Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [125]
As soon as the plane landed, she gathered her luggage and caught a cab straight to Gabe’s office, knowing chances were she would find him there. Riding up to his office in the elevator reminded her of the time they had made love in it. Her mind became filled with other pleasant memories of the intimate times they had shared.
His secretary smiled upon seeing her.
“Ms. Dunbar, welcome back.”
Sage smiled. “Thanks. Is Mr. Blackwell in?”
His secretary shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. He flew out yesterday morning for Detroit to attend his grandparents’ anniversary party.”
Sage nodded. She remembered he’d mentioned that to her. In fact, the last time they’d spent together, he had asked her to fly to his home with him and be his date that night. Fearing things were moving too fast between them if he wanted her to go home with him to meet his family, she hadn’t answered one way or the other if she would go. In fact, she had jumped to another subject.
“When will he be returning?” she asked the woman.
“Not for another week.”
Disappointed that it would be another week before she saw Gabe again, Sage’s stomach dropped. “All right. Thanks for the info.”
Feeling totally defeated, she turned and left Gabe’s office.
“The way I see it,” Rose was saying as she stood in front of the mirror blow-drying her hair, “if your man isn’t here, then you should go to him.”
Sage leaned against the bathroom door, shaking her head. “Rose, I can’t do that, especially since I don’t know how Gabe feels about me.”
Rose turned and looked at her, clearly annoyed. “He told you that he loved you.”
“Yeah, but that was almost a week and a half ago.”
Rose leaned against the bathroom sink and shook her head. “That’s right, I almost forgot that Gabe is a man who, according to you, doesn’t know his own heart.”
Sage glared. “That’s not funny.”
“You’re right it’s not funny; it’s pathetic. Will you give Gabe credit for at least having the intelligence we both know he has, Sage. The man loves you. If he didn’t love you, he would not have called me every day to find out how your mother was doing, as well as to see how you were, since he knew we kept in touch.”
Sage lifted a curious brow. “Why would he call you and not me? I left a couple of messages for him.”
“Because, in his own words and not mine, he wanted to give you space and time to think.”
“Well, he certainly did that,” Sage said, drawing in a shaky breath.
“In that case, you should tell him. But I wouldn’t wait until he returns. It’s time you take matters into your hands like I’m doing.”
Sage looked at Rose curiously. “What kind of matters are you taking into your own hands?”
Rose grinned as if she had a secret that she wasn’t sharing. “You’ll find out soon enough. All I can say right now is that I plan to offer Parnell a business deal that he can’t refuse.”
She then waved off any further inquiries from Sage. “No more questions about it since we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you and Gabe and how you can fix your screwup. I have plenty of suggestions if you care to listen.”
Sage tucked a loose strand behind her ear as she went into the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bathtub, feeling desperate. “Okay, let’s hear your ideas.”
The following morning, Sage was on a plane again, en route to Detroit. She inhaled deeply to calm the butterflies floating around in her stomach. She had gone over and over in her mind all the words she planned to say to Gabe when she saw him. But deep down she knew the final words would be spoken from her heart.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Sage tried to relax as she stood in front of the door after ringing the doorbell. From the sound of