Page 23 of A Diamond Deal with Her Boss
He had found that adventurous lady fast enough. Indeed, rumour had it that he had encountered quite a few of those.
But, in the wake of Jason’s backhanded compliment, Abby had quietly rebelled through her choice of underwear. She’d ditched sensible, ‘good girl, you’ll make some lucky guy a great wife’underwear and cotton nighties and gone wicked.
Never had she regretted that impulse until now as she clutched the silky burgundy piece of nothing she had brought to sleep in, and the thong.
Gabriel wasn’t even looking in her direction. ‘You have a point,’ he said absently, scrolling down whatever he was reading. ‘I think I’m going to have to do some work, because from the sounds of it my dear Grandmama has chosen to reinterpret what I told her about having to deal with a couple of clients while I was over here.’
Abby had been creeping stealthily towards the bathroom and now, as she slipped through the door, she said with airy insouciance, ‘Brilliant idea.’ And just in case he was in any danger of forgetting the balance of their relationship under the weight of unforeseen circumstance, ‘And you can email anything you’d like me to do.’
‘Why would I do that?’ He glanced at her to see that she was peering round the door at him, modesty personified. Did it ever occur to her that all that modesty could be as much of a turn-on as if she’d decided to shed her clothes and perform a pole dance?
‘What do you mean?’
‘Why would I email you when we’re sharing the same space and I can just sit and tell you face to face?’
‘Because,’ Abby said a little desperately, ‘Your grandmother is going to think it odd if we’re supposed to be an item and yet we’re going through reports and getting up to date on a client list.’
Gabriel stood up and tucked his laptop neatly under his arm. Abby breathed a sigh of profound relief as she shut the bathroom door and began running a bath.
She could afford to relax. If there was one thing she knew about Gabriel, it was this—when he began focusing on work, he could be involved for hours. He never did anything in half-measures, especially when it came to work. That laptop under his arm was indication enough that she could have a relaxed bath and be safely tucked up before he returned to the bedroom.
In the morning, she would make sure she went into Seville and bought some sensible sleeping stuff, more for her own peace of mind than anything else.
For the first time since she’d arrived at the villa, Abby took time out as she lay in the bubbly bath really to observe her surroundings.
The bathroom was huge and very modern. The shower was a walk-in, big enough to fit several people, and the bath tub was likewise oversized. Cool white complemented azure touches here and there. The towels on the heated towel rail were big, fluffy and snow-white. She could have been in a five-star hotel, which made sense, considering the villa was not used very often by anyone bar Ava.
Abby’s mind drifted this way and that. Whenever it touched on the four-poster bed awaiting her, it reared up like a frightened horse facing an obstacle it couldn’t surmount.
It was as silent as the grave as she finally drained the tub and then cleared the condensation from the bathroom mirror to stare at her reflection: bright eyed, skin pink and dewy, hair damp because, try as she had, she had not been able to keep it completely dry.
She looked down at the sexy short nightie that barely skirted her thighs and quickly slipped on the bathrobe provided on the back of the door.
Fingers riffling her hair, she pushed open the bathroom door and stopped short.
‘You’re out,’ Gabriel drawled from where he was sprawled on the bed. ‘I was about to send in the armed forces to make sure you hadn’t come to any harm.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘Working.’ He held up the laptop and waved it.
‘This is no place to work!’ Suddenly remembering what she was wearing, and weak at the knees with relief that she hadn’t made the mistake of prancing out in her next-to-nothing nightie, Abby yanked the belt of the bathrobe tightly around her. ‘And why are you on that bed?’
Gabriel sat up and linked his fingers on his stomach. She’d pulled that belt so tightly around her that he was surprised she could carry on breathing but she hadn’t got there fast enough. He’d seen something he would never have imagined possible in a million years. His PA, hisperfectPA, who did her utmost to make sure every strand of hair was in place, had a liking for sexy underwear!
That glimpse...it had fired him up like a jolt of pure adrenaline.
A short, silky little number in a hot red colour, and slender legs that would make the pulse of any red-blooded male go into instant overdrive.
It was almost a punishable crime that she had spent the past two years concealing those from sight!
Gabriel had always had a hard and fast rule never to mix business with pleasure, but right now that rule was in serious danger of going out the window.
‘Which question would you like me to answer first?’
‘Don’t be funny, Gabriel!’
‘I can’t help it when you’re standing there with steam pouring out of your ears.’
