Call Her Mine

by Melissa Foster

  “You could say that.” Aurelia snagged a croissant and slumped into a chair. “I was up practically all night.”

  “Sounds like my type of night.” Piper was as unfiltered and direct as her sisters were careful about the things they said.

  “It was exhausting,” Aurelia said.

  As Willow transferred the muffins to the cooling rack, she said, “Exhausting can be fun.”

  “Exhilarating,” Piper agreed, taking another bite of her croissant.

  “I don’t know how people stay up night after night. I haven’t been home in two days. I mean, look at me.” She looked down at her shirt. “I’m wearing Ben’s shirt.”

  “Ben’s shirt?” Willow and Piper said in unison.

  “I knew it!” Willow said. “Zane and I have always said that you two were perfect together.”

  Piper held her hands up. “I do not want to hear about Ben’s sexual endeavors.”

  “We are not sleeping together,” Aurelia snapped.

  “Yeah, right. You said you wanted a new chapter in your life.” Piper laughed and waved her finger at Aurelia. “One look at you says fuck-fest survivor. I’d call that a hell of a chapter.”

  “What? No! Ben is not my new chapter.”

  Willow smiled and said, “Staying up for two nights in a row? I’d say he’s your entire flipping manuscript and your epilogue!”

  Aurelia groaned. “I’m just helping him with a big project.”

  “I don’t want to hear about my brother’s big project.” Piper slid off the counter, finishing her croissant.

  “Please! Your brother has never liked me that way.”

  “Are you blind?” Willow wiped her hands and leaned against the counter. “Ben is your best friend.”

  “Exactly,” Aurelia said.

  “He knows everything about you,” Willow said. “Good and bad, and he’s still your closest male friend.”

  “Right. Your point?” Aurelia asked.

  “He even loves the way you snort-laugh,” Piper added. “The dude is totally into you, Aurelia.”

  Aurelia rolled her eyes. “He’s into one-night, no-strings-attached sex, and”—now he might have a baby—“yes, he’d probably like to fuck me, but that’s as far as it goes.”

  “I think you’re wrong. You spend all of your free time with him,” Willow pointed out.

  “Because we have fun together, but trust me, he’s not what I need. You guys know this about him. I mean, open your eyes. Besides, he’s never even asked me out.”

  “Bullshit.” Piper picked up a muffin, tore off a piece, and popped it into her mouth.

  Aurelia looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “What are you talking about? I think I’d remember if he asked me out.”

  “He’s always propositioning you,” Piper said. “We’ve all heard it.”

  “She’s right about that,” Willow agreed.

  “Have you lost your minds? Yes, he has propositioned me for sex!”

  Piper sauntered over, her blond ponytail swinging behind her. “Not that I want to think of you and Ben in that way, but lots of relationships start with sex. Look at Willow and Zane and Bridgette and Bodhi.”

  “Well, I want hot, wild sex with my man, but I want more than that,” Aurelia insisted. “I want romantic nights—”

  “Like the night you and Ben watched the sun set over Sugar Lake when you were celebrating his big investment last fall?” Willow asked. “And when he had my mom make you Mexican wedding soup when you were sick, because it was your favorite?”

  “I puked it all up,” Aurelia reminded her.

  Willow’s gaze went soft, and she said, “Still, it was a romantic gesture, and he held your hair back.”

  “Hey, he called you when he sprained his ankle playing basketball. That’s not romantic, but come on,” Piper said. “He could have called any of us.”

  Aurelia’s head fell back, and she sighed. “What are you saying? That I should jump in the sack with your brother and maybe it’ll lead to more?” A little thrill ran through her at the prospect, even if she knew she wouldn’t do it.

  “Yes!” Willow said at the same time Piper said, “Gross.”

  “You know what? This is crazy.” Aurelia bit into her croissant, and with her mouth full of deliciousness, she said, “I’m not having this conversation.”

  “I wasn’t going to tell you this because I have been secretly pulling for you and Ben, and I know if he finds out he’ll stop using it,” Willow said, “but I think my mom has been infusing the body wash she makes him with one of her love potions.”

