taking responsibility and doing something about it now, he would. But now it felt like the last thing she wanted was to be tied to him.
She’d basically told him that she thought the worst of him, that she wouldn’t marry him if he were the last man on earth. Of course she didn’t want him. He’d mucked up her entire life, and if she got pregnant, he’d muck it up again, taking her dream of Florida away from her.
The realization hurt him so much, he could only watch her from the bed, wondering if he’d actually stayed away from her all these years out of duty, or because he was a coward and knew, deep down, that he just didn’t deserve her.
“Do you want some of the food I brought over, or should I just go home now?” she asked, and as if she’d already decided on the latter, she slipped back into her dress. Then she resumed searching on the floor for her panties.
He held them out to her with a scowl. “You were trembling in this bed with me, Kate. You. Begged. For me.”
“You’re right.” She covered her face with shaking hands, then plunged her legs into her panties. “I even started it.”
He was baffled. She looked very perturbed by the fact that she’d slept with him. He didn’t know what to make of it when he’d just felt her writhe beneath him, wet and wanton.
“No. I did, Kate. I started it,” he said, gentling his voice, standing up to embrace her. “Hell, I’ve been thinking about doing this with you since...”
Her eyes widened as though he’d just divulged something completely damning. “Since when? Since I said I was going to Florida? Ohmigod, are you trying to use sex to get me to bend to your will and stay here? Why else would you touch me when you haven’t your whole life!”
She suddenly looked enlightened, while he stared blankly at her, puzzled and confused. Her cheeks were reddening by the second, but Garrett was growing too angry at her accusation to care. “Kate, do you seriously believe I’m that cold and calculating?”
Did she think anything even remotely redeeming about him, and was there any chance in hell she could ever love him when she was holding their past against him?
“Of course I do! You’re a man who just confessed to be considering some sort of weird business marriage with some bimbo you barely even know!”
“She’s not a bimbo, Kate,” he said, just to be fair to Cassandra.
Kate’s cheeks went redder. “You still haven’t told me why you went behind your beloved’s back and slept with me.”
“Why don’t you first tell me why the hell you slept with me? Were you just horny or did you just pity me tonight, or were you apologizing for giving me strep?”
“Who do you think you are to judge? Garrett, you slept with me even while thinking of marrying some stranger in the name of...business. I swear that’s the most disgusting thing anyone’s ever done to me!”
“You’re just goddamned playing with me! You’ve teased me your whole life, parading around with other men! You just gave me a little taste of what I want, and once you got what you wanted, you’re ditching me!”
She glared and stomped to the door. “Go to hell!”
“I’m already there, Kate. It’s been my damned zip code since I was ten!”
As she stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her, Garrett punched his fist into the pillow and yelled, “Goddammit!”
“We’re sitting at twenty-eight percent today...” Landon said. As usual, the man droned on and on about business.
Garrett made it a point to occasionally nod as if he were listening while he scrolled through his last text conversation with Kate. He’d texted her in the middle of the night after the debacle of their argument four nights ago. He’d been lying awake at midnight feeling medicated and as low as a dog. All he’d needed was for someone to put a bowl of Alpo out for him. Instead he’d found her food in the kitchen, cursed himself over and over again, heated up his soup and chowed down on several muffins, then grabbed his phone and texted her. Despite the fact that it had been past one in the morning, she’d replied. Which meant she’d been lying awake, too, as sleepless as he was.
Thanks for my food. When can I see you? I want to talk.
Everything is fine. I’ve already forgotten about it.
Garrett wasn’t so stupid as to believe this, but had answered.
K. So I hear you’re getting your dresses fitted Wednesday. I’ll drive you.
Won’t your girlfriend get jealous?
I’d like to explain to you about her.
It’s fine. The fitting is at five so I’ll see you before then.
“Are you even listening, Garrett?”
He lifted his head to Landon’s confused gray gaze.
“Hmm? What?”
Landon scowled and then continued, raising his voice as though to be clearer. “Clarks...new strategy...”
So, Kate thought Garrett had planned it all?
How could she believe that he’d planned to get sick, so that he could get her to bring over some food for him, get her into bed, seduce her like some out-of-control adolescent and conveniently forget a condom so she might have to stay? Well, hell, it sounded so brilliant, he felt like an idiot for not thinking of it before.
“Garrett, dammit, did you hear?”
“Yes. Clarks. A new strategy.” He set his phone aside, but putting thoughts about Kate aside wasn’t that easy.
“You’re the last single Gage. Will you or won’t you go through with this?” Landon asked.
With a major wrench of mental muscles, Garrett pulled his scrambled brain together and tried to focus on the topic today.
“All three of us know that I’m not really the last single Gage, Lan.” Garrett leaned back to survey both his brothers’ expressions across the conference table.
Landon’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t go there.”
“Why not?” He shrugged. “He’s still a Gage.”
“Mother wanted nothing to do with him. Hell, we paid him millions to get out of our lives for good, and you want to bring him back?”
“How badly do you want Clarks?” Garrett countered.
“As badly as you want it,” Landon returned.
Garrett scraped a hand along the tense muscles at the back of his neck. He wanted Clarks, but not as bad as he wanted something else.
