He grinned, dropping a kiss on her nose. “Not by a long shot.”
Sliding out of her, he suppressed a shiver when she hummed at the pull on her sensitive inner muscles. He knew the feeling, wanting nothing more than to plunge back inside her and send them both flying again. Promising himself he would do just that, as soon as they both recovered, he climbed from the bed and headed to the bathroom.
Two minutes later, a towel wrapped around his waist, he padded across the room and stopped beside the bed. Curled on her side with a slender hand resting on his pillow, she dozed. He shook his head. Shae Austin was nothing like the spoiled debutante he’d expected.
Justifiably suspicious of Michael’s last-minute call offering his daughter’s assistance as interpreter, Gabe had little choice but to accept, since Austin had tossed him the Fougere lead in the first place. In truth, he’d been curious why the supposedly attractive daughter of such a successful man would need assistance meeting men. The down-to-earth California girl needed no help along those lines. With her sunny smile and quick laugh, she must draw men like flies.
Shae Austin wasn’t just a pretty face with a man-killer body. Her ability to think on her feet probably saved him from blowing a very lucrative deal. Josette Fougere might believe differently, but in Gabe’s experience, business and pleasure never mixed well. The irony of the situation didn’t escape him. Michael Austin’s daughter naked in his bed wasn’t a good idea either.
That didn’t stop him from dropping the towel and climbing back in beside her.
The Condom King.
He shook his head, unsure how he kept a straight face at the smart-ass excuse Shae had offered to head off the aggressive designer.
His schedule was clear for the next thirty-six hours. An anticipatory smile tugged at his lips as he considered several ways to convince her to change her travel plans and spend tomorrow with him, exploring the city she loved.
Chapter Four
As the cab pulled from the curb, Jane frowned at the crush of cars lining both the driveway and street in front of her childhood home. Her mother hadn’t mentioned a party when she insisted Jane stop by during her call from the airport to let her parents know she was back in the States. She groaned, too tired and grimy to face one of her mother’s famous gatherings.
In the last twenty-four hours, she’d experienced her first one-night stand, faced the sly looks of the early morning staff in the lobby of Gabe’s hotel while blushing at her commando state beneath her wrinkled skirt, and traveled thirty-six hundred miles.
On top of all that, she’d fallen in love.
A slightly hysterical laugh bubbled in her chest. She’d done some dumb things before, but this… She recalled Gabe’s sleeping face as she slipped from his hotel. Dumb or not, she couldn’t regret this. The heart was a fickle and mysterious thing. She could no more control its instant, powerful recognition of Gabe than she could her parents’ inability to love her for who she was. Besides, last night scored right up there with the time she and Shae tried bungee jumping.
She’d done some screaming then, too.
Her suitcase grew heavier with each step up the walkway, then caught on the threshold when she pushed open her parents’ door and stepped inside. Turning around and using both hands, she yanked at the bag’s handle. It came free more easily than expected. Thrown off balance, she staggered back several steps and slammed into a table not normally there. Her startled squeak cut off abruptly when she landed on her ass.
She cringed, covering her head with her arms as, all around her, metal pinged off the tiled floor and clashed with the tinkle of shattering glass. Sprawled amongst the wreckage, she spotted her brother, Keith, through the living room archway. His blond head whipped around and sympathy flooded his blue eyes, so like her own. He stalked toward her while several other faces filled the space beyond his wide shoulders. Their expressions ranged from her mother’s shocked horror to Todd’s cold displeasure.
Todd? What the hell was he doing here?
Keith squatted at her side. “Sorry, kid. I just got here myself or I would have called to warn you.”
“Warn me of what?”
“You’ll see.”
“Jane. What in the world?” Caroline Whitmore stood over them. Disapproval puckered her mother’s perfectly made-up face.
Keith winced and leaned in close enough to whisper in Jane’s ear. “Don’t let them push you around.”
Oh, crap. That didn’t sound good.
He winked and offered his hand. “Nice panties.”
She slapped her thighs together. Thank God she’d replaced the pair she left behind in Gabe’s room this morning.
Keith chuckled, grabbed her hand, and assisted her to her feet.
She tugged her skirt back into place. “My bag tripped me up, and I didn’t see the table. It was an accident, Mother.”