The Cruel and Beautiful Series Boxset

by A. M. Hargrove

  “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  “There is. Look at your last relationship with Rebecca and she turned out to be a class A bitch like I warned you.”

  “Are you saying Cate’s a bitch?”

  “Hell no,” I spit into the phone. “My little sister, remember?”

  “I know, but I don’t get your point.”

  “My point is maybe you need time before spouting the love shit. Are you even sure you’re over Rebecca? You know I saw her the other day.”

  He pauses. The answer sometimes lies in the silence.

  “I thought I was in love with Rebecca. But fuck, man, I got over her. I don’t think love is something you get over ever, not real love at least.”

  “Now you sound like a pansy. Dude, how do you ever get so much pussy being a pussy?”

  He laughs. “One day my friend, you will fall.”

  “Never.” And I’m so sure of that.

  “You will.”

  “Okay, how do you know you’re in love with Cate? I feel like as her big brother I have to make sure you’re the right guy for her.”

  I’m teasing. The only friend I would ever have allowed to get close enough to date Jenna was Drew. If he hadn’t seen her like a sister, the way I saw Cate, I would have wanted them to hook up.

  “She’s my first thought in the morning and my last thought when I go to sleep.”

  “Damn, man, you don’t have to use that poetry shit on me.”

  “It’s true. You’ll see. It’s like my mission in life to see her smile.”

  “Okay, that shit isn’t contagious, is it? I feel like I’m talking to a girl.”

  He laughs. “You’ll know when you’ve hit bottom when a gorgeous girl practically begs you to screw her and you aren’t the least bit tempted because she isn’t ‘your’ girl.”

  “So have you been tempted?”

  I shake off the memory. Had I just told Cate all of that? But the truth rolls off my tongue.

  “No.”

  Thirty-One

  SAM

  Ben picks me up at six thirty and as soon as I open the door, I’m in his arms and our mouths devour each other’s. The kiss turns into much more and he walks me into my bedroom as he briefly pulls away from my lips.

  “Do we have time?”

  “Barely.”

  “I can be fast and I know you can.” He’s already unzipping his pants and then reaching for mine. He tears mine off so fast, I’m surprised he doesn’t rip them. A giggle rushes past my lips.

  “You think this is funny? I’m a desperate man. My cock has missed that pussy of yours, baby.”

  “I can tell.”

  His hand reaches for me, and he doesn’t have to tell me how wet I am. I already know. But the smirk that curls his lips tells me he’s happy with what he finds. Then the humor is gone and a seriousness takes its place.

  “Sam, you’re gorgeous.” His mouth crashes against mine again as his hands reach under me lifting me onto him. In one movement he plunges into me, filling me deep the way I love. “I’m not going stop until we both come.” True to his words, we’re both fast and find ourselves exploding in simultaneous orgasms. “I think we were both overdue.”

  “I’d have to agree. I hate to break up this party, but if we don’t get a move on, we’re going to be late.”

  He groans as he lifts me off of him. “I need to clean you up. And I love having you without a condom. I’m glad we did the testing thing.”

  “Me too.” He kisses me again.

  We get dressed again, and when we’re finished, I ask, “You ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  I sense something odd. He keeps adjusting his shirtsleeves. “Hey, are you nervous?”

  His hand furrows through his hair. He’s totally on edge. “Not exactly nervous. I look forward to meeting the people that created such an amazing woman.”

  “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

  “Thanks for telling me now. I do have to admit, it’s a little daunting meeting them too.”

  “Why’s that?”

  He shrugs and I get the sense that this is important to him. “It’s just that I hate being judged.”

  “They’re not going to judge you.” I take his hand and rub a small circle on the top with my thumb.

  A heavy sigh puffs out of him. “I guess I’m used to my dad’s high expectations. Growing up, he was critical of everything I did. I figured that’s what I should expect from your parents -- that no guy would ever be good enough for you.”

  “Okay, I get where you’re coming from now. But let me assure you, my dad isn’t anything like yours. All my dad will be concerned about is that you don’t rip me to shreds or throw me off the Ravenel Bridge. Other than that, you’ll be fine. Got it?”

