Recipe for Kisses

by Michelle Major

  As Ben drew back his arm for another punch, Chloe surged forward. “Stop! Ben, don’t.”

  He paused but didn’t release Jonathan or lower his arm. She grabbed on to him, feeling like she was trying to wrap her arms around a tank.

  “I’m going to kill him for hurting you,” he shouted.

  “Let him go, Ben.” He remained still for a moment then took a breath, pushing Jonathan away. She heard a commotion behind them and looked over her shoulder to see several members of the waitstaff staring at them.

  “He attacked me.” Jonathan sounded like a congested pig, squealing about how Ben had gone after him unprovoked as his date handed him a cloth napkin for his face. “He’s a fucking beast, just like everyone says.”

  “Shut up, Jonathan,” Chloe said then gave Ben a shove toward the door to the private dining room. “We need to get out of here.”

  The restaurant’s manager and a man in a white uniform and tall hat who must have been the head chef stepped forward. Chloe could see a few of the patrons who’d gathered outside to watch the scene holding up cell phones. How much had they gotten on camera? A sinking pit formed in her stomach.

  “Mr. Haddox,” the manager said, “can you explain—”

  “I have a restraining order against that man,” she said quickly. She pointed to Jonathan, who was now slumped in a chair, his face covered by a napkin. His girlfriend stood next to him as the waitstaff swarmed about. She glanced up at Chloe then squeezed shut her eyes and nodded, a silent communication that Chloe understood all too well.

  She didn’t regret offering help to the woman but now wondered what price they would pay for the endeavor.

  An hour later, Ben tossed his cell phone to the coffee table in Chloe’s living room.

  “Well?” she asked, pressing a bag of ice to his knuckles.

  “A couple of my endorsement deals have been canceled, and Michael expects more to roll in as the interview with your ex-husband gains traction.”

  With her free hand, Chloe punched a few keys on her laptop. “The YouTube video already has a few hundred thousand views. It’s going viral, Ben. How much more traction can there be?”

  “Michael’s working to have the content taken down.”

  “But it’s out there. You can’t take that back.”

  No matter how much he wanted to. Whoever had taken the video of the fight had only recorded the last several seconds when Ben had lifted a much smaller and already injured Jonathan, ready to drive his fist into the man’s face for a second time. Even Ben admitted he looked wild and out of control.

  Of course, that was how he’d felt at the moment, but it wasn’t the whole story. Unfortunately, Jonathan had given an interview from the ER to one of the local stations, claiming that Ben had attacked him unprovoked after Jonathan had made a seemingly innocent comment about Ben’s skills in the kitchen. “What am I going to tell Abby and Zach?”

  “I called Sam and explained the situation while you were on your phone with the publicist. There’s a strict no-electronics rule at Bryce Hollow, but you’re going to need to tell them before they get down here and find out.”

  “I spent a weekend talking to the kids at camp about how there are better ways to deal with problems than violence.” He clenched his fist, hissing out a breath as his swollen, stiff knuckles protested the movement. “I’m a total fraud.”

  “You’re not.” Chloe shifted the ice on his hand. “If I come forward and explain why Jonathan—”

  “No.” Ben took the bag from her and placed it next to his phone. “You shouldn’t have to defend me. I was the one who hit the guy.”

  “Because he went after me.”

  “I don’t want that kind of attention on you.”

  “There’s footage from the store airing alongside the other.” She turned her laptop so that he could see the screen. “This was the day you were there when the class got out. Someone took a video of you posing for pictures. There’s an online article about how you’re unstable with your Dr.-Jekyll-and-Mr.-Hyde personalities.”

  He took the laptop from her hand, closed the screen, and added it to the pile on the coffee table. “Maybe there’s something to that.” He forced himself to meet her hazel eyes. “Saying I wanted to kill your ex-husband wasn’t just me mouthing off. When he grabbed you . . .” He trailed off, lifting his fingers to tangle them gently in her curls. “It was different from anything I’d ever felt, Chloe. Yes, I blow my top in the kitchen, but with Jonathan I felt out of control for the first time in a long time. Even when you grabbed me, I wanted to shake you off and keep at him.” He ran a hand through his hair, hating to say the words. “What if it was you instead?”

  “You didn’t,” she answered immediately. “You wouldn’t.”

  She brought her finger to his lips when he would have said more. “But for future reference, I need you to understand that I can take care of myself.”

  “It didn’t look like it, Chloe. You didn’t fight him.”

  “He took me by surprise. Fighting doesn’t always have to mean beating the tar out of someone. I’m not looking for a superhero to save me.”

  He shrugged. “I want to keep you safe.”

  “I want the same thing for you.” She crawled into his lap, straddling his hips and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her heart beating against his chest was the most wonderful thing he’d ever felt. “You put your career and everything you’ve worked for in jeopardy tonight.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It will if Child Protective Services gets involved.”

  He shook his head. “That’s not an option.”

  “Abby and Zach have to be your first priority, and you have to be a role model for them. There are better ways to handle problems than with your fists.”

  “Name one.”

  “Your words.”

