Perfect Fit - Brenda Jackson [55]
She could recall and would now admit that the woman side of her, the one that naturally appreciated the sight of a good-looking man, had studied him while he’d been unaware of it.
He’d been impeccably dressed in a tailored suit with the words intelligent, competent and business-minded written all over him. And then later, at the restaurant when he’d smoothly pushed all business aside, he had brought out the charm. Not in an overflowing way but in a way she wasn’t used to. While talking business he had succeeded in keeping his expression impassive, the trait of a good businessperson. In his line of work it was good not to let a business opponent know what you were thinking. But when the business side of dinner had concluded, he had bestowed upon her a slow smile, one that had nearly turned her bones to mush before she had quickly pulled herself together, reminded that Erol was also a charmer—although in her opinion, not of the same caliber as Gabe. Gabe’s charm seemed to come naturally, it seemed to be genuine, and if a woman wasn’t careful, it could prove to be lethal.
Sage rose from her chair and walked over to the window. It was still snowing but not as heavily as earlier when she had arrived at work. Tonight was her pamper-yourself night, and she looked forward to lighting the candles in her bathroom and taking a well-deserved leisurely bath. Already in her mind she could smell the scent of vanilla. She smiled as she closed her eyes. She saw herself easing into the big tub filled with bubbles while the candlelight flickered across her naked skin with the soft sound of Kenny G and his saxophone playing in the background. And as the water and bubbles covered her body and she leaned back, she slowly glanced to the side. A man was standing in the shadows watching her. When he stepped forward, his image became vivid and crystal clear.
Gabe.
Sage snapped her eyes open and quickly turned away from the window. Sitting back down to her desk, she couldn’t help but consider just where her mind had taken her a few moments ago.
She frowned. Although the path her thoughts had taken her down had been forbidden, challenging and … she had to admit … for a brief moment, an exhilarating experience, on a common sense level it really made no sense, at least not in any logical form.
There was no reason for her mind to have placed Gabe Blackwell in her bathroom watching her take a bath.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Mr. Blackwell?”
Gabe lifted his gaze from the documents he was reading upon hearing the sound of his secretary’s voice over the intercom on his desk. “Yes, Caroline?”
“Mr. Cabot is here to see you.”
Gabe smiled. “Please send him in.” He stood for the man who as usual was doing a fantastic job in getting the construction of Eden under way. He gripped Parnell Cabot’s hand in a firm handshake the moment he walked in. After Caroline left, closing the door behind her, he offered him a chair.
“I would offer you something to drink, but I know you’re still on duty,” Gabe said jokingly.
“Yeah, and after today I’d be tempted to take you up on that drink, even though I would know better.”
Gabe lifted a brow, and a concerned expression immediately appeared on his face. “Any problems that I should know about?”
Parnell shook his head as he eased his frame into the chair across from Gabe’s desk. “Nothing with Eden, so let me rest your mind about that. My live-in sitter, Mrs. Summers, informed me this morning that she might have to leave Anchorage for at least six weeks to care for her sister who’ll be undergoing hip replacement surgery in Florida. That means that I’ll have to try and find a new live-in sitter for the girls.”
Gabe nodded. He knew that Parnell’s four-year-old twin daughters had made the adjustment to Anchorage rather easily, thanks to Mrs. Summers. According to Parnell, it seemed the elderly woman had been a godsend. “Well, I hope things work out for you on that end, which I’m sure they will,” he said, hoping to ease the man’s worries somewhat. He knew how much it meant to Parnell to have his daughters properly