Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [26]
Sage continued to sip her coffee and watched them. From where she sat, they could not see her, but she definitely could see them. When it was time for her to leave, she would have to pass their table, so she decided she would stay put for a while and be observant. She hated the fact, the very idea, that at that moment for the first time in her life, her trust in her father was wavering. She just hoped and prayed that she was misreading the entire thing.
She shook her head to clear her mind. Stop being silly, her mind admonished. That man sitting over there is your father, for heaven’s sake. He loves your mother and would be the last man on earth to be unfaithful. Get up and cross the room and speak to him. It will be perfectly all right for you to let him know you’re here. But then you’ll have to explain to him why you’re spending the night here and not at home with Erol, and you aren’t ready to do that; so chill and stay put. Enjoy some more coffee. And go ahead and order that slice of cheesecake you’re dying to have. Then soon enough you’ll see that Satan has been busy today, and now he’s filling your mind with unrealistic thoughts because of what Erol did. You can’t become distrustful of everyone because of him. Open your eyes and see that there is nothing going on between your father and that woman. Don’t read anything into it that really isn’t there.
Satisfied she had gotten her mind straightened out, she caught the waiter’s attention and asked for more coffee and that slice of cheesecake. She even became daring and requested that he squirt some whipped cream on top.
Sage forced her thoughts away from her father and his dinner companion to Rose and Mr. Poole. She wondered if things were really as Rose claimed—a sex-only thing—or would Rose become involved with their boss on a more emotional basis. From what Sage could see, his past history indicated he never stayed with the same woman for long. She wondered if that would be the case with Rose. It certainly didn’t seem that Rose would lose any sleep over it if it was. She wished Rose would have shown interest in Parnell Cabot. He had seemed like such a nice person, a man who would treat a woman right.
As she took another sip of her coffee, her thoughts went to Parnell Cabot’s boss, Gabriel Black-well. The man was as charming as he was handsome, but sometimes the charming, handsome men were the ones you had to watch out for. Hadn’t Erol proven that?
Seeing that an attempt to get her mind off her father wasn’t working, she glanced over in their direction and wished she hadn’t. She took in a quick breath. Her father was holding the woman’s hand.
Sage’s nostrils flared in anger. She was seconds away from losing it, big time. She began shaking so badly, she had to set her coffee cup down. She watched as they stood to leave at the same time the waiter was returning with her cheesecake.
“I’ve changed my mind about the cheesecake, but charge it to my hotel bill anyway,” she said to the waiter, who was looking at her in surprise as she stood. A part of her had to know that her father and the woman were leaving. Then maybe, no matter how damaging things had looked, the woman was a client who had tried coming on to him, and he had played along with her.
Deciding to keep a safe distance from the pair, Sage went into the gift shop that afforded a good view of the hotel’s lobby. She watched, almost suspended in shock, as her father and the woman stepped into the elevator when it opened.
That doesn’t mean a thing, her mind tried to tell her. He’s just being a gentleman and seeing the woman to her room. Didn’t Gabe Blackwell do that very same thing with you in Anchorage? And it was all perfectly innocent with you and him, so why can’t it be that way for your father and her?
Sage paused, wanting to believe what her mind was saying. Leaving the gift shop, she walked to the lobby and sat on the leather sofa where she could see her father when he left the hotel.
Picking