Call You Mine (The Baker’s Creek Billionaire Brothers #4) - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,57

when I’m stretching.

“Why are we here?” I ask, noticing there are at least twenty cars parked in this huge garage. We’re at his family’s place. “I have a house.”

“We’re just leaving the car here,” he explains. “It makes sense since later I have to unload the cello in the studio. The guys already dropped your stuff at the rental. We’re walking there so you can get ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“You think this is it?”

“It’s not?”

“We have reservations ”—he licks his lips—“at The Lodge. We got the private dining room.”

“Upping up the game.”

He gives me a peck on the lips. “Are you challenging me, Grace?”

“So far I haven’t seen anything new.”

He takes my hand, feathers kisses on the inside of my wrist, and we walk away. I don’t understand what’s happening between us yet. I’m loving it, and it’s just day one.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Grace

We walk to my new place in silence. That’s an unspoken rule among the Aldridges. Anything they say is tweeted before they reach their next destination. They are like the town’s celebrities. It didn’t use to be a problem before they came to live here. I guess it’s because not many knew that Beacon was an Aldridge.

When I get to my place, Beac gives me a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”

After I close the door, I check my phone. There are a few texts from Mom. The last one makes me laugh.

Mom: Call. Your dad is having a conniption.

Instead of reading the rest of her texts, I call her.

“Gracie,” she starts. “I feel like you skipped a chunk of information when you told me you were temporarily relocating to Baker’s Creek.”

“Hey, Mom,” I greet her, trying to sound cool.

It’s hard to erase the guilt in my voice. I feel like I was trying to sneak into the house past curfew, and my parents caught me. Not that it ever happened. I was out of the house a couple of weeks before my sixteenth birthday.

Most of the college parties I attended were at our place, and alcohol was never a problem. The Organization has rules. Underage drinking would’ve gotten us fired immediately.

“You and Beacon are dating?” I’m not sure if she’s upset, asking a question, or about to lecture me.

The silence on the other line makes me feel uneasy. “It’s a trial,” I continue. “More like a teaching moment.”

Okay, now I sound desperate and foolish.

“Those can go wrong.” Her motherly warning voice doesn’t go unnoticed. “What are you planning on doing when this trial ends?”

She’s already skipping the entire story and heading to the end. Her tone implies it will be tragic. She’s such a positive person. Why does she have to be gloomy when I need her to be Mrs. Positive?

I love Mom. She’s wise, but she has her faults too. Today, I won’t deal with that flaw of hers that I hate so much—her catalog of useless experiences. Sorry, but just because it happened to someone she knows, it doesn’t mean it will happen to me.

Some days it feels like she wants me to stay at home—forever in a safe haven where nothing and no one will hurt my feelings because she’s watching over me.

“Please, don’t tell me you have some cautionary tale about this situation, too,” I say, and this time I am slightly upset. “I’m not you, Mom. When things end, Beacon and I will continue to be friends.”

I think.

I hope.

I need to believe that this won’t damage our friendship. Beacon promised me that. He’s never broken any promises so far.

She chuckles. “I did have a stupid friend who was my friend with benefits for some time.”

“Oh.” My stomach drops because I wasn’t expecting that. Nor the humor in her voice.

At least, she remembers him fondly. That means it’s going to be okay with Beacon, right?

Listen, I’m really not my mother, but sometimes I do listen to her because she’s lived longer than me. I still hate that she’s always warning me.

Like seriously, let me experience life, woman.

Should I have continued with Beacon after her forewarning when I was sixteen?

I’ll never know. She’s never told us much about the first guy she dated. We learned that they were together for almost five years—without the knowledge of my grandparents. Things ended up bad because he was an addict and abused her.

I don’t think she can compare that guy with Beacon. Maybe Beacon and I could’ve worked in the long run, but I won’t go back to the should’ve, would’ve, could’ve word game. Nobody