  He coughed out a disbelieving laugh. “You sound like a preschool teacher.” He wanted it to be a joke, to forget about those awful minutes and go back to the abandoned celebration.

  “You scared me tonight,” she whispered, and the words sliced across him like a razor blade. “I’ve had enough anger and fear in my life. I need to know I’ve left that behind.”

  Ben let the meaning of what she was saying sink into him. He understood why she felt that way, and he wanted to be that man. Damn it if he hadn’t been trying to change. For her. For Zach and Abby. His whole body ached with the effort of it.

  What if he couldn’t? The anger he’d felt today had risen up swift and strong, like a raging current, and he’d almost drowned in the intensity of it. But when he’d finally given in and let it wash over him, it had felt good. Righteous, even, although he knew Chloe didn’t see it that way.

  And what if he exploded again only it wasn’t directed at someone as deserving as her scumbag ex-husband? What if it were Chloe or one of the kids or their friends or an annoying teacher? That was the only good thing about the Beast persona. Before he’d come back to Denver, people had expected him to be a jackass. Hell, the producers on the show had encouraged it. Now when he got mad about something real, something that mattered, it came back to bite him.

  Now it was all too much. The responsibility of two kids, of keeping his family on the right track. The thought of his own restaurant. Chloe’s expectations.

  He stood abruptly, setting Chloe none too gently on the sofa. She shook her head, reaching for him as if she knew what he was going to say.

  “I didn’t mean—” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m upset about what happened tonight, the position you’re in now.”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said, his voice tight. “But that was who I am, Chloe. As much as you can’t deal with my anger, I can’t spend my life tiptoeing around, worried that a muttered curse or frustrated outburst will send you running.”

  “Tonight was more than that, Ben.”

  “I was trying to protect someone . . .” He stopped, unable to say the words when they wouldn’t change anyt
hing. “Someone I care about,” he finished.

  “I know.”

  He shook his head. “No. You’re right. You need something more than I can give you, someone different than who I am. This was never meant to last. Isn’t that what you told me?”

  “I was wrong and scared. It’s more than that and you know it. I love you, Ben.”

  Nothing she could have said would have affected him more. But he hid it, put his walls back up before he could give in to what his heart wanted. He wasn’t that man, and it was time he stopped pretending. “Doesn’t change the reality,” he told her.

  “Please.” She stood and took a step closer to him. “Don’t go. Not tonight.”

  “I—” His protest died on his lips when she lifted her shirt over her head then shimmied out of her dark jeans, standing before him in nothing but her bra and panties. A matching set, pink with lace edges and transparent enough that he could just see . . .

  Nope. Not going there.

  “You aren’t playing fair,” he said on a harsh breath.

  “This isn’t a game.” Her voice was husky, and she pressed her full lips together as she reached for him.

  He was screaming at himself on the inside, knowing he had to get away. If he took her in his arms now, he’d never let her go. “You say it’s not a game, but it feels like we’re both losing here.” He took a step back, his fists balling at his sides. “Good-bye, Chloe.”

  He turned on his heel, but not before he saw the heartbreak in her eyes. It didn’t stop him, though, and even through the aching hurt that threatened to overtake him, he kept moving. One foot in front of the other until he was out of her life for good.

  Chloe dragged herself to the toy store every day that week, but it felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest the night Ben left. She no longer felt anything. In fact, none of her senses worked right. Kendall had brought her a pint of ice cream and brownies warm from her favorite local bakery the night after she’d humiliated herself in front of Ben. They’d smelled like nothing and tasted like sawdust, making her throat dry.

  “He’ll apologize and beg you to take him back,” Kendall had told her.

  But he wouldn’t. Chloe was as certain of that fact as she was about the sun rising each morning. She couldn’t accept Ben for who he was, and he had no intention of changing for her. She didn’t blame him. His anger was as much a part of his identity as her fear was of hers. In fact, she’d spent most of her time that week staring at the computer screen in the back office, the site pulled up to begin the application process for her social work license. Her mouse had hovered over the Apply button until her wrist cramped, but Chloe hadn’t pushed the button.

  It was too much to go after something she really wanted when she was still such a coward. She’d continue to unofficially counsel the women who worked at the store. But what if she failed someone who really needed her? That was a chance she refused to take.

  The Toy Chest continued to flourish. Between the news stories, the online marketing Abby had arranged, and the gossip about Ben frequenting the store, business was booming. In fact, Karen had showed her the monthly accounting that morning, and Chloe had just enough to pay the rent she owed and take care of her outstanding bills and expenses.

  She’d won, although it no longer felt like a victory. As Ben said, she only felt like a loser. But she had an obligation to her employees and to Abby and Zach, who’d worked so hard on her behalf. She had an appointment set for tomorrow morning at the bank to get a cashier’s check to deliver to the property management company. There was no question of delivering it directly to Ben. He’d made it more than clear that he wanted nothing more to do with her.

  She was packing up more orders as a frantic knocking started on the back door that led to the alley behind the store. As soon as she cracked the door, Abby burst through, tears streaming down her face. The girl launched herself into Chloe’s arms, sending them both back several steps.