  Their mother, Roxie, made lotions, soaps, fragrances, and a host of other products, which she sold locally and online, and she made special brands for those she deemed in need of a little matchmaking help. Her love potions had become folklore around Sweetwater. People swore by them, and so did all her daughters—except Piper. But according to Talia, Willow, and Bridgette, Piper’s belief would change once Roxie created one for her.

  “What?” Aurelia’s eyes flew open so wide they burned. She didn’t know if she wholeheartedly believed in Roxie’s love potions, but she definitely wouldn’t discount them. Their mother seemed to have a sixth sense about who belonged together before the couples even did.

  “You can’t tell Ben,” Willow said conspiratorially. “He’d be pissed.”

  “You could have warned me. You know I stay over there a lot. I’ve used his body wash dozens of times.” She probably shouldn’t be so mad, since she’d loved him even before she’d started showering at his house. But she was, because maybe that potion made her love him even more. Maybe that was why she couldn’t stop accepting his every request to hang out. Oh no. Did that also mean the potion didn’t work on Ben? Because he wasn’t exactly pawing at her.

  Piper laughed.

  “Sorry,” Willow said, but her smile told Aurelia she wasn’t really sorry. “What kind of project are you working on with Ben? He hasn’t said anything to Zane about a big project other than that hotel takeover. Although Zane’s going running with him later this morning, after he drops Louie off at school, so maybe he’ll tell him about it then.”

  Shit. She pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Ben. 911! Zane is coming over to run with you after taking Louie to school. You’d better call him unless you want him to see B!

  Skipping right over Willow’s question about the project, she said, “Ben’s probably too tired to go running.”

  Willow began putting ingredients into a bowl. “They’re always tired when they start. He’ll wake up.”

  Aurelia’s phone vibrated with Ben’s response. Shit. Thanks. I’ll call him and cancel. When are you coming back? She typed, Soon. As she sent the message, she thought about what Willow had said about Ben’s romantic gestures. He’d brought her a peanut-M&M-covered cupcake on her birthday morning every year for the past . . . well . . . since she went away to college. Whoa. That is romantic. He’d also let her cry on his shoulder countless times, sent her texts when he knew she was having a rough day, and stayed with her for three nights after her grandfather passed away. And he bought me M&M’s yesterday when I desperately needed them. He thought about me even though he was frazzled over finding B.

  Maybe she was on his mind as more than only a friend.

  Or maybe he just wanted his good friend to help him with Project Baby B.

  Her stomach knotted. She knew B wasn’t a project for either of them. She’d seen the way Ben had protected her at Vic’s office and how his face had crumpled every time she cried, as if her pain were his own. She’d be lying to herself if she tried to pretend that the whole time she’d been at the bakery she hadn’t been thinking about both Ben and B.

  Her phone vibrated again with a text from Ben. Good. Someone misses you. Comments like that might drive her mad. She was falling even harder for him, and she was an idiot. He didn’t say he missed her. For all she knew, what he really meant was that B needed a diaper change.

  “Hello? Earth to Aurel
ia.” Piper waved her hand in front of Aurelia’s face, startling her.

  “Sorry. I’m so tired I must have zoned out.”

  Piper eyed Aurelia’s phone, and Aurelia quickly turned it over. “I asked if you could pry yourself away from my brother’s big project long enough to meet me at the bookstore to go over a few things before my guys start painting.”

  Piper was handling the renovations to the bookstore and to the bakery for the new direction of Aurelia and Willow’s partnership. They were going to offer books at the bakery and baked goods at the bookstore.

  “Yeah, sure, of course,” Aurelia said. “I promised Ben I’d drop off breakfast. Let me just swing by his place and then shower real quick.”

  “With Ben?” Piper arched a brow.

  Aurelia glared at her. “At home. Before I go, though, I want to see how Willow’s book nook is coming along.”

