Ben rolled onto his belly, but instead of finding a warm Darcy, he found cool sateen sheets. The last two weeks had been a series of juggling acts. Between Darcy’s schedule and his own, they had barely enough energy to snuggle into bed together. Sometimes they came together in a fiery passion in the middle of the night, sometimes it was a sweet, whisper-filled dance of skin.

But it was just skin and light small talk.

They were too tired for anything more than that.

The college kids were home for break and today was the last day for Brit’s class so he’d been doing double time on shop duty and Uncle Ben duty to keep the kiddo out of trouble. Today was the first day he and Darcy actually had off at the same time.

Which was why he was sleeping in her tiny queen-sized bed instead of dragging her over to his much more comfortable one last night. She’d promised him a little breakfast in bed and an entire day without plans.

He rolled onto his side, groaning at the clock. Six in the morning was only good for one thing—a long night of partying and going to bed when the sun was rising. He caught a flash of something in the hallway. He scooped up his jeans off the floor and half zipped them on his way through the door.

“I know, Jaime. Are you sure there’s—? Right. No, don’t call the Black Widow. No, I’ll be there.”

He crossed his arms with a sigh. There went their day off. She turned around and saw him, hunching up her shoulders. He knew it wasn’t her fault. Being a manager in training, or even a head supervisor like she still was for Blackstone’s meant that her time wasn’t exactly her own.

Didn’t make it suck any less.

She stuffed her phone in her robe pocket. “I’m sorry, Ben.”

“It’s okay.” He opened his arms and she quickly moved into them. He rubbed his cheek against her hair. “Darcy emergency?”

“Tom called in sick.”

“Is he really sick?”

“He better be,” she said into his chest with a growl. “He better be on death’s door, or at the least have the flu.”

“It is going around.”

“I know.” She sagged against him. “And I certainly don’t want him to drag that into the store and get every single one of my cashiers sick. Four days, just four more days.”

He rubbed her back. “When do you need to go in?” He could feel her face scrunch up against his skin and he sucked back a sigh. “Now, huh?”

“I could make you breakfast.”

He hooked his arms around her shoulders and pressed his forehead to hers. “Nah. I’ll just head back to my house and go back to bed.”

“You can sleep here.”

He laughed. “My feet hang off your bed.”

She laughed. “Do I need to buy a bigger bed?”

“Unless you want to keep sleeping in mine.”

She kissed the center of his chest. “I do like yours.”

“Good, then come to my place when you get out. I’ve got Britzilla. Her dad has to work.” As soon as it came out of his mouth, he wanted to drag the words back. What the hell was he thinking? When John picked up Brittany, Darcy would recognize his brother.

“Yeah? You’re okay with me meeting some of your family?”

“Of course I am.”

She peered up at him in the dim light of the hall. “Are you sure?”

“Of course. Just text me when you get close and we’ll figure out dinner.”

“What? You’re not going to cook for me, Hartley?”

“Oh I can cook for you.” He pushed her back through the door. He pushed the unease to the back of his mind and concentrated on getting her robe off. With barely any time to talk, he’d found absolutely no opportunity to bring up John.

How was he supposed to keep his brother away from the woman he was falling in love with? When she sighed into his mouth, he turned off the little voice and concentrated on one of his favorite things.

Morning Darcy.

They were a frenzy of skin and panting laughter. She was just as eager to get a taste of him. They’d both been looking forward to this day off. Darcy flipped him onto his back and a curtain of sea-scented hair fell around his face.

“Hurry,” she said against his mouth.

He wiggled out of his jeans, kicking them and her sheets to the end of the bed. She knelt over him, her slim hand curling around the widest part of his cock. He groaned and pressed himself into her hand.

She slid the head of his dick along the seam of her pussy and he arched up, wanting inside her so bad, he sucked in a huge gulping breath when her heat surrounded him without a condom. “Darcy. Darcy, wait.”

“It’s okay. I’m on the Pill. And I haven’t been with anyone in a long time before you.”

He cupped her jaw even as she clamped around him like raw silk over heat. “Are you sure?” At her frown, he pulled her down. “I haven’t been with anyone without a condom before you.”

Her frown lifted. “I’m sure.”

He surged inside her again and her slick walls grasped tight and hot. “You’re going to ruin me for all other women.”

She arched up above him and took him slowly. “That’s the plan.”

His fingers dug into her hips, his ink on her body stood out on her pale, pale skin. The pearly fingertips of morning curled around the edges of her curtains and then he knew nothing but the unending pleasure of her body welcoming him.

His fingers climbed up her back as he sat up and went ever deeper. He tangled in her hair and drew her head back. Feasting on her neck kept him from coming too fast. He wanted this to last.

