Rush

hugged Jace.
    “Love you,” she said fiercely. “Thank you for tonight. It was just what I needed.”
    Jace hugged her back and kissed her temple. “Everything okay with you?”
    She pulled away and smiled. “Yeah. Perfect.”
    She hadn’t lied. Tonight had been exactly what she’d needed. Her relationship with
     Gabe was intense and all consuming. It was easy to get so caught up in him and his
     demands that she lostsight of everything else. Her family—Jace. Her friends—Caroline and the girls.
Herself
.
    “Are you sure everything’s okay with you, Mia?” Ash asked.
    She glanced over to see him studying her, his shrewd stare boring into her.
    “Are you happy at work?”
    Jace picked up on Ash’s question with a frown. “Is there something going on I don’t
     know about?”
    “Jace, I’m fine,” Mia said.
    She was utterly sincere. Maybe she wasn’t always absolutely certain about her direction.
     Of where she was going with Gabe. But she knew she was fine. Whenever the ride was
     over, she’d be okay. She’d be better than before.
    “You’d tell me if you had a problem,” Jace said in a soft voice, his gaze solidly
     fixed on her.
    It wasn’t a question and it wasn’t voiced as one. It was a statement of fact he wanted
     her reinforcement on.
    “You’ll always be my big brother, Jace. That means, unfortunately, that I’ll always
     run to you to fix things for me.”
    She finished with a wistful smile, remembering all the times when she was a girl that
     he’d been so patient with her. She always wondered if the reason he hadn’t married
     and had kids of his own was because he’d spent so much time raising her. It saddened
     her because he would make such an amazing father. But he’d shown no signs of settling
     down with one woman. And well, if he and Ash were always in bed with the same woman
     at the same time, she supposed it would make it a little awkward to forge a more traditional
     relationship.
    “There’s no ‘unfortunately’ to it, baby girl. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
    “And hey, just so you know. My office is always open if Jace isn’t around,” Ash interjected.
    They were genuinely concerned. Was it so evident that she was unsettled? Did she wear
     the evidence of her association with Gabe on her face? She didn’t feel different.
     Didn’t think she looked different. But everyone around her had sensed her disquiet.
    “You’re both sweet,” she said. “But I’m good. Gabe was right. I was hiding by working
     at La Patisserie. I needed that jolt he gave me to get me moving in the right direction.
     I’m not saying I’ll work as a personal assistant forever, but Gabe gave me the opportunity
     to gain some experience that wasn’t about refilling a coffee cup.”
    “As long as you’re happy,” Jace said. “I just want you to be happy.”
    She smiled. “I am.”
    They sat and talked for a while longer before Jace motioned for the check. After the
     waitress dropped it off, Jace took out his credit card. As he slid it inside the leather
     folder with the check, a tall brunette walked purposefully in their direction.
    At first Mia thought she was going to the bathroom, but her gaze was locked on Ash
     and Jace and it became apparent that she was on a mission.
    “Oh shit,” Ash murmured.
    Jace looked up and the brunette halted at the table, her eyes glittering and a fake
     fourteen-karat smile plastered on her face. But then she turned to look at Mia and
     her gaze became frigid.
    “Ash. Jace,” she said in a clipped voice. “Slumming tonight?”
    Mia’s eyes widened.
Holy shit
but she’d just been royally insulted. She glanced down. She didn’t look that bad,
     did she?
    Jace’s face grew cold. It was a look that had always scared Mia because when he got
     that quiet and that glacial, it meant he was seriously pissed off.
    “Miss Houston,” he said tersely. “This is my sister, Mia, and you owe her an apology
     for your rude, crass behavior.”
    The brunette’s cheeks bloomed with instant color. She looked mortified. Mia could
     almost feel sorry for her except…well, she didn’t.
    Ash looked as pissed as Jace did. He reached over, picked up the check holder and
     then waved it at the waitress, looking beyond the brunette as if she weren’t standing
     there.
    “Forgive me,” the brunette said huskily. But she wasn’t looking at Mia when she uttered
     the apology. Her stare was still fixed on Jace and then Ash in turns. Mia