An Act of Persuasion(32)

There had been that one disaster while she’d been working for him when she tried to make him jealous by dating a hot young guy. Not only had Ben not lifted an eyebrow, but also it turned out Kevin had shown up at the office once to pick her up for their date with no cash in his wallet. He’d actually asked Ben for the money and Ben had given it to him. Needless to say, she’d been mocked ruthlessly for her taste in potential mates.

Poor Kevin. He didn’t stand a chance against what she felt for Ben. Even when she knew it wasn’t working with him and that she was dating him for the wrong reasons, she still tried a last desperate attempt to see if she could somehow use Kevin to get over Ben. Because wouldn’t that show her boss how over him she was?

The sex had been lousy, she felt guilty as hell for using Kevin—although he really didn’t seem to mind—and, in the end, she’d realized how immature she’d been about the whole thing. She’d been playing silly girl games like she was a character on a sitcom. She had no doubt that Ben would have seen right through her scheme.

If he’d bothered to care. Which he hadn’t.

The next day she’d dumped Kevin, who seemed remarkably relieved at the time. It made her realize what a poor job she’d done at attempting to be someone else’s girlfriend when she was so clearly Ben’s...girl. Woman. Assistant. Employee. Devoted, love-sick idiot!

It was some point after that when she’d realized that maybe their relationship would remain the same. She would love him and he would need her and it would be enough.

But then he’d gotten sick and, in his weakness, he’d reached out to her.

Now he was asking questions about her breast sensitivity. After she told him she loved him.

After she told him they were over.

“Here. I brought the soup and some lo mein if you’re hungry.”

“My breasts are none of your business!”

“Okay.”

He set the bowls on the small table she had next to the kitchen. A table she never ate at when she was home. It was mostly used for setting down her grocery bags and the mail before things were sorted and put away.

He’d even managed to find the one serving dish she owned and had filled it with the lo mein he’d recently microwaved to reheat. It was odd to watch him doing these things. These simple tasks she’d done for him for so long that he was doing for her.

She sat at the table squirming a bit because of her breast declaration. He hadn’t known she’d been looking at the picture in the book when she said it. Heck, maybe he hadn’t even meant anything by the question. Maybe he was curious in a nonsexual way if her breasts were more sensitive.

Yeah, right.

He handed her a spoon and a paper towel to use as a napkin—because, really, what was the purpose of buying both—then he sat across from her.

Not counting last night’s disaster, this was the first time they were sharing a meal together since she’d left him. It was exactly the thing she didn’t want to do because if she fell back into this pattern, she was afraid she would never break out of it.

But she was feeling tired and the soup did smell really good. She took a few cautious sips and waited for junior to approve or disapprove. After a couple of minutes, she could tell the kid seemed satisfied with the selection. She had a suspicion the kid might even let her have the lo mein.

“Are you angry I’m here?” he finally said after a few long moments of them silently eating.

“I should be. I told you that there can’t be anything between us. Sitting here and having dinner after a long day is not exactly helping the situation.”

“I brought books on the baby. That’s perfectly within the boundaries. Besides, you didn’t say there couldn’t be anything between us. You said you weren’t going to marry me or live with me.”

“Yeah, so that basically covers a relationship.”

“Not quite,” he said slowly. “There’s something you left out.”

“What?”

“Sex.”

Anna’s stomach flipped over like fish on land and because she had just read it in the book he gave her, she knew it was too soon to blame the sensation on the baby moving.

“Anna, I’m not sure how to say this but...I guess, I would like to make your breasts my business.”

Oh, my. It probably wasn’t a good sign that her nipples suddenly got hard.





CHAPTER EIGHT