  “Sweetie, what is it?” Chloe tried to unlatch the girl’s arms from her waist, but Abby held tight, a hollow, keening sound coming from her throat. “Is it Zach? Ben? You have to talk to me, Abby.”

  “Mmm . . . my dad,” the girl finally choked out. “I . . . I mea-mean Cory.” She sputtered, drew a breath, and sobbed again.

  Cold dread seeped into Chloe’s bones. She didn’t know much about prison other than what she’d seen on television crime shows. If something had gone wrong with Ben’s brother to have Abby this upset, it had to be bad.

  Slowly she moved them both toward the small love seat and drew Abby down. The girl crumpled against Chloe and they sat there for several long minutes. The only sound was Abby’s soft sobbing. Chloe rubbed Abby’s back, murmuring words of comfort, and waited.

  Eventually her breathing slowed, and Abby lifted her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, looking miserable. “I messed everything up.”

  “What happened to your dad, sweetie?” Chloe wiped the pads of her thumbs across the girl’s tear-stained cheeks.

  “He’s not my real dad,” Abby said miserably, “and now he hates me.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “I came in today while you were gone.” Abby sniffled and swiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “Karen said that thanks to me you were going to be able to save your store.”

  Chloe nodded. “We still need the sales from this weekend to push us over the top, but the store will survive. Did you tell—”

  “Not Ben. I know you guys had a fight and . . .” Abby shook her head. “Cory. It’s terrible, Chloe. How could I have—” She burst into tears again.

  Chloe was trying to make sense of what the girl was saying. “Did something happen to Cory in prison? Was he hurt?”

  “N-no. Maybe. I talked to him today.” She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “I told him about the store and the bet and how you were going to win.”

  Chloe thought about what Ben had told her of his brother’s past history with The Toy Chest and Stan Butterfield. “But he already knew you were working here this summer.”

  “Zach mentioned it to him a couple of weeks ago but said he acted strange so neither of us have said anything else. Cory said Ben promised to shut down the store.”

  Chloe nodded. “I knew that, but he was going to talk to Cory and explain that things were different.”

  “I told him that it was because of me that the store is doing so well.” Abby gulped back another sob. “Before I knew what this place meant to him. What if he makes Ben send me to foster care?”

  “Sweetie—”

  “I’m not his daughter,” Abby repeated frantically. “He said, ‘No kid of mine would stab me in the back that way.’”

  “You didn’t.”

  “Yes. That’s exactly what happened. Even if I didn’t realize it.” She clutched the front of her shirt, as if she needed something to hold on to. “They can’t separate me from Zach. He needs me.” She swallowed. “I need him.”

  “Ben would never do that, Abby. Neither would Harry. They love you.”

  “Cory got so mad. He was screaming and cursing—totally flipping out on the phone. He dropped it, and I could hear a big commotion on the other end of the line. Guys were yelling, cheering, and then I heard the guards shouting. Someone hung up the phone.” Her eyes were huge, terrified. “What if they hurt Cory because of me?”

  Chloe tried to keep her rarely used temper under control. She wasn’t going to lose it. But right now she would have liked to hurt Ben’s felon brother. To make an innocent girl feel guilty for something he did long ago was appalling, especially when Abby had done so much more than right her own mistakes.

  “Have you talked to Ben?”

  “I couldn’t tell him, Chloe.” Abby clutched at her chest. “He’ll flip out. It’s all because of me. He’ll drive down to the prison and do something stupid. It will make him too mad and worried.”

  “Abby,” Chloe said gently. “Ben and Harry have to know. If Cory is in tro
uble, they need to check on him. Ben can make him understand that you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I saved the store.”

  Chloe wanted to argue, but it was the truth. No matter how hard any of them worked, without Abby’s skills with the website and online marketing, Chloe never would have made enough money to pay the back rent. She owed the girl so much, but now Abby was miserable, and Chloe didn’t know how to make it better. As tough as she pretended to be, there was a vulnerability to Abby that Chloe understood all too well. Now that the girl felt a part of the Haddox family, Chloe couldn’t jeopardize that security.

  “We’ll figure something—” Chloe’s words cut off at a loud crash and yelling from the front of the store.

  “Ben?” Abby asked in a miserable whisper. “Maybe he figured out what I did and is looking for me.”

  Anger surged through Chloe. If that was the case, she was going to go off on him, too. To scare Abby this way and make a scene in her toy store was unacceptable, even from him.

  “Stay here,” she told the girl, standing and adjusting her apron.

  She charged through the door into the main store, for the first time in her life itching for a fight.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The scene playing out in the toy store unfolded before Chloe in slow motion, as if she were watching a movie played on the wrong speed. It wasn’t Ben causing the commotion. It was her worst nightmare come to life.

  A man stood in the middle of the store, one of his arms waving wildly. At the end of it flashed the shiny blade of a knife.

  She sucked in a breath as her eyes tracked to Tamara, who was lying in a crumpled heap against the display shelves on the far side of the store.

  “Bitch,” the man spat out, “get up.”

  Her heartbeat racing, Chloe darted around the edge of the counter and moved toward Tamara.