He scanned the text, but she could tell he didn’t need the confirmation. The deal was done two minutes later, and Gabriel hung up with a smile. “Well, that went better than expected.”
Charlotte laughed. “You got everything you wanted.”
Eyes lingering on her face, he grinned. “Yes, I wasn’t expecting total capitulation.” He slid away his phone. “It seems I’ve kept you late for no reason.”
“It’s all right. You couldn’t have known they’d roll over.” Tonight’s overtime had been a real request. “I’ll call a car.”
Gabriel shook his head. “I’ll drop you home.”
It was the first time he’d made the offer. Every other time, he’d escorted her to the executive cab, then called to make sure she was safely home. Swallowing, she said, “No. You live in the city.” Only a few minutes away. “It’ll be an extra drive for you.”
“I could do with a drive after revving up for a negotiation that turned into a cakewalk.” Rising, he took her ice cream container and threw it into the trash along with his. “Come on, Ms. Baird. I promised early on that I wouldn’t bite.” A slow smile. “Unless you make the request, of course.”
11
LIONS, GAZELLES, AND BESPECTACLED MICE
CHEEKS BURNING, CHARLOTTE GOT up and walked out ahead of Gabriel, able to feel him behind her every inch of the way. It was probably what a gazelle felt like when she had a lion on her tail. A big, good-looking lion who’d almost convinced the gazelle he was harmless… right before the glint in his eye reminded her he had very sharp teeth.
“Your coat in the closet?” the lion asked.
Charlotte nodded, realizing she was mixing far too many metaphors where Gabriel was concerned. Nerves did that to her. Next thing you know, she’d be imagining a bespectacled mouse quivering in mingled terror and anticipation as it sat at a dinner table with a lion who looked ravenous. And suddenly the mouse was a woman who looked an awful lot like her, and the lion was a shirtless man with water running down the chiseled planes of his chest.
Thank God they’d reached the closet.
Built into the wall, it didn’t break the clean lines of the outer office, and she made sure not to leave her things lying around. It was something she’d learned from her predecessor. All her other faults aside, Anya had known how to look like the perfect PA.
Big hands reached past her for her coat, Gabriel’s warm, masculine scent seeping into her pores to make her already racing heart stutter, her breath catch, and her thighs clench. Her body didn’t seem to have received the memo that she wasn’t interested in sex with a T-Rex. Probably because she kept fantasizing about all kinds of things that could lead to nakedness with said T-Rex.
“Here.” He shook her coat open and held it out.
No man had ever held out her coat. What was she supposed to do with her arms? Moving slowly, she raised one arm then the other… and he slipped it on as effortlessly as if he did this every day for her, his fingers brushing her shoulders before he reached into the closet for his own coat. She’d hunted it up earlier that day, along with his suit jacket. Whichever suit he wore, the jacket never stayed on during the day, but he needed it unwrinkled for meetings.
Leaving the jacket in there, he shrugged into his coat as she picked up her purse. She wasn’t surprised when he walked into his office and returned with a black briefcase—Charlotte wasn’t sure the man ever stopped working. Except, of course, when he took home the women who received red roses the next day.
Hand tightening on the strap of her handbag, she nodded when he said, “Ready?”
The elevator felt tiny with him in it, his sheer presence taking it over. She wasn’t sure she’d survive the drive to her house—she’d been in the car with him before, but tonight, with the night enclosing them in a dark cocoon, everything felt different, felt strangely intimate.
Red-rose women, she reminded herself before she could get too stupid. Unless you plan to grow a foot and magically sprout bigger breasts, there’s zero risk of him actually having any interest in you.
The thought made her eyes narrow as they stepped out into the cavernous underground garage and Gabriel led her to the gleaming black all-wheel drive parked in the CEO’s spot. A crouching beast of an SUV that meant Charlotte always had to use the step at the side to get into the passenger seat, it wasn’t the usual CEO-type car, but he probably wasn’t comfortable in a smaller car. This one suited him.
It probably suited his leggy dates as well.
Stop it, Charlotte, she ordered herself.
“Ms. Baird.” A penetrating glance as he unlocked the car with a remote and opened the passenger-side door. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” She gasped as he gripped her by the waist and hitched her into her seat.
“You sure?” he asked, hands still on her and expression incisive.
She nodded, sucking in a rushed breath when he finally released her and shut the door. Then he was in the driver’s seat, handling the large vehicle with ease as they left the garage. Using the controls on the steering wheel, he turned on the radio, jazz pouring out of the speakers at a soft volume. “You okay with jazz?”
“I haven’t listened to it much,” she admitted, “but I like this sound.” Smoky and sensual and slightly cynical.
“There’s a small club up north that has the occasional jazz musician play a live set,” he told her, turning left to go up a hilly street. “I’ll take you sometime.”