She inhaled and let out an audible sigh. “Glass of wine would be nice, I guess.”
He opened a bottle of wine, poured a glass for her, then grabbed a beer from the fridge.
“Let’s go outside.”
The house had a great back porch, though he supposed out here it was called a veranda or balcony or something. Hell, he didn’t know what it was called, only that it overlooked the ocean and he liked sitting out here at night to listen to the waves crash against the beach.
There was a long cushioned swing for two and a couple of chairs. Liz sat in a chair, and Gavin took the other one.
She took the glass he offered and tipped it to her lips, taking several deep swallows of wine. “Is there a particular reason you dragged me out here to your beach haven instead of telling me what you needed to at the hotel?”
Yeah. He wanted to set her off balance. Liz was always in control. Besides, he didn’t want her to stalk off or find an excuse to leave.
And . . . hell, he really didn’t know why he’d brought her here, other than he wanted to know why he hadn’t seen her in months. She was on his tail constantly, until the thing happened with his brother. Since then she’d all but fallen off the face of the earth.
“You usually call me twice a week, and I see you at least once a month.”
She shrugged. “You were busy with the end of your season. I was busy, too. Then there were the holidays.”
“You always make it a point to be wherever I am so we can have dinner. And when was the last time you missed the holidays with my family?”
She snorted. “Your brother fired me. His fiancée hates me. I hardly think it would have been appropriate to spend the holidays with your family.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered to my mother. She loves you and thinks of you as family. Personal is different from business.”
“Not to me it isn’t. And I’m sure it isn’t to Mick and Tara, either. I wouldn’t have wanted to interfere in your family celebrations. I know I’m not welcome there anymore.”
She looked away, but not before he saw the hurt in her eyes.
This was a new side to her. Gavin looked closer, suspected she was full of shit since he knew she had no feelings. She was just bitter about losing Mick as a client.
“You could have arranged to see me outside of family gatherings.”
She studied her nails. “My schedule has been kind of full.”
“Bullshit. You went into hiding after Mick fired you.”
Her head shot up. “I don’t hide. Losing Mick was a giant financial hit. I had to scramble to sign clients to lessen the burden.”
Gavin laughed. “You’ve made a ton of money off Mick, me, and the other guys. I don’t think you’re hurting.”
“Fine.” She set her wineglass down and stood, moving toward the railing to stare out over the ocean. “You can believe whatever you want to since you’ve already made up your mind. And if you’re going to fire me, then get it over with so I can get out of here.”
Gavin stood and came over to her. “You think I brought you here to fire you?”
She faced him. “Didn’t you?”
He was struck by the vulnerability on her face. He’d never seen it before. Elizabeth always had a hard edge to her, a confidence she wore that made her stand out like a star. Right now it wasn’t there. She was vulnerable, hurt, and afraid.
Maybe it wasn’t an act after all. He’d been convinced she wasn’t capable of actual emotions.
It would appear she was capable of hurting, and he didn’t know what the hell to do about that.
Moonlight danced across her hair, making her look like a goddess lit by silver fire. For the second time that night Gavin realized that Elizabeth was a beautiful, desirable woman. He’d always thought of her as a vicious shark, which was a great place to file her in his head because she was the business side of his life. Oh, sure, she was always great to look at, and he had to admit he’d admired her body more than a few times, but he’d never thought of her as someone who had . . . feelings or emotions.
But as the light played with her eyes, he thought he saw tears welling up in them. And something else lit up her eyes when she looked at him, something he’d seen in many women’s eyes before.
Desire. Need. Hunger.
Couldn’t be. Liz was cold. He’d seen her drive a three-hundred-pound lineman into the ground with her sharp tongue, take a cold-hearted team owner by the tie and squeeze millions from him without so much as blinking. Liz was ruthless and had no soul. She would cut your heart out before she ever showed you she was vulnerable.