  “What about your mom?” he asks.

  I’m confused. “My mom?”

  “Yeah. Is she one of those nose in the air Charleston bluebloods?”

  Now I chuckle. “You are going to laugh so hard at yourself after you meet my mom. Yeah, she was born privileged, but you’d never guess it.” I give him directions to my parents’ house as we go. They live downtown, not far from me. It only takes a little over five minutes to get there from my place. Even though they live close, I don’t see them as often as I’d like.

  When we pull in the driveway, he says,

  “This place is awesome.”

  “We love it. I grew up here.”

  It’s an old three-story brick home, located south of Broad Street, that’s been here since the eighteen hundreds. It exudes the kind of Old World charm that tourists flock to.

  We park and walk up the back of the house. Mom is waiting to greet us and I observe Ben as she folds him in her arms. Mom is one of those people who you can’t possibly dislike. She warms you up, no matter how cold of a person you might be. Her hair is still honey blond, like mine, and I inherited her hazel eyes. She has Ben grinning with that hug of hers.

  “Ben, Sam has told us so much about you. It’s wonderful to meet you finally. Come in and please make yourself at home.”

  “Daddy!”

  “Angel Pie! Give me some of that heavenly sugar of yours.” Daddy wraps his bear-like arms around me and lifts me off the ground in one of his trademark hugs. They always make me giggle. When he puts me down, he turns around and says, “You must be Ben. It’s a pleasure meeting you.” And they shake hands. Ben eyes my dad’s stout frame. Both men are tall, but Dad is much broader with a dusting of silver in his brown hair. His friendly brown eyes smile at us and I know he’s happy to see us.

  “Same here, sir.”

  “Call me Randy. And come on in. What can I get you to drink?” Dad corrals Ben, and Mom pushes me into the kitchen.

  “Why, Sam, you didn’t tell me how good looking that boy is.”

  “Mom! He’s not a boy, and yes, he is good looking.” I grin. “What did you cook?”

  “Daddy’s grilling filets and I have a salad, my special potato casserole, haricots vert, and I made peach cobbler for dessert.”

  “Oh yum. Vanilla ice cream too?”

  “You know it, honey.”

  “Laney and Evan?”

  Mom says, “They should be here in a few minutes.”

  When I join Dad and Ben, they’re laughing and Ben appears to be at ease, which makes me feel relieved.

  “I was just telling Ben about the time I tried to make you girls pancakes for breakfast,” Dad says.

  “Oh, they were awful. He could’ve used them for pavers out back.”

  “See? I told you.”

  Ben laughs. “I enjoy cooking,” he gives me a pointed look, “when I don’t get distracted.”

  “Well, this one,” I shake my head, pointing at Dad with my thumb, “Mom only lets him get close to the grill.”

  “What’s that about the grill?” Laney asks as she and Evan join us. I can see Ben eyeing them, and he’s probably noticing the similarities in us. Laney and I have the same c
olor hair only I’m taller and a tad bit slimmer, but not by much.

  I make all the introductions and then explain Dad’s kitchen ban. After Dad takes all kinds of ribbing from us in his good-natured way, Mom informs him it’s time to light the grill, to which we all die laughing.

  “Whatever did I say?” Mom asks.

  “We were telling Ben about Dad’s culinary talents,” I explain.

  “Oh, dear,” Mom sighs.

  “At least he can grill,” Ben says.

  “Yeah, but you should’ve seen the time that one grill exploded on him,” I say.

  Laney and Evan start laughing. Evan says, “I remember you telling me about this.”

  Dad rubs his face and gets this sheepish look. “It was on Christmas Eve and I did have a bit too much eggnog.”

  “A bit?” Mom asks.

  I look at Ben and say, “He turned on the gas and forgot then he went to light the grill and thought the gas was off, but he put the lighter to it anyway and kaboom. He’s lucky he’s still here.”

  “I am. And that should teach you all a lesson,” Dad says.

  “What? Don’t drink?” I ask.

  “No. Don’t drink and cook!”

