I have a smile as I walk into the office today, something I don’t usually have. Being with Maddie makes me happy. And it’s not just because we had sex. Just being with her, holding her hand, talking, lying next to her, it genuinely makes me happy. I’m still a little confused as to why I feel this way around her when it’s never happened with any other woman, but I’m trying not to overthink it. I tell myself just to enjoy it while it lasts.
When I step into my office, I find Callan at my drink cart. He’s standing near the window looking out over the city.
“You’re here early,” I say, going straight to my desk and setting down my briefcase.
He spins around. “What did you find out about the assistant?” he asks.
“I’m sorry, man. I completely forgot,” I tell him. “I’ll call her now.”
“Who do you have in mind?” He sits in the empty chair across the desk from mine.
“My sister.”
His eyebrows skyrocket. “Val?”
I nod.
“Doesn’t she have a job?”
I laugh. “She has a hobby, and you know as well as I do that hobbies don’t pay bills. She’s been borrowing money off me every month for her rent. She needs a job, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.”
“Alright, well, just let me know what you find out,” he says, standing and moving toward the doors.
“If I were you, I’d start looking through the applications. It’s going to take some talking to get her to agree.”
He laughs and nods, but walks out, leaving me alone.
I pick up the phone and dial her number.
“Hello?” she answers.
“Little sister, what have you been up to?”
“Why are you calling, Bennet? We both know you don’t call unless you want something.”
“I guess that’s mutual then, isn’t it?”
I can practically hear her eyes roll.
“How’s the art thing coming along?”
“Why? You asking to rub it in my face?”
“No, I really want to know. Is business picking up?”
“No,” she confesses. “I wish it were, but I’ve been thinking about what you said.”
“What I said?” I ask, shocked.
“Yeah, you know, about getting a job and doing my art as a hobby.”
“That’s great, Val. That’s why I’m calling.”
“Oh?”
“Callan has a spot open for an assistant. It’s five days a week, eight hours a day, and you get full benefits. That would give you the money you need to pay your bills, and you’ll be able to see a real doctor when you need one instead of going to that crazy quack down the road for her herbal concoctions.”
She snorts. “You are a snob; you know that?”
I open my mouth to snap back but decide against it.
“This is my life, Bennet. I know you and Mom and Dad don’t understand it, but it’s not your job to understand. It’s your job to be supportive.” Without another word, she hangs up the phone.
I shake my head and set the phone down, not at all surprised with how the conversation turned out. I’ll give her some time. The next time she calls asking for money, I’m going to turn her down, though. If she’s not willing to help herself, I’m not going to keep supporting her behavior. There’s nothing wrong with chasing after a dream, but when you start losing things, it’s time to get serious.
I turn on the computer and start going through the massive amounts of emails and phone messages. I begin replying to them when my phone rings.
“Hello?”
“They won’t let me have the dress,” Maddie says.
“What?”
“They say I’m not authorized on your account.”
“Okay, send me the location, and I’ll be down in a few,” I tell her, rushing to finish the email I’m writing. When my phone chimes with a text message, I pick it up and leave the office.
It takes me a good twenty minutes to make it there with traffic, but I quickly park and walk into the store.
“Mr. Windsor,” a staff member greets me.
I walk past and give a nod hello, heading straight to the counter where I see Maddie standing, looking embarrassed. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and her eyes are narrowed.
“Mr. Windsor,” Meredith greets me. She’s known my family for close to two decades.
“What’s going on, Meredith?” I ask, motioning toward Maddie.
“I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t let just anyone charge things to your account.”
“You think this woman just picked a random store and knew I had a charge account here?”
“Well, no. But…I understand your frustration, sir. It’s for your protection,” she insists.
I laugh and glance over again at Maddie, feeling embarrassed for her. I feel like I’m walking on eggshells, constantly fearful that any little thing like this will scare her away.
“Have you rung the item up?” I ask.
She nods.
“Good, thank you, Meredith. In the future, I trust this won’t be an issue?” She gives me a curt smile and wishes us a good day as we walk out of the store.
I look over nervously at Maddie, who hasn’t said a word. “Hey, I’m sorry about that. I—”
“How dare she Pretty Woman me!”
I burst into laughter, not expecting that response.
“I ought to go back in there tomorrow and buy everything I want.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Big mistake. HUGE!” she says, reenacting the famous Julia Roberts scene.
“You can. You should,” I agree, knowing that she doesn’t have any clothes of her own.
“No, I can’t. I can’t afford it, and I don’t want your money. I meant what I said earlier. I don’t want this turning into some weird sugar daddy shit, or even worse, prostitution.”
I reach out and take her hand in mine. “It’s just money, Maddie. I have plenty, and I’ll make more tomorrow. I know you can use it more than I can. Might as well spoil yourself a little.”
“I don’t wear that kind of shit, Bennet. I’m just fine going to the mall and buying a pair of jeans that cost twenty bucks. I don’t need name brands and labels.”
