Taking the Heat (28 page)

Still, she wasn't going to beat up on herself. Her method of coping had gotten her this job and her new friends, and it had even gotten her Gabe.

Though that was bittersweet, as well.

She finally made her escape and closed the office door firmly behind her before collapsing into a chair. She dug through her purse for her phone, though she wasn't sure why. Gabe had left a beautiful message about her new column, but she hadn't called him back, and that felt almost like a betrayal. After all, he'd played a part in bringing out the real Veronica. She should thank him for that, or at least let him know how much he'd helped.

But she couldn't call him. Some of her anger had faded in the past week, but she still felt betrayed. And what did any of that even matter? The relationship wasn't going anywhere. It couldn't.

But her doubts disappeared when she saw she had a message. Excitement shot through her veins, but it dried to ash when she realized the message was from an unfamiliar number. It wasn't Gabe.

Expecting a random marketing call, she barely listened at first, but as the woman on the line kept talking, Veronica sat up straighter. Then straighter still.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, blinking hard. Things had been changing quickly in her life in the past few weeks, but this was a seismic shift she could never have anticipated. She just wasn't sure if it was good or...too terrifying to contemplate.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“H
AVE
I
MENTIONED
how much I loved the column?” Gabe asked.

Veronica smiled up at him as they strolled along one of the quieter paths through Central Park, and his pulse sped. She looked so beautiful. And a little different, despite that they'd only been apart for two weeks. She wore just mascara and lip gloss as far as he could tell, instead of the smoky shadow and dark liner she often wore. Her short black skirt was topped by a casual T-shirt. “You've only told me about ten times. Thank you.”

“When we talked on the phone... I'm sorry you went through that. When you said your stepbrother was an asshole, I didn't realize you meant that it went on for years.”

She nodded. “It's okay. I'm finally learning to let it go.”

“You seem different,” he said.

“Do I?”

“Yes.” He watched her until she crinkled her nose at him. “You seem more like you were with me in private. Like your guard is down, even here in your least favorite place.”

“Maybe. And speaking of...how's life in the city?”

He looked around them at the huge ancient trees and the walls of gray rock. “Noisy,” he said. Even here he could hear the sound of distant construction and impatient taxi drivers.

“Yeah. I assume this is still your favorite part of New York?” she asked.

“Of course. Well, this and the library. I haven't been there since I've been back. I'd love to go with you. But here...these were the first rocks I ever climbed.” He gestured at the rocky hill ahead of them. “Seriously. I would spend hours here as a kid, pretending I was in a deep, dark jungle. Pretending I was an explorer.”

“It's beautiful here,” she said, sighing, even as someone jogged between them, forcing them to step quickly apart. Veronica tilted her head. “Was that guy using an actual Walkman?”

Gabe squinted and shook his head. “If nothing else, this town is truly interesting.”

“It is,” she said, her voice carefully neutral.

He wanted her to give the city a second chance. More important, he wanted her to give him a second chance. “So...” he ventured, “I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. Are you ever going to tell me why you came?”

She shrugged, her lips pressing together in a secret smile. “Maybe I just missed you.”

The words stabbed him in the heart, because the teasing in them was so at odds with his own ridiculous hope. “I was actually kind of hoping that was it, you know. It feels like a lot longer than two weeks since I left.”

She laughed as if he were joking. “No, I came because I figured you must be lonely without my expert sexual skills. How would you ever find another girl that has to be taught how to have sex?”

“Now you're just fishing for compliments, Ms. Chandler. Not very subtle.”

She blushed, and Gabe felt as if he were having yet another dream about her. Veronica, here in the city, blushing and laughing as though they were back to normal. But they weren't. She hadn't touched him once.

“You look so strange,” she said, her brow creasing. “Like you're a different person now. You look like you belong here.”

That hurt almost as much as her joke that she'd missed him. He ran a hand over his jaw. “My mom made me do it.”

She laughed so loudly that a pigeon flapped up into the air and moved its plump body five feet farther up the path. “That's what happens when you move back home at thirty-one.”

“Shut up. I'm looking for my own place right now.” The words eradicated the laughter between them.

“Right.” She nodded. “So you're really staying.”

