Page 140 of Theirs to Take

Eli

Eli was sitting behind his big desk, staring Mina down through the privacy of his frosted windows. God, she was beautiful, but there was no way that he’d give into his basic desires and ask her out. He was a fool for going to her apartment last weekend. He should have never let himself think that things might actually work out in his favor. Something in him was telling him not to screw things up with Mina, and the voice in his head sounded suspiciously like his older brother. He hated that he had let Evan into his head, but he had, and now, he was going to have to figure out what to do about his feelings for Mina because they weren’t just going away.

His cell phone rang, and he checked the caller ID, letting it go to voicemail since it wasn’t his brother. Evan had called him last night to tell him that Carrie was in labor and with any luck, he’d be a dad sometime today. Eli was happy for his brother, but a part of him wondered if he’d ever have that with a woman—a wife and kid on the way. He wanted that, but every time he allowed himself to picture it, Mina’s face filled his mind.

“Have you heard anything from Evan?” Mina asked, sticking her head into his office.

“Come on in,” he said, “and, no. I haven’t heard anything and I’m going crazy. Does it usually take this long to have a baby?” he asked.

She barked out her laugh and sunk into the sofa in front of his desk. “You’re asking the wrong girl that question. I have no idea how long it takes to have a baby. Carrie is my first friend to be pregnant, so this is new to me too.”

“Don’t they teach you that stuff at the girly doctor?” he asked.

Mina looked him over as if he had lost his mind. “You’re kidding right?” she asked. “They don’t go over stuff like that until after you get pregnant, and I have no plans of getting pregnant any time soon. Can’t you just Google that stuff?” she asked. He really hadn’t heard her question because all he could think about was Mina pregnant with his baby. He wondered if she meant that she never wanted to have kids, or just not right now.

“You don’t want kids?” he asked.

“I didn’t say that,” she said. “I said that I don’t want them right now. I’d love to have a couple of kids—way down the road after I find the right guy to have them with.” Eli wanted to stand and volunteer to be the “Right guy,” but he had already told her that he wasn’t the right anything for her.

“What about that guy, Ben?” he asked.

“What about him?” Mina asked. Eli knew that he was crossing a line, but he had to know.

“You two seemed pretty cozy going to lunch together,” he said. He had seen them when they got back from lunch too—all cozy and cute together. They looked like the perfect couple, holding hands and giggling about something that one or the other had said. It was kind of sickening to watch the two of them together—they were so sweet. But he had done this to himself. He had pushed Mina away after their one and only perfect kiss, and that was on him.

“Well, he’s great,” she said. “We’ve known each other for a while now, and I have to admit, our lunch date was nice.”

“So, you two are together then?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “I guess you could call what’s happening between us that. I mean, he’s even going to come with me to see Carrie’s baby when he gets here—not that meeting a new baby counts as a date. That would be kind of weird right?”

“Um, yeah, I think that taking your new boyfriend to meet your best friend’s newborn would count as a pretty weird date,” he agreed. “But Ben seems like a great guy. I hope that you two will be happy.”

“Thanks, Eli,” she whispered. “Well, I better get back to work. My boss is a slave driver,” she teased. “If you hear from Evan, will you let me know? I’d say that if I hear from Carrie, I’ll do the same, but I’m betting my friend has better things to do than to call me with a progress update.”

Eli chuckled, “Yeah, I’m guessing that you’re right. I will come to find you as soon as I know anything,” he assured.

“Thanks, Eli,” Mina said, getting up to leave his office, “you’re the best.” No, he wasn’t the best, even if he nodded and smiled at her on her way out. He was a first-class jerk. He hated the fact that she was with that guy, Ben. He hated that she was with any guy. Eli wanted her to be his—not just his assistant, but his everything, and he was royally blowing things with Mina.

It was almost time to head home for the evening when his cell phone rang, startling him from the reports that he was working on. It was Evan and he quickly answered the phone. “Tell me you have good news,” he ordered.

“He’s here,” Evan said. “I have a son and he’s perfect.”

“Congratulations, man,” Eli gushed. “When do I get to meet him?”

“Any time,” Evan said. “They are moving Carrie to a room, and I’ll text you the number when I have that information. Will we see you tonight?”

“Of course,” Eli promised. “Let me just run home to shower and change before I head to the hospital. I want to be at my best when I meet my nephew. Does he have a name yet?”

“We’re working on that. Carrie has narrowed it down to two choices and we’d like to spend some time with him to decide which name he fits,” Evan said.

“Well, Eli’s a good, solid name, if you’re still taking suggestions.”

“We’re not,” Evan said. “I’ll see you when you get here.”

“I won’t be long,” Eli promised. “Hey, Mina is sitting at her desk. Do you want me to save you a phone call?”

“That would be great. Tell her Carrie would love to see her tonight too,” he said.

---