Blondie’s 1998 with a Goat: Chosen Book 7 Page 2

  I was your quintessential child star. I'd been really big in my early teens, because of a sitcom on a kids' channel, but over the years, my agent––my own mother––had been working on changing my image. Especially, since I was now twenty-three.

  Apparently, it was time to go a little sexier. Beef up. Start trying my hand at action.

  Like I'd told that delicious man who's hard, sexy body, dark blue eyes, light chocolate skin and thick, suckable lips had been a constant drain on my concentration since I'd met him three days ago, I liked my body the way it was.

  And I literally had zero interest in being a celebrity anymore.

  I'd been thirteen when the show started, and eighteen when it ended. But I'd been working in one way or another since I was four. The last five years had been spent modeling, taking secondary roles in movies and promoting crap I didn't even know half the time what it was.

  I was done.

  That and my mother's terrible treatment of my brother was the driving force behind why I'd used some of the money I'd secretly stored, and bought this truck.

  Since my brother had basically been forgotten about by our parents since the accident when we were six, he'd spent more time than not in the kitchen with the various chefs and bakers floating in and out of our house.

  The boy could cook almost anything, even with one hand, but his specialty and his love was baking.

  He'd wanted to own his own bakery for as long as I could remember, but our parents wouldn't help him. Wouldn't let me use my money to help him either, saying it was a waste of time and resources. Nobody would buy food from a guy with a grotesque stump.

  They'd actually said that. In front of my sweet, amazingly talented brother.

  I think that had been the last straw for me. That was certainly the day I told them to forget Bentley and I existed. Use all the money they'd stolen from me over the years and retire, because I wasn't going to be their paycheck anymore, and my brother wasn't going to be their sounding board for hatefulness.

  I think I also told my mom she looked like her doctor had gotten a phone call in the middle of her facelift, and she'd dried too much before he could fix it, but I had been so angry when I'd stormed out of there, I don't actually remember what all I'd said to the hateful woman.

  I'd bought my brother this truck because I thought having a bakery on wheels would be a little easier if we needed to up and run, and I'd happily settled into the mundane world of making like four hundred snow-cones and coffees a day, while he baked.

  I loved my brother more than anything in this world, and I would give anything to see him smile and laugh.

  Which is one of the many reasons I had to forget about Arry. I'd never seen my brother laugh with a stranger the way he did with the 90's throwback. If he had a crush on the gorgeous man, no matter how bad I craved him, or felt like I should be in his arms, I couldn't do anything about it.

  Bentley deserved happiness more than anyone in this world.

  "Maybe we can talk your Arry into being your security." I could hear the almost giggle in his voice. "He could protect you with his big, strong body."

  "Arry is not mine," I said dryly. "You two hit it off way better than we did."

  "No way. As gorgeous as the man is, I'm not interested. One, I was a little worried I was going to have to kick you out of the truck because your naughty thoughts were about to start contaminating the food. And two, where it's true I don't have much experience there, I've had crushes before, and what I felt for that adorkable man was not sexual in the least."

  I needed to concentrate on the cappuccino I was making, so I didn't scorch the milk, but I couldn't help but throw my brother a quick look. Could he really not be interested in Arry?

  It was hard to believe that anyone could look at the man and not be interested. Even straight guys would have to do a double take. But the open laughter on my brother's face, made me think he might actually be telling the truth.

  "You're really not interested in Arlington? Like, at all?"

  Smirking, my twin sent me an amused look. "Like, at all. It was easy to laugh with him, because though he really did give my arm a 'what the hell' look, he didn't try to lie about it afterward, and we didn't have to tiptoe around it."

  "He didn't make you feel uncomfortable," I said, thinking about how relaxed my brother had looked, giggling with the gorgeous man.

  "No. It was the opposite. You should have seen the whole thing, Mars. He glanced at it and then did a double take like he knew something was off, but it took him a second to figure it out." Bentley started laughing. "And then his face did this whole, 'oh shit! I just got caught wide-eyeing a man's missing arm. One of the best reactions I've ever seen."