The first time inside her with no barriers shouldn’t be a quickie. He plunged inside her. Ocean-scented sex curled around them. Her fingernails bit into his shoulders as she rode him harder. The way she sobbed his name with the racking shudders that chased her orgasm kicked him into the beyond.

He poured himself inside her. The hot jets of his cum slickened her even more as he jerked her tight to him. When they both landed in a heap in the middle of her bed, they were fighting for breath.

“Holy hell.”

He laughed. “Did you just swear?”

Her head came up off his chest. “Just what are you doing to me, Ben Hartley? Tattoos, swearing and more orgasms than I’ve had in my entire twenty-nine years—all within three weeks.”

“Maybe the next word on my ribs should be debaucher.”

She laughed and crawled up to kiss him. “Maybe.” She groaned. “I want nothing more than to stay and do this five more times.”

“Five?” He dragged a pillow over his face. “What do I look like?”

“Stud for hire?”

He reached for another pillow and whacked her with it. Her laughter made their ruined day off just a little less awful. He tucked his pillow back under his head. Maybe if he told her about John right now things would stay on a high note. “Darcy?”

She rolled off the side of the bed and reached for her robe. “Yeah?”

“Do you have to go right now?”

She leaned over him. “I need to beat Miriam to the store and make sure everything’s good to go for the day.”

“Right.”

“Why? Is everything okay?”

“I need to talk to you about something. I was going to do it today.”

“Well, that sounds ominous.”

He rubbed his hands over his face. “Not exactly, but it’s going to take more than the five minutes you have to take a shower.”

“Tell me tonight.”

He slumped back against the pillows. “Yeah, we’ll talk about it tonight.”

She sat back down on the bed. “Ben.”

“No, it’s not earth-shattering. And it’s not about you and me. Not really.”

“Jeez. That makes it sound even better.”

He sat up and kissed her hard. “Nothing that would come between us.”

She frowned and stood up. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Then cook me an awesome dinner and I’ll forgive you anything.”

If only it were that simple. He listened to her shower turn on and fell into a fitful sleep.

He woke to cold feet and an empty house. His six-foot-four-inch frame was not meant for a queen-sized bed. He threw on his clothes and headed downstairs. Darcy left a half pot of coffee behind, but it was stone cold and smelled old. He dumped the pot and rinsed it out, grabbing a soda from the fridge on his way out the back.

They weren’t exactly hiding their relationship, but the mothers on the circle were too nosy for their own good. He had about an hour before he had to pick up Brittany. She had a half day, which put him firmly in Uncle Ben territory.

John had to work and he’d planned on spending the day with his two favorite girls. After a quick shower, he decided to grab lunch for the three of them and bring Brittany to the store. She’d get a kick out of the lights.

He parked across from the elementary school. Minivans, SUVs and station wagons lined the street. Buses dominated the parking lot and there were a staggering number of little people scattered everywhere.

They were experiencing a mild winter, leaving muddy slush and dirty snow as the dominant color of the landscape. He spotted Brit’s bright-red scarf and cap and one arm in the throng of excited kids.

He’d be pretty excited if he had two weeks off too.

Brit carefully listened to the crossing guard and hurried over to him. “Hiya, Uncle Ben.”

“Hiya, Britzilla. Ready to blow this pop stand?”

“More than. I have to read five books over vacation. My teacher sucks.”

Being more of a doodler and sketcher than a reader, he sympathized. “Sorry, squirt.”

“What are we going to do today?”

“I thought we’d stop by my girlfriend’s work and see if you could meet her. And you could see the tree I did.”

“The cool lights one?”

“That’s the one.”

“Excellent.” She hopped into the cab of the truck and slid into the passenger seat. “You’re not going to kiss and stuff, are you?”

He checked to make sure she was buckled in and started the engine. “I’m probably going to kiss her.”

“On the mouth?”

Ben snorted. He liked kissing other things on Darcy, but figured it was safer to nod. “Probably.”

“I don’t know why anyone would want to swap spit. Seems gross.”

He laughed. “I’ll remind you of that when you like your first guy.”

“Oh, I already like a boy. Max. He’s really cute. But I don’t want to lock lips with him. My friend Lucy said it’s cold and wet and just,” she shook her head, “yuck.”

“I’m sure your dad will be happy to hear that you’re not interested in kissing right now.”

“Knowing Dad, he’d find Max and break him over his knee like in a wrestling move that Kane does.”

“You guys still watch that stuff?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, Dad likes it.”

Ben had never gotten into wrestling. Of course he’d been the odd man out with markers while John was taking apart everything in sight. He preferred to stay in his room and draw as a kid. Until he’d discovered girls. Then it was football, girls and the gym.

“So what do you want for lunch?”

“Lou’s!”

