Make Me Yours: A BWWM Billionaire Love Story

by Cher Etan

  Meaghan was standing the middle of his living room, arms crossed, face like thunder.

  “What?” he asked without preamble.

  Meaghan’s eyebrows went up and her lips twisted in that way that said ‘well excuuuse me’ without having to say a word. She fumbled in her pockets with sharp angry movements and then her hand emerged holding her phone. She brandished it toward him as if it was a weapon, glaring at him the whole time.

  “What?” he asked again, completely mystified.

  She said nothing, lips pursed together, just shook the phone at him like he’d ruined the battery or something. He reached forward tentatively and took the phone from her, looking down at it at the last minute after holding a staring match with her for a while. The phone was open to text messaging and he saw that she had received a number of texts from someone…him.

  How could you do this to me?

  The first one said and he scrolled down reading the rest as he paled even more than he thought he could.

  I thought I could trust you.

  WHERE THE HELL DO YOU GET OFF LYING TO ME YOU FUCKING BITCH

  Dean grimaced as he scrolled down wondering if he could possibly make like this never happened.

  Are you fucking him now? Is that what you’re doing????

  Slut

  Dean switched off the phone after that message. He couldn’t read any more. He certainly had no memory of sending any of these. He risked a glance at Meaghan; she was breathing very heavily, eyes looking bloodshot as she glared at him. He opened his mouth and then closed it again completely at a loss as to what to say.

  “What the fuck Dean?” Meaghan said and Dean exhaled the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. She sounded pissed but there was no hint of guilt in her tone. So maybe he’d got it all wrong and all the alcohol and misery had been for nothing.

  “I’m an idiot?” he ventured.

  “That goes without saying,” she replied. Her self-righteous tone further lifted his spirits. If she was cheating on him wouldn’t she sound more apologetic or guilty? Less like…she wanted to gut him like a fish?

  “I…came by the hospital yesterday,” he said slowly, eyes mostly on the ground as he darted occasional glances at her. “I wanted to cook you a nice dinner maybe, talk about your day. I heard about the accident on I-295; the news said most patients were taken to your clinic. I knew you’d have had a rough day.” He glanced up and saw that Meaghan’s expression had softened slightly. But her arms were still crossed and her stance was still combative.

  “So then I arrive at the hospital and you’re leaving with some guy who is entirely too solicitous of your welfare. And you take him to La Trattoria of all places and you guys are looking all cozy and intimate talking over your cappuccinos…it was…disconcerting,” Dean continued, looking at her to see how she was taking all this. She was still listening intently but her arms were loosening up so that was good…he hoped.

  “So yeah I followed you. But I texted you and asked you where you were and you lied to me. You lied to me Meaghan. What was I supposed to think? Furthermore, I ask you to come by and see me last night and you blow me off. What would you think?” Dean’s voice had risen throughout this speech as he remembered his trials and tribulations of the day before.

  “You couldn’t wait to talk to me before you start throwing around accusations and insults?” Meaghan asked coldly.

  “I was blind drunk Megs, I can’t even remember sending those texts.”

  “Wow, you’re blaming drunk texting?” she demanded.

  “I’m not blaming it. I’m just telling you how it was,” Dean clarified. “Now my head is pounding like a motherfucker and obviously I was wrong, so if you’re here to break up with me do it quickly so I can go finish up killing myself.”

  Meaghan stared at him, incredulity in her eyes. He stared back at her waiting. Suddenly she burst out into loud laughter, bending over and clutching her stomach with the force of it.

  “God this is soooo stupid,” she said in between snorts. Dean smiled tentatively at her.

  “Yeah?” he asked hopefully.

  “Yeah,” she replied nodding her head. She straightened up still hiccuping. “Tell you what, I’ll let you get your rest or your suicide on, whatever, and we can pick this up when you’re sober and…not hung-over.”

  Meaghan took a step toward the door but Dean’s hand snaked out and closed around her wrist. “Wait. You’re not going to explain yourself?”

