The Billionaire's Matchmaker: An Indulgence Anthology (Entangled Indulgence)

by Barbara Wallace

  “Well, you called at the right time, because I’m here with all the girls at coffee. Want me to put you on speaker?”

  “Sure. Speakerphone is great. It’ll almost be like being there.”

  Marney, Mia, and Jenny had become her best friends a few years back when the four of them connected at the same coffee shop in downtown Chandler’s Cove. Each of the women brought something different to the group—pragmatic Jenny always had a word of advice, while witty Mia offered a snarkier view of life’s events. Marney was the steady one, the one Gabby relied on most for a sensible shoulder. She thought of her friends, gathered around the scarred wooden table at the back of The Cuppa Cafe, chatting and laughing over lattes and muffins. She missed them, especially now, with her world in turmoil and her heart in a tangle.

  “Except without all the calories.” Marney laughed. “They made chocolate chip muffins today. I know I’ll be paying for that later. I’ll just work it off, putting in extra hours to pay for that crazy mortgage.”

  Gabby laughed. After a pause as Marney switched the phone to speaker, then Gabby heard the trio of voices saying hello. “Hi, everyone! Wish I was there!”

  There was a chorus of agreement, then Jenny’s warm voice came over the phone. “I hear you’re having more fun than all of us. With a certain sexy passenger.”

  Gabby laughed. She knew exactly who’d been peeking out of her lace curtains when T.J. had gotten into Gabby’s car. “Let me guess. Mrs. Perkins called you to tell you that I was canoodling with a strange man.”

  “Actually, she used the word cavorting. She wanted to make sure I knew, in case you ended up on ‘Dateline.’” Jenny and the others laughed.

  “There’s no chance of that,” Gabby said. “He’s not a stranger. It’s T.J.”

  “Really? T.J. from high school? The guy you used to like so much?” Marney said. Of the other three, Marney was the one Gabby had bonded with the most. They’d spent hours talking about exes and mistakes, including Marney’s divorce and Gabby’s missed chances with T.J. “I thought you said he was the classic studious type.”

  How did Gabby begin to explain that her attraction for T.J. had always gone beyond the physical? That it was about the way he brought out the best in her, something she didn’t fully realize or appreciate until after he was gone and out of her life.

  “He was. But now he’s all grown up, and well…hot.” Speaking the words sent a little fissure of desire down her spine. Even now, even after two amazing times last night.

  She told the girls about the mistake with the pictures and the night with T.J., leaving out the intimate details. “I just get the feeling that I’m missing something and this whole relationship is going to blow up in my face. Or maybe I’m just overthinking things and worrying for nothing.”

  “Sounds to me like you did nothing more than have a good time and take a couple risks,” Mia said. “You’ve been playing it safe too long, Gabby.”

  “Safe keeps you from getting hurt,” Jenny put in. “I think she’s being smart.”

  “The important question is, was he good?” Marney asked.

  Gabby laughed. Leave it to Marney to get to the heart of the matter. “Yes, very. But—”

  “There is no but,” Marney said. “Do what Mia said and take a risk. Isn’t that what you’re always telling me good art is about? Well, the same applies to good artists.”

  “And true love,” Mia added. “You can’t find Mr. Right if you’re too afraid to jump in with both feet.”

  Charlie twined his leash around Gabby’s legs and plopped down at her feet. She leaned against the exterior wall of the motel and exhaled a long breath. She hated it when her friends were right. “I’m going to remind you all of this down the road.”

  “Hey, if a Mr. Right ever comes knocking at my door out here in the middle of nowhere, feel free,” Marney said.

  The women laughed and gabbed a bit more, and then Gabby caved to the cold and ended the call. She and Charlie ducked back into the motel room. The bed was empty and the sound of running water could be heard coming from the bathroom. A part of Gabby—okay, the majority—wanted to go in that bathroom, slip off her clothes, and step into the warm shower with a naked, soapy, and sexy T.J.

  But that would wrap her up with him all over again, and she wasn’t ready. Her mind was still reeling from last night. T.J. Shepherd, her one-time best friend and now, something more. Someone she could fall in love with.

  Fear mingled with excitement in her heart. Fall in love with T.J.?

  You can’t find Mr. Right if you’re too afraid to jump in with both feet.

  Yeah, but what if she was still afraid that he would let her down? That this was all some temporary thing, gone the minute they hit the California state line? The Gabby she was today wanted stability, dependability. And T.J. had proven to be the opposite in the past. But a part of her longed to be with him again anyway, to be wrapped up in his blue eyes and his warm touch.

  On the other side of the bathroom door, Gabby could hear T.J. singing a classic rock song in his deep baritone. She smiled and warm happiness spread through her like honey.

  Yes, she could definitely fall in love with T.J. Maybe she already had.

  Maybe she always had been.

  Focus, Gabby, focus. Work had to come first. She was on this trip to resurrect her career and she needed to keep her eye on that. But as she waited for the computer to boot up, her mind wandered to images of T.J.’s muscular back, his hard ass, his tight legs. Her rebel mind pictured the soap running down the planes of his chest, following the light V of chest hair, then slipping between his legs—

  “Work, Gabby. Work.” But even her own stern self-lecture didn’t stop the thoughts.

  Charlie parked himself at Gabby’s feet. His tail thumped against the floor, as if he agreed.

  Emails started pinging into her inbox. Gabby skimmed them until she saw one from the gallery owner. Her heart stopped and she said a quick prayer before opening the message.

  I know you wanted me to use the second set of photos you sent but once I saw the images with the dog, I changed my mind, the email began.

  Damn. Gabby took a deep breath, steeled her nerves, and kept reading.

  There’s something engaging about that dog, something I think people will relate to. If you can deliver more material like that, featuring the dog, I’ll slot you in for a September show. Let me know if that works for you.

  Gabby exhaled. A rush of triumph ran through her. She’d done it. Well, she and Charlie had done it. She bent down and scooped the terrier up, nuzzling his soft neck. “You are the smartest dog in the world, do you know that?”

  Charlie licked her face, his tail slapping against her arm as if telling her, yeah, I know.Beside her laptop, a buzzing started. It took Gabby a second to realize the sound was coming from T.J.’s cell phone. Funny, he’d never taken out his phone during their drive. Most people she knew were glued to theirs. The shower had stopped running so Gabby scooped up the phone to take it to T.J., in case the message was something important. Then she hesitated as those nagging doubts returned. Who kept their phone tucked away for hours on end? The phone buzzed again, and her gaze dropped to the screen.

  Hey, T.J., Forbes called. They’re doing next year’s profile and wanted to know your avail. Call me back with a time for interview.

  Forbes? As in Forbes magazine? What would they want with T.J.?

  The suspicion she’d had for days that T.J. was keeping something from her exploded into full-blown mistrust. She thought of all the times he’d changed the subject, or avoided talking about his job. She spun back to the computer, brought up the search engine, and typed in Forbes + T.J. Shepherd.

  In an instant, the words “tech wunderkind,” “software genius,” and “global leader” sprang onto the screen. All of them followed by one word she never would have seen coming.

  Billionaire.

  Gabby stared at the screen for a long, long time, while her heart broke and she face
d the truth. Her best friend, the man she had once again fallen for and trusted with her heart, had lied to her—

  And played her for a fool.

  Chapter Eight

  Silence.

  T.J. had come out of the shower, his heart light, a smile on his face. Today, he’d vowed, he would tell Gabby the truth and let the chips fall where they may. She would understand, he was sure of it. “Gabby, I—”

  The dingy room was empty, the bed unmade, Gabby’s backpack and Charlie both gone, replaced by a note sitting beside his cell phone.

  Charlie and I are back on the road. I’m sure you can afford your own way out there, Mr. Forbes.

  Shit. He picked up his phone, saw the text message that had undoubtedly led to the note, and cursed. He’d thought he was doing the right thing. Thought he was embarking on some grand test to see if she could love him for who he was, not what he had become. He’d wanted a few days to rebuild the relationship they’d lost without the distraction of his wealth. Just her and him, like in the old days.

