The Billionaire's Matchmaker(5)

“I almost didn’t recognize you earlier,” she said. “You look so different. So…” The pink deepened in her cheeks. “So grown up.”

“I hope that’s a good thing.”

“Um, yes.” Her gaze swept over him again, and her voice dropped to almost a whisper. “Very good.”

Tension coiled in the space between them. T.J. took another step closer. The space between them heated.

He had never forgotten her, never stopped wanting her. But did she want him? She had told him a long time ago they’d never be more than friends, but could he change that? There was only one way to find out. Take a risk. In the end, he’d either make a colossal fool out of himself or have a final resolution between them.

“You know, after we talked, I got to thinking. I’ve got this job interview in California in a couple weeks.” A small lie, but no lightning struck him down, so he plowed forward with the story he’d concocted on his way over here, “and after my car died the other day, I’ve been debating how to get out there when I thought about you and your trip. So I came down here, and found your ad.” He held up the index card he’d pulled off the community bulletin board a few minutes earlier. “Right between Ernie Youngclaus’s ‘Good Manure Wanted’ and Henrietta Vincent’s ‘Handmade Lace Doilies for Sale’.” He shot her a teasing grin. “You’re in good company.”

She reached for the ad, but he pulled his arm back. “Hey!”

“Did you find someone to,” he dropped his gaze to the words, “‘head off on an interesting adventure across the country, complete with a stop at the ‘world’s largest ball of popcorn’?”

She darted forward and plucked the paper out of his hands. “No. Yes. Well, sort of.”

She seemed disconcerted, which surprised him. The Gabby he’d known had brimmed with confidence and self-assurance. He’d always been the one off-balance around her, until now. “Yes, no, sort of?”

“Charlie is going with me.”

A quick flare of jealousy mixed with disappointment rose in T.J.’s chest. Damn, he was too late. She’d found someone else, something he’d expected. Women like Gabby didn’t come along every day. Any man worth his salt wouldn’t let her get away.

Well, T.J. had. But the circumstances had been…complicated.

In his mind, his plan to reunite with Gabby had gone a lot better than this. Now he was unsure and hesitant, as if he was fourteen again, standing in the decorated high school cafeteria while a DJ spinned dance music. T.J. had stood in the room at that dance, brimming with desire for her, a desire he’d been afraid to express, afraid of risking rejection. Then four years later, when he’d finally gotten up the courage to express those feelings, she’d made it clear she didn’t feel the same and dismissed him like a pesky door-to-door salesman. Maybe returning to Chandler’s Cove had been a bad idea.

Didn’t mean he hadn’t missed her like hell, though. He’d missed being with the one person in his life who knew him as he was—not as the mayor’s son, not as the workaholic CEO. As just T.J., plain, simple T.J.

He had come to this town to see if that connection still existed. And he’d be damned if he’d let some guy named Charlie stand in his way. “It makes sense for us to travel together,” T.J. said, “since we’re going to the same place. Why don’t you let Charlie get his own ride?”

She smiled. “I can’t exactly do that.”

“Why not?”

“It’s…complicated.”

He came another step closer, the ad still in his hands. “Ah, but that was always the best part about you. That you were complicated.”

A shimmer of amusement shown in her eyes. “Why do you need a ride to California? Why not fly?”

An opening, a chance. Not a big one, but he’d take her question as a possibility she was considering his offer. He could tell her the truth now—and risk losing her all over again—or finish the fib and pray that she understood later. The lies churned in his gut, but he thought of those simple days by the creek, the afternoon visits to the museum, all those times with Gabby, and forged forward with the rest of his fabricated story. “The, uh, interview isn’t a sure thing. It’s a…risky venture.”

“You? Embarking on a risky venture?” She laughed. “That’s not the T.J. I knew.”

“I’ve changed, Gabby. A lot.” He grinned. “I’m a regular adrenaline junkie now.”

She laughed. “That I’d have to see.”

“Then maybe we should go together to California. Catch up a little, save some money.” He pressed on, ignoring the twinges of guilt pinging in his gut. “I could fly, but my funds are limited and you know how expensive those last minute airfares are. Plus my grandmother loaded me down with some family mementos to truck with me.”

She nibbled at her bottom lip, a gesture he’d seen a thousand times when they were younger. Now, though, the sight of her biting that tender flesh made him bite back a groan. “Well, I could use help driving.”

“What about Charlie? If he’s along for the ride, surely he’ll help with the driving?”

She laughed. “He can’t drive. For one, he doesn’t have opposable thumbs and for another,” she gestured toward the space beside her feet, that laughter lighting in her green eyes, dancing on her face, “he’s a dog.”