Chapter 16 #2
“Yes. But if you have any more questions, just call me, okay?” He pulled a business card from his inside jacket pocket and handed it to her. “Even if it’s late. I’m a night owl anyway.”
“Says the guy who fell asleep at ten yesterday,” Hazel muttered darkly. Gareth didn’t need to be so nice, otherwise, her mother might think…
“You truly are a kind young man, Gareth! Here, take the remaining cookies.” Smiling broadly, she pressed a Tupperware container into his hand.
Oh dear. Her mother only fed the people she deemed worthy of her cooking. Things were getting worse and…
Hazel stopped abruptly. Her gaze had fallen on Gareth’s face and…was the multimillionaire who would undoubtedly get a spot as the ice monster in the musical Frozen without an audition – was he blushing?
“Um, thanks,” he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment and smiling.
“Oh my God, now I know where I know you from!” her mother exclaimed enthusiastically before glaring at Hazel, which unsettled her to the core. “He’s the man in the photo in your wallet, isn’t he?”
Hazel’s heart lurched. “What? No. You’re confused,” she croaked.
“Yes! That’s how I know his face, he…”
“Mom, it was nice to see you,” she said hastily, leaning in and kissing her hard on the cheek. “Let us know as soon as you receive another letter. Love you.”
The next moment, she pushed Gareth outside and closed the door.
It was a shame Gareth had ears.
“What did she mean by photo?” he asked, frowning and following her down the driveway to their cars.
She waved her hand dismissively and shoved her damp hands into her jacket pockets. “My mother was talking nonsense. She mistook you for someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Probably with the muscle-bound guy on my gym membership card.”
“You go to the gym?”
“Of course not. I run around in high heels all day, that’s enough exercise. But can’t I still be a member?”
Gareth snorted, but when she glanced over her shoulder, she noticed that he was suppressing a smile. “Sure. So, I’ll write the reply to Billy’s ridiculous letter and let you know if he gets in touch.”
She rubbed her lips together, rocked back on her heels, and nodded, her gaze fixed on her mother’s kitchen window, behind which she could see her scrubbing the sink. The spotless sink.
Hazel closed her eyes and sighed heavily.
Her mother cleaned when she was excited, stressed, or worried, and Hazel feared all those things were true right now.
“If we don’t do something fast, she’ll give in and wire him the money, give up all her savings, and not tell us.
I know her; she doesn’t handle this type of stress well,” she muttered, clenching her hands.
“God, that asshole Billy… I should have been nicer to him in college. Or at least not given him the middle finger when I met him at the supermarket a few years ago. Not spat on his shoes. She looked so tired! Did you notice that?” Worried, she gnawed her lip.
“I hate that she can’t sleep! I should have spent more time talking to her yesterday.
Or came straight here to calm her down. I should have protected her from it!
How can it be that I’m grown up and successful and have more money in my bank account than I ever wanted — and yet I still can’t make her life easy, like she made mine? How can it be that…”
She stopped abruptly because Gareth had placed his hands gently on her shoulders and slowly turned her toward him.
Confused, she blinked at him. “What are you doing?”
“Something that’s not in our contract,” he murmured somberly. “Don’t be alarmed.”
“What…” But before she could continue, he pulled her into his arms, one hand firmly on her upper back, the other, warm on the nape of her neck, while his thumb gently stroked her top vertebra.
Hazel was too perplexed to move. “Why are you hugging me?” she whispered, confused.
“Because you’re panicking, and Cian’s living room floor is too far away.”
“What?”
Silently, he tightened his arms around her and rested his cheek on the top of her head, as if he were building a personal Gareth fortress around her, separating her from the outside world. Except she didn’t feel caged, but…safe.
His hug wasn’t too tight, as she’d first thought. It was just right. It didn’t give her too much wiggle room, which her slightly shaky knees would have immediately exploited. It held her upright in case she wanted to literally let herself fall.
Until she was enveloped by his scent, warmth, and muscles.
“Breathe, Hazel. I want to hug you, not suffocate you.”
