by J. Sterling
What girl wouldn’t be after experiencing that?
I looked down at her and reached for her chin, tilting it up with my fingertips, before pressing my lips against hers. If I had the power to kiss away all the bullshit she had been told in her life, I wished for it to work now.
My tongue swept across her bottom lip before begging for entry into her mouth. She parted her lips, and the taste of sweet wine was on her tongue. We kissed for a few seconds more before I slowly pulled away from her and planted a soft peck on her cheek.
20.
ELIZABETH
Sweet baby Jesus. If I’d known that telling Daniel that story would get me rewarded so sweetly, I might have shared it with him the night we first met.
No, I wouldn’t have.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
I couldn’t pretend not to notice the way his chest was inflating and deflating quicker than normal and that his jaw had been clenched since he sat back down on his side of the table.
“Me? I’m fine. What about you? You’ve been living with that shit in your head for how many years?” His tone was angry as he reached for the bread that had arrived shortly after the wine.
“Eight. Are you mad at me?”
His eyes widened in surprise. “At you? Why would I be mad at you?” His teeth ripped through a piece of the bread. “I’m mad at the dickhead who said that to you, the guy who put that in your head and allowed you to believe it.”
“So, you don’t think it’s true? Guys don’t really want that?”
It would take a lot more than one conversation to erase eight years of being brainwashed.
His light eyes met mine as he spoke, “Some guys want that, yes, but not me.”
“Why not you?”
“Because I want you.”
I huffed out a quick laugh. “Be serious.”
“I am.”
“Then, tell me why.”
“It doesn’t appeal to me. Listen, Elizabeth, some guys want their wives to stay at home, take care of the kids, have dinner ready every night, and basically, provide for their families.”
I nodded my head, familiar with the wives of the executives at my office. Almost all of them were stay-at-home moms. That was a fact that had only fueled my belief that Ben was right.
“I’ve never wanted that,” he continued.
I felt almost blessed with the truths he was about to share with me.
“That’s why I think it’s been so hard for me to find someone. I don’t want the woman who has no ambitions of her own. I don’t mind taking care of and providing for my family, but there’s something innately attractive about a woman who makes shit happen.”
His eyes closed for a moment before reopening. “You know, maybe it was because my mom stayed home while my dad worked. Sure, she volunteered at my school, and she was on quite a few charitable committees, but none of that shit paid her any money. While she was content and felt accomplished for a bit, she eventually wanted more—something for herself, something she earned. You know what I mean?”
I hummed out a yes in understanding.
“But she was over forty by then, and I watched as she searched to find her place in a world that wasn’t made for a woman with no experience in the workforce. She eventually gave up her search and continued doing what she had always done, but I could tell she wasn’t really happy. So, I offered her a job.”
A smile spread across my face. “You did? Doing what?”
I finished off my glass of wine, and he filled it up.
“I started her off as the receptionist in my first company, but that didn’t really work out well. To be honest, my mom is a bit of a snob. She answered all the phones, and she would get a lot of calls, way more than I’d ever realized, asking for charitable contributions. So, she convinced me that I needed someone to oversee the charities I donated to, and she helped me start up my own organization. It was the perfect fit.”
“That’s fantastic. I bet she loves handling that stuff for you.”
“She does. Plus, she likes feeling like she can still tell me what to do sometimes, and I humor her.”
Heather appeared with our food. It smelled amazing, but I wanted her to leave because this conversation was doing more for me personally than anything had in years.
When our waitress disappeared, I started right where we’d left off. “You’re a good son.”
“Even if that didn’t happen with my mom, I don’t think I could be happy with someone who didn’t want to have her own thing.” He took a man-sized bite of pasta.
“Really?” I felt my expression soften as my heart started to lighten its load.
“Oh God, this is really good.” He stabbed at his plate with his fork before directing it toward me.
I leaned forward, taking the pasta in my mouth, and I moaned. “Holy smokes. Delicious.”
He raised his eyebrows in response and continued, “I respect ambition, Elizabeth—not that I don’t respect women who want to stay at home with their families because I do. That’s hard work, and I’m not trying to diminish that at all,” he emphasized. “But when it comes to me and the qualities that I’m attracted to, I look for that inner drive in a woman.”
His hand balled into a fist, and he placed it over his heart. “When I look at you, I see that fire. Maybe I respect it so much just because I can relate to it. I don’t know, but I do know that I want someone who gets what I’m going through every day. I want someone who knows how to build me up and make me a better man. Because that’s exactly what I want to do for her.”
My heart swelled inside my chest with his confession. I nodded my head so vigorously along with everything he said that I was certain I looked like a bobblehead doll. My eyes started to water.
“Oh, jeez, babe. Don’t cry.”
I waved him away. “I’m fine really. That’s just the most…” I paused as I wiped away the few tears that had escaped. “You’re amazing. I would never have thought that you would be like this.”
“Because you’re ambitious and judgy,” he teased.
