“You are sneaking around with Lawrence. You come across as a Goody Two-shoes, yet you’re banging him behind—”
“No! I haven’t!” Kimmy’s whack-a-mole reasoning was totally out of the realm from her normal behavior .
“Then who? You spend most of your time with Lawrence before the shows—”
“That’s because he is constantly missing my intro.”
“The only other ones around you are Shade, who’s married, and Rider, who has a girlfriend.”
Ginny’s nerves were already strung up with her room being destroyed and a man missing, so Kimmy’s wild assumptions were sending her over the edge.
“Those aren’t the only men I’ve been around!”
Ginny’s stomach dropped when Kimmy’s face broke into a broad smile.
“It’s Gavin, isn’t it? That’s why you told me he’s attached.”
Ginny wasn’t able to compose her guilty face before Kimmy saw it and misinterpreted the expression as hitting on the truth.
“You’re with Gavin! Wow! You sure nothing is going between you and Lawrence?”
“I’m sure.” Ginny’s concern for her friend’s irrational behavior was replaced by a wave of temper. “And what’s so shocking about me and Gavin?”
Kimmy stared at her as if she had never seen her before. Ginny felt the same toward her. Being locked in the room was dissolving their friendship fast.
“I just imagined him with someone more ….” Kimmy broke off when she realized she was about to put her foot in her mouth again.
“What?” Hurt that Kimmy was right had Ginny sliding to the edge of her chair. “Prettier?”
“Ladies …,” Sin interrupted the budding argument. “Perhaps this isn’t the time—”
“Sexier? Thinner?” Jealousy had Ginny talking before her commonsense could catch up with her. “You’re so worried about Lawrence and me when nothing is there, but it didn’t stop you from asking me if Gavin was attached!”
The Kimmy that Ginny was more familiar with made an appearance. “So, you and Gavin are a couple! You should have just said so! It’s no big deal. I’m so happy!”
At that point, Ginny was about to jinx Kimmy with a wart the size of Pluto on her upper lip when a sound from the doorway had Ginny turning, then wanting to sink to the floor at the sight of Gavin standing there.
“Uh … I …” Ginny had never been so embarrassed in her life. She had unintentionally proven to him that she did live in an alternate universe. “I can explain.” And she would, as soon as she came up with something that made any sense.
“It’s doesn’t matter. I understand. I told you it wouldn’t be an easy secret to keep.”
What secret? Had she missed something? Maybe she drank the same Kool-Aid that Kimmy had?
“Did you find Mason?” Nate asked.
“Yes.” Gavin came to a stop in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. “We found him in a freezer in the nightclub. He’s on his way to the hospital.”
Chapter Eleven
“Why did you let Kimmy keep assuming we’re a couple?” Ginny engaged the blinker as she sped up to merge onto the interstate. She was too upset about Mason being in the hospital to be humiliated over Gavin overhearing the out-of-hand conversation with Kimmy.
“I want to find out exactly how possessive your stalker is over you.”
Gripping the steering wheel like a lifeline, Ginny continued driving as if his unemotional explanation hadn’t drilled a big hole through her heart. “I see.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gavin’s head jerk toward her at the flat intonation of her voice.
“You don’t agree?”
“Whatever you think.” Shrugging, Ginny took the turnoff to her exit.
“You think I’m wrong?”
Ginny remained mute, sitting stiffly behind the wheel.
“So, now I’m being given the silent treatment? Fine. I don’t give a fuck if you agree with me or not. It’s my call.”
Pressing her foot down on the accelerator, Ginny drove to her apartment in record time, pulling into her parking spot with a screech of tires.
Gavin’s hand went to the dashboard as she slammed the car into Park. “You trying to kill us?”
Releasing her seatbelt with a snap of her fingers, Ginny turned sideways in her seat. “It’s one thing for me to put myself on the line to draw him out and another to paint a target on you. That’s unacceptable, and I won’t allow one more person to be hurt because of me. Especially not you.”
Gavin unclicked his seatbelt just as angrily. “Why not me? Because I was stupid enough to get myself kidnapped or—”
Fury went through Ginny like a fireball. Leaning toward Gavin, Ginny put her face right in his as she poked him in the chest. “Because I love you!” she shouted out in the close confines of the car.
Surprise had his shoulders hitting the window at his back.
“I don’t care if you think I’m crazy or not. It’s the truth. From the moment you walked out onto that patio, I knew you were the one I was waiting for—”