He didn't actually agree to be my fake boyfriend.
He asked if they could talk after work. Was he waiting until then to tell her he wasn't interested or that he'd already found someone?
"Hey Gabe, did you find a fake girlfriend yet?" Luke's out-of-the-blue question snapped Paige out of her musings.
Warmth flooded her cheeks. Had the assistant overheard Paige's offer this morning or did he bring it up again, hoping to get her to volunteer?
"Not yet." Gabe shot Paige a brief glance before turning a murderous glare on Luke. "But we arenotdiscussing it here."
"What's this about a fake girlfriend?" Gladys asked.
Nikki propped up on her elbow on the table beside Gladys. "Gabe's mom is on his case about dating. So, he's trying to find someone topretendto be his girlfriend." She continued despite Gabe's audible groan. "I offered, but he thinks I'm too young."
Paige almost burst out laughing at the stricken look on Gabe's face. He closed his computer and propped his elbows on it to scrub his hands over his face.
"Good grief. Of course you're too young." Gladys' expression was full of disapproval. "Paige is much better suited to be Gabe's girlfriend than you are."
"What!" Paige exclaimed. Never mind that she'd offered to play the part a little over an hour ago, she couldn't help being shocked by Gladys' bluntness.
Gabe must have been equally as surprised, because his head flew up, and he turned wide eyes first on Paige then on Gladys.
"That's what I said," Nikki said with glee. "And Luke even agreed they'd make a cute couple."
"They would." Gladys gave Paige then Gabe an appraising look. "They'd have cute kids too."
"That's enough!" Gabe burst to his feet, and Paige froze mid-squat. "From now on, there will be no more discussions of my love life—or lack thereof—" He held up a finger for emphasis. "Real or fake in this office." One by one, he gave everyone except Paige a hard glare.
Her eyes darted around the room. Luke wore a guilty expression. Nikki looked like her idol had just toppled off his pedestal. And Gladys grinned like she had a secret.
"Methinks the man protests too much." Gladys met Gabe's glare with a raised eyebrow. When he continued to stare her down, she relented. "Oh, you're no fun." She made a shooing motion with her hand. "If we can't talk about your fake love life, let me tell you about mine."
CHAPTER 13
It took forever for the heat to leave Gabe's face and his pulse to return to normal after everyone turned their attention to Gladys. His outburst was unprofessional. He could handle the ribbing and teasing, but when they drew Paige into the middle of it, his protective side reared its head and brought out the worst in him.
What was I thinking?
He should never have asked Luke to help him find a girlfriend. Except, thanks to Luke broadcasting his private life, Paige had volunteered to play the role. He didn't dare so much as glance in her direction as he returned to his computer to review the intake information for this afternoon’s new patient.
Luke had said it was obvious Gabe was attracted to Paige. Could everyone else see it too?
He still wasn't sure how he felt about Paige's offer to be his girlfriend. Relieved? Yes. Especially since he'd contacted three former patients he thought might be willing to help him out only to find out the first one was getting married in two weeks; the second was single but expecting a baby any day; and the third had just reconciled with her wife. Gabe shook his head again, wondering how he'd managed tomisread the signals from Lena two years ago. He never would have guessed she was into women.
He was also concerned. Could he keep a fake relationship with Paige under wraps? If it got back to Dr. Stoker—not likely, but possible—or worse, Dr. Young, would they fire him? Or at the very least force him to resign?
His chest tightened at the thought. He loved his job, and he didn't want to lose it. But he loved his mother more and making her happy was what mattered most.
What concerned him the most, however, was how easily he could see himself falling for Paige—as manifested by his outburst. But she'd made it clear the other day that she was done with men. After what her ex did to her, he didn't blame her.
Would he find himself in love with her only to have her decide she wasn’t ready to move on?
"Are you serious?" At Nikki's outburst, Gabe tuned into Gladys' story.
His eyes grew wide as she talked about pretending to be her brother's best friend's girlfriend to make another girl jealous. She'd been secretly in love with her brother's friend for years, but it wasn't until she threw herself into her role that Harold finally noticed her.
"And the rest is history, so they say." Gladys beamed. "We were married six months later and celebrated our fifty-sixth wedding anniversary shortly before he passed away three years ago."
"That is such a sweet story." Nikki pressed a hand to her chest. "Does that mean if I get one of my guy friends to act interested in me, I could get my best friend's older brother to notice me?"