“Only because you’re arrogant and annoying.”
“Touché,” he said with a cocky smirk. “I knew I’d have you, Elizabeth. I just didn’t know it would be so soon.”
I admitted, “Me either.”
“To which part?” He cocked his head to the side, and his hair moved slightly with it.
“I didn’t think you’d get to me this quickly.”
“But you knew I’d eventually get to you?”
“Of course I fucking knew.”
“No one hotter…no one has ever been hotter than you are right now.”
“I kind of want to climb over this table and have my way with you.” I toyed with him, taking our flirtation to the next level.
He looked all around him before yelling, “Check, please!”
“I was kidding!” I swatted at his arm. I was so not kidding.
21.
DANIEL
“Don’t forget this.” I reached for the single white rose and handed it to her.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” she smiled before holding it with care.
With dinner over, I was torn between getting back on the plane or going to Elizabeth’s place, if she’d have me. I didn’t want her to think I was rejecting her in any way, but I had a six a.m. phone call, and I still needed to prepare for it. Girls tended to be touchy when they felt denied in any aspect, and I definitely didn’t need that after last night’s unplanned fiasco.
I started to call my driver before I turned toward her. “Do you want to call it a night?”
“Do you?”
Shit. After my idiocy last night, I needed to take control but also tread carefully. “I want to come over.”
Her soft brown eyes widened. “To my place?”
“Yes, Elizabeth, to your place.” My hands circled her waist and pulled her tightly against me.
“Okay.”
She smiled up at me, and I knew that tonight
was going better than we both had expected.
“But I have to warn you that I can’t stay long. I have a six a.m. call.”
“Six? That sucks. Overseas?”
She understood. Of course she fucking understood. She dealt with this sort of thing in her job, too.
“Rome. It’s the only time we could get everyone’s schedules to work. Sucks for me, but I can take the call from home.”
“Ah, lucky.” She smacked my shoulder.
“You don’t ever take calls from home?”
She shook her head. “Nah. It’s just easier to take them from the office. Plus, I like being there when no one else is. There’s a quiet that doesn’t exist at any other time. It’s so peaceful.”
I knew exactly what she meant. It was those hours early in the morning or late at night when the rest of the staff was long gone.
“I get some of my best work done during those times.”
“Me, too. Come on. I’m parked on the street.” Her ass swayed as she walked.
I knew being at her house meant there was no way in hell I’d be flying home tonight. I could try to convince myself that I would leave after having her, but I knew better.
“Elizabeth? Elizabeth Lyons!” A male voice that I recognized filtered through the night air.
I turned around, searching for its location.
“Holy shit! Daniel Alexander, too? What are the odds?”
I watched as Ben Anders jogged to catch up to us.
Elizabeth’s grip on my arm tightened, and her entire body tensed next to mine. “You two know each other?” she whispered toward me.
“How do you two know each other?” I asked her at the same exact time.
22.
ELIZABETH
My eyes immediately met Daniel’s as panic seared through me.
How had I avoided seeing Ben for the last eight years, but on one of the best nights of my life, he not only shows up, but he also knows my…he knows Daniel?
Ben’s eyes flashed between my body and Daniel’s, and his brows furrowed, his face holding tension I didn’t recognize. He extended his arm to shake Daniel’s hand, and Daniel reluctantly grabbed it.
“How do you guys know each other?” Daniel’s question hung in the air like a guillotine waiting to drop.
“Elizabeth and I used to—” Ben started to say.
I stopped him, “We knew each other once, but that was a long time ago. We don’t know one another at all anymore, not that we ever really did.”
“Don’t be like that, Elizabeth,” Ben said, his tongue drawing out my name, slow and meaningful, as he shifted his weight between his feet.
His brown hair had started to thin, and part of me loved the fact that he was already going bald.
Karma, I thought to myself, it’s nice to see you.
“Uh…” I stuttered, hating that I was forced to see him right now. I couldn’t stand the way my name sounded coming from his lips. “Don’t say my name like that, and don’t tell me what to do.”
Daniel’s grip on my elbow alerted me to the fact that I was making a scene.
I turned to him, apologetic and embarrassed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Are you okay?” Daniel asked.
I shook my head, my feelings splayed out across the cement like someone had driven over them like roadkill.
Ben stepped between Daniel and me, forcing unwanted space between us. “Daniel, may I please speak to Elizabeth alone for a moment?”
My mouth fell slightly ajar with his words. “We don’t need to speak alone,” I spit, infuriated at his choice of wording. “I don’t need to speak to you at all.”
“Looks like she doesn’t want to talk to you, bud,” Daniel spoke with authority, his chest puffing out, as he pulled me back toward him.
Ben’s eyes pleaded with mine. “Please…please just let me talk to you for two minutes.”
He placed his hands together in prayer pose and I sucked in a breath, wondering what could possibly be so important that he would beg me like this. I reluctantly agreed, “Fine. Two minutes.”
