TALIA MADE THE mistake of stopping by the bakery on her way in to work Monday morning. Despite her lack of sleep, she’d felt refreshed and rejuvenated, which her sisters had immediately homed in on. She’d spent her brief visit denying that she’d been, as Piper had put it, banged into oblivion. Now it was midafternoon, and Talia had an hour to catch up on emails and phone calls before her next class. On her way to her office, her phone vibrated. She pulled it out, expecting to see a text from one of her sisters, who had been trying to pry the juicy details out of her all day, and hoping to get another text from Derek. He’d asked her to text when she got home last night so he wouldn’t worry, and she’d happily complied, enjoying his protectiveness. But he hadn’t returned her text. He’d called instead, saying he wanted to hear her voice one last time for the night . . . or rather, early morning. It was such a loving thing to do after the day and night they’d shared, she’d lain in bed afterward reveling in happiness.
She sighed at her mother’s name on her screen. Her mother hadn’t been at the bakery this morning, but gossip traveled faster than the speed of light around the Dalton family. She opened and read the message. The girls said my potion worked! When can we meet this yummy creature your sisters can’t stop talking about?
She looked up from her phone and saw Ben standing outside her office. Her stomach clenched. It had been a long time since she’d been the focus of so much gossip. She put her phone in her pocket, figuring she’d reply to her mother later.
“Which one called you—the sugar pusher, the not-so-sweet mama, or the one who thinks sex is a breakfast entrée?” she asked as she walked past Ben and into her office.
Ben cracked a smile, watching her like a hawk as she set her bag on her desk. “That would be three for three, plus the petite pain in my ass.”
“Aurelia? Oh, please. You guys are such good friends. You remind me of me and Fletch.”
Ben’s brows knitted and his jaw tensed in an expression she couldn’t read, but she might have imagined it, because in the next second that look was gone.
“Anyway, add Mom to that list of gossipers. She came by this morning under the premise of wanting me to make sure you were in good hands, but really, I think she just wanted to drop off this.” He reached into his coat pocket and set a bag on her desk. “I have no idea what’s in it, but it’s from Mom, which means it’s scented with pheromones or something else I don’t need.”
“Don’t you dare leave that on my desk. She sprayed my car with God knows what, and I had to leave the windows open for days just to get the smell out.” She leaned her hip against the edge of the desk, both of them avoiding the bag like it was diseased. “How was your trip to the city?”
“Good. I had dinner with Aiden Aldridge to discuss a new business venture.” Aiden’s younger sister, Remi Divine, had costarred with Zane in a movie that was filmed in Sweetwater when Zane and Willow had first started dating.
Ben sat in one of the chairs by her desk and crossed his ankle over his knee. His dark hair and serious eyes reminded her of their father, though Ben had a snarky side she couldn’t imagine her father having.
She waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn’t, she said, “And . . . ?”
“I might do it. It’ll mean spending a few months out in LA.” He leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head.
“Zane said he grew to hate LA when he lived there.”
“I’m not Zane,” he said smugly.
“Hey, you should have hooked Aurelia up with Aiden. Willow said he looks like David Beckham and he’s a real gentleman.”
He scoffed. “Aurelia doesn’t need a guy like Aiden. But he’s perfect for you.”
“Hm.” She wondered if there was something going on between Ben and Aurelia, and then she recognized his tactic. “I expect more from you than fishing for info. I have no interest in Aiden Aldridge or any other man. I’m off the market. But you know that already.”
They both turned at a knock on her door. She glanced over and saw Fletch walking slowly into the room. He’d been feeling better lately, and she knew he’d had a doctor’s appointment this morning, but she was surprised to see him. She suddenly wondered if Fletch had told Ben about Derek, too, and if he had, if he’d told him about his dancing.
“Have room for one more, or is this a private conversation?” Fletch asked as Ben rose to greet him.
“How’re you feeling, man?” Ben gave up the chair closest to the door for Fletch.
“Like a truck ran over my insides, but I’m getting there.” He sat down and said, “Your sister’s been walking my monster for me, which is a huge help.”
“Stop calling Molly a monster,” Talia said, “or I swear I’ll take her home with me and you’ll never see her again.”
Both Ben and Fletch gave her a yeah, right look.
Having told them a million times she didn’t have room in her life for a pet, she said, “Okay, maybe not, but she’s such a good girl. She doesn’t deserve to be called a monster.”
Ben and Fletch rolled their eyes.
She huffed out a breath and threw up her hands. “Double-teaming me? Really? Fletch, aren’t you supposed to be resting? And Ben . . . ?”
“Hey,” Ben said, splaying his hands toward the ceiling. “I’m just checking up on my sister to find out the scoop on your new man.”
“I couldn’t stand being cooped up for another day,” Fletch said.
“I guess I can understand that. What did the doctor say?” she asked.
“He said I can return to work as soon as I feel well enough,” Fletch answered. “Are you okay covering for the rest of this week? I’m hoping to come back Monday.”
“Yes, of course. For as long as you need me.”
“Unless, of course, you need her at night, because now she’s got a man in her life,” Ben added.
Fletch cocked a grin. “You mean the student with the professor fantasy.”
“Wait. He knows about this guy and I don’t?” Ben glared at Talia.
Relief swept through her. She wanted to be the one to tell Ben about Derek’s dancing. “Sort of, and he’s not my student. He never enrolled in the class. He only went because . . .” Oh boy, her brother wasn’t going to like this.