“Girl after my own heart.” They headed to the little shop and loaded up on yeasty bread and garlicky, sauce-laden meatball grinders. Knowing Darcy and her staff, he ordered a few extras to pass out to whoever wanted to duke it out for them. With a cooler full of sodas and ream of napkins, he let Brittany entertain him on the slow ride across town.

All the schools let out at the same time so the buses congested every main road. By the time he got to Blackstone’s, his truck smelled like an Italian restaurant and his stomach was roaring.

He boxed up a half-dozen grinders and kept two out for him and his girls. They dodged customers and finally made it to the front of the store. Brit stopped so fast he almost crashed into her. The cooler top plopped to the floor. “Holy crap!”

“Cool, huh?”

“You did all this?” Her brown eyes were huge.

“Yep.”

“Why doesn’t our house look like this?”

Ben laughed and bumped her to get moving. “Budget.”

“Yeah, this had to cost some big bucks.”

“Here, let me get that for you.” Jaime squatted in front of Brittany and scooped up the top to the cooler.

“Brit, this is Mrs. Suarez. Jaime, this is my niece, Brittany.”

Brit maneuvered the bag until it slid down to her elbow so she could shake Jaime’s hand. “Nice to meet ya.”

Jaime laughed. “Nice to meet you too, mija. What’s all this?”

“I figured you guys didn’t have time to go out and get lunch so I brought a few grinders from Lou’s.”

Jaime tugged his collar until he bent down to where she could reach him for a smacking kiss on the cheek. “I think I love you, Gigantor.”

Brit’s musical laugh echoed. “Gigantor?”

“Jaime’s a pip-squeak, of course I look huge to her.”

Jaime took the box from him. “Your uncle is bigger than most men, mija.”

“Not my dad. He’s a little taller,” her voice pitched lower, “and even wider.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Hey, is Darcy around?” Ben interrupted before his chatty niece told Jaime all about John. No one would make the correlation to the guy that came into the store, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

“She’s covering a break.”

“On the… Is she on the register?”

“Yes. You should hear her trying to bite back a growl whenever her station is on the loop.”

“Loop?” Brittany asked.

One of the songs he’d programmed came on and the lights twirled around the single wall behind the register, the wreaths flashing in time to the music.

“That is so cool!”

Ben shrugged down at Jaime. “It’s her favorite word.”

“Well, I think it’s pretty cool too. But I like Christmas.”

“So which one’s your girlfriend?”

Jaime bit back a laugh.

“The blonde lady over there.”

“Wow, Uncle Ben, she’s a hottie.”

Jaime couldn’t muffle her laugh this time. “Oh Ben, you’re going to end up with a daughter just like her. I can see it.”

“Ha ha, Jaime. That’s very funny.”

She took the box and cooler from him. “Thanks for thinking of us. I’ll get Darcy off the registers so you can get some food into her. She hasn’t stopped since she got here.”

“Come on, squirt, let’s go surprise her.”

 

Darcy’s back ached something fierce and if she heard Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree one more time there was going to be blood. She smiled at the customer in front of her. “Do you need a box for this?”

“Do you have two?”

Darcy looked at her dwindling stack but grabbed two anyway. When they were gone, they were gone. “Sure.”

“Thanks.” The woman gave her a weary smile. “Happy Holidays.”

“Happy Holidays,” Darcy parroted back. It was safer to say that then Merry Christmas. Heaven forbid they didn’t celebrate the holiday.

Garlic and sauce wafted into her station. Man, if someone went to Lou’s and didn’t ask her if she wanted something there was definitely going to be more than blood.

“Excuse me, miss?”

She would know that voice anywhere. She heard it before dreams and when she woke up. Sometimes she even heard it in her dreams. “Yes sir, one moment.” She didn’t turn around. Instead, she changed the register tape and refilled the bags under the counter.

He cleared his throat.

“I’ll be right with you, sir.” Her laughter was too close to the surface.

Ben gave her ponytail a sharp tug. “You wouldn’t be ignoring a customer would you, miss?”

“Of course I wouldn’t.” The trill of a girl’s laughter had Darcy turning around mid-tease. “Oh, you have company.” She tilted her head to the side and gave Ben an I’m-going-to-strangle-you look. “You must be Brittany.”

The girl was young and had tomboy stamped all over her. She was an obvious relation thanks to her brown eyes. They were all Ben’s. Her sleeve was tucked into her jacket and she wore two crooked ponytails in the same shiny dark hair as her uncle’s.

“So, you’re my Uncle Ben’s girlfriend, huh?”

Darcy’s eyebrows shot up. Ben clamped his hand over Brittany’s mouth and dragged her back against him. “I’m sorry, Britzilla here meant to say pleased to meet you.”

Brittany tugged his hand away. “I was getting to it.”

Darcy’s chest ached for a reason she couldn’t name. She smiled up at him. “Did you bring me something to eat, you wonderful man?”

“I am the wonderful man, and yes, there is saucy food for my saucy—er, I mean yes, for you.”

