Born in the Shadows (In the Shadows Series Book 1) (2 page)

              “Come on Cordelia, you gotta look up at me so I know that you’re okay.”

              She continued to stare down at the invoices on her desk, the numbers blurring into a swirling mass of black and white as more tears sprung up. It was bad enough that Sampson had humiliated her, she didn’t want to have Gabe watch her cry.

              She jumped when she felt his hand on her chin, tugging gently to force her to look up at him. He cursed when she finally met his eyes, reaching over her desk to grab a tissue from the box there. He handed it to her without a word and she dabbed at her eyes. No reason to pretend anymore, he had already seen how upset Sampson had made her.

              “I should have got him out of here the second he started in on you. I’m sorry.”

              She shook her head, sniffing her nose slightly. “You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. And I’m fine, really.”

              She smiled as best she could, hoping that he would take her at her word and leave her alone. His brow furrowed and she knew he wasn’t buying it for a second.

              “He’s an asshole. There is nothing wrong with the way you look.”

              She wanted to laugh but worried that the bubble of laughter would turn into another sob. Could this get any worse? He felt sorry for her and wanted to make her feel better but the best he could do was an insult wrapped in what appeared to be a compliment.

              There is nothing wrong with the way you look.

              Of course, no one is going to tell you that you are flat out ugly but damn, that was as close as you could get. She should have known better. Gabe was an honest guy so it made sense he wouldn’t tell her some blatant lie like
You’re beautiful
but he could have tossed her a sympathy bone. Not something that basically translated to
At least you aren’t horribly disfigured.

              There is nothing wrong with the way you look.

              She knew better than anyone else what she looked like; she had to see it every day in the mirror. Thick, ginger hair that was halfway between straight and curly yet too frizzy to be actually considered wavy. The only way she was able to manage it was to brush it back in a simple ponytail every morning and pray that the elastic kept the mass under control.

              Her eyes were an unremarkable blue that blended into her face. In fact, all her facial features seemed to blend together, none of them particularly outstanding, just plain average. Her skin was pale except for the freckles that peppered her cheeks and nose. You would think that they would give some character to her face but they seemed to all blend together into an unremarkable mass of color.

              She had topped out at five eleven but she did her best to hide her height by slumping her shoulders. Not only did that help her from standing out, it also provided some camouflage for the large breasts that she had never felt comfortable with and hid under her baggy hoodies. They went along with the extra weight she carried in her wide hips and thick thighs that Sampson had been kind enough to point out. She knew that she was plain and unremarkable; she never turned heads or drew gazes. She had worn invisibility like a comfortable shroud her entire life. 

              “Thanks Gabe. You better head back out. If you stay here too long, the guys will start slacking off.”

              He stood there for a moment staring down at her before speaking. “Yeah, better get to it. Look, if Sampson comes in here again I want you to call me on the two-way.”

              “Gabe, I don’t need you fighting my battles for me. I can handle myself.”

              “I know, I just want to have a front row seat for you giving him shit, that’s all,” he said with a grin. “So you gotta call me. Deal?”

              He held out his hand for her to shake and she stared at his long fingers and wide palm. She reached up and took it, his hand engulfing her smaller one. “Deal.”

              He shook her hand and she could feel the rough calluses on his palm caressing her own. A shot of heat flared through her body at the contact and she wondered what his rough palms would feel like on other parts of her body.

              She shook her head imperceptibly, trying to clear those thoughts from her mind. It was annoying that even while being mad at him for his non-compliment her body could still react to him. Stupid, rebellious libido.

              “Good. And I mean it, you call me right away.”

              With that, he left the trailer and she sighed with relief when the door clicked shut. Finally, she had her space back.

              Maybe now was the time to ask Mitch if he would consider letting her work from home. Despite Gabe’s warning to him, she suspected that Sampson wouldn’t leave her alone. He was a high school bully who hadn’t realized that high school had ended years ago.

              Why in the hell had she gotten into a field that was dominated by men with excess testosterone and a tendency towards sexism? Oh yeah, because this job paid twice as much as the job at the hospital, where she entered patient records into their database.

              And this job had put her on the path to daily interactions with the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. Talk about torture. Right there in front of her, yet still out of reach. She was so not his type; hell, she wasn’t anyone’s type. She was too boyish, too plain, too flabby, too awkward, too…
everything
.  

              There was no reason to dwell on her faults though. Thinking about them wasn’t going to change anything. It was better to focus on the things she could change. Like getting rid of the mess of papers on her desk.

***

              Gabe scanned the people on the job site when he returned and his eyes finally landed on the back of Sampson’s ugly-ass head. The guy was a fucking bastard and Gabe wanted to wring his fat neck. The things he said to Cordelia were beyond over the line, especially the slur about her sexuality. Nobody deserved that kind of shit thrown at them and Sampson was damned lucky that Cordelia hated stirring the pot and wouldn’t file a complaint against him with Mitch.

              He deserved it though for trying to hurt her. While she didn’t let anyone push her around, Cordelia was a sweet girl who was kind to a fault and completely genuine. It was one of the things that he had immediately liked about her when they had first met. Most of the other guys at the company felt the same. It probably also helped that, with her being a lesbian, she was saved from the guys trying to hit on her. 