  "Yeah," I said, smiling at the memory of a slightly embarrassed Arry, and my giggling brother. "He doesn't seem like the type of person who holds back on anything."

  "So, you going to go for it?"

  Sighing, I scrunched up my face. "I don't know, Bent. I'm not even really sure he likes me like that. Plus, I just spent far too much of my life being committed to something. I don't know if I have the ability to commit to a person, right now. And doing the whole one-night-stand thing in a town this small just seems like a lot of drama."

  "Well, I'm certainly not going to push you, because you've had enough of that shit for a lifetime, but the man is definitely interested. I was a little afraid I was going to have to break out the fire extinguisher."

  Rolling my eyes, I finished the cappuccino and took a few deep breaths, gearing up to walk out there.

  My brother was such an encouraging person. Even with all the shit he'd had to endure from our parents, he didn't feel sorry for himself and try to make me feel like shit. Instead, he stepped into my shoes and saw how miserable I'd been, being dragged from one event to the next.

  I didn't feel like what I'd been through was anything in comparison to what he had, but he didn't make me feel like my small problems were any less valid than his.

  Taking another deep breath, knowing that my creeper would still be out there, waiting to watch me as I delivered people's orders, just like he had been for the past two days, I pulled my shoulders back, and pasted on a fake smile, before opening the door and going out.

  He was there.

  I avoided eye contact completely, and honestly, avoided looking up at all. Which was probably why I almost ran into a giant.

  "Whoa," a deep voice I was getting to recognize fairly easily, said, laughingly. "Careful, Marlow. Don't want you spilling any of that deliciousness."

  Looking up, I smiled at Thompsyn and his funny boyfriend. The two had become a little more than regulars since that first day. In fact, Thompsyn's constant ingestion of snow-cones, and just about anything my brother made, would have had me worried, if it weren't for the fact that the man was enormous.

  But I certainly wasn't going to mention or draw attention to the fact that his belly was definitely starting to get a pooch.

  "Everything okay?" Bennett asked, smiling, but I could see the concern in his face.

  "Uh, yep. Let me drop the rest of this off, and I'll come over and get your order."

  Looking where I was going, this time, I finished the job much quicker and returned to their table.

  Just as the object of every fucking fantasy I'd had in the last seventy-two hours plopped down, smirking up at me.

  "Hey, Blondie."

  "Long time no see, 1998. I was worried you'd gotten a smartphone caught in your goat, and had to move on to the new melena. Glad to see all is well."

  Laughing, Arlington said, "Don't call it a goat. I can't help but picture an animal stuck to my face."

  He opened his mouth to say more, but then frowned, leaning sideways to look around me. When I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was starting to look very angry about, I found the guy who'd been watching every move I made from the time we opened the truck, until the time we closed for the last two days.

  "What did you just say?" Arry snarled at
the man, his eyes narrowed.

  Frowning, because I'd never even heard anything at all, I looked around at the two other men, but they were glaring at the man too.

  "He's my mate, so it's really none of your concern," Arry said, his voice so cold, it made me shiver.

  "Not until you claim him. And his kind is in high demand these days," the man snarled from far too far away to have actually heard what he said.

  But, they were having a conversation. Which was a bit of a relief, because I'd been getting a little nervous about Arlington's mental health.

  Arlington's head snapped around to me for a brief second, and then he turned back to the man. "That's irrelevant," Arry said in the same, fury ridden, calm tone he'd used before. One I didn't think should be possible for the man to hear. "He'll be claimed. And you can just move along."

  The man stood, growling, "We'll see." But he actually left, heading toward the woods on the edge of the park.

  Everyone watched him leave, silence falling over the group. When he was out of sight, I turned back, looking at the three angry faces, and I couldn't help but think I was the only one who had no idea what was going on.

