Page 46 of Out of the Shadows
The thought had him tensing.
With her arms still around his waist, she glanced up, resting her chin on his chest. “You okay?”
He was certain she could hear the beating of his racing heart. “Yeah.”Shit. That sounded more like a croak than an actual word. He cleared his throat and loosened his arms but kept them looped around her. He motioned to the door with his head. “I have some calls I should probably go make.”
She stepped away, but not before giving his chest a pat.
Wait, was that a friendly pat? Or something else?Fuck. He needed to get out of here.
It looked like she was trying not to smile, but he couldn’t be sure. Hell, he wasn’t sure of anything right now. One breath of this woman’s intoxicating scent had obliterated every coherent thought in his brain.
Clearing his throat yet again, Gavin gave her a chin lift and made his way to her door. As he opened it, he peeked back at her. Yup, there was definite humor in her gaze. Fuck if he knew if that was a good thing or a bad thing at this point. “Come find me before you take off today, okay?”
Before she could answer, he turned and quietly shut the door behind him. Glancing around, he was grateful that no one seemed to be paying any attention to him. He scrubbed his hands over his face, biting back a groan.
Smooth, Frazier.
Real. Fucking. Smooth.
CHAPTER TWENTY
After Gavin left Bean’s office, he immediately went to the gym. He cringed at recalling how damn awkward he’d been as he’d scurried out of her office like a terrified schoolboy standing in front of his crush. There was nothing like pounding on a heavy bag to make the mortification go away.
Or so he thought.
Twenty minutes of bag work did nothing to clear his head, so he laced up his running shoes and spent an hour sprinting through the trails of Jackson Cove State Park that abutted the Hudson Security property. Since it had taken all his focus to not face-plant on the trails, his mind was a little clearer now, and that antsy feeling had been replaced with exhaustion. However, he was no closer to figuring out what he was going to do with these newfound... feelings.
Damn. Feelings were something he’d purposely avoided for the last decade.
He quickly showered at the gym and headed back to his office. Now that he was spent, he could lose himself in work. Not exactly the healthiest way to handle things, but it waswhat he did. And so what if he harbored hope of seeing Bean again today?
He frowned as he strode into his office. “Fucking pathetic,” he muttered.
“Who’s pathetic?”
The voice had him startling.
Gavin’s frown deepened. His situational awareness was fucked. He’d like to blame it on exhaustion but knew that would be a lie. As he’d walked through the office, he’d been trying to slyly look for Bean, oblivious to everything else.Fucking hell.
Flopping down into his office chair, he lifted his chin at Xander, who stood in his doorway. “Don’t worry about it. What’s up?”
“Just wanted to check in.” Xander pointed to the chair on the opposite side of Gavin’s desk with a questioning look.
“Of course,” Gavin said as Xander closed the door behind him. “Everything okay?”
“I checked in with all the teams today and all is well. Nothing exciting to report, which is good.”
When Xander didn’t say anything else, Gavin waved his hand in a circular motion. “And?”
“And I got a call from TJ at the gym. He’s concerned.”
TJ was one of the head trainers at the De La Rosa Gym. Nice guy, excellent striking coach, and a badass Muay Thai specialist.
“About what?” His eyes narrowed in confusion when Xander looked at him in disbelief. “Seriously, what’s he concerned about?”
Xander shook his head. “You, fucker.”
“What?” No way had he heard that right.
