by Mia Carson
“Course you are,” he muttered under his breath, slouching back in his seat. “Not like you’re about to meet the man who could lead you to your sister.” He watched Brent closely as he ordered his coffee until he finally reached the table.
Greyson stood, forcing a smile on his face as he held out a hand. “Brent Hall,” Brent said, shaking Greyson’s hand heartily. “You must be Greyson Taylor. Great to meet you, man, really.”
“Likewise,” Greyson said, Belle’s voice whispering in his mind to be nice. She’d warned him several times what would happen if he hauled off and decked Brent for no reason. They sat down, and Greyson noticed Brent’s fingers wrap tightly around his mug before his fingers tapped the rim. He grinned.
“Something I said?” Brent asked, his lips curling to the side, just as Belle’s did.
“Habits you and your sister have in common,” he admitted grudgingly, nodding to Brent’s still tapping fingers. “She does it when she’s nervous—or pissed.”
Brent glanced down at his fingers, and a gentler smile softened his face. “It's nice to know we have a few things in common, though I have a feeling by the way you’re staring at me, you don’t like me too much.”
“I love your sister very much,” Greyson admitted, “and I know what she’s been through. I won’t see her hurt because someone comes forward and claims he’s her brother.”
“And if I had proof?” Brent asked without glancing up.
“Then I’d like to see it,” Greyson acknowledged. “Look, I want you to be reunited with her, I do, but… I have to protect her, too. Surely you understand that.”
Brent nodded and stared into his coffee. “You know, a few years ago, I was in a really dark place,” he said quietly. “Drank a lot, was broke again, and the whole time, all I did was pray to God that my little sister was in a better state than I was. That she wasn’t as lost as I was… and I held onto the hope that maybe I’d find her again.” He raised his blue eyes to Greyson who’d sat back in his seat, taken aback by his stunning resemblance to the same fiery woman he spent every day with. “I’m glad to hear she has someone like you looking out for her.”
“I wasn’t always around,” Greyson said, “but I wish I had been.”
“How did you two meet?”
Greyson smirked. “Actually, she started at my company as an intern, and after a few showdowns of her putting me in my place, I realized Belle was no ordinary woman.”
“So you’re dating your intern?” Brent asked with a grin.
“Well,” Greyson said with a laugh, suddenly nervous about what this man might think of him. “We’re getting married, and she’s… uh, she’s pregnant with our baby.”
Brent’s smile fell away, and his hands slipped to the table, palms flat, as he absorbed the new information. Greyson had thought of telling him everything before he landed, but if this man was a fraud, he wasn’t giving him all the details of he and Belle’s life together. He couldn’t read Brent as easily as Belle, but he knew he was thinking hard on what Greyson had told him. The question, now, was how much like his sister was he when it came to tempers. A flash of annoyance crossed his face before it vanished, and Brent broke out into excited laughter and shook Greyson’s hand again.
“Well then, double congratulations are in order,” he said with a sigh. “I’m going to be an uncle…Wow… This is… this is incredible.”
“Yeah, it’s been a journey,” Greyson said quietly, smiling as he remembered those first few days with Belle. “Your sister’s one-of-a-kind, and I still can’t believe she found me.”
“You’re lucky,” Brent told him. “And I’m thankful as hell, otherwise I never would’ve found her.” He shook his head, glancing around the café, his eyes alight with excitement. “The proof I talked about—I have a birth certificate and papers with me—and Belle’s name is on them—from our social worker after we were found at the church.”
Greyson nodded, and a twinge of sadness made his chest tighten. “And there was no note left with either of you?”
Brent shook his head. “Nothing. Just a very vague memory of what our mom looked like,” he whispered. His eyes stared at the far wall, but Greyson knew he saw something completely different. “We were left close to dawn, and a nun found us, sitting outside the doors. It wasn’t cold out, at least, but I was hungry and crying, and Belle… she wouldn’t stop crying either. I remember that. I told the nun our names, and the next thing I know, Belle was taken away from me and I was thrown into a foster home.”
