Free Gabby Revealed (Finding Perfect) by Amy Gregory Page A

were wide, staring at the door , and it appeared what relief she’d found with her parents relishing her secret was wiped away as two women waltzed in, their clothing, purses, heels, the complete package was what he’d run from in New York. The hair on the back of his neck stood.
    Gabby’s mother swiped at the air, confusing him. “Just be nice, Gabby. They’re customers , remember?”
    “Yeah, you said to be nice back in high school too, Mother. A lot of damn good that did me now , didn’t it huh?”
    “Gabrielle, don’t talk to your mother like that.”
    Shane ran his finger through her belt loop, securing her place at his side. Funny how he’d always heard a picture was worth a thousand words, but here, a hushed conversation spoke millions. Gabby had forsaken everything to keep from hurting her father, yet business came first. Even before their daughter’s heart. He’d have to ask her later if it had always been like this. Leaning toward her ear, he softly spoke, “I feel like I’m under a microscope.”
    “Welcome to Renlend, Shane. You’re the hottest thing here next to sliced bread. Those two want nothing more than to see if you’re real or if the rumors are false.”
    “Well, well, well , Gabby. Are you going to continue being so rude to your clientele, or are you going to introduce us to this handsome man?” Elise said, reaching toward Shane’s forearm.
    Pulling out of arm’s length, he repositioned himself behind Gabby, pulling her against the length of his body, not shielding himself from the venomous bitch, but staking Gabby as his claim, using Gabby to mark him as hers. The instant he took himself off the market for either woman, the other glared directly at Gabby, the contempt in her dark eyes wasn’t only ugly—she looked pure evil. Her hair and face though seemed familiar.
    “What do you need, Maggie?” Gabby asked, but Shan e heard the fire in her brewing, and he didn’t miss the condescending look her mother threw her
daughter . Another piece of the puzzle was close to revealing itself, and Shane had a feeling it wasn’t pretty. She went taut in his hold, taking slow deep breaths.
    A perfectly manicured brow rose as her chin tipped. “Well, I was on my way next door for a latte, non-fat of course , for those of us that worry about our appearances.” Maggie snickered at the woman standing next to her, but Shane caught the insinuation. “We wanted to stop in here on our way to see if you’d finally gotten Jamieson’s latest book in since you never seem to run enough inventory in this little “shop” of yours.”
    “How ironic ,” Shane said, not thinking about it until he caught Gabby’s lethal elbow right in the gut—for the second time.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” she hissed.
    “Nothing, Maggie. I got some in yesterday, you walked right passed them, but then again, you were too busy ogling Shane to notice. Surprise, surprise.”
    “Well apparently his taste isn’t up to par, so why would I waste my time? Why don’t you go fetch me the latest , so I can just pay and get out of here?”
    “Why don’t you walk your ass over there to that shelf right over there, pick up a damn book , and I’ll ring you up. Better yet, order online. Then I don’t have to deal with you.”
    “Gabrielle ,” her mother spit out.
    “It’s quite all right, Mrs. James. I’m used to this sort of service now that you and Mr. James retired and sold the store to her.”
    Gabby continued breathing heavy in his hold as her father picked up the book while the two women stared each other down. Shane wanted to reach across the glass counter top and smack Maggie, fixing her eye-rolling problem for her. He’d dealt with bitchy, but this woman took it to a new extreme. Punching in the information, she scanned the card and gave it a flick of her wrist, sending it gliding over the glass to the floor below.
    “Oops. Sorry. Sign.” Gabby slammed a pen down on the receipt.
    “You never