It was like a scene from Titanic: some people losing their marbles and others fleeing and pushing others out of the way. Only she wasn’t buying Gabriel in the role of Jack. Not selfless enough.
Locking her fingers together in front of her, she told it to him straight. Kind of. “I’ll need a hand getting upstairs. Then we’ll see about getting you settled.”
It was the truth as far as it went. She didn’t mention the part about him not having a hope in hell of getting into her bed.
He moved close to her body. She could’ve purred and rubbed against him like a cat. But that would be bad. A bad, bad idea. She couldn’t remember why, or much of anything, when he wrapped his arm around her waist. She could feel muscles on his muscles, for goodness sake.
He spoke low and deep in her ear. “Here, lean on me.”
She’d flake out at his feet if he kept that up. Her mind went places she wasn’t supposed to be interested in. Gabriel talking low and dirty in her ear, naked and hovering over her, kissing her deep and slow, waiting for her to …
“Are you coming, or not?” He squinted and sounded puzzled. The question nearly had her laughing, except it wasn’t funny at all.
So she hadn’t had a boyfriend for a year. Not even a man to hold her hand or put his arm around her. There was no need to become a quivery mess, a volcano filled with molten lava, ready to blow at the slightest touch.
Nope, no need at all.
She let him lead her across the bar, their footsteps falling in sync. He was going slow, helping her balance. Her knee throbbed like it was huge and red. It was hard to see in the low light. Glass crunched underfoot and she sloshed through water to her ankles – her little boots would be ruined.
Stupid thoughts. Stupid boots.
They reached the side exit, where a long line of people were jostling and shoving, trying to get out. A man near her staggered into her shoulder. She glanced up and she nearly lost her dinner. Oh, no. He was bleeding from a great gash in his head, red rivers down his face and droplets on his shirt.
Gabriel tugged her towards him. “Let’s go, right now. Are you with me?”
Was she with him? It was a good question. One she didn’t have time to ponder as he yanked her arm and pulled her behind him into the hotel foyer. It was like a transplanted refugee camp right off the evening news. Hotel staff in black uniforms handed out pillows from huge trolleys, stacked high. Blankets and air-bed mattresses too. Emergency services were just arriving, pushing through the front doors with stretchers.
Gaze skimming the open area, she took in the families, small children huddled on the floor wrapped in blankets, more than a hundred people altogether. The hotel foyer was dripping with opulence, plush carpets and marble staircases, chandeliers and all. Now it was oddly practical and hospital-like. People with bandages around their limbs, a makeshift first-aid area near the reception desk.
She must have gasped, because Gabriel spoke all reassuring and hot in her ear again. He squeezed her waist, making her skin tingle through her silk shirt. That was one way to get her mind off the chaos.
Glancing at her, then to the crowd near reception, he rubbed her back. Up and down. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”
She shivered under his touch and hoped her reaction wasn’t obvious. “I know, it’s bad though. All these people. I hope no one’s stuck outside in the storm.”
Their heads swung to the full-length windows facing the street. Staff were taping them with sheets of cardboard. It probably wouldn’t make a lick of difference. Through the uncovered panes of glass was a torrential downpour the likes of which she’d never seen. As if a hundred high-pressure fire hoses exploded and rained down on the hotel from all directions.
With a tug on her upper arm, Gabriel pulled her with him, towards a bank of elevators. Her knee twinged as she struggled to keep up. Gabriel stormed ahead of her. She frowned and stopped to catch her breath. “Hey, weren’t you supposed to be helping me along?”
He stopped and looked back, his expression tense, jaw clenched. “I didn’t mean to rush you.”
“Sure, I’m fine.” Nodding, she kept walking, trying to keep an eye on his back, and on the floor at the same time.
Was he was thinking about the bed waiting upstairs? The one with her name on it.
Hers, not his.
His brain was about to explode, which would leave a nasty mess all over the silk-covered walls for some poor cleaner. A bastard of a job. How did you clean brains off silk?
Bloody hell, he was losing it.
He was descending into that weird twilight stage before he blacked out. Images more like dreams playing through his mind, noises amplified twenty times louder than normal. The light burned his retinas.
They were at the suite before Sinead spoke.
She tipped her head to the side. “So, thanks for your help getting me upstairs. I’ll be okay now.” Her hair hung over one shoulder, glowing silver in the moody lighting.
After the elevator ride where she’d given him the silent treatment, Gabriel didn’t like the tone of her voice now. She was trying to get rid of him. Like hell.
He was sick, about to get a whole lot sicker. It was mayhem downstairs and he didn’t have another option. This was his suite as much as hers. There were times when it might pay to be a gentleman. This wasn’t one of them.
“Right. I’ll take the couch. I only need a spare pillow and blanket. I’ll stay out of your hair.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Ah, I don’t think so. It’s been a pleasure, Gabriel. But I’ll be getting to bed now. Alone.”
Subtle as a sledgehammer. He could be plenty blunt too. “If you’re worried about your virtue, My Lady, I promise not to defile you. Not even with my eyes. I feel like death warmed up and I’m about to fall down flat with a migraine. Happy now?”
Her narrowed eyes said don’t mess with me. She composed her features into a sweet expression, fluttering her eyelashes. “Aye, I’m bursting with sunbeams and there’s rainbows coming out my arse. But I’m still not letting a strange man in my bedroom.”
She unlocked the suite’s door with her swipe card quicker than he could blink. Then she flicked her rose-petal scented hair over her other shoulder. “Goodnight, Gabriel.”
She slammed the door in his face.
What the …? Had she really kicked him out and left him in the hall for the night? All signs pointed to yes.
He stepped back and stared at the door. Really stared. Like if he concentrated hard enough, she’d take pity on him or he’d summon her by telepathy and she’d let him inside.
So when he heard a click and the door actually opened a crack, he blinked a couple of times to make sure it wasn’t his mind playing tricks. Light spilled into the hall through the narrow gap, then it widened. Sinead stuck her head into the doorway, then a pale hand followed, dropping something that landed at his feet with a hushed plop.
One pillow, and one blanket. Exactly what he’d said he needed from her. Nothing more, nothing less. His gaze roved up, searching for some sign of reprieve in her face. There was none.
The door clicked shut. Sinead was still on the other side of it. The comfortable side. He was not. Which left him with precisely no options, except to slide his sorry butt down the opposite wall until the floor connected with it and jolted his tailbone.
He sat for a