Page 82 of Chasing the Dream

Bryan signed his name with a flourish, and then Morgan signed and passed the document back to Gabe. Their eyes met briefly, but she quickly looked away.

Gabe stood up, signifying the end of the meeting. “I’ll walk you out,” he said pointedly.

“That won’t be necessary,” Bryan replied. Then he turned toward Morgan. “See you on Saturday around one o’clock.”

She nodded, and then he sauntered out, closing the door behind him.

She and Gabe stood facing each other for an excruciatingly long, tense moment until he erupted. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“I meant to tell you…”

“You sure about that?”

Her anger flared. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was trying to think of a way out of it, and I was hoping he’d forget.”

“When did he ask you?”

He was leaning across the table now, his hands clenched into fists, and he looked like he might leap over it at any moment. She knew he would never hurt her, but still, he looked intimidating all puffed up with anger like this.

“He asked me out to lunch before we left for Flagstaff, but I told him I was going out of town.”

“With me?”

“No!”

He didn’t look altogether pleased with her answer, and she scowled at him. “You’re overreacting, Gabe. So he wants to meet with me on Saturday. What difference does it make what day of the week it is?”

“You heard him, Morgan. He chose Saturday afternoon because nobody else will be there. Don’t you get it?”

She shook her head. “Even if he does have ulterior motives, I told you I’m not interested. I thought I proved that to you earlier.”

His shoulders relaxed some, but his mouth was still set in a hard line. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

She sighed. “We’ve been over this, Gabe. I can handle myself. If Bryan says or does anything to make me feel uncomfortable, I’ll leave.”

He walked around the table and stood before her. “What if I came with you?”

She laughed and placed her hand on his arm. “You’re kind of hot when you’re angry, and a little scary too.”

He gave her a reluctant smile. “There’s something about the guy that doesn’t sit well with me.”

“I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual.”

“Will you at least let me drive you to the meeting? If he asks why, you can tell him you don’t have a car.”

She shook her head. “Then he’d ask why I didn’t take an Uber. I’ll be okay. Besides, I’ll have my phone, and I can always call you if I need to.”

“This is one time where I hope you won’t need to.”

“We should probably get back to work before your employees get suspicious.”

“Do you realize where we are right now?”

She quirked her brows at him.