Be Mine Read online

  Carly flipped an egg over and shot him a glance, her ever-present smile playing at her lips. “I made a pot of coffee instead of just the single serves. Why don’t you get a cup while I finish up? The morning paper is on the table.”

  Dylan poured himself a cup, hoping it would help wake him up since all the blood in his body seemed to head straight to his cock whenever he was in the same room with Carly.

  The newspaper lay on the table next to a folder. When he picked up the paper, the folder slid to the floor, papers spilling out. Dylan reached to gather them and stopped. What the hell?

  “What’s all this?” He flipped through the sheets of paper. They looked like building plans for the shelter. He knew Marnie had wanted to add on, but an expansion like this would cost more than she had. He’d guess at least fifty thousand with the energy conservation details shown in these plans.

  Turning off the stove, Carly glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, those are the plans for the new expansion. It will more than double the size of the existing shelter. Maybe then I won’t have so many strays coming into my room.” She giggled as she plated up the eggs. She added a couple slices of bacon and a piece of toast to each plate before bringing them over to the table and setting the food in front of Dylan before she sat across from him, attacking her plate.

  But he was busy doing the math in his head. No way did they have the money for this. Marnie received a lot of donations from the Oakville community because she had a hard time affording the supplies she needed. Dylan had donated food to the shelter for years. He’d always done it anonymously, but he was pretty sure Marnie had figured it out long ago. But this? She’d never asked him for any money. He would have given her money if she’d asked.

  Then a thought struck him, his mouth going a bit dry. Julie had been interested in his money, but Carly… No, she wasn’t like that. He stared at her as she washed down a bite of toast with a large gulp of coffee.

  When she noticed him staring, she slowly lowered her cup. “You’re awfully quiet. Are you okay?”

  “Fine.” He blew out a breath. Don’t jump to conclusions. “I was just wondering how Marnie was going to afford to build this is all.”

  Carly’s eyes slid away from him, and her fingers fiddled with her napkin. “Well, that’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about.”

  Dylan suddenly felt as if his stomach had folded in on itself. No, no, no. Not Carly. They’d shared a perfect night together. Everything with her felt so natural … so real. She’d seemed to enjoy his every demand. And this morning, when he’d seen her in the kitchen making breakfast, it had felt like he’d come home, like they belonged right where they were.

  He felt nauseated as he shoved away from the table. She was playing him. She’d played him the whole fucking time. All she wanted was his money?

  “Dylan, what’s wrong?” She stood, walking around the table and reaching out to him, but he backed away from her before she could touch him.

  “Don’t. Was this really necessary, Carly?” He motioned toward her, still wearing his fucking shirt. “To go to all of this just for a payout?”

  “What are you talking about?” A little V formed between her brows, and she looked at him as though he were crazy.

  He laughed harshly. “Marnie could have just asked me for the money.”

  Understanding seemed to take hold. “Dylan, she didn’t want to ask you for money.”

  “So you thought you’d just pimp yourself out for the greater good? Am I supposed to leave the money on your bedside table?”

  He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. He could have stopped the slap that followed, but when Carly’s palm cracked across his face, he welcomed the pain. Maybe it would knock some fucking sense into him. Why did he choose women who did this to him?

  “Fuck you, Dylan!” Carly’s face had turned bright red, and she furiously swiped at tears.

  “You already did that, sweetheart.”

  This time, he caught her arm as she raised it to hit him. She tugged it out of his grasp, not bothering to wipe away the tears that seemed to be coming faster.

  “Get out,” she said in a low voice.

  He grabbed his keys off the table. “With pleasure.” He didn’t bother to ask for his shirt, just slipped into his shoes by the front door and strode out into the cold February morning.

  Chapter Twelve

  Carly sank into a kitchen chair, the tears flowing freely. What had just happened? As much as she tried, she couldn’t figure out how things had turned so quickly. Dylan had all but called her a whore. Was this just some cruel way of blowing her off?

