"Have you ever cheated on a woman?" Her expression grew pensive.
"No, of course not."
"Never ever?" Skepticism filled her face.
He felt his brows hike up as he studied her. What was going on in her head right now? He could have sworn she'd felt the sizzling chemistry between them a moment ago, so how did she go from that to this?
"Never ever." He locked gazes with her until the doubt disappeared from her face. "That was random. Where did that come from?"
Was she asking because she was interested in a relationship with him? His heart skipped a few beats at the possibility. Would she be willing to wait six months until she finished physical therapy?
He shook the thought from his head. He couldn't think about that. She was his patient and nothing more.
"My ex—" Paige cut herself off and shifted to lean her back against the wall of the pool before continuing. "Someone once told me all men cheat at one point or another in their life."
"That's not true," Gabe said without hesitation. His body tensed as heat rushed through him. The nerve of the man.
His jaw clenched as he thought about his dad and his former best friend. The two people he'd trusted most in his life—three if he counted Harper, his former fiancée—had disappointed and hurt him deeply with their infidelity. He rubbed his neck to combat the sudden headache the memories triggered.
Paige's eyes narrowed as she watched him. "You say it's not true, but something about that statement makes you uncomfortable. Why?"
"Men aren't the only ones who cheat." He shook his head in disgust. "For every man out there who cheats, there's another woman he's doing it with." His life had been wrecked twice by such individuals.
Paige reeled back as if he'd slapped her. Her cheeks flushed, and tears flooded her eyes before she turned away.
He’d struck a nerve. Frowning, he wondered why she reacted like that. Did her ex cheat on her?
"Sometimes…" Paige's voice was defensive, "theother womanhas no idea." She shot him a glare before looking away again.
Gabe made a sound that was a combination of a scoff and a snort. His dad's secretary knew he was married when they started their two-year-long affair that resulted in Gabe's dad walking out on his family. And Harper—despite being engaged to Gabe—knew Dirk, his best friend, was in a committed relationship when she made a play for him.
"It's true," Paige's voice remained defensive, but she didn't make eye contact.
“Is that what happened to you?” he asked gently.
She simply stared into the water and didn’t respond.
“Did he find someone else while you were together?” When she still didn’t respond, he tried again. “Or was he already in a relationship when he started dating you?”
Paige flinched and wrapped her arms across her abdomen in a protective gesture.
Gabe's chest tightened at the thought of a man using and hurting Paige like that. His fists doubled at his side as his protective instincts kicked in. Did her accident have something to do with her ex?
No wonder she wasn't thinking clearly. He knew that kind of betrayal, and it had left him reeling for a long time.
“I swear…” Her unfocused gaze shifted to a spot at the other side of the pool. “I didn’t know Phillip was engaged the whole time we dated.”
“Engaged?” The word came out sharper than Gabe intended as past wounds ripped open.
She flinched again then gave him a weak smile as she pushed away from the edge of the pool. "I'm sorry I brought the whole thing up. We should probably get back to the exercises."
"Wait." He held out a hand to stop her from moving away but decided it best not to touch her again. "Do I get to know whymyfidelity is in question?"
She looked at him with a furrowed brow. "I didn't questionyourfidelity."
"Didn't you?"
A flash of guilt crossed her face as she huffed and folded her arms across her chest. She averted her gaze again.
