Becoming His

Hi all! So we are getting toward the end of this "book." This chapter is sort of a bridge chapter toward the conclusion. Lots of drama in this one but not as much erotic action as Chapter 4. I'm expecting about two more chapters after this one to round out the book. I wanted to give fair warning at the start of this chapter that this book won't end in a happily ever after or even a happily for now, but it's the prequel for the love story that will continue to unfold between these characters in future works, and that love story will eventually end in a happily ever after. Hopefully your (and my) heartstrings won't take it too hard in the process! Anyway, thanks for reading. Also, thank you so, so much for all of your kind comments on the previous chapters. It means so much to me that you are enjoying my work and my writing. I've really enjoyed working on this project and being able to share it with all of you has made it that much better!

In case you're new here, here is a link to my stories so that you can check out the previous installments first. This is a novel-style story that won't make much sense unless the chapters are read in sequential order.

ElliBeth's stories!

Anyway, I hope that you will enjoy this chapter, even as conflict begins to creep into paradise...

***

"Oh, Lila, you're early, bless you." Hannah Barclay leaned out of her front door. "I'm sorry it's such short notice. I completely forgot that our regular sitter needed the day off. Junior's in the playroom... Lawrence is in his crib. I really should get going now. Oh, and let me pay you."

She stuffed a wad of bills into Lila's hand before brushing by her out the door. Lila stepped in and shut it before counting the cash. A hundred and five dollars for a three hour job? That was more than reasonable, but it was what you got for showing up on short-notice on a Monday morning.

"Junior?" she called, poking her head around the corner in the direction of the playroom. The Barclays lived in a McMansion if she'd ever seen one.

She heard the sound of little feet, and then Junior -- William, Jr., to be exact -- appeared in front of her. He was holding a Nerf gun, which he aimed at her. Lila threw her hands up.

"Okay, that's enough, young man," she said, advancing on him and scooping him into her arms, gun and all. "Let's go check on your brother."

They went upstairs to the nursery, Junior squirming and giggling in her arms.

"Are you gonna make us lunch, Miss Lila?" he asked when she set him down outside the nursery door. "I want ants on a log!"

"I'll make you lunch," Lila said.

She took his hand, and they went into the nursery together. Lawrence was squalling in his crib. He was just over six months, beautiful and round and rosy-cheeked.

"Tummy time," Junior said, helpfully laying out an extra blanket on the nursery floor.

"I think he wants his bottle," Lila said, setting Lawrence down amidst his blocks. "Here, hold his hand while I run and get it. I'll be two seconds."

"I'm counting," Junior said, his eyes wide.

He looked like his father, with his mother's attitudes. Mr. Barclay was older than Hannah by eight or nine years, and he was a very serious man who almost never smiled. Lila stifled a laugh as she hurried from the nursery to the adjoining second floor pantry, which housed an upstairs fridge. There were five or six bottles of Hannah's breast milk, carefully labeled with dates, and another two or three of formula. Lila took out a bottle of half-finished breast milk and heated it according to the instructions posted on the fridge, then brought it back into the nursery. Lawrence reacted to the bottle right away, grasping at it with his little hands. She settled him in her lap to feed her. Junior had occupied himself with the toy trains in the corner.

Just then, her phone began to ring. She cursed her luck, imagining that it was probably Cameron's contact, Ed Krueger. There was no way she could take an important call while bottle-feeding a baby.

But when she fished her phone out of her pocket, she saw that it wasn't Ed. It was Cameron himself. She picked up.

"Hello? Cameron?"

"One generally opens a call with something like, 'Lila here,'" he teased her. "Hello."

"You didn't text me at all yesterday!"

"I know. I'm sorry. I was busy. There was a little incident. I ended up staying the night in the city, you see."

"Yes, and?" Lila asked. Baby Lawrence gurgled, pushing the bottle away and flopping down onto his hands, making an attempt at a crawl.

"What was that?" Cameron asked.

"That was Lawrence -- Junior, mind your brother for a second, will you? I have to take this call." She smiled to herself. "I'm babysitting Hannah Barclay's two boys on short notice."

"How domestic," Cameron said dryly.

"Don't scoff at it. It's a very important vocation, child-minding."

"I know. I didn't say it wasn't. In fact, I think it's wonderful. Too many people are only children like us and don't know how to take care of babies. Me, for instance," he said. He sounded a little uncomfortable.

