Reflected in You(85)

after he'd said that he understood how I felt .


"And you went out with Brett Kline knowing I wouldn't like it."


"What did I tell you? You're setting the precedent for how I handle my exes."


"Tit for tat? What a remarkable show of maturity."


I stumbled back from him.


There was none of the Gideon I knew in the man facing me.


It felt as if the man I loved had disappeared and the man standing in front of me was a total stranger in Gideon's body.


"You're making me hate you," I whispered.


"Stop it."


Something passed briefly over Gideon's face, but it was gone before I could identify it.


I let his body language do the talking for him.


He stood far from me, with his shoulders stiff and his jaw tight.


My heart bled and my gaze dropped.


"I can't be around you right now.


Let me go."


Gideon moved to the other bank of elevators and pushed the call button.


With his back to me and his attention on the indicator arrow, he said, "Angus will pick you up every morning.


Wait for him.


And I prefer that you eat lunch at your desk.


It's best if you're not running around right now."


"Why not?" "I have a lot of things on my plate at the moment - " "Like dinner with Corinne?" " - and I can't be worrying about you," he went on, ignoring my interruption.


"I don't think I'm asking too much."


Something was wrong.


"Gideon, why won't you talk to me?" I reached out and touched his shoulder, only to have him jerk away as if I'd burned him.


More than anything else, his rejection of my touch wounded me deeply.


"Tell me what's going on.


If there's a problem - " "The problem is that I don't know where the hell you are half the time!" he snapped, turning to scowl at me as the elevator doors opened.


"Your roommate is in the hospital.


Your dad is coming to visit.


Just .


focus on that."


I stepped into the elevator with burning eyes.


Aside from pulling me out of the elevator when it first arrived, Gideon hadn't touched me.


He hadn't run his fingertips down my cheek or made any attempt to kiss me.


And he made no mention of wanting to see me later, skipping right over the rest of the day to tell me about Angus waiting for me in the morning.


I'd never been so confused.


I couldn't figure out what was happening, why there was suddenly this huge gulf between us, why Gideon was so tense and angry, why he didn't seem to care that I'd had lunch with Brett.


Why he didn't seem to care about anything at all.


The doors started to close.


Trust me, Eva.


Had he breathed those words in the second before the doors shut? Or did I just wish that he had? * * *


The moment I walked into Cary's private room, he knew I was running on fumes.


I'd endured a tough Krav Maga session with Parker, then stopped by the apartment only long enough to shower and eat a tasteless instant- ramen meal.


The shock of the salt and carbs to my system after a day without food was more than enough to exhaust me past the point of no return.


"You look like shit," he said, muting the television.


"Look who's talking," I shot back, feeling too raw to take any criticism.


"I got hit with a baseball bat.


What's your excuse?" I arranged the pillow and scratchy blanket on my cot, then told him about my day from beginning to end.


"And I haven't heard from Gideon since," I finished wearily.


"Even Brett got in touch with me after lunch.


He left an envelope at the security desk with his phone number in it."


He'd also included the cash I left at the restaurant.


"Are you going to call him?" Cary asked.


"I don't want to think about Brett!" I sprawled on my back on the cot and shoved my hands through my hair.


"I want to know what's wrong with Gideon.


He's had a total personality transplant in the last thirty-six hours!" "Maybe it's this."


I lifted my head off the pillow and saw him pointing at something on his bedside table.


Rolling to my feet, I checked it out - a local gay periodical.


"Trey brought that over today," he said.Cary's picture capped a front-page piece covering his attack - including speculation that the assault might have been a hate crime.


His living situation with me and my romantic entanglement with Gideon Cross were mentioned, for no other reason, it seemed, than for a salacious punch.


"It's on their website, too," he added quietly.


"I figure someone at the agency gossiped, and it spread and turned into someone's political crap.