The traffic noise grew louder as they moved toward the edge of the park. Veronica crossed her arms and squeezed them tight to her chest as if she was cold. He recognized the gesture now. She felt insecure or uncertain. She was unhappy. He wanted to put his arms around her, kiss her, tell her how sorry he was. But all he could do was talk.

“I haven't given my notice at the library yet, but... My dad won't stop working unless I take the reins. He'll kill himself. I can't let him do that.”

“I know,” she whispered.

“I was hoping maybe you'd come over and meet him.”

“Gabe—”

“He's up and around now. He'd love for you to come by. It's almost like nothing happened. And my mom is kind of counting on seeing you.”

She groaned. “They know I'm here?”

“Of course.”

“Why would you tell them that? I'm just a girl you dated for a couple of weeks!”

“That's not all you are.”

“Yes, it is!”

“Then why are you here?” he challenged.

They stopped at a curve in the path. The trees were still thick here, but you could see the silver-and-white faces of the buildings beyond them. There was no illusion left here. No pretending that they could be anywhere.

“I got an offer for syndication,” she said. “A couple of days ago.”

“What?”

“My column. It's going to be syndicated.”

“Here?”

“Not here,” she said, laughing. “There are enough advice columns in New York. But it will go into a few smaller newspapers in the West and Midwest, and it'll be featured on a big online news source. I'm meeting with an agent tomorrow. That's why I'm here.”

“Holy shit, Veronica,” he breathed. Then he said it louder. “Holy shit!”

He finally hugged her and she hugged him back, laughing when he picked her up and spun her around. “You're amazing,” he said.

“I'm terrified,” she admitted, but she didn't look terrified. Her eyes glowed as he set her down. Her wide smile softened. And when he ducked his head, she watched his mouth come closer instead of saying no.

He kissed her lightly, just a brush of his lips, but when he felt her sigh against him, he tried again.

“Oh, God,” she whispered against the kiss. His heart felt thin, fragile. As if the ache inside it might tear open at any moment.

“You smell so good,” she murmured. Her hands rose to press against his cheeks. “That's weird to say, isn't it? But I missed your smell.”

Gabe made himself laugh instead of groaning in pain. “It's not weird. I missed everything about you. Your taste, your scent, your touch. The sound of you sighing.”

She shook her head. “Don't say that.”

“It's true.”

“I barely know you,” she countered.

“This is real.”

“You live in New York,” she said, and he couldn't think of anything to say to that. He lived in New York, and she despised the city. Then again, she was here.

“Just come home with me,” he said. “My dad just got out of the hospital, you know. He needs cheering up.”

“God, are you guilt-tripping me?”

“Yes. Plus, you never thanked my mom for those cookies.”

She shoved him. “You're awful!”

“Come on. It's only a few blocks up.”

He wasn't sure what he was doing, luring her home. He'd spent the past couple of weeks blowing off any mention of her, but his parents had kept needling him, egged on by Naomi. When he'd mentioned Veronica was coming to town, they'd practically swooned. Gabe was already in too deep, halfway in love with this girl he might never see again, and now he was introducing her to his parents.

Idiotic, like every other step he'd taken with Veronica. Idiotic, but somehow inevitable.
Come home with me and break my heart. I'll do my best to break yours, too.

For some reason, she came with him.

They waded through the busy streets that bordered the park, but a few blocks in, the streets grew narrower and almost quiet. “Upper East Side,” she said. “Very nice.”

“Not
upper
upper,” he said. “Come on.”

“Where are we heading? Seventy-second?”

“Sixty-eighth,” he said. “Barely respectable.”

Laughing, she touched his arm and then left her hand there. Gabe felt like a teenager cataloguing every inch of progress with the girl he liked.
She let me kiss her. She put her hand on my arm.
He felt dizzy with it.

“Hello, Gabe!”

“Mrs. Tran,” he called out to the woman sweeping the steps of a little shop. “Good afternoon.”

“Pretty girl,” she said with a grin.

“I'm a lucky guy.” Veronica elbowed him, but her hand wrapped more securely around his arm.

They passed a tiny park wedged between two tall buildings. The screams of the kids crawled up the bricks and echoed above the trees. “This is a nice street,” Veronica said.

“You know, New York isn't so bad. It can be just as nice as any other place if you find the right people.”

“I know that,” she said quietly. “I know that it was me and not the city.”

