Page 64 of The Broken Heart Playlist
“It wasn’t a date?” he repeats.
“No.”
Relief softens his features. “I thought you were playing games with me.”
“I’m not the type to play games, Gideon. I might be confused about what I want sometimes, especially with you, but I don’t play teasing games like that.”
“I made the wrong assumption,” he acknowledges in a low voice, “and I apologize for that. I think I would have come to the conclusion eventually that it wasn’t a date, but I just...” He gives a small head shake, as though his behavior these past few days still baffles him. “I guess I didn’t realize how seeing you with someone else would affect me.” His hands clench and unclench at his sides. “I went a little crazy.”
“So you weren’t shutting me out?”
Dismay fills his face that I would even think that. “Not a chance.”
“Ah, so you were sulking?”
“I don’t sulk.”
He looks so affronted I have to bite my cheek to contain my smile. I motion in the direction of my house. “I better get back to Lisset.”
Before I turn to leave, Gideon asks gruffly, “To clarify, you feel nothing for Joel beyond friendship?”
“He’s more a colleague than a friend. I don’t really have friends. But to clarify, I have no romantic feelings toward Joel.”
“I hate to break it to you, Kate, but Joel definitely has romantic feelings toward you.”
I shake my head. “You’re mistaken.”
“I’m a guy and I know what guys look like and how they behave when they’re attracted to someone.”
I gape at him. “You saw him with me for only a few minutes.”
He shrugs. “That’s all the time I needed to observe his obvious feelings for you.”
“Joel and I have a creative and collaborative relationship,” I say faintly. “There’s nothing else there...” My denial dies on my tongue as I turn Gideon’s words over in my head. Is there something else there, at least on Joel’s side?
“Do you let your guard down with him?” Gideon asks.
“I don’t let my guard down with anyone.”
His head dips as he smiles. “I forgot who I was talking to. Let’s try again. Are you more relaxed with Joel than with me?”
I think about it. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’m comfortable around Joel.”
“Why aren’t you comfortable with me?”
My pulse jumps. How did this door get cracked open? “You know why.”
His face is the picture of innocence. “I’m afraid I don’t. I need you to explain it to me.”
“Sometimes there’s this tightrope of...tension between us.”
My words hang in the air.
His eyes hold mine. “Tension?”
