"No, I'm here to take Paige to lunch." Phillip stepped closer to her.
"I don't think so, pal." Gabe laid his arm across Paige's shoulders. "Paige ismygirlfriend now."
She flinched as a chorus of gasps sounded behind them. After several long seconds, she leaned into his side and wrapped her arm around his waist, but her body remained tense. "That's right."
The look Phillip gave her was a mixture of disbelief and disgust. "You're dating your physical therapist?"
"Look at him." Paige smiled at Gabe as she made a sweeping motion with her hand. "Can you blame me?"
Her smile looked as stiff as her body, and Gabe didn't blame Phillip for not buying their act.
Her shoulder jerked in a shrug. "You know how it is…when you spend a lot of time…with someone. Feelings…develop." Paige's words were stilted.
Gabe cringed inwardly.
"Yes, feelings like the love you and I shared." Phillip pointed to his chest. "A love like ours doesn't just die overnight."
"They do when one of the partners is unfaithful." Gabe's voice turned hard as he channeled the anger he'd felt toward Harper years ago.
Phillip's expression turned stony, but Gabe held his gaze, unflinching.
"You're making a big mistake, Paige," Phillip said, then he turned and stormed out the door, swinging it open so hard it bounced back and nearly hit him in the face.
"Bravo." Gladys clapped, and Luke and Nikki quickly joined in.
Feeling a sudden headache coming on, Gabe removed his arm from Paige's shoulders and turned to face the group.
Time for damage control.
The applause had barely died down before everyone spoke at once.
"I knew you'd step up to the plate and be the hero Paige needed." Gladys beamed.
"Looks like you've found yourself a girlfriend." Luke grinned and nodded.
"That was so brave of you." The look of adoration on Nikki's face made Gabe uncomfortable.
He rolled his eyes. He was hardly a hero or brave. He only did what needed to be done.
"Listen everyone…" he spoke in his sternest voice. "You can't tell anyone what happened here today. And you can't tell anyone Paige is going to pretend to be my girlfriend."
"Why not?" Nikki asked.
"Because it could cost me my job. Doctors are not supposed to fraternize with their patients."
"Fraternize huh?" Gladys gave him a sly grin. "Dofakerelationships call for fraternizing?"
Ignoring the heat creeping up his neck, Gabe quirked a brow at Gladys. "You tell me. Did you fraternize with Harold while you were trying to make that other girl jealous?"
"Oh, we fraternized alright." Gladys winked then her face grewserious as she looked at Nikki then Luke. "While most people won't care, Gabe is right. It could jeopardize his job if the wrong people find out he's dating a patient. Especially here in a small town where people can be quite judgmental."
"Fakedating," Paige said. "It's not like we'll actually be going out on dates together."
"That's right," Gabe agreed. Although if he took Paige out a time to two, he wouldn't technically be lying to his mom anymore. "So please, don't mention this to anyone." He met each person's gaze in turn, waiting for them to agree.
Luke gave a curt nod.
Gladys' grin returned as she nodded.