“I didn't mean it like that.”

“Maybe not, but it's true. I came here running from my life, but my life came right along with me.”

“So you don't hate the city?”

She shot him a careful look. “It's not the right place for me. It's not the right place for you, either.”

“I can make it the right place. For a little while.”

“Here?” she pressed, looking pointedly up the fifteen-story building they were passing.

He didn't look with her. He'd passed it a thousand times in his life. Instead of answering, he pointed to the next building. “This is it.”

She smiled at the elaborate five-story brick facade. “This is where you grew up?”

“Yep. We moved here when I was nine.”

“Which floor?” she asked, craning her neck as they climbed up the stairs to the entry.

“Fourth,” he said, then added, “And fifth.”

“Oh, my God!” she gasped. “You're filthy rich!”

“We had a big family. And my dad was expanding the business.”

“I guess so!”

He unlocked the door and waved her in. “Ready?” he asked as they stepped onto the elevator.

“This is a terrible idea,” she said, then set her jaw as if she were heading into battle.

She was probably right, and he couldn't care less.

* * *

V
ERONICA
'
S
 
FACE
 
FLAMED
 
with embarrassment as she was enveloped in yet another hug. “She's the cutest thing I've ever seen!” Gabe's mom said.

“Mom,” Veronica heard Gabe groan, though the word was muffled since his mom's arms were wrapped around Veronica's head.

“Well, it's true. Look at her!”

“Thank you, Mrs. MacKenzie,” Veronica said as she was set free.

“Oh, my word, call me Mary.”

“Mom, please stop embarrassing Veronica. And me.”
I'm sorry
, he mouthed when Veronica caught his eye.

“Don't sass your mom,” his dad said. “That girl is clearly the cutest thing we've ever seen.”

Gabe shook his head. “Unbelievable. Really.”

“Are you hungry?” Mary asked.

Veronica had been trying to edge closer to Gabe, but his mom put an arm around Veronica's shoulders and guided her deeper into the apartment. “You must be exhausted, flying all the way from Wyoming.”

“I'm fine. Honestly.”

“A cappuccino, then. I just bought one of those new cup brewers with the steamed-milk attachment. You won't believe how good it is, and a fraction of the price of Starbucks.”

Veronica looked back until she spotted Gabe and his father following.

“Veronica!” a familiar voice cried as they walked into the huge kitchen.

Naomi bounded across the tile and swept Veronica into yet another hug. “It's so good to see you again!”

“Nice to see you, Naomi. You look great.”

“Oh, my God, my roots are a mess. Don't even look. Claire is meditating but she should be down soon. It's only her fourth meditation of the day,” she added with a roll of her eyes.

“Leave her alone,” Mary said. “It helps her chakras or something.”

“Sure, Mom.”

Gabe drew near and Veronica reached desperately out to clasp his hand before she got swept into a river of his relatives.

“Mary,” his dad said, “make her one of those cappuccinos.”

“I'm doing it right now.” Mary rushed over to the machine and started opening little latches and inserting tiny plastic cups of coffee grounds.

“You know,” his dad said, “Gabe's never brought a girl home until now.”

Veronica shook her head frantically. “I'm just in town for a business trip.”

“Dad,” Gabe said hoarsely. “Please. Don't.”

“It's true!” Naomi cooed. “Look at his face. He's blushing!”

He rubbed his face with both hands. “This is literally the worst idea I've ever had.”

His dad slapped him on the back. “Or the best, eh?”

“Mom...” Gabe took a deep breath. “Maybe hold off on the coffee for a bit. I'm going to show Veronica around.”

“Oh, take her up to the garden!” his mom suggested. “She'll love it. It's just like being in the country.”

“It's not like being in the country,” Gabe muttered as he tugged Veronica toward a staircase. She happily followed. “My family doesn't understand wide-open spaces,” he explained as they hit the stairs. “They find the idea of Wyoming vaguely sinister.”

“Oh, wait a few minutes!” Mary yelled. “Your sister is meditating!”

Gabe pulled Veronica faster up the stairs. “That was the stairway,” he said as they reached the top floor. “Hall bathroom,” he said, gesturing toward the first door before pulling her down the dark wood of the hallway. “My bedroom.” He tugged her inside. “With a door that locks.”

The door closed solidly behind her.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered.