Call Her Mine

by Melissa Foster

  “Hi, Aiden,” he said distractedly.

  “How’s it going?”

  Ben eyed the baby. “A bit crazy, but we’re—I’m—good.”

  “What’s going on, man? You sure you’re okay?”

  He sat back, gazing out the window and wrestling with lying to his business partner. What am I thinking? Like all the relationships that meant something to Ben, his relationship with Aiden was built on trust, and he wasn’t about to mess that up.

  “I have a situation I’m dealing with right now, but it’s fine.”

  “Situation? Ben, we’re on the verge of the biggest takeover of our lives. Talk to me. We can’t afford for something to go awry.”

  Ben stood and paced, picturing his partner’s serious eyes. Aiden had a few years on Ben and a lifetime of experience raising his much younger sister, Remi. If Ben could confide in anyone, it was Aiden.

  “It’s complicated, but I might have a kid. An infant. A daughter.” Ben glanced at B and felt himself smiling again.

  “A baby? What do you mean might? Is there some question? Should you call your attorney?”

  “Already did. First thing.”

  “Christ, Ben. A baby? You couldn’t have told me this a few months ago, before we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing for this takeover?”

  “I had no idea then.” Ben explained what had happened, and then he said, “I should have the results of the paternity test soon, but don’t worry. It’s not going to have an impact on business either way.”

  Aiden scoffed, and then what sounded like an incredulous laugh came through the phone. “Dude, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Remi was twelve when our parents died. Twelve. She could feed and bathe herself, put herself to bed, and she sure as hell didn’t need diapers. I had to table everything in my life except the bare essentials needed to run my business. How are you going to travel with a baby? Maybe we should think about letting Garth take over for a while.”

  Garth Anziano was one of their directors. He managed several of their investments and had always done a top-notch job. He had a stellar reputation and was trustworthy and loyal. But this deal was happening because Ben had brought it to the table. He’d spent the last eighteen months working every angle to make it come to fruition, and there was no way he was going to hand it over to anyone.

  “I’ve got this, Aiden, and I’m not going to let anything stand in my way.” Not even the adorable little peanut in the basket.

  “If this kid is yours, you’re going to have a hell of a lot more to think about than this deal, and, Ben, that’s okay. Look, you’ve spent years making things happen. You’ve got more money than you could spend in several lifetimes. You don’t need this particular deal or the international travel required to make it a success added to your portfolio.”

  Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep from losing his cool as he said in a tone that left no room for negotiation, “I am not going to hand this off to anyone.”

  “Okay,” Aiden relented. “Then let’s get down to business.”

  Two hours, one bottle, and one diaper change later—thank God for speakerphone—Ben ended the call with Aiden and read the text that had finally rolled in from Aurelia. Sorry to bail. I had to meet Piper at the bookstore.

  “That was an awfully fast escape for just meeting my sister,” Ben said to B, who was looking at him like she knew who he was, which he was pretty sure was impossible. “I think it’s time we paid our friend Relsy a visit.”

  After showing up at Vic’s without proper baby supplies, Ben wasn’t taking any chances. He packed everything he’d bought for the baby—and the bags of peanut M&M’s, because chocolate went a long way with his tormented girl—into his Land Rover and drove to Harmony Pointe.

  It was official. There was no place on earth Aurelia felt more at home than in a bookstore. It made sense, since she’d practically grown up in her grandparents’ bookstore in Sweetwater, and she’d worked for Pages, the largest bookstore chain on the East Coast, in its flagship store in New York City for the past several years. After her grandfather had suffered a stroke, an attorney named Mick Bad had purchased her grandparents’ bookstore. He’d kept it intact and allowed Aurelia to open it every few weeks, when she could find the time to return home from the city. When she moved back to Sweetwater after a nasty breakup, she had intended to buy the store from Mick and combine it with Willow’s bakery. But being around Ben all the time had proven much more difficult than she’d anticipated. They’d always had a love-hate relationship, at least in her mind, and she was pretty sure it was because she loved being with him and hated that he wasn’t the type of guy to settle down.

