pew bows and confetti packets? “Whatever. Let’s talk about the subject at hand, shall we? Why are you here? At ten o’clock at night? On a Tuesday?”
He watched me closely. “You don’t want to tell me about your new boyfriend?”
“What do you want to know?” I shifted in my spot. The idea of discussing other men with him made me want to crawl out of my own skin. Probably because in my heart, there’d only been him.
“Since when do we keep these things a secret?”
Anger flashed in my belly. “This from the guy who didn’t tell his best friend he was getting engaged?”
Gabe’s mouth formed a tight line. “Fine. Why haven’t you told me about him?”
I shrugged. “I guess I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy to tell me about your new…” He paused, a sad line forming across his brow. “Er, lover?”
I could tell he was trying to get a reaction. “Stop it. He’s not my lover.”
“So you guys are just friends?”
“No, we’re dating. We met a couple of weeks ago.”
“You guys sound pretty cozy.”
“Yeah, I guess we are pretty cozy.”
“Isn’t that kind of fast?”
I looked at Gabe in disbelief. “Didn’t you propose to Alicia after just five months?”
He held his palms up, laughing. “Okay, truce.”
“Come on. I want to talk about you.” I tried to frown at him and clenched my fists at my sides to keep from touching him. Maybe if I picked his brain for a while I could get to the bottom of this new Gabe Parker I barely recognized. “I want to talk about you and Alicia.”
He propped his head up on his hand. “All right, then. Shoot.”
I wished that being that close to Gabe didn’t still make my pulse race. “You know what I mean. You’re taking the vows. Where in the world did all of this come from?”
For a split second, I saw a flicker of panic cross his face, but it quickly melted back into joy. “Yeah, weird, huh? My mom said the same thing when I told her.”
There was something to be said for the little exchange between Nora and me after Gabe’s announcement at Christmas dinner. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, except now I was positive that she knew I loved Gabe. Did she wish he was with me? I shook my head, pushing the memory away. There was no point in focusing on my moment with Nora at dinner. Talk about a lost cause.
“It’s more than weird. It’s a major, major departure for you,” I said, watching Gabe’s face for some sign of remorse. Some flicker of light that indicated he still loved me. “What happened to the guy who said he wasn’t getting married until he was in his thirties? Or later?”
“I don’t know. I guess my opinion changed. I…” He paused. “I guess I fell in love.”
I swallowed. That stung a bit. “Well, then, if you don’t mind, can I ask you a question?”
He furrowed his brow. “When have you ever asked my permission?”
“Right.” I laid down on my side. “Okay. So…you’ve seen a lot of women.”
He closed his eyes. “Not that many.”
“Oh, please, Casanova. You’ve had more girlfriends than Hef.” I socked him in the shoulder.
“So what’s your point?”
“My point is…what makes Alicia so different? What makes you want to make her your wife?”
Gabe stretched out, his fingers laced behind his head while he stared up at the ceiling. “Alicia’s amazing. I wish you could know her the way I know her.”
I made a gagging sound.
“Shut up. She’s kind and smart. She volunteers at a soup kitchen, did you know that? And she’s got me doing things to help out the community, too.”
I pressed my lips together tightly. Gabe was a kind person, but serving the community? He usually wrote his yearly check to the Red Cross, then called it good.
“She encourages me to do things I’ve never done before. She wants us to host charity events someday. She wants us to be known for our philanthropy when we’re older.” His eyes danced as he rattled on, and a twinge of jealousy stung in my gut. “Alicia motivates me. She makes me want to be a better person. She inspires me to work harder.”
Personally, I found it hard to believe he could work harder. Gabe busted his ass at his career in advertising and was the youngest junior partner in the history of his agency. I tried to read the expression on his stoic profile. “And you’re happy, right?”
He turned toward me. A hand emerged