She turned to her mom, who was going to get a hug whether she wanted one or not. Jacey opened her arms and welcomed her in. “Goodbye, Gabrielle,” she said, stroking her hair.
Gabby’s eyes watered over. Closure took place inside her chest. Years of feeling like she wasn’t enough washed away.
“You should know, even though I found out the truth, I consider you my mom. Bethany is my aunt and a friend.”
Her mom squeezed tighter. “Thank you for saying that.”
She pulled away, her own eyes glistening.
“You should give Bethany another chance,” Gabby said. “She’s really nice.”
“I’ll—consider it. I assume you’ll let us know about the job interview?”
“I will.” Gabby gave them both a final hug. “I love you both.”
She stepped out into the early summer air and inhaled. It was the kind of day that seemed like the sun was shining just for her. It felt so good to get things out in the open, to make up with her parents, to be moving on. Now to get her bag and head for the airport.
She swiped her phone and looked at the selfie Adrian had taken of them during their disastrous bout of baking. His face beside hers, the smirk, the twinkle in his eyes, the swoop of his hair, they were all hardwired into her. The time she’d spent with him on his family’s ranch had been the best few days of her life.
The prospect of the interview was rattling enough, but seeing Adrian again? Gabby was downright punchy.
He might reject her, that much she knew.
But he might not, and she was banking on that option.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ADRIAN BOPPED HIS FISTS TOGETHER as a way to dispel the energy coursing through him. Rita offered him a Dr. Pepper, but he declined. He’d probably spill it all over the place with the way he was quaking. Rita blended in with the other men and women in suits in the board room. Some sat in the gathered swivel chairs, but most were standing and staring up at the screen the way Adrian was.
His whole company was based on the outcome of today. The market hadn’t yet rebounded. If the numbers didn’t show, he’d have to let off a hundred employees. He couldn’t do that to them.
Fists clenched, chest pinched, he stared at the large screen as numbers flickered in their columns. He’d reallocated funds. He’d made phone calls, adjusted investments, and made exorbitant promises he only hoped he could keep. Today was the day to see if his efforts would pan out the way he’d planned.
“It’ll happen, sir,” Rita said encouragingly, offering him the same can of Dr. Pepper. This time, Adrian took it and sipped gratefully, unable to take his eyes from the screen.
Ten more seconds. Eight. Five. Two. One.
The numbers shifted, and the margin flickered from red… to black.
The room exploded with cheers. Adrian’s chest soared. He’d done it. He’d gotten Bear Financial Investments back on its feet.
His associates clapped him on the back, passing from the room with congratulations and appreciative nods in his direction.
“Thanks for all the hard work,” Gerald from marketing called.
Adrian saluted him with his Dr. Pepper and then tipped it back for a much-needed gulp. He didn’t realize how thirsty he was. Not only that, he was suddenly exhausted. So much emotional and mental strain and tension trying to recuperate after the crash. It was definitely taking its toll.
Rita seemed to feel it too. She pushed a few of the wheeled chairs back toward the table. “Congratulations, sir.”
“Thanks, Rita.”
“Anything else you need from me? If not, I think I’ll head home for a soothing bath.”
He smirked, still trying to wrap his mind around this outcome. He’d been so stressed, so worried, unsure of what he would do if his efforts hadn’t worked. But they had. They had worked, and now it was time to breathe a little easier.
“We’ll need to alert the employees. Send out a notification that the crisis has been averted.”
“That can wait until tomorrow, can’t it?” Rita said. “Sounds to me like I’m not the only one who needs to take a little time to celebrate. Go home, sir. Kick back. Watch some TV, do whatever it is you do to celebrate.”
He blinked a few times. Celebrate? The only person he wanted to celebrate this victory with had remained silent for weeks. But he was on a high from his victory. He’d salvaged his company and saved hundreds of people from losing their jobs.
Was there a chance he could salvage things with Gabby too?
“Rita, there is one more thing I need before you go.”
She yawned behind her hand but pulled out her phone, ready to mark it in. “And that is?”
“A flight.”
If she was surprised, she didn’t show it. “Where to, sir?”
“Wisconsin.”
He’d told Gabby he wouldn’t initiate anything unless she wanted it. But he couldn’t keep that promise now. She’d been right about him. His life in Montana had been a good fit. He’d thought Chicago fit him like a fine suit, but now that he was back, the city was starting to feel a little too tight.
He stared out the window of his office high rise, getting the same sense he’d had since he came back here. Something was missing. For all its fast pace and grandeur, Chicago was lacking something. He was out of place here, like a chair he couldn’t completely sink into.
With Gabby’s help, he’d seen the cabin, the ranch, for what it really was. He’d appreciated the seclusion of it, the magic of nature enveloping the town and the home he’d once despised. The tranquility of the horses and the majesty of the mountains and fields. Opposite from his sense of feeling misplaced, it was like a chair made just for him.
He wanted that. He could make it work, living in Montana, flying out to Chicago when he needed to. What else was the Internet for?
In that moment, two things were suddenly absolutely certain in Adrian’s mind—
He wanted to go home.
And he didn’t want to go there alone.
