“Let’s go somewhere and ...” He skimmed his gaze down her body, lingering where her silk blouse lay against her breasts. He dragged his gaze back to her face, searching for a reaction.
She swallowed and the muscles of her throat moved with the effort.
Elizabeth was nervous. Gavin didn’t think he’d ever seen her nervous before.
This was perfect.
“Talk.”
“Talk?”
“Yeah.” He pushed off the wall and signaled for the valet, gave him his ticket, and grabbed Elizabeth’s hand, bringing her with him to the curb while he waited for the valet to bring his car.
Fortunately the sports banquet was in the city where he was in spring training. Damned convenient and no travel time biting into his schedule. He traveled enough on season, and having to add one more event where he had to hop on a plane would have been a drag.
He tipped the valet when he brought his car. He and Elizabeth got in and he zipped onto the highway.
“Where are we going?”
“My house.”
She arched a brow. “You have a house? Why not one of the hotels?”
“I stay in enough hotels during the season. I want a place to myself during spring training.”
They drove in silence. Gavin made the turn north toward the beach.
“You rented a house on the beach?”
“Yeah. It’s remote and I can run in the mornings.”
She half turned in her seat. “Dammit, Gavin. Are you going to fire me? Because if you are, I’d rather you just do it right away. Don’t drag me out here to your house, then expect me to take a cab back to the hotel.”
Gavin fought back a laugh. “We’ll talk when we get inside.”
“Shit,” she whispered, then folded her arms in front of her and propped her head against the window for the remainder of the drive.
He pulled off the highway and took the beachfront road, pulling into the garage. Elizabeth let herself out of the car and followed him inside, looking like a prisoner on her way to an execution.
He flipped the lights on and opened the sliding door leading out to the back porch.
“Nice place.”
He shrugged. “It’ll do for now. Want a beer or some wine?”
“Why? Trying to soften the blow?”
He slipped his hands into the pockets of his slacks. Ignoring her question, he asked again. “Wine, beer, something else?”
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 chairs. Liz sat in the 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. Typically 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 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 hurt.
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.”