“How old were you?” Greyson asked quietly.
“Belle had just turned one, and I was four. Our mom… She smelled like cinnamon,” he said and smiled bitterly. “I remember that… I remember her dark hair and her blue eyes filled with tears as she told me to stay put. After that, everything blurs together.”
Greyson didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent, hating himself for thinking he’d had it rough all these years with a dad who simply didn’t understand him. At least his parents hadn’t abandoned him outside a damn church with no note, nothing to even give them just a sliver of closure.
“Greyson, it’s been twenty-one years since I’ve seen my baby sister,” Brent said firmly. “I know you want to keep her safe, and I respect that, but I am her older brother and I would very much like to meet her. See her all grown up. I don’t expect to stay in her life if she doesn’t want me,” he added, his voice strained with worry, “but I want to at least give her a chance to know me.”
“Show me your papers,” Greyson said, “and I’ll tell Belle you want to meet her as soon as she’s up for it.”
Brent smiled and leaned closer over the table. “Can you tell me about her?”
Greyson smirked. “Oh, I can tell you about her. I can tell you how much of a pain-in-the-ass she is and how much I love her.”
***
“What did I tell you?” Sally muttered and reached over Belle’s shoulder, snatching her cell away.
“Oh, come on, I was just going to text him and check in,” she whined, but Sally laughed and tucked her cell phone away. “This is killing me, you know that, right? Physically killing me.”
Sally ignored her whining and patted her on the head like an insolent child as the twins laughed nearby. Carrie held up a diaper bag with flames on it and nodded. “This one, I’m getting you this one, it’s perfect!”
“I thought we already picked one out?” Belle asked, glancing at the shopping bags in Mel’s hands.
“Who said you can’t have two?” Molly asked, looking through baby clothes on a nearby table. “You are going to tell us all what sex it is, right? You’re not going to keep it a secret until it pops its head out and says hello?”
Sally whacked her on the arm as Belle stared at her, open-mouthed. “Thanks for that image,” she said and laughed. “And yes, we’ll find out. I don’t think I could stand not knowing what is in there.”
“Better hope it’s not a boy like Greyson,” Mel told her. “Then he’ll have another one to drive you up a wall.”
Belle paused, picturing Greyson and a little boy tearing through the house as they played, yelling and hollering while they played computer games and she watched. A smile crept across her face, and she rested her hands on her bump. “I think a little boy would suit him just fine.”
They meandered through the baby boutique. Belle had no idea so many existed within driving range of Phoenix, and when they’d finally decided to stop for a late lunch, she’d tapped her fingers nervously on the table while they waited for their food. She was starving even though she’d been nibbling on crackers all morning in the hope they would calm her nerves and stomach. The latter was fine aside from begging for good food, but the others were raging. She had to know what was happening, needed to call Greyson, but one glance at Sally said she wasn’t going to get her cell back, not yet.
“Do you think he’s actually your brother?” Carrie, sitting beside her at the table, asked gently.
Belle shrugged. “I don’t kno
w. I can’t remember a brother, but I was found when I was one so I wouldn’t remember.”
“I hope it’s him, for your sake, dear,” Sally said and patted her hand on the table. “I’m sure everything is going just swimmingly and Greyson hopefully hasn’t gone off the deep end with his grilling.”
“I warned him to be nice before he left,” Belle said. “I just need to know if I actually have a family out there somewhere.”
Mel leaned against her other shoulder and grinned. “We’re your family, no matter what. Just remember that. And remember that I will always be your favorite auntie, isn’t that right?” she muttered, rubbing Belle’s belly.
“Mel, what did I say about talking to bear junior?” Belle said with a laugh, and Mel straightened with a pout.
“You have to let me have some fun you know. This is the first baby.”
Belle sighed and leaned back in her chair. Mel cheered and rested her hand on the baby bump again, talking quietly to it in baby talk. “You’re worse than your brother.”
“He talks to it?” Molly asked, amusement crinkling the corners of her eyes.
