Two to Tangle (A Tangle Valley Romance #2) - Melissa Brayden Page 0,78
a hottie, too,” Birdie said across the restaurant. The Biddies laughed at the audacious quality of sweet Birdie’s comment. Ryan attempted a smile and then left the café, grateful to take a great big inhale of fresh air. What she needed more than anything was to get to work and keep herself busy before her brain attacked itself wondering about Gabriella’s past with Madison and whether it really was the past at all.
Yet turning off her thoughts at this point seemed almost impossible.
Her feelings for Gabriella had never been more apparent than in this moment when it felt like she had the capacity to lose her. Whoever argued that love was wonderful and amazing and worthy of a million song lyrics had certainly never felt the terror of losing it. Wait. Love wasn’t a thing. At least not yet.
She blinked.
Was it?
Ryan wasn’t convinced she was in love with Gabriella. She wasn’t the type to fall for someone so easily and, in fact, had never been in love at all. But then nothing about Gabriella was typical.
She pulled her truck onto Tangle Valley’s property, followed the winding road up the hill, and paused at the top, as always, for a breather. When she saw the gorgeous expanse of land below, she took a deep and slow inhale as reality crashed in. “I think I’m in love with her,” she said to no one. Dale whined from his spot in the back seat and she laughed. “You and me both, bud. I didn’t see this coming, and I’m not sure I recommend it at this point.” She turned back to the view and knew that in spite of her worried, lovesick heart, she had a restaurant to prep. The soft opening was creeping up, and there were a lot of small things she needed to correct before inspection. She’d get out her standard checklists and get to work.
But first…
“For you.” Ryan placed the coffee just beyond the window of the food truck, inside of which Gabriella seemed to be massaging a mountain of meat on a cutting board.
“How did you know I was dreaming of Biscuit coffee?” Her hazel eyes lit up. “Hi there. Was waiting for you.”
“I took a chance.” She smiled. “Hi.”
Gabriella held up her meat-contaminated hands like a surgeon in gloves and leaned close to the window for a kiss, which Ryan happily savored. “How was your night last night?”
The answer was lonely because she and Dale had stayed on their own at the lake house instead of where she’d rather have been, with Gabriella. “I had a good night. Watched a Dodgers game and then did some work in my shop.”
“Did you wear the sexy overalls? Say yes and make my morning.”
“Yes,” Ryan said.
“You okay?” Gabriella asked. “You seem, I don’t know, distracted or melancholy. I can’t decide which.”
“Just trying to organize myself for the workday. I want to check in on Billy and Lonzo at Tangled, but then I have three other jobs to get to.”
“Oh.” Gabriella’s smile dimmed, and everything in Ryan hated it. “Yeah, of course. I didn’t mean to keep you. I know you have a lot going on.”
“You didn’t keep me. Nothing like that.”
“Okay. Well, that’s good.”
She cringed inwardly because they were off on a weird, overly polite path now, and it was all her fault. She took a steadying breath to wipe the slate clean and fix this. “My mornings will always be better for seeing you. Always.”
Gabriella’s eyes softened. “Even with meat hands?” she asked meekly. “Cause I have meat hands.”
“Especially then.” She pointed behind the truck at Tangled. “I have to get my crew set up, but I’d love to see you after.”
“Well, you will. We have a game. You’ll probably lose.” Damn, Gabriella was beautiful when her competitive side showed and her eyes got that spark of determination. She loved the damn spark. She loved all of her.
“That’s right. I almost forgot.”
“Muskrats don’t,” she said and pretended to tap her temple from six inches away while making that strange rodent face that always made Ryan laugh. “There or square, Jacks.”
“Like I’d miss a chance to see you slug a ball and run around in a circle. Catch you later, Meat Hands Russo.”
“My meat hands bring all the girls to the yard,” she called after Ryan, who felt lighter for their exchange. She shrugged off the Biddies’ comments, at least for now. She and Gabriella were really good together, and that should be the only damn headline.