Sam cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. Er... Gabrielle, um, this is my, um, boyfriend Tyler. Tyler, this is Gabrielle." Sam blushed deeply.
Tyler grinned and held out his hand. "Gabrielle. It's nice to meet you." He made it sound casual, like she was normal person.
"You'd better come in," Gabrielle said, rubbing her upper arm. "It feels like the temperature has dropped again."
"Thirty below," Tyler confirmed. "Celsius," he added. "That's why it's so sunny."
They both moved into the cabin and stepped out of their boots and removed their coats. Both wore jackets beneath, that each kept buttoned.
Seth was waiting in the main room for them and came forward as they entered. He took Tyler's hand and slapped his shoulder.
Tyler grinned. "Got most of what you asked for, sir."
"Seth, here."
"If I can remember that, sir—I mean, Seth." Tyler picked up two of the bags he had been carrying. "Your size doesn't come too easy up here."
Seth nodded his thanks. "I'll be back in a minute." He took the bags and disappeared into the bedroom.
Sam moved to the table. "Are these the camera and laptop that were submerged, Gabrielle?"
"Do you think you can help?"
Sam picked up the digital camera and considered it. "Once I get a look at what's inside, I'll know," she decided. "I brought some tools with me. Can I spread out on the table?"
"Sure. We can eat on the coffee table."
Tyler pointed to the tiny bar area. "I brought beer. Want one?"
"I have a glass of wine going already," Gabrielle told him truthfully, avoiding mentioning that the wine had been poured two hours before and would stand for another three hours or more as she sipped it. Seth's cover strategy was one she had shamelessly stolen. "But I know Seth will want one, and you two should have one, too. We have pizzas coming from the kitchen in twenty minutes. Seth knows the chef."
Tyler grinned as he pulled a six-pack of beer from one of the bags and put it on the bar. "He would. Seth knows everyone around here." He pulled three bottles from the pack and put it in the fridge.
Gabrielle's heart leapt. Yes. The exact opening she had been hoping for. "Because he grew up around here, in Hinton." She made it sound casual, like she knew all about it.
"And he just knows how to talk to people." Tyler carried one of the bottles over to the table, where Sam had spread a roll of tools, and put it by her elbow.
"Thanks," Sam murmured. She was already absorbed in her work.
"You're really going to pull my computer apart?" Gabrielle asked.
"No," Sam said. "I'm going to do the equivalent of popping the hood on your car, and check for water in there. Then dry everything off with a hair dryer if anything is still wet. You don't want a lick of moisture in there when you run current through it, which I'm going to have to do long enough to get the photos off the hard drive. I don't have enough equipment here to take out the hard drive and mount it in anything else, which is the way I'd rather do it. So, a quick and dirty in, grab, and out. Then you can shut down the computer and use it as an anchor after that, for that's all it'll be good for."
Gabrielle looked at Tyler, startled.
He shrugged. "Makes sense to me," he said.
"And the camera?" Gabrielle asked.
"Well, you're lucky it's digital. If it was film, you'd have lost the lot. Same deal. Open it up, dry it off, whack some new batteries in it, get the photos off the hard drive, and use it for landfill." Sam took a swig of beer and grimaced. "It's a pity you weren't using a cheaper camera, one with a removable memory card. Then you could just pull it out of the camera, and toss the camera. Problem solved. But then I'd be missing out on gourmet pizza, so I guess there's an upside." She grinned.
Gabrielle couldn't help it. She started laughing.
Tyler lifted a brow. "What?" he asked.
"Are you all so...competent?"
"They are," Seth said from behind her. "Each and every one of them."
Gabrielle turned, startled. Seth had changed into jeans and a sweater. The sweater was one of the cheap cotton types the tourists bought for thirty dollars, but it at least fit him.
Tyler handed him a bottle of beer and he nodded his thanks and twisted off the lid, then moved to the table to look at what Sam was doing. He shook his head. "Whatever cranks your dial," he murmured.
"Circuits at least don't stand me up on a Saturday night," Sam said.
