Page 65 of Better Off Wed
“I don’t understand.”
He smiled again, his expression full of fondness, and touched his nose to mine. “That’s okay. You will.”
Rattled, I let him pull me out of bed. I’d thought last night had been the exception. He’d wanted to give me pleasure because he’d felt guilty. He was trying to apologize.
But was Gideon saying that this was what he wanted…all the time? For me to just take what I needed without offering anything in return?Why?
He tugged me to the bathroom, turned on the shower, and set me inside.
“You’re not coming in?” I asked.
He hesitated and finally tilted his head toward the door. “I’ll get some coffee started.”
The door closed behind him, and I knew what had happened; Gideon still wasn’t ready for me to see his scars. It hurt to be shut out like that, and it made it harder to understand what was going on between us.
We moved slowly through the morning. When we sat down for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast—made by Gideon, of course—he looked at me and said, “I think you should talk to Mrs. Gretzinger about your wedding dress retreat idea.”
I blinked, eggs turning to glue in my mouth. I swallowed with difficulty and said, “Why?”
“Because she’s a good businesswoman, and I think she’d be on board.”
It was hard to breathe. “You…think it’s a good idea?”
“To talk to Ida?”
“No, the wedding dress retreats.”
He watched me for a moment, then nodded. “Yes.”
“Oh.”
“Is that a problem?”
“It’s just—” I licked my lips. Why was my heart thumping so hard?
“I looked your company up online,” Gideon continued as he piled some scrambled eggs on a triangle of toast. He took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “You’re good, Sadie.”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
He huffed a laugh and shook his head, arching a brow. He saw too much.
“If I’m so good, why couldn’t I stay in business? Why did I have to shut everything down?”
Gideon shrugged, like my failure was no big deal. “Why does any business go through a rough patch? When I started Marswood Security, I only offered security system installation and maintenance. I struggled. I almost didn’t make it through my second year in business. It wasn’t until we startedoffering on-site surveillance to some of the wealthy property owners outside of town that things changed. That’s when I hired my brothers, and things grew from there.”
In my travels around town, I’d noticed that there were huge properties outside the town limits. I’d read into it and learned that the area was dotted with a lot of huge mansions belonging to people who lived in Manhattan or Chicago or Boston. They’d spend a week or two per year in the area, if that, and usually maintained a full staff at their properties. One of the reasons Marswood Harbor had been in decline was because the cost of living here had increased substantially when more estates were built in the surrounding area. It was hard for locals to make ends meet.
“Is that when you asked your grandmother to invest?” I asked. “When you almost lost your business?”
He hummed, nodding, as he took a bite of bacon. “I sometimes regret it, but I wouldn’t have made it without her investment.”
My throat went tight. That sounded ominously familiar. Did I really want my entire livelihood beholden to Etta Mars? But what other option did I have?
“I can take you to The Pier to talk to Ida,” Gideon suggested. “Or give you her phone number.”
I nodded, part uncomfortable, part so hopeful it hurt to even admit it to myself. “Thanks.”
When Henry had helped me by sending brides my way for consultations, he’d made me feel like I owed him something. I wondered if Gideon would think the same. If all these wonderful things he was doing for me—and to me—would start adding up too much. He’d start thinking that he wasn’t gettinganything out of this relationship at all, and he’d toss me aside just like Henry.
