Against the Fire (6 page)

Mattie kicked herself all the way back to her office. What in the world was wrong with her? The last person she wanted to spend time with was Gabriel Raines.

As the elevator took her to her floor, she paused. Why was she so determined to avoid him? Gabe was obviously intelligent and from what she had read, a successful businessman. He had built his company from the ground up and become an upstanding member of the downtown community.

The truth was, she was more than a little attracted to Gabe Raines and that scared her to death. She hadn’t had sex in more than a year and Gabe was a man whose every glance made it clear sex was extremely important to him. Though she admired his powerful body, macho men just weren’t her type. At least they never had been before.

She stepped out of the elevator thinking of Gabe and her reaction to him, thinking of Angel and grateful that Gabe had agreed to help him. Now he was trying to help Enrique. As she passed the reception desk, her mind was on the dinner she had agreed to share with him and she jostled into someone. It was Mel Freeman, one of her coworkers.

“Sorry,” she said.

“That’s all right, Mattie. I never mind bumping a little female flesh.”

Mattie bristled. Mel was a true male chauvinist pig. Six feet tall and fairly good looking, he believed he was God’s gift to women, though at forty, his light brown hair had begun to recede and a slight paunch jiggled at his waistline.

Mattie had gone head-to-head with Mel a number of times over the years, starting with the first time he’d asked her out. She had politely refused, telling him she believed in keeping her personal life separate from her work. Not telling him she simply wasn’t attracted to him. Mel had persisted to the point where she had been forced to be rude. Every once in a while, he still gave it the old college try.

And there was her recent promotion. Mel had been with the company longer than she had. He believed he was the one who deserved the job as head designer and an office with a window.

“Excuse me, Mel. I’ve got work to do.”

“Well, pardon me for getting in your way,” he said sarcastically, his smile as phony as the flashy diamond stick pin he wore to company parties.

Mel was the type of guy women sued for sexual harassment, but Mattie believed that if a woman wanted to be equal to a man, she had to stand up for herself, force them to treat her as an equal.

It didn’t always work, of course, and there were extreme cases, but aside from being a jerk, Mel seemed harmless enough.

Mattie walked past him into her office and firmly closed the door. She needed to get to back to the art gallery project; she didn’t want to fall behind. She loved her job and even obnoxious Mel Freeman wasn’t going to spoil it for her.

She had only been working half an hour when a light knock sounded and the door swung open. Aaron Kreski, one of her dearest friends, rolled his wheelchair into her office.

“I hate to interrupt, but I’ve got a question on the Franklin elementary school project.” Aaron was slender, black-haired and wore square, dark-rimmed glasses. At thirty, he was an attractive man in a nerdy sort of way, one of twelve detail draftsmen who worked in the office, the best of them as far as Mattie was concerned. He’d been wheelchair-bound since a car accident in his teens left him paralyzed from the waist down.

Mattie got up from her chair and walked over to where he sat, a rolled-up set of drawings in his lap. He handed her the plans, explained a problem with a covered walkway, and she rolled the drawings open to see exactly what he was talking about.

“You’re right. The walkway is a problem. I’ll give it some thought and get back to you as soon as I can.”

“Great. We still on for dinner Friday night?”

Mattie frowned. “Oh no, I forgot all about it. I planned to work late. I’m getting kind of behind. Could we do it next week?”

Aaron looked disappointed, but he just nodded. “Sure, no big deal.”

The door swung open just then. “Aaron, there you are.” Emily Bliss, a petite, dark-haired and attractive drafts-woman, cast Mattie a guilty glance. “Sorry, Mattie. I just had a quick question for Aaron.”

“It’s okay. We’re finished.”

“Talk to ya later,” Aaron said.

“I’ll have an answer to your problem before the end of the day,” Mattie promised.

Aaron rolled out the door and no one offered to help him. Everyone knew Aaron Kreski preferred to take care of himself.

Emily hovered over him, though, her short brown bob swinging forward as she leaned down to ask him a question she probably could have answered herself. Mattie had a strong suspicion Emily had a crush on Aaron, though he didn’t seem to notice.

