His Unlikely Lover (Unwanted #3) by Natasha Anders Read Free Book Online Page A

pepper, tomato sauce, chutney, mayonnaise, and mustard—always neatly lined up from left to right like good little soldiers. It was something he always did and they were all used to it.
    “You want to come over tonight? For popcorn and movies?” he asked unexpectedly, moments after their food arrived. Bobbi, who had indeed discovered that she was ravenous, paused in the act of lifting her burger from its plate and watched as it messily dripped sauce and melted cheese over her hands. She put it back down without taking a bite and reached for a napkin to wipe the juice from her hands. Gabe had taken a huge bite out of his steak sandwich and was chewing slowly as he contemplated her from across the table.
    “I’m rather tired,” Bobbi said after a long pause. She picked up a knife and sliced her burger into four neat sections, which was more in keeping with the way Gabe ate and quite uncharacteristic for her. Bobbi never minded getting her hands dirty, be it with food, soil, or grease. But for some reason right at that moment, with him watching her—she felt self-conscious about getting bacon grease, sauce, and cheese all over her face and hands.
    “I didn’t mean as soon as we got home,” he clarified. “I thought you might want to get some sleep first, come around later.”
    “I don’t know if it’s a good idea,” she said, and he pinned her with an accusatory glare.
    “Why not?”
    “Gabe . . .”
    “Bobbi, either we’re okay after what happened last night, or we’re not. Which is it?”
    “Are we okay?” she asked in a small and uncertain voice, and he sighed softly, carefully putting his sandwich down.
    “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I want us to be. But . . .”
    “But?” she prompted, and he sighed again before gesturing toward her plate.
    “We’re going to talk about this at some point, Bobbi . . . but right now I need you to finish that burger. You have to eat something, and if we get into this now, we’ll talk and you won’t eat.” Frustrated, Bobbi glared down at the quartered burger on her plate and lifted one of the portions to take a nibble. He went back to his own sandwich and an awkward silence reigned between them until the last morsel had been consumed.
    He paid for their meal and escorted her back to the car, which still had its fair share of teen admirers taking showboating cell phone photos around it. The boys looked both disappointed and awed when Gabe and Bobbi climbed into the car. One of them asked how fast the car went, and Gabe wound down the window to answer him patiently. The questions came thick and fast after that, and after answering a couple more, Gabe excused himself and started up the car, gunning the engine impressively for his admiring audience before pulling away at a disappointingly respectable speed. Bobbi rolled her eyes when she noted a few crestfallen young faces in the rearview mirror and mustered up a bit of empathy for them despite her lack of energy.
    They were back on the road in seconds and there was more silence until Gabe switched the radio back on. They didn’t speak again until the car slid to a stop in front of her front door. He switched off the engine and turned in his seat to face her, one arm curled over the steering wheel and the other across the top of his seat.
    “So, sevenish?” he asked, and she played with the seat belt clasp, keeping her eyes down. “Bobbi? Don’t do this. Come on, look at me.” The plaintive note in his voice compelled her to obey and she reluctantly lifted her eyes to meet his. He smiled warmly at her when she looked at him.
    “Are you coming over?” he asked again and she nodded, feeling like an idiot for being unable to stick to her resolution to take a break but unable to deny him.
    “What movie?” she asked.
    “Let’s go for a classic, what about Aliens ?” he suggested, naming one of her favorites, and she sighed before nodding. “Great! I’ll see you then. You’re fixing the