Dear Gabby (2 page)

"If you have to know,
” he finally answered, but stopped, trying to word what he was going to say.

H
e was about to tell her why his sister ran away and all she could think of was how sensual he sounded. That should have been the last thing on her mind. Slowly shaking her head, she needed to get her thoughts back to their conversation.

"Samantha is pregnant and needs to be around people who love her
. You must see how important it is for me to find her." The accusing sound had vanished from his voice. A gentle tone took its place when mentioning his sister.

It must have taken a lot for
this man to swallow his pride and reveal the secret to her. She felt almost guilty now in giving his sister advice when she had needed it.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't
know,” she admitted with a sigh. “All she asked of me in her letter was guidance and support."\

"And you gladly gave it to her without any thought to the
result, Ms Fallon. His head jerked back in anger. She didn’t know when it happened, but she noticed how his gaze narrowed after a time. He continued to watch her and she could feel her discomfort increasing.

"No one ever calls me Ms Fallon.
My name’s Gabby.”

"Well, Gabby, tonight you're going to have dinner with me and we're going to decide how to find my sister
."

For some reason, his anger
had vanished and she couldn’t understand the sudden change in him.

"I'm late for a business appointment, so bring your correspondence with you and we'll go from there
. Give me your address and your phone number in case there’s a change in plans."

Without thinking, she rattled off her address and number
. After he had written it down, she wondered why she hadn't given him more of an argument about having dinner with him. Maybe deep down, she wanted to find out what made him tick. Well, she would certainly find that out tonight.

An excitement quickly built in her, but she didn't know if it was a nervous reaction, or just the thought of being alone with the dark
, exciting stranger for an entire evening. She felt a surge of vulnerability swiftly passing through her knowing he could affect her so strongly.

"I'll stop by your place at seven," he said, glancing at her for several seconds, before turning to leave
and striding out into the hall.

Wow! She murmured softly, after the door closed behind him.
Now, what have I gotten myself into? Accepting a dinner date with a man I don’t know and who obviously hates me,

She heard the door opening and glanced around
to see Emma walking in carrying an armload of files.

"Were you talking to someone just now?"
She glanced over the bulky pile she carried. Her gaze drifted around the empty office.

"
I’m talking to myself," Gabby felt foolish at someone catching her.

"By the way, I just saw the most gorgeous hunk leaving your office,
” Emma continued, her head bobbing in the direction Cole had taken. "He passed me in the hall and the handsome devil nearly took my breath away.”

Gabby could see Emma's response was the same as hers once she
had laid eyes on Cole Powers. She figured he must have women falling all over him if they both had this reaction after seeing him. Shaking her head to clear it, she glanced at her coworker, who stood patiently waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry, Emma, I guess I was thinking of something else.
”

"I can guess what it was." The other woman smiled.
"You were thinking about the man that just brushed past me in such a hurry."

"The man you passed in the hall is Cole Powers
. He certainly is something, isn't he?"

"Yes, he certainly is,
” Emma agreed with her, her eyes glowing with pleasure. “You can tell me I'm too nosy, but I'm dying to find out if he stopped by to discuss the lawsuit."

"That was part of the reason he barged into my office without warning.
The rest of the conversation pertained to what his thoughts were on my advising his sister. They were all negative, of course. He then went on to tell me that we were having dinner together to go over every detail in Samantha's letter."

"And you went along with him without an argument?"
Her brows rose as she gazed across at Gabby.

"Yes, he had me so rattled I gave him my address and p
hone number without thinking." Something about his strong presence still had her stomach tied up in knots. As before, she had no explanation for the reaction filling her remembering his dark, sexy looks.

"Did he tell you why he needed to find her?"
Emma warmed to the subject, placing her folders on the desk as she sat. She leaned forward in her chair, eyes alert, and ready to become a captive audience.

"He
said Samantha's pregnant. I feel guilty that I helped her and gave her the courage to run away." She sighed deeply.

"It wasn't your fault
. How were you to know she's pregnant?"

"I know, but it still bothers me . .
.” She picked up the folder and placed Samantha's letter inside. She put the folder by her purse so she didn't walk out of the office without it that evening. Not having the information when he showed up for dinner would be a disaster.

"I
was considering canceling my date with Marty when I found out about the lawsuit today, but now I don’t have a choice."

"I saw Marty heading for his office a few minutes ago
. You'd better get over there before he leaves on another assignment."

“
If you don’t mind, would you answer my phone? I shouldn't be long.”

Emma nodded watching Gabby walk out the door.

Gabby made her way through the hallway and stopped in front of Marty's office. Words drifted through her thoughts over how she could explain to Marty about canceling their date.

Marty always gave her the impression he felt more interested in her than she was in him.
He kept pursuing her, but she thought of him only as a friend and enjoyed going out with him socially. She eventually raised her hand and tapped lightly on his door.

"Come in
.” Marty’s voice filtered out to her.

S
he walked into the small, cramped room Marty called his office. She couldn’t see a spare inch of free space on his desk making her wonder how he got any work done.

"Hi, Marty
.”

