My brows shot up. Before I could question who exactly “we” was, he turned on his heel, starting for the entrance. I scampered to catch up with him, shoving shopping out of my mind for now.
There’d been a lot of progress with the Rockford building since the last time I’d been here. With the slowdown in the technology sector, Denver’s office real estate market had experienced a downturn. Around a quarter of the city’s office space was vacant, not just because of fewer jobs but the shifting workplace culture. More workers were going remote, leaving offices half filled. Unlike Donald Rockford, Elliot was well aware of this. When he’d come into possession of the building, he’d hired a team to rethink the entire tower.
The top ten floors were now apartments, both corporate and long-term rentals. The roof held a bar and café open to the public, with a viewing platform that would draw in tourist dollars.
There were still offices, but several floors were designed to be shared workspace for companies who had no use for entire blocks for their employees.
On top of those changes, he’d brought in experts Weston used to make this building as environmentally sound and energy efficient as possible, which was a draw to many businesses—and because Elliot was hopelessly devoted to efficiency.
Elliot wasn’t the only developer making these changes, but he was on the cutting edge in Denver. His buildings had very few vacancies, and Rockford currently had a wait list.
We rode the elevator to the observation deck, accompanied by the project manager and lead designer. Elliot and I separated when he went to speak with them and the head contractor, so I wandered, checking out the view.
I leaned over the clear Lucite barrier, peering down at the ground below, and my stomach dropped like a lead balloon. Backing up, I pressed my hand to my middle and took a deep breath.
A deep chuckle sent me whirling around and heat shot to my cheeks when I realized I’d been watched. A man in a hard hat, crisp button-down shirt, and charcoal pants stood behind me, his crooked grin bringing crinkles around his eyes in a flattering way.
“Heights not your thing?” he asked.
“No, I’m fine with heights. I probably shouldn’t have leaned over the edge, though.”
“Those intrusive thoughts getting to you?”
I burst out laughing. “I wasn’t tempted to jump. It was a wave of vertigo that got to me.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “If you thought I was going to jump, you probably should have tried to stop me instead of laughing.”
He walked closer, still grinning. “I was pretty sure you weren’t gonna go for it. Plus, I’d been enjoying the view too much to be a hero.”
It took me a second to understand what he meant—and he wasn’t talking about the skyline. This man meant he’d been checking out my ass.
My hands flew to my flaming cheeks. “You said the quiet part out loud, sir.”
He held his hand out. “I’m Gavin, and I’m all about saying the quiet part out loud.”
I shook his hand. “Kit. And I regularly burst into flames when I’m embarrassed, so maybe cool it with the bluntness.”
“All right, kitten. You’re too pretty to burn to ashes, so I’ll try to rein myself in, but I make no promises.”
This man was blatantly, unmistakably flirting with me, and I barely knew what to do with myself. It had been ages since anyone had come on to me. Massively pregnant, then lugging around a baby in a car seat could be quite the deterrent.
I wasn’t in the market to date, but I wasn’t opposed to being flirted with, especially now when I didn’t really love the way I looked.
“Thank you. Also, it’s just Kit, Gavinator.”
His eyes flared with amusement. “Would you believe Gavinator was my frat nickname?”
“I would absolutely believe that. Did you sneak into this building as a hazing prank?”
He smoothed a hand down his flat stomach and chuckled. “I’m so fucking flattered you believe I could still be in a frat. That was ten years ago, but I’m gonna be flying high on that all day.”
“Then I won’t tell you I was joking.”
“Good. I’d rather live in denial.” He leaned on the railing beside me, the tips of his toes touching mine. “To answer your question, no, I didn’t sneak in. My company will be taking over two floors in this building. I have an appointment to sign on the dotted line, but I’m early, so I thought I’d take myself on a tour to kill some time. What about you? Sorority prank gone wrong? Or really, really right?”
“I was never cut out for the sorority life.” I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m here with my boss while he checks on some things.”
“Ah. Nice of him to let you run loose.”
“Should I be leashed?”
His brow winged. “I don’t know, would you like that?”
I pressed my lips together. “In some circumstances, sure. That could be fun, in the way waterboarding is.”
“Ah, Kit. I knew I made the right decision coming to talk to you.” He studied my face for a beat. “You’re not originally from Denver, are you?”
“How’d you guess?”
“I went to college in Pennsylvania, and I’m pretty sure I recognize a faint Philly accent.”
I covered my mouth. “No. Shoot me. I don’t have an accent. I haven’t lived there in so long.”
“It was ‘water’ that gave you away.”
I groaned. “Dammit. How will I ever have a career as a news anchor if I don’t perfect my nonregional dialect?”
He snorted a choking laugh. “I’m officially in love. Tell me you’re single.”
Oh boy. This was what I got for flirting back. A little bit of an ego boost, and now I was going to have to let him down gently.
“That’s classified information,” I quipped.
“What do I have to do to make it unclassified?”
“Join the CIA.”
He pressed a hand to his chest like I’d hit him. “Come on, kitten. Throw me a bone here. I know I’ve been acting like an idiot, but that’s because you’re so beautiful; you’ve got my head spinning. Do you think I could have your number so I can text you when I finish my CIA training?”
I felt terrible about turning him down, especially since I’d encouraged him to flirt with me. In another life, I would have jumped at the chance to hang out with this man casually or something more, but that wasn’t me anymore. I wasn’t interested.
“Gavin, I—”
I never got the chance to tell him CIA training took years and I’d be married by then to the prince I’d been promised to at birth because Elliot appeared from nowhere.
“Catherine,” Elliot clipped. “We’re finished here.”
The vertigo I’d experienced leaning over the railing had been nothing compared to the way my stomach plummeted at the sight of Elliot Levy standing before me without any expression at all.
“Elliot, it’s great to see you again.” Gavin flipped from flirtatious to schmoozy, offering his hand to Elliot.
“Gavin…” Elliot inclined his chin and gave him a perfunctory handshake. “I see you’ve met my assistant, Catherine.”