CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The timestamp on the email in her inbox said 3:25 a.m., and it did something funny to Nora to think about Gabe emailing her in the dead of night.
What was he doing up at that time, anyway?
Working? Reading?
Doing…other stuff?
Nora rolled her eyes at herself. Get a grip.
Nope. Bad phrase. That sent her mind back to where it had no right being. Since she was at work. And since she had no intention of letting their flirtation go any further.
He’d emailed to arrange another date. She wished with a sudden searing urgency that she had the guts to pick up her phone, call him, and say yes. Yes to everything. Let’s date, let’s have sex, let’s go for it, and when you lose interest, I will survive.
Only she wouldn’t survive, not the version of herself she was working so hard to define and keep together.
So Nora wrote a polite reply, suggesting that they move their relationship back toward the professional, since they’d tried the date, and there hadn’t been enough sparks to warrant risking their cordial association.
She reread her email, chewing on her lip. Hmm. For the life of her she couldn’t think of another way to put it, but the whole thing came across as a bit cold. And dismissive.
She added a winking emoji, then deleted it. That was stupid. No winking.
She added a simple smiling emoji instead.
All right. Still chilly, but it was for the best.
She hit send.
“What’s got you looking so glum?” Anna sat on Nora’s desk. “And where’s my BFF?”
Nora jumped, not having heard her cousin come in. “Nothing. I’m not glum. Nothing’s wrong. And Sunshine decided to have a lie-in this morning.”
Anna crossed her ankles, leaning past Nora to read Gabe’s email. “Second date?” She raised a brow. “First date was good?”
“First date was weird.” Nora sighed. “I tried, Anna. I bored the shit out of myself at dinner, I don’t know why he seemed to enjoy himself.”
“But he did?”
“Yep.”
To Anna’s credit, she sounded no more than mildly interested when she asked, “Are you going to go out again?”
“No. Apart from everything else, it’s just the wrong time.”
“Are you sure? Because I’m not loving the idea of me being the evil cousin who says you may not have a thousand orgasms at the hands—and other body parts—of a hot millionaire who seems into you, because I’m worried about my business. I get that I am that woman and I am saying it. But I don’t love it.”
“You’re not that woman. You’re sensible. Gabe and me…we don’t make sense.”
“How do you not make sense? If you say anything about cellulite, or not being skinny, or having bad dress sense, I’ll slap you. I’ll do it.”
“Who said anything about cellulite?”
Anna ignored her. “You are good enough for him, you hear me? You’re good enough for anyone. The fucker. Did he make you feel like you’re not good enough, like he’s somehow too special for a country mouse? Anyone would be lucky to have you, Nora. Blessed. You do get that?”
“He makes me feel anything but not good enough. All the guy did was touch my…and I almost—”
“Hold up. What did he touch?”
“Never mind.”
“And you almost did what?”
“I’m not telling. Gabe makes me feel spectacular, all right? Like I’m the most irresistible woman on the face of the planet. Like I’m safe but not, all at the same time.”
“Nora. Rethink a second date.”
“You don’t want me dating him.”
“Not casually. Not if you’re using him as part of your sexual odyssey.” She mimed running her finger down a list. “Hot millionaire? Check! But if he makes you feel like that? After Vince? Fuck Vince. You deserve it. You deserve to feel, Nora.”
“You’re saying that you now have no problem with me dating your one big client who can make or break your business?”
“I wouldn’t say no problem. I would say go for it though.”
“Too late. I already emailed him saying thanks but no thanks. No sparks.”
“Unsend it. Uh-oh.”
“What, uh-oh?”
“He replied. Can I open it?”
“No.” Nora wrestled the mouse off Anna, waited until she theatrically covered her eyes, and clicked on the email.
Okay.
That was it. One word.
Not even an emoji.
“Yikes.” Anna sucked her teeth.
“This is good,” Nora said. “I wasn’t going to change my mind, anyway.”
~ ~ ~
By midmorning Nora had stopped checking her inbox every five minutes to see if Gabe had emailed anything other than the impenetrable and off-putting okay, and Anna had run out to go and fight—her words—with the antiques merchant who had “misplaced” the Art Nouveau writing bureau she’d ordered from France three months ago.
Nora was standing by her desk sorting a stack of mail when she glanced up to see Gabe stride into the office.
He was back to his usual jeans and tee, the jeans dark and well-worn, the tee a deep burgundy. His eyes were hidden behind a pair of Aviators.
“Hi,” Nora said, surprised to see him. “What’s up?”
“I forgot to add something to the email.”
