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sister or even a cousin. This woman meant something far more to Gabe.
    She lifted the frame closer. His hands rested on the woman’s stomach, and she’d placed hers atop his.
    When she noticed the big, shiny diamond on the woman’s left hand, a lump lodged itself in her throat, and she bit her lip
     
    to stop it from quivering. She looked even closer and noticed that Gabe had a band of gold on his left hand.
    The bastard was married.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
     
     
    H olly tossed the frame onto a chair and grabbed her coat from the couch. She swiftly moved through the apartment, trying to pull on her coat as she swung open the door and bolted out into the hallway—where Gabe stood holding a tray of food. She fell right into him, pushing him into the adjacent wall and catching her balance just before she would have tripped down the first step. The soups spilled over and the tray crashed to the floor. Glasses of water and mugs of tea splattered against the walls as the glass shattered.
    “What are you doing?” He reached for her as she stepped away from the stairs. “Are you all right? Is everything okay?” He looked her over as if she were injured or sick.
    “I’m leaving.” She shoved past him and hurried to the stairs.
    “Whoa.” He grabbed hold of her arm and stopped her. “You’re not leaving until you tell me what’s wrong with you.”
    “You wouldn’t care. You’re a lying bastard and I don’t want to be here with you and I don’t want to share this
baby with you.”
    “You’re sharing that baby with me no matter what you think of me personally. Now go back inside and tell me what the hell is wrong with you.”
    “I’m not going back in there.”
    “Then tell me here.”
    She lifted her hand to smack him across the face, but he caught her wrist. She let out a huff and stomped her foot like a child having a tantrum, but she was beyond caring what he
     
    thought of her. “You’re married. You’re leading me on thinking that you want to have this baby with me, and you’re married.”
    Gabe’s eyes flew open and his jaw dropped. It was all the proof she needed.
    She pulled her arm from his grip and turned to walk away.
    “Holly, it’s not what you think.” His voice was too calm. He wasn’t shouting. Excuses weren’t the first thing he’d rattled off his tongue.
    “Really? You just display pictures of yourself and some random woman in intimate poses? Not to mention the huge rock on her finger.” Her voice echoed in the stairwell. She wanted to run down the stairs, but something about his reaction stopped her.
    He closed his eyes and let out a loud breath. “Don’t move,” he said, opening his eyes and giving her a stern look. “I’m not kidding. Don’t move.” He walked back into the apartment.
    She stayed. She needed to know.
    When he emerged, he had the picture in his hand.
“This one?”
    Holly looked down at it and then looked away. She didn’t want to see his betrayal staring up at her.
    “Is this what set you off?”
    “I’m not stupid, Gabe.” Her heart twisted. “Yes, this is the picture, and I know what it means.”
    “Holly, you’re right.” He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “This is Jasmine, my wife.”
    She should walk away. But the pain in his voice kept her feet rooted to the floor.
    Gabe looked down at the picture and ran his fingers across it. “This picture was taken twelve years ago in Maine.” He smiled. “I was twenty-six. It seems a lifetime ago.”
    He ran his fingers through his hair and then pinched the bridge of his nose. “We were married in Hawaii, on the beach. I met her in college and proposed to her the next week. She
     
     
    didn’t take me seriously at first, but eventually she gave
into my charm.”
    The heat in the stairwell rose and she wanted to lash out. Most men would at least have tried to soften the blow. No, Gabe Maguire was going to stand before her starry eyed, looking down at the