AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I suppose I can always email you.’
‘Or you could just shout...’
The evening sun slanted through the windows, caressing her cheek as she flipped through the typed sheets. Gabriel’s notes were detailed and thorough, and Clara wondered where he’d found the time to write them.
‘This all looks good.’ She paused, frowning slightly. ‘There aren’t any surprises, are there? Fireworks at midnight, or a champagne fountain in the garden?’
‘No surprises. I wouldn’t waste good champagne by putting it into a fountain, and tomorrow is going to be all about entertaining company and convivial surroundings. Why gild the lily?’
‘All right. I’ll leave the lilies to you. I’d like you to answer one thing, though.’
‘Just one? Of course.’
Clara thought for a moment. She needed to choose her words carefully. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way but my impression is that you’re pretty used to pushing things to the limit.’
He gave her a searching look. ‘You’re concerned that tomorrow evening is all about showing the people who are attacking my family that I won’t back down? That’s exactly what I want to do, but I would never put others at risk for my own gratification. Tomorrow evening will have no surprises. I’ll work with you to keep things safe.’
‘Thank you, Gabriel. That’s all I wanted to know.’
‘May I ask you a question in return?’
‘That’s only fair.’ Up here, away from the cameras and the night guards, it felt almost as if they were in a bubble together. Almost as if the usual boundaries didn’t exist.
‘If something were to happen... If there’s ever a physical confrontation...’
‘If that happens, the first choice is always to secure your safety and make a retreat. As quickly as possible.’
‘What about you? Who looks after your safety, and that of the team?’
Clara met his puzzled frown with a smile. Clients were usually too concerned about their own safety to consider the members of the team.
‘You don’t need to worry about us, we’re all trained in self-defence.’
‘But...’ Gabriel was clearly still turning the matter over in his head.
‘But what?’
He grinned suddenly. ‘Could you bring me to my knees? For instance...’
Gabriel was playing, but only he would play this way. He was assessing the new normal, pushing its boundaries and finding its limits. That was what he did, and Clara suspected it was one of the things that made him very good at his job.
‘You want to find out?’ Clara stood up, trying to ignore the inappropriate tingle that ran down her spine.
‘Now?’
‘The first lesson of self-defence is that people don’t usually wait for you to change into your gym clothes before they attack you. I can do it in a dress. Or is that just an excuse?’
He got to his feet slowly. ‘Go ahead, then.’
‘Well, you have to grab me first.’
He raised his eyebrows. Clearly grabbing women wasn’t something he did all that often, and Clara could only like that about him.
‘Go on. Grab me.’
He reached out, gently closing his fingers around her wrist. That would barely have restrained a fly. If you left out the part about his touch. His subtle scent, and the way she wanted to find out if his skin was as smooth as it looked. Gabriel had weapons of his own, and it was always unwise to underestimate an opponent. But she could handle it.
‘You’re not all that good at grabbing, are you?’