"They don't keep you warm in bed, either," Tyler observed, leaning back against the kitchenette counter, his arms crossed.
Gabrielle pulled out the dining chair between Tyler and Seth and sat down. "I wouldn't have thought any of you would have much time for socializing. Do you get that many Saturday nights?"
Sam just shook her head, her gaze on what her hands were doing. Seth grimaced and Tyler snorted, a grin forming, looking at Seth.
Gabrielle sensed the opening she was looking for. "Why do you laugh, Tyler?"
He pointed at Seth. "The housewarming party."
"We don't need to—" Seth began.
"Sure, it was a Saturday," Tyler said. "Was it two barrels or three?"
"No, Tyler," Seth said flatly.
Tyler straightened up. "Yes sir."
Gabrielle's heart thudded as she watched the pair.
"It was two barrels," Sam said from the table.
Seth turned to face her, his eyes narrowing, looking more than a little pissed. Gabrielle saw his gaze flick to her.
Gabrielle looked at Sam, who picked up her bottle of beer and sat up. "You can bust me...sir. But Gabrielle's just asking and the tale's all over the Sinai, and even I got the outhouse version when I reported for duty last week." She looked at Gabrielle. "When Seth was running an outfit on the Sinai, he arranged for two barrels of a load of C4 being shipped out to his unit to be swapped out for two barrels of Kokanee instead." She grinned. "Beer for the lads, for Canada Day. His outfit thought he was a hero."
Seth cleared his throat and moved over to one of the lounge chairs and sat on the edge of it. He looked very uncomfortable.
Tyler was grinning and Gabrielle knew he was one of the "lads" that had been there.
Gabrielle tried hard not to smile. "Did you get your butt handed to you?" she asked Seth.
"Yes," he growled.
Sam was watching her and when she saw Gabrielle's gaze swing toward her, she winked and went back to work on the computer.
Tyler touched her arm to get her attention. "You want me to set up the coffee table for the pizzas, Gabrielle?"
She looked up at him. "Call me Ellie. And sure, that would be great. The pizzas will be here in a few minutes."
He nodded. "Okay, Ellie." He moved back to the kitchenette and started digging through the drawers for plates and napkins.
Gabrielle glanced at Seth. What did he think of her adopting his name for her?
He was watching her, as she had known he would be. His eyes were dark with an emotion she not name, but it curled through her and made her stomach clench and her heart squeeze.
Then he smiled. It was a slow, hot sensual expression that stopped her heart and made her tremble. She knew he approved.
Tyler dropped plates on the coffee table next to him, drawing his attention away from her. Seth was forced to speak to him. The heat and promise emanating from him was withdrawn as he turned away. Gabrielle drew a breath that seemed cooler in comparison.
She sat at the table, feeling an odd sense of warmth that she'd never felt before and tried to analyze it.
Sam was muttering to herself as she worked, but Gabrielle had the sensation that even though she had no idea what Sam was doing, her presence wasn't resented. And Tyler's gentle touch on her shoulder still tingled.
Acceptance. Just like that. They had both watched her kiss Seth last night in the restaurant. And Seth had let Tyler know they were staying in a single room for the night. The fact that they were together was accepted and they were dealing with her at face value. As, well
, Ellie.
Seth's Ellie.
She shivered. This was something she had never had. Not even with her family, she realized sadly.
Sam sat up and stretched her neck muscles. "I'm going to need that hair dryer soon. Do you have your own, Ellie? Those stuck-to-the-wall ones aren't going to be much help here."
"I've got one you can use," Gabrielle told her.
"'kay. Good." Sam dropped her head from side to side, working out kinks. "By the way. Demon Hunter...that sequence where you rebuild all the handguns. I know that was you, because the camera never cuts away. That was pretty damn impressive for a civilian, Ellie. You must have worked your butt off to learn how to disassemble all those guns and put them all back together again inside...what was it? Two minutes?"
"Two minutes and fifteen seconds," Gabrielle said, staring at her. "You're...I think you're possibly the first person on the planet that ever noticed it was me and not a stunt double."