  “Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous,” Willow said as she put dollops of batter on a tray. “I think this was the smartest thing we could have done, utilizing both locations instead of just making the bakery/bookstore here in Sweetwater. And it leaves the apartment above the bakery free. Shira’s been tossing around the idea of spending more time here now that Bodhi and his mother have both moved. This way she can stay upstairs if she wants.”

  Willow put the tray in the oven. As they headed into the bakery to check out the book nook, she asked, “Did you hear about Remi’s stalker?”

  “What? No.”

  “Scary shit,” Piper said.

  “Someone is sending her threatening letters, and they broke into her house. I’m surprised it wasn’t on TMZ, but Aiden managed to keep it all under wraps to protect her,” Willow explained.

  “Oh my gosh. How is Remi handling it? Was she home when they broke in?”

  “No, and you know Remi,” Willow said. “She thinks everyone is overreacting. She hates the bodyguards Aiden hired, and she feels like if whoever broke in really wanted to hurt her, they would have broken in when she was home. She kind of has a point. I’m just glad she’ll be here filming soon. LA is so crazy.”

  Aurelia thought about Ben’s big-boobed LA hookup, and her stomach seized. She’d always known Ben had been with plenty of women, but she’d been thinking about it so much the last twenty-four hours, it made her queasy.

  She forced those thoughts away and focused on the bakery, which adjoined Bridgette’s flower shop through an arched doorway. Aurelia loved the distressed mint and pink cabinetry and the wide glass displays spanning almost the full width of the store. Behind the register, packages of bakery paraphernalia wrapped with pretty pink and green bows decorated the shelves. They’d cleared the tables at the far end of the room for the new reading nook. The shelves started halfway up the side wall and ran the length of it. Aurelia pictured the shelves displaying books from her store, the enticing covers silently calling out to readers—and even those who didn’t yet realize they were readers—because she knew books had special powers to captivate people and sweep them out of their own lives into someplace magical.

  “We’re going to stain the bookshelves the same color as the hardwood floors,” Piper explained.

  “This is perfect,” Aurelia said in wonder. “Simply perfect.”

  “I found an antique sofa and two end chairs online last night,” Willow said. “I’ll send you pictures. I think they’ll give it the coziness we talked about.”

  As Willow and Piper discussed the build-out, Aurelia’s mind circled back to Ben and B. Had he changed her diaper? What if she needed another bath? He couldn’t bathe her alone. He hadn’t showered last night because B was sleeping on his chest. She should probably stick around long enough for him to shower before going home.

  Half an hour later, as she drove down the cobblestone streets toward Ben’s house with a bag of his favorite cheese Danishes and Boston cream pie doughnuts, she was still thinking about everything his sisters had said.

  He even loves the way you snort-laugh. The dude is totally into you . . .

  Maybe she should just tell Ben how she felt and leave the ball in his court. She was a big girl. She could handle it if he laughed in her face, couldn’t she? Or if he said, Great, let’s fuck? What if all he really wanted was a one-night stand? Or worse, what if his innuendos were jokes and he really didn’t like her in that way at all?

  By the time she reached his house, she was all riled up and confused. She stormed through the front door and through the clean living room—Clean? For some reason that only heightened her anxiety. Leave it to master-at-everything Ben to take control of his frigging chaos in the space of a morning and be able to handle fatherhood with ease and grace.

  He wasn’t in the kitchen or his office. She stalked upstairs, gritting her teeth and practicing her lay-it-on-the-line speech. Ben, I like you. I might even love you. And you don’t have to like me back—or love me—but I wanted you to know.

  I can do this. I can do this, she told herself as she stomped down the hall toward his bedroom. I am totally doing this! She felt lighter already. This was exactly what she needed to do.

  She walked into the bedroom as he was coming out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel and carrying Baby B’s basket. His hair was wet, and he hadn’t shaved. He always shaved! Damn it. His scruff was dark and sexy, and it made him look edgier than usual, which made her all sorts of nervous.

  He set down the basket, in which B was fast asleep, and stepped toward her, smiling as he said, “Hey, Rels. I got the place cleaned up.”