She let out a surprised gurgle and unclenched her hands. Her shoulders relaxed as she sucked in a deep breath.
He was right. She’d been slightly panicked; she’d felt so helpless and powerless.
“You’re warm for a robot,” she whispered as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around his waist. She didn’t know where else to put them.
“I’m freshly oiled.”
She laughed again. “And I thought the Wizard of Oz had given you a heart, so warm blood would finally flow through your veins.”
“I’ve always had a heart,” he replied softly. “It’s just tiring to use all the time.”
She smiled hesitantly. “I know, Gareth. After all, you’re hugging me even though you’re not contractually obligated, and we can’t have sex in my mother’s driveway.”
His snort made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “Smartass. I just didn’t know how else to calm you.”
“Oh, this…is quite good,” she replied softly, sinking deeper into his arms. “You could also tell me that everything will be all right, and…”
“Everything will be all right, Hazel,” he whispered, his lips brushing her temple as he spoke.
“This isn’t your fault. Kosianos would still be an asshole even if you hadn’t given him the middle finger in the supermarket.
He was pissed off that you were smarter than he was back then, and he still is.
But it isn’t your problem that some men have a problem with brilliant women whose intellect runs circles around theirs.
I forbid you from feeling guilty about anything that asshole does because of it. ”
Warmth crept into her chest and her throat tightened. “You think I’m brilliant?”
“I can think you’re annoying and brilliant at the same time, right?”
She smiled against his neck. “Sure. I’m just stunned by your multitasking skills.”
He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “No confidence in my robot skills…”
Her smile widened. “I think you’re brilliant too, you know? Your contracts only annoy me because they’re so damn thorough, and I can’t find any loopholes.”
“Hmm. Interesting. In other areas of life, you like me to be thorough.”
Her chest vibrated with laughter. “Everything has its pros and cons, I guess.”
She felt his nod before he murmured, “I can talk to Billy if you want. Go over there, have a nice chat…”
She snorted, but let her cheek rest on his shoulder – only briefly, once she realized how comfortable it was, the perfect height for her. “No. Don’t do that. You’ll threaten him, lose your temper, and do something stupid.”
“I won’t.”
“Of course you will. He has always upset you. And this isn’t your fight, it’s mine.”
“You asked me for help, so it’s ours.”
“Yeah, maybe,” she murmured, inhaling his man-and-paper scent again. It calmed her. “But we’ll do it the right way, okay? As long as we can, we’ll only use the legal route. Promise me you won’t go over there and pee on the side of his house to mark your territory, okay?”
“I’m not stupid, and I’m not a dog, Hazel. I can stand. I’d pee on his desk, so the smell would linger, and a lot of paperwork would be unusable.”
She laughed again and closed her eyes for a few seconds.
Only because it was so warm in his arms could she pretend for a moment that he was keeping all her worries at bay with his ridiculous muscles.
It had been ages since anyone had held her, and she’d admitted to herself that sometimes it was nice not to have to do everything alone. Not…
“Hazel?”
“Mm hm?”
“Have you calmed down?”
“Mm hm.”
“Can I let you go then?”
Oh, shit.
“Sure!” she said hastily, taking a step back. “Sure, sure. Um…cool.” She smiled – a little too broadly – and brushed an imaginary piece of lint off her skirt. “Thanks! Initial panic attack over.”
Gareth was still looking at her, but she couldn’t interpret his gaze. He was, as always, too intense, a little too hot, and much too transparent, but also…soft. As soft as his lips that had brushed her temple.
She cleared her throat and glanced away. She was allowed to fantasize about sex with him but not about loving gestures that…that…
“Okay, I have to go to the office, see you…” She raised her hand and hurried to her car when something else occurred to her. “Oh, yeah. Have you talked to Blake yet?”
Gareth blinked. “No. I…”
“Oh, come on! I’m gone for the next three days. Talk to him. Otherwise, I won’t talk to you!”
She waved and got into her car.
She took a deep breath, banishing Gareth’s scent and replacing it with that of her car.
Man. No more long hugs. They were too…heady. She’d add that to her contract.