Be Mine: Valentine Novellas to Warm The Heart

by Nicole Flockton

  A girl could completely lose herself in his kisses. Five years ago, she’d had a taste of him and very nearly lost her head. Now she knew exactly what she’d been missing. Despite her curiosity all those years ago, he’d been married, so it was out of the question. But now, well, they were both adults, both unattached.

  Yes thanks, more please.

  With what sounded like a groan of reluctance he pulled away, “About that ride home?”

  Dilated eyes stared into hers, filled with the promise of plenty more of that ‘more please’ if she just said the word.

  ‘You’re an excellent kisser,’ Cassidy said, more as verbal filler until she could get her brain working properly. Euphoria swept common sense aside. Legs that normally held her rigid slipped on a cobblestone, and she fell into Anton’s embrace.

  Had someone slipped a Mickey in her drink?

  Had Anton drugged her?

  “Woah,” Anton said. “I’ve never made anyone swoon like that before.”

  “I do not swoon,” she said, regaining her posture if not her composure, “I slipped.”

  It had been a warm summer’s evening, but in classic Melbourne style, the wind suddenly changed direction and dropped ten degrees, sobering her up. Nope, she wasn’t drugged, the effect was all Anton. If anything, kissing him, being in his arms, felt better than any drug might. It could prove just as addictive too, because already she wanted more of that good stuff. Her fingers itched to touch his skin, his neck, his cheek, to loosen that tie and …

  Snap out of it!

  “I appreciate your driver taking me home. I have an early start tomorrow.”

  “Just like that, huh?”

  It would be so easy to change her mind, but she mustn’t. Anton was the new half owner of Bistro Vita, which meant she’d have to get it back from him. A fleeting thought of bedding it out of him made her inwardly cringe. Not the smart way to do things. Not even the smart way to think things.

  “You’re something else, you know that?” Anton said, then added a wolfish grin. “I’ve just had the best kiss in my life, and it won’t even lead to breakfast.”

  Cassidy looked to the ground to hide the broad smile growing on her face as tendrils of lust spread through her body. The best kiss of his life? She wanted to say ‘me too’, but couldn’t, because she didn’t trust herself to blurt out something far more incriminating. It took all her concentration to put one foot in front of the other, until they reached his car.

  Proving his good manners, Anton opened the rear passenger door for her. Shiny leather seats made it easy for her to slide across to the other side and allow Anton to step in after her. The thought of the two of them parked somewhere quiet, slip-sliding around in the back seat together quickly followed. Jolts of need shot into her abdomen and her muscles cramped intimately. When she looked over to the door, Anton remained standing at the kerb.

  “You’re not coming?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve just taken on this run-down pub and the paperwork’s a mess. Have a lovely night, and I’ll see you at the next meeting,” he said, before closing the door.

  A run down pub, what cheek!

  Another thought followed swiftly from that. As sure as night follows day, Cassidy was sure she’d pushed his buttons. Could it be that Anton didn’t trust himself to behave properly around her? A buzz of excitement darted deep inside her at the thought of the two of them losing control and …

  Stop it, stop it now or you’ll forget your own mind!

  The driver, a man with short black hair and an unreadable expression in the rear-view mirror, sat patiently behind the wheel. Cassidy gave him her address and put on her seatbelt.

  True to her word, Cassidy did have an early start the next morning. Yoga in the hotel gym at six, then a quick shower before she changed for the breakfast meeting in the Cloud Eleven boardroom at seven thirty with her father, Craig; elder brother Carl, five co-directors and various assistants, all male.

  Whenever she entered the meetings, she felt like she had to leave her true self and her emotions behind and paste on a persona. Showing emotion was a weakness, especially in business. Never let anyone see you upset.

  Everyone stood throughout the meeting. Making people stand resulted in meetings being over much faster. After a short while, the strong aroma of freshly brewed coffee invaded the room. Just another of Daddy’s tricks to get meetings over with quickly so people could grab a cup.

