JAKE
Istood at the elevators, arms crossed, one foot tapping impatiently on the polished concrete. How long had it been since I told Gabriella we had to go? And how long did it take a woman to put the rest of her clothes on?
I checked the time on my Rolex.
We had a meeting to attend in forty-five minutes, and I wasn’t in the business of showing up late. My clients had an expectation of the quality of our relationship. I would not make my good name look bad by being late—especially not for a woman in a pair of heels.
Where the hell was she?
Probably trying to put her old clothes back on,I thought sourly and hoped she wouldn’t bother. The skirt she had on looked good on her. It complemented her hourglass silhouette that she’d been hiding under those loose blouses and wide-leg pants. The woman had a figure, that was for damn sure, and every time I closed my eyes or so much as blinked, said figure flashed in my mind’s eye. Long legs, full hips, a narrow waist, and perky breasts with milky white cleavage trying to spill out the top of her black bra like—
“Ready.”
I looked up. Gabriella stood there wearing the black skirt with the slit up the back. On top she wore a long-sleeved sheer black bouse over a black tank top underneath. To say she looked good would be an understatement.
She looked like someone worth sinning for.
“Took you long enough.” I jabbed the call button for the elevator. “We’re meeting a family I’ve been in contact with for some time now. They’re taking steps to open a family restaurant here in the valley, and based on projections and my own research, I think their business model will be quite successful.” The elevator doors opened. I gestured for her to get on first, and she did. I followed her on and pressed the button for the lobby. “You will be by my side to supply anything I need. There’s a tablet in the car waiting for you. Bring it with you at all times. Take notes during the meeting. Stay on top of things. If I ask you for something, I expect you to be able to find it in short time. Understood?”
She smoothed out her skirt. “And if I can’t?”
“Then I picked the wrong person for the job.”
“Charming.”
“This is business, Gabriella. Like I said, it’s not supposed to be fun. If you hustle, everything will work out.”
“Gabi.”
“What?”
“It’s Gabi,” she said sharply, her golden-brown eyes flicking to me. “I’ve asked you a hundred times since you hired me to call me Gabi, not Gabriella. I’d appreciate it if you listened.”
Well shit, the girl has spunk.
I cracked half a wry grin. “Gabi it is.”
“Thank you.”
The elevator doors opened and spat us out into the lobby. Gabi followed close behind me, her new red heels clicking all the way across the floor and down the concrete steps outside. My personal driver, a lean, moustached, older gentleman named Lewis, opened the back door for us.
Gabi thanked him and offered him a warm smile, which he returned in earnest. “Good afternoon, Ms. St. Clair, Mr. Cassidy.” Lewis tipped his chin to both of us and closed the door once we were inside. He walked around the back of the car and got behind the wheel. “Traffic is surprisingly light for this time of day. I expect we’ll be at our destination ten minutes early.”
“Thank you, Lewis,” I said.
Gabriella buckled up and made herself comfortable. Lewis pulled away from the curb and took the fastest route to our meet-up location.
During the drive I couldn’t help but hear Gabriella’s stomach growling. It sounded like industrial tires rolling over gravel. How could such a tiny human make such angry sounds?
I adjusted my tie. “There will most likely be food at the meeting if you’re hungry.”
“I am hungry. This is usually my lunch hour.”
Right. I was going to have to get better at managing my schedule around someone else’s needs. “If there isn’t, we can stop and pick up lunch on the way back to the office.”
She turned her face to look out the window. “Works for me.”
During the rest of the drive, she picked up the tablet that had been tucked in her door panel and began reviewing all the files on it for our meeting. She got familiar with the schedule app I used that was synced to all of my devices, and only asked a handful of questions before she got the hang of it.