“All the time. Not like this, thank God, but yeah, he talks to it. Kisses it. Tells it goodnight,” she said and laughed quietly. “Last night, he even sang it a lullaby—horribly by the way, but he did it.” Her smile faded as she glanced at Sally. “He’s worried about being a dad.”
“More than you are about being a mom?” Sally asked.
Belle sighed as Mel sat up, all of them looking at her. “Is it that obvious?”
Sally exchanged a glance with the girls, and they laughed as the waiter returned with their sandwiches and salads. Belle was hungry before, but now, her stomach twisted with nerves again. She fiddled with her lettuce, digging her fork through it, picturing a little baby wrapped in a bundle and left alone on a church step. Left by a mom who didn’t want her or a dad who didn’t care. She excused herself abruptly as tears sprang to her eyes and hurried to the ladies’ room. It was empty, thankfully, and she ducked into the closest stall as the tears poured down her cheeks.
“Damn hormones,” she blubbered, yanking off a piece of toilet paper to wipe her eyes. “Damn everything. This sucks! Just pull it together. You can do this, remember? You can do anything.”
The door opened, and she tried to quiet her crying until she spotted Sally’s booted toes and heard her knuckles rap on the stall door. “Belle, dear, you don’t have to hide, not from your family.”
Belle wiped her face on the hem of her shirt before she reached up and unlocked the stall door. She stepped out, and Sally pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her as the tears flowed freely again.
“I never had… had a mom. I can’t… I can’t do this, and I know Greyson’s freaking out. I am too…and what if we suck as parents? What... what if our kid hates us?” she blubbered against Sally’s shirt. “Damn, I’m getting snot… all over your shoulder.”
Laughing, Sally smoothed back Belle’s hair and handed her a handkerchief from her jeans pocket. “Oh, my sweet girl, every new parent worries about these things. It’s not just you and Greyson. I freaked out every other night when I was pregnant with him. If Richard were still alive, he’d tell you about all my meltdowns, wondering if we’d make it as a family or not.”
Belle didn’t want to say it so she kept her thoughts to herself, but maybe Sally had been right to worry a little. “Greyson thinks he’s going to be like his dad.”
“I know, and I’ve told him time and again, Richard was a difficult man to understand, but by God, did he love his kids. He loved me,” Sally told her quietly. “He took care of us even when it didn’t appear that way. But Greyson has more of me in him than Richard anyway.”
“And me? I have no idea what type of mom I’ll be.”
“Do you have any urges to abandon your baby?” Sally asked with a critical eye.
“What? God no, never,” Belle said and wrapped her arms protectively around her belly. “I’d never do that, ever.”
Sally nodded. “Good, then you’re already better than your mom, and besides, meeting your brother might clear up a few things. Who knows? Sometimes parents make difficult choices if they think their children will be better off.”
“Better than being with their own mom and dad?” she asked, not believing it was possible.
“You never know. Sometimes, life throws you a curve ball and you do what you must do to keep on going—or, in your case, give you a chance at what might’ve been a better life.” Sally hugged her again before stepping back. She wiped the rest of the tears from Belle’s face. “Now, why don’t we go enjoy our lunch? I’m sure, by the time we’re finished, Greyson will be at home ready to tell you all about your brother and how he really is your brother.”
Belle nodded and followed her back to their table. She took Sally’s advice and pushed away her worries about the future. There were more pressing matters to deal with, like meeting her older brother named Brent and figuring out how he would fit into her new life. Would he want to be a part of the wedding?
“Oh, God,” she said and slapped her hand on the table.
“What? The baby?” Carrie asked, already pulling out her cell.
“No, baby’s fine. The wedding! I completely forgot about the damn wedding!”
Carrie pinched her arm, and Belle winced, shooting her a look as everyone else at the table let out a collective sigh of relief. “For future reference, pregnant women are not allowed to freak out like that! Jesus, I thought you were cramping or something.”
Belle rubbed the sore spot on her arm. “Sorry. With Brent coming into the picture, I haven’t even thought about it. I don’t have time for all of this and the nursery. I told Greyson we have to start doing these things, or we’ll fall behind!”
