were already planning to tell
     Jace everything.”
    Mia slowly nodded. “He stood there and lied to me, Caro. I know he has feelings for
     me. And he stood there and gave me this bullshit about how I was getting too emotionally
     invested, blah-blah. I wanted to choke him.”
    “Chickenshit,” Caroline said rudely. “You deserve better thanthat, Mia. You deserve someone who stands up for you and who’ll risk everything just
     as you have.”
    “I agree,” Mia said. “I told him if he ever wakes up and realizes what a mistake he
     made that he’ll have to crawl to get me back.”
    Caroline laughed. “Atta girl. And he
should
have to grovel.”
    Mia raised her mug in a toast. “Damn right.”
    Caroline’s expression sobered. “So what do you think is going to happen between Jace
     and Gabe? They’re business partners as well as best friends. Jace seems pretty pissed.”
    “I don’t know,” Mia said honestly. “This is why I never wanted Jace to find out. Maybe
     I was being too naïve, or maybe I didn’t expect Gabe and I to be so hot and heavy
     into things. I thought it would be simple to keep it from Jace. I guess I thought
     Gabe would want me a couple of times a week and the rest of the time I’d carry on
     as usual. It’s also why we wanted to tell Jace about us, so we wouldn’t have to hide
     it any longer.”
    Fresh anger surged into her blood until she was flushed with it.
    “Damn it. Can you believe the timing? All we needed was
one more day
. If Jace had just called Gabe to let him know he was back in town, we would have
     told him together and everything would have been fine. Gabe was falling for me, Caro.
     He was falling and it scared the shit out of him. And then Jace bursting in and saying
     all those horrible things. I could see the guilt on Gabe’s face. Especially after
     what happened in Paris.”
    Caroline’s face wrinkled in sympathy. “I’m sorry, Mia. It sucks. But you deserve better
     than Gabe Hamilton.”
    “Yeah, I do,” Mia said in a low voice. “I deserve more for sure. But I wanted him
     so much. I love him, Caro. And there’s not a damn thing I can do about that.”

chapter forty
    Mia left La Patisserie, her heart heavy as sadness crept into every part of her soul.
     She should be happy. She’d gotten her old job back. Louisa and Greg had been thrilled
     to see her and had offered her flexible hours. The truth was that she wanted to work
     as much as possible so she didn’t have time to think. So she didn’t have to spend
     every minute of her day reliving every moment she’d spent with Gabe.
    And La Patisserie was temporary this time. She’d made it clear to Louisa and to Greg
     that she was pursuing other jobs. She’d work at the café while she explored other
     possibilities and then she’d take that step out, stop hiding and embrace her future.
     A future without Gabe Hamilton.
    She shivered in the damp cold. It was a gray, overcast, dreary day perfectly suited
     to her mood. She hadn’t slept the night before—how could she? Caroline had stayed
     up with her until she’d started yawning and Mia had shooed her to bed. And then she’d
     lain in her own bed, staring up at the ceiling, remembering every minute of her relationship
     with Gabe.
    Checking her watch, she realized she’d