Out of the Shadows (Hudson Security #1)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I t was almost noon, and Gavin leaned back in his chair, twisting his neck from side to side. As he’d been ordered to do, he’d made sure breakfast was brought in for everyone, and lunch was scheduled to be delivered within the next thirty minutes.

He’d arrived at the ass crack of dawn, and it had been a long morning checking in with MacKay and each of the security team leads, not to mention contacting a few high-maintenance clients who needed extra hand-holding. All the while, he’d been in a shit mood.

Generally, he was a fairly even-keeled guy, but today...

Not so much.

He was restless and out of sorts. And he didn’t know why.

Closing his eyes, he slouched in his chair and rested his head on the back. That was a lie. He knew exactly why.

He wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment kind of person. Everything he did was well thought out. Planned. Methodical. Every contingency was taken into account. But yesterday, he’d fucked up. He hadn’t thought of the possibility of someone targeting him, let alone firing at him. His lack of foresight could have gotten Bean hurt. And that was unacceptable.

On top of all that, he’d done something uncharacteristic—he’d acted before thinking. Last night, not only had he gotten more physical with Bean than was appropriate, but he’d bought her a gift...

His gaze landed on the two boxes sitting at the edge of his desk. They’d been delivered to the office an hour earlier via special courier. As requested, both were plain, nondescript, brown-lidded boxes.

Nervous energy coursed through him as he stood and peeked into both of the boxes. It wasn’t like he hadn’t checked them three times already.

It’s no big deal, Frazier. It’s just a friendly gift.

Bullshit.

It wasn’t just a damn gift. And as much as he could try to convince himself it was friendly, it wasn’t.

Standing, he grabbed the boxes and headed for his office door. His hand froze on the doorknob.

Holy shit. What the hell was he doing?

Part of him yelled to drop the boxes, turn around, and sit his ass back down at his desk. But the other part of him? It begged him to get his ass in gear. To stop being a pussy, open the damn door, and give Bean her presents.

Gripping the doorknob, he thunked his forehead against the door. Once. Twice. Three times. Then an image of Bean popped into his mind from late last night as he’d said goodbye to her. How her eyes had heated as he’d caressed her face. How damn soft her skin had been. How he’d caught her floral scent as he’d leaned down to kiss her forehead.

Yeah . . .

Decision made, he straightened and opened the door. Knowing their colleagues were milling about, he walked the few steps to her neighboring office as nonchalantly as he could, knocked on her door, and waited.

“Come in,” her muffled voice called out.

Closing the door behind him, he approached her workstation. Finding a clear spot at the corner of her desk, he set the boxes down with the larger of the two on top.

Her eyes ping-ponged between him and the boxes. “What’s this?”

“Open it.” He wanted to pat himself on the back for how casual the two words had sounded, considering his heart was threatening to beat right out of his damn chest.

With a suspicious look, she rolled her chair closer to the boxes. “What are you up to?” she muttered, lifting the lid of the top box. Then her jaw dropped. “Hiking boots?”

Jaw dropping was a positive thing, right? “Yeah. Wilson said you went out with him in a pair of Converse sneakers. I figured, this way you’d be prepared for next time.” He bit back a grin as she pulled one of the boots from the box, analyzing it like it was a foreign specimen.

“You know, when we’d talked about you owing me another pair of shoes, this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.” She swiveled in her chair to fully face him and kicked out her feet to show off the flame-red heels she’d worn last night. Today, she’d paired them with a black flowy skirt that hit right above her knees and a white sleeveless blouse. He knew she had a white cardigan floating around somewhere because he’d noticed every damn detail about her the second he’d seen her walk by his office this morning.

He schooled his features and shrugged. “Hey, you never know when you’ll take my advice and decide to go hiking. Remember, the great outdoors can do a lot to reset the brain.”

“Fine, Smokey the Bear, I’ll give it a shot one day.” Her nose scrunched. “Maybe. ”

Damn, she was cute. Then her words penetrated his brain. Before he could tell himself to shut the hell up, he blurted, “Did you know his name’s actually Smokey Bear and not Smokey the Bear?”

