Page 44 of Two Hearts' Subterfuge

They stayed that way for several long breathless moments.

Finally, Aylin sighed with obvious contentment as Ben wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he dropped onto the bed beside her.

Ben laid with his eyes closed, hearing Aylin’s breathing turn steady as she drifted asleep. He couldn’t believe just how perfect it felt being here with her—like they were always meant to be.

They completed each other, and there was nowhere else in the world that he would rather be than with her.

Eventually, he pulled down the covers, gently tugging her beneath, before wrapping his arms around her and falling asleep beside her.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The next few weeks went by in a blur. Aylin had never been so happy in her life. Becoming intimate had changed things for the two of them in such a positive way. It was her first real relationship, and she was definitely hoping it would be her last. She couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone else besides Ben.

Ben seemed to be just as happy as she was, and even though the days were hectic, she looked forward to every single night she could be with Ben.

They’d decided to move forward by purchasing more furniture for the house after adding a few coats of paint in the living room as well as the dining area and kitchen, which had a monstrous sized island, topped with creamy quartz. Ben had ended up moving into the master along with Aylin so she was going all out with a beautiful muted green and violet color scheme, which included throw rugs for the wooden floor and comfortable furnishings so they could sit and chat near the fireplace to discuss their days before falling asleep at night.

When they actually slept that is. Aylin had a dreamy smile on her face while she counted out the receipts before closing time exactly two weeks after opening the store.

They’d ventured to the grocery store multiple times together and after Aylin had loaded up on fruit and crunchy vegetablesand lettuce for salad, they’d ended up purchasing a load of frozen dinners along with food that was easy to eat like cereal and chips, and toaster pastries and waffles. They ate most of their meals at the Inn, but Aylin had purchased an easy to put together ingredient cookbook and would try making a few meals when they both weren’t so busy.

Business at the shop was calming down a little more, but it could still get pretty hectic—especially during the weekends. After talking with a rep from a delivery service in Crystal Rock that came highly recommended by Danielle, she’d hired two more salespeople along with a stockperson to help after hours and was considering hiring a few more salespeople to work only weekends.

“Did you have a good day?” Ben asked, arriving to pick her up. They’d decided to go out to eat tonight at the Crystal Rock Tap.

“A great one,” she replied.

“Wait until summer, when it’s actually tourist season,” he said, helping her into her coat.

She pursed her lips. “Yes. I’d better start thinking ahead and look for a few more salespeople as well as another person who can handle alterations. I can’t get over how well we’re doing. In fact, we’d probably better put this cash in your office safe. I’m thinking that I’m going to take your dad up on that offer of delivering cash proceeds to the bank along with the Inn’s. I feel nervous about continuing to deliver this much cash to the bank in person.”

“I think that’s a smart idea. I can’t believe I didn’t come up with it myself,” Ben admitted, as Aylin began flipping off lights.

She snorted. “We’ve both been kind of busy, not to mention distracted.

Ben grinned at her, winking.

* * *

One afternoon about three weeks later, when it had finally slowed down for a while, she sent both girls off for their hour-long lunch break, planning on using the time to come up with a few new summer designs. All her clothing was assembled at a high-end facility in New York that she would eventually own outright. But if her online sales continued to do as well as they had, she was thinking about opening another factory in North Carolina, since she was designing with more denim and there were several textile mills operating in the state.

When she looked up from her sketchbook another twenty minutes later from where she sat behind the register, she could have sworn she recognized the man who was walking past the store through the breezeway.

Although he had curly hair and she couldn’t remember meeting anyone who looked like him, even here in the store, he sure looked familiar. There was just something about his height and the way he walked, like he was trying to remain unobserved in plain sight.

All was forgotten when Ben walked into the shop, a frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, standing from the register as she laid down her sketchbook.

“Something puzzling is going on. All of our outdoor storage buildings have been broken into, but the odd thing about it is that nothing appears to be missing. The only thing that Max is trying to figure out is why he ordered so much fertilizer last year.” Ben sighed. “We assumed that it was teenagers the first time it happened, but since something else might be going on here, Dad and I decided to view the surveillance footage. Just for the heck of it, he asked me to check with you to see if you might recognize any of the men we have images of.”

“Sure. Let’s have some coffee and I can take a look,” she replied, having him follow her to the line of chairs outside of the workroom, where she’d recently set up a coffeemaker.

After pouring a couple cups of coffee, she handed his over once he’d brought up the footage on his tablet.

Sitting beside him as she rested her coffee on the table nearby, she reached for the tablet, glancing at the clip.

“I can’t say that I recognize any of these men.”

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