  Now we all really laugh. Mom adds, “How about you stay away from the grill while drinking?” and she clears her throat loudly because Dad stands there with a drink in hand. Now he looks adequately chastened, and Mom goes up to him and ruffles his hair.

  “I’ve only had one, Michelle.”

  “I know, Randy,” Mom says. “Now go light the grill.”

  Ben pipes in, “Care if I join you, Randy?”

  “Sure, come on.”

  Ben follows Dad out and that gives Laney the opportunity to attack.

  “Dang, sis, he’s freaking hot!”

  “Hey, what am I?” Evan asks.

  Laney looks at him and says, “You’re my husband.”

  “That makes no sense,” Evan says, pouting.

  “Yes, it does. You’re hot, too, but we’re not talking about you. We’re talking about Ben.”

  But that was enough to satisfy Evan so he smiles.

  Laney turns her attention back to me and says, “So what gives? He looks like a real catch.”

  “Wait a minute, you’re basing that on his looks only?” I ask.

  She does have the decency to look ashamed. “You’re right. That was a leap, wasn’t it?”

  “I’ll say. But, to your point, he is a catch, and not because of his looks. But you need to get to know him. So talk to him.”

  “Okay, I will. But on another note, have you scheduled anything yet with the doctor?”

  Shit. I’ve done such a great job of sweeping this aside, I’ve forgotten all about it.

  “Samantha Calhoun, what the hell are you thinking? Oh wait. Clearly you aren’t thinking at all. This is your life you are playing with. You understand that, don’t you?”

  Evan says, “Laney, keep your voice down.”

  I look at my brother-in-law and say, “Thanks, Evan. Laney, I’ve been really busy. Work is …”

  “Too busy to save your life? Have you told Ben yet?”

  “No! And I don’t want you to either. Now drop it. This isn’t the time or place. This is a family dinner where he’s supposed to be meeting you all, having a good time. I’ll tell him, but I certainly won’t do it tonight at the dinner table.”

  Laney’s eyes droop. She and I share the same hazel eyes. But now instead of hers being bright, they are dimmed by sadness. “I just don’t want to lose my baby sister to something she could’ve prevented by a procedure that she keeps putting off.”

  Guilt weighs heavily on me. “I promise I’ll do something about it. I swear.”

  “It doesn’t have anything to do with Ben, does it? Tell me it doesn’t.”

  “No. He’s great,” I lie. He is great but I know I risk losing him with all of this. And right now, a broken heart on top of all this is something I truly don’t want to face.

  Dad and Ben come back inside and Mom hands them a platter with the steaks. All the men traipse back outside to grill them while the women do kitchen duty.

  “Mom, she hasn’t scheduled anything yet.” Laney is a tattletale.

  “I had my appointment just the other day,” I defend.

  “Oh, Sam, it was so hard on your father when I was sick. Please, I’m begging you, don’t put it off. If anything happened to you, I’m not sure he could handle it. And I don’t know if I could either. Just do it. Please. I know it’ll be hard. But look at Laney.” Mom’s eyes are almost ready to spill water, and I don’t want to ruin tonight.

  “I won’t. I need to make another appointment is all. I lost an employee at work and I’m swamped, but I’ll take care of it.”

  “You’re too precious to me, Sam. Please do it.”

  Soon the men are back with the cooked steaks and we all head into dinner. I paste on my happy face, as does Laney. Ben sees right through it, though. He rubs my leg under the table, and his eyes question me, only I can’t provide the answers he seeks. I grin and laugh and act appropriately to make things appear normal. But dinner drags as my dilemma burdens me. I would love nothing more than to be able to talk to Ben about it, but that’s the one thing I can’t do. The thought of it has me cringing in fear, as I know it would him.

  “Michelle, this is delicious,” Ben says. My mom glows under his compliments.

  “Yeah, Mom, you outdid yourself,” I add. Then I tell Ben, “Save room for dessert. You’re going to die when you taste her peach cobbler.”

  And when he digs into it, all he does is “mmm.” And who can blame him? It’s warm, gooey, and covered in creamy vanilla ice cream.

