Bared to You

Home safe. Hope
you sleep well the rest of the night.
I powered the phone off and tossed it back in
my purse; then I grabbed a bottle of water from the
fridge. “The kicker is that I told him all my junk
earlier tonight.”
Cary’s brows shot up. “So you did it. How’d he
take it?”
“Better than I had any right to expect. Nathan
ought to hope they never run into each other.” I
finished the bottle. “And Gideon agreed to the
couples counseling you suggested. I thought we’d
turned a corner. Maybe we did, but we hit a brick
wall anyway.”
“You seem okay, though.” He leaned into the
breakfast bar. “No tears. Really calm. Should I be
worried?”
I rubbed my belly to ease the fear that had
rooted there. “No, I’ll be all right. I just…I want it to
work out between us. I want to be with him, but
lying about serious issues is a deal breaker for
me.”

---

God. I couldn’t let myself even consider that we
might not get past this. I was already feeling antsy.
The need to be with Gideon was a frantic beat in
my blood.
“You’re a tough cookie, baby girl. I’m proud of
you.” He came to me, linked our arms, and turned
off the kitchen lights. “Let’s crash and start a new
day when we wake up.”
“I thought things were going well with you and
Trey.”
His grin was glorious. “Honey, I think I’m in
love.”
“With who?” I leaned my cheek against his
shoulder. “Trey or the blonde?”
“Trey, silly. The blonde just provided a workout.”
I had a lot to say about that, but it wasn’t the
time to get into Cary’s history of sabotaging his
own happiness. And maybe focusing on how
good things were with Trey was the best way to
handle this instance of it. “So you’ve finally fallen
for a good guy. We should celebrate.”
“Hey, that’s my line.”

---

T
he next morning dawned with an odd surreality. I
made it to work, and then through most of my
prelunch day in a kind of chilly fog. I couldn’t get
warm enough, despite wearing a cardigan over
my blouse and a scarf that didn’t match either
one. It took me a few minutes longer to process
requests than it should have, and I couldn’t shake
a feeling of dread.
Gideon made no contact with me whatsoever.
Nothing on my smartphone or e-mail after my
text last night. Nothing in my e-mail inbox. No
interoffice note.
The silence was excruciating. Especially when
the day’s Google alert hit my inbox and I saw the
photos and phone videos of me and Gideon in
Bryant Park. Seeing how we looked together—the
passion and need, the painful longing on our
faces, and the gratefulness of reconciliation—was
bittersweet.
Pain twisted in my chest. 
Gideon.

---

If we couldn’t work this out, would I ever stop
thinking about him and wishing we had?
I struggled to pull myself together. Mark was
meeting with Gideon today. Maybe that’s why
Gideon hadn’t felt pressed to contact me. Or
maybe he was just really busy. I knew he had to
be, considering his business calendar. And as far
as I knew, we still had plans to go to the gym after
work. I exhaled in a rush and told myself that
things would straighten out somehow. They just
had to.
It was quarter to noon when my desk phone
rang. Seeing from the readout that the call was
coming 
from 
reception, 
I 
sighed 
with
disappointment and answered.
“Hey, Eva,” Megumi said cheerily. “You have a
Magdalene Perez here to see you.”
“Do I?” I stared at my monitor, confused and
irritated. Had the Bryant Park photos lured
Magdalene out from under whatever troll bridge
she called home?
Regardless of the reason, I had no interest in
talking to her. “Keep her up there for me, will you?
I have to take care of something first.”
“Sure. I’ll tell her to have a seat.”
I hung up, then pulled out my smartphone and
scrolled through the contact list until I found the
number to Gideon’s office. I dialed and was
relieved when Scott answered.
“Hey, Scott. It’s Eva Tramell.”
“Hi, Eva. Would you like to speak to Mr. Cross?
He’s in a meeting at the moment, but I can buzz
him.”
“No. No, don’t bother him.”
“It’s a standing order. He won’t mind.”
It soothed me immensely to hear that. “I hate to
throw this in your lap, but I have a request for you.”
“Anything you need. That’s also a standing

---

order.” The amusement in his voice relaxed me
further.
“Magdalene Perez is down here on the
twentieth floor. Frankly, the only thing she and I
have in common is Gideon, and that’s not a good
thing. If she has something to say, it’s your boss
she should be talking to. Could you please have
someone escort her up?”
“Absolutely. I’ll take care of it now.”
“Thanks, Scott. I appreciate you.”
“It’s my pleasure, Eva.”
I hung up the phone and sagged back in my
seat, feeling better already and proud of myself for
not letting jealousy get the better of me. While I still
really hated the idea of her having any of Gideon’s
time, I hadn’t lied when I’d said I trusted him. I
believed he had strong, deep feelings for me. I
just didn’t know if they were enough to override his
survival instinct.
Megumi called me again.
“Oh my God,” she said, laughing. “You
should’ve seen her face when whoever that was
came to get her.”
“Good.” I grinned. “I figured she was up to no
good. Is she gone, then?”
“Yep.”
“Thanks.” I crossed the narrow strip of hallway
to Mark’s door and poked my head in to see if he
wanted me to pick him up some lunch.
He frowned, thinking about it. “No, thanks. I’ll be
too nervous to eat until after the presentation with
Cross. By then whatever you pick up will be hours
old.”
“How about a protein smoothie, then? It’ll give
you some easy fuel until you can eat.”
“That’d be great.” His smile lit up his dark eyes.
“Something that goes good with vodka, just to get
me in the mood.”

---

“Anything you don’t like? Any allergies?”
“Nada.”
“Okay. See you in an hour.” I knew just the place
to go. The deli I had in mind was a couple blocks
up and offered smoothies, salads, and a variety of
made-to-order paninis with quick service.
I headed downstairs and tried not to think about
Gideon’s radio silence. I’d kind of expected to
he a r 
something
after the Magdalene incident.
Getting no reaction had me worrying all over
again. I pushed out to the street through the
revolving door and scarcely paid any attention to
the man who climbed out of the back of a town car
at the curb until he called my name.
Turning, I found myself facing Christopher Vidal.
“Oh…Hi,” I greeted him. “How are you?”
“Better, now that I’ve seen you. You look
fantastic.”
“Thanks. I can say the same to you.”
As different as he was from Gideon, he was
gorgeous in his own way with his mahogany
waves, grayish-green eyes, and charming smile.
He was dressed in loose-fitting jeans and a
cream V-neck sweater, a very sexy look for him.
“Are you here to see your brother?” I asked.
“Yes, and you.”
“Me?”
“Heading to lunch? I’ll join you and explain.”
I was briefly reminded of Gideon’s warning to
stay away from Christopher, but by now I figured
he trusted me. Especially with his brother.
“I’m going to a deli up the street,” I said. “If
you’re game.”
“Absolutely.”
We started walking.
“What did you want to see me about?” I asked,
too curious to wait.

---

He reached into one of two large cargo pockets
of his jeans and pulled out a formal invitation in a
vellum envelope. “I came to invite you to a garden