Alphas & Millionaires Starter Set (57 page)

Now that I’ve gotten to look at him,
really
look at him, he’s even hotter than I remembered. His hair is jet black, short, and trimmed in a military crew cut. His jaw is strong, but his dimples give him that boyish look. His eyes are green with a tint of brown to them. His body is sculpted—not in the “he works out endlessly” kind of way—more a natural kind of toned musculature. I imagine a washboard torso underneath his shirt. He stands around the same height as Trace, so at least six feet. If I’m going on looks alone, he’s definitely someone I’d want to help me cross some numbers off my bucket list. However, I’m sure his ego is too big and would get in the way.

The four of us gather around the dining room table as Franco finishes preparing our meal. I don’t have much of an appetite and my body is still fatigued since I didn’t get to take that nap earlier, but I don’t pass up the opportunity to be around him. I end up sitting across from Gabe while Natalee and Trace holding hands across the table and gaze into each other’s eyes. They are oblivious to the glare I’m giving Gabe.

His continuous staring is starting to make me blush. I’m trying to figure him out, but with his cocky smile and give-zero-shits attitude, all I conclude is that he’s probably a manwhore looking for his next conquest. But even if that is his end game that doesn’t mean I can’t play along for the ride.

I watch Gabe intently as we eat, twirling my fork around in the pasta on my plate. He’s eyeing me every chance he gets, making it impossible to read him in between the scowls and playful smirks.

I pull my lower lip in between my teeth as I continue watching him. It’s so sensual—watching him eating—such a simple and pleasurable act.

This trip is all about being spontaneous and having fun
, I remind myself. My life’s destiny has been chosen and now it’s up to me to live like there’s no tomorrow…
because there might not be
. This can be my chance.

Have a one-night stand
—bucket list number five. Perhaps I could alter it a bit—have a multiple-night stand with the guy sleeping next door to me.

I never really thought about having a one-night stand before, but things are different now. There’s no reason to worry about the future when you don’t have one.

I realize by now that I’m practically drooling at the thought of him in front of everyone. I clear my throat, needing to distract myself and erase the thoughts of him out of my head.

“So, Katie Bear, why don’t you tell Trace and Gabe about your recent…
extracurricular activities
?” she suggests, her voice filled with amusement.

“It’s not an
extracurricular activity
,” I correct her, scraping my fork on the plate when I realize I’ve already eaten everything as I was staring at Gabe.

“Um…” she begins, narrowing her brows. “You’re naked on a pole. I don’t know what else to call it.” I hear Gabe choke on his food before Natalee finishes speaking. I grin internally at the thought of him choking up over the words
naked
and
pole
.

“Okay, this I’ve got to hear,” Trace says.

I roll my eyes. “It’s an
exercise class
.” I glare at Natalee. “And I’m not naked. I’m in my workout clothes,” I clarify. “It’s pole dancing.” I see Gabe’s stunned expression out of the corner of my eye. His jaw drops as I mention the words
pole
and
dancing
. “It’s fun and gets you in shape,” I defend.

“Yeah…” Natalee’s voice lingers a moment. “That’s called stripping.” She laughs, clearly amused. About a month ago, she texted me saying she was coming to the city, but I had already been on my way to class. She’s been teasing me ever since.

“I don’t get paid!” I end up laughing with her. “And call it whatever you want. It helped me get this,” I say smugly, running a hand up and down my body. Natalee snorts and laughs again. I look across at Gabe, whose face is beet red, but his eyes are hazy as he follows my hand along my body.

“You sure stare a lot for someone who has already gotten the live show.” I glare at him, hoping to embarrass him.

I can feel Natalee and Trace’s eyes burning into the side of my face, clueless as to the thoughts whirling around in my head.

He doesn’t respond to my blunt comment.

Coward.

After dinner, Natalee steals me away for wedding stuff as the guys go off to doing their own thing. She has everything organized in a thick binder with pictures and hand-written notes.

“So what do you think?” she asks as I flip through the pages.

I nod my head and smile up at her. “It’s beautiful, Natalee. I’m really happy for you.” My eyes begin welling with tears as I think about how I’ll never have this. I quickly dismiss the thoughts before the floodgates open up. They can’t—or rather—I won’t let them. I promised myself I was done crying.

“You all right, Katie Bear?”

“Yeah, of course.” I wave a hand in her direction. “I’m just so happy and excited for you! You’re getting everything you ever dreamed of.” I wrap my arms around her, embracing her in a tight hug. “You’re very lucky,” I whisper.