  When he scrapes his bowl clean, he says, “Michelle, that was way past good. Thank you for such an excellent meal.”

  “It was my pleasure, Ben. And you come back to eat here with Sam any time.”

  “Thank you. I hope to do that.”

  Laney and I help Mom clean up while the guys hang out with Dad. I’m sure Dad is entertaining them with all kinds of stories, as is his usual way.

  Mom leans over and says, “Ben seems to fit right in with the men. He doesn’t hold back or seem at all immature.” I can’t contain my laughter at her statement.

  “It’s okay Mom, you can say it. Trevor was an overgrown teenager and Ben is the complete opposite of him.”

  “Oh, honey, I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”

  “Of course you didn’t. But I agree.” She hugs me and Laney pipes in. “I think Ben is a much better catch.”

  “Duh,” I add. They both start laughing as I join in.

  “It’s nice to see you happy, Sam,” Mom says. We finish up and join the guys.

  “I hate to break up this party, but working girl here,” I announce as I enter the room. All eyes hit me at once.

  Dad says, “You work too hard.”

  “I have to if I want my business to succeed.”

  “Angel Pie, I’ve told you a dozen times, you can come to me and I’ll front you the money.”

  “Daddy, I’ve told you a dozen times, not happening. Besides, I’m past that already. Now I need another employee or two and I’m good.”

  Ben’s hand flies up in the air. “My bad. Jenna’s supposed to call you. She has the perfect match for you, Sam.”

  “Yeah? Really?”

  “Yes! I was supposed to tell you today, but everything at work derailed me.”

  “I’ll give Jenna a call in the morning,” I say.

  Mom asks, “Who’s Jenna?”

  “My sister,” Ben says.

  “How wonderful.” Mom beams.

  Then Ben explains. “Jenna used to run the sales and marketing for banquets at Charleston Spaces. So she has all these connections and when Sam needed another person, I asked her if she knew anyone.”

  “This is going to help me so much.” Now I’m excited again. “However, I’m still working girl, so we need to leave.”

  I laugh as Daddy
’s lip pokes out. “You’d better watch out, Daddy, you might trip over that thing,” I tell him.

  He shakes his head. “I get no sympathy around here.”

  I spread my hugs around and Ben ushers me out the door. When we get to the front of my house, he shuts off the car.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened back there?”

  “It was nothing. Just between sisters, you might say.”

  He’s silent for a moment and picks up my hand. “You can talk to me, you know. I’m a great listener, at least that’s what Drew said. I’m here if you need me. I care about you, Sam; you can count on me.” He raises my hand to his lips and kisses it.

  “Thank you, Ben.” I lean in and kiss him, praying he means what he says. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

  He palm cups my cheek. “I hope so. And you were right about your Dad. He’s nothing like mine. And he sure loves his Angel Pie.”

  “Yeah, he does.”

  “I personally think she may have wings and a halo.” He runs his thumb along my lower lip. What should’ve been a teasing comment all of a sudden makes me feel heartsick. I know I need to tell him the truth about my possible surgery. What’s ahead and what I’m hiding from him looms over me like a darkening cloud threatening hail.

  He gets out of the car and walks around to open my door. When we get to my front door, I fumble with the keys. But he’s right there to steady my hand. I know he has it in him to be my rock, but can he?

  “Are you sure everything’s okay?”

  No, it’s not okay. There’s a possibility I could get breast cancer, which will have you running for the mountains with that messy dark hair of yours on fire!

  “Fine, all’s good and fine here, Rhoades. Just open the door so I can get inside.”

  He slants his head for a second, but then proceeds to unlock my door. “Sweet dreams, gorgeous, and I’ll call you in the morning.”

  I watch him walk to his car and give him a little wave as he drives away. I make it the several steps into my room before I allow myself to break down.

  Thirty-Two

  Ben

  Getting the call from my dad’s admin to come to his office makes me feel like I’ve been called in to see the principal. I have no idea how he feels about the way I handled things while he was gone. When I enter the room, I wipe my palms on my pants.