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imagining herself dancing.
    He liked the thought of her so relaxed and wished she would feel comfortable enough with him to simply enjoy herself like that.
Soon,
he thought.
    “Bill’s a go,” Rowan said a short while later, closing his flip phone. “Says we can abduct both you and Gabby and you can whisk her to safety.”
    Excellent. An abduction provided everything he needed: a frightening situation that would make them a team, an opportunity for him to showcase his rescue skills, a mystery—who had abducted them and why?—and a common enemy.
    “Arrange it,” he said.
    “Already in the works,” Rowan replied with a grin. “Bill thinks I’m a genius. Because I, of course, took credit for everything.”
    Sean’s lips quirked. “Of course.”
    “He thinks we’ll be ready to go as soon as next week. First he wants to find a place to store the two of you. A place that looks impenetrable and menacing but one you can escape without making her suspicious.”
    “It should be somewhere remote, too, forcing us to spend a few nights alone as we make our way back to civilization.”
    Rowan laughed. “Who says you aren’t a born seducer? Maybe when you guys return, she’ll be so in love with you, she’ll do anything you ask. Even work for Rose Briar.”
    Maybe. Hopefully. He saved people with abilities like his own and protected those who didn’t, was well paid, and had friends who understood his differences and didn’t judge him. Gabby might not admit it, but she was in need of all of those things. Except . . .
    “I don’t want her love,” he said. Love would only complicate matters. She’d want more than he could give and then, boom, he’d do exactly what he hoped to avoid: hurt her.
    “That’s for the best, I suppose. Soon she’ll be firmly ensconced in Rose Briar, and too busy for you to be more than an afterthought.”
    Sean, nothing more to Gabby than an afterthought. He liked that even less than dealing with a woman in love.
    “Now, when the time comes,” Rowan said, “I’ll sneak into Gabby’s house, knock her out, and—”
    “
I’ll
handle Gabby.” There was no room for argument in Sean’s tone.
    “If she sees you—”
    “She won’t.”
    “—everything will be ruined,” his friend continued anyway. “The entire plan will mean nothing. And besides, this way, you won’t have to lie to her. You will have done nothing wrong.”
    “I’ll handle Gabby,” he repeated. And Gabby, well, she couldn’t hold any lies he told against him. After all, she’d lied to him about allowing him to escort her home. The little pretender hadn’t radiated a single pang of guilt, either. “Just so you know, if I don’t want to be spotted, I won’t be spotted.” He didn’t mention that he’d been inside Gabby’s apartment every night since meeting the woman. First time, he’d snuck inside to make sure her door locks were acceptable.
    They hadn’t been.
    Second time he’d visited her, he’d spent hours installing new locks, making sure her key still fit and that everything still
looked
the same.
    Because some of the windows hadn’t had locks—someone had removed them and Sean was willing to bet it had been Gabby, easy escape and all that—he’d adhered them to their seals so that she, or anyone else, wouldn’t be able to open them. He’d placed a motion detector with remote access in her hallway. That way, he controlled when the device was turned on and off and knew every time someone set foot near her bedroom.
    Third time, he’d told himself it was to make sure she hadn’t discovered his adjustments. He’d taken onelook at her, as she lay so fitfully in bed, and admitted he’d been lying to himself. He liked looking at her. He liked being close enough to touch her.
    The fourth night, he
had
touched her. He’d traced his fingertip along her jaw.
    Fifth night, her lips had beckoned and he’d kissed her. A soft kiss, a simple meeting of their mouths. Again he’d tasted lemon and