His obvious pleasure in her success confused her, after they’d been at odds so often this week. That dynamic anchored her, helping her to stay strong against his undeniable appeal. But he’d shifted the playing field on her tonight and she didn’t know what that meant for where things would go next. She wasn’t ready to jump back into a relationship. Even a hot, passionate fling.

No matter how fun that might be.

To distract herself, she turned on her phone and idly opened her most active social media platform.

And nearly had a heart attack. Gasping, she fumbled her phone.

“What’s wrong?” Gage asked. “Should I pull over?”

“No. Sorry. Nothing’s wrong.” She stared in disbelief at her number of followers, refreshing the page to see if there’d been a mistake. “My following has more than quadrupled in size tonight.”

“What did you post?” he asked, brows furrowing.

“Absolutely nothing.” She clicked open her mentions and found the posts from Chiara and Astrid. “But your friends posted about my suit. I can’t believe this.”

There were more comments than she could ever hope to reply to personally. In the course of one evening, her social capital had grown to more impressive proportions than ever, even bigger than when her blog had been at its most successful.

“I’m glad to hear it.” He steered the SUV away from the lake, into the hills overlooking the water. “With the boost in followers, will your piece on Chiara fetch a higher price?”

The evening had quickly grown cold after the sunset, and now she was grateful for the vehicle’s heated seats keeping her warm. Her gaze roamed over Gage, his nearness sending another jolt of heat through her.

“Definitely. It also takes the pressure off to lock in a quick sale for the interview since the increased reach expands my options for revenue streams.” She couldn’t begin to quantify what a gift this meeting had been for her, but her brain worked overtime strategizing her next move to solidify the growth.

Besides, thinking about business helped keep her thoughts off the upcoming night with Gage as he turned into the driveway of the four-bedroom vacation home perched above the lake. She should address his proposition. Make it clear that indulging in the attraction wasn’t a good idea, even if thoughts of him dominated far too much of her brain space lately.

The dense stand of pine trees all around the house kept it hidden from view of the main casino building nearby, giving them the illusion of total privacy. Gage had told her Desmond managed nine other residences in addition to the main resort. While the high-roller suites were glitzy and modern, the villas were positioned as elegant mountain retreats.