Closing her laptop, she exhaled hard before shoving to her feet.

“Sure,” she called, hoping to keep her tone light. Breezy. Like her world wasn’t collapsing in on itself. “Come on in.”

The door opened and Gage stepped inside, pulling all her focus to his broad shoulders in a steel-gray dress shirt. The fabric skimmed taut muscles, tapering down to the hem, which was untucked from his black trousers. With the sleeves rolled to the middle of his forearms, dark webs of tattoos were left exposed. It took her a moment to drag her gaze from them up to his face. His brown eyes roamed over her; he was studying her as thoroughly as she’d studied him.

Awareness flared to life again, the response more immediate each time she saw him. She stood in front of the big desk, keeping several feet between her and Gage. She wore a long cashmere cardigan over a pink silk T-shirt and matching lounge pants, but she wouldn’t have minded a few more layers when her body responded so thoroughly to this man.

“I’m sorry to disturb you.” His attention lingered on her face as he moved deeper into the room. “Is everything all right?”

“Absolutely,” she lied, unwilling to show vulnerability, especially to this man. “Just going over some of my research on Alonzo.”

She played the card most certain to get him to back off.

“In that case, I won’t keep you for long.” He paused near the fireplace, folded his arms and tilted a shoulder against the dark stone wall. “But I thought I’d mention a potential professional opportunity for you.”

Frowning, she couldn’t guess what that meant.

“I’m sure you’re not here to offer me a job.” She pivoted to face him, but stayed by the desk, knowing it was wisest not to stand too close to him when he looked good enough to taste and she was feeling adrift.

“No.” His smile seemed more wary than amused. “But I have business to take care of with Jonah Norlander, one of the other ranch owners who is married to—”

“The whole planet knows he married Astrid Koskinen, the former supermodel.” Elena’s curiosity spiked, and she was grateful for the distraction from the sex appeal of the hot investment banker standing in front of her. “They just had their first child together.”

“Correct.” Gage nodded. “And apparently Astrid has a close friendship with Chiara Campagna.”

“She does.” Elena had been studying the new landscape of beauty and fashion influencers in her quest to recharge her social media presence, and was fully aware of the currency Chiara commanded right now. “I would have tried to speak to her last night, but she had left the party by the time you and I finished our talk. She’s already back in LA, and I saw on her feed she’s attending a Hollywood premiere tonight.”