Page 12 of Gabe's Obsession

She thought she was ready to try anything that could help her get past the missing memories, but what he was asking...

She had a lot more at stake than simply memories of the past. She had her heart to consider. And the idea of being that vulnerable to him scared the holy hell out of her.

She turned away from the doorway and started back up the hallway to the kitchen and stopped halfway to her destination. Hiding away wasn't the answer either. That had gotten old. But what could she do? Was there some sort of compromise that would give them both what they needed while protecting her heart?

Not likely.

"What's wrong?" Gabe's strong voice filled the hallway from behind her.

Crap.Her stomach tightened.

"Nothing," she said, without turning around.

"Then why are you pacing up and down the hallway?"

"How did you—?"

"This is my house. I know its creaks and moans by heart. I can hear your footfalls every time you approach my office."

Nina rolled her eyes, grateful he could see her face. "I didn't mean to disturb you," she mumbled under her breath.

Gabe sighed long and loud. "You never disturb me. In fact, I've been waiting for you. The point of kicking everyone else out was so we could spend some time alone talking, not for you to play housekeeper. But we both know you already knew that."

"You were rude," she said as she gripped her fingers hard in an attempt to control her need to fidget.

"I'm willing to bet they were all over it by the time they got home. Well, maybe Mason will stew over it a little longer and then try to kick my ass, but he worries too much about everything."

"Maybe they are over it, but still. Talk about awkward."

He took several steps closer until she could feel his heat radiating against her back. "I needed to be alone with you."

"Why?" she asked, although she immediately regretted it. If he was planning to pull her closer, she wasn't sure she could say no. Staying with him, in his house, might have been a fatal mistake after all. Keeping herself closed off from him all this time had not been easy.

Sadness suddenly clouded her thoughts. Falling for Gabe now would not end well for her. Didn't matter if she was already there. Taking the next step with him, even for all the right reasons, would forever alter their chance at just a friendship.

Her belly fluttered as she imagined living here permanently and all that would entail.

"I wanted to be alone because I got the sense that something changed for you this morning. When I left you seemed the same as always, but then something happened. You woke up. What happened?"

She wrinkled her forehead. "What? I mean, nothing happened this morning. I just got tired of feeling sorry for myself and doing nothing."

"Look at me."

She froze, her muscles locking into place. Why did she suddenly think that was a really bad idea?

Despite that, she began to slowly turn. She jumped, taken aback, when she realized how close he actually was to her without her realizing. She breathed deep and closed her eyes momentarily to regain her equilibrium. Only, this close, all that accomplished was her getting a deep inhale of his scent. She sighed again.

He wore a subtle musky scented cologne that she really liked, but beyond that, he always smelled like Purgatory. Or maybe she just associated him with that. Either way, the deep, rich masculine scent of expensive leather mingled along her senses. She breathed deeper, taking more of it in. Leather, musk and something she could only describe as heat filled her lungs.

Gabe Michaels smelled like power. And to her shame, she liked it.

That instantaneous draw to someone else's power might as well be her kryptonite. That irresistible lure drew women like her in, robbing them of their ability to see or think straight. She only had to look at her mother to see its long-term effect. It had certainly been her downfall.

And yet, knowing all she knew about powerful men and their women, it still pulled at her.

"Tell me where you were going when you left and don't bother lying again. I can tolerate a lot of bullshit, but not lies. Especially from you."

His question jerked her from her thoughts and back to their conversation. "Why especially from me?" she asked, seemingly unable to stop asking the questions that were going to get her answers she couldn't handle.

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