Baiting Him (How to Catch an Alpha #2)(10)

I start to giggle, and when the sound turns to laughter, he grins at me. “So you’re basically telling me that your mom is awesome.”

“Basically,” he agrees before he adds a can of diced tomatoes, spices, salt, and risotto to the pan. I study him as he slowly adds in chicken stock, and a delicious smell begins to permeate my senses. Again, I wonder what planet this man came from, because there is no way he can possibly be real.

“So, you own Twilight?” I question, hoping for a little more insight into the man standing a few feet away.

“Yeah, that and a couple bars along the beach,” he answers with a shrug, like it’s not a big deal. Having looked for locations for the Sweet Spot, I know the real estate along the beach is more than a little expensive. Heck, most of the locations are more than I could afford in this lifetime, even if I saved every penny I made.

I grew up lower-middle class. Both my parents worked when my little brother and I were kids, and they still do to this day. My mom is a secretary at one of the local high schools, and my dad is a hotel manager. They scrimped and put money away for me to be able to open my shop and for my brother to go to college. We both got $20,000, which took years and a lot of them going without to save. Now as an adult and understanding the stress that money brings, I wonder if that’s one of the reasons they’re no longer together.

“That’s impressive,” I finally murmur, unsure how to proceed or how to process the fact that he’s probably loaded.

His head turns my way, and when his eyes lock with mine, I swear he has once more read my thoughts when he continues. “My mom didn’t want to marry my dad, but that doesn’t mean he wanted nothing to do with me. He was around as much as he could stomach, considering the fact that he was in love with my mom but she didn’t feel the same and made that clear by dating regularly and shoving it down his throat.” Oh, man. I suddenly feel sad for his father. “Still, he taught me a lot while I was growing up, during the times I was with him. One of the things I learned from him was how to be smart with money. He showed me how to save, and he helped me get my first loan, and then my second. Since he passed away five years ago, I’ve used his wisdom and bought into a couple local businesses that were on the edge of foreclosure and worked at making those locations profitable again.”

“That’s even more impressive,” I say, then add, holding his stare when he turns to look at me, “I’m sorry about your dad. I’ve never lost one of my parents, but I’m sure that isn’t something easy to go through.”

“It’s not, but I have a lot of good memories with him. He was an amazing man and father. I appreciate everything he taught me while he was alive.”

“Did he and your mom ever work things out?” I ask, then wish I hadn’t. I blurt, “Sorry, stupid question.”

“No, they didn’t, at least not together. He got married when I was nineteen.” He smiles fondly, and my heart does a weird double beat. “Nina gave him the family he was always searching for. She had two girls before she met Dad, and he loved them like his own. I consider both of them my sisters, and I love Nina. She’s nothing like my mother, but she was absolutely perfect for my dad in every way. While he was alive, they gave each other happiness and contentment, and together they built a beautiful life.” I watch as he pulls in a breath, and I feel my own throat get tight. “That’s another lesson I learned from my father.”

“What lesson was that?” I question, my voice tight with emotion.

“Nothing is more important than your family. Nothing is more important than the people you love, the people who will be there in good times and bad.”

Tears fill my eyes, and I try to fight them back, but I’m not skilled enough to hide them from him. When he notices, he’s suddenly not standing in front of the stove but right there in my space, pushing my thighs apart and settling himself between my legs. I cover my face, attempting to hide, but he drags my hands away and forces me to look at him. God, he’s so beautiful, and the fact that he’s been through what he has only makes me like him and respect him so much more.

“I’m sorry.” I swipe the tears off my cheeks, and his expression softens.

“Sorry about crying?”

“Yeah.”

“Sweetheart, it’s sweet that you’re crying over my sob story. Still, I don’t like your tears.”

“Give me a second, and I’ll stop,” I tell him, and he starts to laugh. “Why are you laughing?” I cry, with more tears rolling down my cheeks.

“You’re adorable.” He leans in, touching his lips to mine.

I’m caught off guard by the soft kiss and every emotion rushing through me. My mind spins, and I pray this isn’t too good to be real.





Suggestion 4

DON’T LISTEN TO YOUR MAMA

CHRISSIE

I lean back against the arm of my couch and take a sip of wine while Gaston sits a cushion away drinking a beer and chuckling.

“In the end, it worked out,” I say, and he shakes his head. “Honestly, it was a life lesson. I’m sure one day my own children will sign me up for some project and forget to mention it until the very last second.” I’ve just told him about the time Aubrey and Rachelle volunteered me to make five hundred cookies for a bake sale to help the high school basketball team travel to an away game in another state. I had no problems with them offering my cookies, but they forgot to mention it to me until the day before the bake sale, which meant I was baking from dusk till dawn without help, since the girls couldn’t stay with me all night and had school the next day.