Ben narrowed his eyes.
“Because . . . ?” Fletch urged.
“Because he saw me teaching the day I nearly ran him over, and then he was interested and kept coming back.”
“Interested? So he scoped you out and pretended to be your student?” Ben’s voice rose, his hands clenched by his sides. “Talia, seriously?”
“That’s what you homed in on?” Fletch scoffed. “I want to hear about the ‘kept coming’ part.”
Ben glared at him. “Dude, she’s my sister.”
Fletch chuckled.
“I know what it sounds like,” she admitted, pacing beside him. “I was just as skeptical. I didn’t know if I should be flattered or creeped out. But he’s a really good guy. He’s caring for his father, who has Alzheimer’s, and he’s finishing his master’s in health administration. He wants to open an adult day-care center for families like his who need help caring for their ill or elderly relatives but aren’t ready to put them into a nursing home. And he does not have a professor fantasy.”
“If he doesn’t have a professor fantasy, that sucks for you,” Fletch said. “Unless he just hasn’t shared it yet.”
She and Ben both glowered at him.
“I don’t want to know about this dude’s fantasies or either of yours,” Ben said. “I just want to know he’s not a lowlife who’s going to hurt her.”
“And that’s why I love you,” she said. “Unlike everyone else, you stay as far away from the details of my sex life as you can.”
“That part of your life does not exist as far as I’m concerned.” Ben held his palm up and said, “In fact, can you please refrain from using the S word around me?”
“Yes. Perfect,” Talia said.
“I have a meeting, which is the real reason I’m on campus.” Fletch pushed to his feet. “I think Ben can take over from here.”
“I’ll see you tonight when I come by to walk Molly,” she said.
“We’ll talk more then. I still want those other details.”
“Pig,” she said as Fletch left her office. She faced Ben and exhaled loudly, tired of trying to rationalize her feelings for Derek. She didn’t need Ben’s approval. “I asked Derek to come to Mom’s birthday dinner. I want you to meet him and hear about his adult day-care idea. I thought you might be able to give him some advice. It’s all very grassroots. He and his friends are saving money to get it started.” She thought about telling him about how Derek was making that money and decided she wasn’t quite ready to fight that uphill battle yet. It was a lot for her to come to grips with and she was the one falling for him. Ben would approach it as another risk calculation, and while she’d appreciate his concern, she wasn’t a kid anymore. She could weigh her own risks.
“I’d be happy to. I trust your judgment with this guy, Tal. I just wish you’d met him some other way.”
“You mean almost running him over isn’t the ideal way to meet a mate?” she teased.
He didn’t look amused.
Fletch appeared in the doorway and said in a harsh whisper, “Incoming.”
He disappeared into the hall seconds before Dina Manco strolled through the doorway, all hip swagger and bouncing cleavage.
“Was that Fletch I saw heading out of here?” Her eyes locked on Ben, and her smile turned to a predacious grin. “Well, hello there, Mr. Dalton. Today is my lucky day.”
Talia was used to Dina’s overly promiscuous ways. Heck, everyone who knew her probably was, although as far as Talia knew, she’d never crossed the professional lines that could cause her to be fired.
Ben didn’t move from his seat or play into her seductive game. “Dina. Nice to see you.”
Dina put a hand on his shoulder, and Talia narrowed her eyes. She bit back her distaste and said, “Do you need something, Dina?”
“Oh, I need something, all right,” Dina answered, her shameless innuendo perfectly clear.
Ben pushed to his feet and cleared his throat, locking eyes with Talia and ignoring Dina altogether. She respected the hell out of her brother and was glad he wasn’t a dirtbag who would take the man eater up on her offer. “Talia, I’ll catch you later.”
“Okay,” Talia said. “I appreciate you coming by to check on me.”
He winked, and when he stepped behind Dina, he mouthed, Get rid of her!
Talia covered her laugh with a cough and walked around her desk, putting space between her and Dina. “Dina, you do realize that’s my brother you keep hitting on.”
Dina leaned over the desk, giving Talia an eyeful of cleavage. “There are rules about dating students, not about dating siblings of colleagues.” She sat on the edge of Talia’s desk and crossed her legs, causing her short skirt to inch up her thighs.
“What can I do for you, besides watch you drool over Ben?”
“As far as I’m concerned,” Dina said as she brushed nonexistent lint from her skirt, “he’s fair game. Just like Fletch, who I know will give in to me one day.”
“You do like to dream,” Talia said with an air of boredom. “I have work to do, so . . . ?”
“Oh, right. You know, I can’t remember why I came in.” She slid off the desk and wiggled her hips as she shimmied her skirt back into place. On her way to the door she said, “I guess I must have known you were stockpiling handsome men.”
Talia’s phone vibrated, and Derek’s name flashed on the screen. She made a mental note to keep the man eater away from him, and after Dina left, she opened the text. Her heart leapt at the picture of a drawing of Derek walking into his bedroom, his long hair and broad shoulders blocking Talia from the waist down. She stood before him, her hand outstretched, eyes brimming with unmistakable passion. How did he do that? Her heart was drawn in 3-D, as if it were beating out of her chest, right through her sweater, and colored a pretty red. Beside her were the words, Your turn, surrounded by tiny red hearts.
Another text bubble popped up. Okay?
She typed, I love it. It’s perfect, and as she sent the text, she thought, Just like you.