Rock Kiss 02 Rock Hard(82)
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?”
“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.”