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The husky promise stole what was left of her breath. He hung up, and she flopped back onto the bed with a grin.
A moment later, her phone chimed for an incoming text: Sonofabitching meetings.
That made her laugh. Unable to wipe the smile from her face, she worked on getting everything just right so that when he came home, his first night in the refurnished room would be perfect. She put all his clothes back in his new dresser and the condoms in his new nightstand. Then she collected the remainder of her purchases for his room from where she’d stashed them down the hall.
Lamps, the curtain rods, drapes with minimal fabric so as not to block the view of the lake and rugged Rocky Mountains. Just like she’d described to him that night in the furniture store, only by the time she was done, it came out twice as beautiful as she’d pictured.
The pièce de résistance was the now-framed cougar painting centered above the iron-accented headboard. As she stepped back to admire the finished product, she couldn’t help but think of how the mountain lion reminded her of the man who would sleep in the bed below.
Powerful. Graceful. Predatory.
She’d love to run her hands over all that sleek, solid muscle.
Letting out a wistful sigh instead, she smoothed out the dents in the comforter where she’d stepped on the bed while hanging the artwork. Then her sass returned, and she hurried downstairs to grab the sample bottle of perfume from her purse. If she was going to pay for her teasing, she might as well make it worth the punishment.
She’d just dented and lightly spritzed one of the pillows when she noticed she needed to plug his alarm clock back in. The numbers flashed at her, so she checked her phone to set the time.
2:41.
Her eyes widened and her stomach dropped. Oh, wow, time had flown by and she hadn’t even realized it. Her gaze shifted to the windows to see that while it was definitely gray and a bit foggy outside, it didn’t appear to be raining yet. She took one more moment to make sure the room was just right, then went down to Dean’s office to collect her laptop and purse.
A cold wind blew though her spring jacket as she opened the door after activating the security alarm. Little tiny beads of moisture wet her face, and she realized the foggy mist was as bad as the rain. She caught the door before it shut and peered at her car. It must’ve started a while ago because a thin layer of ice covered the windshield, and the driveway was a shiny sheet that stretched as far as she could see.
The highway was likely salted, but it was doubtful she’d even make it that far. Figuring she’d be far
safer staying put, she backed into the house and shut the door before the alarm went off. She had no problem activating it, but didn’t know the code to shut it off.
Putting her things in the spare bedroom closest to the door, she called Britt so she wouldn’t worry, then texted Dean that she’d be staying the night.
Chapter 20
Dean stared out the window of the third story conference room, listening to the little pings the sleet made as it struck the glass. His final meeting of the day was almost over and thank God. Today was exactly the reminder he needed as to why he let Mike handle most of the corporate stuff. The tie to go with his stuffy, button up shirt didn’t help, either. It felt like a noose around his neck, even though he’d tugged to loosen it a couple times already.
On the notebook in front of him, the screen on his phone lit up, pulling his distracted gaze from the gloom outside. When he saw the notification for a text from Gina, his lips curved. Now, she was a torture he could live with. Her and her hard-on inducing sass talk.
The woman had known exactly what she was doing to him earlier, and he’d loved every minute. He’d also meant every letter of the text he’d sent her after they’d hung up and had grinned at the thought of her reaction. Hell, if he could’ve, he’d have ditched so damn fast and broken speed limits to get home.
Instead, as he’d told her, he was stuck here with the rest of his executive board like a good CEO. Most of those present lived in town where the roads had already been salted, and the few that didn’t would be staying at a hotel within walking distance of their building. The other office staff had been sent home at one. Like Gina.
His imagination had made good use of her earlier teasing during the more boring parts of his afternoon, and now he thumbed the screen with a hot thrill of anticipation.
As he read the message, the blood in his veins turned to ice. His gaze shot to Mike’s, who trailed off in the middle of his sentence.
Dean shoved to his feet and grabbed his suit coat off the back of the chair. “I need to talk to you.”
After a quick nod, his VP wrapped up the meeting and the day. Dean added a brusque thank you to his executives before stalking toward his office with Mike on his heels.
“What’s going on?”
He handed him the phone to read Gina’s message. “I gotta go home.”
“Shit,” Mike said as they entered the office. He gave the phone back after he’d shut the door. “You don’t know for sure he’s even going to try anything. It was a long shot anyway with this storm.”
Dean tossed him a dark look as he pulled his keys from his desk drawer. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not leaving her alone out there.”
“We could call the police.”
He shook his head. “With this weather, they’re busy with accidents and emergencies.”
