Page 21 of Enchanting the CEO

She smiled sheepishly. "No. Since you gave Celia the key, I came right after he left and did a deep clean."

"I didn't know that."

"Well, you were at the office." She avoided my gaze.

She'd purposefully scheduled her visits here when I wasn't home? What was I missing? Did my presence make her uncomfortable? That was the last thing I wanted.

"Ready to go down again?" she asked.

"At your service."

A smile played on her lips. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. Just put me to work."

"If you don't mind, I am more than happy to use your muscles." She sucked in her breath and again pushed that one strand behind her ear. "I didn't mean that. That's to say... I wasn’t hitting on you."

I burst out laughing. "I didn't think you were, but it's interesting that your mind went there."

She turned beet red instantly. I'd never seen anyone blush like this in my whole life. She was utterly beautiful.

"Let's move, then," I said.

Chapter Six

Gabe

An hour later, we'd managed to get all the boxes into her room.

After setting the final one off to the side, Diane stretched her arms over her head. “I can’t believe it only took an hour to lug all this inside.”

I chuckled. "See? It's a good thing I was here."

"True. I don't know what I would have done without you." She glanced at me over her shoulder. She was standing near the sea of boxes, looking around. "I'm going to tackle opening them after I sell the car." She bit the inside of her cheek, obviously thinking of all the things she needed to take care of. “I'm going to need to buy plates too. Otherwise, I’ve got the rest of my dishes...”

I was good at reading people's worries from their body language and the way they spoke, and it was easy to conclude that she was worried about money.

"Listen," I said. "You're going to use the kitchen to cook anyway. There are plates, pans, utensils, and all that crap in there too. You're more than welcome to use them."

Her eyes widened. "Are you sure? What if you're entertaining or something?"

“I rarely entertain, and if I do, I'm sure we can coordinate."

"Okay. Thanks." She looked around again, then startled as a beeping sound filled the air. "Oh, that's my phone." She took it out from her back pocket. "My buyer is already here. I really hope he won't change his mind. All right, I'll see you later."

"I'll come with you."

"Why?"

"To make sure everything's okay and that the dude isn't trying to intimidate you into lowering your price or something."

Her face opened up in a gorgeous smile. "Gabe, I can't be intimidated easily. You'll learn that about me soon enough. I can fight my own battles. Except, of course, when a predatory landlord throws me out without proper notice," she said through gritted teeth. "But you look a bit intimidating, so you might help just by being there. In case the guy does try anything."

She took the stairs two at a time as I followed her down and then out the front door.

An elderly man stood outside the gate, staring at the house. She would have been much better off selling the car when it was parked in front of Celia's apartment. I could practically see the guy thinking she was loaded simply because she lived here. That never helped in these situations.

The Whitley name had cost me in negotiations over the years. Everyone assumed the money was endless. That was true right now, but there had been enough times in the company's history when we weren't sure one branch or the other could be salvaged.

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