Rush (Breathless #1)(112)

“Jace went up to get you,” Ash said. “Let me call him and tell him you’re down here.”

As Ash pulled out his phone, he directed her into the backseat and then shut the door behind her. A moment later, he climbed into the front seat.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Ash asked.

“I’m fine,” she lied.

Jace got into the driver’s seat and glanced at Mia in the rearview mirror.

“Where’ve you been, baby girl?”

“Finding a job.”

Jace and Ash both frowned.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea that you go back to work so soon,” Jace said. “You should take some time off. You know I’ll help you out.”

“I don’t start until after Thanksgiving,” she said.

Ash turned in his seat as Jace pulled into traffic. “Where are you working?”

“I got my old job back at La Patisserie. Louisa and Greg are good to me and I enjoy working for them.”

Jace sighed. “You’re cut out for more than working at a bakery, Mia.”

“Careful, Jace,” she said. “That kind of thinking was what made me go to work for Gabe, remember?”

Ash winced, and Jace let out a curse under his breath.

“Besides, it’s only temporary,” she said softly. “I’m going to pursue other job opportunities. But for now I need to be working. I need to have something to do. Greg and Louisa know when I find a different job that I’m leaving. They’re cool with it.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about Gabe, but she bit it back, refusing to give in to that temptation. She didn’t want to sound like a desperate, clingy twit, even if that’s what she felt like.

Almost as if reading her mind, Ash turned again. “If it makes you feel any better, Gabe looked like shit today. He doesn’t look or sound any better than you do.”

It was hard not to react to Ash’s words. It took all her strength to act unfazed, as if she didn’t care. She wanted to yell at someone—anyone—and scream out that it didn’t have to be this way. All Gabe would have had to do was speak up. Given her any sign that he wanted her. She would have never left him. She’d be with him even now if only he’d given her any indication that it was what he wanted.

Instead he’d trotted out that crap about how it was better this way. Better for whom? Because it damn sure wasn’t better for her. And it didn’t sound like it was so damn good for him either.

“I don’t want to talk about him,” she said in a low voice. “I don’t want to hear his name.”

Jace nodded his agreement and shot Ash a quelling stare. Ash shrugged. “I just thought she might want to know.”

She did. Of course she did. But she’d never admit it. She had pride too, even if she’d sacrificed it all for Gabe.

“We’re taking a trip for Thanksgiving,” Jace said as he glanced up in the mirror again. “We leave Wednesday and we’ll come back Sunday.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Where are we going?”

“The Caribbean. Someplace nice and warm. Lots of sunshine and beaches. It’ll cheer you up.”

She doubted that, but she wasn’t going to be a spoilsport. Jace’s eyes were hopeful. He was trying so hard to help her pick up the pieces. He’d never been able to stand her being upset about anything, and he always pulled out all the stops in his bid to make her feel better.

“And hey, you’ll get to see me in a swimsuit,” Ash said, a devilish grin on his face. “That should make your entire year.”

She rolled her eyes, a smile toying with the corners of her mouth. But she sighed because Ash wasn’t spending Thanksgiving with his family. He never did. He always spent his holidays alone or with her and Jace, or with Gabe. Her heart ached because, except for Jace, Gabe and herself, Ash was alone, and she well knew that feeling now. It sucked.

“That’s better,” Jace said, approval and relief gleaming in his eyes. “I want to see you smiling again, baby girl.”

The smile felt frozen on her lips. It was pretty damn hard to smile when her heart was splintered and lay in pieces. Dramatic maybe, but it was appropriate.

“Do you need to go shopping for the trip?” Ash asked in a coaxing voice. “Jace and I have the rest of the week off. We could take you shopping tomorrow if you need stuff for the beach.”

They were both trying so hard that she wasn’t going to make it any more difficult for them. So she smiled and nodded. “That sounds like fun.”

The relief in Jace’s eyes told her she’d done the right thing. The last thing she wanted was to worry him—and he was worried.

He and Ash would keep her busy through the Thanksgiving holiday. And on Monday she’d return to her old life. Working at La Patisserie. Living with Caroline in her apartment. Trying to forget that for a brief time she’d meant the world to Gabe Hamilton. Or that he still meant the world to her.

Chapter forty-one

Gabe sat brooding in his office, his head aching and dull, his heart even heavier. It was early—he was the only one in the office after the holiday—but he hadn’t slept since Mia had walked out of his apartment, so much hurt and betrayal in her eyes.

He stared at the two pictures of her in his phone, one of which he’d had printed and framed. It lay in his desk drawer. Often, he pulled that drawer open just to see her smile.