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“Just for a minute—” Clive started, but Gabe stepped forward.
“The lady said she’s tired. She’s going home now.” Gabe towered over Clive, and I watched as the smaller man took a step back.
“I believe Lauren’s capable of speaking for herself.” Clive’s face was pinched as he regarded Gabe. Even though he was a technology nerd, Clive Warren was still a self-made billionaire, a successful entrepreneur in his own right. He was probably not used to being intimidated and literally talked down to.
I sighed. I really wanted to extricate myself from their pissing contest, and I could still feel the tears threatening. “I have been speaking for myself. You’re just not listening. Good night, gentlemen.” I headed out toward the valet, hoping my driver and my security detail would appear as soon as possible. I needed to get out of there. I tapped my foot while I waited, inwardly berating myself for accepting Clive’s invitation.
“Lauren.” Gabe came out of the restaurant. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” In the night air, I willed myself to calm down. “I just really want to go home.” My voice sounded small.
Concern marred his handsome face. “Let me take you.”
I sighed. “Even if you drive me, my driver will just follow us. It would be redundant, not to mention a waste of gas.”
“I have an electric car.” Gabe’s grin finally crept back. “So although it may be redundant for me to drive you home with your driver following behind us, it won’t be a waste of gas.”
I surprised myself by laughing and relaxed a little. Maybe this was giving in, but it felt good. “Okay. But I really do want to go straight home.”
“Of course.”
The valet brought my car first. I leaned in and explained to my driver and security detail that Gabe was driving me home, and they were to follow. Gabe’s car came next. “Such an awesome ride,” exclaimed the young valet as he hopped out of the driver’s seat and tossed the keys to Gabe. “Please let me park it for you again!”
“Deal.” Gabe smiled at him and tipped him generously. Then he opened the car door for me—it swung up and opened as if it were a wing—and I got down into the fancy, electric whatever-it-was.
Gabe slid in beside me and I turned to him. “What type of car is this?”
“A Porsche 918 Spyder. Well, it’s based on a 918 Spyder. I had it custom-made. The regular ones don’t come with doors like that.”
I looked at him skeptically as he revved the engine and pulled onto the road. “And it’s electric?”
“It’s a hybrid. I try to run it solely on electricity, though. So you needn’t worry about the gas waste.”
I sighed. “You can stop making fun of me now.”
He kept his eyes on the road but smiled. “Are you having a rough night? Clive looked like he might cry back there.”
“He didn’t like what I had to say.”
“He’s an asshole.”
“Funny, he said the same thing about you.”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. “I’m not surprised. Why were you having dinner with him, anyway? You could have been having dinner with me. And I wouldn’t have even mentioned the pork bellies.”
I shook my head and couldn’t help it—I laughed again.
“Oh, so now pork bellies are funny? You’ve skipped out of work before ten, you went on a date, and now you’re laughing at the poor pork bellies. You’ve gone rogue, Lauren.”
My laughter subsided, and I shook my head. “I wanted to talk to Clive about his latest patent, to see if it would be something worth acquiring. It wasn’t. And he didn’t want to hear that I wasn’t interested. He didn’t seem to take it well.”
“I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to hear that either.” We were quiet for a minute as Gabe drove through the hills to my home, following my directions. “Are you going to tell me no, by the way? I can take it. Unlike Clive Warren, I’m a man.”
You certainly are. I then realized I had gone rogue. Ugh. “I have to present your offer to my board. It’s worth taking to them, in any event. We’ll go from there.”
He nodded, still watching the road. “Fair enough.”
“What were you doing there tonight, anyway? Did I take you away from your date?” I was glad the car was dark because I could feel my cheeks burning.
