Page 109 of Rival Hearts

I got onto the barstool.

“To being back in town,” he said and lifted his beer bottle.

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re back, man.”

“God, it was a nightmare in the sun and heat and just being so far away from home. I hate that place.”

“You keep saying that.”

Gabe shrugged. “I’m a creature of habit, you know? I know what I like, and I know where I belong, and Texas… that’s not it.”

I nodded and chuckled as Gabe launched into a story of how his work trip got extended and how horrible it was. While he talked, I barely listened. I needed to talk to him about Charlotte, and the more he talked, the more I stressed that he was going to be pissed at me.

Finally, after Gabe and I had each finished a beer and we were onto our second, he turned his attention to me.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

This was it—the moment of truth.

“I don’t really know where to start.”

Gabe raised his eyebrows. “It sounds serious.”

“It is.” I took a sip of beer, trying to find the right words and pull myself together. “I told you the other day Charlotte was working on that campaign, right?”

Gabe nodded.

“I wasn’t completely forward with you about that.”

Gabe frowned, but I powered on.

“You see, that wasn’t how I met her. I mean, weareworking together. Sort of. But I didn’t meet her through work…” I was starting to sound like an idiot, talking in circles. I just had to cut to the chase. “I’m in love with her.”

Maybe that was cutting to the chase a little too much.

Gabe stared at me, blinking.

“Excuse me?”

I shook my head. “I’ve been seeing her more and more. We’ve been spending time together, and I just… I’m falling for her.”

Gabe narrowed his eyes. “Where did you meet her if it wasn’t through work?”

I hesitated. “At your party, actually. I didn’t know she was your sister then, though. Not until the next morning, and then—”

“The next morning?” His face was riddled with shock and disbelief.

Oh. Shit.

“No, what I mean—”

“Yousleptwith her!”

“It’s not like that.” I shook my head. “Okay, no. Itwaslike that. It was supposed to just be a one-night thing for both of us. But then I saw her again, working on this campaign of hers, and things changed.”

I watched Gabe’s face turn all shades of red. He wasn’t focusing on anything other than the fact that I’d slept with her.

“Did you hear me?”