Free Betting the Billionaire by Avery Flynn Page B

anger and confusion underneath.
    “With you? In reality? Not a damn thing.”
    “So why?”
    She deserved a real explanation, and he didn’t have one. He realized it now. But if he could just make her understand why he’d done what he’d done, maybe everything wouldn’t be lost.
    “My cousin, Carlos, is a computer genius and works at a security company in Harbor City. He was doing work on a case and ran across police records listing my mom as a surviving widow. He did a little digging and discovered the accident report with your dad’s name as a witness. There was bad blood between them, according to what Dell told the cops, something about a business deal gone bad. And I decided that someone needed to pay for what had happened to my dad. I couldn’t go to my mom, dredge up the past she’d kept hidden for so long. Instead, I went gunning for your dad.”
    The whole thing sounded so ridiculous when he said the words out loud. Shame and embarrassment twisted inside him like an F4 tornado, leveling everything in its path.
    “So what changed between this morning and now?”
    “Carlos found the medical examiner’s report. My dad had a BAC that was almost twice the legal limit.” The words left a foul taste in his mouth. “It made me realize that there was a lot about the accident I don’t know and a lot about my real dad I’m totally clueless about. I came here to tell your dad the whole bet was off, but I couldn’t.”
    “Why not?” Confusion had replaced the suspicion in her dark brown eyes.
    Wasn’t that the question that kept zinging around his brain? He searched the barn’s rafters for the reason that eluded him. It wasn’t there, but he found it as soon as his gaze lowered to Keisha. “Because tonight might be the last time I get to see , and I’m a selfish bastard.”
    “You don’t even know me,” she whispered.
    “I know you take your coffee with an ungodly amount of cream. I know you chew on the inside of your cheek when you’re mulling something over. I know you would do just about anything for your family. But I want to know more.”
    “We never even met face-to-face until yesterday.”
    “You think I wasn’t paying attention during all those months when I’d call two or three times a week?” He brushed his thumb across her full bottom lip that quaked just the tiniest bit. “Last night wasn’t a mistake. Let me prove it to you.”
    She hesitated but didn’t move away from his touch. “How?”
    “Instead of competing against each other, let’s build something together.”
    She laughed. “That’s not the offer I was expecting.”
    “It’s the best one I’ve got right now.” But by this time tomorrow, he’d have a lot more on the table.
    A fine layer of saw dust covered the concrete floor like fairy dust. Or should it be elves? They seemed the more industrious sort. Keisha shook her head. She must have ingested some of the dust, because her brain had gone on vacation with thoughts like those. Of course, it was better than the alternative. That being a near constant awareness of Gabe, who had stripped down to butt-hugging jeans and a sleeveless undershirt.
    The muscles she’d gotten the briefest hint of last night had been enough to tempt her straight into a fiery pit of desire, but actually seeing his thick biceps slick with well-earned sweat? She was just dancing in the flames and not giving a damn that her toes—and other parts of her anatomy—were getting singed.
    Gabe flicked a switch, and the roar of the table saw eased to a dull muffle and then silence. As long as she ignored her heart thundering in her chest. Watching his muscles bulge as he carried the freshly cut oak uprights for the dining room table was enough to give her a hot flash or twelve.
    He laid the uprights on the worktable and grinned. It was infectious.
    “I’m sorry for doubting that you knew how to use the table saw.” She grabbed a bottom brace and placed it against the upright to form an L .
    He