  No, that wasn’t him. She knew that. Even if she’d misread him, and all he’d wanted from her was sex, he wouldn’t have been this mean. He wouldn’t have said such nasty things to her.

  He thought she wanted money from him? She’d understood that much, but she didn’t understand why he’d immediately thought that. She’d been about to tell him about the national grant she’d helped her mom apply for. If they received it, the sponsoring environmental group would pay to help them expand the shelter using green methods.

  She’d researched the grant, and considering her mom already had a lot of green practices, they were a good candidate. The one thing that would really help was a testimony for their shelter from Dr. Dylan Price. If he could write them a recommendation, it would really help with their consideration. But he hadn’t given her the opportunity to tell him any of that. He’d assumed the worst and run out.

  Her phone chirped happily from the kitchen counter, and she jumped up, hoping it was Dylan. Surely, he would realize his mistake. He would realize she wasn’t the person he thought she was.

  When she looked at the display, she was disappointed to see Becca’s name on the screen. She toyed with hitting ignore, but if she knew her friend, Becca would just keep calling until she answered.

  She’d barely said hello when Becca’s energy came over the line in a stream of nonstop words. Becca was crying, too.

  Carly wiped her tears away and tried to focus on what her friend was saying. “Wait, slow down. What happened?”

  Becca’s deep sigh filled the line. “Q and Gray. In a nutshell, they’re the biggest fucking assholes on the face of the planet! I thought that last night… I don’t know what I thought. But they seemed to want to be alone with me. They flirted with me like crazy—both of them! Then Gray got a phone call when we were on the way home, and … I don’t know, it’s like he just shut down. And Q!” Becca made a sound that could only be described as a frustrated growl. “He called me a little girl … a kid! He acted like the flirting had been all one-sided on my part, but I know he wanted me, Carly. I know they both did.” Becca erupted into another round of sobs.

  Carly could relate. Last night, Dylan had wanted her. She winced as she shifted in her seat, reminded of exactly how much he’d wanted her. The soreness that she’d welcomed just a few moments earlier now made her eyes fill with tears.

  Becca’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “I’m just glad things are going right for you. I can’t tell you how happy I was to see Dylan with you last night. I’m so glad he’s away from his bitch-ass ex-girlfriend. Julie sure was a piece of work.”

  Carly found herself pressing the phone closer to her ear. “Really, what happened between them?”

  “Well, in a nutshell, Julie is a gold-digger. All she was interested in was Dylan’s money. I had told him that—I’m good at reading people, you know—but he wouldn’t listen. He finally overheard her talking to a friend about everything she would do once she married into the Price fortune. That’s when he finally saw her for who she was.”

  Suddenly, things were falling into place. But what could she do?

  “Bec, do you want to come over for coffee? Maybe we can commiserate together.”

  “Commiserate? Oh no, what happened? Did something happen with Dylan? I love my brothers, but they don’t always make the best decisions when it comes t
o women.”

  “Just come over, okay? I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee.” Carly hung up the phone and headed to her room to dress with Cupid yipping behind her. She should feel better that the whole situation was obviously a misunderstanding, but his words had cut her so deeply. And if he was just lumping her in with his ex-girlfriend … well, did she really even want to be with someone who was ready to so easily believe the worst about her?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Three days had passed since Dylan walked out of Carly’s house, and he’d thought about her every single moment since. The fact that it was the night before Valentine’s Day didn’t help matters.

  He sat at the round oak bar in the center of Price Bar & Grill and watched the patrons stream in. Tonight was what Ethan called a “soft opening”. His brother had invited family and friends to the restaurant to give the staff a last-minute dress rehearsal before the place opened the next day.

  Dylan took a long slug of his beer and ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. Shit, his mom was going to give him the look for not shaving. But he hadn’t done much of anything the last few days besides work. He’d picked up his phone more than a dozen times to call Carly, but he hadn’t. What was he doing, getting involved with someone again who just wanted his money? Was this some weird pattern he was destined to repeat?

