Rush(68)

“Yep,” Ash replied. “Hence the reason Mia is in here with me. I’m sparing her Gabe’s ire when he’s so fresh off his meet and greet with his ex.”

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Jace demanded.

It was clear that neither Ash nor Jace had any love for Lisa. Their loyalty to Gabe was strong and they’d banded together, closing ranks around Gabe after the divorce.

“Ash and I were eavesdropping outside Gabe’s door,” Mia said.

Jace lifted one eyebrow. “And you want to keep your job? Gabe would have your head and even I wouldn’t be able to save you from that.”

“Do you want to know what we heard or not?” she asked impatiently.

Jace stuck his head out the door, looked down toward Gabe’s office and then pushed back in, closing Ash’s door behind him. “Spill.”

“She wants him back,” Ash drawled. “She put on quite the show too.”

“Ah hell,” Jace muttered. “I hope he told her to fuck off.”

“I’m not sure what he told her,” Mia murmured. “Someone wouldn’t shut up so I could hear.”

“I guarantee you that Gabe didn’t fall for that line of shit,” Ash said, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest.

Mia wasn’t so sure. After all, Gabe had been married to her. The breakup of their relationship had formed the basis of every single relationship that had come after, including her own with him. That said a lot about how affected he’d been. He may well be angry—she didn’t dispute that for a minute. But it didn’t mean he didn’t still love her and it didn’t mean he wouldn’t attempt to work things out if it meant having her back on his terms.

“I’ll kick his dumb ass,” Jace muttered.

He glanced at Mia and then reached over to ruffle her hair. “We still on for dinner tomorrow night? What time you want me to pick you up?”

“What? And I’m not invited?” Ash asked in horror.

“Don’t you have someone else to bother?” Jace asked.

Ash’s expression stiffened for a moment and then he muttered, “Family get-together. I’m bailing.”

Mia’s heart softened and even Jace grimaced in sympathy. Ash’s family and Ash were not on speaking terms. Not in any way. Ash didn’t even make a pretense. If his family was involved, he made it a point to be somewhere else. And most of the time it was with Jace or Gabe.

“Oh, let him come,” Mia said, keeping her tone light so Ash didn’t pick up on what she was doing. “It’ll keep you from lecturing me on God knows what. Ash sticks up for me.”

“See, she likes me better,” Ash said smugly.

“Okay, what time do you want us to come pick you up?” Jace said in mock resignation.

“Six is fine. Will that work for you guys? I won’t need long to change and get ready. Are we eating casual or what?”

“I know this great pub that serves food that’s right up your alley, baby girl. Wear jeans and we’ll hang out there,” Jace said.

Meaning he was doing this for her because hanging out in pubs wasn’t exactly Jace’s thing.

“Perfect.”

The door opened and Gabe stuck his head in, a frown creasing his forehead. “Hey, have you guys seen…”

He halted when he saw Mia sitting in front of Ash’s desk and then he glanced at Jace and Ash with suspicion. “Am I interrupting anything?”

“Not at all,” Ash said nonchalantly. “We were just keeping Mia company while you kissed and made up with your ex.”

Mia’s eyes widened at Ash’s daring. Holy shit but he was going to get them both in hot water with Gabe.

“Shut the fuck up, Ash,” Gabe snarled.

“Nice,” Jace muttered. “Now you’re sending Mia back in there with him when you were supposedly rescuing her from that fate.”

Mia rose, hoping to head off any further snarkiness from Ash.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow night for dinner,” she said hurriedly as she nudged Gabe back through the door.

She shut the door behind her, effectively sealing off Gabe from Jace and Ash and any further comments either of them would make. Without waiting for Gabe, she walked down to his office and entered.

Gabe came in behind her. She could feel his presence, overwhelming. Could feel the heat radiating from him. He was like a seething lion. Appropriate since Ash had been so convinced she was heading back into the lion’s den.

“You’re going to dinner with both of them?”

She turned, her brows drawn at the odd note in his voice. “Yes. Ash invited himself. Jace is picking me up at six. I’m going straight to my apartment after work.”