The Billionaire's Matchmaker(18)

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 faced 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.”