  This was where she belonged, surrounded by fictional stories—and hopefully soon by people who loved reading them—not playing house with Ben. She had to stop letting her heart lead the way and start thinking with her head again and remember all the reasons she couldn’t spend every minute of her free time with Ben. He needed her now because parenting was hard, but what would happen if he found out he wasn’t B’s father? She knew exactly where that would leave them. He’d go back to his one-night stands, and she’d be his buddy when he wasn’t out carousing.

  Buying this shop was definitely the right thing to do.

  Piper’s construction crew was hard at work putting up shelving, repointing the front and rear brick walls, installing the bakery display cabinets, and refinishing the checkout counter. In her grandparents’ shop, one thing she’d always loved was that the checkout counter had an area that was just above knee height, so children could set their books down and feel like they were part of the whole bookstore experience. She was having that done in Chapter One. Piper was in and out, managing several jobs at once, but her burly project manager, Kase Force, was always on-site, and he was currently heading Aurelia’s way. The guy’s arms and legs were as thick as tree trunks. Tattoos snaked out from beneath his short sleeves, and the blue baseball cap he’d worn every day since he’d begun working there was firmly in place, a hint of brown hair poking out in the back. In the week he’d been working there, she hadn’t seen him crack a single smile.

  He nodded as he approached, his face as stoic as granite. “Do you have a second to go over the schedules?”

  “Sure.” She followed him to the back, where the floor plans were laid out on a table by the door.

  Kase leaned over the blueprints, pointing to each area as he spoke. “The counter and these shelving units should be done by the end of the week. The moldings in the classics and romance areas should be done today.”

  “And the flooring in the classics section?” She’d asked them to scuff up the hardwood in that area, which Kase had balked at, but she had a vision and she wanted to carry it out.

  In addition to renovating, she had plans to make each section feel special. Her friend Everly Love was a talented artist and a green-living specialist who happened to be between jobs. She was helping Aurelia with the shop while she looked for a job in her field, and she was going to paint a mural in the kids’ section. The reference and nonfiction area would be set up in classic library style with substantial wooden furniture and leather reading chairs and desks. The romance section would be decorated with elements made out of leather and lace, and the classics area was being outfitted with ornate moldings, worn shelves, and, eventually, antique furniture. When Aurelia worked at Pages, she had done biweekly readings from the classics. She’d had quite a loyal following, and she hoped to inspire the same love for them in Harmony Pointe.

  “It’ll be done just as you’ve specified,” Kase said. “Can I ask you something?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “I know you said you grew up in a bookstore, but according to my sisters, nobody buys paperbacks anymore. You’re spending a lot of money on renovations. Aren’t you worried about going belly-up?”

  Nearly everyone she knew had worried about her buying a floundering bookstore when she could have spent much less money reopening her grandparents’ store
and combining it with Willow’s bakery. She still had a pretty rabid readership in Sweetwater. Residents knew she opened her grandmother’s old shop every few weeks, and they waited with bated breath for those openings. Ben was the only person other than Willow and Flossie who had thought her ideas were solid, and because of his business expertise, his blessing had given her the extra confidence she needed to take the plunge and invest her money in the changes she thought would make big differences.

  “I’m doing things a little differently than most bookstores. I’m going to have a book borrow section, where for two dollars a customer can borrow a book for two weeks, since the small town library is often understocked. I anticipate most readers will come back and read a book a week, but only time will tell. I’ll have specials, when they can borrow for a buck, and when the books get too used, I’ll offer scratch-and-dent sales. I’m also going to do monthly readings, where I dress up as characters from books. I used to do it in the city, and I had a huge following there. We always sold a lot of books after my readings, and I’m hoping to eventually find my niche here doing the same type of thing. And from time to time I’ll hold book swaps for readers, and I’m hoping to start a monthly book club, so I have ideas . . .”

