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* * *
We land in New York in the humid heat of the early afternoon. Compared to the cool temperatures of Jackson Hole, the change in climate is a quick reminder that we’re back in the real world. Work, the city, busy schedules, everyday hustle. I’m a little nervous to see how—if—Gabriel and I will function away from his fairy cottage in the woods.
Both Gabriel and Thomas have a black SUV and uniformed driver waiting to pick them up. Now that I know about the accident, I can detect the slight tension in Gabriel’s body language as he guides me toward the car he won’t be driving. He greets Tobias and lets his driver drop his carry-on into the SUV trunk.
“Is someone picking you up?” he asks me.
“No, I thought I’d just get a taxi or something.”
Gabriel smiles. “Nonsense. Tobias can drop you off after he drops me; you’re going to the office, right?”
“Yes.”
Before I can say more, Gabriel grabs my suitcase and hands it to Tobias.
I feel a bit off-kilter letting someone else take care of me and spoil me. The private jetting first, now the being chauffeured around… but it’s a pleasant novelty.
I’m like a princess. A fitness queen who owns her own company, but still a princess.
But the atmosphere as we get into the vehicle couldn’t be further from a fairy tale. Gabriel is sitting ramrod straight, jaw tense, fingers flexing.
“Tobias, my office first,” he says in a tense, mechanic voice I don’t recognize.
Tobias nods in the rearview mirror. “Yes, sir.” Then he closes the darkened panel separating the driver’s cabin from the backseat.
The moment the car starts moving, Gabriel’s tension spikes.
I take his hand. “Are you nervous?”
“Yeah, I hate this.”
And I could lecture him on how he really doesn’t need to put himself through this ordeal day in, day out. But he doesn’t need a lecture right now. He needs a distraction. So I climb onto his lap and tilt his chin up to me. “Any way I can help you let the tension loose?”
Gabriel pushes me back down and secures my seatbelt in place. “Anything you can do with your seatbelt on, I’m game.”
I smile at him wickedly. “I can get creative.”
His eyes sparkle. “For the first time, you make me wish traffic will be bad.”
“Why?”
“Because I can get creative, too, and I intend to take my time with you.”
Aw, heck, when he puts it like that… traffic never sounded better.
* * *
An hour and ten minutes of deliciously bad traffic later, we’re pulling up outside the building where Gabriel’s offices are located. My diverting tactics apparently worked wonders to make him forget he was a passenger and not at the wheel. He looks ten times more chill than when we got into the car.
Tobias opens his door and Gabriel exits the car. I follow him outside to say goodbye, but I don’t have the time to put two words in before a pretty brunette—messy bun, fitted blouse, pencil skirt, friendly expression—greets me with a beaming smile.
“Blake, the woman of legend, we finally meet in person. I’m Mila, Gabriel’s trusted executive assistant.” She offers me her hand to shake. We do. “Can I have your phone?”
What? I look at Gabriel for confirmation and he gives me a subtle nod. So I fish my phone out of my bag, unlock it, and hand it to his assistant.
She types on it furiously for a few minutes before handing it back. “I’ve saved my direct line in your contacts, cell phone, and secret emergency line. If for whatever reason you can’t get a hold of him, those are your go-to numbers. I also saved his office’s direct line.” She tilts her head and studies me for a second. “But I should let you know I listen in to all his private conversations in case you were in the mood for phone sex or whatnot.”
I’m about to stutter that I’d never call Gabriel at work to start phone sex when, with a wink, she points at my blouse, and adds, “You’ve missed a button there.”
