Free To Have and to Hold by Nalini Singh

A.S.A.P.”
    â€œI’ll call you after I’ve had a chance to review them.”
    Jess nodded though he couldn’t see her. “Thank you.”
    â€œDon’t keep me waiting, darling.” With that flamboyant goodbye, he hung up.
    She put down the receiver and tried to breathe but that was pretty much impossible. “Oh my God, Richard Dusevic called me.”
    â€œHow many men do you have, Jess?” The sardonic question came from the doorway.

Chapter Seven
    R eacting out of instinct, she flicked a coversheet over her work-in-progress and smiled. Nothing could spoil her mood today. “Richard Dusevic is the owner of one of the most prestigious art galleries in New Zealand.”
    Gabe folded his arms and leaned against the doorjamb. “Congratulations.”
    â€œIt’s only a request to see work, not an offer,” she clarified.
    â€œBut Dusevic doesn’t go around asking everyone I gather?”
    â€œNo.” She grinned and did a little dance. “I have to go to the post office tomorrow morning to send some paintings to Auckland. Can I borrow the SUV?”
    â€œI’ll drive you,” he offered unexpectedly, a smile on his lips that actually reached his eyes. “I have to see someone there anyway.”
    She began to search through her work, disquieted by the happiness she felt at having made him smile.
    â€œAre you going to show me your paintings?”
    Surprised, she glanced at him. “Why should I?” It came out without thought, a snippy comment she hadn’t known she had the capacity to make. “We don’t talk, remember?”
    â€œBeen waiting to say that, haven’t you?” He pulled up his body, his jaw an unyielding line.
    Ashamed at having sunk that low, she shrugged and resumed her sorting. “I have work to do.”
    When she looked up a minute later, he was gone.
    Giving a frustrated sigh, she sat on the floor, her head in her hands. Why had she done that? It would have made far more sense to have acted civilly and broken the ice between them. But she hated the idea of being what he’d described her as— well-behaved , undemanding .
    She wasn’t a pet or a child. And Gabriel Dumont was going to learn that while he might be able to enslave her in bed, she’d give him nothing out of it.
    It was exactly what he’d asked for.
    * * *
    The drive to Kowhai the next day was predictably tense, even more so because of what had happened the previous night. Exhausted by his lovemaking, she’d fallen into a deep sleep. If Gabe hadn’t given a short, choked cry and jerked upright sometime in the darkest hours, she might not have woken till morning.
    Startled and half-asleep, she’d put her hand on his shoulder. “Gabe?”
    â€œGo back to sleep.” He’d gotten out of bed, uncaring of the moon’s light on his nakedness.
    â€œDid you have a nightmare?” Her voice had been soft, her heart unshielded. She’d forgotten she wasn’t supposed to care.
    â€œI said, go back to sleep.” Brutal in its coldness, the sharp command had thrown her tenderness back in her face. “Since you’re up, it might be better if you went back to your own room.”
    Stung, she’d done just that, but finding herself unable to sleep, had spent the rest of the night working in her studio. Gabe hadn’t slept either—she’d heard him leave the house not to return till after dawn.
    Now here they sat, both of them punchy from lack of sleep and a relationship going steadily downhill.
    She finally couldn’t take the silence anymore. “How long will your meeting take?”
    â€œNot long.” He shifted gears as they neared a hill. “I forgot to give you your credit and debit cards so you’ll have to use one of mine. Remind me to give it to you when we get to Kowhai.”
    She could hardly refuse his money when she’d spent the past year living on