  Instead, he was the one who had failed the test by lying. And in the process, lost the only thing that truly mattered to him.

  …

  Gabby drove, while Charlie lay on the passenger’s seat, his head on his paws. Gabby could swear the terrier was sulking. “Don’t give me that face,” she said to the dog. “He was lying to us. To me. And to think I took pity on him and offered to pay all his expenses.”

  Charlie shifted in the seat and placed a paw on her lap. The anger eased in Gabby’s heart, and she gave the dog a tender pat. “Just you and me, buddy. For a gazillion miles.”

  She had twenty hours of drive time and four states to go. It would probably take her three days to cover that much ground and work in the destinations and photo shoots along the way. The worst part about driving was how the endless miles made her mind wander. She kept trying to focus on why she was on this trip but all she could think about was T.J. The man she thought she knew—and clearly didn’t.

  She chided herself, forced her focus back to the approaching exit. Her work would eventually take the place of the hurt.

  Why had she thought they could make this work? She should have known T.J. would just leave her behind while he went on his next adventure. Except this time, he’d be doing it in a Lear jet.

  Focus on work. Not T.J.

  “Charlie, ready to be the star again?” The dog’s tail slapped against the seat, and he popped to his feet. Gabby pulled into a parking lot, grabbed her camera bag, and got out of the car, shading her eyes against the bright winter sun.

  A few hundred yards away sat her photo destination for the day, a rough-hewn, dune colored pyramid. Hand built in the 1880s, the pyramid stood as a tourist stop for railway passengers. It had been dubbed the Ames Brothers Pyramid, after two men who worked for the rail company. The railway had long ago been shut down, and today, held no tourists, save for Gabby. A long dirt path wound up a low hill and around to the structure. The wind cut across the empty Wyoming plateau surrounding the pyramid with a low, lonely howl. “Seems like an appropriate place to be, huh, Charlie?”

  The dog didn’t respond, just walked along beside her, quiet and somber. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was depressed that T.J. wasn’t with them.

  She reached the desolate pyramid and looked around at a whole lot of nothing. Okay, so maybe she should have picked someplace happier. Perkier. But this place, with its solitary existence, mirrored the emptiness in Gabby’s heart.

  She sighed. “Back to work, Charlie.”

  Gabby lay on the hard earth, raised her camera to her eye, and waved at Charlie to go ahead. The dog did as she asked, dashing up to the stone building then turning back to face Gabby. “Good boy. Now, stay.”

  The angle made the terrier look huge against the tall pyramid, and she managed several great shots before Charlie got distracted and dashed around the building. Gabby started packing up her things. Maybe by the time she reached California, her heart would stop aching.

  Charlie barked, a frenzied, happy bark. The slow whop-whop-whop of helicopter rotors grew in volume along with a black speck that morphed from a dot in the sky to a mid-sized chopper. A moment later, the machine landed far behind the pyramid, sending a mini tornado of air spinning down the prairie. Charlie tugged on his leash, yanking it out of Gabby’s hands, and took off across the ground. Gabby called for the dog but Charlie was already bounding toward the chopper.

  The door opened, and T.J. emerged. He gave a wave to the pilot then bent down to greet an overjoyed Charlie, who leapt into his arms and slobbered all over his face. T.J. rose, the dog still cradled in his arms, then slipped off his sunglasses and put them in his pocket. His gaze swept across the flat land and stopped when he spotted Gabby. Even from here, she could see his smile.

  Her traitorous heart skipped a beat, even as a part of her still sparked with anger at him lying to her, and him keeping his success a secret, especially after she’d told him about the mural debacle. She wanted to run, to hide, but out here in the middle of the wide Wyoming expanse of nothing, there was nowhere to go. So she stood her ground as T.J. approached. Charlie trotted along at his side, looking up at him every few feet as if making sure his new friend really had returned.

  The chopper’s rotors whirred a while longer, then whined down to a stop. T.J. closed the distance between him and Gabby. “What are you doing here?” she said. “And how did you find me?”