She pulls back, looking directly into my eyes, staring at me for a moment before she said, “Don’t worry, Katherine. You’ll get this too someday.” She sounds so sincere and it nearly breaks my heart. She’s only called me by my actual name on rare occasions.

“I know,” I lie. I swallow and push the rest of my tears back.

Once we finish looking through her binder, we get right to work. She has table favors to finish making and after a half-hour of working, she recruits the boys for their help.

At first I was surprised she didn’t hire a wedding coordinator, but knowing Natalee as well as I do, I should’ve known she’d want to do everything on her own—giving it a more
personal
touch.

“So Gabe, how did you meet Trace?” I ask as we all sit on the floor, stuffing bags and mini-boxes.

“Coop and I were frat brothers,” Trace answers before Gabe gets a word in.

“Coop?” I raise a brow.

“Yeah, Gabe Cooper. But he was always Coop in college.”

“Ahh…college fraternity, huh?” I smirk, glancing at Gabe. “That explains a lot, actually.”

“What does that mean?” Gabe asks, looking offended.

“Just explains it.” I shrug, unapologetically.

“You should’ve met Gabe back in our college days, Kate! Man, he was a riot!” Trace laughs, oblivious to the death glare Gabe is giving him.

“Really?” I ask, amused and secretly loving how embarrassed Gabe looks. “Well, now I’m curious.” I keep my eyes on him as I continue busying my hands.

I only met Gabe a few hours prior, but I already have him pegged in my mind. Part good-guy, part bad-guy. And part of me was okay with that.
More than okay, actually.

“Gabe was like a God. Senior year he jumped from the roof into the pool—biggest stunt ever in our house!” Trace cracks up as he tells the story. Apparently, it was some kind of dare, alcohol was involved, and he was trying to impress a girl.

“Wow. Thanks, man.” Gabe hides a smile as he pats him roughly on the shoulder. He stands up and says goodnight to all of us before heading upstairs. I’m more than ready to call it a night, too, my body feeling more beaten down than it has in days.

“Good night,” I say to both Natalee and Trace. “I’m exhausted. See you in the morning.” I smile at them, their happiness completely contagious.

“Night, Katie Bear! Love you!” Natalee calls out as my foot hits the first step.

“Love you, too.”

As I head up the stairs and back to my room, I can’t help but think about Gabe—who was only one door away. The way he clearly enjoyed getting a rise out of me the second we met; the way his eyes burned into mine as we sat across from each other; the way my mind kept wondering what he looked like naked.

After all, I was here to have fun.

Gabe

I wake up early, hoping I beat Kate to the bathroom—a part of me relieved, the other part saddened, to see that I had.

I pile my hygiene products on the counter, only grabbing the body wash and shampoo to take in the shower with me.

I scrub my hands over my face in the stream of water, urging my body to wake up. I hadn’t slept well. I hate not sleeping in my bed, although I was quite used to it at one point. Hospital couches, a.k.a. back breakers, doubled as my bed for many weeks.

I grab my body wash and go through my normal routine, the scent of spice and oak flooding the bathroom as I wash down. A smile flashes on my face as I think of Kate smelling my scent before she takes her own shower. Although I am keen on her body scent of choice—plum. However, it was more of a sweet plum—the combination of plum and Kate herself.

Both hands are scrubbing shampoo into my hair when I hear the toilet flush, changing my very steamy shower into an ice-cold frozen tundra.

“Fuck!” I shout, pushing myself back out of the stream. I hadn’t rinsed my hair out yet, so both of my hands and eyes are covered in soap.

“Problem?” I hear a sweet, amused voice just outside of the curtain.

I take a deep breath and reluctantly step back into the stream of freezing water. I quickly wash the soap out of my eyes and hair, relieved to finally be able to see again.

“Not at all,” I say, turning the water off. I can see the reflection of her slender body outside the curtain. There’s no way she’s going to let me out of here unharmed. I say fuck it and play her little game.

I grasp the curtain and whip it open. Kate remains unaffected, standing with her arms crossed, a sly smirk on her face.

I stand in front of her, naked and frozen as she continues her stare down. “I beg to differ.” She tilts her head to the side, grinning as she says, “Your balls didn’t seem to enjoy it.”

I’ve never blushed in my life, at least I don’t think so, but fuck me if that didn’t completely take me off guard.

I reach for the towel that’s… no longer hanging where I placed it. “So this is how it’s going to be, huh?” I run both hands through my hair, shaking off the excess water. She shrugs, never taking her eyes off me. “Well, it’s a good thing my balls have a quick recovery time.”

