Take Me I'm Yours (Coffee House Chronicles) (4 page)

“I see.” Graeme downed the rest of his coffee and set aside the empty cup. He snapped the laptop closed again and shoved it in the case.

She suddenly worried she’d upset him.
“But, you know, I lied to get him to leave me alone. I’m not seeing anyone. I’ve tried to date but it’s…too much. I haven’t been able to do it. I don’t think I’m ready.” That was a lie too. She wanted to date. Graeme. She knew this as she as the sky was blue.

He gave her a heart-rending smile, those blue eyes twinkling mischief
. She wanted to melt into a puddle. “Marion, you don’t have to explain to me. I’m not Ethan.”

“But I—”

“Would you like to go for a walk?”

Chapter Three

“I’d love to,” she said and he could swear she blushed.

Of all the coffee shops
in town, she had to show up at the Bitter End. At that very moment. Not that he was complaining since she looked fantastic. In fact, she looked as she had that day so long ago. Still as beautiful as ever.

He’d fantasized about Marion since the day he met her three years ago when Ethan introduced her as his
new girlfriend. What at first was merely infatuation quickly turned into something else. But falling for her was completely out of the question.

Graeme hadn’t expected to run into Marion again.
That day at the church it had nearly killed him to see her crumble and hear her wracking sobs from the other side of the door. To tell her mother and her friends and the entire church full of guests the wedding was canceled.

When Graeme had taken the forged note to Marion, she hadn’t noticed his red knuckles or the split skin. She had been to
o intent on her appearance and all the other details around her. She hadn’t noticed the fact that the handwriting on the paper wasn’t Ethan’s, nor had she known Ethan and his broken nose had been long gone by the time Graeme appeared in her bridal salon.

How could Graeme tell her he’d been the one to scrawl the note? He did it because he didn’t want her to suffer the embarrassment of calling off the wedding herself, of having to look at the congregation and tell them to go home
.

The only thing that made him feel any better was
knowing he had broken Ethan’s nose. Their business partnership and friendship had already been irrevocably broken, so it seemed fitting.

After that day, he had checked on Marion periodically with a phone call here and there. He had even managed to talk her into shooting pool one night. Not that he was hoping to cash in on Ethan’s loss…but he certainly wouldn’t have turned her down had she
ended up crying on his shoulder.

Marion, though, was stronger than that. She managed to pick up the pieces and move on without so much as a backward glance. It was one of the many things he loved about her.

That night at the pool hall had not ended the way he wanted. He’d been an idiot and tried to kiss her. She’d given him a deer in headlights look and bolted.

The
last few months had been tumultuous as Graeme negotiated with Ethan to buy out his side of the business. At least he hadn’t succumbed to the corruption as Ethan had.

Clearly Marion had no idea he and Ethan had been business partners and he planned to keep it that way. Especially after her “scumbag” comment regarding Ethan’s business dealings. Graeme didn’t want her knowing what sort of websites he designed for a living—the very same porn websites she’d expressed disgust over.

Graeme thought he had left that asshole behind for good after buying him out. Apparently, Ethan was back and he wanted
her
too.

Not if I have anything to say about it.

Glancing at her now, he noted how her sensual mouth curved into a smile, lighting her entire face. She had high cheekbones and a dusting of freckles across the bridge of her pert nose and nowhere else. He loved that about her.

She was so
beautiful. Big doe brown eyes and gorgeous wavy brown sugar locks his fingers itched to run through. Faded blue jeans hugged her every curve, showing off her incredible ass, her narrow hips. Her shirt hugged her breasts and he forced his gaze away.

He had to snap off that part of his brain, especially since he was hard just thinking about her curvaceous body against his.
Marion was no plaything. And he wouldn’t treat her like that.

It had to be fate she crossed his path today. Especially after deciding he was ready to move to Houston for a change of pace. He had tired of the
Dallas-Fort Worth area and was ready to get out. Now that would have to wait because he wasn’t leaving Marion alone in this city with Ethan on the prowl. He wasn’t sure what Ethan was up to, so it was all the more reason to stay and keep an eye on her.

It was his turn to play the courting game. A challenge he readily accepted and one
to which he looked forward. He wanted Marion all to himself and he would do whatever it took to get her. She probably wasn’t willing to trust men yet and rightfully so after being stood up at the altar and her heart broken. Yes sir, he’d have to play this one just right or he’d lose her again.

Perhaps, though, he could make her a proposition. Maybe it was time to have a little fun with Ethan and turn the tables on him. All at the prick’s expense, of course.

“Where are we going?” she asked, pulling him out of his intense thoughts.

He hadn’t planned that far in advance. He wanted to get her alone. “I need some fresh air. I’ve been working here all morning.”

“Really?”

He picked up his laptop case, slung it over his shoulder. “I got here about six this morning.”

“You’re certainly dedicated.” She grinned, showing off two deep dimples on either side of her oh-so-kissable lips. He wanted to taste them.

“It happens when you’re the owner of the company.”

“See you tomorrow, Graeme,” the young blonde girl behind the counter called.

He’d been coming to the coffee house for a while and he had gotten to know her as well as a few of
the other workers. He gave the girl a nod and a wave. At Marion’s inquisitive look, he flashed a smile. “I’m a regular.”

He slid
his hand across the small of her back, leading her through the coffee house and out the door into the late morning humidity. September was quickly approaching but the dog days of August were still in full force. The weather predictors promised another scorcher today and so far they were right on.

“I thought we could walk down to the book store,” he said, grasping for an excuse—any excuse—to keep her by his side.

