Line: Alpha Billionaire Romance

by Colleen Charles

“You stupid fuck. You realize I’ll pulverize you,” Gabe growled, arms tight with strain beneath his long-sleeved cotton shirt.

  “Aw, things not going well for you two?” Matthew didn’t look at me, just kept his gaze trained on Gabe, bearing his teeth and widening his eyes. “That’s because you never deserved her. You’re scum.”

  “Stop it right now,” I commanded.

  Heads turned and a few of the women in the front looked back and nudged each other.

  Gabe was the first to shove. He used his chest and bounced Matthew backwards a step. Matthew regained his composure pretty quickly and came right back at him with a chest bump of his own.

  This would get out of hand, fast, if I didn’t find a way to stop it. Matthew could go screw himself, but a part of me was terrified of the kind of trouble Gabe could get into for assaulting a police officer. Even one who had it coming.

  I grasped Gabe’s arm and tugged. He didn’t move an inch, but his gaze did flicker in my direction. “Come with me, we need to talk,” I said and squeezed gently.

  “I’m in the middle of something now.”

  “Please, Gabe, we need to talk things through.” I was desperate to get Gabe away from Matthew. To get me away from Matthew.

  He stayed where he was for a moment longer.

  “That’s right, you get outta here before I kick your man-ho ass,” Matthew grunted, flexing his scrawny biceps.

  “Enough, Matthew,” I barked.

  Gabe rammed his forehead against the cop’s. “You’re not worth the effort.” Then he forced Matthew back with his head alone. He turned away, slipped his hand through mine, and pulled me toward the door.

  I glanced back at Kelly, who gave me a thumbs up. Disaster was averted, but now I had to deal with Gabe and the very thing I’d been trying to avoid. Shit.

  He opened the back door to the coffee shop and escorted me out into the cold alley, then turned me around so my back was flush with the rust colored bricks.

  “You wanted to talk.” That was his prompt.

  I clutched my coat around myself and nodded slowly. “Matthew really isn’t worth it. You have to know that.”

  “Oh yeah? Seems like he is, if you’re into him.”

  I bristled. “I’m not into him. He coerced another date out of me in order to give me an update on my arson case. If you’d hit him, they’d throw you in jail, Gabe. He’s a cop.” I bit my bottom lip until I tasted blood. He was so gorgeous and right there, within reach. My stomach jolted at the thought of him naked, on top of me, thrusting inside me while I screamed in pleasure. It was like my traitorous body couldn’t stop from reaching for his.

  So little time had passed and yet we were so far apart. Oceans apart.

  “That coercive mother fucker. Next time I see him, he’s dead. And don’t even think about trying to stop me.” He moved closer, so that he was inches away from my heated flesh.

  I swallowed hard and glared up at him. “I really don’t want you to get in trouble since you have a baby on the way. I’m not heartless, Gabe.”

  “I don’t know anymore, Allegra. You quit so easily, I don’t know what to believe about you anymore.” Gabe turned away from me and walked towards the sidewalk.

  “Where are you going?” I asked, except it came out as a squeak. A plea. I darted forward and grabbed his forearm. “Where are you going?” I repeated.

  He looked down at me out of the corner of his eye and shifted his jaw. “Away. Anywhere but here.” He looked pissed, but didn’t have any right to be. I was the one who should be pissed. We weren’t together. We’d never been together. I could go out on a date with Jack the Ripper if that’s what I wanted because I was a grown-ass woman.

  Yet I found myself asking, nearly begging, “Just wait, Gabe. Please, just wait.”

  Chapter 26

  Ally

  “Why?” He turned back to me, irritation flashing in his eyes.

  The swell of fear in my chest was difficult to contain. Faced with Gabe’s retreating back, it hit me that his leaving wasn’t what I really wanted. Not without some kind of closure.

  “Please, just talk to me. You said you wanted to explain to me about Faith.”

  This was a role reversal. The last time he’d begged and I’d been as cold as ice. Now, it looked like he wanted to walk away for good. All because of Matthew. Almost like he knew something about the nature of my former engagement. Something I’d never disclosed.

