Rock Hard (Rock Kiss #2)(71)

Opening the door to see that Charlotte had returned to her desk, he smiled. “What’s on the schedule, Ms. Baird?”

Her nape flushed before she turned slightly in her chair to narrow her eyes at him. He felt his smile deepen.

“Can you fit in a meeting with Geoff before your conference call?” she asked, her lips tugging up at the corners. “He says he only needs ten minutes.”

“Send him in.”

The ensuing workday was a merciless one. He broke for only a half hour, and that was to spend time on the phone with the principal of the school where he volunteered as the coach for the school’s top rugby team—their first XV. One of his players had been caught with weed and the principal wanted to know if Gabriel would back him on a suspension from play as well as school.

“Yes,” Gabriel said without hesitation. “Team’s got a strict no-drugs policy.” He then tore a strip off the player himself; the kid was an amazing fullback, might go all the way, but not if he f*cked up.

He hung up after getting a genuinely contrite, “I’m sorry, Coach. I messed up.” The boy was now aware that as a result of his error, his team might well lose its upcoming match against their greatest rivals; that knowledge would work more effectively as a deterrent than anything else.

Other than that interruption, the day involved challenge after challenge—exactly what Gabriel liked in business. Charlotte called in lunch that they both ate at their desks, then kept going. He would’ve pushed on if she hadn’t booked a seven-o’clock appointment to view the sublet. Since there was no way he was about to let her do that alone, they headed out.

His building wasn’t far from the office, and with rush hour having eased, it took them under ten minutes to make it there. Bringing the SUV to a stop in his parking space in the underground garage, he stepped out. Charlotte was already opening her door by the time he came around.

Putting his hands on her waist, he lifted her out. “Do you realize we haven’t said a single word to each other since we got in the elevator at work?”

Wrinkles formed between her eyebrows. “No, that’s wrong… isn’t it?” She tilted her head a little to the side. “It didn’t feel like it.”

“No, it didn’t.” He cupped her face, brushed back a strand of hair. “Ready to see the apartment?”

Charlotte’s hand landed on his shirt. “What happened to your tie?” A scowl. “Wait, let me grab your jacket from the back.”

Laughing, he drew her to the elevators. “Trust me. The owner’s not going to care if I’m not professionally dressed.” Not when Gabriel owned over a quarter of the apartments in the building. Unfortunately, that didn’t include the sublet.

“At least roll down your sleeves.”

“You’re adorable when you scowl like that.”

Expression darkening as they entered the elevator, she reached up and fixed his collar, then smoothed her hands down his chest in a petting, possessive move that made him want to stretch out and ask her to do it all over his body. When she said, “Bend down,” he did so without complaining.

Slender fingers brushing through his hair. “There,” she said, just as the elevator doors opened on the fourth floor.

He followed her out, delighted with her. He wasn’t, however, taking anything for granted; after today’s panic attack, he knew Charlotte herself didn’t know when she might react negatively to something he said or did. The seeds of terror were hidden within her, could burst open at any time. But then he thought about how she’d quivered big-eyed at him during their first-ever dinner.

That mouse wouldn’t have sat on his lap, wouldn’t have ordered him to bend down so she could fix his hair, wouldn’t have slipped her hand into his and curled her fingers over his palm.

Gabriel could be patient when the rewards were so great.

“Here, this one.” Stopping in front of a door in the middle of the corridor, Charlotte knocked.

It opened seconds later, the middle-aged woman inside inviting them in. Turned out the apartment belonged to her daughter. “She got a temporary transfer to Dubai,” the woman told them with a beaming smile. “The rules say she can do a sublet, so she might as well. It’s only for six months though.”

“That’s perfect,” Charlotte said, because no matter what, she wasn’t about to live her life looking over her shoulder. The best-case scenario was that Richard had forgotten her. If he hadn’t, then she’d work with Gabriel and the police to put him back in jail, this time for so long that he’d be an old man when he came back out.

“Gabriel?” she said, glancing around to see that he’d prowled to the windows. “What do you think?”

The owner’s mother patted her hand. “I’ll go make some coffee while you and your handsome husband discuss it.”

“Yes,” Gabriel said with a glint in his eye. “Come here, wife.”

Flutters in her abdomen at his teasing, she waited until their host had left before saying, “So?”

“Pros—it’s not ground level, and fourth floor is high enough that no one’s going to be climbing up. Fire stairs are internal. Windows don’t open and the door has solid locks.”

“I’d get them changed,” Charlotte said, knowing she’d feel better that way. “I’m sure the owner wouldn’t mind if I get the same kind or a more secure model.” Since Gabriel still looked grim, she said, “Cons?”