The Unforgettable Ex (Captured by Love Book 5) (Volume 5) (14 page)

Carter snorted. “I always knock first when Tash is home. Lucky I do.”

He laughed and ambled to the bathroom to join his girlfriend.

Finally, he and Tash were free to date openly. For a while there, he’d thought this time would never come. Now, nothing was in the way of their relationship.

He frowned at the sudden tightening of his gut. He was someone who had a strong sense of instinct, which was one of the reasons why he was so good at his job. But surely this fear was just a residual feeling from this morning? Biggs had been caught, and Austin had been believable when he’d said that Biggs had lost his loyal followers. Why would anyone else want to carry on the personal mission of a criminal when it could also land them in jail?

He took a deep breath to shake off his nerves and opened the bathroom door.

“What took you so long?” Natasha asked from behind the clear glass walls of the shower cubicle.

“Carter and Cassie. They’re here with some food.”

“Oh. So why are you in here?”

“I’m not touching you, babe. I only want to have a shower too.”

“Really?” Natasha asked, smiling sultrily as she ran her hands on her delectable body to wash off the shower gel.

He groaned, shutting his eyes and turning his back to her. “Hurry up, woman. We can’t be in this bathroom together. Your brother’s right outside.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster if I washed your back?”

“No,” he growled.

Natasha giggled, and he could only imagine those hands of hers touching her private parts to rinse herself off.

*****

“
Yes, Kate?” Gavin asked his temporary PA, looking at her unsmilingly as she hovered by the door. He’d been trying to temper his grumpiness today, brought about by a case going pear-shaped. Having an assistant much less competent than his regular one, who was on annual leave, didn’t make things any easier.

“I know you said you don’t want to be interrupted, but someone wants to know if you have a spare five minutes today,” Kate said.

He shook his head. “You know I need to get this problem fixed. Arrange an appointment for another day.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

“Is it a new client?” he asked out of curiosity.

“No.”

“Who is it?”

“Um, the person said not to worry if you don’t have the time.”

He scowled at her. “Does he or she have a name?”

“Well, she didn’t want me to tell you,” Kate answered hesitantly. “All she requested was to check if you can spare five minutes to see her right now and she’ll leave if you can’t.”

His irritation left him and he leaned back on his chair, his lips curving. “Send her in.”

“Are you sure?” Kate asked, looking relieved. “She said she doesn’t mind if you’re not—”

“Yes, please send her in.”

Kate nodded and left his office.

How sweet of his Tash to be so concerned about his overflowing schedule. But even if they weren’t due to meet today, how could he not want to see her? Since Biggs’ capture a couple of weeks ago, they hadn’t been able to spend as much time together as they wanted because of problems at work. He missed her. Admittedly, that was a constant thing.

Natasha appeared. “Hi.”

“Hey, babe,” he said with a wide grin, going to her and closing the door.

“Did Kate tell you it was me?”

He kissed her on the lips. “No, she didn’t have to. Even though I gave her instructions to make sure I’m not bothered at all today, I’m glad she followed your orders instead.”

“I gave all your staff chocolates the last time I was here,” Natasha said with a shrug.

He laughed. “Or maybe it’s because I’m less grumpy when you’re around.”

“You work too hard,” she said, touching his face.

“Work is still banked up, but I should be able to catch up in a few days.”

Natasha took his hand and led him towards the sofa. “That’s why I’m not going to take up too much of your time. I just want to give you something.”

He eyed the bag she was carrying. “What?”

She grinned as they sat down. “I know I’m seeing you on Wednesday night, but that’s still two days away. I really want to give this to you today because... well, today is our first-month anniversary. Our
second
first-month anniversary.”

His eyes rounded, heat rising up to his face from guilt. “Tash... I’m so sorry, honey. I was so busy that I forgot—”

“Don’t be silly,” Natasha interrupted laughingly and handed him a square gift-wrapped box. “I know how incredibly busy it’s been for you lately.”

His heart swelled and he leaned towards her for a lingering kiss. “Now I’m thinking how I can get away with not working tonight.”