“An emoji?”
“No.”
He closed the distance between them, for once unsmiling. She didn’t realize she’d raised the mail between them as a shield until he eased it from her grip and leaned around her to put it on the desk. He took off his sunglasses and laid them on top of the mail. When he straightened, she became suddenly aware of the breadth of his shoulders, and the fact he seemed angry.
No. Frustrated.
Maybe both.
And it was all directed at her.
“I came to tell you, Nora, that I think you’re rushing to conclusions. I think you’re wrong about us having no sparks, since we haven’t tried it out. Think we’d better put it to the test.” He ran a hand from the outer edge of her wrist, all the way up her arm to pause at her collarbone, where he grazed his fingertips back and forth. His green gaze flicked up to hers. “Don’t you agree?”
“Yes,” she said. “Wait, what did you—”
He stroked up the side of her throat, turning her question into an embarrassing moan, and lifted her chin. He waited for her to meet his eyes before he leaned down and kissed her softly.
Nora’s eyelids fluttered closed.
A light brush of his mouth against hers, the merest hint of his tongue touching her lower lip. Another gentle press.
He cupped her jaw with one hand; the other slid around her waist and drew her gently against him. She lost all sense of time as Gabe kissed her with aching sweetness, never pushing or forcing anything, just shifting restlessly over her trembling lips.
She sighed, opening up. The hand at her waist flexed and her heart slammed with anticipation, but instead of taking it deeper as she’d hoped, he lifted away to drop a kiss on the tip of her nose, and released her.
Nora blinked as she came back to herself, slowly, and in pieces.
First her hearing returned, the steady hum of the fan, the computers, the traffic on the street. Then she felt the front of her body, cooling now he’d taken his heat away. Her vision swung into focus on his watchful gaze.
“Well?” he asked, voice gruff.
Huh. “It was nice.”
“Nice.”
“But—”
“But?”
“It was very…tender.”
Gabe put his hands on his hips. “You don’t like tender?”
“I like tender. I suppose I was expecting something else from you. Some drama, maybe. It’s, uh, good to get it sorted, though. Right? No sparks.”
For a long moment he said nothing. Then, he smiled.
There was no humor whatsoever in that smile.
Nora edged away in instinctive self-preservation, aiming to put the desk between them, but he moved with her. He caught her around the waist and continued the movement she’d started until the wall was at her back and he had her pinned.
His hands on her were not gentle this time. They were hard around her ribcage, dragging her up on her toes and forcing an arch in her spine that pulled her away from the wall enough for her head to drop back and then he was kissing her.
Really freaking kissing her.
She took too long to catch up; he let go of her waist to curl one hand around her neck, sliding the other along her jaw. He whispered against her lips, rough words she couldn’t make out, and opened her mouth with his.
Holy shit, Nora had time to think, incapable of resisting, and he was in.
He filled her at once, his tongue stroking over hers aggressively. He must have been pleased with her eager response, because he lifted away enough for her to see the flash of his fierce grin as he boosted her up, then he threaded his hands into her hair and held her mouth against his, ravenous and demanding.
It was the worst thing to do with a man like Gabe Sterling, but she didn’t have any choice. All rational thought processes shut down, and she was pure feeling. She let him have everything.
He demanded; she gave. He took it all; she offered more. She was vaguely aware of him moving them across the office, then she was on her back on her desk and he was leaning over her, drawing her arms over her head while still dominating her mouth.
He gave her wrists a squeeze and let go. When Nora tried to reach for him, he caught them and put them back, squeezing again.
Okay, then.
This time she left them there, her breath coming short as she felt his hands at her waistband, raising the hem of her shirt with an impatient jerk. His palms scorched hot against her stomach as he smoothed them up to trace the underwire of her bra. He brushed over the front between the cups, made an impatient noise, and a second later she felt a light pinch between her shoulder blades as the clasp popped free.
His hands were on her bare breasts and his growl of satisfaction rumbled through his chest. She felt the vibrations in her own chest.
And in the front of her pants.
Nora stiffened. What happened? Did he—? Her pants pocket vibrated again, and she tightened her thighs around his hips. Her cell phone, stuck in her pocket between them, was ringing.
And vibrating.
Nora flailed. One more buzz and she was going to embarrass herself. Seriously, she would— The phone buzzed. Nora yelped, and bit Gabe’s lip to get his attention.
He wrenched away to glare down at her for a searing instant, and touched his fingertips to his mouth to check for blood. His face shuttered as he straightened. He shoved a hand into her pants pocket, took out the phone, and threw it across the room.
