No more. No more.
GABRIEL GOT A CALL from Charlotte while he was shaving after his post-run shower.
“I’ll be late,” she said.
“Why?”
“I’m sleepy.”
A ringtone buzzed in his ear a second later. He thought about calling her back, but she had sounded adorably sleepy, so he let it go. It wasn’t as if Charlotte had ever taken a sick day. She didn’t today either, coming in at eleven.
“Damn it, Charlotte!” he yelled when he saw her. “Where the hell do you keep the Paxton files?”
“Right here.” Putting down her fancy coffee but not sitting, she bent to her computer and e-mailed the file to him. “I’ve sent it to your tablet.”
He put his hands on her hips and tugged her close. She was wearing a dark pink dress with a square neckline and tailored lines, her hair in a prim bun; she looked so neat and tidy that he just wanted to mess her up. Restraining the urge, he nibbled at her throat instead.
She pushed gently at his shoulder even as her pulse thudded against her skin. “Not here,” she murmured but pressed a quick kiss to his jaw before stepping back.
He released her, his entire body reluctant, but his mind reminding him of where they were. “Yeah. I have a conference call in two minutes.”
It was hours later that he finally took a breath, to find Charlotte standing in his office doorway, frowning at him. “Did you come back to work after leaving me last night?”
“Yes.”
Her frown deepened. “And you’d just got back from your run when I called you this morning?”
“Your point, Ms. Baird?”
“You can’t have had more than four or five hours of sleep at most. You need to break for lunch at least.”
“No time.” Having already folded up his sleeves, he now tugged off his tie. “Can you order me something?”
She didn’t move. “This is not healthy.”
“Just order the damn meal, Charlotte.”
She did and, to his surprise, wasn’t mad at him for snapping at her. When he pointed that out, she rolled her eyes.
“I’ve been working with you for months, remember?”
However, the next time she told him to stop working, there was definite temper in her eyes.
“Enough, Gabriel,” she said. “You’ve been working nonstop since before I came in. That’s not good for you.”
“I’m a big boy.” Scrawling his name on a contract, he held it out. “Make sure that gets in the morning mail.”
“Sure.”
“Thanks,” he said absently, trusting Charlotte to get things done.
Looking up some time later, he said, “Charlotte?”
No response.
Figuring she must’ve gone to grab a cup of coffee or something, he waited, but there was still no sound from the front office. He finally stood and went out to see what was up—and found her computer shut down, her desk tidied up as she always did when she left for home.
He scowled, looked for a note. That was when his eye fell on the time displayed on her office phone: 9:47 PM.
“Shit!” No wonder she’d been so pissed.
Hauling ass, he shut down his own computer while calling Charlotte’s cell. He half expected it to go to voice mail, but she picked up.
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, figuring he might as well get that out of the way. “I’ll be there soon.”
“Don’t bother. I already had dinner, and I’m about to read my book.”
He winced. “Charlotte.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Click.
Not about to give up, he headed out. By the time he reached her town house, it was a quarter after ten, but her lights were on. He pressed the doorbell, got no response. Okay, yeah, she was pissed.
He took out his phone, decided to send her a text message rather than calling.
It’s cold outside.
The response was sharp: I’m sure your car is warm.
What if I say sorry again?
The door opened a minute later, and at first, he thought he was in. Then he saw her face. “Hey,” he said, reaching out to cup her cheek and jaw.
Turning into his touch, she pressed her lips to his palm but didn’t unfold her arms. “I don’t want sorry, Gabriel. I just want you to take care of yourself.”
“That’s what I have you for.” He kissed her, taking the chance that she wouldn’t push him away.
She didn’t, the kiss red-hot.
Pressing her hand to his chest even as she softened against him, she said, “You need to get some rest.”
“I’m starving.” He deepened the kiss, made sure she understood his hunger had nothing to do with food, his tongue stroking aggressively against hers.