Serenity sighed. “I won’t lie and say he’s not a great guy and one I could probably fall for at some point. He is. But I don’t want to get serious with anyone at this stage of my life, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to put my heart on the line again. Gabriel feels the same way, so this works perfectly.”

“I hear you, Sis, but what if things do change and you start to feel more?”

She already felt the little stirrings of “more” and firmly shut them down. “They won’t.” She couldn’t allow them to change.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

What the hell are you doing here? I thought someone was breaking in and almost called the police.”

Gabriel glanced over to the office doorway where Darius stood—phone in hand—glaring. “Good morning to you, too. I’m working. What does it look like I’m doing?”

Darius entered and dropped into the chair across from Gabriel. “When did you get in?”

“Sunday evening.”

“It’s Tuesday, Gabe. Why didn’t you tell us you were coming? And you never did answer the question as to why you’re here.”

Sighing, Gabriel leaned back in the chair. “I thought I’d pop in to check on things at my place, and I figured since you and Brent have been doing all the traveling, I’d do it this time.”

Darius folded his arms and angled his head. “You’re going to have to do better than that. We meet every week by videoconference, we’ve been taking care of your condo, and you had your mail forwarded. So, again, what’s going on?”

Gabriel should have never stepped foot in the office, and instead worked from home like he originally planned, avoiding this little interrogation. But the part of his workaholic personality that still existed wouldn’t let him stay away. Here he had dual monitors and could work on multiple things at once. And he needed a distraction. However, that old adage of out of sight, out of mind wasn’t working when it came to Serenity. She invaded his thoughts during the day while he worked and his dreams as he slept. For the past two mornings, he’d awakened aroused and hard, and none of his cold showers had helped. Gabriel eyed Darius, whose expression hadn’t changed. “Nothing’s going on.” He shrugged. “I just wanted to come home for a bit.”

“I see. How’s your grandmother?”

“Nana’s fine. Feisty as ever.” And still not budging on moving away from her home. “I have no idea what I’m going to do if I can’t change her mind about coming here. Even though her doctor said she’s doing well, she’s still getting older, and I’m not comfortable leaving her alone. Besides, Drea would kill me if I did.”