Page 51 of Justified Lies

“Are you not feeling well? I would have been happy to take Jacob to school this morning.”

God, she was sweet and apparently no longer angry.

“No, I feel fine. I was thinking it would be nice to spend some time with you today.”

“Why?” It was more a sound she made than an actual word.

“After everything that happened this weekend, well, the last few weeks, I thought we could use some time to talk. And honestly you shouldn’t be alone all day.”

Lianna broke eye contact, looking at the wet grass she murmured, “Oh, now I shouldn’t be alone.”

I guess she was still angry.

“Look, you don’t have to feel bad. I have friends that can keep an eye on me.”

Okay, that stung a bit. Gabe knew that her composed outer appearance didn’t match the way she was feeling inside. His heart broke watching her put on a brave face and brush off his sympathy. The urge to pull her into his arms was almostunbearable. But there was more damage control needed before she would welcome that.

“If it sounded like I want to spend time with you only because I feel bad, then it came out wrong. In fact, a lot of things have come out wrong recently. I shouldn’t have been so hard on you yesterday.”

Tears formed in the corner of her eyes, but she blinked rapidly to hold them at bay. She was so strong. Gabe spoke softly, wanting to reach out again to comfort her, instead forcing his hand farther into his pocket.

“This is all new to me. I’m trying to get back in your good graces here. Humor me?”

Lianna pushed out a laugh but didn’t look all that convinced.

“Come on, I’m parked right behind you.” He started back the way he had come.

“I’m not going home. I have so much to do today,” Lianna backtracked. “It’s Annie’s birthday. I have a ton of stops to make, then I’ve got some work to do from home. I didn’t get much done this weekend.”

“Then I’ll go with you. I’ll drive.”

Gabe started walking again, willing Lianna to stop arguing and just follow. When she didn’t, he stopped, gifting her the sincerest smile he could muster. Not able to hold back this time, he reached out and gently took her by the elbow.

“I’ve got nothing but time, sweetheart. Think of me as your chauffeur. Or better yet, didn’t you say you always wanted a bodyguard?”

****

Lianna racked her brain the whole walk from the school to their cars. She thought of several more excuses to get away from Gabe but all of them failed. He was determined to spend the morning with her. Although he said it was to talk, notbecause he felt bad for her, he hadn’t brought up one topic of importance, unless you counted the weather. Deciding on the path of least resistance, she had given in and let him accompany her.

Two hours later, Lianna sat looking out of the passenger window of Gabe’s SUV as they waited in the drive-thru for their coffees. The raindrops crashed down, bleeding into the sitting water already on the car. While her eyes focused on the wet drops, her mind was far away, contemplating the things happening to her today. It seemed with each passing minute Gabe threw a new surprise her way.

They were finished with her exaggerated list of chores, and it had taken no time at all. First, they had gone to the bakery to retrieve Annie’s birthday cake. Gabe stayed close every step of the way, opening doors, and ushering her around with his hand on the small of her back. It was the first time they had been shopping together so she wasn’t sure what to make of his possessive behavior.

Next, they went to the pet store. On the way to the dusty back corner where they hid the fish, they walked past the pets available for adoption. Gabeoohedandaahedover a particularly adorable mutt, before casually mentioning that he may want a dog one day. She didn’t know he was a dog person, and it highlighted just how little she knew about him.

After that was the grocery store. Lianna tried to persuade Gabe to wait in the car, as she was pretty sure no one would accost her in the produce aisle. But he insisted on joining her. Who knew such a monotonous chore could feel so intimate? Walking side by side, taking turns putting things into the cart just felt odd. Maybe because she imagined they must appear to be in a relationship to the other shoppers, not that anyone had paid them undue attention. It just felt too personal, likesomething only people that shared a life or home should do together.

Lianna tried to make sense of it all. She missed the signs, but they must have taken a turn into the twilight zone somewhere along their route this morning. She wanted to feel happy, excited, about the prospect of Gabe wanting something more. But if anything, she was irritated.

This guy was as readable as the French side of the cereal boxes. Unfortunately, she had taken Spanish as her second language. Surely this wasn’t a man who only wanted sex from her. If this was all a pity party, he wasn’t as smart as she had pegged him for because he had been given numerous opportunities to walk away.

Which would leave the last option—he truly cared for her. That possibility was the strangest of all. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that he only conversed in a series of grunts and nods? In fact, their entire relationship was one giant rollercoaster ride. Lianna was starting to feel nauseated.

Gabe’s big hand passed her the half-sweet pumpkin spice latte and jostled her back to the present.

“So where to now?”

“Why are you really doing this?” Lianna blurted the words out as Gabe’s grin quickly faded. But she wasn’t sorry, unable to play his game anymore.

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