Page 52 of Flirting With Forever
She turned to face him and forced herself to meet his gaze. “It is. Thanks for the assist to get rid of my brother, though. I appreciate it.”
He didn’t lower his crossed arms, but he did cant his head to one side and give her a once-over. Not in a creepy way but an assessing one. “You probably shouldn’t walk on alone. He could double back.”
She swallowed hard, knowing the odds of Noah remaining nearby were extraordinarily high but given his order to meet him later, maybe not.
He might lurk. Or he might bide his time and wait until tonight, knowing the implied threat against Gage was one she wouldn’t be able to ignore.
How far would he be willing to go this time, though?
Undoubtedly he’s learned a few tricks from his clients, she mused. “I’ll be fine. I’m…staying with my friend a few blocks away.”
“Gage Blackwell.”
She blinked in surprise, earning a smile from the rugged stranger. The large man visibly lowered his guard.
“I know Gage and his brothers well. I saw you helping them during the hurricane. Hudson’s on my crew.”
Hudson. The younger brother she hadn’t yet met but had heard so much about.
“I also see you drive by every morning.”
“This place really is a fishbowl,” she said, quoting Gage.
The quip left the grumpy-looking man smirking, the wrinkles lining the corners of his eyes, and his mouth crinkling up in the process. And while her interest was definitely elsewhere in the form of one tall, dark and handsome Blackwell brother, she could certainly see this man’s appeal if she went for the whole age-gap thing.
“Let me give you a ride back to Gage’s. Make sure your brother doesn’t bother you again.”
She shook her head automatically. It was one thing to stand outside and have a conversation, quite another to get in a vehicle with a stranger. “I’ll be fine.”
“If it’s getting in a car with me, we can take the golf cart. Would that be better?”
Considering it would be easier to jump out, scream for help or—whatever—maybe?
He held out a hand. “Gabriel Wolfe. Everyone calls me Wolfe.”
Since he’d undoubtedly heard Noah call her by name and he knew the Blackwell brothers, she couldn’t give a different name as she might have done in the past. “Sloane Walker.” She’d never claim the name Harrington again.
“Sloane, call me old-fashioned, but I’d really rather you didn’t walk home alone after what I just saw, and I have a Thanksgiving dinner to get to at the firehouse so… Will you do me a favor and let me drive you so I don’t burn the potatoes worrying about you? It’s that, or I call Alec and have him tell Gage you’re here and need a ride.”
“I don’t want Gage to leave his family dinner.”
Gabriel Wolfe waited silently, his thick, dark eyebrows pulled low as he gave her time to come to terms with the inevitable.
“Fine. You can drive me, but—would you mind not mentioning this to Gage or his brothers?”
His shuttered expression visibly revealed his dislike of her demand, but there it was.
“It’s none of my business. But here’s some advice. If you and Gage are together, he’s going to be angry that you didn’t come to him for help. Why not let him if it means getting your brother off your case?”
“Because that would only cause more problems. My brother and I— We’ve just had a falling out, but it’ll work itself out somehow.” It had to, or Gage might find himself at the end of someone’s fists like her last—only—boyfriend since she’d learned the truth.
Which wasn’t something she could risk. She’d have to meet with Noah. Talk to him. And he couldn’t exactly kidnap her in a public place like the Lachlan Hotel. Could he?
Maybe he was trying a new tactic to win her over. Or maybe she should set her own terms when it came to the when and where.
Wolfe tilted his head toward the stairs. “Since I doubt you’ll come inside, at least move over under the carport and out of sight. I’ll run up and grab my keys. Take me two seconds.”
“I’m sorry about the trouble.”
