Perfect Fit (21 page)

“That’s not necessary, Grainger. I’ll drop her off
at home,” he said with authority, slanting Malcolm a look that reminded him of his position. Malcolm may work for the Denmark Group, but ultimately the Denmark Group was under Landmark Industries’ employ, of which Mayhew was a top executive.

Malcolm met Sage’s gaze. “Just say the word, Sage.”

Sage knew that all she had to do was say that she would prefer Malcolm taking her home, and at the risk of incurring Mayhew’s ire, Malcolm would. But she couldn’t do that. There was no doubt in Sage’s mind that Mayhew would deliberately try and make things difficult for Malcolm, and he had a wife and child to think about. This wasn’t the first time Langley Mayhew had tried coming on to her, and she intended to talk to Mr. Landmark about it. There was such a thing as sexual harassment in the workplace.

“That’s okay, Malcolm, I’ll be fine.”

Across the room, still sitting quietly and evidently forgotten, Gabe had heard enough. Mayhew might think of himself as Sage and Malcolm’s boss, but he sure as hell wasn’t his. And it would be a damn cold day in hell before he allowed the slimy man to be alone in the same car with Sage.

Gabe stood. “Ready to go, Sage?” he called out to her.

He saw her blink. He saw Malcolm’s brow lift in amused comprehension and then saw Mayhew’s jaw tighten in anger.

“I’ve offered Ms. Dunbar a ride home, Blackwell,” Mayhew said through gritted teeth.

Gabe slowly strode over to the group of three. “Sage doesn’t need a ride home since she’s spending the weekend at my place.”

His gaze slowly shifted from Mayhew’s to meet
Sage’s. He saw the look of comprehension and appreciation in her eyes.

She followed his lead and said, “Oops, I’d forgotten about this weekend, Gabe. I’m sorry.”

He smiled at her. “That’s understandable. I’m sure you’ve had a lot on your mind in getting ready for today’s meeting. We’ll stop by your place to pack some things.”

“All right.”

She then turned her attention to Mr. Mayhew, seeing the angry look on his face. Not only had Gabe put a damper on whatever plans Mayhew had had for her, but he had also insinuated that the two of them were more than mere business associates and therefore she was off limits. “It seems that I don’t need a ride after all, Mr. Mayhew, but thanks anyway.”

Mayhew nodded, and without saying anything, he angrily walked out of the conference room.

“That man is a jerk,” Malcolm said, watching the man’s retreating back. He then turned back to Sage and Gabe. “I’m out of here, too. I hope the two of you have a good weekend.”

Sage blinked as Malcolm walked away. “Malcolm, wait!”

Malcolm stopped walking and turned around. “Yes?”

Sage frowned at him. “I still need a ride home.”

Malcolm smiled and pointed to Gabe. “I thought he was taking you.”

Sage frowned. “No, he’s not.”

“Yes, I am,” Gabe said, folding his arms across his chest.

Sage narrowed her eyes at him. “That little show was for Mayhew’s benefit.”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Yes, it was.”

Malcolm cleared his throat, interrupting Gabe and Sage’s disagreement. “Sage, I’m going on home since it seems you’re in good hands. Goodbye.”

Before Sage could gather her wits and call after him, Malcolm was gone. She glared up at Gabe, who shrugged his shoulders as a smile tilted his lips.

“I guess you’re stuck with me. We can leave now if you’re ready,” he said, reaching for her briefcase.

“I can carry it myself,” she snapped, taking it out of his hands.

“Suit yourself.”

Since it was the end of the day as well as the end of the week, most people at the Landmark office had left for the day, so when they got into the elevator and the doors slid shut, they found themselves alone. Sage pushed a button on the console that would take them to the bottom floor, and no sooner had the elevator begun to move, than Gabe reached out and pushed a button to stop it.

Sage glared at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Gabe smiled as he leaned back against the panel wall. He really liked her when she got mad. She was fiery, bitchy and sexy. He met her stormy glare. “Ever had sex in an elevator?”

He saw that his question took her by surprise and almost knocked the wind out of her sails. Almost. He had to admire the way she quickly recouped and narrowed her eyes at him. “No, and this isn’t going to be the day that I try it. Now, if you don’t mind, can we go on down?”