***
Rita had his jet ready, and Adrian was packed within the hour.
Adrian stepped off the plane and straight to the rental car Rita had arranged. He followed the GPS to the address Bethany had given him. Gabby was no catch and release. She was a keeper, and he had to let her know how he felt.
She lived in a duplex with brown siding. A few trees blossomed beside a cluster of mailboxes at the end of the main sidewalk. Adrian searched for her white pickup in the lot, but it wasn’t there. Undeterred, he made his way to number 206 and knocked.
A short woman opened. Her brown hair hung to her shoulders, and she crinkled her nose to adjust the glasses perched there. This must be a roommate. He wasn’t sure Gabby had ever mentioned a roommate, but it made sense.
“Can I help you?”
“My name is Adrian Bear. I’m looking for Gabby—sorry, Goldie Bybanks.”
“You’re Adrian?” She scanned him like a barcode. He couldn’t remember feeling squeamish under a woman’s approving glance, but he did with hers. “Wow, Goldie wasn’t kidding.”
Adrian brushed off the attention. Gabby had talked about him with her roommate. That was a good sign.
“Is she here?”
Her roommate slung a purse over her shoulder. “Nope. I’m just headed out, but you’re welcome to wait here for her.”
She was headed out, but she was welcoming him in? “I can just wait in the car.”
“Come on,” said the girl, ushering him in. Somehow, she managed to trade him places, leaving him in the eave of their apartment and her on the step.
“We don’t have much, but you’re welcome to whatever’s in the fridge. Nice to meet you.” She closed the door, leaving him awkwardly alone.
Adrian stared around at the space. A small screened TV sat on top of a cheaply built table. A few books were heaped onto the coffee table in the room’s center. The couches were mismatched, one floral, the other blue, and the curtains were blandly generic, making him
wonder if they were the original fabric that had been supplied in every unit whenever these had been built, which he suspected was some time ago.
He remembered Gabby that morning in his cabin, how she must have felt the same awkwardness being in a space that wasn’t her own. The sight of her purple duffle bag resting near the entrance into the hall was heartening. It assured him he was in the right place.
He wandered through, checking out the space. The fridge was covered in magnets and papers. A bowl was left on the table. He fiddled with the spoon, accidentally knocking it on the floor. Good grief, he was all nerves.
Not wanting to intrude down the hall and unsure of what else to do, he settled himself on her couch—it was too hard; how did they possibly relax on this thing?—leaned back, and closed his eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
GABBY’S KEYS JANGLED AS SHE crammed them into the lock. Wanderlust had injected into her veins, spurring her movements. Unfortunately, it also made her palms slippery. She nearly dropped her keys as she turned the knob into her apartment.
And she stopped.
It should have been empty. Sadie had already left for work, and Gabby had called to tell her goodbye. She was grabbing her bag and that was it.
But when she caught sight of the bowl on the table, and a man sleeping on her couch, her heart gave a little lurch. All at once, a series of disasters streamed through her subconscious. Someone had broken in. She’d heard of idiotic robbers who decided to take naps in the middle of their heist. Why anyone would break in here, she couldn’t understand. She and Sadie had nothing for them to steal.
Then again, the door hadn’t been forced or broken into. Neither had any of the windows, that she’d noticed.
Gabby curbed her panicked impulse to reach for the nearest heavy object, smack the man with it, and bolt for the police station. Instead, she took a few rattling steps toward him.
Black hair, feathered lashes, teasing lips, his hands resting peacefully on his chest as it rose up and down. She’d fantasized about this face, imagined every aspect she could summon, and when she couldn’t remember those, she’d stared at the selfie he’d taken of them for longer than was probably mentally healthy.
Lightness puffed in her chest, and her senses climbed sky high. Oh goodness. Adrian Bear was here. Asleep on her couch.
She watched him for a few moments, inching closer just to be sure. The past six weeks couldn’t have erased the memory of his features. Lips parted slightly. Scruff itching along his jawline. The freckle she’d noticed near his left ear. It really was him.
“Adrian?” She crouched before him and shook his shoulder, thrilling at touching him. Disbelief still clamored through her. What was he doing here?
He stirred and lifted his lids.
“Gabby?” he said groggily.
She sank back on her heels. “You were sleeping on my couch?”
“Just returning the favor,” he said, stretching his arm outward. “Nothing like finding a beautiful woman sleeping in my bed.”
She couldn’t seem to close her mouth. Her insides were squealing. “What are you doing here?”
He pushed himself up. It wasn’t the eyes so much as the directness of the gaze, the shape of him, his arm resting on the cushion, the way he tilted slightly in her direction.
The air hummed. Something invisible drew her to him.
“I needed to see you,” he said, his fingers finding hers.
The touch was a shock wave that made her brain babble. She was hyper-aware of his fingertips, of his skin, of the flecks of intensity in his hazel eyes. Throughout their entire, brief relationship, she’d constantly questioned the reality of him. She couldn’t have dreamed this moment up, though, not with the way her blood was racing or the way his gaze penetrated her.
He was here. He was real.