“You know you can’t. You said yourself that tonight and tomorrow night are extremely critical for one of your cases.”

“They are,” he said with a heavy exhale. “I’ll make it up to you on Wednesday.”

“Can’t wait,” Natasha breathed, deepening their kiss.

He let out a low moan, and in no time, he found himself snaking his hand underneath her skirt to caress her inner thigh.

“None of that,” she said, slapping his hand away and breaking their kiss. “I mean it when I said I only want five minutes of your time. Now open your present.”

He sighed even as the corner of his lips tugged up. He tore off the wrapping and opened the box. It was a dark pink silk tie. He grinned as he held it up against his throat.

“Do you like it?” Natasha asked.

“Love it, babe. Thank you,” he said sincerely, kissing her again. No one had given him a personal item in a girly colour before, so this one was special—especially since it came from his Tash.

“Actually, that’s just one-half of my present. Here’s the other one.” She took out a bigger box from the bag.

His brows rose. “Two?”

“Yes. This one’s not for you to wear, though,” she said, biting back a smile.

Intrigued, he untied the pink bow adorning the glossy black box, then lifted the lid. Whatever was inside was covered in pink tissue paper. He glanced at Natasha, anticipation filling him as he tore the flimsy wrapping.

His jaw slackened as he pulled out a sheer baby-doll style negligee—utterly sexy and of the same dark pink as his new tie. He whistled out a long breath, his cock hardening. “I can’t wait to see you in this.”

“Wednesday,” she said with a coquettish smile.

“Maybe you can try it on for me right now?” he said in a low voice.

Natasha giggled, grabbing the nightie from him and putting it back in the box. “Tempting, but my five minutes are up. I know you’ll just get more stressed if something goes wrong with this assignment you’re working on, so I better get going.”

He cupped her face, staring into her captivating eyes. “I love you.”

Natasha’s face broke into a brilliant smile. “I love you too.”

With chest so expanded that he could hardly breathe, he captured her mouth and let his lips convey the depths of his feelings. Finally he was able to tell her what he’d been keeping inside for years.

“I wish it was Wednesday already,” he murmured.

“Me too. Take care tonight and tomorrow, please.”

“I will,” he answered, kissing her some more. But he had to stop, or he’d find himself seducing her. Much as he’d want to make love to her on his desk—something he’d been fantasising about—now was not the time. Reluctantly, he pulled away and walked her to the door. “I’ll pick you up on Wednesday, okay?”

Natasha nodded, smiling.

He gave her another peck on the lips before opening the door. He found Kate standing right outside, clearly waiting. “Yes, Kate?” he asked.

“Um, sorry Gavin, but there’s an urgent phone call for you. Apparently, it’s really, really important that you take it.”

He frowned. “Who is it?”

Kate squirmed, embarrassed. “She wouldn’t say.”

He refrained from glaring at her.

“Hope it’s nothing major,” Natasha said, waving goodbye. “See you later.”

“See you, babe,” he said, then asked Kate to put the call through to his phone. He hoped it wasn’t anything that needed to be attended to this week. Last thing he wanted was to get further behind with work.

He settled into his chair and picked up the call. “Gavin Redford.”

“Hello, Gavin. It’s Amber.”

His jaw dropped to the ground.

N
atasha walked to Gavin’s en suite bathroom and was disappointed to see that he had already finished showering. She’d expected to still be in bed with him at five thirty in the morning, and was surprised to have woken up alone.

“I was hoping to join you in there,” she said.

Gavin walked to her, wrapping the towel he’d been drying himself with around his waist. “Morning. I have to go to work early today and didn’t want to interrupt your beauty sleep.”

She curved her arms around his neck. “Do you want me to stay here again tonight? Have another hot dinner ready for you when you get home?”

Gavin gave her a small smile. “That sounds good, babe. But I can I take a rain check on that? I really need to work tonight.”

“All night?”

“I’m afraid so.”

She ran her fingers through his damp hair, sensing once again that he was deeply worried about something. “Is everything okay at work? Are you still having problems with that case you were working on the last couple of days?”

“It’s about a different case,” he answered, shaking his head dismissively.

