The CEO and the Girl From the Coffee Shop

The CEO
And The Girl From The Coffee Shop

Copyright 2012
by Terry Towers

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Cover by: Terry
Towers

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"Damn, damn,
damn," Beth muttered, leaning over the coffee shop front counter,
pen in hand, attempting to find a way to make college possible.
Sadly, the numbers didn't seem to want to co-operate. As it
appeared, financially college just wasn't going to be happening for
her this coming fall semester. There was no way around it; she was
barely making enough to survive as it was. She was making so many
sacrifices,
too
many as a matter of fact. Having to cut back
on the hours she worked at the coffee shop in order to attend
school, while paying the massive tuition wouldn't work. As it was
the cost of living was a financial burden that was more than she
could handle at the present time.

"Damn," she
cursed again a little more loudly than she intended, as she rolled
the offending list of expenses up in her fist, turned, and tossed
the paper ball into the nearby garbage can. The paper ball hit the
back of the can and fell in soundlessly.

"Impressive
shot."

Beth sighed as
she turned back towards the counter and gave Gabriel a faint smile.
Any other day she would have loved seeing Gabriel - his visits were
normally the highlight of her afternoon. However, today was
different, not even the sight of her secret crush could brighten
her day. Nope, not even the tall, lean, dark-haired hunk in the
finely tailored suit with the piercing dark eyes, could take her
mind off of her troubles.

"Afternoon
Gabriel,” she said solemnly.

Leaning an
elbow on the beige marble counter separating them he smiled at her.
His sweet, seductive smile helped melt the icy mood she'd been in,
up until that point - slightly. "So, come on, tell me what's
bothering you? Where’s that beautiful smile you usually present me
with?” He had a warm yet concerned look on his face.

“Oh I got it!
Your boss is being a jerk?" he teased lightly.

A smile began
to lift the corners of Beth's lips for the first time that day as
she shook her head. "No."

He raised an
inquisitive brow at her. "Oh I definitely got it now. Boyfriend
troubles, right?"

Her smile
widened. "Hardly." Grabbing a large paper cup from the dispenser
she began to pour his coffee.

"The usual?"
she asked, ignoring his question. She didn't want to be spilling
her financial woes to customers - not even Gabriel. And as for her
non-existent love life - she
really
didn't want to be
spilling
that
to him.

Gabriel
nodded. “Okay I’m done guessing,” he gave a little chuckle. “Then
tell me? What's wrong?"

Beth secured
the plastic lid onto the cup and sighed, sliding the cup across the
counter to him. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned her
hip against the counter and caught his gaze. "Do you really want to
know or are you just being polite?"

Damn, he
looks good today
. The top button of his off-white shirt was
undone. His black satin tie hung loosely around his neck. He looked
as though he could have just walked off the pages of 'GQ magazine.'
He was, without a doubt, one of the hottest men she'd ever met. His
easygoing demeanour and sinfully sexy smile complimented his good
looks perfectly.
Does he even know how hot he is?
She found
herself wondering
, Of course he does... How could he
not?

Gabriel
chuckled. "I
really
want to know. Wouldn't have asked if I
didn't."

Beth huffed.
"Well, the problem is that I just
can't
catch a break."

"Can't catch a
break?" Grabbing a bill from his trousers pocket he passed it to
her as he accepted the coffee. "Why do you say that?"

Accepting the
payment she rang in his total and proceeded to give him his change.
When she offered it to him, as usual, he waved it off so she
dropped it into her tip jar. The tip equalled roughly three times
the cost of the coffee; he was easily the best tipper to walk
through the doors of the coffee shop.

"Well, I'm
halfway through college and there is no way I'm going to afford to
be able to go back next year. I can barely pay my bills even with
all the overtime I put in this place. Like, take this week for
instance. I have a choice... do I pay my electricity or my
telephone bill?"

Gabriel nodded
appearing grim, but amusement gleamed in his eyes as she continued
on. All of a sudden the dam broke and the need to purge her
grievances was too overwhelming so she continued her rant, the
words falling from her lips like verbal diarrhoea that she was
helpless to stop. "So that means I'm stuck here. At the shitty dead
end job for another year. Hell, maybe even the rest of my life! I'm
twenty-three years old and facing a lifetime of being the donut
girl. It wouldn't even be so bad if I had a
boyfriend
, or
hell, got laid once in a while. But no. None of that either. The
only men I seem to attract are criminals, married men or unemployed
losers." Beth huffed and shook her head in defeat. "Just can't
catch a break..."

Nodding, a
smile spread across Gabriel's lips as he raised a brow at her.
"Well as far as the telephone and electricity issues go I might be
able to help you there."

