Chapter Five

“Oh, no,” Gabi said, stomping down hard on the small part of her that wanted to accept his offer. “Thank you, but no. I have to be here at ten o’clock to start cleaning anyway, and I know you’ll still be sleeping then.”

“Jesus Christ, woman,” he grated out. “I don’t give a crap about that, OK? I don’t mind bringing you back for your shift.”

“No. That’s just silliness.” Her tone was getting all crisp and formal. “Go home, Aidan, and don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, and I’ll even have time for one of Luke’s amazing breakfasts tomorrow before I start cleaning.”

He paused, still trying to find a problem with her plan. “I don’t know…”

“Well, I do.” It was final, he saw now. Those dark eyes were hard and flat, and he knew that Gabriela was a woman who didn’t let herself get pushed around. It was just one of the many things that he loved about her. “I’m staying here.”

“Alright,” he sighed, admitting defeat and respecting her decision. “I’ll get you some bed things and some toiletries.” He looked her up and down. “You have any extra clothes to sleep in?”

“Ummm. No.” She had a change of socks and underwear in her staff room locker, but no other shirts or jeans. Guess I’m sleeping naked.

“OK, here.” Without any warning at all, he yanked off his t-shirt and Gabi was suddenly staring at his bare chest.

Oh. My. God.

His body was… Jesus, what the hell was the word for it? Hard and large, toned and muscular. Perfect, just damn perfect. There was a line of golden hair that ran down the middle of that sculpted torso, over his belly button, down into his jeans. Gabi wanted to lick him all over, follow that line with her tongue, go deeper and darker. She wanted that body covering hers, she wanted that body inside hers. She wanted that body to be all hers – hers to touch and taste and take.

“Take it,” he said, handing over the shirt, unconsciously articulating her most secret desire aloud. She accepted it without a word, fought down the urge to hold it to her flushed face. She wanted to inhale the strong, safe smell of Aidan, wanted to just suck it deep into her lungs. The shirt was warm from his body heat, and her knees went weak at the thought of having that heat up against her own.

“Thanks,” she managed. “I’ll wash it before I give it back.”

He smiled. “No biggie.”

Truthfully, he’d prefer that she not wash it before returning it. He loved the idea of Gabriela sleeping in something of his, her pure, fresh scent being left on the material by her golden skin. He almost groaned as he realized that it might even absorb the scent of her sweet pussy. Fuck, he’d love to bury his nose into that musky perfume – on a t-shirt was a poor substitute for the real thing, but he’d take it. Goddamn, he’d take anything from her.

She turned now, forced her eyes away from Aidan’s chest and shoulders and abs. “Which room should I take?”

“Uh. Number Two, I guess.” He felt disgust move over him at the next words he had to utter. “It’s been the least busy tonight.”

She nodded, understanding full well what Aidan meant. The back rooms at Curves served multiple purposes, some innocent, most not so much. They could be rented out and often were by bikers passing through Denver, or young couples looking for cheap accommodation. But they were also known fondly as ‘crash rooms’ and any bar patron could go in there with another bar patron and do whatever they hell they liked. They were, in effect, fuck rooms and Gabi had seen first-hand evidence of this when she cleaned the rooms every morning.

Gabi was no prude, and she truly didn’t care about other people’s sex lives – God, I’d love to have some action in my own! – and so long as she had clean sheets, she’d be fine. The fact that some biker had probably been given a blow job on that bed minutes before was no big deal. She’d most definitely avoid sitting on the sofa, though, and she’d be sure to scrub the bathroom enthusiastically before touching anything with her bare skin. Talk about breeding grounds for disease: she was sure that a biological weapon could be developed out of those back rooms.

Aidan walked over to the small storage area just off the staff room, and now Gabi got to enjoy the view from behind. His back was broad and his ass in those jeans was incredible. She actually ran her tongue over her lips at the sight of those muscles moving under his skin as he reached up for the sheets.

“You’re all set,” he said. “You head down and get yourself sorted, and I’ll grab some bathroom stuff.”

“I suppose it’s too much to hope for a travel toothbrush and toothpaste set?” she said.

“Nope. We’ve got a few.”

“Awesome. Thanks.”

“Sure. I’ll go talk to the boys about watching out for you, and I’ll bring the last few things to Room Two. OK?”

“Yeah. OK.”

Gabi grabbed the extra socks and underwear from her locker, and walked down the hall to the crash rooms. Sure enough, the door to Room Two was open and she walked in. Yep, it smelled of cigarettes and perfume and sex, but she didn’t care at this point. The adrenalin had worn off, and she was totally dead on her feet. She opened the window to air the place out and started to strip the bed.

Aidan came in just as she was making the bed up with clean sheets and pillow cases. He looked around and set the towels, toiletries and room key on the clean sheets, not wanting the towels to touch the bedside table. Urgh.

“You sure about this?” he said. “My offer still stands.”

She looked at him standing there – bare chested in his jean jacket now, like some kind of goddamn fantasy man who'd just strolled off the cover of a romance novel – and she smiled.