  “Hey, Dylan, you look lost in thought.” Linzee breezed over to him with a platter of canapés. “Everything okay?”

  He selected a delicacy from the silver tray as he pondered Foster’s girlfriend. She must have gotten over her stomach bug because she looked radiant. Her green eyes were absolutely glowing, set off by her emerald green shirt. How had Foster gotten so lucky? And Ethan, too? They both had amazing women, and they’d probably be starting families before long. Dylan wouldn’t admit that a wife and a big family were all he’d ever wanted.

  Shoving his jealousy down, he popped the canapé in his mouth and groaned as his eyes rolled back. “Everything’s better now. Damn, Linz, I don’t know how you do it.” He snatched another canapé and savored it, letting the buttery concoction melt on his tongue.

  Balancing her tray, Linzee placed three more canapés on the appetizer plate in front of him. She pushed a red curl behind her ear as she contemplated him thoughtfully. “Maybe good food will help pull you out of your funk. It always works for Foster.”

  “Did I hear my name?” Foster snatched the tray of appetizers out of Linzee’s hand as he dropped a quick kiss on her smiling mouth. “Darlin’, I wish you would sit down. These trays weigh a ton. You shouldn’t be on your feet, carrying heavy things.”

  Linzee simply rolled her eyes in response.

  Dylan chewed thoughtfully on the canapé while protecting the other three so none of his brothers would reach in and snatch them off his plate. They were delicious. Maybe that’s why Foster was so eager to snatch the tray away from Linzee.

  “Seriously, Foster, you don’t want her carrying a plate of food? Watch out, Linzee, this sounds like a ploy for him to steal it all for himself. If you’re not careful, you’ll find him in a corner later making himself sick on those little pork rolls you just brought around.” Dylan reached over to grab more canapés off the tray, watching Foster and Linzee exchange glances.

  “What exactly is going on with the two of you?” He might not be as good at reading people as his sister was, but something was definitely going on with Foster and Linzee. Foster all but proved that fact when a huge grin spread over his face.

  “As soon as Becca gets here, Linzee and I have an announcement to make,” Foster said.

  “Announcement?” Their little sister’s excited voice chirped as she bounced up to the bar, shaking snow out of her hair. “What kind of announcement?” Then Becca gasped dramatically as she looked back and forth between Foster and Linzee. “Ohmigod, are you finally getting married?” She clapped her gloved hands together, jumping up and down.

  “Becca, we didn’t say that!” Linzee’s cheeks glowed pink.

  “Married? Wait, what’s going on?” Ethan and Tori strode over to the group.

  Linzee sighed but couldn’t hide her little smile. “Well, I guess there’s no time like the present.”

  Foster raised his arm and motioned for his mother and Luke, who would most likely be happy for any distraction so their mom would stop fiddling with his tie.

  Once the Price family stood in a circle near the bar, Foster shushed their mumbling. He and Linzee looked at each other, and in unison, said, “We’re going to have a baby!”

  Becca’s scream of excitement was so loud that Dylan almost had to plug his ears. Foster was going be a dad! He joined his brothers, who were hugging Foster and slapping him on the back, while Tori and Becca bounced excitedly around Linzee. Sally Price just grinned and nodded. “It’s about time you made the announcement.”

  “Mom, you knew?” Foster asked.

  Sally’s blue eyes rolled. “Well, of course, dear.” She put her arm around Linzee. “No one has a stomach bug for that long.”

  “Well, it seems to have subsided, thank goodness,” Linzee said, holding her hand to her belly. “I didn’t have any morning sickness when I was pregnant with Georgia, so I’m sure this pregnancy will follow suit.”

  “Mom,” Becca said, “didn’t you say that you had morning sickness with Foster the entire nine months? Is that kind of thing hereditary? Ow!” Becca rubbed her arm where mother had jabbed her with an elbow.

  “Wait, what?” Linzee asked, clearly alarmed.

