Sara jumped at the sound of Gabriel’s voice. Not wanting him to read what she’d written, to know what she’d been thinking, she slapped the computer lid down hard and blinked at him. He had turned around in his chair and was looking at her curiously. She knew immediately she had overreacted, though he didn’t call her on it.

“Uh, sure. Lunch would be good.” It was a little late for nonchalance, but she faked it anyway.

“Cool. Let me know when you’re ready.” He started shutting down his computer, and hung the unusual spoon back up on its hook next to its brethren.

It was really very nice that whatever Gabriel thought of her, he didn’t seem to think she was a freak, which was frequently how she felt. He didn’t so much as blink at any of her odd behaviors, including the utterly random act of staring wide-eyed at him at four in the morning as he tried to sleep. Nor had he made her feel uncomfortable for doing that, or anything else.

“Does it bother you that I’m in your space?” she asked him as she stood up and stretched. “I realize I could probably do all of this at my place if that works better for you.” She did feel guilty for invading his apartment, his life. She hadn’t realized how much time she would actually spend reading documents and sorting them. It wasn’t something he really needed her to be on-site for, at least not on a daily basis. She wanted to give him the opportunity to lose her if he really preferred to be alone.

“This works for me.”

That’s all he said, and all he needed to. Sara accepted everything Gabriel said at face value, because for whatever reason, she trusted that he spoke the truth, and didn’t waste words where they weren’t necessary.

And she was oddly relieved he wanted her to stick around. Or maybe it wasn’t so odd, really. She liked him. She was attracted to him, even though he had given her no encouragement, no real flirtation, no sexual innuendos. Yet she still enjoyed his company, and in a small, quiet way, knew she was hoping that at some point they would cross the line and explore a physical relationship. She didn’t want anything permanent, not a real relationship, but sex she really could use.

But it was probably a good thing that he wasn’t hitting on her. The complication was something she really didn’t need, even if her body disagreed.

“Will the cat be okay here?”

“Sure. Let’s just close her in one room so she doesn’t get into anything. We can put her in my bedroom. She can’t get into trouble there.”