hand on her shoulder and gave it a soft stroke with his thumb. “Yeah, sweetheart. Despite the outer package, your innocence comes through.”
“Car’s here,” Quan said as he went ahead of them.
“Is he driving?” If they had a chaperone…
Gabriel nodded.
“Oh. Uh, okay then.” Or not, she thought when his deep, knowing chuckle tickled like a soft feather down her spine.
“Do you live alone?” he asked as he got them moving and through the revolving door.
“Um…” As she debated whether to answer that or not, Caleb popped up in her head, waving his muscular arms and furiously shaking his head.
Her libido gave him the finger.
“Can I get a photo, Mr. Moore?” A guy holding a camera came over, the tag hanging around his neck clearly stating he was a photographer from the Seattle Times. “The Times,” he said, waving the tag. “We’re doing a spread on the event.”
Gabriel gave a cool nod and slid his arm around her, turning them with a hand resting on her hip in a gesture that could only be described as intimate. He squeezed so gently it may have been involuntary, but it had her looking up at him. That’s when she heard the click.
“Name and proper spelling?”
Feeling dazed and annoyed with herself, she looked at the photographer to see that he was speaking to her. She supplied the information.
Great. She might end up on their website tomorrow, and she was going to look like a tomato who hadn’t had enough sense to look into the camera and smile.
Nika was going to laugh her ass off, she thought as Gabriel ushered her into the back of a black Escalade waiting at the curb.
† † †
“So you live alone.” Gabriel snapped his seatbelt on and watched Eva do the same. Chriiist, she was sweet. Sweet and nervous. Breathtaking.
She glanced up at him then away. “What makes you think so?”
And so fuckin’ tempting he barely held off suggesting they head up to his suite so he could fuck her out of his system. “Your reluctance to answer.” Would never do that, though.
In fact, he was beginning to wonder if he even could now that he knew the goddamn woman responded to him like a match to tinder. And they’d only kissed. If they fucked? It would be explosive. Spectacularly so.
“Do you often have paparazzi approach you?”
He almost laughed while Quan replaced the valet behind the wheel and set them in motion. “They know better.” He had to remember to get that photo buried. If the damn thing showed up somewhere, Gabriel might as well send an engraved announcement to his brother with a neon arrow pointing at Eva’s perfectly biteable ass.
“Where are we going, Eva?” Quan asked, offering her a disarming smile through the rearview. Guy was smooth as shit.
“Mercer Island.”
“Got it.”
As Quan turned on the radio, Gabriel angled himself so he could admire his companion. “You’re a private person,” he commented. “That’s good. Smart.”
“Yeah,” she said on a humorless chuckle. “Hasn’t helped, considering my life lately.” She looked around the interior and then out the window. “You really didn’t have to drive me home. It’s kind of far.”
“We don’t mind. Have you lived on Mercer Island for long?”
“Most of my life—not counting the time I spent in New York for school.” She fiddled with her small purse that she had clutched in her lap. “If things work out and I get a call from TarMor, I suppose I’ll have to sell my house.”
Call your real estate agent, sweetheart.
“Though, I guess I could always keep it as an income property. Everyone seems to be doing that these days.”
Ignoring the urge riding him to drag her into his lap, he nodded before backtracking. “Why do you say being private hasn’t helped in your life lately?” She had to be referring to his brother. “Aside from that asshole earlier, of course.”
She looked over the empty expanse of seat between them, teasing him with glimpses of her stunning features as they flashed bright then dark under the passing streetlights. “Speaking of that asshole, did your people turn him over to the police? I’d actually like to talk to him. Ask him about that message. Maybe find out who he works for, if anyone.”
Damn. Shut down. Hard. He sat in that for a second, unfamiliar with the sting. Usually when he asked someone a question, they tripped over themselves to give him an answer. This one basically told him to mind his own business.