Free Jennifer Apodaca - Samantha Shaw 04 - Batteries Required by Jennifer Apodaca Page B

forms for Gabe to do a background check.
    Blaine was taking some still shots for our albums while I ate my salad in my office. I’d had exactly two bites, when Angel walked in. She’d kept her black pants on but had changed her long-sleeved shirt for a light green see-through shirt over a darker green lacy camisole that came from her lingerie collection. “Where’s Blaine?”
    I put down my fork. “He’s taking pictures of my newest client. A fireman!” I was so excited about Fireman Bob. “And you know what? He seems normal.”
    Angel dropped into the chair across from my desk. “Cute?”
    I reached down into my desk drawer and used two hands to heft out my purse. “Why?” Bob was going to be my most popular single male, as long as there really wasn’t anything wrong with him. I wondered if Gabe would dig up something horrible when he did the background check.
    “Because if he’s cute, he’ll attract a lot of women to Heart Mates.”
    A flash of shame fluttered over me. Angel was looking out for me, not trying to steal my fireman. “That’s what I’m counting on. Of course, he did look up my skirt, so maybe he’s not quite as normal as I thought.”
    Angel’s green eyes glittered in the overhead lighting and she leaned forward. “How did that happen?”
    I reached into my purse and got out the blue velvet sex-toy kit while telling her about the bathroom incident. Then I set my purse in my drawer and held up the sex-toy kit. “Then he picked this up off the floor and handed it to me. He thought it was a makeup kit or something. Can you imagine—what if he had opened it! What would he have thought I was doing in the bathroom?”
    Angel burst out laughing. She leaned over my desk and snatched a couple of mandarin oranges from my salad and said, “Speaking of the sex-toy kit, guess who has left me three messages?”
    I set the sex-toy kit down and picked up my Diet Coke. “Who?” I took a drink of my soda.
    “Mitch St. Claire.”
    Putting the can down, I grinned. “Ah, the boy with the toys.”
    Angel grinned back. “He wants to take me to dinner to talk about those toys. He said that he’s very impressed with my business skills. He’s planning on calling me later today to find out a good time to pick me up for dinner.”
    “Rather confident, isn’t he?” I watched her. “Are you interested in Mitch?” Though Mitch was older than Angel and I, he had that smooth Richard Gere thing going for him. Confidence, the look of money, a certain . . . I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It was the way he seemed to know that I was shocked when he pitched his sex-toy kit idea to Angel. The way he managed to turn it back on me so that my uneasiness seemed silly. So did that mean he was good at putting people at ease? I didn’t know him well enough to be sure.
    Angel reached over to snag another mandarin orange from my salad. “I’m more interested in Tempt-an-Angel. I might be willing to go to dinner to discuss business.”
    Uh-huh. It had been a while since Angel dated. “What about sex?” Was that what Mitch was thinking? Maybe his ability to put people at ease was a way to manipulate a woman into sex. He’d be in for a rude awakening if he tried that kind of thing on Angel. She was not a woman easily manipulated.
    “Hmm.” Angel swallowed the orange slice. “Well, I do like to see a preview before I make a commitment.” She reached for the sex-toy kit, pulled it toward her and grinned. “Like the sex toys; I’m viewing those before buying. You think he’ll get naked and let me take a look?”
    I laughed, trying to picture Mitch-the-smooth-guy handling that request. Then the searing image of a very naked Gabe handling me rose in my brain. Which then made me wonder what he was doing with his new assistant. I shoved it away. “You just be careful.”
    “Yes, Mom.” She untied the white satin ribbon on the blue velvet box.
    I rolled my eyes. “Let me put it another way. Did he leave a