But I am.
I’m shaken, more than I care to admit. And I don’t like the feeling. I don’t like being forced to acknowledge—even to myself—that something asharmless as a misplaced purse or an unexpected power outage can make me feel anxious, off balance.
Afraid.
By the time I have my work put away and I’m ready to leave, my breath is coming in rapid pants. I can’t wait to get out of the shop. My fingers fumble with the alarm pad and deadbolts on the solid back door. I free the last one and pull the panel open, prepared to step out to the lot and race to my waiting car.
But a large shape stands in my way, looming just on the other side of the door.
Shadows cloak broad, muscular shoulders and a short crown of thick, chestnut brown hair.
I hardly have time to halt the scream that climbs up my throat before I realize I know him.
“Evelyn.” Gabriel Noble’s strong hands steady me, firmly grasping my arms. “Is everything all right?”
6
~ Gabriel ~
“What the hell are you doing here?”
It takes her a second to speak—about as long as it takes me to realize I still have my hands on her. I let go, though not before I register the fact that Evelyn is trembling. Absolutely shaking with fear.
My own alarm spikes at seeing her visibly upset. “Are you okay?”
She exhales, some of her anxiety seeming to release along with her short breath. Her rich, husky voice sounds less distressed now. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You here by yourself?” She gives me a faint nod. I grunt in response. “It’s after ten. That’s a long day.”
“I could say the same to you. And you still haven’t told me what you’re doing here,” she adds, staring at me quizzically as I step inside the shop with her.
“I was at Baine headquarters and saw that a sustained power failure alert had triggered here at the shop. Thought I’d swing by and check things out. I didn’t realize anyone was still working.” Primarily because L’Opale only has security cameras monitoring the sales floor, not the back offices or exterior, one of the first changes I’ll recommend. And because I’ve spent too much time in war zones, I can’t help giving the space around us a quick visual assessment as I walk farther inside to make sure there are no overt signs of trouble anywhere in the shop. “What happened with the power?”
“I don’t know. I was on my cell talking with a friend when suddenly the lights went out.”
As she talks, I glance into the empty offices along the short hallway. “How often do you lose power?”
“Never. And none of the other businesses on Madison seemed to be affected, just the boutique. Anyway, it’s no big deal. You shouldn’t have wasted the trip. Everything came back on a few minutes later.”
“If it hadn’t come back up, right now the cops would be here too,” I tell her. I’ve spent the day combing over every security system and procedure put in place at the various properties under the Baine umbrella. I have things to sort out and learn, but I’ve already got a list of improvements I plan to propose when I meet with Nick and Beck. For reasons I assure myself are purely professional, I’ve just put Evelyn’s boutique at the top of the priority list.
“Thank God the police weren’t dispatched,” she says. “That would mean my brother probably wouldn’t be far behind them.” At my questioning look, she adds, “Technically, L’Opale belongs to Andrew. He loaned methe money to open the shop a few years ago when I needed some . . . help.”
I nod, unaware of the business arrangement she and her brother may have. Frankly, I’m surprised she’s confiding in me about any of it, but she seems to be talking out of anxiety more than anything else right now. I can’t imagine the confident, capable woman I met yesterday ever allowing herself to be in the position of owing something to anyone—even a family member. I also can’t imagine that a few minutes without power would rattle Evelyn Beckham the way it seems to have done tonight.
I glance back and find her still standing near the exit, her arms crossed over herself. “Did something else happen here tonight? Something you’re not saying?”
She stares at me, uncertainty in her gaze. “I’m sure it was nothing. I’m sure I was only imagining—”
“Evelyn. Tell me.”
“I thought I heard a strange noise,” she relents. “It was sometime before the lights went out.”
“What kind of noise?”
“I’m not sure. It sounded like someone was at the back door. Like someone may have been trying to get in.”
“Coworker?”