"What was the incident?" Lila asked. She stood up, keeping half an eye on the youngsters who were playing near his feet. Junior had brought his brother one of the toy trains.

"Well, I left my car down on the street, of course," came Cameron's reply. "When I got up Sunday morning to head to the gym -- I was walking, mind you, but that took me right past my car -- I noticed that someone had keyed it overnight."

"Oh, my goodness," Lila said softly. She thought of the shiny red sports car. "Who would have done that?"

"At first I wrote it off. Some drunk teenager or college student, right? Just a crime of opportunity. But after the gym I decided to have a look at the surveillance tapes just in case, and you'll never guess who the culprit was."

He sounded self-satisfied for having figured it out.

"No, I don't think I will ever guess," Lila said. "I don't know who your enemies are."

"Enemy is a strong word." Cameron laughed. "I'll give you a hint. He's about six foot two, fond of wearing hoodies, took absolutely no precautions to disguise himself. I've never met him in person, though, so I had to recognize him from his mugshot."

Lila's mouth fell open.

"Brendan Callahan?" she squeaked.

"That's right. Seems like he didn't appreciate the good turn I did him by not reporting him directly to the cops. He seems to think I poked my nose where it didn't belong. But what kind of man would I be, if I didn't defend my girlfriend from -- "

He stopped abruptly. Lila's grip on her phone tightened.

"You said girlfriend," she said.

"Yes, I did." There was a brief pause. "Freudian slip, huh? You've come to fill that kind of role in my life. That girlfriend-shaped hole, not that I thought there was one until I met you."

"Are you asking me out?" Lila asked, stunned. "Like, for real?"

"I don't know." He hemmed and hawed for a few moments, while she watched Lawrence commando crawl his way toward the edge of the blanket. "Fine, I was wondering if you would come to a party with me this weekend at the Langley."

"The Lang -- Sorry, hold a minute." Lila drew the phone back from her ear. "Junior, put an extra blanket down for your brother. He's especially mobile today."

"Yes, Miss Lila."

"Seems you have those kids under control," Cameron said. He sounded impressed. "The Langley, that's a hotel. A fancy one. I'll need your dress size so I can send you what you're to wear."

"Robert won't be there, will he?" Lila asked.

"Of course not, nor any of the people I work with besides Jake Finnegan, but Jake and I are friends, and I've done him many good turns in my day. He'll be discreet."

"O-kay," Lila said at last. "But I'll have to figure out some kind of excuse, and quick. I'll ask Emily. But I think she's getting tired of having to cover for me."

"Tori still in Bali?"

"Yeah. Till the end of this week. Emily will have to do. If not, I suppose you'll have to find another date." She felt suddenly silly. "You would be taking me as your date, right, not some annoying tagalong?"

"Of course. That was the whole point of the girlfriend preamble." She could hear him grinning over the line. "It's the sort of thing a girlfriend of mine would be expected to do, come to parties with me and all. You can think of it as a trial run."

"Sure," Lila said, her tone guarded. "So you won't have to dump me when I knock over the punch bowl and spend half the night in the bathroom."

"Oh, honestly. Anyway, expect Krueger's call later. Hopefully you'll be done with your babysitting by then."

"Hopefully," Lila said. The line went quiet in her hand; he'd hung up. And without so much as a goodbye! If not for the contents of their conversation, she might have been fuming. Instead, she turned back to Junior and Lawrence with a smile.

"Who's Cameron, Miss Lila?" asked Junior.

"My special friend. No, Lawrence, you can't chew on that," Lila said, wresting a toy train away from the younger Barclay boy, who immediately began to wail. She scooped him up into her arms, whisking him out of his tears. "Come on, Junior. Let's go out to play in the backyard. It's beautiful outside."

"Does special friend mean boyfriend?" Junior asked, following her down the stairs.

Lila suppressed a laugh. He was a sharp kid, for his four years of age.

"Something like that," she said, tousling his hair. "But don't worry about it."

Out in the backyard, she put Lawrence into his playpen and pushed Junior on the swing while daydreaming. He hadn't said that she was his girlfriend. He'd stopped short of it. He'd said she filled that kind of role. He'd said she could consider this a trial run. But that had been a joke. Hadn't it? She longed for Victoria's advice, but Tori had been largely unreachable during her Balinese getaway, and she wouldn't be back until the weekend.

