Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [68]
My heart is at risk.
He turned and moved away from the window as a piercing pain shot through his chest. A reminder of what was at stake. An involvement with Sage could put him at risk of another heartbreak, and he couldn’t survive that. His parents and Chris had been witnesses to the pain he’d suffered on the outside, but even they hadn’t known the depth of pain that had ripped into his body and soul on the inside.
He went back to bed vowing that somehow and someway, he would do everything in his power to protect himself from the pain of being another fool in love.
Sage hung up the phone and nervously moistened her bottom lip with her tongue. She had just finished talking to Erol and hoped she wasn’t making a mistake.
Their plans were set. Coincidentally, he had a business trip to Texas next week and was more than willing to prolong the trip a few days to meet with her. Although she had been careful not to say anything to give him false hope as to why the two of them were meeting, she could tell by the sound of his voice that he’d gotten it anyway.
She shoved away from her desk and walked over to the window. It was still snowing. She was grateful Malcolm had offered to be her chauffeur for their meeting at John Landmark’s office. She hated driving around in this weather, especially when there was a lot of melted snow on the ground.
She inhaled deeply. Gabe would be attending the meeting, and she was trying to prepare herself to see him again. Sleep hadn’t come easily for her last night. First her body had lain there practically throbbing all night, and if that wasn’t bad enough, there was the fact that everything Rose had said about Erol had been in the forefront of her mind. Thoughts of both Gabe and Erol had made getting a good night’s rest impossible. After today’s meeting, she intended to have Malcolm drop her off at home. Her car could stay at the office all weekend for all she cared. She hadn’t planned on going out anyway. Since the weekend weather called for snow, snow and more snow, she’d decided to stay inside where it was nice and warm and survive off soup and sandwiches.
She turned at the knock on her door. “Come in.” She smiled when Malcolm entered.
“Are you ready to leave for the meeting?” he asked, going into her office.
“Yes, I just need to grab my briefcase. I doubt this will be a long meeting. All Mr. Landmark wants is for me to update everyone on the plans for the dinner theater as well as the other marketing ideas I have.”
Malcolm nodded. He then quickly crossed the room to help her put on her coat. “Did I hear you say you’ll be out of town a few days next week?” he asked when they were walking out of her office.
“Yes. There’s some personal business I need to take care of in Texas, so I’ll be gone, but only for a day. I’ve checked and there are no meetings planned, and if anything comes up, I’m sure you’ll be able to handle it in my absence.”
He grinned. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
She shook her head, smiling. “You’ve earned it.”
* * *
“So as you can see, with all these marketing ideas we plan to have in place, Eden will become a household name.” Sage finished her presentation. She glanced around the room. “Are there any questions you’d like answered?”
Gabe leaned back in his chair and watched his wonder woman in action. He was proud of the way she had conducted her part of the meeting. Even when Langley Mayhew, one of John Landmark’s junior executives, had tried cornering her with relentless questions, she had not lost her cool but had answered intelligently, expertly and professionally.
The one thing he did notice was that she had not tried to avoid meeting his gaze. In fact, it seemed that she had deliberately made eye contact with him several times, and each time she had done so with total indifference. It was as if what they had shared last night never happened. If he didn’t know for a fact that he hadn’t dreamed the whole thing, he would think he hadn