“Alright,” I agree, driving her back to my house. It’s evident she has a chip on her shoulder about being independent and providing for herself.
I carry her bags up to my bedroom as she throws herself onto my bed. I lay down beside her. “So, how was your night with your brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law.”
“It kind of sucked. I had to sleep on the couch, and now my back is killing me. I wish that check would come in the mail so I could find a new place.”
“Why don’t you stay here?” I ask, rubbing her back. “I have plenty of room. You can stay in the room across the hall, or you could stay here with me.”
She rolls to her side so she can look up at me. “Wouldn’t that complicate things?”
I frown.
“I mean, neither of us wants a relationship. If we’re sleeping together every night, won’t that be like we’re dating and living together?”
“Maddie, it’s a relationship. That doesn’t mean we are getting married or that we are chained to each other but don’t bury your head in the sand. I’m not putting any rules on you. You can come and go as you please and truthfully…” I hesitate, questioning if I want to say the next part. “Truthfully, you can still date whoever you want.”
“So what are we then?”
I shake my hand. “I’m not doing the label thing. I have the room that your brother doesn’t. If you want it, take it. We’ll deal with anything else that comes up later.”
She smiles at me. “Okay, thank you.” She grabs me by my shirt and pulls me down, pressing her lips to mine.
I feel my body relax with relief, hoping we both aren’t just kidding ourselves with this situation.
11
Maddie
“I should probably get back to work soon,” I tell
Bennet as we lay in bed with one another, not doing anything but holding each other while talking.
“There’s no rush. Brian is there, so the job is still getting done. And your manager knows your situation. Your job will be safe when you come back,” he says, absentmindedly running his hands through my hair.
“I know, but I need some normalcy. This bouncing from place to place and spending my days doing nothing is going to kill me.” I turn my head so I can look back up at him. “Do you have to go back today?”
“Yeah, I’m going back after lunch. But you could use this time to pamper yourself for Friday night.”
“What do you mean?”
“Go get your hair done. Get a mani/pedi. Get a massage. Let me spoil you a little.”
“I don’t know,” I say, feeling a little nervous. “That’s too much. You’ve done so much for me already.”
He rolls us over, pinning me beneath him. “Damnit, Maddie. This, the buying you things and paying for stuff, it doesn’t mean anything to me beyond spending money on someone I care about. There’s no underhanded weird shit going on. Can’t you see that?”
I nod. “Yes, but it does mean something to me. I owe you enough already.”
“You don’t owe me a fucking thing.” He leans in and closes the distance between us, pressing his soft lips to mine. I close my eyes and let his kiss sink in. It warms me up from the inside out. It causes a tingle to swirl around in the pit of my stomach. It steals the air from my lungs and makes my muscles tighten with anticipation. How can one kiss do this?
He breaks the kiss and stands up, pulling me up with him. “Let’s get some lunch. Then I’m going to go back to work, and I’ll have Sarah make you those appointments.”
I groan. “You’re not going to give up on this, are you?”
He laughs. “Not a chance.”
“I can make my own damn appointments!” I shout, playfully tossing a pillow at him as he walks towards the bathroom.
It’s going on eight o’clock, and already I’ve had my hair deep conditioned, trimmed, and blown out. My nails are a soft ballet pink, and my toes match perfectly. I’ve gotten a spray tan and a massage. You’d think all this pampering would relax me and make me feel rested, but it’s quite exhausting. The whole time I wonder how I’m going to repay him. I wonder why he’s doing these things for me, even when I resist. I start to worry that he is getting too close. But then, I realize that all this may be entirely normal for him. I mean, I don’t know if he does these things with the other women he’s been with. He has money, and he likes to spend it. I shouldn’t be making such a deal out of it. Just because it’s big to me doesn’t mean it’s big to him. It’s not like he’s offering to buy me a car or new apartment. I need to trust what he said about it earlier.
I let out a sigh and force the worry in my head to drift away with it. The driver pulls through the gate of the house.
I let myself inside and find Bennet moving around the kitchen.
“Are you cooking?” I ask.
He nods. “I thought I’d show you I’m a man of many talents.” He winks, “So, dinner is on me tonight.” He spins around, and his eyes lock on mine.
“You look…” His sentence drifts off.
“Tan?” I ask, looking down at myself.
“I was going to say amazing, but yeah.”
I hold up my hands, showing him my nails. “And I have these daggers stuck to my fingers.”
He laughs but pulls me in for a kiss. “You look beautiful,” he says, stepping away.
“It’s going to take some getting used to. What are you cooking?” I lean against the island.
“You’ll see. Why don’t you go relax on the couch, and I’ll get you when it’s done?”
My phone rings and I pull it out of my back pocket to see Damon’s name on the screen.
“Hello?” I answer, walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
“Where are you?” he asks.
“Why? Feel like yelling at me some more?”
He lets out a long breath. “Maddie, I was caught off guard.”
“And?”
