Rush

have to get a cab when she’d intended on walking.
     Jace would be at her apartment soon, and she didn’t want him freaking out on her again.
    Tugging her coat tighter around her, she waded through the passersby to get to the
     corner so she could hail a taxi.
    The biggest thing she struggled with was having to return to a routine she’d once
     found comfortable and reassuring. She hadn’t stepped out of the box before. Hadn’t
     taken risks.
    Being with Gabe had definitely taken her out of her comfort zone, and she’d begun
     to really live. Experience the world around her. Take on new challenges.
    No, the biggest thing wouldn’t be readjusting to her old routine. Her biggest challenge
     would be being without Gabe.
    She’d come to savor every moment with him. They’d had good times. He was a damn liar
     if he thought he wasn’t as emotionally invested as she was. She knew him better than
     that. Knew he was developing feelings for her. And maybe that was her biggest crime
     of all.
    Making him fall in love with her.
    If he hadn’t developed stronger feelings for her, they’d probably still be together.
    After three taxis passed her by, the fourth pulled over and she got in, grateful to
     be out of the cold. After directing the cabbie to her apartment, she sat back, staring
     out the window as the city rolled by.
    What was Gabe doing now? Had he gone in to work today? Was he moving on as if she’d
     never occupied a place in his life? Or was he as miserable as she was?
    She dearly hoped so. If there was any justice in this world, he’d be suffering every
     bit as much as she was.
    When she pulled up at her apartment, she saw Jace’s car out front. Ash was standing
     with the door open, and when Mia got out of the taxi, he waved her over.
    “Jace went up to get you,” Ash said. “Let me call him and tell him you’re down here.”
    As Ash pulled out his phone, he directed her into the backseat and then shut the door
     behind her. A moment later, he climbed into the front seat.
    “You okay, sweetheart?” Ash asked.
    “I’m fine,” she lied.
    Jace got into the driver’s seat and glanced at Mia in the rearview mirror.
    “Where’ve you been, baby girl?”
    “Finding a job.”
    Jace and Ash both frowned.
    “I don’t think it’s a good idea that you go back to work so soon,” Jace said. “You
     should take some time off. You know I’ll help you out.”
    “I don’t start until after Thanksgiving,” she said.
    Ash turned in his seat as Jace pulled into traffic. “Where are you working?”
    “I got my old job back at La Patisserie. Louisa and Greg are good to me and I enjoy
     working for them.”
    Jace sighed. “You’re cut out for more than working at a bakery, Mia.”
    “Careful, Jace,” she said. “That kind of thinking was what made me go to work for
     Gabe, remember?”
    Ash winced, and Jace let out a curse under his breath.
    “Besides, it’s only temporary,” she said softly. “I’m going to pursue other job opportunities.
     But for now I need to be working. I need to have something to do. Greg and Louisa
     know when I find a different job that I’m leaving. They’re cool with it.”
    It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about Gabe, but she bit it back, refusing to
     give in to that temptation. She didn’t want to sound like a desperate, clingy twit,
     even if that’s what she felt like.
    Almost as if reading her mind, Ash turned again. “If it makes you feel any better,
     Gabe looked like shit today. He doesn’t look or sound any better than you do.”
    It was hard not to react to Ash’s words. It took all her strength to act unfazed,
     as if she didn’t care. She wanted to yell at someone—anyone—and scream out that it
     didn’t have to be this way. All Gabe would have had to do was speak up. Given her
     any sign that he wanted her. She would have never left him. She’d be with him even
     now if only he’d given her any indication that it was what he wanted.
    Instead he’d trotted out that crap about how it was better this way. Better for whom?
     Because it damn sure wasn’t better for her. And it didn’t sound like it was so damn
     good for him either.
    “I don’t want to talk about him,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t want to hear his
     name.”
    Jace nodded his agreement and shot Ash a quelling stare. Ash shrugged. “I just thought
     she might want to know.”
    She did. Of course she did. But she’d never admit it. She had pride too,