That was too bad. Emily was a great girl and Aaron was a terrific guy. Mattie smiled as she returned to her desk. Her own love life might be the pits but deep down she was still a romantic.

Which made her think of Gabe Raines and inwardly she sighed.

Gabe arrived at the Taj Restaurant a few minutes early, figuring Mattie would probably be right on time. The place was kind of dark, draped with heavy gold velvet curtains and ornate brass latticework along the walls. The maître d’ led him to a table in the center of the room and he wondered if Mattie had asked the man to seat them there so they would be surrounded by people.

Gabe just shook his head and pointed to a table in the corner. If he still got the I’m-not-interested vibes again tonight he’d back off and leave her alone. But he could have sworn he’d caught her looking him over a couple of times when she thought he wouldn’t see.

He stood as she walked into the restaurant wearing the same drab gray suit she’d had on earlier in the day. Apparently, she’d come straight from work. As she passed the maître d’, Gabe saw the subtle shake of the man’s dark head and almost smiled.

He pulled out her chair and Mattie took a seat. “Right on time,” he said. “But then I figured you would be.”

She gave him a single assessing glance as he returned to his chair, made a point of picking up her linen napkin, carefully opening it and draping it across her lap.

“I had some design work to finish before I could leave but it went along without a hitch.”

“That’s always good.”

“I doesn’t happen that often.”

“Believe me, I know what you mean.”

She continued to smooth her napkin. “I hope you’re hungry. This place has terrific food.”

He scoffed. “If you like eggplant,” he grumbled. He was what he was. If she couldn’t accept that, there was no use going any further.

Mattie looked up at him and smiled. “I guess you haven’t looked at the menu.”

“Not yet.”

She picked one up and handed it over. “You might like the rack of lamb. It’s a specialty of the house.”

His eyebrows went up. “Rack of lamb?”

“The curried beef is also very good.” Her smile remained in place. “Unless you’re opposed to curry.”

“I like spicy food. I love Mexican, the hotter the better. I’m pretty much game for anything as long as it has meat.”

She laughed at that. He remembered hearing it once before, a kind of throaty, sexy sound that made the blood in his veins head south. Why did he keep seeing her as some sort of sex kitten when the way she dressed, the way she wore her hair, said sex was the lowest item on her list of priorities.

The waiter arrived, a thin, dark-skinned man with a hooked nose and a heavy Indian accent. “Would you care for something to drink?”

“Yes, thank you.” Mattie ordered a glass of white wine and Gabe ordered an Indian beer.

“When in Rome and all that,” he said.

Mattie smiled, seeming a little more relaxed than she had been when she arrived. “I heard you went to the police department this afternoon.”

“How’d you know?”

“Captain Daily called Sid Weiss.”

“After talking to Angel and actually seeing his alibi, I’m fairly convinced he didn’t do it. If that’s the case, I want Daily to find out who did.”

“What did the captain say?”

“He said he’d take another look, see if he could find something more than circumstantial evidence, something that might clear Angel’s name. Maybe something that’ll give them a lead on somebody else.”

“Thank you.”

“I also spoke to a friend of mine with the Downtown Redevelopment Committee. I asked him to take a look at the mural Enrique painted. I mentioned that the lot next to the painting might be the perfect place to put a park.”

Mattie straightened, excitement glinting in her light blue eyes. “Do you really think they might be interested?”

“I think they might. At any rate, it’s worth a try.”

“Yes, it certainly is. Enrique… The boy has a marvelous talent.”

“Yes, he does.”

The waiter came and took their orders. Gabe had the lamb and Mattie had curried vegetables and rice.

“So you don’t eat meat,” he said when the food arrived. “Why is that? Some sort of personal statement or something?”

“Actually, I eat chicken and fish, eggs and cheese. Red meat just doesn’t hold much appeal for me.”

He cut into his lamb and took a bite. It was delicious. “This is great.”

Her lips quirked. “I told you.”

He bit into a pita-like bread the waiter called naan and it was great, too. “What else don’t you do?”

Her gaze shot to his and soft color washed into her cheeks. She was thinking of sex—he would swear it.

“I don’t date much. I’m too busy working.”

“No boyfriend? No one you’re involved with?”

