“Hmmm. All right. We don’t have to hold hands.” He dropped my hand only to wind his arm around my waist. “Better?”
“Yes. That made a huge difference.” Laughing, I shoved him, but there was no strength behind it. “You need to not be touching me. I have to get back in work mode.”
He sighed heavily, letting go. “Am I allowed to walk beside you? Or will people think we know each other?”
“Actually, now that you mention it, if you could just walk a few paces ahead…”
Grumbling, he shot me a grumpy glare, and I giggled.
I was still laughing when a man stepped into our path. “Where do you get off, Levy?”
Before I could process what was happening, Elliot’s arm shot out, shuffling me behind him. He didn’t cut off my line of sight, though. I took in the angry man who’d obviously been waiting outside the building for us. Gavin looked nothing like the jokey, carefree man I’d met on the Rockford rooftop. Beads of sweat dotted his mottled red forehead, and his tie was crooked around his bobbing throat.
“If you need to speak to me, make an appointment,” Elliot stated without emotion.
Gavin must have been working himself up to a lather while he’d been waiting for us, so Elliot’s careless dismissal incensed him. He tossed his arms out, his face darkening to near maroon.
“You canceled my fucking lease, Levy! Where the hell do you get off?” Gavin loaded a hundred tons of anger into his accusation while keeping his voice low.
“This is something my lawyers should have explained. Accosting me on the street won’t get you anywhere.” Elliot folded his arms, visibly unruffled by this confrontation.
“You can’t just do that. I spent months finding that office space, and you decided I have to start all over because I flirted with your secretary? What kind of man are you? What kind of business are you running?”
Gavin paced in front of us, anger radiating off his vibrating limbs. His eyes met mine, and he stopped moving, looking at me like I was a lifeline.
“Did he tell you he did this? Can’t you talk some sense into him?”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I—”
Elliot held up his hand. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Catherine. Gavin chose to trespass in my building and sexually harass my employee. In the initial leasing agreement you signed, there was clear language that stated violation of the rules of Levy Development would immediately nullify your contract. Your lawyer should be able to explain that to you. It isn’t my job.” He straightened his tie, cool and collected.
Gavin’s wild eyes bounced from me to Elliot and back again. “Oh, I get it.” He huffed a laugh like he was about to pull one over on Elliot. “You’re into your secretary and pissed she was responding to me. If you hadn’t interrupted, I would have had her number. One date, I would have had her on her back. You didn’t like that, did you? The thing is, it isn’t my fault she’s more into me than you.”
Elliot scoffed. “You really have no idea what you’re talking about. I suggest you walk away.”
Gavin focused on me again. “You know how fucked up it is to get involved with him? When he’s finished with you, you’ll be out on the street just like Donald Rockford. Hope you have a backup plan, kitten.”
Elliot’s chin lowered, and he took two steps forward, looming over Gavin, whose anger had made him foolishly brave.
“You’re a child playing adult games. If you’d taken the time to think about your actions, you would have recognized Rockford isn’t the only building in Denver I have a stake in. I would have let your disrespect of me and my employee go at canceling your lease, but this behavior won’t stand. Good luck finding office space within fifty miles of the city.”
Gavin sputtered, his eyes growing alarmingly wide. “Wait. That isn’t— I—”
Elliot grabbed my hand, pulling me right past Gavin, who couldn’t seem to get a full sentence out. I would have felt sorry for him if he hadn’t made the comment about getting me on my back. That guy really was an overgrown frat boy.
Once in the LD lobby, Elliot spoke to the security guards, making them aware of the man spiraling outside on the sidewalk, then he bundled me into the executive elevator and crowded me into the corner.
Bracing his hands on the wall beside my head, he swept his gaze over me. “Are you all right?”
I nodded. “I’m fine.”
I truly was. For a split second, I’d been afraid of what Gavin might do, but with Elliot’s immediate and unwavering protection, I knew I was safe.