Be Mine

Ingrid Harris has never had a Valentine, but she’s determined to change that this year. Luckily, she has three gorgeous—and single!—housemates she can ask to be her boo for the day, but she doesn’t realize asking one can lead to having them all.

Excerpt Chapter 1

“She asked me to be her Valentine,” Ade told the other two, his eyes never leaving her. “Only for the night. No expectations beyond it.” 

“The hell?” Ye-Jun asked, first looking at Ade, then at Ingrid. “Seriously?” 

Why was he upset? “What’s so wrong with that?” 

“You mean the fact you think one night with you is enough, or the fact you didn’t ask me first?” 

Ingrid’s jaw dropped. It couldn’t be helped. “Ye!” 

“I told you she liked Ade the most,” B. B. said, his tone disappointed even as he squeezed her shoulders gently. “We never had a shot, man.” 

Her brain refused to process the words because they made no sense. Ingrid stepped out of B. B.’s hold, shaking a finger at all three of them. “See? No. Y’all not—no.” She didn’t bother saying goodnight, leaving out the front door and slamming it behind her in her fluster. She barely made it down the steps when she heard the door open behind her. Ingrid didn’t turn around to see who it was, but her body began to tremble when she heard footfalls on the stairs. They weren’t heavy enough to be B. B.’s and they weren’t rhythmic enough to be Ye-Jun’s. 

“Leave me alone, Ade,” she warned. 

Instead of listening to her, Ade rushed by her and stopped right in her path. They glared at one another. The light from behind her cast two shadows, indicating the others stood in the doorway watching them. The light also caught in Ade’s lenses, making them flash. 

Ingrid sighed. It was too cold to be out here like this. Her carriage house was a few yards away, full of heat and solitude so she could reflect and get her mind right. How could a simple request blow up in her face so spectacularly? She couldn’t even give credence to what Ade, B. B., and Ye-Jun were implying, not if she wanted to keep her sanity. 

She had work in the morning, after all. 

“Of course you’d be braver than all three of us,” Ade began, a smile turning up a corner of his mouth. Ingrid rolled her eyes, but she felt an answering tug at the corner of hers. 

“Shoot your shot, y’know?” Ingrid said with yet another shrug. At least her shoulders were getting a workout as she tried to get her bearings during the bizarre turn of the evening. 

“And now you’re freaking out because you hit three bullseyes?” 

Ingrid winced and wrapped her arms around herself. When he put it that way… 

“I wasn’t going for three,” she mumbled. 

“You weren’t going for any,” he challenged, raising an eyebrow. “You were expected to be let down gently.” 

Maybe, or at least be given a yes she could handle, the type of yes that was safe and kept them as friends where she continued to nurse her one-sided attraction but with longer hugs and sweeter kisses on the cheeks and foreheads. Maybe even a nice cuddle on the couch. Not this…this heat in their eyes, or the disappointments in their voices that what she offered still wasn’t enough. And here she thought she’d be overplaying her hand. 

Ingrid remained perfectly still as Ade approached, but instead of grasping her shoulder like B. B., he cradled her jaw in his wide hands. She sucked in a sharp breath at the contact. It was the first time he touched her with romantic intentions instead of platonic, and it made her shiver. 

Was it still cold outside? Ingrid couldn’t tell.