“And I never should have yelled at you. I just freaked out because, well, because I know Bennet. He’s not the serious relationship type. He goes out to the clubs almost every night to find a woman to bring home. Then in the morning, he kicks them out and never sees them again. I want better for you.”
“You aren’t telling me anything I don’t know, Damon. Bennet’s been completely honest with me about his views on relationships. We’re not serious anyway. We’re hanging out, getting to know one another. Just like you and Jazz when you two got together. There is no label for us. We’re just two single people enjoying each other’s company. I’m not looking for marriage or a commitment. Is that so bad?”
“Look,” I hear him let out a long sigh. “I’ve said my piece on the matter; what you do is up to you. Jazz just wanted me to call and see if you were going to be staying here.”
“I think I’m fine right where I am.”
“At Bennet’s?”
“That’s right.”
“Alright. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I laugh. I never know what I’m doing. “I do,” I tell him.
“Alright. Bye, Mads. Wait, one more thing…just don’t bury your head in the sand about what you’re doing. Things like this…they never end well, Maddie.”
“Bye, Damon.” I hang up the phone and drop it onto the couch.
I lay my head down, thinking things over, and end up drifting off to sleep.
I wake to a soft kiss on my shoulder blade. I groan and roll over with a smile.
“Good morning,” Bennet teases, rubbing his hand up and down my thigh. “Did a day of pampering wear you out?”
I laugh and nod. “Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”
“Anything is tiring if you’re not used to it. Even being pampered.” He bends over and presses a kiss to my stomach, right next to my bellybutton. I didn’t realize my shirt had been worked up in my sleep.
I nod. “I’m starving.”
He holds out his hand, and I take it to be pulled to my feet.
He leads me to the dining room, where the table is all prepared. I take my seat and pick up the beer that he set out.
“You never told me why you fired Quinn.”
He quickly glances at me but then back to his plate. “She tried to seduce me,” he says in a serious tone.
I can’t hold back my laughter. “What? Seriously?”
He nods, now wearing a small smirk.
“Did she touch you? Did you kiss?”
He shakes his head. “Absolutely not. She just started taking off her clothes right in front of me.”
I shake my head. “I’ll never understand your life.”
“What? You mean that people in your life don’t just strip to get you to sleep with them?”
“No,” I say around my laughter.
“Does that make you jealous?”
“What? That she tried to seduce you or that you have people throwing themselves at you every day and I don’t?”
He snorts. “If you only paid attention.” He shakes his head.
“To what?” I ask, smile still in place.
“Do you not see the looks you get when you walk through the office?”
“What looks?”
“I bet almost all of the men in the office would fuck you if you’d let them.”
I purse my lips together. “Really? Well, I may need to rethink our arrangement now that I know I have options,” I tease.
He lets out a quiet chuckle. “You have more options than you realize.”
I’m not sure what that means, but I let it slide, opting to eat the delicious dinner in front of me that he prepared.
“Where’d you learn to cook?” I ask around a mouthful of the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had in my life.
“My mom made sure I knew how. My dad was born into money, but she didn’t have much of an
ything growing up. She had to cook and do laundry and all of it. So, when I started getting old enough to do things, she made sure that I would have the skills I needed in life.”
I smile. “She sounds like a smart woman.”
He nods. “She is. I have no idea what in the hell she sees in my dad, but they’ve been happily married for nearly forty years now.”
“Maybe only she sees his soft side. I’m sure if you asked around the office, nobody would know this side of you.”
He laughs.
“What?”
He shakes his head as he chews his food. “I just thought about my dad having two different lives: one for work and one for play. I never thought of it that way.”
“Guess it runs in the family.”
We sit and have a nice dinner where we talk and share things from our past. I tell him about some of my childhood stories growing up with Jazz and Damon, about the parties we wormed our way into, and the trouble we caused. He tells me some trouble he got into himself. We laugh and drink for most of the night, never leaving the dining room table. Talking to him is easy, much easier than it used to be. He used to intimidate me. First, by being the badass boxer he is, and then by turning out to be my boss and the person that could fire me. But now, he’s not either of those things. He’s just Bennet, and I love spending time with him.
“What do you say to a swim?” he asks, finishing off his beer and setting it down.
“It’s a little cold outside, isn’t it?”
“I have an indoor pool. And it’s heated.” His green eyes hold a gleam of amusement.
“I don’t have a suit,” I say with a shrug.
“Neither do I,” he replies, standing and taking my hand.
He leads me down a long hallway in the back of the house I’ve never seen before. But I’ve only been in his house a few times, and I never snooped. At the end of the hallway, he pushes through another door, and the smell of chlorine hits my nose. I inhale it deeply.
“I’ve always loved that smell,” I say, walking into the room behind him. One wall is solid brick, but the other side is nothing but windows, so you can see into the back yard. The rooftop is also glass. The lights are dimmed low, but the bright lights in the pool illuminate everything. Outside, the landscaping lights are on, spotlighting beautiful flowers and perfectly manicured shrubs.
His Every Desire (Contemporary Romance Box Set) Page 9