He led me far enough away from Daniel so that he couldn’t hear our conversation, but I was still close enough where he could keep a watchful eye on us.
And watch he did.
“What are you doing with Daniel Alexander, Elizabeth?” Ben asked.
“Is that really what you wanted to ask me?”
“Elizabeth, listen to me.” His words rang with desperation. “I need to know what you’re doing with him?”
“How’s Kim?” I asked, pulling my virtual gloves off.
“Who? Who’s Kim?” His face crinkled.
Who is Kim?
WHO IS KIM?
Has he seriously forgotten her name?
I didn’t care how many years it had been. That name should have been tattooed on his fucking tongue or engraved on his memory when it came to me. I sure as hell related her name with his whenever he was brought up.
“You’re a pig.”
Recognition dawned on his face. “I haven’t seen her since college. But, Elizabeth, why was Daniel holding your hand?” He was clearly determined not to stray from this singular topic.
“My personal life is none of your business.”
“Yours might not be, but his is.”
“How do you figure?” I asked, my tone more than simply annoyed.
“Because he’s dating my sister.”
“Jenny?” I asked.
His older sister’s face filtered into my mind. It had been a long time since I last saw her, but it didn’t add up. I couldn’t see the Jenny I remembered with someone like Daniel.
“No, not Jenny. Kate,” Ben corrected.
That made more sense simply based on looks. Kate had always been really beautiful, and she was two years younger than we were. But she wasn’t at all motivated or particularly intelligent, if I recalled correctly.
Then, his words hit me all at once. He didn’t say they used to date. He said they were dating—as in present tense.
Currently.
Now.
“What do you mean, he’s dating your sister?” I asked, hoping he would correct me.
He only shrugged and took a tentative step toward me. “They’ve been dating on and off for years. Katie’s completely in love with him. She adores Daniel. What I don’t understand is, why are you here with him?”
This could not be happening. Daniel had told me he called off all his friends with benefits. He never said he had a girlfriend. Ben had to be wrong or mistaken. Maybe he had bad information or something.
I leaned over, my hands resting on my knees for support, as I shook my head before quickly standing back up. “This can’t be right,” I said, my voice shaking.
“How do you think we know each other?”
“I don’t know.” I remembered that I had just wondered the same thing.
“Kate’s been with him for two years. Why would I lie to you?”
“But he said he broke up with everyone else,” I confessed, my voice not sounding like my own.
“When? When did he tell you that? Because I can assure you that they are still together. She just sent me this picture.”
I watched as Ben dug out his cell phone and fumbled with it. He shoved a picture in my face. It was Daniel with Kate in his arms, smiles covering both their faces. It looked recent, too recent. Daniel’s facial hair in the photo matched exactly the look he currently sported.
Glancing behind me, I noticed Daniel in the distance, his body tense, as I started to fall apart. Tears pooled in my eyes. “I-I,” I stuttered. “I have to go.”
“I’m really sorry to be the one to tell you, Elizabeth. Maybe we could have dinner soon?”
“Sure. Whatever.”
His words hadn’t registered. Nothing registered, except the fact that Daniel was a piece-of-shit liar, just like all the others. I dropped the rose he had given me to the ground, and I walked away as quickly as my shaking legs would allow.
<
br /> 23.
DANIEL
I watched as Elizabeth all but ran up the street, the opposite direction from where I was waiting for her. What the hell was going on?
I started chasing after her, my heart in my fucking throat the whole time as I screamed her name. Ben yelled at me to stop, his footsteps echoing close behind each one of mine.
“Daniel, stop!” he shouted one last time before I felt a pull one my arm. I stopped running and turned to face him, my concern and anger growing.
“What happened? Where is she going?” I growled at Ben.
His grip only tightened, and I gave him one last warning before I completely lost my shit on him.
“What the fuck, Ben? What did you say to her? Let me go before I knock your teeth in.”
He tried to contain me, but I flexed both arms before thrashing them back and then down, forcing his grip to loosen. I shoved him, breaking completely free, and he stumbled before trying to regain his balance. He took a shaky step toward me, and I squeezed my right hand into a fist before clocking him square in the jaw. My knuckles throbbed immediately, but I shook it off.
Ben’s head flew to the side, and he quickly snapped it back to meet my anger-filled gaze. He charged at me, his face seething, but his over-the-top emotions made him an easy opponent. He stepped toward me with his head down, clearly aiming for my chest, like he was a fucking bull. I stopped him mid-stride with a knee to his ribs. A guttural oomph sound escaped as he lowered himself to the pavement, his hand now holding onto his stomach area.
“I’ll put you in the fucking ground if you don’t knock it off and tell me what the hell is going on—right now.”
He glanced up, his eyes wincing in pain. “Why are you cheating on my sister?”
That’s what this shit is about? “I’m not cheating on your sister.”
He made a girlish grunt sound and I fought back the urge to hit him again. “I just saw you with my own eyes, Daniel. What the hell, man?” He pushed up from the ground and rose to his feet.