              He knew it had saved her from him. His first week at the company when the crew had clocked out on Friday, a couple of the boys had invited him to join them for beers and he’d happily obliged. He’d been even happier to find out that Cordelia would be joining them. When he’d met her his first day, he had fallen for her eyes, the color reminding him of the sky on the first day of spring. Those big blues did something to him; when he locked eyes with her, he felt a tug in his gut, like a magnet trying to pull him to her. It also didn’t hurt that she had a nice curvy body hidden underneath the baggy clothes. He loved a woman with a little mystery.

              So he had done his best to find some one on one time with her at the bar. He’d turned on the charm but she had been oblivious to his flirting and when it had been her turn to order another pitcher from the bar, one of the foremen had taken pity on him.

              “Barking up the wrong tree there, Gabe. In case the clothes don’t give it away, she bats for the other team.”

              “She’s a lesbian? Seriously?”

              “Yep. Not too long after she started working here, she took time off to fly out to San Francisco. Said it was for her ex-girlfriend’s wedding.”

              It had been disappointing to find out the woman he was very much attracted to would never give him a chance. Still, he wasn’t going to blow her off now just because she was into girls. They could still be friends and Gabe had tried his best to be a good one to her since that night.

              And being a good friend meant he wanted to protect her, especially from fuckers like Sampson.

              “Sampson, let me talk to you for a second,” Gabe called out to the man.

              “Me first,” Sampson said and shoved a stubby finger in Gabe’s face. “You ever lay a fucking hand on me again and we’re gonna have a fucking problem.”

              Gabe took a step forward, not at all intimidated. “You ever so much as fucking look at Cordelia again and you fucking bet we’ve got a problem.”

              Sampson crossed his arms over his chest and bounced on the balls of feet, as a smirk spread over his ugly mug. “Why do you care about her? She’s a muff diver, she ain’t ever going to screw you.”

              Gabe clenched his fists tighter, his short nails digging into his palms. “Shut your fucking mouth.”

              “Shit dude, there are way better looking bitches out there you could stick it in,” Sampson said on a bark of laughter. “Or you just in it for the challenge of converting fat, ugly rug munchers?” 

              Gabe saw red and his right fist shot out, slamming into Sampson’s face. The man stumbled back, roaring a string of curses as he clapped his hands over his nose, blood dripping between his fingers.

              “Fucking asshole!” he said, before getting to his feet and wiping his nose on the back of his hand. He stared at the blood for a moment before dropping his hands and taking a run at Gabe. Sampson’s shoulder slammed into his gut and the two of them went down on the ground, Gabe groaning as the weight of the other man came crashing down on top of him.

              They grappled with each other, each trying to get leverage over the other but before they could get in more swings, the other crewmembers were hauling them apart. Gabe let them pull him away easily but Sampson fought their hold, his burning eyes still locked on Gabe.

              Bill, the head foreman, glared at both of them. “You guys want to throw down, that’s fine but you don’t do it while we’re on the clock and you sure as hell don’t do it on site. Take it to the parking lot after we’re done for the day.”

              Gabe could see Sampson’s nose swelling and he knew that by the end of the day he would be sporting matching shiners. Meanwhile, aside from some dirt on his clothes, he was unmarked. The winner in this one was clear.

              Bill looked around at everyone who had gathered to watch the fight. “Quit scratching your asses and get back to work!”

              The small crowd quickly dispersed and the sound of power tools began to fill the air again. Sampson was ushered away to be looked at by the site safety guy, while Bill approached Gabe and gave him a once over.

“You hurt yourself?” Gabe shook his head. “Good, you can get your ass back to work. You start shit like that again and you’re off my site. Permanently.”

              Gabe was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and just nod. He knew that trying to defend his actions would just get him in more shit with Bill. As far as Bill was concerned, when they clocked in, all they were allowed to do was work. Anything else could wait until after the whistle blew, punching some asshole in the nose included.

              Gabe quickly lost track of time as he joined his crew and got back to work. He was surprised when Mitch showed up to call it a day, the sun having tracked its way across the sky. Gabe kept glancing at the trailer as he cleaned up, keeping an eye out for Cordelia leaving. He wanted to make sure that she was okay and to see if maybe she would still be up for joining them at Corner Pockets.

              He cursed when he saw Mitch carting a shit load of papers from his truck to the trailer. That meant that Cordelia would be working late tonight. So much for asking her for drinks. Then again, it was a Friday so maybe she would let it wait until Monday. Maybe he should just go in there and find out. He could use the excuse that he wanted to walk her to the car to make sure that Sampson didn’t bother her.

              As if the universe was against him rationalizing his need to see her, Sampson and a few of the guys walked by him.

              “Gary, can you give me a lift to the bar? I’m going to leave my truck here and take a cab home. I want to get shit faced tonight.”

              Well, there went that excuse. The two of them going to the bar where Sampson was going to get drunk would just end in a shit show. He could suggest they go somewhere else, just the two of them. Problem with that was it got him thinking about what it would be like to be on a date with her and that was just barking up the wrong tree, not to mention pathetic.

              Instead, he gathered up his tools and headed to the parking lot, taking one last glance back at the trailer. Mitch came out empty handed and headed towards the parking lot and Gabe waited to see if Cordelia would follow but the door didn’t move and the lights stayed on.

              “Hey there Gabe, what are you waiting for?” Mitch said when he came abreast of him. “You need to get out of here. You’re young and it’s a Friday night, go get wild and have some fun.”

              “Yeah, you’re right.”