  Her eyes were riveted to the water dripping down the treasure trail on his abs. She opened her mouth to speak, but it was bone dry, and her mind went completely and utterly blank.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Her fingers itched to rip off that towel and throw herself into his arms, but she was frozen in place, and he reached out, touching her fingers, sending lightning through her veins. She dropped the bag from the bakery, said, “I can’t do this,” and practically ran down the stairs and out the front door.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  AFTER BABY DUTY and breakfast, courtesy of his very confusing best friend, who still hadn’t returned his texts from this morning, Ben was finally trying to get himself thinking straight before his conference call with Aiden. Thank God B was sound asleep after two bottles and three diaper changes. Now if he could only focus on work.

  He gazed out the window of his home office. He had a six-thousand-square-foot home on seven acres within walking distance of town, tucked away down a long tree-lined driveway, he ran a multibillion-dollar empire, he might have a beautiful baby girl, but he couldn’t even hold on to the only woman he wanted. His house never felt like a home except when Aurelia was in it, and even then it didn’t feel as warm and homey as her apartment did. In Aurelia’s apartment, they fell asleep on the couch together most of the time, but even if he fell asleep on the couch and she went into her bedroom, she was still right there, just a few steps away. That felt good and right. In his house they slept on the couch, or the chaise lounge, and he would never even think about leaving her to go upstairs to the bedroom. It was too far away.

  His mind circled back to Aurelia running out of his bedroom, when she’d said, I can’t do this. He’d started to go after her, but then he’d remembered the tiny ball and chain relying on him. He hadn’t even been able to call out after Aurelia for fear of waking the baby.

  He looked down at B sleeping soundly in the basket by his desk and crouched beside her. He should be pissed every time he looked at the baby who was turning his life upside down, but how could anyone be angry at an innocent child? It wasn’t her fault he might have screwed up and her mother was too weak to care for her. Or maybe she was in trouble. Fuck. He needed to find out, but he was biding his time, wanting to find out the paternity results first, because if B wasn’t his, then social services could deal with tracking down her mother.

  His chest constricted at that thought, which confused him even more. How could he feel so much for her
so fast? He touched the baby’s head.

  It’s just you and me, B.

  Baby Ben. Who called a baby something like that? Thinking of how easily Aurelia had come up with the name brought a smile. She hadn’t harassed him for possibly having a child. She’d gone into organized-and-efficient Aurelia mode and made a list of possible mothers.

  Ben stood up and snagged the list from his desk, reading the names she’d given the women he’d slept with—Hotel Hookup/Malibu Barbie, Big Apple Fuck Buddy, and Pretzel Girl. She was a much better person than he was, because if the tables were turned he’d have called the men she’d slept with something like Dick Weed, Asshole, or Dead Meat. Like that little prick who had sent her running back to Sweetwater in the first place. Kent, the on-again, off-again boyfriend she’d dated when she’d lived in New York City. Hell, he should probably thank the guy, but he had a feeling if he ever came face-to-face with the asshole, he’d make him pay for hurting her.

  He pulled out his phone to send her another text, but he’d already sent one apologizing for the situation he was in and thanking her for sticking with him as long as she had. What else could he say? She had a life to live, a business she was setting up, and a new apartment. She had her fresh start, and she’d made it pretty clear she didn’t want it to include him and the baby. And damn, that pissed him off, because he’d never abandon her in her time of need. He would suck up his jealousy, hurt, and anger and make sure she was okay.

  Aw, hell.

  He sank into his chair as understanding dawned on him. Maybe that’s why it was easier for her to leave—because she wasn’t jealous, hurt, or angry. She didn’t have those feelings toward him. She just wasn’t willing to mess up her fresh start by being his copilot while he navigated this new, potentially life-altering terrain.

  He pulled out his phone and mumbled, “The hell with that,” as he thumbed out another text. His phone rang, and Aiden’s name flashed on the screen. Damn it. He glanced at the clock and realized it was time for their conference call. Leaving the text to Aurelia unsent, he answered the call.