Sam looked over at Tyler and lifted a brow. "Told you," she said shortly. She looked back at Gabrielle. "It was pretty slick," she said. She picked up the jeweler's screwdriver she was using. "And I wasn't the only one who noticed."
Gabrielle looked at Seth. He was smiling.
She couldn't help grinning back.
Conversation drifted after that, for Sam was concentrating and the pizzas arrived a few minutes later. Gabrielle was content with the progress she had made so far.
Sam stopped what she was doing for a few minutes to eat, and they all sat around the coffee table.
It took Gabrielle a while to realize that the room was missing any of the tensions that usually filled the meals she shared with her family. The only other meals she shared were business meals with industry colleagues, or with the long string of useless lovers that had ended with Adrian. All of them had been agenda-filled.
But not this meal. The only person with an agenda here was her, the daughter of Cameron Sherborne.
Gabrielle deliberately let her agenda go, allowing the conversation to flow where it wanted, with no attempt to steer it. She could always learn about Seth another day...or find out about him naturally and over the course of time like normal people. Why rush it?
So Gabrielle sipped her glass of wine and contributed just enough to the conversation to keep it moving along, but mostly, she watched Seth as he slowly relaxed in the company of his peers. This was more of the real Seth sitting on the chair before her than she would ever see surrounded by civilians.
They kept the conversation on general subjects because of her—the dismal Oilers hockey season was analyzed, and Seth's insistence that they'd return to once again win the Stanley Cup was dismissed out of hand. Once they'd dissected hockey, they turned to football and there, Gabrielle was on firmer footing. She was a New York Giants fan. Sam, surprisingly, preferred American football over Canadian, and was a Seattle Seahawks fan.
That put Seth and Tyler on the defense and started a serious debate over the pros and cons of the two national leagues, which Sam was more than capable of defending on behalf of the NFL, while Gabrielle sat back and observed.
Seth laughed at something Tyler said and threw a comment back, his smile lighting up his face, his blue eyes dancing.
Gabrielle caught her breath, holding in her surprise, struggling not to show it on her face.
She loved him.
No, no. After two days? Gabi, this is just an obsession, the Hollywood romance you've always desperately sought for. Don't ruin this, whatever this is, by slapping "love" on it.
She swallowed hard, studying Seth, trying to sort out the overwhelming feelings, for they hurt as they tore through her. She rubbed at her temple, trying to pretend she was still having a wonderful time.
She looked at Seth again. She pushed all the inner voices aside and just looked at him.
She loved him.
Did it matter that they had only met three days before, or that she didn't know everything about him? She knew enough to know that she would always be safe with him, that he would never deliberately hurt her. That was more than some women could say about husbands they'd been married to for years. The rest would come later.
She hoped. Seth still had to decide what he was going to do about her father's offer. She would not influence him in that. She couldn't. He would see it as more manipulation and resent it. At all costs, she had to hide the fact that she loved him so that he could decide freely for himself if he would stay with her.
Sam rose, stretched, and moved back to the table to keep working on Gabrielle's camera. Gabrielle went back into her bedroom to collect the hairdryer.
Seth followed her back. "Are you alright, Ellie?" he asked, cupping her face.
"I'm fine. Why?" She struggled to put a smile on her face as she looked up at him. The knowledge that she loved him seemed to burn in her chest. His hand was warm on her flesh and his scent was spicy and male.
"You were mentally absent for a while back there. Where did you go?" He was gazing into her eyes, like he might be able to see for himself.
She kept her smile in place. "I was thinking about last night."
His eyes narrowed. "No, you weren't." His voice was low. "I was there last night, too, Ellie, and I know when your thoughts turn to sex." His thumb brushed her lips. "Your mind wasn't on that subject out there just now, or I definitely would have noticed. So where were you?"
She opened her lips slightly, letting his thumb slide inside. Her heart pattered faster. That slightest touch seemed to be all it took for her to respond.
He pulled his hand away quickly. "Ah...that would be the look," he said and cleared his throat. He looked over his shoulder, toward the door. "Sam will need the dryer, won't she?" He stood aside.