  "I'll call Flynn," Bennett said, pulling his phone from his pocket. "He should probably know what's going on. Do you think it was connected to the missing…uh stuff? Or do you think he was just wanting his own?"

  "I have no idea." Arlington turned to me, frowning. "Marlow, do you have a strange birthmark? Something you were born with, but maybe looks like a burn?"

  What the fuck was happening? "How did you know that?" I pressed my thumb against the cuff where it rested against my mark.

  Smiling softly, Arry reached out and pulled my hand to him. "May I?"

  His voice was soft, but not like the cold voice he'd used on the creep. It was warm, and I could actually hear the smile in his words. His fingers sent zings of electricity up my arm.

  When I nodded, he undid the clasp of the leather, removing the cuff.

  "I'm not surprised," Bennett said, smiling down at my wrist. "Even though I'd never admit it to Foster, what he said about every mate for a while being chosen, actually makes a lot of sense."

  Arry's thumb grazed gently over the mark, making me shiver as my dick went almost immediately hard. "I'll explain this, and so much more to you later, Blondie. But for now, continue to keep it covered."

  He slowly traced the skin, once more, and then fastened the leather back around my wrist.

  "Have you seen that man before, Blondie?" He was still holding my hand, drawing lazy circles against my palm.

  Blinking, I bit my lip, knowing there was an actual answer to his question, but not sure what anything meant with him touching me like that.

  "Blondie?" He prompted, smirking at me.

  Frowning, I cleared my throat and licked my lips. "Uh. He––"

  "He has been here the last two days," Bentley's soft voice had me turning to find my concerned brother standing just outside the truck, his right arm concealed by the still open door. "He showed up the day before yesterday and nearly yanked Marlow's arm out of socket, and then held on until he could rip that cuff off. He asked Marlow out, but he said no. The guy stayed until we left, and the showed up the next morning, just as we opened, and didn't leave until we did. Same thing this morning. As soon as we cranked open the window, there he was, watching my brother."

  "Hi, other Marlow!" Bennett said, waving like a goofball. "You should come out and play with us."

  When Bentley just looked around nervously, I finally pulled my hand away from Arlington's and walked over to him. "Do you have a little time before the timer goes off? Do you think you could come hang out? Just for a minute."

  "I…I guess." I hated that the moment he walked out from behind the door, letting it fall closed, he crossed his arms over his chest, immediately hiding his right arm.

  Bentley had once been confident and sure. Our parents had always been less than available as parents, and really only showed an interest in me because I had the potential to make them money. But Bentley had learned to be self-sufficient and resourceful.

  There had actually been a time when I was the shy one. But when my parents landed the role that most people knew me for, we'd had to move. I'd been taught by a teacher that came to the set everyday, while my mother and father had shipped Bentley off to some private school where nobody knew him.

  He'd only been there a few months. My brother came back, at thirteen years old, acting like a beat dog, and I threw the biggest tantrum I've ever thrown and demanded he be taught with me. That was one of the only times I'd ever actually gotten what I wanted.

  "Hey, Bent. Make anyone feel like an asshole, today?" Arlington's voice brought Bentley's head out of the dirt, making me smile.

  Without thinking, I sat myself down beside Arlington, and brought my brother down next to me, gasping slightly, when a broad, light chocolate hand reached out and pulled me even closer, by the loop of my khaki shorts.

  I felt him against me, from my shoulder all the way to my knee, and I was trying desperately to keep my body calm.

  "Nope," Bentley said, glancing sideways at Arlington, and then back down at the table. "I think you might be the only asshole in Purdy."

  "So. If you're the second person to make a big deal about my birthmark, there has to be more to it than that it is are weird to look at." I turned my attention to the man beside me, studying his handsome face, even when he turned and looked directly at me.

  He opened his mouth to say more, but Bentley unwound his arms, hiding his right under the table, but stretching the left one out, so that the material rode up, showing off his own birthmark. "I have one too. Should I be worried also?"