  His brows shot up. “You’re going to do all that?”

  “That’s the plan, once I hire a few employees and we get past the grand opening. Are we still on target for the eatery area?”

  “Yes. The painting throughout the store should be done by next week. Then we’ll move on to installing the tile in the eatery area. Once you clear out the stockroom, we’ll finish up in there, too.”

  She and Everly had boxed up the shop’s inventory for the remodeling. As time allowed, they were working through her current stock, figuring out what needed to be returned to the distributor and what they would keep. Shipments of new books would begin arriving the following Monday, and it would take them some time to go through those. But once they were able to restock the shelves, it would smell like a bookstore again.

  “It may take some time before we have that area cleared out. Would it be a problem for you to come back a week or two after the rest of the renovations are done?”

  The corners of Kase’s lips quirked up, softening his granitelike features. “I’ll come back as often as you’d like.”

  The back door of the shop opened, and Aurelia was surprised to see Ben with an enormous duffel bag slung over his shoulder, holding B’s carrier in one hand and several big department store bags in the other. His eyes connected with hers, and that killer smile she loved reached his eyes. The image of him in a towel shot into her mind like a flaming bullet, and just like that her heart ricocheted.

  So much for leading with my head.

  Ben’s gaze shifted to Kase, and he threw his shoulders back, lifting his chin the way guys did when they were showing dominance. His killer smile morphed into something possessive and dark.

  Kase’s blue eyes found hers again, and he said, “Whenever you’re ready for me, I’ll be here.”

  Tension billowed around Ben like dense fog as he approached.

  “Hey, Ben.” Aurelia’s brow furrowed and she said, “What are you doing, moving in?”

  “Maybe,” he said evenly, eyes trained on Kase as he walked away.

  She bent down and tickled B’s chin. “Hello, sweet girl. Did you have a nice day with Daddy Ben?”

  “Did that guy ask you out?” Ben asked.

  She stood up and said, “Seriously?”

  “Is that why you took off like a bat out of hell this morning? To come back here and see him?”

  “Ben, don’t be an ass.” She walked away, needing to put space between them. She didn’t care that there were four men watching them and she probably looked like a bitch with steam coming out of her ears. He had no right to size up the guys she talked to.

  He set down the bags and followed her, still holding B’s carrier. “What? It’s a legitimate question. You’re single and hot. Why wouldn’t he ask you out?”

  She stopped in the middle of the store, crossed her arms, and held his steady gaze. “You’re right. I’m definitely single. Thanks for the reminder.”

  He stared at her as if she’d said something wrong, his nostrils flaring, jaw clenched so tight it had to hurt.

  “What, Ben? Do you have something to say? Because I haven’t slept in two nights, and I’m not really in the mood to go through an inquisition. I’ve spent practically all my free time with you since I moved out of the city, and now I’m staying up all night with you and B.” Holy shit, the word vomit just kept coming, and the more she said, the angrier she got and the more it tumbled out. “You know what? I hope he asks me out. At least then there would be something for you to get all overprotective about.”

  “I’m not being overprotective,” he seethed, and set the carrier down beside him.

  She half laughed, half scoffed. “Oh no? What do you call it? Because I have no idea what you want from me, but if it’s a temporary baby mama—”

  He hauled her against him and crashed his lips to hers. His fingers pressed into her arms, and his tongue plunged into her mouth, fiercely possessive and utterly intoxicating. One strong arm swept around her, crushing her against his hard frame. The other pushed into her hair, fisting tight, angling her mouth beneath his so he could take the kiss deeper—and boy, did he . . .

