Claiming His Read online

  “What’s up?” She stuffs the last of the croissant into her mouth and carefully licks all of her fingers before grabbing my hand again.

  “Ew, Liv,” I tell her, wiping my hand on my jeans before taking hers again. “What do you say we go rent a movie and pop some popcorn? Maybe Julie will come over and the three of us can hang out.”

  “Julie! Yes!” Liv jumps into the air and attempts her best superhero landing.

  Laughing, I pull out my phone and text my best friend. She responds almost instantly that she’ll bring a movie and some M&Ms to put into the popcorn.

  Julie: Tell the goober that I can’t wait to see her.

  Me: Neither one of us can wait! I’ll unlock the door, so come on in.

  Chapter 6

  Lance

  I can’t get Maggie out of my head. The idea of her hiding something from me – anything – is enough to make me sick. The thought of her being with another man makes me want to punch something. Not her, I could never be mad at her, but him. Whoever he is.

  I wonder briefly how much Julie knows, but I have a strong suspicion that she’s going to take Maggie’s side on this, no matter what I do. They’ve been friends for years, and while Julie and I are siblings, the falling out that we had after mom died has lasted a long time.

  But has it lasted as long as Maggie’s kid has been alive?

  Liv?

  I think that was the name on the reminder. What kind of mom needs to set a reminder on her phone to remember to go pick up her kid from school?

  A busy one.

  One that just opened a bakery.

  A single mom.

  Damn. I sit down on the edge of my sofa and rest my head in my hands while trying to think through what I know.

  First: I’ve harbored a secret crush on Maggie since we were in high school. She’s now back in my life and I’m not sure how to handle it. I’m not sure how to handle her and what I need to do to make sure that I can keep her in my life.

  Second: She got royally screwed over by Ben. There’s nothing I can do to undo the past, but I want to make sure that I’m there to keep her protected in the future.

  Third: It’s very likely that she has a kid. That fact makes my head hurt a little bit, but not enough to make me want to give up on her. I could grow to like a kid. Just as long as it doesn’t wipe boogers on me.

  Fourth: We’re supposed to have a double date this weekend with Julie and my friend, Ian. Quite honestly, this is the absolute last thing that I want to do, even though it sounded good at the time when we were setting it up. I would jump through flaming hoops to be able to spend time with Maggie, but not only am I reluctant to share her with anyone when I don’t have to, but the thought of trying to connect with my sister when our relationship is so tenuous is…stressful. To say the least.

  Any other woman with a kid may have scared me away by now, but not Maggie. She’s different. All of the feelings that I secretly harbored for her in high school are coming back now, making me want to pull her into me.

  Even her sass can’t drive me away. In fact, I find it endearing and cute, which I’m sure would piss her off.

  If her alarm hadn’t gone off in the bakery, I know what we’d be doing. I can imagine kissing my way up her delicious curves, sliding her apron off and letting all of her clothes fall to the floor.

  It’s intoxicating.

  My cock was hard at the bakery, and it’s throbbing in my pants now. All I want to do is find her, hold her, take her. I can imagine how good it would feel to bury myself completely in her, to fill her up and claim her for mine.

  Instead, though, I stand and stretch. There are two more days left in this week and then on the weekend I’ll get to see her, but I also have to see my sister. We really need to patch things up before then.

  My house is quiet. Too quiet. Against my better judgement, I wonder what it would be like to have a kid running around. When I glance around my space, I’m amazed at how spartan and bare it is.

  Kids have toys. My house would have toys.

  It would be covered with toys, and not the adult kind that I want to use with Maggie. Bright plastic toys that use batteries and make loud noises until you lie and take out the batteries and then throw the whole thing away.

  At least, that’s what my parents did.

  The thought hits me like a ton of bricks.

  Having kids around scares the shit out of me, but not because I don’t really like kids. Maybe it’s because I don’t know how to handle kids. I was never allowed to be a kid. I want to call my sister to see if she has any idea about whether or not I’m making sense, but instead I fire off a quick text.

  Me: You got time to talk about some deeply repressed issues that I have about mom and dad?

  Julie: Not at all. Hanging out with Maggie.

  Julie: Jealous?

  Julie: I know you are!

  Julie: She says hi, by the way.

  I think for a long moment before responding. I know what I want to say to Maggie, but I also know that if it goes through Julie, she’ll have a ton of questions.

  Screw it. I’ve always believed that if there’s something you want, you should do whatever it takes to get it.

  Right now, the thing I want is Maggie.

  Me: Tell her I can’t wait to spend more time together like we did at her bakery.

  Me: And tell her I can’t wait to meet Liv.

  I’m expecting some sort of reply, so I sit and stare at my phone for the next ten minutes. The grandfather clock in the living room ticks loudly, counting away the seconds while I wait.

  Nothing.

  I get nothing.

  Maggie

  There’s nothing like the hustle and bustle of a hot kitchen to keep me on my toes and make sure that I’m not dwelling on the past. Last night with Julie was great, and Liv and I were having a blast eating popcorn and watching a silly movie when Lance had to text.

  At first, I loved that he would reach out to Julie about me.