  During the meeting, Carl drew their attention to the finance section of the morning’s paper – where a holding company called Longreach offered five percent above sale price for Cloud Eleven stocks.

  “We need to make a counter-offer.” Carl suggested, “Price this mob, whoever they are, out of the market.”

  Intrigued, Cassidy read the advert, noting Longreach’s details. She flipped open her phone and started searching the internet while the meeting continued around her. After a moment she came up with the name of its sole director. Anton Josef Catani.

  Ice filled her veins and her mouth dropped open for a moment before she shut it with a quick snap. As of yesterday, Anton had half her bistro and he’d refused to sell it back to her. Today he wanted her parents’ company.

  No way in hell could this be coincidence.

  When I see you next, Catani, you’re toast!

  “You can’t go in there, Sir, they’re in the middle of a meeting,” the secretary said as she scooted out from behind her desk to block Anton’s way.

  “They’ll see me,” he strolled right past her, his adrenalin kicking up a notch, “I’ll be their boss soon enough.”

  The double doors to the boardroom gave way to Anton’s push. The secretary drew up sharply beside him, “I’m so sorry, Mr Young. He marched straight past me and wouldn’t stop.”

  Anton scanned the room. Craig Young was a crafty old fox, but Anton had his number. The old man turned around in response to the interruption. A thrill of anticipation kicked in Anton’s veins. He loved the way he could command attention. Especially Craig Young, whose eyes narrowed for the merest fraction, trying to place him from somewhere.

  Most likely the Top 50 List, Anton thought, as he nodded to the pack leader. There could be no way Craig would remember him from their previous run-in. Men like that didn’t bother to notice the ‘little people’. Or the swathe of destruction left behind in their ever-hungry appetite for money.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Craig pulled himself up to full height. Cassidy had tried that ‘make myself tall’ move last night. It hadn’t done her any good either.

  “As a major shareholder, I have a right to be here.” Anton relished the adrenaline coursing through his veins, giving him the surge of power he needed for this new challenge. Then he spotted Cassidy and felt a fresh spark at the memories of last night. “Good morning, Cassie.”

  For a second nobody said anything while they all turned to Cassidy, expecting an explanation.

  “Ant,” she shot back at him.

  Touché.

  3

  Anton stepped out of the car and waved his driver, Mark, away. He headed inside Bistro Vita and greeted all the staff by name. An old trick – learn everyone’s names and you have their respect from the start. The bistro had a great vibe to it. At this time of day, they had tables set over the dance floor and over half of them were filled. The bistro felt comfortable and modern, a place where business people could talk in private, and where office workers could wind down after a tough day. The Valentine decorations were a nice touch, if a little on the kitch side, but they could take them all down on the fifteenth.

  The thought of working here, with Cassidy, sent another flash of light through his system. It felt like happiness, a complete contrast to the initial reasons for his arrival.

  Perhaps this unfamiliar good feeling was an indication that he was doing the right thing?

  The moment he settled into Cassidy’s office, his magic mood evaporated. He’d expected the paperwork to be a mess, but this was so
mething else. Nothing was filed where it should be, so he barely knew where to start. His ‘few hours’ would end up being an ‘all-nighter’. Probably an ‘all-tomorrower’ as well. There weren’t even any files to show the last lot of tax returns, or the basic company constitution.

  Two hours and four coffees later, and he entertained thoughts of setting fire to the place.

  There had to be more files. If they hadn’t done their tax returns the securities commission would have shut them down long before now, so they had to be somewhere. He rubbed his head, picked up the empty coffee mug and thought about adding a double shot of whisky to the next one as he headed towards the kitchen.

  After the stunt Anton had pulled this morning, the last thing Cassidy wanted to do was head back to the lion’s den that afternoon. But dammit, this was her bistro, and if her father wanted to talk with her here, then so be it. If Anton happened to be in the building somewhere, she’d just have to put up with him. They were partners now, he’d have to deal with it.

