Modern Romance July 2026 Books #5-8

Chapter One

GAbrIEL STOOD FOR a few moments and stared with a jaundiced expression at the heaving restaurant, if it could be called a restaurant, in front of him.

The Chick’n’Rib Shack.

He figured shack was more on the money than restaurant.

An impressive row of motorbikes was parked directly in front. Various groups of bikers were smoking and drinking by some of the bikes. A couple of interesting ladies in skimpy leather gear were sitting on the pavement, clutching bottles of beer and chatting.

The doors to the restaurant were flung open, pouring light and rock music out into the summer evening.

The sun was shining and it was still hot, even though it was after eight in the evening.

The place sat squatly in the middle of a parade of shops, two of which were boarded up and the other three closed.

As venues went, it hardly screamed romance.

On the plus side, the atmosphere felt jolly enough. He didn’t expect any imminent fights.

On the minus side…what on earth was she doing here?

Gabriel pushed himself away from the black Range Rover against which he had been leaning and strolled at a leisurely pace towards the restaurant, picking up sidelong, interested glances on the way.

He stood out.

Wherever he went, Gabriel Garcia stood out, and it wasn’t simply because he was so strikingly good--looking.

Yes, he was tall, exotically bronzed and stupidly physically beautiful, but there was also an aura of power and cool, quiet strength about him that made you want to stare at him—and then stare just a little bit more.

He was seldom aware of other people looking at him. Or if he was, he ignored it. He personally was never curious enough about anyone to stare at them.

Except now, he thought wryly, as he stood in the doorway of the restaurant, letting his gaze wander slowly through the crowd in search of her.

It seemed like a million people were crammed into the small space.

Wooden tables were scattered in a random fashion in front of a stage where a DJ had set up camp and was throwing himself with gusto into his selection of rock classics.

The naked brick walls were cluttered with posters of rock legends playing guitars or sitting with moody expressions on giant motorbikes.

A few tipsy women were dancing, and food was being ferried to tables where people were eating and trying hard to talk over the music and the laughter and the babble of raised voices.

He spotted her.

There she was, sitting with her back to him, her long, dark, curly hair tumbling halfway down her back, earnestly talking to the biker sitting opposite her.

Even with her back to him, he would have recognised her from a mile away.

Something about the straightness of her posture, the way she held her shoulders and crossed her ankles, tapping with her foot as if impatient for something to happen.

Gabriel didn’t hesitate. He walked briskly towards the table, weaving his way through the crowd, and tapped on her shoulder without a second’s thought as to whether she might be overjoyed to see him or not.

Of course she would be.

They were friends.

Some might say that she was his closest friend and he hers. In a world full of people impressed by his vast wealth and eager to do whatever he asked, she was a constant. She was the woman who had never been impressed by his money or status or…pretty much anything, for that matter.

They went back a long, long way. If, when the starting gun was fired, they were two people who came from two different worlds, then somehow that had never stood in the way of their friendship.

He straightened and waited for her to turn around.

Hell, who was she with?

Bulky guy…thick beard…several chunky chains…fascinating collection of tattoos on both arms…black vest…

Jennifer felt the tap on her shoulder and wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed that someone was interrupting her date night or relieved because she didn’t, actually, want to be on this particular date night and couldn’t understand what had possessed her to swipe right when his photo had popped up.

Maybe she’d been feeling particularly adventurous at the time.

Maybe she’d secretly been longing for a change from the sort of guys she was accustomed to dating, unadventurous teacher and accountant types who always seemed to be busy saving to buy a house while life and all its exciting possibilities rushed past them in a blur.

She was by no means a serial dater, but maybe she’d just opted for Hal the biker out of sheer frustration with her love life.

How hard was it to find a soul mate? It wasn’t as though she was one of those women in search of Mr Perfect, without whom life wouldn’t be complete!

She didn’t have checklists. She didn’t tick off good qualities, weigh them up against bad qualities and then come to an informed decision!

She was happy to go with the flow and see where things led. She was realistic! She knew that she wasn’t perfect and neither were they, but love was about rising above imperfections and finding peace and harmony and fun and acceptance within an imperfect framework.