Gabrielle took the dryer through to Sam, her heart thudding along unhappily. Suddenly, she wanted Sam and Tyler gone.
She placed the dryer on the table. Sam nodded her thanks and plugged it into the wall socket next to her and started it up.
Outside, distantly, Gabrielle could hear the murmur of voices. It had to be her family, heading home from their day of skiing at Marmot. That meant they had come home early, for it was still light out.
Sam frowned. Something must have happened to drag her mother off the slopes this early.
Seth emerged from the bedroom, his head cocked.
Sam turned off the dryer, also listening.
"Someone's angry," Tyler said, his tone light.
It was a mild understatement. Even through the insulated walls of the cabin, Gabrielle could hear Ronny's fury, radiating from every word he spoke, even though the words themselves were indistinct.
Gabrielle moved to the front windows to look out. Ronny's and Destiny's cabin was the one next to hers and they would have to pass by her window.
They were walking along the wide path toward her cabin, making slow time of it, because Destiny was on crutches, her right foot bandaged.
"Oh, dear sweet lord," Gabrielle murmured.
Seth ducked to look through the window. "That's why they're back early. Ronny doesn't seem very happy about it."
Ronny was walking beside her, carrying her ski boot under his arm and giving vent to his general unhappiness. With the crisp, cold air and general stillness of the day, his voice was carrying very well. Cameron Sherborne walked stoically right behind the pair, watching Ronny with a measuring gaze. The rest of the family were following behind, carrying their ski gear.
Gabrielle caught the flicker of light over Ronny's shoulder and refocused her gaze on the main lodge building and the porticoed public entrance. Several men stood or crouched there, cameras in hand.
"Damn. Paparazzi. They're going to eat this up."
Seth moved to the front door. "Stay here, Ellie." He threw on his coat and shoes.
"What are you going to do?"
"Stay here!" Seth told her, and was gone.
Chapter Eleven
Seth kept himself down to a swift walk, meeting up with Ronny and Destiny just as they reach
ed the section of the path where it turned to run in front of Gabrielle's cabin, which would give the paparazzi a nice clear shot of everyone. He shoved his hands into his coat, suddenly aware of exactly how cold it was outside.
Ronny scowled at him. "What the hell do you want?" he said.
Destiny looked up from the tedious task of carefully placing the tip of her crutches where they wouldn't slip each step she took, as Ronny clearly wasn't interested in assisting her. She smiled in relief at Seth. She looked weary, with dark circles under her eyes. Pain etched a furrow across her brow.
Cameron pushed up behind them. "Seth," he acknowledged shortly. "Thought you'd be soaking in the hot tub."
Gabrielle stepped up beside Seth, her overcoat collar turned up around her neck, her hands thrust in her pockets, and her boots unlaced. Tyler was right behind her, shadowing her, his eyes on her back. She didn't speak, but her glance at Seth said volumes. She wasn't going to be left out, or ordered around. Even as Seth wanted to shake her for her stubbornness, he admired her for it.
"Change of plan," Seth told Cameron smoothly. "Just in case you had missed it, there's about half-a-dozen paparazzi behind you, taking in every move you're making right now."
Cameron swore under his breath. "Thought we'd lost them at Jasper after we left the hospital."
Ronny turned to Destiny. "You stupid bitch. This is all your fault. If you hadn't insisted on making a bloody statement, we'd have ditched—"
Seth shifted his shoulders to hide his actions, then reached inside Ronny's coat, grabbed the base of his throat with his forefinger and thumb and squeezed gently.
"That's about enough of your crap," he told him as Ronny tried to suck in a breath and wheezed.
Cameron took a careful sideways step that gave Seth more shielding from the cameras. He watched silently.
Ronny's face was turning red. Seth eased off on the hold.
Ronny gasped, sucking in a breath. "You ass—"
Seth tightened his grip again. "I can stand here and do this all day long, if need be. As long as it takes until you get it through your head that none of us have to listen to you dish out that verbal abuse. Especially not your wife. Comprende?"
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