“Sorry, Mom. Can’t help it.”
Gideon brushed coffee-warmed fingertips down my cheek.
“Gideon,” my mother began, coming up right beside us, “you should know better than to take Eva away without any means of calling for help. You do knowbetter.”
She was clearly referring to my past. I wasn’t sure why she thought I was so delicate that I couldn’t function on my own. She was far more fragile.
I shot a sympathetic glance Gideon’s way.
He held out the bag he’d brought for me, the calm and confident look on his face conveying his total comfort in dealing with my mother. So I left him to it. I didn’t have it in me to deal with her until I’d caffeinated myself.
I slipped back into Cary’s room and found him awake. Just the sight of him made the tears well and my throat close up tight. He was such a strong and vibrant man, so full of life and mischief. It was the worst pain to see him looking so broken.
“Hey,” he muttered. “Quit the waterworks every time you see me. Makes me feel like I’m gonna die or something.”
Hell. He was right. My tears didn’t do him any good. Instead, what little relief they gave me just put more of the burden on him. I needed to be a better friend than that.
“I can’t help it,” I said, sniffling. “It sucks. Someone beat me to it and kicked your ass before I could.”
“Is that right?” His scowl faded. “What’d I do now?”
“You didn’t tell me about Brett and Six-Ninths.”
“Oh yeah…” A bit of his old sparkle came back into his eyes. “How’d he look?”
“Good. Really good.” Very hot, but I kept that thought to myself. “Although right now, he might not look much better than you.”
I told him about the kiss and the resulting fight.
“Cross threw down, huh?” Cary shook his head, then winced and stopped. “Taking on Brett took guts-he’s a barroom brawler who loves a good fight.”
“And Gideon is a trained mixed martial artist.” I began digging through the bag Gideon had brought. “Why didn’t you tell me Captive Soul had signed with a major label?”
“Because you didn’t need to fall into that hole again. There are girls who can date rock stars; you’re not one of them. All that time on the road, all those groupies… You’d drive yourself and him insane.”
I shot him a look. “I’m in total agreement with you. But I’m insulted that you’d think I’d run back to him just because he made it big.”
“That’s not why. I didn’t want you to hear their first single if it could be helped.”
“‘Golden’?”
“Yeah…” He studied me as I headed toward the bathroom. “What’d you think of it?”
“It’s better than a song titled ‘Tapped That.’”
“Ha!” He waited until I came out again with my face washed and hair brushed. “So… you kissed him.”
“That’s the beginning and end of that story,” I said dryly. “Have you talked to Trey since Friday?”
“No. They’ve got my phone somewhere. My wallet, too, I’m guessing. When I came to, I was here, wearing this”-he pinched at his hospital gown-“freakin’ thing.”
“I’ll get your stuff for you.” I dumped my toiletries back in the bag, then went to sit in the chair beside him with my coffee in hand. “Gideon’s making arrangements to get you home with a private nurse.”
“Ooh… that’s a fantasy of mine. Can you make sure the nurse is hot? And single?”
My brows rose. Inside, though, I was so relieved to see him looking and sounding more like himself. “You’re obviously feeling better, if you’re feeling frisky. How did things go with Trey?”
“Good.” He sighed. “I’d worried that the party wouldn’t be his scene. I forgot that he knew a lot of the people already.”
Cary and Trey had met at a photo shoot, with Cary modeling and Trey assisting the photographer behind the camera. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“Yeah. He was totally set on notgetting laid.”
“So you tried… after you said you wouldn’t.”
“This is mewe’re talking about.” He rolled his eyes. “Hell yeah, I tried. He’s hot and great in bed-”
“-and in love with you.”
He released his pent-up breath in a rush, wincing as his chest expanded. “No one’s perfect.”
I had to bite back a laugh. “Cary Taylor. Loving you isn’t a character defect.”
“Well, it’s not very smart. I was such an asshole to him,” he muttered, looking disgruntled. “He could do so much better.”
“That isn’t your decision to make for him.”
“Someone needs to make it.”
“And you’re volunteering because you love him, too.” My mouth curved. “Don’t you think that sounds ass-backwards?”
“I don’t love him enough.” All traces of levity were wiped from his face, leaving behind the wounded and lonely man I knew all too well. “I can’t be faithful like he wants. Just him and me. I like women. Love them, actually. I’d be cutting off half of who I am. Just thinking about it makes me resent him.”
“You fought too hard to accept yourself,” I said softly, remembering that time with more than a little twinge of sadness. “I totally understand and don’t disagree, but have you tried talking to Trey about it?”
“Yes, I talked to him about it. He listened.” He rubbed his fingers over his brow. “I get it, I do. If he told me he wanted to bang some other guy while seeing me, it’d bother the fuck out of me.”
“But not if it were a woman?”
“No. I don’t know. Shit.” His bloodshot green eyes pleaded with me. “Would it make a difference to you if Cross were banging another man? Or just another woman?”
The door opened and Gideon walked in. I held his gaze when I said, “If Gideon’s dick touched anything but his hand or me, we’d be over.”
His brows rose. “Well, then.”
I smiled sweetly and winked. “Hi, ace.”
“Angel.” He looked at Cary. “How are you feeling this morning?”
Cary’s lips twisted wryly. “Like I got hit by a bus… or a bat.”
“We’re working on getting you set up at home. It looks like we can make that happen by Wednesday.”
“Big tits, please,” Cary said. “Or bulging muscles. Either will do.”
Gideon looked at me.
I grinned. “The private nurse.”
“Ah.”
“If it’s a woman,” Cary went on, “can you get her to wear one of those white nurse dresses with the zipper down the front.”
“I can only imagine the media frenzy over that sexual-harassment lawsuit,” Gideon said dryly. “How about a collection of naughty-nurse porn instead?”
“Dude.” Cary smiled wide and looked, for a moment, like his old self. “You’re the man.”
Gideon looked at me. “Eva.”
I stood and bent over to kiss Cary on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
We stepped out of the room and I saw my mother in conversation with the doctor, who looked dazzled by her.
“I talked to Garrity this morning,” Gideon said, referring to Mark, my boss. “So don’t worry about that.”
I hadn’t been, because he said he’d handle it. “Thank you. I’ll need to go in tomorrow. I’m going to see if I can get hold of Trey, Cary’s boyfriend. Maybe he can stop in while I’m at work.”
“Let me know if you need any help with that.” Gideon glanced at his watch. “You’ll want to stay here again tonight?”
“Yes, if that’s possible. Until Cary comes home.”
He took my face in his hands and pressed his lips to mine. “All right. I have a lot of work to catch up on. Charge your cell so I can reach you.”
I heard a faint buzzing. Gideon backed away and reached into an inner jacket pocket to withdraw his phone. He read the screen, then said, “I have to get this. I’ll talk to you later.”
Then he was gone, striding down the hallway as quickly as he’d arrived.