Rush

miserable? Was she wearing a neon sign advertising how
     unhappy she was without him?
    “I’m not sleeping either, Mia,” he said softly. “I made a mistake. I fucked up. Give
     me a chance to make it right.”
    She closed her eyes and curled her fingers into tight balls at her sides.
    “Don’t screw this up for me, Gabe. Please. I have to have this job. Until I decide
     what I want to do, I have to work and I can’t have you here distracting me.”
    He reached for one of those tightly fisted hands, and he pried her fingers loose.
     Then he drew her hand to his mouth and kissed her open palm.
    “You have a job, Mia. It’s waiting for you. It’s not going anywhere.”
    She snatched her hand back like she’d been burned.
    “Just go, Gabe. Please. I can’t do this. You’re going to get me fired. If you want
     to make it
right
, then walk away and stay away.”
    She was precariously close to breaking down. Her emotionswere so damn unstable. Why couldn’t she be strong? Why did she have to allow him to
     see what a mess she was?
    She turned away, uncaring of whether it looked bad that she’d been rude to a customer.
     She had others to attend to.
    But he sat there, watching her, his gaze steady as she tended to the other people
     in the shop. They came and went and still he sat there until she felt hunted. Stalked.
    Finally she went into the back and asked Louisa for a break. She helped Greg with
     the orders while Louisa worked the front. An hour later when she ventured back up
     front, Gabe was gone.
    She didn’t know whether she was relieved or disappointed. All she knew was there was
     a gaping hole in her heart she never had a hope of repairing.
    When she trudged home that evening, she found a huge bouquet of flowers at her door.
     Sighing, she took the card and saw the scribbled note from Gabe.
    I’m sorry. Please give me a chance to explain.
    –Gabe
    She had to bite back the childish urge to trash the flowers. They were beautiful,
     and she and Caroline would enjoy having them in the apartment. She would just pretend
     that someone else had given them to her.
    She placed them on the counter and wondered why Gabe was making the effort. Why was
     he doing this? He’d been the one to say that a clean break was better. Why prolong
     it if he had no intention of making their relationship permanent? Like she wanted
     to go through this all over again down the road when he did get tired of her?
    Talking with Jace and Ash openly about Gabe and his relationships had been eye-opening.
     She’d guessed or had a very goodidea of how he went about them. But during their stay in the Caribbean, the two had
     opened up and given her details she hadn’t known before.
    Gabe always had a contract with the women he was with. She knew that. What she hadn’t
     known was the frequency of these women and the shortness of his relationships with
     them.
    It had made her realize that she’d been on borrowed time with him.
    She was lying facedown on her bed when Caroline came into her bedroom.
    “Hey, Mia, who are the flowers from?”
    “Gabe,” she muttered.
    Caroline bounced onto the bed, her expression a mixture of
what the fuck
and irritation.
    “Why is he sending you flowers, for God’s sake?”
    Mia rolled onto her back. “Oh that’s only part of it. He was here last night. And
     then he showed up at La Patisserie today.”
    “What the hell? Why?”
    “I have no idea,” Mia said wearily. “To drive me crazy? Who knows? I slammed the door
     in his face last night. Today I just ignored him.”
    “Good for you,” Caroline said in a savage tone. “Want me to go kick his ass?”
    Mia laughed and then leaned up to hug her friend. “I love you, Caro. I’m so glad I
     have you.”
    Caroline squeezed Mia back. “That’s what friends are for. And hey, if you decide to
     kill him, you know I’ll help you hide the body.”
    Mia burst into laughter again, her heart lighter than just a moment before.
    “Hey, what do you want to eat tonight? I was thinking about takeout, but if you wanted
     we could go down the street to the pub and hang out for a while.”
    Caroline studied Mia intently. “Are you sure? I don’t mind cooking for us if you want
     to hang here.”
    Mia shook her head. “No, let’s go out. I can’t stay here and mope over Gabe forever.”
    As Mia stood up from the bed, Caroline went quiet for a moment and then she turned
     her serious gaze up to Mia.
    “Maybe he wants you back, Mia. Have