Page 26 of Protecting Christina

“Wait! Is Will the hot guy you were telling me about?”

I snapped my head toward Gabby. The traitor.

“I did not call him hot!” I shrieked, and I immediately regretted my outburst.

She raised her eyebrows. “You said his cologne did strange things to your insides, and you described his upper body in great detail.”

“Well, I’m a very detail-oriented person.”

Will covered his mouth with his hand, pretending to rub a spot on his lower lip while Gabby smiled openly.

I stood and grabbed my purse from behind the chair. “Are you ready to go?” I asked, snatching the file Gabby held up to me.

“Like I said, ready and able.”

I ignored him and headed straight for the elevator. He caught up easily and pressed the button for the ground floor. When the doors closed, I said, “Gabby tends to exaggerate.”

“Really?” he asked. “She’s always been a straight shooter with me.”

I ground my back teeth. Yes. Gabby always told it like it was. Maybe that’s why her comment had me so frazzled. Yes, I knew I was attracted to Will, but I didn’t think I’d made it obvious. And I wouldn’t have said anything to Gabby had I known he was her black knight.

I closed my eyes and groaned. Damn. How many nights had I pictured what the black knight would look like as I drifted off to sleep? Gabby had made him out to be some mysterious hero who always knew what to do and told me how gentle he was toward the women.

And now he was standing next to me.

Suddenly, the temperature in the elevator spiked, and I pushed my hair away from my neck. When that didn’t work, I grabbed an elastic from my purse and knotted my hair at my nape into a messy bun.

Will turned to look at me, but I avoided his eyes. Or rather, I wanted him to avoid mine. I was afraid he’d see more than I was willing to show him.

“Have you met with Faye before?” Will asked next to me, completely oblivious to my hot flash.

I cleared my throat. “No. This would be the first time.”

He nodded. “Mine, too.”

I stared straight ahead, enjoying the cool air at my nape.

“That probably means she’s not ready to leave yet.”

Taken off guard by his comment, I turned toward him. “What are you talking about?”

“Faye. She probably won’t be ready to leave him just yet. I’ve found that it takes several tries to leave before the woman does. And even then, sometimes they go back.”

“I don’t know,” I said, thinking back to the women I’d met in the past. “By the time I show up, things have progressed to the point of separation.”

He nodded. “That’s good. Sometimes the hardest part is knowing if they’ll make it out the next time.”

I’d never been in that situation before. But I guess Will had. I also hadn’t expected him to follow up with the women to see if they were all right. I pictured him as muscle who only came in and out whenever Gabby needed him. I hadn’t imagined he would care.

“Let’s take my truck,” he suggested.

But I didn’t want to be stuck in the passenger seat, forced to stare out the window. I preferred being the one in control.

“Mine’s better. Yours screams male testosterone and we wouldn’t want the neighbors to get the wrong idea and say something to her husband.”

He stopped in the parking lot to stare at me. “Well, that’s a sexist thing to say.”

“What?”

---