So where were all these perfectly imperfect guys? It felt like the ones she met only ever managed to make her yawn.

Including this one, despite appearances.

She turned round, and her eyes widened at the sight of Gabriel towering behind her.

Black polo shirt, black jeans…although his uniform of black looked nothing like the black ensemble her date, Hal, was wearing. As always, Gabriel looked effortlessly elegant and sinfully good-looking.

For a fleeting second, the punch of his raw sex appeal hit her for six before common sense quickly intervened, as it always did.

This was Gabriel. Gabriel, who was so tightly woven into the tapestry of her life.

Yes, he was sexy, but he was also forbidden fruit.

It didn’t mean that her heart didn’t sometimes pick up pace when she saw him or heard his voice. She wasn’t a statue, after all!

‘Gabriel!’ she shouted over the noise.

‘Sorry to interrupt your hot date, Jen, but I have to talk to you.’

‘What, this very moment?’ The last person she’d expected to see when she’d turned round had been Gabriel.

She kept in touch with him all the time, but he’d only been to Sussex for a couple of flying visits over the past few weeks, and she hadn’t been around for their usual meet-up.

‘No time to hang around,’ he had told her several times when they’d spoken on the phone.

‘Business,’ he had groaned only a few days before when he had called to catch up. ‘I’ve spent more time out of the damn country than in it.’

‘I guess you could join us!’ she bellowed now, half standing. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that her date was none too happy with the interruption while she, on the other hand, could not have been more relieved. Even though…

What on earth was Gabriel doing here?

She felt a sudden ball of dread in the pit of her stomach and stood up fully, frowning and looking at him with consternation.

He was six-foot-three, and she was almost as tall at five-foot-eleven.

Tall and busty with rebellious long dark hair in need of a trim and bright blue eyes that came straight from her Irish mother.

Blue eyes, dark hair, pale skin and freckles.

Her height, on the other hand, was a direct gift from her father, who had been six-foot-four.

‘Is it your mum?’ she asked, pulling him towards her so that she didn’t have to yell to be heard.

‘You could say so.’

‘What’s happened? God, Gabriel, hang on. Let me get my bag.’

‘Probably for the best. Impossible to have a proper conversation in this place.’

She turned to her date, who had also risen to his feet, and flashed him an apologetic smile.

‘Sorry, Hal. Emergency.’

Hal was sulking. She could see it in his eyes.

Despite appearances, he really was rather sweet.

When he asked her whether he could get in touch, she was loath to be unkindly blunt, so she vaguely muttered something and nothing about getting in touch…

who knew what the future held…you’re really nice…

maybe I’m not in the right place for a relationship at the moment… but you’re such a great guy…

It was awkward having to half yell her feeble excuses, and she was acutely aware of Gabriel watching keenly from the sidelines.

Flustered, anxious and desperate to hear what Gabriel had to say, she couldn’t wait to leave the too hot and too noisy bar. It was a blessed relief when they were out in the open.

‘Okay, what are you doing here? How did you find me, anyway? Is everything okay with your mum? I’ve had my phone ringer on loud in case she needed to get in touch with me, not that I would have heard it, anyway.’

‘I never pegged you for a rock chick, Jen. My car’s over there. We can go have a chat somewhere a little less hectic.’

‘Just tell me what’s going on. I can’t stand the suspense.’

‘How long have you been seeing the caveman?’

‘That’s a very unkind thing to say about Hal, Gabriel!’

‘That depends entirely on whether you’re interested in meeting someone who hunts for their food. Cavemen have their uses.’

She glanced at him, torn between telling him to mind his own business and knowing that saying that would be pointless because he would just say exactly what he wanted to say. It was the sort of relationship they’d had from the very first time she’d met him when she’d been nine and he’d been twelve.

She’d had to go with her mother during the long summer holidays to his house because the babysitter her mum used had decided to go to Europe for the holidays with her boyfriend, and she was too young to be left alone.

Lizzy Carlton cleaned once a week for Gabriel’s mother, who lived in an ancestral mansion on the outskirts of Arundel.

The pay was great. She loved the house, loved his mother and would have chopped off her own arm before letting Francesca Garcia down.