Chase Me (9 page)

Lukas responded with a noncommittal “hmm.” “Well, keep your eyes peeled.” He cleared his throat. “So, have you seen Lorin?”

The hair rose on Gabe’s neck and forearms, a prickle of primal awareness. “Do you need to talk to her? Is she not picking up?”

“Like she’s even carrying her phone.”

“Do you need me to pass along a message? Is Alka okay?” Gabe’s stomach churned like a washing machine. Alka was gearing up for her long-planned trip to Peru and Chile, but she wasn’t scheduled to leave until next week sometime.

“Yes, yes, everyone’s fine. I didn’t mean to worry you.” Lukas fell silent, worrying him even more. “Are you seeing anyone right now?”

“What?” Gabe’s eyebrows flew into his hairline. “Lorin just made the find of the millennia, and you want to talk about my sex life?”
Or
lack
thereof?

“Ah, shit,” Lukas muttered over a thunk in the background. Gabe winced as he visualized the other man’s heavy boots being propped onto something delicate—probably Elliott Sebastiani’s prized Eames table.

“I told Scarlett she should call you instead.”

“What?”

Lukas sighed audibly. “Did you notice how agitated Lorin was at the meeting?”

“She usually is. Agitated, I mean. By me.”

“She was agitated—and aroused—by you.”

“What?” Blood rushed to his face and parts farther south. “Lukas—”

“You two were spilling so much sexual energy during the meeting that I had trouble concentrating. Lorin really needs to get laid. So, if you’re not seeing anyone…” Lukas’s voice trailed off casually.

Gabe’s eyes bulged. Was Lukas really suggesting—

“She’s a Valkyrie, remember?” Lukas interrupted. “You have to do something, Gabe, because she’s bouncing off the walls.”

Do something? Like have sex with Lorin? “Are you serious? I think your brother might have a slight problem with what you’re suggesting.”

“Nah, Lorin and Rafe aren’t sleeping together anymore,” Lukas responded. “So, she isn’t involved with anyone right now, and I know you and Kayla broke things off awhile ago. If you aren’t seeing anyone, maybe the two of you can… scratch a mutual itch.”

Lorin
wasn’t sleeping with Rafe Sebastiani.
The information bounced in Gabe’s brain like a pinball on a hot table.

No.
Gabe yanked the mental reins. Who Lorin was or wasn’t sleeping with didn’t matter—despite the incendiary offer she’d made to him in the sauna last night.

Food, fight, fuck. How many times had he heard the Valkyrie adage? It had new significance to him now, because damn it, Lukas was right—Lorin had a problem. He mentally scrolled through the options. Lorin appeared to have the food part handled. Fight? He shook his head. Nope. He’d run with her, sure—but hit her? Fight with her? Nuh-uh, not gonna happen. But fuck? Oh yeah, he could imagine that. Had imagined it, over and over again, in dozens of variations.

“I know you want her, Gabe.”

It would be useless to deny such a thing to an incubus of Lukas’s skill. “Who wouldn’t?”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“Lukas, she reports to me.”

“So?”

“I provide her with work direction. I sign off on her budget, her salary, her bonuses, until Alka gets back.”

“And as a member of the Council, she makes decisions impacting all of our species on a regular basis. She could have you arrested with a single phone call.” Amusement filled his voice. “Do you really think she’s worried about bonus money?”

Probably not, and their relative financial standing was just one more roadblock standing between them. “How about the fact that she finds me as annoying as I find her?”

Lukas had the balls to laugh at him. “Sexual tension, man. Off-the-scale sexual tension.”

He’d have to take Lukas’s word for it. He hadn’t had sex in so long that he’d almost forgotten what sexual tension felt like. “Don’t you think Lorin can find her own partner?”

“Sure she could, but you’re both there, both healthy, unattached adults who are attracted to each other. She has to leach off some energy somehow. I’d rather she does it with you than with some random guy she picks up at Tubby’s.”