“I’d like that. I’m always on the lookout for a new book to read.” She chucked her empty coffee cup into a trash can. “Graeme, I’m sorry about you and Charlotte.”

Th
at relationship was the last thing on his mind. When she walked, Graeme should have been angry and hurt, instead he had been relieved it was over. In fact, all that was on his mind was getting those clothes off Marion and doing all sorts of naughty things to her. He wanted her bad.

He glanced
at Marion and waved it away, as if it meant nothing. “Old news and it’s really for the best. The only thing we had in common was each other and she got bored with me. I guess that’s why she cheated on me.”

“Oh.” She breathed
out the word on a breath and it sounded deliciously sexy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She gave him an apologetic look but the last thing he wanted was her pity.

“Don’t be. I’m not.”

She dragged her bottom lip through her teeth. It was probably one of the sexiest things he’d seen her do. Though she was silent, he could tell she wanted to ask more questions. Perhaps find out more about the break up and if Charlotte hurt him as much as Ethan hurt her.

Charl
otte was all looks and no brains and despite all that, they had dated a while. He had taken her as his date to the wedding. Charlotte, though, wanted more than a few dates here and there. She wanted to take the next step, move their relationship to the “next level,” as she called it. But Graeme…he found it difficult to commit to that. He knew deep down she wasn’t the one.

After refusing to let her move in with him, things had changed between them. Graeme couldn’t see living with someone after only knowing her for
eight months—his record relationship length. He drifted away, and she drifted toward someone else. Several someones, in fact.

But Graeme had no desire to tell Marion any of that. And despite the fact he wanted her so completely, he wasn’t exactly sure he had anything else to say to her.
He had pined away for her for so long he didn’t know what to do with her now that she was by his side. Sweat rolled down his spine from both the heat and his nerves.

Marion expelled a sudden breath. “So your business is good then?”

A change of subject was always good. She’d already asked him about his business. Maybe she was as nervous as he. “It is. It’s a small web world and there is always a need for a good designer.”

“I’m glad to see you doing so well. I know being in business for yourself was important to you.”

Not only could he set his own hours, he thought, but the pay was obscene. He discovered quickly he could charge the owners of adult websites two hundred dollars an hour for his design services and they’d pay. And even though designing websites for the adult industry wasn’t his passion, it was his bread and butter and he made a lot of money doing it.

Besides, he planned to get out of the business as soon as possible. And it wasn’t exactly something he was proud of or that he wanted Marion to know.
Nor did she need to know he and Ethan started the company together. Or the things he had discovered about Ethan the night before their wedding.

“Marion!”

Ethan’s voice interrupted seconds before Graeme could pull open the door to the book store. Turning, there he was. Ethan Baxter III stalking directly toward them. But Ethan wasn’t looking at Marion. He was looking at Graeme.

Next to him, Marion froze in place. Even in the heat, he could feel her shiver
.

“Son of a bitch,” Graeme muttered under his breath and clenched his fist.

“You’d think he could take no for an answer,” she said.

Ethan came to a halt in front of them, his hair ruffled in the breeze.
He looked disheveled. Graeme took satisfaction in seeing his former best friend out of sorts.

“I thought I made it clear, Ethan, I wasn’t interested.”

“Marion, I need to see you. Explain things.”

“
I told you—it’s too late for that.” Fire flashed in her eyes as she waved him away.

“I miss you, Marion. I want you to come home.”

“I have a home,” she said, her teeth clenched. “And it’s not with you. I made one for myself after you left me.”

Despite her attempt at trying to be brave, Graeme could see
her shaking. She blinked furiously, probably to keep from crying.

“Ethan, I think it’s clear the lady isn’t interested. It’s time you face the reality that you blew it,” Graeme said.

“Shut the fuck up, Graeme. This is none of your business.” He shoved his index finger in Graeme’s face to press his point.

Graeme’s hand shot to his collar and clutched it in his fist. He jerked him forward, their faces only inches apart. “
Now you’ve made it my business.” The moment Ethan tucked tail and ran from the church and Graeme wrote that note, it was his business.

“Graeme!” Marion wrapped her hand around his arm. “Don’t.”

Even though he wanted to pummel him, Graeme let him go with a shove. Ethan stumbled back, smoothed his expensive designer shirt and looked back at Marion.

“Is this the guy?”
Ethan asked.

“Why don’t you go find some other woman to hassle, Ethan?” Graeme said before Marion could reply
.

“He’s using you,” Ethan said. “Or didn’t you know his track record? He wants to fuck you and that’s it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Shut up,” Graeme growled.
The man was unbelievable. For the first time, he saw Ethan for what he truly was and he wondered how she could get mixed up with such an idiot.

“What’s the matter? Can’t handle hearing the truth?” Ethan said. Then to Marion, “Women are playthings to him. He goes through a new girl every few months. He can’t commit.”

Marion glanced at Graeme, then back at Ethan. As if deciding what to do or say next. Rage flooded Graeme.

“Oh
, and you can?” Graeme shot back. “Need I remind you about the wedding I called off for you?”

“And need I remind you about the stripper you fucked at my bachelor party?”

“Stop it! Both of you!” Marion’s fists were balled, her face flushed with anger. “Ethan, I will see whomever I choose, whenever I choose.” She inched a step closer to Graeme. “And if that person is Graeme, then you’ll have to get over it.”

All the rage whooshed out of Graeme as she slipped her hand in his
, their fingers lacing. Her skin was warm and inviting. He blinked with surprise and glanced down at her. Looking up at him, she stepped even closer and placed her free hand in the middle of his chest, a smile curling the corners of her mouth.