Rush

him to submit
     a very competitive bid. He needed this project. It would boost his standing and enable
     him to land other lucrative jobs.
    Tyson Cartwright was a Texas billionaire in his forties, and he’d built his company
     the old-fashioned way. From the ground up. His story was impressive. Mia had read
     up extensively on him, and he’d been on his own working his ass off since he was in
     his teens. By his early twenties, he already owned a small construction company in
     East Texas and he’d only expanded from there. His was truly an American success story.
     Hard work. Resolve. Success.
    Stéphane Bargeron she knew less about, simply because his was a family business that
     many Bargerons were involved with. He was the guy sent in to do the ass kissing while
     his father andbrothers did most of the hard work. He was the polish and they were the brains.
    All three would be back in Gabe’s suite for drinks after tonight’s dinner. She wasn’t
     sure in what capacity she was supposed to act, but looking at four really good-looking
     men couldn’t be that much of a hardship, right?
    She knew what she needed to know, so she wasn’t going to drag out her laptop and rehash
     it all.
    Not when a perfectly good nap awaited.

chapter twenty-nine
    Gabe watched as Mia charmed the group of men over dinner. She smiled, chatted and
     conversed with ease, and she had every single one of them under her spell.
    The question was, did she have him under it as well?
    Lisa’s question echoed over and over in his mind.
    Are you in love with her?
    He couldn’t quite explain the anger or the helplessness he felt over such a question.
     He’d brooded the entire day, in turns angry and frustrated over his inability to put
     distance between himself and Mia.
    It infuriated him that he hadn’t been able to immediately refute Lisa’s angry question.
    He’d thought to end their agreement right then and there, walk away, terminate her
     employment with him. But he hadn’t been able to, and that made him only feel more
     helpless. He needed her. God help him, he needed her.
    His gaze drifted over the potential bidders—men who would be coming to his suite later.
     They obviously lusted after Mia—what red-blooded, heterosexual man wouldn’t? It made
     Gabe want to grit his teeth, but he choked the urge away and instead embraced the
     opportunity for what it was.
    A chance to prove to himself that his obsession with Mia wasn’t unbreakable. That
     he didn’t love her. Didn’t need her.
    Such a thing was provided for in their contract, though he’d never thought to actually
     hand her over to another man before now. The very idea sent rage and fierce jealousy
     surging through his mind. It did so now. But she’d expressed curiosity over the idea.
     He knew she wasn’t adamantly opposed. And it was certainly something he’d done in
     the past.
    He could do this.
    He would do this.
    He only hoped to hell he survived it and it didn’t destroy him—or her—in the process.
    • • •
    Gabe’s mood had shifted from brooding and pissed off to…She wasn’t sure what his mood
     was exactly. It worried her because now he stared at her, when before he hadn’t looked
     much at her at all. And that stare was something new, as if he were looking at her
     in a whole different light. Like his expectations had taken a dramatic shift, only
     she had no idea what those expectations were.
    Where before she’d embraced the silence between them, not wanting to delve into the
     reason behind his moodiness, now it made her distinctly uncomfortable. She wanted
     something from him. Some kind of reassurance, though why, she wasn’t certain.
    They rode back to the hotel, the tension welling until she nearly choked with it.
     She wanted to ask him, wanted to question him, but there was something in his steady
     gaze that made her fear what she would learn.
    As soon as they were inside the suite, Gabe closed the door and focused that glittering
     gaze on her. He bristled with dominance where before he’d always demonstrated patience
     and tenderness with her.
    “Strip.”
    She blinked at his tone. It wasn’t angry. It was more…determined. Unease drifted over
     her and she hesitated, which only made his eyes narrow.
    “I thought…” She swallowed hard. “I thought they were coming up for drinks.” Had the
     plans changed?
    He nodded. “They are.”
    Oh God.
    “Don’t make me tell you again, Mia,” he said in a soft,