"
Oh, hi, Gabby.” His blue eyes lit up when he saw her. He reached up and smoothed his curly blond hair back as he stood. "What's up with you this morning?"

"I'm going to have to cancel on you tonight
.” She didn’t miss his frown.

"Has something happened?"

"Well, yes." Gabby spent the next few minutes telling Marty what had taken place that day and ending by explaining her unusual dinner invitation. "It's not that I want to go, but I feel I have to resolve the matter for the sake of the newspaper." She felt a guilty sensation rise in her again. In truth, she did want to go out with Cole Powers, but she couldn’t tell Marty. Just the thought of having dinner with the powerful man had her insides whirling. She felt worried about the strange new emotions building in her.

"Of course, you should go,
” Marty agreed with her, not hesitating over his answer.

Hearing his agreement
made Gabby feel like a traitor and heaped even more guilt on her. When she thought it over, she was just a friend to Marty and they hadn’t made any commitments. “Have you talked to Joe about it?” Marty spoke again, interrupting her private thoughts.

"I did early this morning, but I think I'll
drop by his office and explain what’s going on. He doesn't know Cole Powers stopped by today. I'm sure he'll want to find out the latest developments."

"We can always make our dinner date for Saturday night.
In fact, I'll call in the reservation now and pick you up at eight."

"Thanks for
your understanding,” she murmured softly. “I'll see you on Saturday." She waved to him as she walked from his office.

When she reached Joe's door, she noticed he wasn't in his office.
She would have to catch him later. If she didn't get a move on, she would never finish her column before press time, and leave work by five. Hurrying along the hallway, she reentered her office.

She picked up the
mail and began reading. With each letter she read, she silently hoped she didn't cause any more problems for the families of the people seeking her help.

The day passed swiftly
. She breathed a sigh of relief that she had managed to finish everything and sent her work downstairs. Then another thought struck her. She had an entire evening to spend talking and eating with the stranger that had walked into her office that day.

When Gabby began clearing her desk,
Emma was putting on her coat, getting ready to leave. "I'll see you on Monday, Gabby. Have a good time tonight." She gave her a sly wink, followed by one of her cheery, little smiles.

"I don't know what kind of a time we'll have, but I'll see you.
”

She sat at her desk and watched Emma closing the door.
Mentally going over what she had to wear that evening, she knew she would have to resort to the old reliable. Her little black dress. She always saved the dress for special events and she supposed this counted as a special occasion. She pulled on her coat and remembered to pick up the folder she had placed near her purse.

Gabby drove toward home silently praying she wasn’t going to have problems with her old car again.
On the last occasion, she had it towed and the repair bill almost wiped out all her savings. Someone must have heard her prayers, because she turned the corner and chugged the last block to her apartment building.

Unlocking her door,
she stopped in the hallway and checked her mail. She picked up her newspaper lying on the doormat and entered her apartment. Glancing at the letters she had placed in her purse, she skimmed through them quickly. One was from her mother and the others were just the monthly bills. She opened her mother's letter first and began reading.

G
abby always managed to stretch her tight budget to help her. She felt homesick for her small hometown at times, but she'd busy herself with work and the feeling would disappear. She was happy living in Chicago and loved her job, so she dismissed her thoughts as she walked into the bathroom to begin getting ready for her night out.

Finishing her bath,
she made her way into her bedroom and removed the black dress from the hanger. She pulled it on and zipped it in place. She stood in front of the full-length mirror checking out her appearance. The low cut bodice allowed a little of her breasts to show above the fabric. The dress curved her small figure gently in all the right places, tapering down to just above her knees.

Gabby applied her makeup with more care that evening.
When she finished and glanced in the mirror, she saw that her brown eyes danced with excitement.

Carrying her coat with her, she
wanted to be ready and waiting when he arrived. She placed her purse with the folder on the table and sat back, but she couldn’t relax as she felt her stomach churning with a nervous reaction to what lay ahead of her.

The doorbell rang
and her heart started fluttering out of control. Purposely taking a deep breath, she glanced one last time in the mirror before walking across the room. She reached for the knob, slowly pulling it open. As she stood in the open doorway, her mouth fell open in surprise.

Chapter Three

Cole stood at her apartment door, dressed in a snug-fitting, black sweater and a pair of faded jeans.
She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. He had told her he was taking her to dinner. No one usually went out to dinner dressed in jeans. Her gaze drifted to the dark coat he carelessly draped over his arm. Everything about his appearance looked casual. This was about as informal as a person could get.

She felt embarrass
ed realizing she was overdressed. Why hadn’t he told her in her office where they were going that evening? She realized she had assumed too much and her cheeks colored over the situation. Somehow, that little word
assumed
could always get a person in trouble and she was discovering it the hard way.

She suddenly wished the floor would open and swallow her.
Raising her head, she looked at him and hoped she hid the turmoil racing through her.

"Would you
like to come in?"   She finally ended the long silence stretching between them. All she wanted to do was escape the man standing only inches from her. She silently wondered if he had planned to embarrass her on purpose.

"Yes, thank you
.”  He accepted her invitation, following her into the small, neat apartment.