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garment bag full of dresses over her right arm and then secured the strap of her purse across her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t mean to trip me.”
    Gavin felt too tongue-tied to reply, and she didn’t say anything further. It was one thing to deal with customers all day long at the spa, but Shelley wasn’t a customer and she wasn’t easy to read. He stared at the elevator doors, uncertain what other conversation starter he could try. She’d been fairly quiet all morning. He couldn’t tell if she just wasn’t a morning person or if she was angry because he ruined her vacation.
    Thankfully, the elevator pinged and the doors slid open. “After you,” he said.
    Shelley flashed a smile and walked inside. “Still a gentleman this morning, I see.” After Gavin entered the elevator, she pushed the button for the fifth floor.
    He chuckled, relaxing at her show of good humor. “Yeah, still a gentleman, but I’ll do my best not to hurt you today.”
    “That’d be much appreciated.”
    The doors closed and Shelley backed against the wall, gripping the railing with her left hand. Her fingers turned white from clenching so tightly.
    “Are you afraid of elevators?” Gavin asked, noting the grimace on her face when the creaky elevator started its ascent.
    She let out a long breath and nodded. “An enclosed space that could plummet randomly to the ground is doubly scary.”
    “Enclosed spaces?” Gavin raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear Shelley had a phobia. She seemed so poised and fearless, packing a gun and facing down killers. “You’re claustrophobic?”
    “It’s stupid, right?”
    He shifted over to cover her hand with his free one, patting it comfortingly. “I’m terrified of snakes.” He looked at the indicator above the elevator door. “Already on the fourth floor. We’re almost out of here, Shell. You’re going to be fine.”
    The car made it to the final floor. When the doors opened, Shelley shot into the garage. Her high heels clicked against the cement floor before she stopped a short distance away.
    Gavin gripped her suitcase tighter and walked out beside her. “Okay?”
    Slipping her arm through his free one, she nodded. “I’m okay.”
    They walked in the direction of the rental car. “We should have taken the stairs. You never said anything about being afraid, and I was too self-absorbed last night and didn’t notice they scared you.”
    Shelley shrugged. “I can handle elevators, I just don’t like them. After walking so far just to get to the garage, I wasn’t about to make you take the stairs hauling my suitcase.”
    “You don’t see many above-ground parking lots here anymore,” he said. “Why didn’t you park in an underground lot closer to your hotel?”
    “If I have to self-park, I’m not doing it underground where the roof could collapse and trap me. I don’t mind the walk.” She stuck her hand out. “Here, I’ll take the bag if it’s too heavy for you.”
    He hefted it out of her reach. “It’s not too heavy, I was just asking. That makes sense, though. I wouldn’t park somewhere that had snakes, if I could help it.”
    Luckily, she laughed and continued walking, as he’d hoped she would.
    Glancing sidelong at her, Gavin compared her makeup-covered face and perfectly-coifed hair of this morning with the bare-faced, frizzy-haired, utterly beautiful creature who’d stepped on him last night. He wondered how much of the stuff inside her suitcase was beauty supplies, and if she had any idea how little she needed it. Probably not something he should say. He still couldn’t figure her out as far as what kinds of things would anger her.
    It didn’t matter anyway. Soon Shelley would drop him off with her friend at FBI headquarters. He’d probably never see her again.
    Then again, maybe that was the perfect reason to tell her. Shelley didn’t seem to receive a lot of kindness or respect in her life. At least, not judging by what she’d said about