  But he knows about Liv.

  The problem with him knowing about Liv is that he’ll eventually ask questions about her dad. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, and being with Damien for as long as I was is definitely one of them. The only good thing to come out of it is that I have Liv.

  Maybe if Liv’s biological dad wasn’t Lance’s roommate from college, I wouldn’t feel like this was as big of a deal as I’m making it. The two of them obviously didn’t keep up, but I know that they had hard feelings after they both graduated.

  They’d been best friends all through high school, so going to college and living together made a lot of sense to them both. The problem was that they stopped talking when Damien slept with Lance’s girlfriend.

  Twice.

  And then I let myself get knocked up by him. The thought makes me shake my head, and the customer in front of me thinks I’m talking to her.

  “So, you don’t have any cupcakes today?”

  Someone is talking to me. I snap back to reality and look down at the young boy looking up at me.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I was thinking about something else. I will have cupcakes frosted after the morning rush! Do you want to order a specific amount and I can set them aside for you?”

  The boy holding her hand grins at me and I can’t help but smile back. In that way, I’m the opposite of Lance. He may not like kids, but I love them. This kid is obviously too young to be in public school and must be out with his mom for some errands this morning. Watching them together gives me a pang of jealously and I desperately miss Liv.

  “All of the cupcakes you have, please.” He says, puffing out his chest and trying to look as important as possible.

  I raise my eyebrow at his mom, and she shakes her head before mouthing the word “two” and holding up the peace sign.

  “You got it, bud. All of the cupcakes. I’ll have them here and ready for you when you guys swing back through.”

  They leave and, for a moment, the bakery is quiet. I ca
n hear the oven running in the back from here and my timer slowly ticking away before it rings. Even though I’d love to have a radio running, the space is too small, and it would be too loud, so right now it’s just the sounds of the bakery slowing down after the breakfast rush.

  I pull a stool up to the counter and sit down with a sigh, but barely have time to relax before the bell over the door jingles and announces another customer.

  Smiling, I stand up and turn, my smile dripping off of my face when I see who’s there.

  Damien.

  How in the hell did he find me?

  He’s taller than I remember, and while he’s put on a little weight, it looks good on him. His black hair has a little gray around the temples, but his eyes are still bright. He has on a pair of low-slung jeans and a tight t-shirt that is fitted to perfectly show off all of his muscles.

  It’s easy to see why women fall for him. It’s easy for me to see why I did.

  “Maggie. You look incredible. I’m so glad I found you.”

  Hearing him say my name gives me shivers, but not the type that Lance gave me. I realize that I’m gripping the counter tightly, and I have to take a deep breath to try to relax. When I don’t respond to him, he takes a few steps into the bakery – my bakery – and tries again.

  “I saw an article about this place online, so I had to drive into town to see if it was really you. Little Maggie Ward, making good for herself. You look good, Maggie.”

  Still I couldn’t say anything. I felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. There were people walking by on the sidewalk, but nobody looked up. Nobody looked in.

  It’s like nobody knew that I couldn’t breathe.

  “Don’t you have anything you want to say? Like hello? You’re being rude, Mags, and after all of the time we spend together.”

  “Don’t call me that.” I found my voice, but only because he used my nickname. Lance had called me that just the other day, and I couldn’t bear to hear it coming out of Damien’s mouth.

  “What? Mags?” By now, he was all of the way up to the counter, and so close that I could easily reach out and touch him. Even though I wanted to recoil, I wasn’t going to give him that satisfaction.

  “You lost all right to call me that when you left us, so don’t think that you can just come walking back in here and pretend that nothing happened. You need to leave, Damien.”

  “I’m just here for some baked goods. Maybe a muffin. Cupcake. Something as sweet as you are.” He allows his eyes to roam over my body and I shiver. “How’s Liv?”

  Hearing him say my name was one thing, but hearing him say my daughter’s name was another thing. He signed away his rights to her right after she was born. Hell, he’s not even on her birth certificate, so for him to walk in here and act like he has a right to her makes me furious. I’m not even sure how he found out her name.

  The damn newspaper article.

  “You need to leave.”

  “I don’t have to.” He leans his hands on the counter. “I want something delicious to eat, and I want to hear about my daughter.”

  At this, I laugh. I can’t believe that I would be able to laugh in his face when he’s this close to me after six years of no contact, but I do. The thought that he would want to march back into my life and try to insert himself into what Liv and I have is ridiculous.

  “Your daughter? Please. You don’t have a daughter.”

  His face darkens, but before he can say anything, the door opens. We both quickly look at the door to see who’s come in, and I feel a sharp pang of relief flood through me.

  It’s Lance.

  Perfect timing.

  Looking sexy as hell.

  He smiles at me and then glances at Damien. I can tell that it takes him a moment to recognize who’s in my bakery, but when he does, the smile fades from his face.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Lance’s voice is deep and dark, and it makes my lower stomach tighten. Again.

  Really? Right here? I’m going to get turned on by Lance right here and right now when ten seconds ago I wanted to run and hide?

  Short answer: Yes.