“What do you think we’re doing this afternoon?” Molly asked simply. “I already have paint and brushes in the trunk, and Mom ordered a crib when you weren’t looking.”
Sally frowned, but Molly shrugged. “Fine. Fine, she was freaking out a bit.”
“A bit? That’s full-on Belle meltdown,” Carrie muttered. “And just so you also know, there’s something Greyson told us about the wedding.”
“When did he talk to you guys?”
“When you were peeing for the umpteenth time,” she teased. “We are your new wedding planners. Happy?”
Belle thought it over for a second before she sighed and nodded. “Hell yes, I am. I can’t thank you enough for this, really.”
“You can thank us if you hurry up and eat. We have a dress fitting appointment in an hour,” Sally warned her. “After you pick out your dress, of course.”
The thought of finding her wedding dress today, before she turned into a blimp, had Belle digging into her lunch so they could make that appointment. Leave it to Greyson to know she would eventually remember they’d planned on getting married as soon as the baby was born. And knowing that somewhere along the way, Belle would completely forget about it and flip out at some point.
God, I love that man, she thought and hoped the afternoon was going as well for him as it was for her.
Chapter 4
By nine that night, the nursery was painted a wonderful shade of soft green with a border stenciled around the top of vines and budding flowers. Belle leaned in the doorway, grinning. Today could not have been any better, but when Greyson’s arms slipped around her waist and he rested his chin on her shoulder, she knew she was wrong.
“You have paint in your hair,” he murmured in her ear.
“Didn’t you know? Starting a new fashion statement,” she told him, stifling a yawn. “Green hair is the new black, or whatever they call it.”
He chuckled with her. “Are you finished panicking?”
“For the moment, at least. I didn’t realize I had a team of fairy godmothers running around and that they can paint while tipsy,” she added with a laugh. The twins had brought several bottles of wine with them, and by the time they’d left, Sally was rolling
her eyes and the twins were singing Adele as loud as they could as their mom shoved them out the door, Carrie bringing up the rear. “It was a good day. We even found my dress.”
“I heard,” Greyson said. “I bet you look wonderful in it, too.”
She laughed when he tickled her sides. “You won’t get anything out of me. You’ll just have to be patient and wait. Thank you, by the way,” she told him, spinning in his arms.
“For what?”
She ran her fingers through his beard, bringing his mouth closer to hers. “For meeting Brent and for allowing your mom and sisters to plan our wedding. With the game launch, the baby. and now Brent… I don’t think I could do it all.”
“Ha! She finally admits she’s not Superwoman! Would you look at that? It only took how many breakdowns and moments of tearing your hair out?” he teased.
“Shut up and kiss me already,” she told him and pressed her lips firmly against his.
Greyson kissed her back hotly, his tongue instantly sliding into her mouth and caressing her tongue in an all too familiar way, reminiscent of other parts that enjoyed such attentions. She ground her hips against his, delighted to feel him hardening for her. Belle sucked hard on his tongue as she slipped a hand down the front of his jeans and gripped him tightly. He groaned and cursed against her mouth.
“You're playing with fire, pet,” he grunted.
“When aren’t we?” she asked.
She slid her hand down his heated length, smoothing her thumb over the crown of satin flesh when he quickly yanked her shirt up over her head. It hit the floor, followed quickly by her bra. His hands cupped her breasts, and she sighed at his touch. Her hand was pulled out of his jeans and she tried to put it back, but he captured them both and turned her so her back was against the wall, pinning her arms over her head. His hand undid her jeans easily and shoved them down enough so he could glide his fingers along wet folds desperate to feel him inside of her again. They had made love early that morning, but it still felt as if she’d been away from him for days.
Greyson’s beard tickled her breasts as he kissed them each in turn, his fingers rolling and tugging her clit until her breath grew ragged and her chest tightened with anticipation of what was to come. One finger delved into her depths, and she moaned. When the other followed, twisted and turning, she arched her back, ready for more.