When Junior ran off to entertain himself beneath the lilac bushes, Lila texted Emily to see if her friend could meet up the next day. She was painfully aware of how little time she had to fish up some excuse to miss family dinner on Friday evening. Cameron wouldn't be there, of course, which would give her some fuel for the fire. And she doubted Robert would dig up another coworker to invite, given that his boss would also be at the party at the Langley.

The Langley. It sounded like something out of a movie. A delicious shiver went up her spine. She had to find a way to go. She wanted to be out in the open with Cameron. She wanted to feel what that would be like.

Two hours later, Hannah arrived back from her appointment early. Lila tried to return some of the money she'd been paid, but her employer wouldn't have it.

"Oh, please. I'd give you more if I had more on me," she said with a roll of her blue eyes. She caught her older son's hand. "Did you have fun with Miss Lila, Junior?"

"Yes," Junior said, very seriously. "Miss Lila had fun, too. She had a call with her special friend Cameron."

Lila looked down at him, all of the color draining from her face. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. Hannah, looking sharply at her, released her son's hand.

"Go to the playroom, Junior," she said. "I'm going to talk with Miss Lila for a moment. Mind your brother!"

"Yes, Mother!"

Junior scampered away, blissfully unaware of the potential damage he'd inflicted. Lila squeezed her eyes shut, ducking her head.

"Oh, sweetie," came Hannah's soft voice. Her hand closed around Lila's, and Lila opened her eyes. Hannah drew her into the quiet sitting room off the front hall. "Sit, please. You must be terribly shaken up. Don't worry, I won't speak a word of it to anyone. I just want to make sure that you're all right."

"I'm fine," Lila blurted out. Her cheeks burned, the color rushing back into them. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken the call while I was watching them. I didn't even leave the room."

"I'm sure you didn't, otherwise Junior wouldn't know the details." Hannah smiled, her blue eyes glowing at Lila. "I want to be happy for you, sweetheart. But I need to know that you're safe. He hasn't made you do anything you don't want to do, has he? How did it all begin?"

"Well, he took me out driving." Lila's hands trembled in her lap. "And then we just... it just sort of happened. He's asked my permission every step of the way. Even to kiss me. But I can't tell my mother or Robert -- you know how they are."

She looked imploringly across at Hannah.

"Of course," Hannah said quietly. "I know. It must be a weight off your shoulders to tell

someone

about it. I imagine any girlfriends your own age might not understand. But it's perfectly normal, Lila. Take me and my first husband -- " She broke off with a smile. "Not that it worked out, but take it as an example. He was twenty years older than me, and I was nineteen on our wedding day! Now that happened because my family supported it, but still, I was in love, and he had all the means to provide the kind of life I wanted. Granted, I'm grateful I chose to leave him -- but still, William is almost ten years older than me, and we've gotten on just fine."

"Thank you," Lila said softly.

"Oh, dear!" Hannah clapped a hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle. "You must have been mortified, what with the way I went on about him the other day at the soup kitchen. Well, I didn't know he was yours then, nor did I mean any of it in all seriousness. Forgive me, Lila. William's always telling me I ought to mind my loose tongue."

"It's all right," Lila said. She found that her opinion of Hannah Barclay had improved rapidly since the start of their conversation. "I wasn't mortified. My own mother is worse."

"I can imagine," Hannah said with a roll of her eyes. "Now, darling, you must take me as your confidante. Perhaps you forget sometimes that I'm much closer to your age than I am to your mother's, and certainly Mrs. Cox's." She punctuated this with another roll of her eyes, and reached across the coffee table to grip Lila's hand once more. "I am also not as good of a Christian, but then we all have our flaws, don't we?"

"Thank you," Lila said again. Hannah's hand warmed her own. "I appreciate it. It does feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

"So tell me, are you

dating

the man?" Hannah asked in a half-whisper.

Lila shook her head, then reconsidered.

"Well, I don't know," she said at last, falteringly. "At first it seemed it wasn't something he'd entertain. He's only had one girlfriend in his life, and that was some time ago. But today he seemed to suggest..."

She trailed off, biting her lip.

"Ooh, I can see how badly you want to be dating him!" Hannah squealed, squeezing Lila's hand. "You'll bring him around, don't worry. I saw the way he looked at you the other day. I didn't know what it meant then, but I see now. You're something special to him, sweetheart."

