Page 76 of Flirting With Forever
His kid brother grinned and gave Gage two thumbs up. “Car fire. No major injuries but it exploded right as we got there. You should’ve seen it.”
Gage shook his head at Hudson’s excitement. “Pass, thanks. You’re enough of an adrenaline junkie for all of us.”
“What are you doing out here at this time of night? Something wrong?” Wolfe asked.
“Woman trouble,” Bruce said before Gage could answer.
Wolfe didn’t disguise his laugh while Hudson shot Gage a look.
“Does that mean things went bad with Sloane? Ah, man. I liked her. She seemed cool from what I heard about her,” Hudson said.
Gage ran a hand over his head and fought off a shiver as well as a curse. “Yeah, well, I guess she didn’t feel the same. I need to get home and out of these clothes.”
“I’ll give you a ride.” Bruce shoved himself up off the bench with a grunt. “You boys should head back to the station and shower off the grime.”
“Wait, aren’t you going to tell us what happened?” Hudson asked.
“Did her brother have something to do with it?” Wolfe asked next.
“What brother?” Hudson frowned, his head turning back and forth between Wolfe and Gage. “I thought she was homeless? Why would she be sleeping in her car if her brother was around to help her?”
Hud sounded angry at the thought. Not that Gage could blame him. Raised as they were, fighting so hard to stay together growing up, the thought of Sloane’s siblings not helping her when she needed it cut deep. It wasn’t right. That’s not how families were supposed to behave toward one another.
Hudson’s question had all three men looking at Gage for an answer. He held up his hands, palms out, and shrugged. “Not all families help, Hud. Something to remember when you’re out on those runs. As to why hers didn’t, I guess you’d have to ask her yourself.”
“You think she’s coming back?”
Hudson’s question hung in the air between them with only the sound of the waves brave enough to break the silence that followed.
“Hud, let it be,” Bruce said in a low voice.
Gage shifted his gaze from Bruce to Hudson and found himself struggling to find words that made sense. “No, I don’t think she’s coming back. But it doesn’t matter if she does. I’ve learned my lesson.”
She didn’t do casual—and he didn’t do second chances.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sloane stared into the mirror of the hotel lobby’s bathroom and wondered who the stranger was staring back at her.
After arriving in Chicago, she’d taken another day to complete the minor details of her plan and now wore trim black slacks with a short, cropped suit jacket over a bright red silk blouse.
She’d found the suit in a secondhand store yesterday, and the moment she saw it, she’d pictured herself wearing it as she confronted her father.
To appear before her father in her favorite leggings and T-shirt meant being immediately dismissed. If she wanted to stand her ground, she had to armor up.
She swallowed hard and ignored the slight tremor in her hand as she touched up the eyeliner, making her eyes look dangerously catlike. She had naturally long lashes, but the double coat of mascara had lengthened and darkened them, giving them an intensity matched by the determined glint in her green eyes. Her mother’s eyes.
Her mother had always said a woman’s strength was inside her, but the world would only see the outside. To be taken as an equal—as a rival—she had to play the part. Especially for her father and brothers. Maybe even more so because they’d seen her growing up, those awkward, ugly stages of an uncertain girl trying to find her place in the world. She had that to overcome in addition to everything else if she wanted to be convincing.
Right now, her secondhand suit and heels portrayed the image her father expected, even though it made her skin crawl now to know this had been the norm for her during her college years and internships at Harrington Financial.
She much preferred working in jeans and shorts and flip-flops. And definitely preferred the slower pace and low-key vibe of Carolina Cove.
But for today? She’d play her part. Because she couldn’t look as though she didn’t belong in the upscale hotel where her father’s reputation was undoubtedly well-known—and he wouldn’t want a scene.
Look like a bum and no one would blame him for dismissing her or having her “removed” and taken God knew where.
Look like a business professional and woman of power, and people would take note and possibly come to her aid if she needed them to.