  Chapter 7

  Lance

  I’d spent all morning at work not really working. A lengthy call to a therapist friend confirmed what I thought I knew – I had some serious issues regarding my parents. Those would need to get worked out, but not right now. Right now I had somewhere important to be, and that was visiting Maggie at her bakery.

  I’d come so close to kissing her and claiming her for my own yesterday, and I spent all night thinking about her. She knew that I knew about Liv.

  Now she needed to know how I felt about her.

  The morning was unseasonably warm and walking down the street to her bakery feels great. There’s a line out the door, like before, so I grab a newspaper and sit down on a bench to watch and wait until it clears up a little.

  I want to talk to Maggie, but I don’t really feel like doing it in front of an audience.

  The next time I glance up from my article, the line is gone, so I fold my newspaper and tuck it under my arm, yank on her door, and step inside.

  I don’t see how walking into her bakery could ever get old. As soon as I walk through the door, I’m struck with an incredible smell of her baked goods. There’s chocolate and cinnamon, melted butter, and an incredible sweet smell of a glaze. I breathe in, and when I see her at the counter, I relax and smile.

  Everything is going to be okay.

  I had been so focused on seeing Maggie that I hadn’t realized there was anyone else in the bakery with her, but when I see him, I know exactly who he is.

  Damien Smith hasn’t changed that much. He looks like he’s still the cocky prick who stole every one of my girlfriends he could, slept with them, and then discarded them. We’d been best friends until he destroyed our friendship.

  Why in the hell is he standing in the bakery? He hasn’t lived here in years. He has no reason to come back into town.

  I remember that he and Maggie were friends for a short period of time, but I always assumed that that had ended. Julie never mentioned anything about Damien hanging out, and she knew how much I hated him.

  Even though I came here to explain to Maggie exactly how I felt and to apologize for being an ass, everything has changed. I no longer feel like I’m in control.

  “Damien, how the hell are you?” It’s me speaking, and I’m the one walking across the bakery, but it doesn’t sound like my voice. I’m pleased to note that it doesn’t sound like I want to kill him.

  “Lance!” Damien turns from Maggie, but not before he gives her a look, and walks over to me, grabbing my hand and then pulling me into a hug. “It’s damn good to see you!”

  “What are you doing in town?” I pull back and, for the first time, notice that Maggie looks pale. It’s the same way she looked when I made the off-hand comment about not wanting kids. She’s gripping the edge of the counter so tightly that her knuckles are white.

  “Just stopped in to see sweet Mags here and congratulate her on her new bakery. Going to culinary school with a kid must have been terribly hard,” he says, turning to face her. “Hope you had some support from people to make it easier.”

  With that comment, her face changes. “I did, asshole, but no thanks to you.” She walks around the counter and display case, flushing, her skin growing red as her eyes narrow. Completely ignoring me, she stands in front of Damien and jabs a finger into his chest. “You. Need. To. Leave. Now.”

  He laughs and brushes her hand away like it is a minor nuisance. Even though I don’t know what exactly is going on, I feel rage starting to build in me and I have to take deep breaths to try to stay calm. “Anyone want to explain what the hell is going on here?”

  Maggie is pissed and looks like she could explode at any second. “Damien here was just leaving,” she says pointedly, looking right at him. He smirks back at her, which makes me want to deck him.

  “Not until we
talk about Liv.” He crosses his arms and stares at her. There’s a pit in my stomach and I feel like I’m going to be sick.

  “We’re not talking about my daughter.” Her voice is level and even, but spilling with hate.

  “Our daughter.”

  “You’re the sperm donor, not the dad.”

  It all clicks. “Wait. You’re Liv’s father?” I turn to Damien, shock on my face. Never in a million years would I have seen this coming. “What the hell?”

  “You didn’t tell him? Oh, this is rich! I can’t believe you didn’t tell your little boyfriend the truth about Liv.” He turns to me, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Yep, I’m the dad, and I’m back in town because I want to see my daughter.”

  “You’ll never see her. I told you that when you left us, don’t you remember?” Maggie sounds sure of herself, but some of the color has started to fade from her face.

  Damien leans forward so that the two of them are close. I watch it, still amazed at what I’m hearing for the first time. Yesterday I didn’t even know that Maggie had a kid. Now today I find out that it’s Damien’s?

  “You will let me see her. And you’ll let me be a part of her life. I’m ready to be a dad, Maggie. Don’t you think it’s time for Liv to get to know her dear old dad?” He grins at her, and I can’t take it any longer.

  Without thinking about what I’m doing, and without thinking about the repercussions, I fold my hand into a fist and swing it back, grunting as I swing forward and make contact with his jaw.

  It’s damn satisfying.

  He grunts as his head snaps back and to the side. I follow through, landing the punch that I wanted to land a dozen times before. Some people deserve to be punched. Damien deserves much worse, but this is all I can do to him right now.

  “What the fuck, Lance?!” He screams, standing and holding his jaw. For a moment, I think that he’s going to hit me back and we’re going to end up in an all-out brawl in the middle of the Blue Sky Bakery, but he takes a deep breath, trying visibly to calm himself.