Meg follows alongside me as I head for the hallway to investigate. I hear Gabe’s deep voice coming from the back of the shop. And Katrina’s, pitched in a light, breathy tone she never uses with Megan and me. Mywhole body tenses when I enter the small space and see her leaning over Gabe’s shoulder as he taps something onto the keypad of an electronic panel, newly installed near the rear exit.
“So, as of today our keys no longer work on this door?”
“Right,” he says, without looking up from his work. “Everyone will have their own four-digit code for the alarm panels on both points of entry into the boutique. It’s more secure than having keys floating around, and it also means we’ll have an ongoing record of traffic and access. If you know what you want to use for your code, you can set it right now.”
“All right,” she replies in that feminine rasp that’s setting my molars on edge. Kat may be fifteen years older than me, but she doesn’t look it, and she’s working everything she’s got on Gabe. She leans in to him even closer and taps her red-lacquered nail on the pad, reciting the numbers as she types them. “Six, nine, six, nine.”
I clear my throat. “Kat, could you help out front for a while, please?”
She pivots toward me, her smile a little guilty, yet challenging at the same time. It takes her a second to answer. “Sure. I’d be happy to.”
We have ample sales staff on the floor, and while I’m certain she knows that, too, she isn’t going to argue with a direct request from me. Nevertheless, she takes her time sashaying up the hallway.
Gabe is turned around now, and I wait to see his gaze follow her out, but his hazel eyes stay rooted on me.
I fold my arms. “You certainly move fast. I thought you were only writing up a report today.”
Before he offers an answer, I hear my brother’s voicecoming from behind me.
“No reason to delay putting in some new locks and cameras,” Andrew says as he walks out of the electrical room and pauses to give me a light kiss on the cheek. “Especially if you think someone was messing around with the back door last night.”
I blow out a sigh at his sober look. “I shouldn’t have mentioned it at all. I’m sure it was nothing.”
“I hope you’re right. In the meantime, Gabe’s made some solid recommendations for upgraded security measures.”
A clipboard rests on a table next to some opened equipment boxes and tools. I walk over and flip through the first few pages of schematics and handwritten notes, scrawled in an aggressive, confident print that I find just about as sexy as the man who wrote it. “No plans for razor wire or surface-to-air missile defense systems?” I arch my brows at Gabe. “That’s a relief.”
A smirk plays at the edge of his mouth while my brother scoffs, unaware of our inside joke from last night.
“I realize you think I overreact,” Andrew says. “But believe me, I know the kind of animals who live in this city. I want you to be safe.”
I tilt my head at him. “You always overreact, but at least you’re consistent.”
“Very funny.” He frowns and lowers his voice, looking so much like our father I can’t help but smile. “Cut me a break here, okay? It’s not like you never had to deal with a stalker or two over the years, Eve.”
My breath freezes in my lungs at his use of my old nickname, especially in front of Gabe. I don’t like flashing my former career around. In fact, I’d bury it if Icould.
But when I glance at Gabe, there is no surprise in his expression. No confusion.
The first day we met, he had no idea who I was. He definitely didn’t recognize me from my runway days. But he knows now. He knows because Andrew has told him, I have no doubt.
And from the way he averts his eyes as I stare at him, I’m betting he knew before our brief, but enjoyable conversation last night.
What else might my brother have told Baine’s new security chief about that awful part of my life?
I feel suddenly exposed and vulnerable. I hate the feeling.
I hate that I’m standing here wondering if the connection I felt between Gabe and me last night really was an illusion. Maybe the charm I believed was authentic was only him changing course from the arrogant bastard I met in the garage to a smooth tactician looking to get into my good graces—or into my bed—after realizing who I was . . . who I used to be.
He wouldn’t be the first to try.
Except Gabe had been the one to turn me away.
When I touched his broken, brutally handsome face, he’d stepped out of my reach like he’d been burned. Now, he seems unwilling to look at me at all.
I glance at my brother, forcing a flat edge into my voice. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the public eye. And besides, no one’s ever gotten close enough to hurt me.”
No, I did the worst damage to myself.
