Page 40 of Two Hearts' Subterfuge

As she glanced into the rooms on the second floor, she was drawn into the luxurious master bedroom.

“You can move into the master, Aylin. I’ll take the room across the hallway so that I can view the driveway and road.”

“You should have the master,” she said.

“Truthfully, I’ve only got about ten suits and a few pair of jeans along with a dozen new t-shirts. I outgrew all the clothes I used to wear, so I don’t have much. I’m sure you’d appreciate the closet space in the master.”

“I would. And beware—because I’m going to take you shopping. We can’t have a clothing designer dating a man who isn’t wearing proper attire.”

He groaned.

“Although I do like your suits.”

Even though there wasn’t much to see since there wasn’t a moon out tonight, Aylin walked over to the wide French doors leading outside to an attached deck. “I’ll bet the view is stunning.”

“It is. Although I haven’t been here much to see it. We can’t see much of the sunset from here, but the sunrise is beautiful.”

“I can’t wait to find out,” she said, this time taking the initiative and walking into his arms.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Unsurprisingly, Ben and Aylin worked well together. Apparently, Aylin ordered furniture as efficiently as she ran her business, Ben realized when he bought carry-out and spent Saturday evening with her while she was finalizing several design details inside the boutique.

He helped her move a few things around when she asked, but she seemed to have nearly everything ready to go.

When they sat to eat on the comfortable couch that had just been delivered for clients to relax in the fitting room, they talked about her online sales, and he was stunned to realize how much she brought in during a single week.

“A. Lynn Originals?”

“It’s more generic,” she answered, munching on some of the fried onion rings he’d brought along. “These are really good. I’d better watch it when I eat with you. I might put on some weight.”

“Somehow, I can’t ever see that happening since you’re always so active,” he answered dryly.

“Gee, thanks,” she muttered, smiling as she reached for more of the onion rings they were sharing before sipping on her milkshake.

He cocked his head. “What do you mean by generic?”

Aylin sighed. “Mom’s been getting threats because of her heritage, and sometimes I do too.”

“I’ve never even had to consider anything like that,” he replied, frowning. “There does seem to be an awful lot more hate crimes happening these days. I’m going to have to be thinking more about that now if I want to keep you safe.”

“It’s been manageable, but you never know.” She shrugged, turning away.

He could tell that the situation was much worse than she was letting on. Ben wanted to know more, but it wasn’t the right time to continue the discussion. She had a lot on her plate with the store opening Monday.

She continued, “Politics are playing a huge part in profiling these days too. I pay an agency to handle opening my fan mail.”

Ben sighed. It was definitely a sensitive situation.

“Are you still planning on doing any modeling?” he asked. “I used to see pictures of you everywhere.”

“Only if we have any local fundraisers, I’m thinking. I much prefer working behind the scenes,” she answered, slurping down the rest of her shake.

“Same here,” he agreed, reaching for all the empty food wrappers. “We’ll take the trash with us, so the smell of onions doesn’t linger.”

She agreed with a nod of her head.

“What else have you got to do before Monday?” he asked.

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