Allison accepted his outstretched hand and shook it firmly. “Always glad to see a familiar face from my hometown, and hey, if this works out, I’ll be in a winning situation as well. If you give me a minute, I’ll meet you at the door and you can follow me over.”
Gabe rose to his feet and pulled out her chair, caving far enough to allow himself to watch her hips in admiration as he followed her to the front. He took care of the bill and waited for her to return.
His reflection in the window behind the cash register displayed his enormous foolish grin. He couldn’t help it—the delight filling him at actually having come this far? Man, it felt good.
He’d come up with an idea, and it wasn’t even a halfcocked idea at that. All the requirements Allison had listed to become a registered organic beef farm were possible on the land his family owned. The idea was radical—a complete departure from the way his father ran the spread, but the end result?
It might be enough. The attempt would certainly be interesting.
A familiar laugh carried to his ears, interrupting his mental calculations, and he glanced back into the restaurant. The place was bright with midday sun, and it wasn’t hard to spot the source. Understanding what he saw was more difficult. Helen Meridan leaned forward over one of the tiny tables at the far edge of the room, an older man seated across from her holding her fingers in his.
Gabe stared, waiting for her to pull back. Waiting for a sign this was a business handshake—like the one he’d just given to Allison that had been all above board and legit.
He waited, hoping what he suspected wasn’t really happening, because right now it looked an awful lot like his cousin Matt’s steady girlfriend was holding hands with a stranger.
He wasn’t in the know about everything going on in his cousin’s life, or Helen’s, but he was damn sure she didn’t have a reason to be hours away from Rocky with another man. Especially one old enough to—no, he refused to even conjecture. But when the man raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, Gabe’s mouth turned sour.
Fuck it.
He must have spoken the words, must have cussed far louder than he intended. Helen’s head swiveled and her eyes went wide. She turned briefly back to her seatmate and pulled her hand free, rose and made her way over to where Gabe stood, feeling slightly slack-jawed. The man at the table stared after her, a small frown building as if he was shocked at Helen’s rapid departure.
She brushed past Gabe and pulled him with her to the edge of the hall that led to the bathrooms. By the time she turned to face him, her face was covered by a bright smile.
“Hey, you. Didn’t expect to see you this far from home.”
He bet she didn’t. “Helen, what the hell is going on?”
She bit her lower lip and glanced toward the ceiling. The sick sensation in his stomach grew every second she hesitated.
He’d seen this woman in a stressful situation before—a stressful sexual situation to be exact. While he didn’t expect having been invited by Matt into her bed for a temporarily ménage gave any lasting privileges, it sure the hell made Gabe more responsible than he would have been otherwise.
Helen grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his ear closer to her mouth. “Fine. I didn’t want anyone to know, so you’ve got to keep it a secret. It’s a job interview.”
For fuck’s sake. “For what? Becoming a call girl?”
Helen jerked back, shock in her expression. “A call… What are you talking about?”
“He was kissing you, Helen. I ain’t never had an interview where I kissed anything but ass, figuratively, that one time I really needed some cash.”
“The kiss? Jesus, Gabe.” She waved him off. “He’s old-fashioned, that’s all. It’s his style. He kissed the waitress’s hand when we were seated. You want to go and give her the third degree as well? Maybe he’s starting a brothel or something.”
Gabe hesitated for a moment. She glared back, indignation written all over her. Only, he could have sworn a moment ago he’d seen her confused and panicked.
Helen dragged a hand through her hair. “Look, it’s just an interview, but…I haven’t said anything to Matt yet because I’m not sure anything is going to come of it. Can you keep it quiet for a while? I should know within a couple weeks.”
Another jolt of unease hit. Keeping that kind of secret didn’t sit well.
He hadn’t even had time to respond before she smiled and poked him in the chest. “So what are you doing here? You never get this far out of Rocky anymore.”
With one swoop, his tongue was frozen. Like hell would he mention anything about his ideas for changing his family’s ranch before they were even half-baked. Especially not to Helen, who shared others’ information as rapidly as a flag shook in a brisk wind. His father was going to be hellishly difficult to deal with anyway. A heads-up warning could ruin everything.
To top off his shitty dilemma, Allison appeared from the ladies’ room and was rapidly approaching behind Helen’s back. Gabe’s mind raced—what could he say to cover his tracks? Helen knew Allison from school as well.
His luck had run out.
“I’m on a date.” He was screwed. Please, God, let Allison forgive him. He ducked past Helen and reached for Allison. She frowned slightly but accepted his hand. One tug allowed him to move in close. He planted his mouth by her ear as he wrapped his arms around her in a pseudo-lover’s clutch. “Sorry, I need your help. Play along, please…”
He twisted them, keeping Allison under his arm. “Babe, you remember Helen?”
Allison stood at his side, a trifle on the stiff side. Then, glory be, she passed her arm behind his back, around his hip and slipped her fingers into his belt loop. It was as if she melted in, all cozy and soft, and for a split second Gabe was very sad this was only a ploy.
“Helen. Haven’t seen you in forever.” Allison spoke politely but without much invitation in her tone.
Helen said hello, her gaze jumping back and forth between them. Then she seemed to lose all interest and shrugged. “Hey, don’t mean to be rude, but I need to get back to the table. Nice to see you, Allison. Gabe…”
She stared for a second, an implied finger-to-the-lips there before she turned her back and strolled casually toward the seating area.
Gabe’s heart rate hovered well above normal, but now he wasn’t sure if it was from dodging a bullet or from the sweet scent of Allison in his arms.
He released her, and they separated, heading though the door in silence. They were well into the parking lot before she glanced back, then burst out laughing. “Gabriel Coleman, it seems some things never change. What was that all about? You trying to make her jealous or—?”
“God, no. Exactly the opposite.”
She laughed harder. “Sorry, but the idea one of the Angel Boy Colemans just used me to avoid a woman makes me a little giddy.”
Gabe’s cheeks heated. Screw it, she was making him blush. “Hate that bloody nickname with a vengeance—it’s worse than what my Six Pack cousins have to put up with. Look, I’m sorry, but I didn’t want to have to explain what we were doing together. It’s none of her business.”
“Well, that’s true, and seeing you with a woman on a…date…is probably totally un-newsworthy.”
He sighed. “That’s one of those ‘damned if I do, damned if I don’t’ statements.”
Allison’s laugh was downright addictive, and he considered again why he’d never gone out with her when they were in high school. “Yeah, I promise not to make you answer. Forget it, no harm done. Come on, I’ll show you the shop.”
Gabe waited until she’d gotten into her car before he headed to his truck, marveling how this fact-finding excursion had gotten so complicated. Wondering how crazy it was to be thinking about Allison when he had a life to change a hundred kilometers away from her.