  “Oh, don’t concern yourself with that, dear.” Sally rubbed her hand lightly down Linzee’s back in a soothing manner. “Let’s sit you down and get you some herbal tea.”

  Dylan turned his attention back to his brothers and saw Ethan punch Foster in the arm. “Thanks for stealing my thunder, man.”

  “What thunder?” Luke asked, sitting on the bar stool next to Dylan and stealing one of the canapés off his plate before he could move it out of reach. “Am I the only one out of the loop?”

  Tori walked to Ethan, and he immediately put his arm around her, hugging her close. “Well,” Ethan said, “we were going to wait until after dinner, but I think this is the perfect time to share our news.” He looked at Tori with so much love in his eyes. “I’ve asked this perfect woman to marry me.”

  Even as she leaned into Ethan, Tori held up her left hand displaying a large diamond ring. Damn, how had he not seen that?

  “And I said yes!” Tori said to a round of cheers and squeals.

  Dylan stood to hug Ethan. He watched as his family celebrated. Ethan and Foster were getting everything he had ever wanted. He was happy for his brothers, but dammit if he didn’t feel jealous as hell. He sat on the stool facing his family and pasted a smile on his face, trying not to imagine Carly with a ring on her finger, or growing nice and round with his baby. He ran a hand through his black hair and reached for his beer.

  “Problems, little brother?” Luke asked, sitting on the stool to his right, studying Dylan intently with his black-as-night eyes.

  Swallowing a sip of beer, he shook his head. It was bad enough that he couldn’t stop thinking about Carly. He certainly didn’t want to ruin his family’s celebration with talk of his pitiful love life.

  “The problem is he’s an idiot.”

  Great. Judgment from the little sister. Just what he needed to make his week complete. Becca hopped on the bar stool to his left and ordered herself a glass of white wine.

  The three siblings sat in silence for a few moments, and then Luke lifted his beer in a toast. “To the single life.”

  Dylan lifted his pint glass and clinked Luke’s while Becca just stared at them. Finally, she shook her head. “Idiots. You just haven’t found the right woman yet, Luke.”

  Their eldest brother shook his head. “Marriage and family aren’t my thing, Bec. You know that.”

  Even though Dylan was looking at his beer, he could practically feel his sister roll her eyes. “Whatever. I’m not going to argu
e with you. Dylan, the only reason you’re single is because you’re a dumbass.”

  “What?” He looked at his sister and blinked. “How am I a dumbass? And what about you? You have two men chasing after you, yet here you are sitting by yourself. What’s up with that, Becca?”

  She paled, and he regretted bringing up her love life. “We’re not talking about me,” she said quickly before taking a sip of wine and turning to face the bar.

  “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

  “Forget it,” she interrupted, then sighed. “Look, I know it’s probably none of my business, but you and Carly seemed like you were getting along so well. You’ve never seemed like the ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ type, Dylan. So, what gives?”

  “You and Carly?” Luke interjected, coughing on his beer. “Well, I’ll be damned. Nobody tells me anything.”

  Dylan blew out a breath. “There’s nothing to tell. There is no me and Carly. And Becca, we’re not talking about this.” But telling his sister he didn’t want to talk about something was the biggest invitation he could give her not to leave it alone.

  Becca huffed out a breath. “Seriously? Dylan, I’ve spent some time with Carly over the last couple days. Do you have any ideas how upset she is over you?” His sister shook her head, a look of disgust on her face. “She’s a lot more understanding than I would be in that situation. I can’t believe some of the things you said to her, Dylan. I know you’re not that much of a complete ass. You are not the type of guy to bang my friend and walk out on her like that. I don’t care what happened with you and your ex. Carly doesn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

  He just stared at her and wondered when Becca got to be so smart.

  “Look.” Becca cut her eyes to him. “If you aren’t going to give me an excuse, that’s fine. But don’t you think you should call Carly at the very least? Don’t you think you owe her an apology?”

  Luke looked stunned. “You did what to Carly?” Then he quirked a brow and looked at Becca. “Do people even still say ‘bang’?”