  Putting his arm along my upper back, Arry leaned over and squeezed Bentley's shoulder, pressing his side along my arm. "I don't want to worry either of you, but I really don't think it would be a bad idea if you guys came and stayed with our group until we know for sure what this guy's motives are." Looking down into my face, as I tipped my head back, he watched me with those unbelievable, dark blue eyes. "As far as the marks go, it's going to be a lot easier for you to understand once you meet Ridley."

  I didn't know who the hell Ridley was, but looking up into Arlington's face in that moment, with his big sexy lips inches from mine, and his warm, sweet breath caressing my face, he could have told me it meant we had been impregnated by aliens, and I wouldn't have blinked an eye.

  "You're making it really hard not to take advantage of the situation, right now." His voice deepened, making me visibly squirm.

  It was a good thing the table was there to cover my lower half, because with every second that passed, I was getting impossibly harder, and immensely dumber.

  "Wha…what do you mean. Ow!" Snapping my head around, I glared at my brother, who'd just elbowed me in the ribs. "What the hell was that for?"

  "Come help me close the truck down before you drool all over your favorite shirt." Bentley chuckled, standing slowly.

  Snapping my wide-open mouth shut, I frowned and stood too, smacking my brother on the shoulder. "This isn't my favorite shirt."

  ***

  I blinked over at my brother, only to find him doing the exact same thing back at me. I'm sure we were wearing identical expressions of, "the fuck?"

  "Like…a baby. A live one." I shook my head and frowned back at Ridley's belly. "Bent, did you happen to put some magic mushrooms in our omelets again this morning?"

  I snorted when he punched me in the shoulder, reaching up to rub it. "I have never done that, asshole." Then looking around at the crowd around us, he reiterated, "I have never done that."

  "I think I could use some magic mushrooms, right now. Or just every drop of tequila in Nebraska." I reached out a hand to touch the very pregnant looking belly of the tall, lanky, redheaded man standing in front of me and pulled back last second. "May I?"

  Smiling brightly, Ridley nodded. "I don't mind at all. I know some people do, but as long as I don't feel thre
atened, I'll let just about anyone feel her."

  I glanced back at his face, smiling. "It's a girl?"

  "Mmhmm. We found out about a week ago."

  I finally placed my hand against his stomach, still not sure I should believe any of what they'd told me up until this point, but completely fascinated by the idea. Not that I was sure I ever wanted kids, but if what they were saying was true, I could.

  I gasped when, after a few seconds, there was a flutter against my palm. "Did she just kick me?" I whispered, feeling on the verge of tears over something I wasn't even sure I believed.

  Ridley nodded, giggling.

  "Can I?" Bentley asked, eyes wide, staring at where my hand was resting against the shirt-covered belly.

  "Of course."

  I couldn't help but notice how bad my brother's hand was shaking as he raised it, and lightly placed it next to mine.

  We didn't have to wait long before she kicked again, making us both gasp this time.

  "I could have a baby?" He whispered, looking up at the cute redhead like he held all the answers in the world. "A precious little soul that I could love unconditionally, and it would love me back? I feel like there should be a catch or something."

  "You mean aside from the fact that there are people out there who would possibly snatch you up and make a breeder of you? Or force a mating on you?" Arlington's voice was amused but held a note of seriousness.

  Cringing, my brother nodded. "Yeah, aside from that."

  Finally dropping my hand, I turned to the gorgeous man sitting next to me, keeping my body on high alert with his gentle touches to my shoulders and neck.

  "And you're a leopard? You can really turn into a big cat?" When Arlington nodded, I narrowed my eyes. "Prove it."

  That caused a few people to snicker, but I didn't look around to see who it was, because, I kind of got struck dumb by the beautiful smile that stretched his plump lips.

  Watching his mouth, I could actually feel myself being pulled in by an invisible force.