Rock Hard (Rock Kiss #2)(72)

“It’s not my apartment.”

“Gabriel.”

Brows drawing heavily together, he folded his arms. “Why are you wasting your money? I’m offering you free room and board and as much sex as you can handle.”

“Hush!” She looked over her shoulder, but their host had the radio on in the kitchen nook and wasn’t paying them any attention. “I’m taking the apartment.”

“You’ll ride to work and back with me.”

“We can negotiate that.” Charlotte folded her own arms. “Since I don’t intend to turn into a workaholic who comes home at eleven every night.”

That made him growl. “You used to be so compliant. What happened?”

“You did,” she whispered, astonished by him all over again. “Come to dinner at my place?” She was finding it harder and harder to say good-bye to him.





28


IN WHICH GABRIEL PROPOSES KITCHEN—CHAIR SEX





LEAVING GABRIEL GOING OVER a contract at her kitchen table, Charlotte disappeared into her bedroom to change. Once there, she couldn’t figure out what to wear, finally just grabbing a pretty dress with a blue forget-me-not print against white that she’d bought several weeks earlier. It wasn’t right for work, but casual enough for home with its square neck and lack of sleeves. Slipping her feet into fluffy yellow slippers she’d bought the same day she’d bought the purple “monster claw” ones for Molly, she was about to step out into the corridor when she realized her footwear wasn’t exactly sexy. “Stop obsessing, Charlotte.”

With that, she made her way to the kitchen to find Gabriel had spread work all over the table, his cell phone at his ear. As he spoke, she deduced the person at the other end of the line was the head of an international cosmetics brand Gabriel had convinced to be exclusive to Saxon & Archer in Australasia. The deal was a coup for the company, but it was sucking a lot of Gabriel’s energy since the head of the cosmetics firm insisted on dealing directly with him rather than with Saxon & Archer’s head of merchandising.

Biting back a laugh when Gabriel smoothly negotiated a clause favorable to Saxon & Archer, she went and chopped up two apples into four slices each and placed them in front of him along with a glass of milk. He hadn’t eaten since lunch, and she knew how much energy he burned.

Winking at her? he picked up a slice as he continued his conversation.

Wanting a quick but different meal, she put on some rice using the fuss-free cooker she and Molly had discovered in university, then pulled out a package of jumbo shrimp, and some fresh vegetables for a stir-fry. A hint of ginger, a dash of soy sauce, maybe a bit of spring onion, and it would be a delicious meal. She could also add in cashews for crunch.

“You really love cooking.”

Looking over her shoulder to see that Gabriel had eaten most of the first apple, she smiled. “I do.” Then, for the first time since Richard’s attack, she brought it up while in this room. “I lost that love for two years after the attack. I managed to make myself come into the kitchen, put together basic meals, but I couldn’t recapture the joy.”

Gabriel’s eyes iced over, but he didn’t interrupt.

Having prepped everything for the stir-fry she’d make as the rice finished cooking, she began to put together a bowl of grapes and berries for dessert. “Then I had a really bad day at work. Anya,” she said with a shrug. “She was being a snot. I was so mad I had to get it out, so I came in here and started baking.” It had felt so good, so cathartic to be in here, doing what she loved, that the fear had been crushed under the sheer weight of it.

“You have Anya to thank for your breakthrough?”

Charlotte felt her shoulders shake. “God, yes.” Apparently all that aggravation had been worth it. “Every time I cook now, I feel like I’ve reclaimed another tiny part of myself.”

Biting into another segment of apple, Gabriel said, “You ever thought about doing it professionally?”

“No—it’s my outlet. I don’t want it to be my job.” And it wasn’t as if being a chef was a low-stress occupation.

Gabriel nodded slowly. “I get that.”

“I’ve been thinking,” she said, “about going back to uni part-time and completing the extra papers I need to get a full degree.” Not in any state to return to university after she came out of hospital, she’d nonetheless earned a diploma through correspondence courses. It had been enough to land her the job at Saxon & Archer. However working for Gabriel required far more intellectual rigor than her previous position, and she wanted to be able to keep up. “Do you think I should?”

“There’re a couple of courses at the business school you might want to check out.”

His phone rang before he could continue.

“Go on,” she said when he didn’t answer. “I have to make the stir-fry anyway.” Hearing his voice as she worked, having his presence in the house, it felt really good. Growing up, she’d always dreamed of having a family—part of her had felt guilty for harboring such an old-fashioned dream, but that hadn’t changed how she felt.

Living alone had been important for her self-confidence, but it wasn’t her natural inclination. On the other hand, she didn’t just want roommates; she wanted people who were her own, people she loved.