Now he knew why she’d made a pass last night. Lorin didn’t necessarily want to sleep with him; she just had to sleep with somebody. The very thought of Lorin picking up a stranger at a dive bar enraged him. “So this is… a risk management recommendation.”

“If you like.” Lukas’s voice was dry as dirt. “She wants you. You want her. She needs to leach off some energy—soon—or she’ll be worthless. Sounds like a win/win to me.”

“I’ll take your recommendation under advisement.” Now that Lukas had planted the idea of having sex with Lorin in Gabe’s head, he wouldn’t be able to think about anything else.

“One more thing.” Gabe blinked at Lukas’s suddenly serious tone. “You might want to reassure Lorin that she still has a leadership role on this project. She didn’t say much of anything at the meeting.”

“Yeah.” Everyone had offered feedback on the plan except the one person whose feedback was most important.

He’d blown it.

He said as much to Lukas, who didn’t disagree. “We’re always doing something that women find highly annoying. A blanket apology goes a long, long way.”

“A long way towards what?”

Lukas’s knowing laughter rang in his ear. “Good-bye, Gabe.”

“Paige! Good to see you!”

Crap.
Lorin had returned, but his apology would have to wait. Gabe stopped in the doorway of the workroom and watched Lorin wrap her arms around the smallest woman he’d ever seen. Dressed in shades of pink from head to toe, the top of Paige Scott’s head barely came up to Lorin’s chest, and then only with an assist from the dandelion-fluff white-blond ponytail perched on top of her head.

“Ewww, you’re all sweaty,” Paige complained. “Have you been running?”

Gabe caught the annoyed look Lorin shot his way before she answered. “Chopping wood for the sauna.”

Lorin had shed the soft fleece jacket she’d been wearing earlier and was stripped down to a duo of tank tops. Although it was barely sixty degrees outside, her skin glistened with perspiration.

When did sweaty women start turning him on?

“Gabe,” Lorin called. “You might as well come over and meet Paige.”

Gabe approached the two women. This was his ace geology and metallurgy grad? Her tiny hands didn’t look capable of picking up a pickax, much less wielding one.

“Gabe, this is Paige Scott, here for her third season. Paige, this is Gabe Lupinsky, who’ll be… working with us this summer.”

“Hello,” he said, extending his hand to the smaller woman. They hadn’t talked about a cover story yet, but Lorin’s vague introduction would probably work well enough for now. When Paige lifted her gaze to his, his smile froze, just for a second. Her irises, snapping with intelligence and bravado, were a distinct pinkish-red. “Ms. Scott, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Please call me Paige,” she said, squeezing the hell out of his hand. “It’s an honor to meet you, Dr. Lupinsky. I’m familiar with your work.”

“And I’m familiar with yours,” he replied, retrieving his hand. The faerie’s pink canvas high tops were adorned with tiny black skulls. Gabe was relieved to see some outward sign of edge, even if it was cosmetic. Standing next to Lorin, Paige Scott looked like she’d float away with a puff of the breeze. “Nice job on the assays and maps.”

“Thank you. Topography’s not my specialty, but I did what I could.” Paige stepped back, encompassing Gabe and Lorin with a single look. “So.”

“Hmm?”

Gabe sighed. The faux-innocent expression on Lorin’s face wouldn’t fool a toddler, much less a curve-breaker like Paige Scott.

Paige snagged a piece of her fluffy hair, twirling the lock around her forefinger as she considered them. “The assays are unremarkable. Our most significant find last season was a fire pit and some deer and rabbit bones. So, what’s up? What is Dr. Gabriel Lupinsky from Sebastiani Labs doing here?”

A look of panic chased across Lorin’s face. “Well, you know my mother is on sabbatical—”

“Lorin.” Gabe rested his hand on her forearm. Lorin stiffened but didn’t move away.

Paige’s gaze ping-ponged between them. “Ah.”

“What?” Lorin nearly squeaked, yanking her arm back.

“You’re lovers,” Paige said.