  “After you left, I remembered you said Wyoming was next, so I looked up tourist stops here. I figured there was no way you’d resist seeing a pyramid in the middle of Wyoming.”

  Maybe it was a sign that there was something between them—or maybe she was looking for something that wasn’t there and never had been. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

  “I’m keeping my promise. I said I’d go with you to California, and I will.”

  “No, you said you’d go with me because your car was dead and you needed a ride.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe I fell for that whole job-interview-Grandma-gave-me-a-box-of-stuff-I-need-a-ride-thing. You lied to me, T.J. You’re rich. That couldn’t come up in conversation sometime in the last, oh, five hundred miles?”

  “My grandma did give me a box of stuff. And I didn’t lie about my car, it is dead. I’ve been driving the same Jeep Cherokee for eight years and it finally bit the dust a couple weeks ago. I did need a ride to California, which is where my office is located.” He shrugged. “I just happen to own the company, and I lied about the job interview part because I didn’t want to lead with my wealth. Too many people only see that, not the real me.”

  She waved toward the helicopter. “You don’t need to go with me. It seems to me you already have a ride.”

  T.J. took another step forward until only a few inches separated them. “I prefer riding with you.”

  She refused to let that familiar smile affect her or to be tempted by the woodsy notes of his cologne, the soft ocean green-blue of his eyes. She shifted her gaze to the cold stone pyramid. “I’m fine on my own.”

  “Are you?”

  He wasn’t talking about her driving alone. He was asking if she wasn’t hiding a couple things herself beneath this bravado.

  “You don’t get to ask me those questions, T.J.” Gabby whirled back to him and all the hurt she’d felt this morning roared to the surface. “You lied to me. What were you trying to do? Show the poor starving artist you have some pity on her? Or did you think it’d be funny to go slumming with me for a few days before you go back to your helicopters and limos?”

  He recoiled a bit. “It wasn’t anything like that. I was wrong for deceiving you. I’m sorry, Gabby. I really am.”

  The sincerity in his voice and his features eased the tight hold on her anger. Her voice softened. “Then why did you do it?”

  “I wanted a way to spend time with you.”

  The words sent a little thrill through her but she pushed it away. He had hurt her wi
th the deception and a part of her—especially the part that had been intimate with him—just wanted to climb under the covers until the hurt stopped. “Why me? And why after all these years? And why now, when you weren’t there…” She cursed and shook her head. “Never mind.”

  “…when I wasn’t there for you before?” he finished when she didn’t.

  “Yeah.” She raised her gaze and searched his blue eyes. “You didn’t answer my emails. Didn’t return my call. I reached out to you, T.J., after my grandmother died and that mural disaster happened because I needed a friend. Then this whole week, you lied to me. Now you want me to take a chance, to trust you? I don’t think so.”

  She started to walk away, but he reached out and took her hand.

  “Don’t go, Gabby, please. Listen, I was wrong to do that. It was selfish and stupid, and I’m sorry.” He raked a hand through his hair and took a moment before he spoke again. “After graduation, when I told you how I felt, and you made it clear there was never going to be anything between us, I was crushed. All I wanted to do was forget you, move on. But I couldn’t.” He reached up and caught a strand of her hair, letting it slip between his fingers.

  A slow smile spread across his face and she found herself drawn to that smile, to him, again.

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last few days, it’s that no matter how hard I try, I can’t forget you and I don’t want to. Ever.”

  “Why me? We were just friends, high school friends.”

  “We were always more than that to me. I was just too scared to push it, because I was afraid of losing you. In the end, I lost you anyway.” He released a long breath. Charlie settled at his feet and curled into a tight ball against the wind. “Almost from the day I started seeing a profit from my business, I became Mr. Popular. For a guy who spent most of his life off the radar at school, it was kinda cool, I’m not going to lie. Then I realized no one knew the real me. They were attached to me because I had money. Power. Influence. But there was no depth to those relationships, no meaning, no history. So I came back here to you, to the only person who knew the real me, and the only person I’ve ever really known.”