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“Isn’t that out of your way?”
“It’s a little past where I live, but not far. It won’t be any inconvenience.”
For once, Rowan gave in, and soon they were in the back seat of his car and on the road.
“I didn’t realize you use a driver. Well, I mean, I saw him earlier, but I thought you drove that fancy sports car to work.”
She’d seen him in his car. Interesting. “I don’t often have David drive me to work. Today, I had business to get a handle on before I arrived at the office. In those situations, he drives me in so I can work.”
“Oh.”
“Do you want me to have David deliver your car to you?”
“No. It’s safe enough there, and I can catch Muni in to grab it in the morning.”
Mass transit? Gerard damn near shuddered.
Their drive to her condo was pretty much quiet. She watched the scenery pass by, her chin in her hand again as she leaned on the armrest and stared out into the darkness.
He watched his own brand of scenery—Rowan. He’d never felt this drawn to a woman. He wanted her. In his life and in his bed. A very foreign feeling for him. Sex had always been for the sake of sex, nothing else. The women in his life never wanted for anything between the sheets. He made certain of that. He didn’t do emotion. Especially not when it came to sex. That only led to complications. She’d been right to focus their relationship on work. He didn’t have the time or the patience to coddle a relationship of any sort, and something told him she wasn’t the one-night-stand kind of woman.
Yep. Getting figuratively screwed was his new mantra.
David pulled up to an older Victorian building—painted bright blue—in the heart of Haight-Ashbury. It stood out, not his cup of tea, though the place suited her. Eclectic and full of nooks and crannies.
Rowan reached for the door handle. He stilled her with a hand to her arm. “Let me.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it, nodding.
That was, what, twice tonight he’d won? Telling David he’d get the door, Gerard chuckled as he exited the car, walked around, and opened her door.
“Thank you. I think we got a lot accomplished this evening.”
“I’ll walk you to your door.”
She bit her lip. “Mr.—Gerard, this isn’t a date. You’re my boss. I can see myself inside.”
“All the same,” he answered, holding out his arm for her to proceed.
If her clipped steps were any indication, she wasn’t happy about this. Tough. At the secure front door to the building—something he was glad to see—she turned to him. “Thank you again. I think we’re ready to dive into the particulars.”
He took her hand, watching as her eyes widened and darkened. They stood there, silent and unmoving, for a long moment. Realizing he still held her hand, Gerard released it, unable to resist stroking the underside of her wrist with his index finger. Her heart was beating fast. Like his. “I’ll see you in the conference room at 8 a.m. sharp.”
She opened her mouth, then shut it without a word.
Nodding a goodbye, he headed back to his car, though he wanted nothing more than to follow her inside. To see what her apartment looked like, what her tastes were. To taste her…
As he rounded the car to open his back door, he glanced up to see her standing where he’d left her, so he leaned on the roof of the car, waiting. Finally, with a small wave, she went inside. He didn’t get in until the door closed behind her. When he did, he caught the slightest hint of her perfume on his finger. Light and airy, like sunshine. Drawing in a deep breath, he reached for the perspective that had never failed him. Until now.
The rest of his ride home went by without him noticing. He was too busy replaying the night, wondering when he’d lost his fight to maintain decorum and keep things on the up and up. He could not have her. He could not sleep with her, and he had no right to know her secrets, though he could use recent downturns in Barrett’s financial outlook as a valid reason to question her. Maybe he should vet all of his employees again, starting with Rowan.
Rowan couldn’t be involved in the issues the company was having, if for no other reason than she’d come aboard after they started. It couldn’t be her.
At home, Gerard thanked David and got out, heading inside the quiet, cavernous condo that had been his sanctuary up until now. Tonight it seemed too quiet, too sedate, too—not her.
Chapter Nine
If one more person interrupted them, Gerard would fire them before they got the door even one quarter open. Bright and early the next morning, he and Rowan met in the conference room and attacked the proposal, running reports, estimating as best they could from publicly available information. They’d made some inroads but still had a lot to do. This proposal would be the biggest and most in-depth of Barrett Investment’s existence. Scott was international and had employees in almost all the world’s financial, industrial, and tech meccas. This bid was important enough that he’d called Brody to say he wouldn’t be there for their monthly poker night. A first for him. He had to get this done ASAP and done right.
