LITMIR.BIZ

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eyes and hear it in his voice. She might not yet be able to say she “loved” him, but she knew him, respected him, liked him.

      And something kept nudging her into believing that she shouldn’t throw this away. Something was telling her that this was the chance of a lifetime. That if she didn’t stay in this marriage she would miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime love.

      By the time they reached Atlanta, she knew what she was going to do. Roll the dice. She wasn’t sure how or why she had become such a gambler of late, but she had. She didn’t have a clue how she would break this news to her father, but she was going to do that, too. She might be the person in line to replace him, but he was only in his late fifties. Nowhere near retirement. He was spirited enough and healthy enough to run this company for another fifteen or twenty years. By that time, she and Gerrick could have raised a family.

      They disembarked and made their way to the row of taxis. This time when Gerrick kissed her, Gina kissed him back. She didn’t merely allow her lips to slacken under his to accept his kiss. She returned his kiss, and when he caressed her lips with the tip of his tongue, she opened her mouth to him. She twined her tongue with his, enjoying every exquisite sensation, almost unable to believe that this wonderful man was hers, but more than willing to accept it as yet another stroke of the good luck she had acquired in Vegas.

      And Gerrick almost relaxed. Almost, but not quite. He hadn’t exactly tricked Gina into marrying him, but he hadn’t let the opportunity pass him by, either. When she proposed, he jumped on it, ushering her to the hotel chapel where they found an official who was in between services and more than happy to perform their ceremony. The waitress who had been providing their champagne and to whom Gina had given a three-hundred-dollar tip was thrilled to be her maid of honor. One of their blackjack dealers acted as Gerrick’s best man. It was the most important, most exciting moment of his life, but he wasn’t so dumb as to miss that in the light of day, Gina was having second thoughts.

      He could handle that. He might have been head over heels in love with her for the past few months, but he recognized all this was new for her because until this weekend she had been at the very end of getting over her last romance. In fact, his feelings for her began with his worry over her upset about the man who had thrown her over for a co-ed with whom he was having an affair. That caused Gerrick to make time to talk to her every morning, eat lunch with her at least once a week and walk her to her office after meetings. Ultimately, concern grew into genuine affection, and before he knew it he found himself absolutely crazy about her. But he didn’t think Gina had noticed him as anything other than a co-worker at Hilton-Cooper-Martin Foods until Friday night. Still, once she had begun the process of seeing him as a person, a man, she seemed to catch up to his level of feelings with leaps and bounds.

      And besides, she was the one who proposed to him.

      Plus, he was leaving Atlanta in two weeks. Unless he married her he had no way of coercing her into moving with him, and no reason really to even keep in touch, except that they had had a fun time gambling in Vegas. That wasn’t much of a foot in the door and in his mind the marriage was a necessity.

      On the flight home, the time difference worked against them, and it was already late afternoon when they arrived. They took a taxi to the bar where they had met on Friday night and each drove his or her car to her father’s mansion. She got there first, punched in the security codes that opened the big black gate and left it open. He drove through, then punched in the codes that locked the gate again. He wound his way up the long, tree-lined lane, taking his time, rehearsing in his head the speech he would give to his boss, searching for a way to describe their weekend without using the words tipsy or aroused. As he approached the house, he watched Gina pull her imported sports car behind the black sedan Gerrick recognized as belonging to Ethan McKenzie, head of the Legal Department of Hilton-Cooper-Martin Foods and family friend of Hilton Martin.

      Great. That meant they might have to wait hours before they actually told Hilton they were married.

      Gerrick groaned. No, they wouldn’t. He had bought Gina a platinum band with three one-karat marquise diamonds. Nobody was going to miss that. Especially not eagle-eyed Ethan. They weren’t going to get to announce this to Hilton privately unless Gerrick did something fast.

      He jumped out of his car and rushed toward the front entrance attempting to get to Gina before she walked in and flashed her ring, but he was too late. As if he had been waiting for Gina, Ethan opened the door and plowed forward before she reached for the knob. He took her by the shoulders and, if the look on his face was anything to go by, said something very serious to her.

      Gerrick saw Gina gasp and crumple in Ethan’s arms, then both Gina and Ethan scrambled from the doorway to Ethan’s car.

      Approaching from the other side, Gerrick was almost to the doorstep when they dashed away, ignoring him as if he wasn’t there.

      He stopped.

      Ethan drove up beside him, and lowered his car window. “Gerrick, I’m sorry. Hilton’s had a heart attack. He was in Pennsylvania promoting a golf tournament he’s helping to sponsor this summer. I’ve got Gina booked on the next flight out. Josh Anderson is already in Pennsylvania,” he said, referring to Hilton-Cooper-Martin Food’s PR director and Gina’s cousin. Undoubtedly, Josh had been pressed into service as next of kin, since no one had known where Gina was. “Right now, we need somebody to hold down the fort. I think that should be you.”

      “Actually, Ethan,” Gerrick said, glancing at Gina who was dabbing her eyes with a white tissue. “I think I should go with Gina to the hospital.” He noticed the ring he had given her was conveniently hidden by her paper hanky and though that struck him as coincidentally lucky, he didn’t question it.

      Only now realizing they had been away together for the weekend, Ethan looked from one to the other then said, “Oh.” He faced Gina again. “The second seat is booked in my name. Gerrick might not have time to get it changed and make the flight. We’re late as it is.”

      “Then let’s go,” Gina said, urgency evident in her voice. “Gerrick, you’re going to have to come up on a later flight.”

      “And I’ll return home and hold the fort,” Ethan said as he began to drive away.

      Gerrick felt as if a truck had hit him. He had been employed by Hilton Martin his entire career. In some ways he loved Hilton like a father. That might even have been part of the reason he had been so casual about getting involved with Gina. But he also loved Gina. And he wanted to be with her. As her husband he should be the one with her. But Gina very clearly didn’t want him. Or didn’t care…

      He was worried about Hilton. Fearful for Gina. Upset for himself. And insulted. But he ignored the stab of offense recognizing that Gina’s first impulse was to get rid of him, not lean on him, because being offended had no place in a situation where a man’s life hung in the balance.

      Unfortunately, that still left him with intense worry, fear over Gina’s pain and his own upset about Hilton. He didn’t know which emotion to deal with first. So he got into his car and pulled out his cell phone to make reservations on the next available flight to Pittsburgh. Then he phoned Hilton’s secretary to get directions to the hospital where Hilton was being treated. As he expected, Joanna had the information he needed.

      Gerrick went home, packed a small suitcase, and drove back to the airport. Though his concern for Hilton was overwhelming, he couldn’t help but remember the things he and Gina had done in this airport less than two hours ago. He saw the place where they had kissed. He saw the gate at which they had arrived laughing, full of happiness and hope. But when he walked down the tunnel to enter the plane, he also remembered that she had been having serious second thoughts during their flight home. It had taken hours to get her accustomed to the fact that they were married. And in seconds, in one announcement, they were back to square one.

      He knew there was a very good possibility he would lose her tonight, if he didn’t get to Johnstown, Pennsylvania before she completely changed her mind, succumbed to grief and fear and decided their marriage had been a mistake.

      Chapter

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