He smiled at her. “No, not yet.” Then a few moments
later, he asked, “Have you ever been kissed in an elevator?”

Sage raised her eyes to the ceiling.
What is this? Sexual Harassment Day?
“No, I’ve never been kissed in an elevator,” she snapped. “Now, will you start this thing moving again please?”

“No, I don’t think that I will,” he said huskily as he continued to stare long and hard at her. The dim lighting in the elevator made her features even more beautiful, he thought. There was just something about the right type of lighting reflecting off brown skin.

Gabe began wondering how in the world he had thought that he could walk away from her. Emotional baggage or not, he wanted her with every fiber in his body. All during today’s meeting he had literally ached for her.

And he was still aching.

Sage narrowed her eyes at him. “Do you mind, Gabe? Like I told you last night, I don’t like playing games.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Then, what do you like doing, Sage? You don’t make out in elevators, nor have you ever been kissed in one. So what do you do?”

She angrily closed the distance between them. “Oh, don’t you know? I like using men as substitutes for my ex-fiancé, since stupid me doesn’t know when to let go and move on with my life.”

Before she had time to react, Gabe pulled on the lapels of her coat, bringing her face close to his. “Good, because today I feel like being used.” He then lowered his mouth to hers.

The moment Gabe’s mouth touched Sage, heat flooded her body, and any thought of resisting
him faded into oblivion. She forgot all about the fact that she was supposed to be angry with him. Right now she had other things to think about—like the way he had deepened their kiss and how his tongue was doing crazy and wicked things to the inside of her mouth. His tongue was making love to it, stroking, thrusting and licking and literally staking a claim in a way he had not done last night, and she’d thought that had been the ultimate kiss. Boy, had she been wrong.

Sage heard herself moan … or was it Gabe. She didn’t know, nor did she care. All that mattered was that he was kissing her, devouring her, and she was enjoying every tantalizing minute of it.

All too soon he ended the kiss, but not totally. He traced the outline of her lips and continued licking, nibbling and thoroughly tasting her lips as he intermittently whispered between each sensuous tongue attack, “You’re not stupid. I’m the one who’s stupid for saying what I did last night. I’m sorry, Sage.”

Since Gabe had her lips engaged in something that had her bones turning to mush, she couldn’t say anything. She could only nod her head. She was sorry, too. Sorry that some woman had hurt him so badly that he was distrustful to this degree.

Distrustful
. She certainly knew how that felt.

There was so much she wanted to say to him. More than anything, she wanted to assure him that he was not Erol’s substitute, but the sexual chemistry between them was in total control, making them use their lips and tongues for other things than talking.

He finally loosened his grip on her waist and rubbed his thumb against the smoothness of her
cheek and the wetness of her mouth. “I guess we better get out of here before they call in the mechanics,” he murmured, nearly breathless.

Still unable to speak, she nodded. He pulled her to his side after pushing the button that started the elevator moving again. When they reached the bottom floor and the elevator doors opened, Sage had to blink against the brightness of the daylight after having spent the past fifteen minutes in dim lighting.

Gabe grabbed hold of her hand, entwining his fingers in hers as he led her through the glass door. “I’m parked over here.”

They said nothing as they walked together to his car, still holding hands. He opened the car door for her and then adjusted the seat belt around her, snapping it in place.

Sage watched as Gabe walked around to his side of the car to get in. Before starting the car, he leaned over and kissed her again. This one was a lot gentler than the one they’d shared in the elevator. Moments later, he pulled back. “We need to talk, Sage,” he said huskily.

She let out a long, deep breath. “I know.”

He then started the car. Sage remained silent, trying to gather her thoughts on what she would say to him. Should she tell him about her trip to Texas to meet with Erol? Would he see that as the inability to let go instead of seeing it as the ability to move on? She shook her head, not knowing what she should do.

“How long will it take you to pack?”

Sage, who had been looking out the window deep in thought, turned and gave Gabe a sidelong glance. “Excuse me?”

When he brought the car to a stop at a traffic light, he met her gaze. “I asked, how long will it take for you to pack?”

