Lauren (Silicon Valley Billionaires 1)

I took a step toward him.

“It means a lot to me, too,” he said gruffly. “So please—stop pushing me away.”

“I don’t mean to, and I don’t mean to be frustrating. I’m…sorry.” Two apologies from me in one conversation? A personal record.

I took another step.

Gabe watched me warily. “Are you coming closer?”

My heart hammered in my chest. “Only if you want me to. I know I’ve been difficult.”

He held up his hand. “Hang on. Don’t move. I need to be prepared.”

My confidence faltered a little. “For what?”

A small smile returned to his face, and I caught a flash of that dimple. “For my brain to go haywire.”

I took that as a good sign and finally closed the distance between us. Gabe put his arms around my shoulders and leaned over me, his dark brown eyes flashing.

“Why would your brain do that?” My voice sounded hoarse. My kitchen had suddenly gotten very, very hot.

“You’re a scientific genius. I think you can figure it out.”

Then he very gently but very firmly put his lips to mine.

I felt the kiss in every part of me. I could see what he meant about a haywire brain. I couldn’t think at all, just feel. He deepened the kiss, lengthening it, and I responded by unselfconsciously throwing my arms around his neck. Gabe’s hands roamed down my back and a shudder of desire rolled through me. It came from someplace deep inside, a place I hadn’t known existed.

I kissed him back hungrily. I hadn’t known how hungry I was.

“Were you finally nice to him?” Hannah suddenly called, swerving around the corner and bursting into the room. Gabe and I instantly broke apart and she clapped a hand over her mouth, looking horrified. “Oh boy. Oh my God. I’m so sorry! I didn’t know he was still here!”

I gave my sister the evil eye while Gabe chuckled and straightened his jacket. “It’s okay. And yes, your sister was finally being nice to me. I was just saying goodbye to her.”

“You don’t have to,” Hannah said, sounding simultaneously apologetic and gleeful from behind her hand. “You can stay and maybe she can keep practicing being nice—”

“Hannah,” I interrupted, my voice a warning.

Gabe turned to me, still chuckling. “Thank you for…having me.” The undercurrent to his words made my whole body tingle in response. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Okay.” I could feel my face turning red. “Thanks for stopping by and…everything.”

He chuckled again, kissed me briefly on the nose, and was gone.

“Well, well, well.” My sister crossed her arms against her chest, looking like the cat who just cornered the canary. “We finally have a winner, ladies and gentlemen! Gabriel Betts is a total keeper!”

“Please,” I groaned, “You’re being ridiculous.” Even now, I could feel his hands as if they were still on me…and I wished they were.

She arched an eyebrow at me. “You want to deny it?”

“I want to go to bed.”

Hannah looked triumphant as I made a hasty beeline for my room. “Just remember,” she called after me, “I told you so!”

The next day I went about my work ruthlessly, gathering data and preparing compliance reports for the FDA as if I were gathering an army. Still, the whole day, my thoughts wandered from Clive to Gabe, from Gabe to Clive.

On one hand, I still seethed over my meeting with Clive yesterday. He’d threatened to take away my company, the thing I’d put my heart and soul into for the past six years. He’d threatened the very reason for my existence. I would make him pay for that—I just had to figure out how. While I figured that out, I refrained from calling the FBI. I hated to admit it to myself, but his threat had resonated with me. I didn’t want him selling my technology to a third party on foreign soil. Even though the stolen specs weren’t the correct ones, any R&D department worth its salt would be able to recreate the correct technology eventually.

On the other hand, the Gabe hand, I felt…positively giddy. I kept checking my phone as if I were a teenager, but there were no texts from him. I found cold consolation by reminding myself that he was a CEO as well, and was probably buried with work.