Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [93]
He stopped in midsentence. Sage had curled up on his sofa and had gone to sleep.
Without giving it a second thought, he placed the glass of brandy on the table, then swung Sage up into his arms, cradling her against his chest, and made his way toward the guest room. He gently placed her on the bed, then stood back and studied her sleeping form for several long moments.
He loved her. There was no use asking for the thousandth time how he had let such a thing happen, because it had happened, and it was too late to question it. He swallowed against the tightness he felt clogging his throat.
He loved her and didn’t know how he was going to give her up.
Sage yawned and slowly stretched out on the bed when she came awake. She glanced around the room. Déjà vu. She had awakened in this same room before with the aroma of Gabe preparing food in the kitchen.
Her gaze locked on her luggage that he’d brought in from her car. Why? It wasn’t as if he’d been glad to see her, so why would he assume she would be spending the night? Swinging her legs off the bed, she reached for her purse, deciding to use her cell phone to call Malcolm to let him know she was back.
“Hello.”
“Malcolm, this is Sage. I just wanted to let you know I’m back.”
“Sage, where are you? I just tried calling you at home and didn’t get an answer. Are you in a safe place?”
Sage lifted her brow. “A safe place?”
“Yes, a torrential blizzard is headed for the city. They predict several feet of snow in the morning and suggested that everyone just stay inside and keep off the roads.” He chuckled. “In other words, we’re snowed in for a day or so.”
Sage nodded. No wonder Gabe had brought her bags in. “Yes, I’m in a safe place. I’m at Gabe’s. I came straight here from the airport.”
“Good. He called the office a few times today for you. He seemed kind of anxious to see you.”
He could have fooled me, she thought, recalling Gabe’s reaction when he’d first seen her earlier. “Well, I’m here, and this is where I’ll be if you need to reach me.”
“All right and you stay put.”
She smiled. “Oh, I will unless Gabe kicks me out.”
Malcolm’s laugh came in loud over the phone. “Don’t hold your breath for that to happen. He likes you a lot. That was obvious when he went up against Langley Mayhew that day. Blackwell was territorial at its best.”
Not wanting to discuss what Malcolm assumed was Gabe’s feelings toward her, she said, “Look, I need to call home and check my messages. You can reach me on my cell phone if you need me.”
“Okay and you take care.”
“You, too, Malcolm.”
Sage then called her home number to retrieve her messages. Not surprisingly, her mother had called to see how things had gone with her meeting with Erol. Rose had called wanting to know that very same thing.
The sound of Gabe’s deep, husky voice gave her a start. Her pulse quickened as she listened to his message:
“Sage, this is Gabe. Call me as soon as you get in. I need to know what it’s going to be, or should I say who it’s going to be. I’m staying up late to hear from you.”
Sage lifted a dark brow, pondering the contents of his message. After a few moments, understanding dawned on her, and she shook her head. Did he actually think that after seeing Erol she would decide the two of them should get back together? She sighed deeply, knowing that was exactly what Gabe thought … or at least what he couldn’t rule out as a possibility.
A part of her suddenly became angry that he had no more faith in her than that. His assumptions only proved that he still didn’t trust her emotions. He still wasn’t sure of her.
But then, how sure was she of him?
After what her father and Erol had done, she had wondered if she would ever put her faith and trust in another man again. And although Gabe had never done anything for her to question his integrity, a part of her had held back, though she wanted to believe otherwise. But things had been no different for Gabe. Because of what his former girlfriend had done, he was leery of the same thing happening. Yet, he had set himself up for that possibility,