“Especially if you want to produce children,” she adds in. “But I’m not so sure Gabe Junior is taking to the cold very well.” We continue eyeing each other, daring the other to slip up and say what we really want. “You should really lock both doors.” She begins to walk away but then looks over her shoulder and continues, “I didn’t peg you for a tattoo kind of guy.” And then her face goes soft for the first time. “It suits you.” With that, she turns the handle and leaves me behind—stunned and obviously freezing my balls off.

That tattoo means more to me than she could ever know, but a part of me ached at her words. The tattoo she’s referring to is in memory of Sophia—a purple lily—her favorite color and flower. It’s not only about the design, it’s the words written underneath that gut me every time I see my reflection. It’s not manly, but it wasn’t about that. It’s about keeping her close to my heart, a place I’m not sure I’ll ever open up again.

After getting dressed, I head downstairs for breakfast. My body is already tense as I think about spending another five days with this girl. The moment she walked out, bold and fearless, I knew I wanted her underneath me. She’s already made me feel more alive than I’ve felt in months.

I know she’s testing me and obviously needs some relief from the constant panty bunching she’s suffering. Perhaps getting us both naked at the same time is what we need.

“Good morning,” Kate greets, sweetly.
Too sweetly
. She’s sitting at the breakfast bar with a bowl of fresh fruit. She stabs a strawberry as she eyes me. She’s up to something. Again.

I clear my throat, wanting to seem unaffected. “Good morning.”

The counter is filled with half-a-dozen options. I grab a plate and fill it with egg whites, wheat toast, and a spoonful of fruit. Natalee’s obviously on another one of her health kicks.

“Morning, Coop.” Natalee enters with a bright smile on her face. I nod toward her as I shove a piece of melon in my mouth. “I’m taking Kate to her bridesmaid dress fitting in just a bit since it doesn’t fit right anymore. So it’ll just be you and Trace this morning.”

“I’m sure we’ll find something to do,” I say with a hint of sarcasm. Trace and I have never had issues with keeping busy—usually getting into some kind of trouble.

“I know that tone.” She points an accusing finger at me. “This isn’t a frat house,” she reminds me.

“Could’ve fooled me with all the nakedness that’s going around.” I take a bite of my toast just as Kate spits out her orange juice.

Natalee looks between us, curiosity building up in her eyes. “What’s happened now?” She places both hands on her hips.

I turn toward Kate, who’s wiping the juice off her chin and placemat. I smile in Natalee’s direction and say, “An eye for an eye…”

“Oh my God…” she shrieks. “Did you see Coop’s little member?”

Kate, mouth finally clear of all flying liquids, bursts out into the sweetest laughter. “You have got to stop calling it a
member
.”

I try to hold in my own laughter, oblivious to whatever inside joke they have between them.

“Well, you know what I mean,” she says hurriedly.

“I really don’t think I should be here for this conversation,” I say lightly, picking up my plate as I stand up.

“Wait,” Kate directs at me, halting me in my steps by the firmness in her tone. “You don’t get to go around and advertise to the whole world that you saw my tits and bare pussy without the favor being returned.”

This girl has balls. Of steel.

“Jesus, Kate,” Natalee blushes as she holds a hand to her chest. “And since when am I the
whole world
?”

“You know what I mean.” She scowls, looking directly at me. “Go on, tell them.” She cocks her head, a devilish smile spreading on her face.

I clear my throat, deciding to take the high road. “Fine. You saw me naked.” I sit back down, placing my plate back on the bar. “Big deal.” I try to sound casual, hoping this topic of conversation dies.

“Well, he’s right about one thing,” Kate gloats. “It sure wasn’t a
big
deal.” I can hear the smirk in her tone and my own lips form a grin. Now I know she’s trying to rattle me. And it’s working.

Natalee tries to conceal her laughter with a cough. “Well, I’m going to tell Trace we’re leaving soon.” She turns and walks out of the kitchen, leaving Kate and me alone.

Bad fucking idea.

“Not a big deal, huh?” I inquire, brow arched, needing to hear her take the words back.

“Not that I saw,” she responds casually, finishing off her bowl of fruit.

“That really wasn’t an accurate view, you know? I was caught off guard…and
cold
.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she mocks.

“I don’t really care how it makes you feel. But if you’re going to go announcing it to the
whole world
that my jewels are small, at least get the facts straight.”

“Why is it no one can say
cock
around here?” she asks, clearly amused, making my dick pulse at the sound of her voice saying
cock
. “If it bothers you that much, then prove me wrong,” she says flatly, turning to face me. She’s trying to hold eye contact, but she’s blinking obsessively.

