Between the CEO's Sheets / House Calls: Between the CEO's Sheets / House Calls. Michelle Celmer

filled her in on his life from the time he left El Paso to the present. Of course, she was certain that he’d left out choice bits about his love life and he’d skirted the issue about their onetime hot and steamy relationship.

      If he’d wanted her to relax, he’d succeeded. The two empty piña colada glasses in front of her might have had something do with it as well, but Gina wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

      “So what about you? What did you do once you landed in Los Angeles?” he asked, his tone light, his eyes holding nothing but curiosity.

      Gina had always wanted Wade to understand what her life had been like before and after she met him. There had been so many things left unsaid. Perhaps now was the time, after all this time, to come clean, at least partly. She’d always wanted Wade’s trust and maybe this was the first step in gaining it back.

      “I’d always liked Los Angeles. Sarah and I roomed at UCLA for four years together. We were girls from two different worlds. Though I was raised in Austin, my parents were city folks. They owned a small Italian restaurant. My mother was a terrific cook.”

      “As I recall, so were you.”

      “Thank you. It was a family-run operation. I worked there until I left for college.”

      “And after college, when you left El Paso, what did you do?”

      Gina peered at Wade. He’d just polished off a sandwich and was working on the fries and his second beer. Because she didn’t find any sign of resentment, any hint of a trap, she continued. “I looked for work and did some odd jobs here and there. Nothing too stimulating, but all the while I’d been working on clothing designs. That’s when I realized I’d probably wasted four years of my life in college. I should have been following my heart. I entered the Fashion Institute and loved every minute of it. When I got out, I ventured into my own business. Or at least, I tried.”

      “What do you mean, you tried?” Wade asked. “What happened?” He plucked another fry up and shoved it into his mouth.

      Gina took a deep breath and surged on. “I didn’t have any money, so I took on a partner. A man. He seemed to have more business sense than me, some really good ideas. We took out loan after loan to fund our venture. I…trusted him.”

      Wade took a pull from his beer. “Mistake?”

      “Big, big—huge—mistake.”

      Wade set his beer down and leaned in, his elbows braced on the table now. “I’m listening.”

      “He stole my designs and every bit of money we’d borrowed. I have no idea where he is or what happened to him.”

      Wade studied her a moment as if sorting something out in his mind. “Were you involved with him?”

      Gina paused, hating to admit this to Wade. She’d been such a fool. “Yes. He was charming and so easy to be with…a charming con man.”

      Wade sat back in his seat, looking at her. “I get it now. Why you took the job working for me.”

      “I’m in debt, Wade. I owe a lot of people a lot of money.”

      “You shouldn’t have to pay it all back.”

      Gina bit her lip, and swallowed. “Some of the loans were in my name only—a good many of them.”

      Wade nodded and had her gratitude for not telling her what a gullible fool she’d been.