  His kisses were rough and thorough, claiming more of her with every swipe of his tongue, like he’d been thinking of exactly how he wanted to kiss her for years. And Lord knew she had been doing the same. She clung to his arms as heat spread through her body like wildfire, filling up her chest and pooling low in her belly. He eased his efforts, kissing her softer, slower, so tenderly it sent shivers down her spine and goose bumps rose on her flesh. His lips were warm and insistent, and his mouth moved sensually over hers. She felt his arousal against her belly, and when his lips brushed lightly over hers, she realized her whole body was trembling.

  “Possessive,” he whispered against her lips.

  She was breathless and dizzy. “What?”

  “I’m not being overprotective. I’m being possessive.” His lips pressed hard and fast against hers again, and then they were gone, and his eyes drilled into hers as he said, “I get that way over things that are mine.”

  She shook her swooning head, confused by his kiss, his words, and the way he was looking at her, like he wanted to eat her alive—which made her entire body clench with anticipation.

  “I have been waiting for the right time, but fuck the right time. Be mine, Aurelia,” he said demandingly, still holding her body against his. “I’m an asshole for not telling you how I felt sooner. I don’t want a temporary anything. I want you in my life, by my side, constantly.”

  B whimpered, and they both looked down at her. It was then that Aurelia caught sight of Piper standing a few feet behind Ben, her jaw agape.

  “Piper . . .”

  Ben’s head whipped in the direction of his sister.

  Piper was closing the distance between them, peering around Ben’s big body with a stunned look in her eyes. “I don’t know what I’m more mesmerized by, that fucking-hot kiss or the baby my brother carried in here.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE LAST THING Ben wanted to do was let go of Aurelia and deal with Piper when Aurelia was looking at him like she wanted to either fuck him or kill him. It bothered him that he couldn’t tell the difference. Her lips were swollen from their kisses and her cheeks were red, he assumed from embarrassment, given that everyone in the damn store was staring at them. He glared at the workers, who respectfully turned away.

  Holding Aurelia tightly, he said, “Let’s go upstairs and deal with Piper, and then we can deal with us.”

  “Us?” came out flustered and tentative, like it was a foreign word.

  They’d always been an us, just in a different context. Fuck everyone else. He wasn’t going to let this chance to be clear about his feelings slip away. He was done letti
ng anything come between them. He framed her beautiful, flushed face between his hands and looked determinedly into her eyes so there was no mistaking his intentions as he said, “Yes. Us. You and me, Aurelia. Everything else, except B, is just noise right now. I know my timing sucks, but this is about us as a couple, and I want that. Got it?”

  “In the animal kingdom that kiss was the equivalent of peeing on Aurelia,” Piper said. “I think everyone in here got it.”

  He glared at Piper. Then, refusing to be deterred from the person who mattered most, he shifted his gaze back to Aurelia and said, “Why don’t you take B and Piper upstairs. I’ll grab the rest of the stuff and be right up.”

  She nodded, but her fingers dug into his arms like she couldn’t let go. That was how he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, she was still reeling from their kiss, not regretting it.

  He couldn’t resist pressing his lips to hers again, softer and reassuringly. She returned his efforts, and he felt like a freaking kid at Christmas, reveling in her affection. It was about damn time they took this step. He touched his cheek to hers, whispering for her ears only, “In case you have any doubt, there’s going to be a lot more of that coming your way . . . without an audience.”

  A needy sound escaped her lips, and it was enough to make his blood burn even hotter.

  “Great.” Piper picked up B’s carrier and said, “Whatever that was rendered her completely useless. Nice move, bro.”

  She grabbed Aurelia’s arm and dragged her toward the door that led up to her apartment. Aurelia looked over her shoulder and bit her lower lip, trying to stop a clearly unstoppable smile.

  After they disappeared through the door, Ben had one more thing to tend to. He strode over to his burly competition and extended his hand. “Ben Dalton. You’ll be seeing a lot of me around here.”

  The guy laughed as he shook Ben’s hand. “Kase Force, and I did not ask her out. I might have in another day or two. But, dude, the minute she saw you, I knew she wasn’t single.”