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“Then we’ll move to the bed. That won’t be weird at all.” As if he read my mind again about the bed, and even from here I can see the mischief and heat in his eyes.
He disappears into a room just behind him and I decide that I’m going to fall, and fall hard, for this man if I’m not careful. And the thing is that he could hurt me, he could, but I could hurt him, too, and not emotionally. Not even by way of my own desires. It’s time we talk,reallytalk. I tell myself to get up and get dressed, but I don’t. I hold that blanket around me and stare at the railing I’d held onto when Gabe’s mouth had been on the most intimate parts of me and I just can’t seem to move. That’s when my cellphone starts to ring.
I search for it and find my briefcase, which is somehow on the floor not far from my feet where I assume Gabe set it earlier. I really don’t remember. My phone is just inside the pocket and I find my mother’s number. I hit decline and text her:Sorry. I know I was going to try to make dinner, but I’m working late.
It’s not a lie. I did work late and I’m about to talk to Gabe about our problems. My mother replies with:Gabbie gabe birth! Three gorgeous golden boys. No girls! You know how Gabbie hates girls.
I laugh, especially since she accidentally typedgabeand I reply with:Yes she does. I might not make it by to see them but send pictures!
“More laughter,” Gabe says from behind me. “And I wasn’t even in the room.”
I twist around to eye Gabe, noting his low-slung sweats, but he’s still naked from the waist up, that lion tattoo majestic on his broad shoulder. “My mother sent me a text,” I explain. “She’s a vet and one of her patients gave birth.”
He sits down next to me. “Gabbie,” I say, which is kind of funny because you’re Gabe, and she typed this.” I show him the messages and now he laughs.
“Gabbie,” he says. “And she hates females. The name sounds a bit symbolic of something, but I’m not sure what. And for the record, I definitely do not hate any female of any species.”
“Nofemale?” I challenge.
“Dislike a few,” he concedes, “but I hate with caution. A lesson I learned a long time ago.”
He hates with caution while my ex hates with ease. The man even hates me and he married me. Gabe indicates the T-shirt in his hand. “I thought you’d look exceptionally good in this.” He drops down to his knee in front of me. “If you don’t mind wearing my T-shirt, that is.”
The air shifts around us, and it’s like the world drops away. There is just me and this man in this room, in this world, on top of that dark ocean. Something is happening between us and it is wild, warm and wonderful in a way I have never known, in a way I can’t stop it from happening, and I don’t want to stop it. I don’t want everything else in my life to destroy this or him. I want toknow this man. “Drop the blanket, Abbie,” he urges softly, using that name again, his voice warming.
I drop the blanket and his gaze rakes over my naked breasts, a hungry look on his face that has me clenching my thighs together. “You’re definitely trying to undo me,” he declares, his gaze lifting to mine, his voice all rough. “I’m going to leave the pizza at the door if you don’t put this on now.” He slides the T-shirt over my head and I poke my arms through the holes.
“You look like you’re ready for my favorite pizza now.”
“Considering I can really put down some pizza, you might have under-ordered,” I joke.
He moves to the coffee table and sits down in front of me. “Is that right?”
“It is. Pizza is my ultimate sin.”
“I’ll fix that soon, I promise.” His hands come down on my knees. “I have a list of sins you can commit that don’t include pizza, but they do include me. We’ll start working our way down it.”
I’m warm. I’m so very warm all over but I’m also worried. “You may not want to go down that list with me. I told you, Gabe. I’m trouble.”
“Because of Jean Claude.”
“Because of Jean Claude and my ex.”
“Who’s your ex?”
“Kenneth Lincoln. My ex is Kenneth Lincoln.”
He arches a brow. “As in the billionaire, Kenneth Lincoln of Lincoln Gas and Oil?”
“Yes. That’s him. And all of his money with that of Jean Claude’s can destroy. It can destroy you. It can destroy your brother.”
“And yet you wanted to hire my brother?”
“I didn’t know you then. I do now. And now that I do, I just need a recommendation. Someone who wants to fight JeanClaude or Kenneth or both, and win just to say they did it. Just for the credibility winning gives them. I need someone that isn’t you or your brother. And then I need to walk away after tonight.”
He studies me, his stare probing. “Why would you walk away if we weren’t representing you?”
“Because any man that gets close to me that has the ability to hurt Kenneth or Jean Claude will be a target. I’m not going to make you a target. I’m not going to be on the short list of females you hate.” I pull the T-shirt off. “So maybe we should just forget the pizza because I can’t stay long. I have to leave.”
