Page 52 of Taking the Heat
“Do you have a date, baby brother?”
He laughed in shock at the sound of his sister’s voice. “Hey, Naomi. I’m heading out for a beer.”
“Really? Your voice sounded awfully sweet,” she teased.
“Shit.” He shook his head. “What’s up? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine, but I want to hear more about this date.”
“It’s just a date,” he said, and she squealed in excitement.
“I knew it. Tell me all about her.”
“I’m not telling you anything. And I’m running late. That’s all you need to know.”
She sighed but gave up easily. “All right. I was just calling to say I’m thinking of coming to visit sometime. Would you let me stay if I did? Pretty please?”
“I’ve only got one bedroom,” he said.
“Pleeeeeease? Come on. You know I hate hotels.”
He could perfectly picture her exaggerated pout. He shook his head. “You’d have to sleep on my couch.”
“Yay! I’ll probably come next week. Let all your single friends know.”
He groaned as she hung up on him, but his irritation was superficial. He hadn’t seen Naomi in almost nine months, and he’d be happy to have her around, though he cringed over what she’d do to his bathroom counter. This time he’d just clear his stuff out of there entirely. And she probably wouldn’t stay long. She was a restless soul.
She’d had an apartment in New York for a couple of years, but she’d spent only a few nights a year there. Even when she wasn’t traveling, she liked being with other people too much to live alone.
If he thought too long about it, there was no sign she’d ever be ready to settle down. His solution was not to think too long about it. Somebody had to take over the family business.
Their dad had inherited the original MacKenzie’s from his father, just a little burger joint in Queens. But their dad had taken that little burger joint and all his father’s secrets, and he’d turned the business into a chain of high-end retro restaurants that had gotten more popular every year since 1999. They ground their own beef, won awards for their french fries and served fifteen-dollar bourbon-spiked milkshakes to all the hipsters of Manhattan.
Gabe had worked in the restaurants from the time he could walk. He knew everything about the business. But his heart wasn’t in it. Every single year, he’d put each dollar he earned at MacKenzie’s in the bank to save up for summer wilderness camps. He liked the restaurants and he loved the people, but running MacKenzie’s wasn’t his passion.
It would just be his job.
Dad wasn’t going to retire until one of his kids took over, and Gabe was very afraid his dad would work himself into an early grave. After his father had had two minor health scares in the past year, Gabe had known what he needed to do.
His dad would turn sixty in one year, and Gabe had talked him into retiring then. He’d talked him into it by agreeing to take over. He’d talked himself into it by pretending that five years from now Naomi might be willing to take the reins for a while. Hell, ten years from now even vegan Claire might get on board.
Until then...well, you did what you needed to do for your family, and Gabe’s dad deserved to step down and relax for a while. He’d worked hard to pass MacKenzie’s on to his kids, and Gabe would make sure that happened.
But not right now. He didn’t have to think about any of that right now, because he was on his way to see Veronica.
He stepped into his apartment and shed his tension along with his work clothes. Veronica hadn’t been specific, but a charity event at a gallery sounded more formal than other Jackson events, so no jeans tonight. He showered as quickly as he could, then pulled on black slacks and a blue dress shirt. He was out the door at eight fifteen and hoped the walk over would finish drying his hair.
He’d been looking forward to seeing her all day. Hell, he’d been looking forward to seeing her since the moment he’d left her place on Sunday night. He was glad she’d gotten in touch. He’d wanted to text her this morning, but he hadn’t trusted his impulse. Maybe he’d wanted to speak to her, or maybe he’d just wanted to make sure she thought of him as amazing. The perfect lover. The guy who’d made her come and then texted her in the morning to say hi.
He’d never really thought of himself as...manipulating situations. Not until a bad breakup two years before. They’d been seeing each other for six months, and Gabe had been ready to end it, but he’d wanted to let her down gently. Eloise had been talking about love and the future, and Gabe had felt himself cringing away, but still... He hadn’t wanted to be an asshole about it.
That had seemed like a kind thing until Eloise had confronted him and accused him of always wanting to be the good guy and stringing her along in the process. If he’d just been honest, she could have moved on, and instead he’d kept her thinking there might be a chance.
“You think you’re doing the right thing,” she’d yelled, “but all you do is try to manipulate how I see you! Stop fucking around with my emotions and tell me the truth.”
He’d told her the truth then, because he’d been angry enough to do it. It was only later that he’d really thought about what she’d said. It took almost a year to realize she’d been right. He liked to control what people thought of him, be their ideal. He didn’t want to do that with Veronica.
Especially because he knew he was misleading her in other ways. With another woman, Gabe could keep quiet about his plans and see where the relationship led. Enjoy the ride.