Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance 1(124)

He watched in amusement as she lined up her toss, taking careful aim and with a flick of the wrist the ring went flying through the air and effortlessly landed around the neck of one of the bottles towards the middle.

Gabriel's mouth dropped open, but quickly turned into a grin as the carnie announced that they had a winner and pulled the large pink bear from the hook and handed it to Beth. She hugged it tight to her as she turned her back to the booth to smile up at Gabriel.

She looked so sweet and delighted with herself that he couldn't have felt envious if he wanted to. But that didn't mean he couldn't tease her a little bit. "Okay, so spill. How did you manage to win that?"

Her grin widened, telling she wasn't entirely innocent. She shrugged. "Lucky I guess."

Slipping an arm around her waist he pulled her close to him and they began walking from the booth. "You're lying. You know something I don't know." The guilty giggle solidified the theory for him; now he had to know. "Spill it and I'll buy you a corn dog."

Laughing freely, she slipped her free arm around him, and gave him a partial hug. "Boy, do you ever know a way to a girls' heart, Gabe."

Gabe? He normally cringed at the nickname that his pal Pete used, but the way she said it, it didn't sound so bad and having her arms wrapped around him as they walked didn't feel too bad either. Perhaps there was something to be said about having a normal relationship. He had yet to figure out what in the fuck this was; he pushed that problem to the back of his mind. Why was he forced to define something straight away anyhow?

"So what do you say? Fill me in." He steered her through the midway to the concession stands. The day was slowly giving way to the night, turning the fairgrounds into an array of colourful lights and blaring music.

"Well, since you're offering a corndog. My older brother worked as a carnie for a couple of years. He told me all the tricks to the games and whenever the fair was in town he'd take me after hours to play the games, showing me how to beat them."

"Okay, so how do you win the ring toss?"

"It's all in the wrist, baby."

Gabriel frowned. "Be more specific."

She crinkled her nose up at him. "Nah. Once you tell me the secret behind the chowder then maybe I'll tell you the secret behind the ring toss."





Chapter 8

"Gabriel Reynolds eating a corndog, now that's a sight," Beth teased, taking a bite into hers. It was delicious.

Gabriel laughed. "Well sometimes we just have to break down and rough it." He dipped the tip of his in a tiny bowl of ketchup. "I was once told that if you have to cover your food in condiments then it's not really food."#p#分页标题#e#

"Hey, I never said it was quality. Just that it was fucking good." Beth gave a little chuckle, shifting her gaze back to her corndog.

"Okay, you win." He took another bite from the dog. "It is a pretty tasty change,” he finally admitted with a little smirk on his face. He pointed to her half-eaten dog as he pulled the remaining piece of his corndog from the stick and popped it into his mouth. "Eat up. We have the double Ferris wheel to ride in a moment."

Beth looked over at the two rotating wheels of the double Ferris wheel and a shimmer of excitement rushed through her. She loved the rides. They'd been on everything at the park and were saving that for last. She was really surprised at how much fun Gabriel really was. And the looks of appreciation that he received from many of the women at the fair didn't go unnoticed by her either. It made her blood boil to see other women looking at him.

He wasn't hers and he never claimed to be. By his own admission the kiss had been "no big deal." Did yesterday change anything? If it did he didn't let on. Again, she reminded herself not to get emotionally attached. He was her employer. An amazing fuck. And now a good friend. Until she knew otherwise, she needed to keep those things in mind.

Taking the last bite of her dog, she tossed the stick and ketchup in the overflowing garbage can and they made their way hand in hand across the fairgrounds towards the wheel.

"So how did you learn how to cook?"

"Well, I've always loved cooking and had no interest in business, though my parents insisted I get involved with the running of the company at an early age. However, instead of going to one of the Ivy League schools and taking business like my parents - my father especially - wanted, I went to culinary school."

Well, that would explain his ease around the kitchen. "So why are you running a company instead of your own restaurant?"

They got in line for the Ferris wheel and patiently waited as people were slowly loaded into each car. When it came their turn Gabriel passed something other than tickets to the attendant, who pocketed it. He then leaned in to whisper something to the teenage ride operator.