  Meaghan turned to face him, the glare back in full effect, “Tell you what, we’ll chalk that one up to you being hung-over, still drunk and filled with bitterness. It’s your last free pass though. Let go of my hand.” She bit out every word and her face was thunderous. Dean slowly let go of her hand and stepped back. Clearly he wasn’t getting any answers today. Or maybe ever, who knew with Meaghan? She took the last two steps that brought her to the door and walked out without another word. Dean waited, swaying on his feet to hear her footsteps climbing back up the stairs and her opening the door to say that she was just kidding – of course she would explain and he should quit being such a baby about everything. Then she’d maybe put her arms around him and kiss him like she meant it. And he would kiss her back, whisper apologies into her neck and endearments into her skin. He would let her know just how much she meant to him so that she knew that all those insults were just the product of a breaking heart; he hadn’t actually meant any of them…

  He waited and waited, but she didn’t come back.

  Chapter 3

  Meaghan didn’t go home; she was too upset and she didn’t want to tell her mother the whole story. So she went to Bain’s house. She had a key – for emergencies- which she hadn’t used before; not wanting to invade his privacy. But if ever there was an emergency, this was it. She needed a haven to think, go over everything in her mind and come to a logical conclusion. She unlocked the door and stepped in turning to close the door behind her and lock it again. When she turned back, she was astonished to see a man brandishing a knife at her. It took her a moment to recognize Daniel; as he was fully clothed with his hair tied back in a ponytail. He was still handsome as ever, but in a different way than when he was on display at his place of work. For one thing, he seemed bigger, more manly. The way he held the knife…Meaghan was quite sure he knew exactly how to use it.

  “Er…hi?” she ventured tentatively. “I was just er, looking for Bain.”

  Daniel lowered the knife slowly looking a bit sheepish. “Well, as you can see, he’s not here – and I’m not expecting him any time soon either. He went to Baltimore for a site meeting with some new investors he said. Probably be back in the morning.”

  “Oh yes, he did tell me he’d be out of town,” Meaghan agreed. That was actually one of the reasons she’d chosen his house to go to ground at. Looked like that plan was a bust…it looked like Bain had decided to take the next step with Daniel after all.

  “Would you like to visit with me anyway? Bain goes on about what a great listener you are. Would you mind if I bent your ear for a while? I’ve got food; and alcohol,” Daniel coaxed. Meaghan smiled; it might actually be good to listen to someone else’s problems for once rather than wallowing in her own shit.

  “Sure I could eat,” Meaghan said with a shrug coming in. obviously she wasn’t going to get her time of introspection, but maybe dealing with someone else’s issues could be just as effective as dealing with her own. Who knows, maybe Daniel might have some insights as to why Dean was acting like such a dick all of a sudden. And besides, if Daniel was going to be an important part of Bain’s life, then they’d do well to get friendly-er.

  “I’ve prepared meat loaf. Do you like meat loaf?” Daniel called walking back to the kitchen.

  “Yeah sure why not?” Meaghan replied because not having tasted Daniel’s cooking before she wasn't sure what she was in for exactly. The smells emanating from the kitchen though, were making her mouth water despite her misery so she has to conclude that he knew wha
t he’s about. She found Daniel leaning over the stove, a plate in his hand, serving something out of a pan and moved closer to see if it was the source of the smell; sure enough, there was a piece of meatloaf on the plate and it smelled damned good. Meaghan took the proffered plate and moved to the living room while Daniel followed with his own plate, and some wine glasses. There was already a bottle of vino opened on the coffee table and Daniel put down the glasses on the table and poured some Cabernet Sauvignon into the glasses. Meaghan lifted her brow impressed at the vintage but also uncomfortable in drinking Bain’s expensive wines when he wasn’t there.

  “Does Bain know you’re raiding his wine cellar?” she asked, echoes of the conversation she’d had with Bain about Daniel being a gold digger at the fore front of her mind.

  “Actually he’s the one who opened this bottle to toast us earlier. I told him I’d polish it off as a consolation prize for not having him in my bed tonight.”

