Alpha Billionaire Series
Billionaire and the Barista Chapter 11

GABRIELLA

nerves were that riotous.

I don't know how I was functioning. I continued to breathe, to smile, to make conversation. My mind was racing faster than the motorcycles I used to love to watch, to ride. My stomach twisted back and forth on itself, and yet, I didn't throw up, even though my Nathan was in Love Buns. Feet from me, smiling.

I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. I had cupcakes and coffee to move. I had hungry people needing a little boost to help them get through the rest of the week before they could enjoy their weekend. I could do this.

His voice was as rich and velvety as I remembered, and the way he said my name, goosebumps formed over my skin in a rolling shiver.

"So, you do remember me?" he chuckled.

How could I have forgotten about him? Did he really think I was so shallow as not to remember him?

"Yes, I remember you. Have you decided what you want?"

I tried to be as calm and professional as I could. At this point, Nathan was simply another customer. He was not so damned handsome that I couldn't focus. Close, so very close. His hair was a hint longer and unkempt, he hadn't slicked it back like he used to. Was he back for more than a vacation? He wore the same casual clothes he always had before. Casual but expensive. His jeans were designer, and the fading was intentional, not natural. His shirt had the look of some foreign sports team jersey. He was not a reason to go running scared and hiding in the back. Or to crawl over the counter and kiss him so hard he forgot who he was. Or was this the emotion that scared me the most, the anger I felt between my shoulder blades that wanted to reach out and slap him across that handsome smug face. How dare he leave me the way he did?

I could have stood there staring at him like a confused goldfish, but I had customers waiting. Customers who came back week after week. Customers that kept me in business.

When he took a seat to, I think, wait for me, I felt the pressure of his gaze. It didn't settle my nerves at all. It felt like scrutiny and judgment. Well, he could judge me all he wanted. I kept telling myself that I didn't care what he thought about me anymore.

In all this time I had not successfully managed to stop thinking about him, as much as I would have wanted to. It was near impossible, not with Robbie. Not with our son looking so much like him. More so than my memory had even remembered. Nathan's eager smile hurt my heart when I took a cupcake to him. He was going to end up waiting forever if he just sat there expecting me to be able to take a break with him.

I handed him the cupcake. So many words cut through my head. Go home, Nathan. Why haven't you walked through my door before now? Do you still want me? Why do you assume I still want you? You have a son. You left me, you bastard. Another surge of customers came through the door.

"Sorry, I have to get back to work."

I had always suspected that Nathan hadn't realized I owned the café. After all the last time I had seen him, I had only been twenty-one. Maybe he didn't know too many twenty-one-year-olds who owned and ran their own café. But it proved that he hadn't bothered to learn all about me.

I couldn't go to Europe with him, and he never even gave me a chance to explain, he hadn't asked.

I did my best to ignore him after that. I had too much going on in my life to want to let him come back in and confuse everything.

When he finally walked out of the front, I felt my bones melt. I sagged against the counter with a heavy sigh.

"You, okay?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, I'm good." I tore off my apron and pushed into the kitchen, leaving him to handle the rush on his own.

I wasn't good. I started gulping air like I couldn't breathe. I paced back and forth in front of the refrigerators. I was an adult, I could do this, I could handle Nathan being back in town. Why had I given him the phone number to the café? At least I hadn't given him my cell number.

A crash of dishes followed by a loud curse had me jumping out of my skin.

"What the hell? Who's that?" I said as I walked back to the sinks and dishwasher.

A skinny teen stood in front of the sinks. He had his arms in the hot water scrubbing. His skinny butt was dancing to whatever music was blasting through his earphones.

I learned next to the sink. Ricky looked over at me and pulled his headphones away from his ears.

"Hey, what's up?"

"When did you get here?" I asked. I hadn't noticed him showing up for his evening cleanup shift.

"It was a madhouse when I got in. I figured I had better just get to washing if it was that crazy out front," he said.

He was a smart kid. I liked that he jumped right in without having to be told.

I patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm headed out back for a break, I need some fresh air. Will you keep an ear out if Miguel needs anything?"

"Sure thing." Ricky left his headphones hanging around his neck, instead of over his ears blocking out all other sounds.

I pushed out the back door into the cooler evening air. I looked up and saw... "Oh shit."

I turned around and went right back inside. I closed the door most of the way but held it open enough that I could watch Nathan as he crossed the parking lot to the shops next door.

"What are you doing?" Ricky asked.

"Sh," I waved him off.

"Gabby, you're acting weird. What is it? Drug deal? Need me to call the cops?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing like that."

I leaned against the wall and tilted my head for Ricky to open the door.

"See that guy out there?" I asked.

He looked out the door but didn't say anything for a while.

"Okay, so he looks like he's looking at the building. Why?"

I couldn't tell the seventeen-year-old busboy and dishwasher that I was hiding from an old boyfriend who was supposed to be living in Europe. I sure as hell couldn't tell him I was spying on my baby daddy.

"I used to see that guy." Not a lie. "He kind of showed up today out of the blue. Like I haven't seen him or heard from him in years. And he wanted to catch up."

"That's totally suspicious, Gabby. Old friend wanting to catch up, yeah, I can see how you don't trust him," Ricky was entirely too sarcastic.

"Shut up and go wash dishes."

He left me to my spying with a laugh. I peeked out again. Ricky was right, it looked like Nathan was investigating the building and the parking lot. He wasn't looking at the businesses, a liquor store, a smoke shop, and an empty tax office that would be open again until tax season.

Maybe he was being nostalgic and simply looking around. Why did I have to think he was doing anything suspicious? Because I was full of conflicted emotions, and part of me wanted him to be guilty of having an ulterior motive.

Why the hell had he shown up after all this time? Maybe I should have taken a few minutes to chat. But with the customer rush, that wasn't going to happen. I grabbed a clean apron and headed back out to the front. "Feeling better?" Miguel asked.

"Yeah, sorry about that." I pulled a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator case and took a long drink after opening it. I fished two bucks out of the tip jar and rang the drink up in the register. I dropped the change back into the tip bucket. "Go take a break," I started. "No, change that. Take off. Go home early, you earned it after that rush."

He gave me that look he had when he didn't trust me.

"Write your normal hours in and go home. Consider it an extra hour of vacation. Ricky is in the back if I need anything," I waved Miguel away.

I busied myself clearing out the dishes in the front of the house and wiping down tables. I had nothing but time. Once that mid-week after-work rush was over, we would be lucky if anyone came in. Now would be a perfect time for Nathan to come back and talk to

me.

I started the shutdown process early. I mopped the front and made a little sign and taped it to one of the chairs stating the seating area was closed.

I hadn't needed to bother. The last two customers of the night were to-go orders. I was able to lock the doors exactly at seven.

"Are you done back here Ricky?" I asked as I headed back into the kitchen.

"Almost. I need to mop down the floor and then I'm good."

"I'm gonna head upstairs. Lock up behind you, I'll come down later and set the alarms."

"Sounds good. Night, Gabby."

I groaned as I pushed back into the front, and then went into the back and up the interior stairs to the apartments. When I stepped into the apartment, the smell of warm spicy food filled my senses.

I found Lacey and Robbie in the kitchen.

"That smells wonderful," I said.

"Thanks," Lacey said.

I picked Robbie up and sat back down with him in my lap. I needed to hold on to him for a minute. There was so much I wanted to say to him. But I couldn't. He didn't need to be confused with the complications of adult relationships. It wouldn't be fair for me to tell him his father was back, and that I was confused over my feelings about it.

Part of me was excited and nervous. I wanted Nathan back, I wanted the possibility of him being in our lives and telling him that he had a son. Part of me was so very angry. I wanted to hide Robbie away from Nathan, and never let him know that he had a son. Robbie didn't need me to dump any of that on him. Instead, I gave him extra hugs until he squirmed, and I left him alone to his coloring.