  A car trundled by in the street, shoppers darted around each other, talking on phones or carrying bags, eyes focused on their next destination.

  Gabe glanced at the snow, the clouds overhead, then looked back at me. He drew his shoulders straight, then let out a long low breath and moved towards me. “Fine, but let’s make this quick, before your boyfriend comes out and sees us together again.”

  I froze. “What? Are you referring to Matthew?” He couldn’t possibly think that.

  “You heard me,” he growled, then walked around the corner into a side street where his car was parked. He opened the passenger door so I could slip inside, out of the cold.

  I gulped a breath of the still frigid air. “Matthew is not and will never again be my boyfriend.”

  Gabe turned on me. “Then what the fuck are you doing in a coffee shop with him?”

  “Don’t swear at me.”

  “Answer the question. What are you doing hanging around with that loser?” He folded his arms across his broad chest and studied my facial expressions. “Is this your way of getting back at me?”

  “I’m not that petty and I already told you why I had to see Matthew today.” I rolled my eyes, then stopped and tapped my booted foot on the floor mat. “I don’t need to get back at you. You do that all on your own.”

  “So you’re not trying to make me jealous,” Gabe replied, raising his eyebrows in clear disbelief. His nose crunched up into a grimace.

  “How was I supposed to know you’d be in Kelly’s coffee shop? God, I thought I’d never see you again.”

  That gave him pause. He unfolded his arms, then folded them again, then rubbed his gloves together. “What were you doing with him?” Gabe stopped again and studied my expression. “Why the hell would you spend any time with him if it’s not a date? It only takes thirty seconds to give you a status update on the case. You two were eating and drinking together.”

  I dragged my teeth across my bottom lip. “Okay, so maybe it was a quazi date. But it wasn’t one that I asked for or even welcomed.”

  “I’ve got to go,” he said, and turned the key in the ignition to fire up the engine.

  I grabbed him by the arm. “Don’t be ridiculous. Let me finish.”

  “Like you let me finish the other day?” Gabe retorted, but the hopeful look in his eyes gave him away.

  “Matthew is working the arson case for the bakery. He told me he could squash it if I went on a date with him.”

  “A date. Nothing more than that?” He cocked his head and those eyebrows drew down into a cynical frown this time.

  “Yes, one brunch date with a hundred people around. I only agreed for that reason and I was about to leave when you came in anyway. Turns out there was no evidence —”

  “Sounds a little bit like prostitution,” Gabe said, cutting right across my explanation and holding up his hand to squish his thumb and forefinger together. “But just a little bit.”

  “Are you kidding me? I would never do anything with him for any reason. Ever.” I straightened and tugged my coat straight, even though it didn’t need it. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

  “Then why did you stop me from kicking his scrawny ass to talk?” Gabe asked.

  A nearby car backfired, causing me to jump in the bucket seat. Why had I stopped him? Because I couldn’t get enough and every time I took a breath he filled my lungs with his presence. His confidence. Just everything. I didn’t want to be falling in love with him.

  “Well?” He tucked his hands into his pockets and stared me d
own.

  “Because we need to talk about everything. I — I can’t get you off my mind. I hate admitting it after all the water under the bridge, but I have to. Kelly and I spoke about it.”

  “You told Kelly about our private business?”

  I blew out a breath. “Gabe, I discussed a personal issue with my best friend. Don’t say you wouldn’t do the same.”

  He leaned towards me and raised his gloved finger. It trembled ever so slightly, but I had a hunch it wasn’t from the cold. “You’re unbelievable.”

  “Thank you,” I replied with a wry grin. I had to break the ice somehow.

  “What happens in my personal life is … hell, Allegra. This thing with Faith. It’s complicated. And embarrassing. I’m sure Kelly hates my guts.” He grasped my forearms and dug his fingers into my puffy coat. “Do you understand how much I still want you?”

  I licked my lips and looked up at him. “No.”

