Off The Clock: First Responders, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

be fixed.
    “Do you want to know his full name?” she asked quietly, letting him off the hook.
    Gabe was studying her, and for an irrational moment she wished she could simply walk into the circle of his arms and feel safe and protected. And perhaps if he’d shown her any encouragement at all, she would have. But he crossed his arms and his lips formed a thin line. “What about his full name?”
    “I named him after you,” she whispered. “Nathan Gabriel Douglas.”
    “You shouldn’t have done that,” Gabe replied coldly, turning back to look through the window.
    Carly felt as though she’d been slapped. It had been a way for her to say thanks. To pay tribute to a friend who’d made such a difference. And he was throwing it back at her. All the joy and pride she’d felt in giving her son a part of his name withered away.
    “I thought you’d be pleased. Why are you so cold all of a sudden? That’s not the Gabe I remember.”
    His jaw tightened. “I’m not sure the Gabe you think you remember ever existed, Carly.”
    “Bull. He existed Friday night.” She met his gaze bravely. “When you called me darlin’. When you stayed with me. What I don’t understand is why he disappeared again. Why you are suddenly treating me like I did something wrong? Did I?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s not you, it’s me.”
    She was getting frustrated with the conversation and Gabe’s standoffish attitude. Now he was employing the oldest breakup line in the book to explain his behavior? “What’s that supposed to mean? What’s you? Because if this is about that…” she nearly stumbled over the next word but forged on, “…that kiss, then forget about it.”
    “Have you?” He still didn’t look at her but stared at the babies lined up in their bassinets in the nursery. “Forgotten about it, I mean.”
    She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t. In the long hours in her hospital bed, it was all she had thought about. And to explain it was so complicated. It was tied up in how she’d cared for him when she was a girl, tangled together with her failed marriage, her current feelings and understanding she was in a vulnerable place emotionally. It all made her sound so needy , she realized with a shudder. She wasn’t needy. She was a strong, independent woman. She was a mother and a teacher.
    And yet the kiss remained. Of course she hadn’t forgotten it. Next to holding her healthy baby, it had been the best thing to happen to her in months.
    “That’s what I thought,” he said drily. “Look, we’re not teenagers with a crush any longer. You’re stuck at the prom and I’ve moved on.”
    That stung. Of course he must have known she had feelings for him back then. She’d been seventeen and he’d been older, cuter and the university’s hot new star football player. But to say she was stuck at the prom—the one time she’d come close to having Gabe to herself—was a deliberate cut, and unlike the considerate boy she remembered.
    Which was fine. She wasn’t a little lovesick girl any longer. She might have put Gabe Brenner on a pedestal for a lot of years, but she wasn’t the kind of woman who settled for crumbs anymore. She’d made that mistake and had paid for it. She deserved better. So did Nathan.
    “Thank you for your assistance, Gabriel.” She knew she sounded curt, but what did he expect? She’d expressed her thanks and had gotten the cold shoulder as a result. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend some time with my son.”
    She swept into the nursery, forcing a bright smile at the nurse. She refused to turn around to see if he was gone. A few minutes later when she wheeled Nathan out of the room, the window was empty.
    It was just as well, she supposed. After tomorrow she’d be discharged and it would just be her and Nathan. A sliver of anxiety cramped her heart. As difficult as the last few days had been, she suddenly realized it was only the beginning. For as much as Nathan