Sage raised a brow in confusion. “Pack for what?”

“The weekend. I was dead serious when I told Mayhew that you were spending the weekend with me at my place, Sage.”

S
age’s eyebrows shot up. “Your place for the weekend?” At his nod, she said, “But, there’s a lot we need to discuss.”

With a slow smile, Gabe said, “And we can do it this weekend at my place, Sage. I’m not trying to rush you into anything; in fact, there’re several guest rooms in my home. All I want is for us to be able to spend time together and talk. I’ve been to your place before; now you can come to mine.”

“But for the entire weekend?” she asked with a frown, not sure this was the right route for them to take.

“Yes. After our talk there’s a lot we can do this weekend, even though it’s supposed to snow again. You mentioned over dinner the other night that you’d never gone fishing. That’s something we can do since I have a stocked lake on my land. I also have a snowmobile we can use to go riding.” He glanced over at her. “Besides, I’d really like to spend some time with you.”

Sage considered his words for a moment. “And I will be using the guest room?”

He nodded. “If that’s the way you want it.”

“It is.”

“Then, that’s the way it will be.”

A couple of hours later, Gabe stood in front of the huge window in his living room as his gaze took in the panoramic view of the canyons and snow-capped mountains. He leaned his head back and sniffed the air. There was the smell of the burning wood in the fireplace and an unmistakable scent of a woman.

The scent of Sage.

The seductive fragrance of her perfume sent a powerful shudder through him when thoughts of the shower she was taking in the guest bathroom stood out in his mind. After taking her home, he had sat patiently in her living room while she had gone into her bedroom to pack. She’d reappeared less than twenty minutes later with an overnight bag.

During the forty-five-minute drive from her apartment to his home, they had talked about a number of things, making sure they kept the topic of their conversation off of them. She had told him of her indecisiveness about going home for Mother’s Day because of the way she still felt about her father, and about Rose Wood’s decision to come for a visit in a few weeks.

He, on the other hand, had told her how he had come to own the house and how Christopher’s wife, Maxi, had done all of the decorating of the place. He’d also told her about Christopher and Maxi’s son, Christopher Max, and how at eleven months old he had started walking last week.

As Gabe watched a family of squirrels dig their
way through the snow in search of food, it suddenly occurred to him that other than Maxi, no woman had spent the night here. Then, brushing his fingers against the cold windowpane, he went still, stood almost frozen in place, as he stared at the feminine reflection that suddenly appeared in the glass. With the lights down he could see that Sage had entered the room behind him and was unaware that he knew she was there.

Gabe’s heart began beating rapidly in his chest, and he decided not to turn around. When she was ready to let him know of her presence, she would.

In the meantime, he would enjoy her beautiful reflection since it hadn’t dawned on her yet that she was being watched.

Sage had walked out of the bedroom with the intention of letting Gabe know she was there. But the sight of him had taken her breath away. He had changed clothes, and it was the first time she had seen him in anything other than business attire. It was hard not to appreciate the sight of a well-built man, especially from behind.

Even beneath his knitted sweater she could detect broad shoulders and a strong, muscular back. Then there was the firmness of his buttocks that looked pretty damn good in a pair of jeans. The way the denim material fitted over his backside left nothing to the imagination. Everything she saw was unmistakably actual visual perception and not something that was based on mere make-believe fantasy. This wasn’t reality in motion but was reality standing still. To put it more bluntly, Gabe Blackwell definitely owned a great-looking tush. She’d never been one of those women who were attracted to a man’s hind part before, but the way Gabe looked in jeans was enough to make her appreciate
the fact that she was a woman with good vision.

And all of this was from the back. Heaven help her when he turned around and she saw the front.

Knowing that she couldn’t stand there and secretly ogle him all night, Sage moved a few steps into the room. She wasn’t sure if it was the heat being generated from the fireplace or if Gabe had turned the heating unit up a notch, but she suddenly felt hot. Hotter than she’d ever felt before.

She looked down and saw a half-filled glass of wine sitting on the coffee table next to her. Evidently, it was wine Gabe had started drinking but never finished. She picked up the wineglass and brought it to her lips.