“She’ll understand I couldn’t have sat around and done nothing while people were in trouble.”
“Oh, I agree. She’ll understand—in fact, I bet she already does understand. But it doesn’t change that you fucked up. You put the need to be there for others before taking care of yourself. You know you shouldn’t have gone back out. You would’ve told any of us if we were injured to not go because we’d put everyone at risk going out with an injury. You’ve got something way worse than hero syndrome. This is bordering on suicidal. And the worst part is that you’ve got a woman screaming at you with a reason to wake up and see what you’re doing, and you don’t give a shit.”
Gage scowled. “Yes I do!”
“Then stop putting yourself before her. Fuck, stop putting yourself before both of you. If you want to be a couple, you have to stop thinking about what you need. This is about more than you. It’s about both of you now. It has nothing to do with your job. You’re showing her she can’t trust you to make a smart decision.”
East’s words hit really fucking deep and Gage almost choked on the realization. He was right. Chloe was terrified of commitment, yet she’d dropped everything that mattered to her to be here for him. And all he’d told her was to wait.
“I really fucked up,” Gage said.
East clapped his hands together. “Ding, ding, ding! Now you’re getting it.”
Only now, Gage had to do something about it.
Chapter Twelve
“Damn!” Chloe threw the wooden spoon across the room. She wasn’t one for dramatics, but she couldn’t take any more. The event was in twenty minutes and she was on her final attempt of crab cakes—and it was more burned than the last batch because she’d left it to run to the hospital only to have her heart broken.
She looked around her restaurant’s kitchen. Guests were arriving downstairs and she’d have to welcome them soon. Without crab cakes, success, or Gage. She was alone.
The place was quiet and smelled like burned crab cakes and failure. And the stupid part was that she was still waiting.
Waiting for him to come back.
Waiting for him to make it better.
It hurt just thinking of him, because a part of her had been waiting this whole time.
Was this what it had been like for her mom? She’d always assumed her dad had been a jerk who never deserved her mom’s love. But maybe there’d been something more there. Gage was the man who’d broken down her walls and made her greatest dreams and fears come true.
And I told him I couldn’t take this…
Someone knocked on the door, and she bit back the sob. She ran to the door and opened it, unable to snuff out the spark of hope that it might be Gage.
It wasn’t. Why would it be? He was gone. She’d made sure of that.
“Hey,” Natalie said.
“Hi,” Chloe whispered back.
“Everything okay?”
“Nope,” she answered honestly. “I still can’t make these right.”
Natalie pulled her into a hug. “You know, the food is covered and everything is all ready to go. The chef nailed all of your mom’s other appetizers, and the new menu items are set. If you don’t have the crab cakes, no one will notice.”
“That’s not the point,” she whispered.
“I know.”
Natalie was trying to help, but Chloe just felt worse. She wanted to make something, feel that connection again with her mother, but she couldn’t. The dish had beaten her. The reality was Chloe didn’t have anything in common with her mother other than getting too attached to people who didn’t want her back.
“This was going to be my one thing,” she said against Natalie’s shoulder.
“I know.”
Chloe shook her head, wiped her eyes, and stepped back. “I’m going to go down there. Everyone is waiting.”
She also needed a break from thinking. And failing. And reality.
“I just need a sec to freshen my makeup.”
“Okay,” Natalie whispered. “I’ll be right down there with you if you need me.”
She nodded and shut the door behind her friend. Everything was geared up to go without a problem. Except Chloe was still alone and had accomplished nothing.
Chapter Thirteen
Gage went through the back door of the restaurant and snuck around to the kitchen. He’d technically committed robbery tonight. Though he was calling it “borrowing a set of clean scrubs that were left out at the hospital.” But he’d been dirty and his pants were muddy and ripped, and he couldn’t show up to Chloe’s restaurant like that. He also couldn’t spare much time. So blue scrubs it was! He didn’t exactly look the part of “the good doctor,” but at least he was clean.
He’d come as quickly as he could. Tonight was important to Chloe. Not only would he be here, he’d set right what he should have two weeks ago.