Everything in him reached out to her as her expressive gaze told him how much that offer surprised her, meant to her. He touched her cheek. “Of course.”
She got quiet for a moment, and Kale wondered what she was thinking. Was she beginning to see them as more than casual? Was she beginning to trust him, to finally acknowledge there was more driving their relationship than just physical desire?
“And if she did make a copy?” Erin asked.
“If she did make a copy I’ll get that too.”
“How?” she asked, her expression wary.
His mind raced a mile a minute as he considered things a moment longer. “She mailed this from the lab, right?”
Erin nodded.
“Probably because she didn’t want to get caught leaving with confidential office documentation.” Kale tapped the disk. “I’m also willing to bet if she did make another copy, it’s stored in her locker. She wouldn’t want to have it in her possession outside the center.”
“So how do we get into her locker?”
“I break in.”
When her head came up with a start, he presented her with a cocky grin and said, “Misguided youth.”
Erin scoffed. “You’re charming, Kale. Charming enough to talk your way out the eye of a hurricane, but I don’t think that charm will work on the nighttime security if you get caught in Deanne’s locker. You’re not Gerard’s type.”
“That’s where you come in.”
Her eyes opened wide, questioning him. “Go on,” she said.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, until every inch of her body was pressed up against him. When her sensuous body melded with his, he trembled. “We’ll have to rely on one another if we want to pull this off.”
She looked at him, her eyes wide, questioning. “Enlighten me.”
He brushed her cheek with the pad of his thumb. He felt her shiver in response. Obviously their proximity was affecting her as much as him.
“Are you able to have faith in me, Erin?” His stomach clenched as he waited for her response.
He sensed her hesitation. “Yes.”
Kale’s stomach relaxed. “Good. Now go put on that sexy dress of yours. You have some distracting to do.”
Erin’s heart raced like she’d been given a shot of adrenaline as Kale escorted her into the front lobby. Maneuvering across the wide expanse of floor, he pressed his hand against the small of her back as they moved toward the security counter. God, she loved the way he touched her in such an intimate way.
Nervousness began stealing over her as they approached Gerard. Although he was used to seeing her coming and going at odd hours, and her presence tonight wouldn’t raise his suspicions, she still felt jittery.
She strove for normalcy as she greeted him. “Good evening, Gerard.” She glanced at the security screen behind him and watched it flash in an indistinguishable pattern as it displayed secure areas of the lab.
His nod was tight and very professional. “Good evening, Erin, Kale.”
Erin cringed inwardly. If only Mikey were working the night shift. Gerard wasn’t the flirty type. Mikey would have been much easier to distract while Kale broke into Barbie’s locker.
“We have to grab a file. We’re working late,” Erin explained as she unbuttoned her coat and eased it open, exposing her sexy dress.
When Gerard caught sight of her barely there, hot red slip of a dress, his forehead creased. He shot her a suspicious look and raised a brow as if to say, You’re going to work late in that? Damn, that wasn’t the reaction she’d been going for.
When she met his steely gaze, her stomach plummeted. She didn’t like this. God, she really didn’t. Not one tiny bit.
Erin smiled and pushed back her panic. “First we have a quick Christmas gathering to attend, then we have to go over some paperwork before tomorrow morning’s experiment.”
Satisfied with her answer, Gerard relaxed his forehead.
Trying for slutty, Erin leaned against the counter while Kale signed himself in. “I’ll just be a second,” he said. “Erin, you might as well just wait here.”
Despite all her best efforts to distract him, Gerard turned his attention back to the monitors as Kale made his way to the elevator.
Shit!
She glanced around the lobby, looking for something, anything to talk about. If a man wasn’t interested in a woman in a hot red dress, then what the hell was he interested in?
A man in a hot red dress? Cripes! Maybe she and Kale should have switched places.
Then it hit her. Sports. All men liked sports, right? Her father and two brothers-in-law spent their weekends glued to the television watching football. She’d caught a few games with Sam as well. Although she had to admit, she knew nothing about football and had watched only so she could admire all those hunks in their tight uniforms.
“So did you catch the game last night?”
His head went up with a start as he twisted around to face her. A wide smile softened his features. She watched, transfixed at how quickly his demeanor changed. Who knew football was so powerful?
“You watch football?” he asked. His eyes opened wide with a mixture of surprise and admiration.
Erin linked her fingers and pretended to crack them. “Sure do. So what did you think of the game?”
Face animated, he started into a long, boring spiel about the Packers’ kick-ass game last night. Erin plastered on her most expressive, enthusiastic face. It wasn’t easy to feign interest, especially when he broke down the plays in detail and began laughing about the antics of some Cheeseheads.
Apparently, from his long-winded explanation, she surmised the fans were called Cheeseheads. And men thought women’s things were stupid. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Ten minutes later she almost wished she hadn’t brought up football. Hands waving wildly, he gave a detailed description about some quarterback named Favre and the amazing touchdown pass he made. Gerard was practically salivating. Lord, the man looked like he was in love.
Now if only he’d salivated over her dress like that, she wouldn’t have to stand there all