  “Aww,” Meaghan said only half-mockingly.

  Daniel smiled and shrugged, “Aaand we can neatly segue to how he’s been pulling away from me and then he calls me this morning and he’s all ‘let’s work things out’…I’m thrilled. I am. But I don’t understand.”

  Meaghan tried to look as non-committal as possible and not like she’d been taking Daniel apart with Bain just last night and putting him back together. Bain hadn’t told her what he intended to do after their all night therapy session in which they’d destroyed more than one bottle of expensive wine; but he had said that he felt more clarity than he’d had in a long time.

  “So why didn’t you tell him that?” she asked Daniel.

  “I did; but we were out of time – he had to go or he’d miss his plane. I’m just asking you Meaghan, if you can fill in some blanks for me. Just a bit of quid pro quo. I’d owe you,” he coaxed.

  Meaghan studied him thoughtfully; this was a good time to really explore Daniel’s motives. Meaghan was a fairly good judge of character, she thought. She knew Bain, knew that he was conflicted about relationships and being hurt and getting serious with someone who wasn’t from the ‘country club set’. As much as he lived his life parallel to theirs, he still craved their approval though he would never admit it. Even as he went out of his way to choose partners who would never meet with the approval of either his parents or his peers. Too outré for most of them; Meaghan knew she was a beneficiary of this twisted philosophy – she and Bain never would have gotten so close if he wasn’t fighting this conflicting duality of his personality. He was attracted to Meaghan because she was an ‘outcast’ in their society. She was from the wrong side of the tracks and her ancestors certainly hadn’t come over on the Mayflower. Still, whatever prompted Bain to befriend her, it wasn’t the reason they were still friends and she knew that too. So now he was confronted with having real feelings for Daniel while being unsure of Daniel’s social suitability to be his mate. He might be biased when speaking on Daniel’s motives; stemming more from wishful thinking than reality. Wanting Daniel to be using him so he’d be justified in ditching him when they got too hot and heavy. So Meaghan could find out what lay on the other side of that equation. If Daniel was indeed here for what he could get that was one thing and Meaghan would be the first to kick his ass on Bain’s behalf. On the other hand, if he had real genuine feelings for Bain then he needed to understand that any future he envisaged with Bain might not really come to fruition. Meaghan leaned back in the seat, body suddenly gone weak as she realized something.

  ‘Is that how it is between Dean and me?’

  Was he using this alleged indiscretion of hers to pull away from her. She remembered the birthday party his mother had held for him at the offices of Wesson Diamonds in which all the senior executives were invited and Samantha Crawford had stood beside him as if they were still a couple. His workmates had certainly treated her as such; and so had his mother. Dean had said he’d tried his best to extricate himself from the situation with minimal embarrassment to everyone concerned but Meaghan wasn’t so sure now. Maybe he’d just played along with the whole farce because he knew that at the end of the day, Samantha was the ‘right’ one for him and not Meaghan. Maybe this was just-

  Meaghan cut off the thought right there. She’d decided when she was embarking on this path that this was just a fulfillment of a teenage crush. It wasn’t about marriage or a future…

  “Meaghan?” Daniel broke her reverie, “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

  Meaghan smiled, “Is that even possible for me?” she asked, half teasing.

  Daniel shrugged. “Okay you look like you just swallowed an almond,” he corrected.

  “I’m fine. And we were speaking about you. Tell me, what exactly is it that you feel for Bain?” she asked.

  Daniel seemed to take the question really seriously; thinking about it for a while before opening his mouth to say anything, “Bain is a really funny guy. He makes me laugh. And his heart…his heart is just really…open and pure,” Daniel was rubbing at his chest as he talked about Bain’s heart. “He cares about things. The other day I told him about my brother.”

  Daniel glanced at her uncertainly, as if he wanted to divulge something to her but it was personal.

  “What about your brother?” Meaghan asked gently.

  “He has HIV,” Daniel said and grimaced at her. “I’m the gay one but he has HIV,” he said wryly.