“No.” She didn’t ask about his love life, but she did glance down at his ring finger.

“Never been married,” he said. “No illegitimate kids that I know of. No girlfriend. Not that you’ve given me any indication you might be interested.”

The color beneath those charming freckles pinkened even more. “That’s because I’m not. I’m too busy with my career to have time for a relationship.”

“In my book, supper or an occasional movie don’t constitute a relationship. In most cases, not even a sleepover counts for that.”

She shoved some white rice around on her plate. “I suppose you’re right.”

“How’s your dinner?” he asked, letting her off the hook for the moment.

She looked up at him and smiled. “It’s great. I really like to eat here.”

“Everything’s fantastic.” He speared another piece of meat. “So where should we go next time?”

Her eyes widened. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Just for supper,” he said, “not the sleepover. That can wait.”

She swallowed, started shaking her head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

She stared at him, then set her fork down next to her plate. “You want the truth? It’s obvious you want to have sex. Sex has never appealed to me that much. I mean, it’s okay, but I can take it or leave it. Mostly, I’d rather just leave it. For you, my guess is, sex is like breathing.”

He chuckled, appreciating her honesty. Unfortunately, it only stirred his interest. “I won’t deny I enjoy it.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin, his eyes still on her face. “They must have been real losers.”

“Who?”

“The guys you’ve had sex with.”

Mattie straightened, her chin going up. “If it’s any of your business, which it isn’t, there was nothing wrong with them. It’s me, that’s all. I’m not a very sexual woman. I’m more interested in my career.”

“Seems to me like one isn’t mutually exclusive of the other.”

Mattie made no reply. It was time to drop the subject before she fell out of the seat she perched on so precariously.

“I have a feeling there’s more going on here than what you’re telling me, but as you said, it’s really none of my business.”

She took a sip of her wine, her hand a little unsteady. She kept her eyes on her plate, yet he could feel something hot and intense in the air between them. He didn’t believe she wasn’t a sexual woman. Only that she hadn’t met a man who could make her feel that way.

“Why don’t we talk about Enrique and how we’re going to get him noticed by the right people?”

Relief swept through her at the change of subject and he watched her shoulders relax. “You think we could do something like that?”

“I’m involved in a theater project in Deep Ellum. I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in the arts community. I think I can get a few of them down to the lot, get them to take a look at Enrique’s work.”

“That would be really terrific. If they like it, I can talk to him, see if he’s done anything smaller, some pieces we could show them.”

“That’s a good idea.” They talked amiably through the rest of the meal and he didn’t push for more.

Normally, he would drop his pursuit, but there was something about Mattie Baker that had captured his fancy. He was convinced she was more than just drab suits, no-nonsense hair and an aversion to sex.

Gabe was determined to find out what it was.

Six

Mattie let Gabe walk her to her car. He hadn’t pressed her for another date and she was torn between relief and an odd sense of regret.

She had told him the truth. She simply wasn’t a very sexual person. For her, sex had always been more to please her partner than herself. Mark had been a very gentle lover, allowing her to take charge, preferring to let her lead the way. He liked her on top most of the time, liked her to satisfy him. She’d loved him and she wanted to make him happy, but she got little out of the experience herself.

The few times she’d had casual sex had been equally disappointing. She simply wasn’t cut out to be a passionate lover. Sex with Gabe would probably be equally disappointing—for him as well as for her.

She said nothing as they walked across the parking lot, nothing as he waited for her to use her electronic key to unlock her car. At the sound of the mechanism releasing, he reached down and pulled open the door.

“Good night, Mattie.”

“Good night, Gabe. Thanks for supper and for trying to help Angel and Enrique.”

“Supper was my pleasure and we’ll see what happens with the boys.”

She started to get into the car, but Gabe lightly caught her shoulders, turning her to face him. Lowering his head, he very softly kissed her.

Mattie had no notion what to expect from such a casual kiss but one thing she didn’t expect was the bottom dropping out of her stomach. The softest male lips she had ever encountered settled lightly over hers. They melded, blended, captured. Gabe coaxed and tasted, the kiss completely undemanding, and yet her insides trembled.