Page 41 of Tangled in His Embrace

Gabby pulled into her driveway, turned off the engine, and carried in the leftovers her mom sent home with her. She wouldn’t have to worry about cooking tonight, or probably tomorrow at lunch either. There was more than enough food.

About fifteen minutes after she walked in the door, she heard a car pull up. She turned off the news and went to answer the door.

Taylor was happy, but she looked as if she was about ready to drop. Kathy gave Taylor a kiss on the cheek and handed her off to Gabby. “She woke up early this morning, so we did a little sightseeing before we left. She drifted off a few times in the car on the way back and was doing pretty good until we ate dinner.”

“Her bedtime isn’t that far off anyway. Thanks for feeding her,” Gabby said as Taylor wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and rested her head on Gabby’s shoulder. Her daughter was tuckered out.

“No need to thank me. She’s our granddaughter.” Kathy reached out to brush the back of her hand over Taylor’s cheek. “We’ll see you next weekend, sweetheart.”

Taylor nodded but didn’t say anything. She really was exhausted.

“Call me if you need anything,” Kathy said to Gabby as she opened the door to leave.

“I will.”

Once Kathy left, Gabby carried Taylor into her bedroom. She deposited her backpack on the floor in the corner—she’d deal with that tomorrow—removed a pair of clean underwear and pajamas from her daughter’s dresser, and headed for the bathroom. Something told her that as soon as her daughter’s head hit the pillow tonight she’d be out.

The most challenging part of Taylor’s bath was trying to get her to stay awake. Normally, she loved to play with her toys, but tonight all she wanted to do was lie back and go to sleep. Gabby worked to get her body and hair washed as swiftly as possible, get her dried off, and then she tucked her into bed.

By seven thirty her daughter was asleep, which meant Gabby had the rest of the evening to herself. She decided to use the time to go over what she’d written earlier and see if any tweaking needed to be done before she sent it off to her editor.

Gabby had only gotten through the first page when her phone rang. She rushed to get it before it could wake Taylor. Although, considering how tired her daughter was, she didn’t know if anything short of a freight train would rouse her sleeping child.

Her heart rate sped when she saw Jax’s name on the caller ID. He said he’d call, so she shouldn’t have had such a reaction, but it was there all the same. “Hi.”

“Hi. Is this a good time or are you trying to get Taylor to sleep?”

“No.” Gabby realized he might take that as it not being a good time. “I mean, it’s a good time. Taylor’s already asleep. She barely kept her eyes open during her bath.”

“Mom said she was pretty tired when she dropped her off.”

“She was.”

They talked a little more about Taylor, and then he switched gears on her. “I was wondering if I could take you out on Wednesday night.”

The breath caught in Gabby’s throat, making it hard to answer. “Out?”

“Yeah. Out. As in a date. Just you and me. I already asked Mom and she said she could come by and watch Taylor if you wanted. I didn’t know if your sister or your mom would be available on such short notice. And I figured you’d want someone to watch her at the house so it doesn’t mess with her bedtime.”

Gabby realized he was rambling, which meant he was nervous. The thought eased some of her tension. Even though she’d agreed to give them another shot, he wasn’t sure she’d say yes. The slightly vindictive part of her kind of liked that he was suffering and wanted to drag it out a little. “What kind of date did you have in mind?”

“I was kind of hoping to surprise you.”

“I see.”

He was quiet for a few moments. “Did you change your mind? About us, I mean?”

She sighed. It was no good being petty. It wasn’t going to solve anything. “No. I didn’t change my mind.”

“Good.” Gabby could feel the relief washing over him through the phone. “So Wednesday?”

“What time?” she asked.

“I was thinking about seven. That way you and Taylor can eat together. Mom can come over a little before then, say around six forty-five.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“It’s a date, then,” he said, a smile in his voice.

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