Page 32 of Sanctuary

“Sorry. Did that count as a cheesy line?” Gabe asked after a short silence. “I can compliment you as a friend, right?”

Lori nodded. “You can. I’m just not very good at knowing how to receive them.”

“Hopefully you’ll get better as our friendship grows.”

“Hopefully.” She smiled and continued to eat her burger. When she’d had enough, she pushed her plate aside and slid her tablet back into position. She looked up to see that Gabe had already finished, and her plate was impressively spotless.

Gabe gestured toward Lori’s iPad. “Back to business without dessert?”

“I don’t think we can say we’re getting back to it when we haven’t really started,” Lori said.

“Are you in a rush to leave?”

“No. Beth’s in charge at the Sanctuary, and I still have a few hours before I have to get back, but we haven’t even started talking about the project yet.”

“How about we have dessert and then go down the street to the Copper Pot coffee shop to talk business?” Gabe opened the menu to the sweets section, turned it to face Lori, and wiggled her eyebrows. “You can’t tell me there’s nothing on here to tempt you.”

Lori sighed. It wasn’t the desserts doing the tempting…

CHAPTER TEN

Gabe’s guilt at prolonging lunch and adding a coffee stop was far outweighed by her pleasure at getting to spend more time with the enchanting Lori. She liked her confidence and sass, and Gabe would have to be a cold-blooded zombie to be immune to her physical charms, but mostly, she was simply enjoying Lori’s company too much to let it end.

And she’d loved the way Lori had blushed when Gabe held the door open for her. Lori was obviously an accomplished and capable woman, but her reaction also indicated that she wasn’t entirely against the occasional old-fashioned gesture. Which was a relief because Gabe wasn’t sure she’d be able to rein it in. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t making an outright play for Lori’s attentions beyond friendship; it was just the way she behaved around feminine women. But she’d had her fair share of lectures from women who didn’t like it, so she should’ve checked first. She’d misinterpreted Lori’s body language before. Maybe she blushed when she was irritated too. “Is it okay that I opened the door for you?” she asked before she made more of a fool of herself by pulling out Lori’s chair.

“It was. I can open my own doors and I don’t expect it, of course, but I do like it. I’d consider myself a feminist, but I don’t think that precludes me from enjoying little things like that.”

Gabe hurried around her to a table and pulled out a chair. “Then this would be one of those ‘little things’ too?”

Lori smoothed her skirt under her legs and sat down. “Most certainly.”

Gabe grinned and took the chair opposite her. “My buddy Lightning hates when I do it. It’s not like I think any less of a woman’s strength, mental or physical.” She shrugged. “It’s just the way I am.”

“Well, I like the way you are.”

Lori retrieved her tablet from her purse again and set it down on the table, making it clear she was ready to get down to the business they’d met to discuss. Gabe tried not to take it personally. Given the size of the Sanctuary and everything that was involved in running it, she probably had to be strict about her time. She could relate. Her time in the Army had been regimented down to the last second, and she’d been struggling to get out of those habits—until today, when she would’ve been ecstatic to have no plans so she could spend the rest of the weekend talking to Lori. It reminded her of the ridiculous rom-com movie Solo had forced her to watch where the two main characters stayed up all night chatting about anything and everything under the sun…and falling in love. Solo seemed far too invested in getting Gabe to settle down, like she needed her to couple up so they could go on double dates or some shit like that.

“Does your old-fashioned behavior extend to ordering us coffee?” Lori asked.

“Yes, miss.”

“Then I’d love a double-shot latte with two sweeteners, please.”

Gabe offered an informal salute as she stood and headed to the short line.

While she waited behind a short man whose dandruff situation made her take a step back, Gabe glanced at Lori. She had her back to her, so she wouldn’t be able to see Gabe admiring her from afar, which seemed like the way it was destined to stay. When Lori had talked about her outfit, Gabe had wanted to tell her how amazing she looked in that silk shirt and skirt combo. Soft and sexy was Gabe’s catnip. But instead, she’d acted goofy with a damn napkin. She shouldn’t be giving herself a hard time for keeping her charm in check. She had to if she was going to make this friendship thing work. She’d already decided that she’d rather be Lori’s friend than be nothing at all, and the last few hours had only reinforced that.

The barista took their order, and Gabe walked back to their table, where Lori had spread out some old-looking papers. “What are those?”

“This is the original vehicle title for the person who bought it new.” Lori pushed the vintage sheet toward Gabe. “All the paperwork was in one of the glove compartments.”

She picked it up gently, careful not to rip it, and noted the date of sale. “Wow, this piece of paper is nearly ninety years old. That’s amazing. Miss Marie Zimmerman?” Gabe smiled widely. “That’s got to be pretty rare in itself, right?”

“How so?”

“In the thirties? Women had only just gotten the vote a decade earlier,” Gabe said. “It’s hard to believe many unmarried women in the Great Depression had the kind of money and independence to buy a car like that.”

Lori tapped the section where the owner’s home address was typed out. “Isn’t Gramercy Park one of New York’s most famous neighborhoods? I think some of my family’s most prolific donors live there. She was probably just a socialite or the daughter of a rich aristocrat.” She wafted her hand. “But that doesn’t matter. I own it now, and we’re supposed to be talking about what you want to do with it.”

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