  And so would she.

  Yesterday she’d come so close to telling him why she’d answered that personal ad five years ago. It made her shudder to think she’d nearly betrayed her family just because she’d wanted to come clean. Ease her conscience. Because somewhere in the back of her mind, she wanted Anton to forgive her. As much as her family frustrated her and frankly annoyed the hell out of her at times, they were her family.

  Dysfunctional? Of course. But that’s family.

  A heavy sense of dread filled Cassidy as they crossed the threshold. She steered her father towards her office, darting a glance towards the bar.

  Thank goodness Anton was making cocktails. Had his back to her. He wouldn’t see them come in, wouldn’t be tempted to play power games with her father.

  At least she hoped so.

  “Show me the paperwork,” Craig said as soon as he entered her office. “I’ll tell you where you’ve gone wrong.”

  Just another putdown from her father. She should be used to them by now. Especially in the business arena. And that’s why they were here, on business. She had to put aside her feelings for the bistro. Her baby. She’d worked hard for this, but now the enterprise she’d established with Toby had allowed Anton to gain a foothold in her life, and her family’s company, and that sent warning sirens off in her head.

  To her surprise, the office looked neat and organised. Things were stacked in tidy piles and the out tray – for the first time she could remember – lay empty. Anton must have been in here. In her office. Going through her things.

  “Right, let’s get to it,” Craig said, taking the seat behind the desk.

  Cassidy watched her father’s face close over in concentration. Like a mask. She’d seen that look, it was the one he put in place to shield himself from bad news. Because, of course, he’d come here expecting bad news. When his expression fell, it had to be seriously bad news.

  “When was this taken?”

  Not knowing what he was asking about, Cassidy came around to his side of the desk and looked at the computer screen. It was open on a tabloid magazine’s entertainment page, with a series of photographs of a man and woman kissing. Cassidy and Anton. Her abdomen cramped at the memory and her lips tingled. The fact that he’d come so close to kissing her in the lift this morning only heightened her senses to the possibility of future kisses.

  Except she shouldn’t even be thinking like that. Last night’s kiss had been a stupid dare. Another mistake. One she had no intention of repeating; otherwise she’d have to call it another Big Mistake, capital letters and everything.

  “Who’s the bloke?” Craig demanded.

  “Uh, well, that’s such an old photo, I don’t remember,” Cassidy bluffed.

  If she wasn’t careful, her father could become fixated on this and not get around to real business work. She should have used his technique of standing for the meeting, but instead he’d taken the seat behind the desk and sat down.

  Taken control.

  The colour on his face took a turn for the worse. “You want to be taken seriously in the business world? Nobody’s going to respect you if you keep turning up on the gossip pages.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement. Let’s open the finance files, shall we?” The sooner she got him on to her agenda, the sooner they could get this over with.

  “And you don’t even remember who it was? For God’s sake Cass, take a reality check. This has to stop, and it’s going to stop now.”

  Icy fear spread through her body. When Daddy got into moods like this, there was no way around them. Times like these, the age gap between them stretched into a gulf. If she protested, she’d sound like a petulant teenager, which would be exactly what her father thought of her. Forty years her senior, she’d always be his ‘little girl’. If ever she needed to grow up in his eyes, now was the time. Taking a seat on the other side of the room, she took several deep breaths and kept her voice as steady as she could manage.

  “Thank you. Now, if you’ll have a look at the last year’s profit and loss statement that Toby prepared, you can see how well the bistro is doing.” At the utterance of Toby’s name, she swallowed. He’d prepared the statements, yet he’d also ditched the business, siphoned the money and fled the country. Most likely the numbers on the page would be completely bogus. But if she told her father that, he’d start tearing the place to shreds. Craig Young didn’t need to know about Toby’s mendacity.

