She still had hours yet, and she’d already committed to memory every single detail Gabe had given her on the people they were meeting. Ironically, of the three who were expected to be the top bidders for the construction of the new Paris hotel, only one was French. Stéphane Bargeron was a wealthy French developer who was renowned in Europe. The other two, Charles Willis and Tyson “Tex” Cartwright, were American developers with European presences.
Charles was younger, handsome. Maybe Gabe’s age or a little older. He’d inherited the business from his father when the older Willis had passed away, and he was struggling to build his own reputation. He was hungry, and Gabe fully expected him to submit a very competitive bid. He needed this project. It would boost his standing and enable him to land other lucrative jobs.
Tyson Cartwright was a Texas billionaire in his forties, and he’d built his company the old-fashioned way. From the ground up. His story was impressive. Mia had read up extensively on him, and he’d been on his own working his ass off since he was in his teens. By his early twenties, he already owned a small construction company in East Texas and he’d only expanded from there. His was truly an American success story. Hard work. Resolve. Success.
Stéphane Bargeron she knew less about, simply because his was a family business that many Bargerons were involved with. He was the guy sent in to do the ass kissing while his father and brothers did most of the hard work. He was the polish and they were the brains.
All three would be back in Gabe’s suite for drinks after tonight’s dinner. She wasn’t sure in what capacity she was supposed to act, but looking at four really good-looking men couldn’t be that much of a hardship, right?
She knew what she needed to know, so she wasn’t going to drag out her laptop and rehash it all.
Not when a perfectly good nap awaited.
chapter twenty-nine
Gabe watched as Mia charmed the group of men over dinner. She smiled, chatted and conversed with ease, and she had every single one of them under her spell.
The question was, did she have him under it as well?
Lisa’s question echoed over and over in his mind.
Are you in love with her?
He couldn’t quite explain the anger or the helplessness he felt over such a question. He’d brooded the entire day, in turns angry and frustrated over his inability to put distance between himself and Mia.
It infuriated him that he hadn’t been able to immediately refute Lisa’s angry question.
He’d thought to end their agreement right then and there, walk away, terminate her employment with him. But he hadn’t been able to, and that made him only feel more helpless. He needed her. God help him, he needed her.
His gaze drifted over the potential bidders—men who would be coming to his suite later. They obviously lusted after Mia—what red-blooded, heterosexual man wouldn’t? It made Gabe want to grit his teeth, but he choked the urge away and instead embraced the opportunity for what it was.
A chance to prove to himself that his obsession with Mia wasn’t unbreakable. That he didn’t love her. Didn’t need her.
Such a thing was provided for in their contract, though he’d never thought to actually hand her over to another man before now. The very idea sent rage and fierce jealousy surging through his mind. It did so now. But she’d expressed curiosity over the idea. He knew she wasn’t adamantly opposed. And it was certainly something he’d done in the past.
He could do this.
He would do this.
He only hoped to hell he survived it and it didn’t destroy him—or her—in the process.
• • •
Gabe’s mood had shifted from brooding and pissed off to…She wasn’t sure what his mood was exactly. It worried her because now he stared at her, when before he hadn’t looked much at her at all. And that stare was something new, as if he were looking at her in a whole different light. Like his expectations had taken a dramatic shift, only she had no idea what those expectations were.
Where before she’d embraced the silence between them, not wanting to delve into the reason behind his moodiness, now it made her distinctly uncomfortable. She wanted something from him. Some kind of reassurance, though why, she wasn’t certain.
They rode back to the hotel, the tension welling until she nearly choked with it. She wanted to ask him, wanted to question him, but there was something in his steady gaze that made her fear what she would learn.
As soon as they were inside the suite, Gabe closed the door and focused that glittering gaze on her. He bristled with dominance where before he’d always demonstrated patience and tenderness with her.