Darcy laughed as Ben tried to censor his usual bawdy humor. Jaime waved from the customer service desk and Darcy logged off her register. “I could kiss you.”

“I knew there was going to be kissing.”

Darcy laughed and took the bag from Ben’s niece. “How about I carry that for you?”

“Thanks.” The little girl slid her hand into Ben’s and looked up. “Can we eat now? I’m starving! And hot. It’s a million degrees in here.”

“I agree with both of those statements.” Darcy shrugged out of her cardigan. Working near the door sometimes got cold, but as usual, the heat was way too high in the store. “Need help with your jacket?” she asked Brittany. She couldn’t help but notice the empty sleeve.

Ben hadn’t mentioned his niece was handicapped, but it wasn’t exactly a conversation starter either.

“I got it.” She pulled on a tab with an extra-fat marble on the end and shrugged out of her jacket. White straps held her arm securely across her chest.

“What happened?”

“I fell off my bike.”

“Ow,” Darcy said sympathetically.

“Definitely. Breaking your collarbone sucks.”

Darcy frowned. The story niggled at her memory and she wasn’t sure why. She swung the bag. “Well, a hoagie from Lou’s should make you feel a little better.”

“Anything by Lou makes everything better.”

Ben smiled but the crinkles didn’t fan around his eyes like they normally did. She frowned at him lightly. “Let’s go to the break room and you can tell me all of your Uncle Ben’s secrets.”

Ben coughed and Darcy looked at him sharply. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, it’s just dry in here.”

She shrugged and led them both to the back. She swiped her card for the back swinging doors and punched in a code at the break room door.

“Wow, it’s like a bank back here.” Brittany looked around. “Is there something important back here?”

Darcy laughed. “It’s just to keep curious customers out.”

“I’m a customer.”

Darcy clipped her badge to the girl’s collar. “You’re me today.”

“Cool.” She bustled into the break room. “Wow, you’ve got lockers just like I do at school!”

Ben looked down at her. “I thought we’d surprise you. I forget that she talks your ear off.”

Darcy smiled. “It’s okay, I like her.”

“Good. It’d be really handy if my two favorite girls liked each other.”

They broke out the food and Brittany told her all about Ben’s more colorful clients at the tattoo parlor. Ben blushed but seemed to get into the swing of things with his niece.

She wasn’t sure what was wrong with Ben, but he’d been off since that morning.

“The best was when Uncle Cesar put up this huge skull off the sign in the shop. It had red glowing eyes that he made with laser pointers. I love to give him ideas. Uncle Ben says I’m going to give him an ulcer someday.”

Ben shook his head. “Not someday, squirt. Already.”

She laughed as Ben stood and gathered their papers. “I need to use the men’s room.”

Darcy looked at Brittany. “Do you need to go?”

“I’m good.”

Ben paused at the door. “I’ll be right back.”

“I think she’ll be fine with me for a few minutes, Ben.”

“Right.”

Brittany turned to her. “You like my Uncle Ben, huh?”

Darcy crossed her arms over her stomach. “Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No, I think I like you. You’re much nicer than any of the other girls that Uncle Ben has dated. They’re usually nice to my face, but I hear them talk about me with my uncle when I’m out of the room. I mean really, don’t they think I have ears?”

Darcy laughed. She knew that kids overheard things all too well. The things she’d heard through the thin walls of the small apartment when she was a kid would make a prostitute blush. “Some women don’t like to share their time with kids.”

“I get that. They want to do adult stuff.”

And knowing Ben’s particular gifts, she imagined most women did not want to deal with a child taking time away from his…talents.

“My dad thinks Uncle Ben is a bimbo magnet. But he says they’re hot babes at least.”

Darcy laughed. “It must be interesting to have men around all the time.”

“They sometimes forget they shouldn’t say stuff in front of me. Then my dad gets all red in the face and tells me to go to my room. Like it’s my fault he said stuff he shouldn’t.”

Darcy couldn’t stop smiling at the girl. Precocious didn’t even cover it. “He was probably just embarrassed.”

“Yeah, probably. Wanna see a picture of him?”

“Sure.”

Brittany dug an iPhone out of her pocket. “I got Dad’s old phone when he got a new one. It’s pretty cool. Not as cool as the new phones, but better than the ones my friends have,” she explained as she swiped it on.

She handled the phone better than Darcy knew how to use hers.

“Here. This was at Christmas last year.” She swiped quickly. “And my birthday, and here was at Uncle Ben’s opening of Luna Hart.”

She went through the pictures so fast, Darcy barely got a chance to see, but she stopped and held the phone out with Ben and her father mugging for the camera with the sign behind them.

Darcy frowned. She’d never forget that face. “Brittany, what’s your dad’s name?”

“John. John Hartley.”