Nora got an upside down view of it impacting the far wall before he pulled her up to sitting and braced his arms either side of her hips, head angled down.
“I hope you’re having an interior decorating emergency,” he said, voice rough.
“I—”
“Not you.” He fixed her clothes, wrangling her breasts back into her bra and refastening it with impressive efficiency, and turned to aim a sharp look over his shoulder. “Her.”
Nora leaned to the side and saw Anna, holding her iPhone, her eyes wide as she looked at the pile of shattered plastic that had landed next to the wastepaper basket.
“No emergency,” Anna said. “Just a rule against clients screwing my assistant in my office.”
Anna and Gabe glared at each other.
“We were kissing.” Nora slid off the desk and eased around him to put herself between them. “Trying it out, that’s all. Checking for sparks. It’s no big deal. Nothing to get upset about. Nobody needs to get upset.”
Gabe ran a hand over his head and clasped the back of his neck. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, then blew out a breath.
“Right?” Nora asked him.
“Mm-hmm.”
She turned to Anna. “It’s nothing.”
Anna lifted a brow but didn’t speak.
Gabe did. “It’s good we got around to doing that, Nora.”
“It is?” She turned back to him. “I mean, you’re welcome.” You’re welcome?
He fought a smile as he hooked his Aviators on. “You were right. No sparks at all. I gave it all I’ve got, but it was like kissing my buddy Alex. Good call.”
Alex. The one with the dog who’d given Gabe a cyborg complex.
“Let’s keep it as friends,” he continued. Yeah?”
“Sure,” Nora said.
“Great. See you later. Buddy.” He slapped her on the ass and sauntered out.
With a hand on her tingling butt and her mouth hanging open, Nora watched him go. Then she yelled at Anna. “What the hell was that?”
“What the…? That’s my line!”
“Why did you call my phone? Why didn’t you tap me on the shoulder or something?”
“Are you kidding me? No way was I getting near the two of you. I’d either get a black eye, or I’d be sucked into the vortex. That guy is a sexual octopus. I haven’t seen a dude so into what he was doing since I last watched porn, and I always thought that level of enthusiasm was fake. I’m feeling shortchanged by my past relationships. Are you in one piece?”
“I’m not even sure if I’m still dressed. Am I dressed?”
“Yep. He even tucked your shirt in. You look like a dork.”
Nora untucked the shirt.
Her lips felt swollen, she was having trouble catching her breath, and she had a big problem. She wasn’t angry with him.
Not for flipping her world upside down.
Not for breaking her phone.
And worst of all, not for smacking her on the ass.
She kind of thought she should be angry at him for at least one of those things.
~ ~ ~
He was lucky she hadn’t hauled back and punched him.
Thank fuck Anna had come in when she did. Gabe didn’t know if he’d have had it in him to stop.
This kept getting worse. He’d never wanted a woman so badly in his entire life. He didn’t think he’d ever wanted anything so badly in his entire life.
He walked from the office as fast as he could, which wasn’t all that fast considering the enormous obstruction in his jeans. He winced and adjusted himself. No sparks?
He was mad as hell with himself. He’d thrown her down on her desk. He’d side-armed her cell phone into the wall. He was a fucking barbarian. For a dangerous moment, he’d intended to keep going, and assumed that Anna would run away as he made wild love to her cousin.
Gabe stopped dead in the middle of the street and rephrased that last bit with extreme care.
As he had sex with her cousin.
He resumed walking. What an asshole he was being. He had to make it up to her, of course. Replace her cell phone. He had the perfect model in mind.
He scowled. If he even tried to give her that one, she’d refuse him, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stay civilized if she thwarted him again.
Instead of calling his assistant, Daniel, and getting him to courier a state-of-the-art phone over to her straight away, Gabe trudged on until he reached an electronics store, where he bought the closest model to her infuriating flip phone he could find.
Then he went back to the board meeting he’d walked out of when he’d gotten Nora’s email, and listened to Bill screeching about his bad manners and worse attitude, before suggesting Gabe do whatever it took to get his head in the right place to deal with Nebula and the millions of dollars the company had sunk into it before he pushed the entire production off schedule, a competitor beat them to market, and he went bankrupt, taking every last one of his employees with him.
Gabe knew what he needed to bring his focus back online, but Nora was proving reluctant to play.
And besides. He’d given up struggling over Nebula. He should have told Bill two months ago, but he hadn’t come to terms with it two months ago.
He was starting to get there, but he wasn’t ready to take the necessary steps to begin implementation.
Not yet.