For a second, she simply stared at him, and he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole.

Shaking her head, she chuckled. “The fact you know that says a lot about you. But either way, that’s the only famous outdoorsy name I know. It was either that or Yogi Bear.” She gave him a sheepish smile and replaced the lid on the box. “Thanks, boss.”

“Gavin.” He shrugged when she tilted her head to the side. “I like it when you call me Gavin.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up a hand, stepped toward her desk, and swapped the boxes, placing the smaller one on top of the hiking boot box.

Suspicion colored her face, but this time, there was a hint of a smile that warmed his insides.

He tapped the top of the box, winking at her. “Hope you like these.”

She lifted the lid and pushed the tissue paper aside. Her mouth fell open, and she let out a small gasp. She sat frozen for the longest three seconds of his life. Shit, had he overdone it?

“Gavin, holy crap,” she finally said, her voice a reverent whisper. “These are the Louboutin Follis Strass stilettos. They’re like honest-to-God glass slippers.” She carefully pulled one of the shoes from the box, held it in her hands, and stared at it in wonder, gently caressing its side.

He’d never wished to be a shoe before, but here he was...

Seeing her fawn over the shoe filled him with pride and eased the embarrassment he’d harbored over how long he’d spent researching fancy heels. In the early morning hours, he’d gone down the rabbit hole of high-end footwear. Some of the things he’d seen were god-awful. There were heels that were basically plumes of feathers—like a giant purple bird had exploded and died on the model’s foot. Did women actually wear that shit in real life? Then he’d come across the ones she was holding in her hands. They’d screamed Bean. The heels had the designer’s signature red sole and were tan and glittery but not too much.

They were simple and classy and had just the right amount of sparkle. Just like Bean.

She could wear them at the office in her sexy librarian clothes. Or, if she got all dolled up in the dress from last night again, the heels were fancy enough to go with that. What truly sold him was he could easily picture her in those sky-high, twinkling heels... and nothing else.

“Gavin, I can’t accept these. They’re like over a thousand dollars and?—”

“What am I going to do with a pair of stilettos? Besides, like I said last night, it’s not going to break the bank.”

“But—”

“Do you like them?”

Her eyes remained fixed on the shoe as she placed it back into its box. She let out a sigh before she met his gaze. “I love them, but still?—”

“Still nothing, B. They’re yours. No strings.”

She stared at him, and he worried she could see right through him. Then she stood, and he sucked in a breath when she stepped close and hugged him.

Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and brought his lips to the top of her head.

“Thank you, Gavin. No one’s ever . . .”

He waited for her to finish her thought, but she remained silent. Squeezing her tighter, he inhaled, letting her soft floral scent fill every pore in his body. “You’re welcome.”

This. He could get used to this . . .

The thought had him tensing.

With her arms still around his waist, she glanced up, resting her chin on his chest. “You okay?”

He was certain she could hear the beating of his racing heart. “Yeah.” Shit . That sounded more like a croak than an actual word. He cleared his throat and loosened his arms but kept them looped around her. He motioned to the door with his head. “I have some calls I should probably go make.”

She stepped away, but not before giving his chest a pat.

Wait, was that a friendly pat? Or something else? Fuck . He needed to get out of here.

It looked like she was trying not to smile, but he couldn’t be sure. Hell, he wasn’t sure of anything right now. One breath of this woman’s intoxicating scent had obliterated every coherent thought in his brain.

Clearing his throat yet again, Gavin gave her a chin lift and made his way to her door. As he opened it, he peeked back at her. Yup, there was definite humor in her gaze. Fuck if he knew if that was a good thing or a bad thing at this point. “Come find me before you take off today, okay?”

Before she could answer, he turned and quietly shut the door behind him. Glancing around, he was grateful that no one seemed to be paying any attention to him. He scrubbed his hands over his face, biting back a groan.

Smooth, Frazier.

Real. Fucking. Smooth.