She wanted to return his adorable comment. She’d needed to see him, too. It was the whole reason she’d searched out job openings in Chicago. But she’d found one, and no amount of weak knees or love-struck realization could change the fact that she had a flight to catch.
She had to go.
She rose on her knees, kneeling higher to press her forehead against his. She closed her eyes, wishing she could bask in the moment. “This is rotten timing,” she said.
His voice was just as she remembered it. Low and resonant. “Why?”
“Because you’re here, and I’m leaving. I have a job interview.”
He pulled back just enough for her to see his confused expression and brought his feet to the carpet. “You’re heading to Montana?”
“Chicago, actually. I booked my flight. I was just coming home for my bag before heading out.” She gestured to the duffle bag and rose to her feet. The clock was ticking. She had to go.
His brows leaped. “Chicago?”
She hesitated to tell him the real reason she’d chosen that particular city. But he was here, sitting on her couch, which meant he cared about her. She decided to take the risk of honesty. “It’s where your business is. Your life. I wanted to see you where you fit.”
He stared at her like she was a mystery. “You are something, aren’t you?”
Gabby fidgeted. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say to that. “Is that good or bad?”
Adrian stood, keeping her hand in his and helping her to her feet as well. “Good. Too good. I’ve tried many places, but I think it doesn’t matter where I go. The thing that was missing in each of those scenarios is you. You’re my best fit, Gabby Bybanks. You’re sunlight,” he said.
She could hardly speak. He’d said something similar as she’d been leaving town, but she hadn’t been able to process it. “Sunlight?”
He nodded his chin toward the window. “See that sunshine? It completely changes this room. It adds color. It brightens everything. Like gold. Like you.”
His gaze was powerful, filled with revelation and fire and focused directly on her. He reached past her shoulders and slid his fingers through her long, blonde hair, letting them run its complete length, like water.
“It’s not your hair alone that’s enlightening. You are sunshine, Gabby. You have that effect everywhere you go. I saw it when we went to Stano’s and you clapped for that guitarist when no one else would and livened up the audience. When we looked across the ranch, and you noticed everything I didn’t. You’re that way for me, too.”
“Adrian,” she said, not knowing what else to say. Was this really happening?
“You don’t believe me? I know you have a hard time with trust.”
She dipped her chin to her chest. His mother wasn’t around. This was no fake scenario. He was here, in her living room. He had come to see her, and he was baring himself to her.
“I can’t believe you’re saying all of this. I thought I’d have to explain myself.”
“What is it you need to explain?”
She twisted her hair over one shoulder. “I ignored your calls, Adrian. I—I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to say to you, how to tell you why I left Two Pines the way I did.”
“Why did you?” he asked.
She drew in a gradual, breath that did nothing to slow her heart. “I was scared,” she said. “Scared that deep down you didn’t really care for me the way you seemed to since it all started as a ploy to convince your mom you didn’t want to be with Danica. At times I wondered if you really did like me, but then when I realized you found out about my birth mom before me, it made me even more scared. I couldn’t believe you didn’t say anything.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I was going to tell you, but then you got that email and left. I never meant to deceive you. It’s why I’ve been calling every day. I hoped maybe the next time you’d pick up. Or the next. I know you think people can’t be trusted, but I wanted you to know you could trust me.”
“Why?” she asked.
“You were the first good memory I have of my family’s cabin,” he said. “The minute I saw you there—” He nuzzled in dipping to press his
nose to hers. “You’ve shed light into my life. You’ve helped me see things in a completely different way. I was never satisfied with any of it before. I could never see it for what it was. It took seeing things through your eyes to appreciate just how good I had it.”
She rested a hand on his arm, basking in his words.
“I told my mom the truth. Then I went to Danica’s, and I told her the truth once and for all. That she deserves to find someone else because my heart is already long gone. It followed you the minute you left.”
Gabby’s insides whirred and ticked like a wind-up toy. He was being serious. He really had come to care for her as much as she had for him.
“Got any cabins in Chicago?” she asked with a grin.
His lips quirked. “No, but I have a guest house I can offer to you.”
“A guest house?” Seriously, how many guys have guest houses? “Adrian Bear, what aren’t you telling me?”
He full-on grinned, stunning her with the image of it. “So much,” he said. His hands slid from her hair to her jaw, and he pulled her gently to him to place a kiss on her mouth. It was budding and cautious, and so filled with promise the heat of it tingled all the way to her toes.
“Can you cancel your flight?” he said against her lips.
“It’s non-refundable.” She ached at just how much she’d spent on that ticket. “You’re not telling me not to come, are you? Job interview, remember?”
“Interview all you want. It’s just that I might have a faster way to get us back.”
“Magic?” she suggested. What was faster than an airplane?
He grinned, kissing her again. “A private jet.”
She curled her fingers into his hair as he pulled her closer. “Let me guess. Courtesy of Bear Financial Investments? Don’t tell me you’re some kind of closet billionaire.”
“Billionaire, yes. Closet, no.”
“Adrian,” she chided.
“What?”
Her eyes thinned to slits. She couldn’t tell if he was teasing her or not. He slid his arms around her again, giving her another kiss.
Goldie And The Billionaire Bear (Once Upon A Billionaire Book 1) Page 15