  “I thought I showed you back there. With Matthew. But I can show you again,” he grunted. “I’m so fucking angry at you. And I don’t know why. These emotions that flow through me constantly. I can’t stop them and I want to. I really, really want to.”

  “You’re angry at me? I never lied, Gabe,” I whispered back, craning my neck to stare at him. Like I couldn’t get enough. I’d never get enough.

  “I didn’t lie to you. I just didn’t tell you about her. I couldn’t tell you.” Gabe ran his hands up my forearms and to my shoulders, then crossed them around to my back. His fingers slid beneath the collar of my coat and the cotton shirt below to caress the bare skin of my sensitive neck.

  “Why not?” Gooseflesh broke out beneath the surface of my clothes, ones which had nothing to do with the cold. His touch warmed me from the inside.

  “Because you would have —” He cut off and frowned, then let go of me and backed away, grabbing at his coat.

  “What’s wrong?” I frowned, then glanced out the windows. No sign of Matthew or anyone else. I’d almost forgotten him in the rush of seeing Gabe again, right in front of me in all his chiseled glory.

  Gabe fumbled in his jacket pocket and brought out his phone, cursing under his breath. “Got a call.” He held it up to show me the flashing screen, then swiped his thumb across the green icon and answered. “Hello.”

  I snuggled into the leather seat, distancing myself from the heat of his body. I still couldn’t be too close to it without wanting to rip his coat off and expose the muscles underneath. My cheeks flushed at that thought.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there in a few.” Gabe hung up and looked at me. “I have to go. I’m actually on the clock here,” he explained, “I came out to get a couple coffees for the guys. Looks like there’s been a fire.”

  “Oh, okay.” I didn’t have anything else to say. He was about to leave and I couldn’t stop him.

  “We can catch up later. I’ll meet you at the bakery after my shift.” Gabe nodded once as I opened the door and slipped out of his vehicle, my boots making a crunching sound in the snow.

  I clasped my hands together to keep from waving. I didn’t have any of the answers I thought I’d get and this whole meeting thing at the bakery sounded formal, more like he thought it was a chore. That I was a chore.

  “What did you expect? Dinner and a movie?” I questioned myself and rolled my eyes. The snow drifted down again, coating my shoulders in a light layer of sparkling flakes. I had to get back to the bakery. And work.

  Chapter 27

  Ally

  I tapped my pencil on the side of the crisp, white page and stared at the red numbers. Like staring would cause them to turn black. I’d have the bakery up and running by tomorrow, which was great, but I couldn’t stop checking the clock, even though I had no idea what time Gabe would waltz through the door.

  Codsworth ambled through the kitchen and meowed once, then headed for the stairs in the corner. He wasn’t bothered by the cold or the prospect of an impending visit from a sexy fireman with some Smoky the Bear bi-polar disorder. All he cared about was his bowl of kibble and a soft treat every now and again. What a life.

  I rose and walked to the fridge, then pulled the door open and peered inside. “Yup, that’s enough butter,” I remarked, then closed it again.

  “That’s a relief,” Gabe said, standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips. “A girl can never have enough butter. Or frosting.”

  “How did you get in here?” I asked, ignoring the blatant innuendo. Earlier in the day, he’d been nothing but sparks and fire. The man needed to cease the Jekyll and Hyde routine.

  “I used the front door. That’s okay, right?”

  “I — sorry — I just didn’t hear the bell ring. There’s a bell over the door.”

  Gabe’s lip trembled in one corner like he was holding back a grin. “Yeah, I know.”

  Way to go, Allegra. I cleared my throat and gestured to one of the chairs beside the counter. “You want to take a seat?”

  “Sure, but that might make this more awkward.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I have no idea why this is so damn weird right now.”

  Probably because you’re like me and remembering what occurred the last time we were in this very spot. Chocolate frosting. And your tongue.

  Gabe stared at me, then ran his hands down the front of his coat. He unbuttoned it and slipped it off his shoulders, then looked around for a place to put it. I hurried forward and took it from him. He caught my arm and stared into my eyes.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I breathed, even though my insides were on fire again. Being this close was more painful inside the bakery, where it’d all began. I wrenched the coat from his grasp, gave a nervous laugh, then hurried over to the counter and slung it over the back of one of the chairs.

