She flipped around to face him. “Are you kidding me? That’s what you think?”
“Yeah.”
She narrowed her gaze and backed away. He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him.
“Don’t be offended. I don’t mean that you’re, like, trading sexual favors or anything. I mean, you’re a beautiful woman. You dress professionally, but you can’t hide your sexuality. It’s just . . . there. But no, you don’t show off like a sex bomb or anything.”
“I have no idea what you mean, then. I don’t offer sexual favors to gain a client or to get a client a good offer.”
“I didn’t say that. But you give off sexual vibes. It’s a natural thing for you to flirt. And you can’t deny that you’re one of only a few women in your field. You use being a beautiful woman to your advantage. You capture men’s attention because of your beauty and your presence. There’s nothing wrong with that. I never meant that you used sex.”
“Oh. I see what you mean. Well, of course I use it to my advantage. It’s a marketing tool, and especially in the beginning I needed every advantage I could to get me in the door. Now my reputation gets me there because I’m damn good at what I do. And if your brother didn’t realize that, then it’s his loss.”
Gavin raised his hands. “Whoa. How did the topic get turned to Mick?”
She stood, grabbed her blouse. “I don’t know. I’m tired. It’s been a rough few days. I’m going to take a shower.”
She headed off toward the bedroom. Gavin grabbed his drink and took a long swallow.
Okay, his back rub obviously hadn’t worked on her. He wondered what the hell had gone wrong the past five days to make her so upset?
ELIZABETH LET THE HOT WATER RAIN DOWN OVER HER head, hoping it would erase the past five days from her memory.
The Blane contract was going well, but that was the only positive to the trip. Steve Lincoln was dropping her. A Pro Bowl–caliber player and a free agent, he’d just signed with the Davis Agency, one of her top competitors.
Steve Lincoln was also a very good friend of Mick’s, and it was a known fact Mick wanted Lincoln—a stellar fullback—to play for San Francisco, Mick’s team.
And it was also becoming well known that Mick had fired Elizabeth.
And suddenly Steve fired Elizabeth.
Pretty easy to put two and two together and figure out who was behind Steve’s sudden change in agents. Mick was out to ruin her.
She wasn’t going to let it happen. And she wasn’t going to let Gavin know about it.
Unless Gavin already knew.
Was that why he’d invited her to stay with him, so he could keep an eye on her while Mick did his behind-the-scenes damage? Maybe Gavin was talking to her baseball clients, too. He knew who all her clients were. Maybe it was a team effort between the two of them, and Gavin was fucking her senseless to keep her off balance.
Paranoid much, Liz?
It was a ridiculous idea.
Then again, she refused to discount anything. This was her livelihood, and she’d do whatever it took to save it. She’d worked too damn hard to build her business—her very name. Her personal feelings for Gavin aside, she wouldn’t let anyone ruin her. She might have invested her heart in Gavin, but she’d stomp all over her own heart in order to save her business.
She grabbed the body wash and scrubbed until she was pink, then rinsed her hair and got out of the shower, dried off and tossed on a cotton sundress, combed her hair out and decided not to bother with drying it. She was exhausted.
She slipped on a pair of flip-flops and went in search of Gavin. He was out on the deck. The cool breeze coming off the water coupled with her wet hair made her skin break out in chills.
“Hey.” Gavin rose from the chair when she came outside. “Your hair’s wet.”
“I’m too tired to dry it.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He went inside. She shrugged and slunk into the swing, pulled her feet up and stared out into the darkness.
Gavin came back a minute later with a blanket. He’d turned the lights out inside, making it even darker outside. There wasn’t a moon tonight, so there was no light casting over the water. Just the sound of the ocean and her own black thoughts.
Gavin put the soft blanket over her and sat in the swing with her.
“Thanks.”
“It’s cold out here and your hair’s wet. Wanna go inside?”
“No. I like it out here.”
“Me, too.” He put his arm around her, and they sat there swinging and listening to the ocean, both of them quiet.
“Something bothering you?” He pulled her closer.
She didn’t want to be close to him. She should have gone back to Saint Louis, but something brought her back here. She had no idea what it was.
You know exactly what brought you back here, idiot. You’re in love with him, and he’s probably using you. No, he’s definitely using you. And he’s probably setting you up, too.