  “My techniques don’t work back on me,” Craig said, a vein at his temple ticking under the skin. “I’ve told you to do something. I expect you to do it. Young Hotels is a family company. Our good name is our business. You’re putting all of that goodwill at risk because of your shameless behaviour.”

  Fire bubbled in her soul. Hello, hypocrisy! If word got out about his affairs, his ‘family reputation’ would be down the drain. Yet he dared have the audacity to lecture her about morals!

  “It won’t happen again.” There, she’d capitulated. And it had sorely cost her to give in to him like this. On her territory. How dare he tell her how to live her life! If he knew that she knew all about his activities, he’d keep his outdated, misogynistic opinions to himself.

  “Damn right it won’t happen again, because you’re getting married.”

  A bolt of lightning couldn’t have shocked her more.

  “You heard me. Do you know how hard it is to be taken seriously in this town when your daughter’s cavorting around with her knickers around her ears?”

  “Oh come on!”

  “Cassidy, you’re 27, it’s time you grew up. You’re getting married and that’s that.”

  Cassidy snorted her contempt. “I suppose you’ve got my spouse picked out for me already?”

  “As a matter of fact, I have. Wesley.”

  Shock turned her mute. The next second she blurted out laughing, “You’re winding me up. Well done, good joke. Now, let’s get on with the finances please before this place gets crowded and I’m needed behind the bar.”

  “Wesley is exactly what you need.” Nothing on his face, no smirk, no wrinkling around the eyes, gave any meaning other than complete earnestness.

  Something cold sank into her stomach. “You’re serious. You really believe I should marry Wesley? My cousin, Wesley?”

  “Yes. And don’t look at me like that. You’re only second cousins so there’s nothing wrong with it. And it’s not like I’m pairing you off with a complete stranger. The two of you have practically grown up together.”

  Nasty, spiky sickness gripped her belly, “We’re cousins. Cousins for God’s sake!”

  “Second cousins, and even if he was your first cousin, it’s perfectly legal. Plus it will keep the family business in the family.”

  It was enough to make her feel like refunding lunch. An arranged marriage, with a relative? She knew her father was old fashioned, but this was insane!

  She had to rescue the situation, fast. “We both know Wesley’s a lovely bloke, but I’m no
t marrying my cousin. I accept that getting photographed in the gossip pages isn’t great for business, so it won’t happen again, but there’s no need for you to insist I get married. Now, let’s get on to the bistro’s financial reports and you’ll see that –”

  “– She’s marrying me.” A voice said from the doorway. “Aren’t you, Cassie.”

  Surprise didn’t come close. When she clamped her mouth shut, her teeth clicked. How long had Anton been standing there? For a while her brain didn’t work and her tongue turned to sandpaper.

  Oh, God, he looked gorgeous, leaning against the doorframe, laptop tucked under one arm. He must have overheard a fair amount, judging by the wicked smile lingering on his face. And now he’d offered to marry her? Offer wasn’t the right description. He’d stated it. Like it was already happening. A foregone conclusion.

  Married to Anton? The thought of it shot darts of need through her body and made her lower muscles contract. An imaginary scene of the two of them, naked and entwined in crisp, white sheets sent another delicious ripple low into her abdomen. Heat spread to her thighs. By some miracle, she squashed any further thoughts and pulled her mind towards more prosaic matters. Like how dare he make such grand assumptions without consulting her first? How dare they talk about her as if she wasn’t even in the room?

  “Is this true?” Her father Craig rose from behind the desk, his face turning into a thundercloud. He wasn’t looking at Anton; his glare fell directly on his daughter, with all the intensity of a laser guided missile. For a second, but only a second, she thought about denying it. Her first proposal. Delivered with all the romance and subtlety of a brick falling on her head.

  A naughty thought bubbled as she wondered where this scenario would take her if she played along. Call it morbid curiosity. Or temporary insanity. Married to Anton Catani? It might be worth it just to see her father explode in a fit of pique.