"Yeah." He opened her door and helped her into the monstrously high seat without asking. Which she appreciated because she hated needing help.
As he handed her up, she pretended she didn't notice that his fingers brushed her thigh and hung around a little longer than was absolutely necessary. Just like she was pretending she wasn't remembering what had happened a few minutes ago. But noticing was a little hard to stop once she'd opened that Pandora's box.
When he slid into his own seat, he glanced at her. "Would you have rather I corrected you? I can run up to the window of Mark and Laurie's Lexus and let them know it really is a date. I'm sure the company grapevine would catch fire as quickly as that news would travel."
"I get the point."
"Thank you, Gage," he mimicked in a high voice. "You're the best, Gage. Your quick thinking saved me, Gage."
A spurt of laughter burst out through her clamped lips. How dare he make her have a good time? He was not allowed to be funny and charming. And sexy. Or such a good kisser. There should be a law.
How in the world did Gage get her to have fun on this date that wasn't a date?
She sobered and crossed her arms. "It wasn't a terrible cover. Now you can come by in the morning to continue digging into the leak. The other girls know you were my mentor and they'll believe me if I say I'm consulting with you."
He shot her an amused once-over, brows raised and she resisted sinking down in the seat.
"Thank you, Gage," she said in a high voice, imitating him mimicking her because she was not about to admit she should have already thanked him. "You're the best, Gage. And so on."
She didn't like how masterfully he'd handled her. It was supposed to be the other way around.
"That's more like it." Oblivious to her sarcasm, he grinned and nodded out the windshield. "Where to?"
Everything rolled off him like water off a duck's back. She wished she had that skill; she had to work at making it appear as if she did, when in truth, nothing rolled off. He'd missed teaching her that back in college-how to not care about anything and always squeeze the maximum amount of fun out of everything.
Perhaps she needed to practice. Retreating wouldn't get her what she needed-answers. She threw her shoulders back.
"Turn at the next light," she instructed impulsively. "There's a great little area that overlooks the lake."
As it wasn't too far from her house, she often used the trail for jogging, though she'd never been there at night. The spot had nighttime assignation written all over it.
"Are you asking me to park, Ms. Claremont?" The innuendo in his tone was half amused and half hell, yeah.
She forced a laugh as he followed her directions and pulled into the parking lot. "I'm asking you to stroll. It's a walking path."
They could walk along the secluded moonlit path and she'd get him comfortable enough so she could ask a few pointed questions. And then when he least expected it, she'd move in for the kill.
It was no less than he deserved.
And she'd keep the reminder front and center, no matter how good it felt to be with him again. He'd kissed her. She'd kissed him back. No big deal. She didn't have to fall in love with every man she kissed. In fact, she'd never fallen in love with any man she'd kissed. Except one.
The key here was to work with Gage to find his connection to the leak and go on. A kiss was just a kiss. Emotions didn't belong in the middle of this and she'd make sure to keep it that way.
No problem.
She wished she didn't have to keep reminding herself of that.
"There's a gate with a keypad," she called over her shoulder as they slid from the car. "This part of the lake is only for residents. Follow me."
The area was secluded, with one dim light that illuminated only a small circle of the concrete lot. Trees marched away from the lot along the line of the path, sheltering it from the outside world.
"Sure." Gage's voice had deepened in the dark, skittering along her bare skin and burrowing underneath to heat up her insides, as if he'd whispered erotic instructions instead of merely agreeing with her.
Lights would be good here. Gage and the dark mixed like oil and water.
Except she didn't have any lights to turn on. The dark blanketed them both as they walked to the gate, wrapping them in a secluded bubble that felt entirely too intimate.
As she punched in the key code, Gage's presence swept along her back, igniting her nerve endings with sensuous heat. He wasn't physically touching her, but she could feel him, hear his breath. Maybe even sense the beat of his heart.
The urge to move backward, flush against his body, almost overtook her and she bit her lip. He'd be warm, solid. Her core flooded with sharp desire and she covered her gasp with a cough.
The key panel flashed red. Wrong code. Dang it.
"Problem?" Gage murmured and leaned forward, decimating the space between their bodies.
Who was she kidding? Gage and darkness went together like chocolate and peanut butter. The dark was where he did his best work, wove his best spells. Wreaked the most destruction.
"I...fat fingered it," she muttered back. "Give me a sec."
She got it right the second time. How, she'd never know.
The gate swung open on well-oiled hinges and that's when the moon blessed her with an appearance, washing the path and the lake below with a silver sheen. Perfect timing. Her nerves couldn't take much more and the dark would only tempt the devil to perform his black magic.
"There's a gazebo a few hundred yards up the path," she murmured. "We can talk."
Yes, talking. She grasped on to the concept like a lifeline, hoping the short walk would allow her to get her brain in working order again. If everything went according to plan, she'd have the solid proof she needed to implicate Gage in the leak and then she could drop him like a hot potato.
Gage, to his credit, strolled to the moonlit gazebo as instructed. The heady scent of man and sage wound through the stillness, distracting her. She never would have identified the faint herbal notes of Gage's aftershave without Laurie's comments in front of the restaurant and now it was all she could do to keep from sticking her nose in the hollow of his shoulder bone.
"So," she said as she glided up the gazebo stairs and leaned on the railing to peer out over the silvery lake. "You must have some great ears to the ground to have such detailed information about my formula."
He leaned against a post, arms crossed, and watched her as if the gorgeous panorama beyond the gazebo didn't exist. "Pardon me if I have very little interest in that subject right this minute."
She glanced at him and he wasn't even bothering to conceal his thoughts. Which must be very naughty indeed judging by the lascivious once-over he gave her. Answering heat gathered in her core, totally against her will.
All at once, she wished for a bunch of clouds to cover the moon. At least in the dark, she could pretend she didn't notice how he had such a beautiful body and gorgeous face, both of which had become more interesting with age. She shuddered as she recalled the way he'd kissed her. More heat flashed across her skin.
Why did he do that to her?
"It's a great subject," she corrected, ignoring the corkscrewing pulls inside her abdomen. "Very important. I'm just curious where you heard about it. If we're going to stop the leak, it might help to work our way backward."
"You think?" he murmured as he unwound from his casual pose against the post to advance on her. "What if I want to talk about something else?"
She held her ground as he drew up within a hairsbreadth of touching her. "Like what?"
Without hesitation, he grabbed her hand, pulling her flush against him. Her body fell into alignment with his, nestling into the grooves like a mascara wand meeting eyelashes. His arms settled around her and somehow her head tipped back, exposing her throat to his hot perusal.
"Like how it would feel to kiss you when there's no danger of anyone interrupting us."
"Gage," she said and cursed the breathless delivery. She might as well announce how her core had gone liquid the moment his hard muscles came in contact with her curves. "Let go."
"Are you sure that's wise?" he murmured, holding her closer, which she would have sworn was impossible. "You sound a little faint. I wouldn't want you to collapse."