Page 38 (1/2)

He laughed "I’m hardly famous, Mom"

"You’re not a nobody, either And you need to admit that you’re well known, especially around here It’s not like you’ve had to go trolling for woues"

Hisfor women" Jeez "Okay, I admit women have been pretty available"

"Exactly my point And then you hook up with Elizabeth, and suddenly it’s not so easy You have to work at the relationship"

"No, she’s definitely not easy In fact she’s been a giant rockin’ pain in ether"

She continued to slice carrots "Yeah, and you’re a real walk in the park"

"Hey"

She laid the knife down and looked at hient, and she’s been in love with you for years, but at the same time she has to see you on the ar Then suddenly you show interest in her, and she probably thinks she’s just going to be another notch on your bedpost How’s she supposed to react to that? A little standoffish, I iine"

Gavin frowned "Wait What? She’s been in love with me for years? Where did that come from?"

His uess I wasn’t supposed to say anything about that, but yes, Gavin, Elizabeth has been in love with you forto you about it because of your professional relationship"

"I didn’t know"

"Of course you didn’t, because she didn’t intend to ever do anything about it"

Until that night in Florida when he ed between theht Mick fired her That kiss that had knocked him out of his shoes And the look in her eyes that hadon No wonder she was so reluctant, and so willing to keep things light and easy between them

She hadn’t wanted him to know And she’d been scared

"I never knew, Mo her heart against you, because you could hurt her"

Aw, hell "And that’s exactly what I did"

"Yes, you did The question is, are you going to give up on her now, or are you going to fight for her?"

ELIZABETH BURIED HERSELF IN HER WORK HAVING t clients helped with that There were contractual issues to go over, and she’d met with theoals, which meant more travel While she was on the road, she’d also stopped in at a few of the gaive theain had been the best thing for her She’d needed to clear her head

Now that she was back she intended to concentrate on her client portfolio and give all her clients her attention She’d given one client too

That was over and done with Ti that fulfilled her and loved her back

Besides, with her assistant on vacation for teeks, she was utterly swaive her a chance to clean up and reorganize her office, so she desperately needed to do

She was on the floor, her head buried in a box of files when her door opened

"That had better be either my lunch or more boxes"

"Neither, sorry"

She whipped around to see Mick standing in her doorway

She stood, wiped her hands down her skirt, not at all mentally armed for this battle "Look, I’ve stayed away What the hell more could you possibly want from me?"

"Is it okay if I come in?"

Wary, she motioned with her hand He walked in and shut the door

"Your receptionist sent me back She seemed to be in a hurry to head out to lunch"

Daer ht as well sit down Do you want so polite That was new She fixed hilass, handed his to him, and took a seat behind her desk Her spacious office suddenly seemed too small as she waited for him to say whatever it was he came to say Finally, she tired of the suspense

"Why are you here, Mick?"

"To apologize for being so hard on you I’ve never been one to carry a grudge, and for soers through his hair "I’ve never been in love before It’s made me a little crazy and overprotective of Tara and Nathan And what you did really set me off"

"I--"

He held up his hand "Let me finish, please"

"Okay"

"What you did hurt theized over and over again, and made peace with both of theo For so you And when you and Gavin got together, I didn’t want that to happen I wanted you out ofhow happy Gavin ith you et away fro you"

She had no idea what to say to that, so she said nothing while he paced and talked

He stopped, turned to face her "I hate Don Davis I signed with him because you hated hioal in life was to take business away froet back at you, to hurt you the way you hurt the people I love And maybe it did hurt you, but it hurtme and my career the way you did"

Wow Just