Frowning, Beth
caught his eyes. Her heart stopping for a moment and her face
flushed.
Oh-my-God.
She groaned inwardly.
Now he thinks
I'm some sex starved charity case
. She prayed for death at that
moment. Though looking at him, his dark eyes burrowing into hers,
she knew she'd have told him anything he wanted to know. Somehow
she doubted many women could resist answering any questions or
fulfilling any request he may send their way.

Feeling the
heat rush up to her cheeks, Beth shook her head. "No. No, I wasn't
implying or hinting. I-"

Gabriel's grin
widened. "So you don't want a better job?'' He shrugged, "Or at
least a better paying job. Not sure if I would say better."

"W-well. No, I
do. I mean, I didn't mean to be looking for handouts. I just-"

"Can you
cook?" Gabriel asked laughing outright as he reached into the inner
pocket of his suit jacket and producing a business card which he
passed to her.

The heat in
her cheeks intensified and she nibbled lightly on her lower lip.
"Macaroni and cheese." she joked. Could she cook? He had to be
joking. She had to be the worst cook she knew. Nothing ever seemed
to turn out right, no matter how much time or effort she took to
prepare a meal. She overcooked
everything
. Some people were
meant to be domestic; she wasn't one of those people.

Taking the
card from him, she glanced down at it. "Gabriel Reynolds
Enterprises."

"Yeah, that's
me," he confirmed, with a disinterested shrug.

She looked up
from the card to meet his eyes. She had no idea what Gabriel
Reynolds Enterprises was, but he seemed to be awfully young to be
running anything. He couldn't have been a day over thirty.

"You know
what," reaching back into his inner pocket, he produced a silver
pen, retrieved the card from her fingertips and quickly jotted down
a phone number and address. "I have to go. I have a meeting in ten
minutes, but give me a call tonight, we'll arrange a meeting and
see what we can figure out for you."

Beth accepted
the extended card once again, and decided to ask the question that
was at the forefront of her mind. "Why would you do this for
me?"

Snatching his
coffee from the counter he grinned at her, and gave her a wink,
sending her pulse racing. "Maybe I like the way you make my
coffee."

Rolling her
eyes at him, she couldn't help but grin; his smile was infectious.
"I press a button on a machine and it pours it into a cup..."

"Call me
tonight," he called over his shoulder ignoring her comment, as he
rushed across the dining room and out the front door.

Beth watched
as he strode across the parking lot, taking long, graceful strides.
Working for Gabriel... Cooking? She tapped her lower lip with the
edge of the business card as she watch him slide into his black
Lamborghini, pull out of the parking slot and speed away. She made
a mental note to do an online search for Gabriel Reynolds
Enterprises when she arrived home. Maybe he owned a chain of
restaurants? She had always assumed he was some sort of hotshot
lawyer, or something of the sort. Whatever it was that he did for a
living, considering the expensive car, finely tailored suit and
large tips he always gave her for a single cup of coffee, Beth
guessed that business was very good for Mr Reynolds.

****

"4591 Spruce
Meadow Lane," Beth muttered, her blue eyes widening as she pulled
her ancient Sunfire up to the tall - at least eight feet in height
- wrought iron security fence and lowered her window to press the
buzzer for admittance. It was easily one of the most magnificent
homes she'd ever seen. It was a three story Victorian styled house
that looked more like a hotel than someone's private home. It was
something she'd expect to see on 'The Lifestyles of the Rich and
Famous.'

Once she got
over her awe of the house, she pressed the buzzer and waited for a
response.

"Please state
your name and business," an abrupt male voice called over the
speaker.

"I um... I'm
Beth. I'm here to see... Ummmm, Gabe... I mean... Mr Reynolds."

There was
silence from the mysterious voice on the other end.

"About a job,"
she added groaning inwardly at herself. Why was she so nervous? He
was just another customer. One she enjoyed flirting with on a daily
basis, just like all the other good looking men who came into the
coffee shop. Just because he owned a profitable Mergers and
Acquisitions company - at least that's what she gathered from the
online research - didn't change a thing. He was still the same
Gabriel she'd been flirting with for months now. And if she hadn't
read the signals wrong, he was more than happy to flirt back.

"Come on
through," the voice through the metal box answered as a creaking
noise sounded, and the gates began to slowly part.

Shifting the
car into drive, Beth slowly made her way to the front of the house
and parked behind Gabriel's Lamborghini. Taking a deep breath in,
she attempted to calm her increasingly rattled nerves. There was
rich and then there was
this
! She shut off the car while
still eyeing the beautiful home. Looking down at her black knee
length skirt and purple short sleeved blouse she immediately began
feeling underdressed. Bending down she peered at herself in the
driver's side mirror, flattening her shoulder length blonde hair
and ensuring her make-up hadn't smudged. To her relief it
hadn't.