  “That’s too bad, is he on treatment?” she asked. HIV was something that Meaghan had come across a lot. She worked in an inner city clinic after all.

  Daniel shrugged. “He has the drugs, and sometimes he even takes them…” he seemed sad and resigned. “Well anyway, I told Bain about him - we live together and he’d come home high after disappearing for a few days. I didn’t know where he was and I knew he wasn’t taking his meds because he left them at home – and he was just so concerned and he wanted to know how he could help…I mean, his life is great, perfect. He had no reason to even bother himself about my stupid brother and his stupid problems but he was there for me. I think…for real…that was the day I knew he was the one. You know?” he turned those dangerous gray eyes on Meaghan, looking so sincere and earnest that she knew she was lost. She wondered how Bain even had any room for doubts when he had those eyes looking at him like that all the time.

  “Bain is great,” she managed to croak out.

  “He’s…he’s the most amazing human being ever,” Daniel said smiling softly, eyes distantly thoughtful.

  “Have you told him so?” she asked curious.

  Daniel huffed a laugh. “Ha, like he’d let me. You know Bain, deflect deflect deflect,” he said.

  “Really?” Meaghan asked intrigued. Bain wasn’t like that with her. They talked about their feelings all the time. Of course it was usually their feelings about other people they were discussing. Hmm, come to think of it – and Meaghan was surprised she hadn’t before – her and Bain rarely talked about how they felt about each other. It was all just…taken for granted. Of course you could say that action spoke louder than words and in their case they were always there for each other, 100% of the time so maybe articulating feelings weren’t necessary. It had never occurred to her that Bain might be uncomfortable with discussing emotion.

  “But you know he cares right?” she asked Daniel.

  Daniel shrugged. “I guess I do. He’s an action guy you know; turns up for all my shows when he’s in town, helps me out with whatever I need…he listens when I talk. It’s not just about how long my legs are or how hot my hole is or how pretty I am,” Daniel said smiling slightly, then his smile widened and he looked pleased. “Although he does tell me I’m pretty a lot.”

  “Yeah, Bain’s great with compliments,” Meaghan agreed affectionately.

  “Not just that. But like at work, when those guys tell me I’m pretty, most of the time I just feel objectified. When Bain says it…I just feel appreciated,” Daniel said looking into the middle distance with a thoughtful look on his face. “God
, I miss him,” he continued quietly.

  Meaghan laughed, “He’s been gone like…six hours?”

  “Probably less. But talking about him like this, just makes me wanna…” Daniel trailed off and shot her a glance that let her know everything that Daniel wanted to do to Bain.

  “I envy you guys,” she said wistfully.

  “Why? You have that hot Dean who’s all over you all the time. Seriously that white dude has got it bad.” He teased.

  Meaghan laughed. “Really? You think so?”

  “I know so” Daniel said very definitely, reaching out to rest a hand on her knee.

  Meaghan was silent for a while. “He accused me of cheating on him today. Sent me some really nasty texts in the course of last night basically calling me everything from a slut to an evil cruel black-hearted gold digger,” she said sadly.

  “Wow. Why?” he asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

  Meaghan shrugged, “I had coffee with a colleague.” Daniel tilted his head curiously to the side like she was some exotic bird he was trying to make sense of.

  “Just coffee?” he asked as if he suspected she wasn’t telling him the whole story.

  “Just coffee. He followed us to La Trattoria and watched us drink it. He might also have texted me at the time to find out where I was. I said I was at work; which I kind of considered I still was because this is my supervisor and he’s kind of debriefing me about a tough situation that we had at the hospital.”

  “Did you tell Dean the whole story?”

  “I shouldn’t have to!” Meaghan protested. “This is a matter of trust.”

  Daniel was silent for a bit, looking like he was thinking hard. “I appreciate that Bain comes to all my shows. But I don’t think he does it just to support me,” he said at last.

  Meaghan lifted her brow at him, her cure for him to continue.

  “He’s making sure that all I do is work,” Daniel continued.