"You really think so?" Lila asked. She blushed furiously. It had never crossed her mind that someone might notice something as seemingly arbitrary as the way Cameron looked at her.

"Oh, yes. And someday soon you can tell me all about it. But we'd better get you on your way home before your mother worries." Hannah led the way back into the hall to the front door. "I hope that you can sit for me again soon. The boys adore you, and now we'll have ever so much to talk about."

"I'd be happy to." Lila gave her a sheepish smile. "The boys are dears, even if Junior did give up my secret."

"Well, to his credit he didn't know it was a secret," Hannah said.

Her laughter followed Lila out the front door. Lila walked home in something like a stupor. She doubted Cameron would be pleased with her indiscretion, regardless of the result, but that was a bridge she could cross when they were together again. And for now, she had no choice but to take Hannah's word at face value. It helped that she found herself trusting the other woman.

***

At three that afternoon, Ed Krueger's long-expected call came in while Lila was mixing colors for her new project, blacks, whites, and shades of gray. She picked up, remembering her manners.

"Hello, Lila speaking. Who is this?"

"Hello, Lila." The voice on the other end was older, male, gravelly. "This is Edward Krueger. You can call me Ed. I got your number from a friend of mine, Cameron Winthrop. He tipped me off that you might be a young artist to watch."

Lila blushed.

"Yes, he told me you'd call," she said carefully. "I think that my father used to work for you. Do you remember a Nicholas Henson? He probably went by Nick."

"Yes, Cameron told me about our connection." The voice remained level. "Of course I remember Nick. He was a talented artist in his own right, and I was looking forward to working with him in building his little gallery. I was at the funeral, though I'm sure you don't remember me -- but I remember you. You were such a little thing then, clinging to your mother's hand in a little black dress and staring at his body in the coffin. Forgive me for going into so much detail. But I painted it afterward. It stuck with me. Imagine my surprise when Cameron told me he had made your acquaintance. And when I learned that you had followed in your father's footsteps as an artist. I was thrilled! Forgive me for being so verbose, but one must marvel at the workings of serendipity."

"Happy chance," Lila said softly. "Yes, it's a funny thing."

He laughed.

"I think we'll get along well. It's my desire to teach you and set you on the right path. How does this Wednesday work for an introductory meeting? You can come into Boston and see me at the gallery. Perhaps you'll remember the place. It's much the same as it was when your father worked there."

"I'd love to come meet you on Wednesday," Lila said. "I'll have to ask my mom if it's all right with her."

Ed chuckled.

"Cameron told me this might come up, so he armed me with some words of wisdom for you," he said. His voice pressed into her ear. "You're eighteen. You can do what you want, especially when it comes to things like this. It'll be an hour or two. Your mother can tolerate it."

"You're right. He's right, I mean," said Lila softly. "All right. Wednesday will work. What time?"

"How about four in the afternoon? I have a feeling someone would be very pleased if you paid him a visit afterward."

"How much did he tell you?" Lila asked, blushing again. She was amazed at how easy she found it to talk to Ed, but she was a little daunted by how much he seemed to know.

"Not much, honestly. But I'm known for my insight. And Cameron's generally an open book, I expect you've noticed. He's a very direct man."

"Yes, I've gathered," Lila said. She drew a breath. "Anything I should bring to our meeting?"

"Some samples of your work, if you can. Pictures at least. I'm looking forward to it, Lila."

"I'm looking forward to it, too," Lila said.

They exchanged goodbyes. As soon as she hung up, she called Cameron, who picked up with two rings.

"You're lucky I make time for you," he said. "It's mad at the office right now. What's going on?"

"What exactly did you tell Ed Krueger?"

"Nothing, I swear!" He laughed. "Ed's a perceptive son-of-a-bitch. He saw right through me. Besides, he'll never tell a soul."

"Hannah Barclay knows," Lila said. She had been intending to wait to tell him, but her conversation with Ed had changed her mind. "Junior heard me say your name, and I told him that you were my special friend, and he went and blabbed to her."

There was a silence on the other end of the line.

"So it's going to be all around town by tomorrow," said Cameron.

"No. At least, I don't think so. She was actually very sweet about it. It was a real relief to talk to someone who seemed to understand." Lila paused. "I think Mrs. Jean Cox might be the real gossip, and pins it all on Hannah."