Beauty and the Boss (Modern Fairytales #1)(49)

He walked in, two bottles of water in his hand, and sat down on his side of the bed. Slowly, he rubbed her back in large, sweeping circles.

“Are you at that guy’s house?” Her mother asked. “The one you told me about?”

Maggie flinched, side-eying him. He smiled back. “Yes.”

“Is he there now?”

“Yes…”

Her mom whispered. “Can he hear me?”

“Yes,” she whispered back. “He probably can.”

His hand froze on her. Leaning in, he whispered, “Why are we all whispering? Is someone listening to us?”

A laugh escaped Maggie, and she covered her mouth. “Okay, I have to go now. Love you, Mom. And…don’t worry. It’ll all be fine. You’ll see.”

He resumed rubbing her back as she hung up. When she finished, she tossed her phone aside and hugged her knees. He sat up, scooting behind her, and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You told your parents about me?”

“Yeah.” She leaned over to peer at him. “Is that a bad thing?”

“No.” He resumed rubbing. “I told my mom about us, too.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, really?”

“Really.” Chuckling, he kissed her neck. “Is everything okay, though? You sounded upset.”

“It’s fine.” She shrugged. “I’m fine.”

“Okay…”

Silence descended, and she couldn’t think of anything to say to fill it. So she said nothing, just let herself enjoy the sensation of his hand moving over her back, slow and steady. “Remember when I told you my father died of a heart attack, and I was too busy partying to bother to show up in time?”

She lifted her lids, blinking slowly, her heart wrenching. This time, his voice was laced with pain, and his pain physically hurt her, because he was finally letting her in. He blamed himself, and his mother blamed him, too, which made her long to pull him into her arms, hug him, and promise him that it would all be okay. “Yeah?”

His hand paused. “When I finally listened to my voicemail and found out what happened, I rushed to the hospital, breaking all kinds of traffic laws, but he had died ten minutes before I got there. My mother…she wouldn’t even let me see him before they took him away. I didn’t fight it, because I felt like I deserved every ounce of shit I got from her. I’ve spent the last few years trying to become a man he would have been proud of. Trying to model myself after him.”

She rolled over and raised up on an elbow. The lights were out, but the moonlight and the lights of the city illuminated the room enough for her to see him, and he looked…guilty. Ashamed. Torn. And she wanted to fix him.

“You don’t have to change who you are, Benjamin. I bet if your father were here—wait, scratch that. He is here. And he’s watching. I’m positive he’s pretty freaking proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

He smoothed her hair back. “I’m not so sure. The man you see at the office, the one I was before you came into my life? That’s the me I was trying to be. The me I was trying to become. But with you…I can’t do it. I can’t be pragmatic, focused, and completely dedicated to my work. You make me too happy.”

He sounded awfully unhappy about being happy. “Is that a bad thing, or good?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet.” He lay down and held his arms out for her. “Will you stay the night with me, darling? I don’t want to lose you.”

She curled up in his arms. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

As his arms closed around her, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, breathing his scent in. There was no telling what tomorrow would bring, but with Benjamin’s arms around her, the apartment didn’t feel so foreign anymore.

It felt like…home.





Chapter Fifteen


The next afternoon, Benjamin sat behind his desk, rubbed his forehead, and cursed his sleepless night. Even though he’d held Maggie in his arms, which should have soothed him, he’d been unable to relax enough to actually drift off. And man, he was paying for it now. He’d spent the day in a council meeting, pouring over financials and reports.

At first, he’d been so sure he would find something—anything—that would explain his mother’s behavior, as well as her insistence that he marry for money. Like they were impoverished and needed funds. Or maybe the company was going under.

But that wasn’t the case.

Since he joined the company, the profits were up nearly two hundred percent. He didn’t understand why she was so unhappy with him, or what drove her to try to kick him out of his seat. The board seemed as confused about the turn of events as he was.

The company was safe. The board was happy.

All evidence pointed to his mother being a rich, heartless snob. But he couldn’t believe that was the only reason. There had to be something else.

Tossing the papers down with a frustrated sigh, he leaned back in his chair and covered his face. His company was perfectly fine—which should make him happy. It did, but it pissed him off at the same time. On top of his mother’s stressful deadline hanging over his head like a f*cking anvil, Maggie had been acting strange.

Ever since her parents had called, she’d been quiet. Reserved. Upset, even. He’d heard her mention money on the phone, and coming up with a way to find some, but he hadn’t pried because she clearly wasn’t in the mood to talk about it. That was killing him, too.