It could work, Gabe thought. It could work very well. A relationship between them was a perfectly logical conclusion for someone to draw. Why not use the obvious sexual tension between them for a useful purpose?

You
want
to
touch
her,
his libido taunted.

What
the
hell
are
you
doing?
his common sense warned.

Gabe disregarded common sense and slid his arm around Lorin’s waist, resting his hand familiarly on her hip. “Busted,” he said with a smile, digging his fingers into her resilient flesh as she tried to tug away. “It’s new yet,” he explained to Paige as he wrapped his other arm around Lorin, dropping a kiss onto the tip of her nose for good measure. “I wanted to learn more about where Lorin worked. It’s been ages since I worked a dig, so I volunteered.”

Lorin’s right thigh visibly twitched. Probably fighting the urge to knee him in the crotch. She yanked out of his arms with a growl.

Paige rolled her eyes at her reaction. “Lorin, chill. What’s the biggie? It’s not like you’ll be the only people knocking boots here this summer.”

The sound of tires against gravel got their attention, when a faded black Explorer emerged from the tunnel of trees.

“Crap,” Paige muttered.

“He’s seen you,” Lorin said. “You’d better hurry.”

“Yeah,” Paige quickly agreed. “Catch you later. Nice to meet you, Dr. Lupinsky.” Before Gabe could reply, Paige picked up her bag and took off at a run, carrying the duffel containing a summer’s worth of gear like it weighed nothing.

The linebacker-sized guy wedged behind the wheel of the truck didn’t look happy. He skidded the truck to a stop with an impressive spray of rocks, opened the driver’s door, snagged a pillow off the passenger seat, and hit the ground running, leaving the truck idling.

“Too much ground to make up, Mike,” Lorin hooted. “She’s got you.”

Mike grunted a response as he blew past them, carrying the pillow like a football. They both watched as the big redhead bolted into the bunkhouse.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Gabe said. “What’s that about?”

“Remember that big bed in the bunkhouse?”

He nodded. Lorin had looked absolutely spectacular bent over it, snapping clean sheets onto the corners.

“The crewmember who puts a personal item on the bed first gets it for the season.” When voices exploded from the bunkhouse’s open door, Lorin smiled like the Cheshire Cat. “Sounds like she held him off.”

Sure enough, Mike poked his head from the bunkhouse door. “Lorin, c’mon, help me out here. I’m bigger than she is. I need the room.”

Paige appeared beside him, grinning as she rubbed her shoulder.

Had the guy actually tackled her? He was well over double her body weight. Gabe shot a glance at Lorin, but she didn’t look outraged on Paige’s behalf, or even particularly concerned.

“Nothing I can do, Mike,” Lorin called back. “You know the rules.”

“You snooze, you lose,” Paige crowed. “And I’m going to be snoozing in a double bed all summer long.” As she turned on her heel, she murmured something to Mike, too soft for them to hear. Mike narrowed his eyes and slowly followed her into the bunkhouse.

Lorin watched them with a pensive expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“She’s had a crush on him for ages, but he treats her like a little sister.” Lorin sighed. “Well, they’ll have to work it out. And speaking of which.” Her voice took on a muscularity it hadn’t had just a few seconds ago.

He was obviously tetched in the head, because suddenly he was really turned on.

He planted his feet and faced her. What was coming? A slap to the face? A fist to the gut? An epic cockpunch?

He probably owed her a free shot.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she hissed. Her hands didn’t move, other than to clench into white-knuckled fists at her side. “We’re lovers? Who’s going to believe that?” Before he could defend the idea, she was off and running. “City boy, let’s get something straight right now. I might temporarily report to you, but in all the ways that matter, I’m in charge.” She shot him a look that sliced. “Yeah, I made a mistake opening the box, and your presence here is my metaphorical spanking. I get it. But this is my mother’s dig. My dig. Not yours. Never yours.”

His thoughts were snagged back on “spanking,” but he yanked them to heel. He had to set a couple of things straight, right now. “You’re right. I’m sorry. And I’m also sorry about the meeting earlier today. I know I should have—”