  Gabe stayed where he was, watching my movements.

  I studied him out of the corner of my eye. The perfect slope of his shoulders, the tightness of his shirt around the biceps and the jeans clinging to his thigh muscles.

  “What happened with the fire this afternoon?” I asked, turning to face him again. “Is everything all right.”

  “Yeah, we managed to clear everyone out before there was serious damage. Nothing to worry about. You’ll probably hear about it on the news because in winter these types of fires look worse than they actually are. I think it’s because of the molten red against the backdrop of white.” He marched up to me, backing me up against the cold stainless steel of the industrial refrigerator. “But you didn’t really want to talk to me about the fire.”

  I swallowed. “You’re giving me whiplash. Your mood swings, I mean. One second you’re desperate to talk this out and falling for me, the next you’re cold and pissed. Now, you’re pressing yourself against me again. Gabe, you’re confusing me and I need you to stop. I feel like I’m on an emotional roller coaster that keeps going around the track and I can’t get off.” I tried to shift his weight, but he held firm.

  Gabe’s abs were hard against the soft flesh of my abdomen. His hard thighs pressed into my thin yoga pants. I gasped softly.

  “I’ve been clear about my intentions from the beginning.”

  “I still want answers,” I managed. My gaze fluttered from his face downwards and landed on his broad chest. “I need to know why you didn’t tell me about Faith.”

  The mention of her name was enough to break the spell.

  Gabe grimaced and shoved off as he ran a hand through his hair. He paused in front of the stove, his back to me. “Why would I tell you about her when it could ruin us?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Gabe spun on his heel and faced me again. “We were new. Brand fucking new. And I felt something, Allegra. I still do. It’s deep and it’s emotional and it’s scaring the living shit out of me. I wanted to protect it. Protect us. I couldn’t help thinking that if you found out about Faith, it would be over before it began.” He turned and the look in his eye was pleading. “Look me in t
he eye and tell me that you wouldn’t have left me if I’d have come clean right away about Faith.”

  “I — I can’t say what I would’ve done. With the bakery and —”

  “Yeah, exactly. So I was waiting until we were more serious to tell you. It might not have been the wisest idea, but that’s what felt right in my gut. As a firefighter, I always go with my gut and I’ve never been wrong. I’ve saved people’s lives because of my intuition.” He folded his arms and lifted his chin. With pride and strength.

  “That’s really something you should’ve put on the table from the start. I deserved to know,” I replied. I sat down on the chair beside my pen and books and looked at him. What could I say now that hadn’t been said already? I still wanted him, but the implications of Faith and the baby… God, it terrified me.

  “So, that’s why I didn’t tell you. But if I’d known it would end up this way, I would have told you from the start. I never expected Faith to wind up on your doorstep.” Gabe clenched his jaw so hard a vein pulsed beneath his skin. He walked over to me and sat down in the chair opposite mine, then traced a pattern on the granite counter top with his fingertip.

  “Are you dating her?”

  He blinked and shook his head. “I told you we aren’t together.”

  “Then how the hell did this happen?”

  “It’s a long story,” he said and scratched the back of his neck.

  “I’ve got time.”

  Gabe grasped my pen and clicked it a few times, then looked through to the front of the bakery and back at me again. “I dated her in high school. We were the homecoming king and queen. Our fathers are business partners. Really tight. It’s almost like we’ve been promised to each other since the cradle. She was supposed to be my sweetheart, but then we went to different Ivy League colleges and she came back different. She started partying more, doing drugs, hanging out with lots of guys I didn’t know. Man, Faith turned on a dime. Like all the sweetness got rung right out of her.”

  “Okay,” I said, because I was knotted with jealousy inside. My arteries had decided to turn themselves inside out. Visions of Faith and Gabe together with their rhinestone crowns, dancing, kissing, making love. All the unwelcome images polluted my thoughts.