Call You Mine (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #4) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,110
along all the black cats in New York City… or I was born unlucky.
What can I tell you about these men? Not much since I’m getting to know them too. All I know is that they are Trouble!
Don’t let their hotness fool you. Let me introduce you to them:
Hayes, the yummy doctor (and my best friend’s fiancé).
Pierce, the hot lawyer (and my other best friend’s estranged husband).
Mills, the hockey player who I’d like to have on a penalty box.
Vance, the broody smoldering special forces.
Beacon, the heartthrob musician.
And I save the worst for last, Henry Lloyd Merkel Aldridge. The owner of Merkel Hotels and Spas. He also happens to be my boss. If Lucifer had a twin, Henry would be him.
All of them are hot. I’m pretty sure they were forged by a deity and given to their mothers as a gift for enduring William and a punishment to the rest of us—humans. They are not easy to handle.
The Aldridge brothers should all come with warnings like, dangerous, explosive, poisonous...Too hot to handle, radioactive men, or addictive.
Do not approach.
They are so beautiful, you can’t stay away from them and when you’re close, you can’t get away. I’ve been working on figuring out how to get rid of one and suddenly I find myself with five more.
Defying Our Forever
We are taught at an early age that love stories should be long. In most cases, they are eternal. They should always contain a happily ever after. But sometimes love isn’t endless. The stories are shorter than we believed they were going to be. There’s a period mid-sentence and not a semi-colon. When you turn the page, the end appears instead of the next chapter.
Sometimes, we have to accept it and leave when there’s nothing moving forward.
My story is quite complicated. From beginning to end it has been out of the ordinary, and there were moments where it could qualify as extraordinary. I still remember how we first met. Everything was passion, wild adventures, and ferocious love.
But somewhere along the way we lost that. I felt searing pain when the period appeared mid-sentence in our relationship. It nearly killed me. It definitely broke my heart.
Leaving was never out of the question. I just had to delay long enough to jump into the next chapter of my life.
The problem with stalling is that sometimes we’re so distracted trying to plan our next move that we find ourselves tangled in a much bigger problem than what we had at the beginning.
At least that’s how I see it. I could give you a quick recount of my love life.
It’s a modern tale of the prince and the fake pauper. A not so typical boy meets girl, girl falls for the boy, they make a rash decision. When she figures out they are different from how they seemed, her heart breaks into a trillion little pieces.
If my life was a fairy tale, I’d say that someone cast a spell on the prince, and he lost his heart. That I had to run away before his disdain killed me.
I was in a safe place until his father, the evil king, cursed his sons. They were sent into the old kingdom hidden in the Wicked Woods of Mt. Hood to live in exile for eternity—or eighteen months. This spell reached everyone who had been in close proximity to these brothers. Including me.
That’s how Mom used to transform our lives into stories. She altered horrifying moments into bearable situations by narrating it like a sweet fairy tale. If the Grimm brothers’ stories are read to children as magical tales, why not our gritty lives?
Fair warning, I don’t live in a castle, although the Aldridge mansion is almost as big. William Aldridge wasn’t a king—but he was definitely evil. He thought he owned the world. There’s no curse, but when the man died leaving a twisted testament, he pretty much screwed his sons.
Pierce Aldridge isn’t a literary knight or a prince, but he pretended to be one when we met. He held me like no one had before. Like I was all he had. I couldn’t help but fall in love with him—until I realized we were just an illusion. A fleeting infatuation.
We’re not living in the Wicked Woods of Mt. Hood, but Baker’s Creek is pretty close to it. Unlike Snow White and Cinderella, I don’t speak to animals, but I love all critters, big and small. I dedicate my life to saving them.
So, I’m stuck in the nine circles of purgatory with six damn demons who swear they are princes. They aren’t. They are quite the opposite. These men are maddening, infuriating…and devilishly handsome too.
Henry (the hot business guy) Ragey
Hayes (the hot doctor) Finicky
Pierce (the hot lawyer and my almost ex-husband) Assholey
Mills (the hockey player and single dad) Sporty
Vance (the hot former special forces) Broody
Beacon (the heartthrob rock star) Pranky
With one signature I can be free. But everything is a lot more complicated than it seems.
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for picking up a copy of Call You Mine.
It’s been two years of plotting and writing the Aldridge brothers. I can’t express how much I love this family and these guys own my heart. In the beginning I was planning to write them in order, but that didn’t happen because Beacon. This guy just doesn’t like any rules. Also, he thinks it’s unfair to be the last just because he was born last. I had to give this to him since we almost lost him.
Bringing back the Decker family and Mason was one of my favorite things about writing this book. You know who else I fell in love with? Manelik, Sanford, Fisher, and Byron (Lang). You’ll probably get to know them a lot better soon. I have so many plans for him.
One last thing, if you loved Call You Mine as much as I did writing it, please leave a review on your favorite retailer, Goodreads, and on Bookbub. Also, please spread the word about The Baker’s Creek Brothers among your friends. One of my favorite things about writing is sharing these characters with everyone.
Sending all my love,
Claudia xoxo
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you to God because he’s the one who allows me to be here and who gifts me the time, the creativity, and the tools to do what I love.
Thank you for all the blessings in my life. Thank you to my husband for taking upon the house chores so I can meet my deadlines. To my children and my family for supporting me in this journey. It’s never enough to say thank you to my person, Kristi. Five years, a lot of patience and love that I will never be able to repay.
Marla, thank you for fitting this book in your schedule. I’m grateful.
Nina, Kelly, and all the team of Valentine’s PR. To Kim, for keeping me organized, all her help in the background, and listening to my craziness from time to time.
Hang Le, my longtime friend and my cover artist. She always understands what my books need. Amy, Darlene, Karen, Melissa, Patricia, Caroline, and Yolanda for always responding to my incoherent questions. Their feedback is important just like their friendship.
To all my readers, I’m so grateful for you. Thank you so much for your love, your kindness, and your support. It’s because of you that I can continue doing what I do. My amazing ARC team, girls you are an essential part of my team. Thank you for always being there for me. My Grammers, you rock! To my Chicas! Thank you so much for your continuous support and for being there for me every day! Thank you to all the bloggers who help me spread the word about my books. Thank you never cuts it just right, but I hope it’s enough.
Thank you for everything. All my love,
Claudia xoxo
About the Author
Claudia is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author. She writes alluring, thrilling stories about complicated women and the men who take their breath away. She lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and her youngest two children. She has a sweet Bichon, Macey, who thinks she’s the ruler of the house. She’s only partially right. When Claudia is not writing, you can find her reading, knitting, or just hanging out with her family. At night, she likes to binge-watch shows with her equally geeky husband.