“I won’t mind having dinner alone but still waiting for you to come home,” she said softly. “I can give you a massage and then we can just go straight to sleep.”

“You’re so sweet,” Gavin said, kissing her on the lips. “But I don’t want you waiting up if I have to be out until past midnight or something. I’d prefer you go home to your place so I’m not worrying about you waiting here. I’ll just see you again on the weekend, hopefully.”

“Hopefully?” she asked in consternation. She didn’t mean to sound needy or clingy, but she wanted to help Gavin relax and take his mind off work at the end of the day. The number of hours he was working was ridiculous.

Gavin smiled apologetically. “It’s a job only I can do and it looks like stretching out for a while. It’s not possible for me to assign someone else to it.”

“Can Carter help?”

Gavin shook his head.

“I’m worried about you,” she murmured.

“Don’t be. I’m fine. And once this thing is over, I’ll have a more normal schedule.”

She put on a mock pout. “That’s what you said before Biggs got caught. And now he is.”

Gavin kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m working as hard as I can to put this to bed. And unfortunately I’ll have to miss breakfast with you. I’ll grab something on my way to work.”

“Okay,” she said with a frown, watching him leave the bathroom. Was Gavin taking on too many hard cases? It was crazy that even though he had a number of competent private detectives working for him, he still had no choice but to personally work on some of the jobs.

She sighed. She guessed that was the drawback of having an enviable reputation. Gavin was in demand, especially by high-profile clients. She could only hope he wasn’t burning himself out.

And she’d really, really like it if they could spend more time together.

*****

“
Hello, Jarryd. It’s great to finally meet you in person,” Natasha said, shaking hands with a potential client who had been introduced to their company by Lucas Renner-Bilton. He was younger than she’d expected—probably around Gavin’s age—and quite good-looking. Even though this man exhibited nitpicky tendencies during their previous email conversations, they’d developed a friendly rapport despite only corresponding electronically.

“It is indeed, Natasha,” Jarryd said with an engaging smile. “Thank you for seeing me at short notice. I just came back from Brisbane and have other business to attend to in these parts so I thought I’d drop by to meet you.”

“It’s certainly good to put a face to a name, so I’m glad you did.”

They sat down to briefly discuss various details regarding Garrett Electrics’ proposal to provide the electrical services required for the renovation of a large confectionary factory which Jarryd was project-managing.

“The owners of Esda have been impatiently waiting for me to make a decision on who to award the all-important electrical works to this project,” Jarryd said. “Unfortunately, I’m a pedantic assho—uh, person sometimes. Well, most of the time, actually, so I have to thank you for your patience in answering my incessant queries.”

“No problems,” she said with a chuckle, warming to the man who sat before her. She had a lot of respect for people who took their responsibilities seriously.

“I must say I’ve been very impressed with everything about your company so far, especially you.”

“Thank you. I’m sure you’d be happy with the rest of the team too, once you get the chance to deal with them.”

“I still have to go through a couple of last-minute submissions, but I’m hoping you won’t have to wait too long for my decision.”

“I hope you’ll give us the opportunity to consider making changes to our bid if you find all is not to your satisfaction.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll most certainly do that,” Jarryd said with a grin. “I don’t mind you knowing that your proposal is my preferred one, so far.”

“Thank you,” Natasha said, thrilled. She’d been working hard to win this contract. It was always a buzz to accomplish something in an industry that was still predominantly considered a man’s world. “Do you have any other questions for me today?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. The factory is celebrating its thirty-fifth anniversary on Friday afternoon. Why don’t you come so you could meet the owners and have an in-depth tour of the factory? I know your head engineer’s been shown around, but I don’t think you’ve been.”

“Oh, thanks so much. That’s so nice of you. I’ll check my schedule.”

“Good. I’ll get my assistant to send a formal invite.”

She smiled. “Thanks again, Jarryd. I’m hoping for a great working relationship between our teams.”

“Me too. I think you and I have gotten off to a wonderful start.”

“We have,” she agreed amiably, hoping that Jarryd hadn’t meant his comment to be anything other than professional.