“What is this—show and tell?”

She shrugs one shoulder. “Basically. You want people to know you aren’t shriveled and small—prove it.”

“That’s ridiculous. I don’t care what people think.”

A wide grin spreads over face. “Good.”

She stands up and puts her bowl in the sink. I watch as she begins to walk out, but something inside me stops her.

“You’re a real a pain in the ass, you know that?”

She looks over her shoulder—only to purse her lips together in a fucking grin. “It’s an ass you’re going to see all week. Better get used to it.”

I can only shake my head at her response. I finish my breakfast and immediately go on the hunt for Trace. I need to get this girl’s backstory before I have any more inappropriate thoughts about her
or
her ass.

“So we have most of the morning and afternoon to ourselves,” Trace informs me. “What do you want to do?”

“Natalee didn’t give you a list of things we’re allowed to do?” I only half-tease.

“Well…” He shrugs, grinning. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

We end up at some local brewery where everyone knows Trace and each other apparently. It’s very homey, a bit different from my lifestyle in Boston.

“So we’ve haven’t talked much since…” He pauses a moment, contemplating his words.

“The funeral,” I fill in for him.

He takes a swig of his beer. “Right. How have you been doing since then? You kind of just…disappeared after.”

“Yeah…I wasn’t really in a social mood, ya know?” I say, hoping to not offend him. “I just needed time,” I clarify.

“I understand, man. You were Sophia’s whole world. I can’t even imagine.” He looks at me with genuine concern, knowing it’s a hard topic to discuss even after all this time.

“Yeah…I hope you never do,” I say sincerely. “Just taking it day by day.”

“It’s good, man. It’s all you can do.” He clinks the neck of his beer against mine. “I’m glad you’re here now, though.”

I take a swig of my own beer, hoping to loosen up a bit. “Same here. I needed to get out of Boston for a bit. Away from work, too.”

“Been busy?”

“Yeah, but mainly I’ve worked day and night to stay busy. This is definitely a change of pace.” I grin. There’s no way I’d be in a bar in the middle of the day otherwise. I work for my dad at his marketing firm, since I graduated college five years ago, but these past ten months I’ve worked myself endlessly to numb the pain and bury the memories.

“Just don’t burn yourself out. You still have a life. It’s okay to live it,” he reassures me. I know he means well, but he has no idea the bitterness and rage I carry inside me.

“I know…” I sigh, ready for a new topic. “So why don’t you tell me about Natalee’s cousin. She’s a spitfire.”

“Kate?  I don’t know, really. She hasn’t been around the last few months. She and Natalee were best friends growing up. They were really close as teenagers, when Natalee’s parents died. Practically glued at the hip. Then, Kate’s grandmother got sick and died. Three years later, same thing happened to her mother.”

“Shit. Really?”

“Yeah, I remember Natalee crying for weeks. Kate was real close to both of them and within five years, she watched them both die. It was bad.”

“What about her dad?” I ask, curiosity eating at me.

“Bastard bailed after her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. He watched what it did to her mom and said he couldn’t go through it again. She’d spend weeks at a time at the hospital and her mother’s house, ‘neglecting’ her husband. And then when Kate’s grandmother passed away, her mom went into a deep depression. She’d been so focused on taking care of her that she didn’t take care of herself and get checked out when she hadn’t been feeling right. By the time she found out, it was really too late.”

“What happened?”

“They did surgery, but it had spread too far. She fought to the end, though. Natalee said she’d never seen such determination before, but she also knew she was hanging on for Kate’s sake—knowing she didn’t have anyone left.”

“Wow…” My head is spinning. This girl’s been through the fucking wringer. Twice.

“Yeah, I mean, you two have some things in common. Maybe you could talk. Could be therapeutic,” he offers.

A huffed laugh escapes my throat at spilling my guts to a girl like Kate. “I doubt she’s the talking type,” I say confidently. “I’m pretty sure she hates my guts.”

“Nah, man. She’s just hurting. Natalee said she and her boyfriend broke up just a few months ago. Don’t know details, but you know girls—hiding their true feelings to cover up the pain. It’s likely she’s in a similar situation.”

He’s referring to Sophia—the way I hide my feelings to ignore the pain. Except I’m not interested in talking about her. To anyone. Those memories are mine, and I’m not ready to share them.

We walk down Main Street, Trace telling me about how he planned the perfect proposal for Natalee. It sounds wonderful, but I’m not really interested. I don’t plan on settling down or even have an interest in something semi-serious. I’m not sure my heart has it in me anymore.