Now I realize why he worried so much about his absence in the beginning.
“Five years ago, a female employee made accusations that I had sexually harassed her and we had some secret relationship that started at hiring.” He gives me a pointed look. “I don’t hire. I have a HR team that does that. Plus, I was nowhere close to her department. While HR had its own investigation, I hired an outside PI and gave the woman two hundred thousand dollars to keep her mouth shut. Just long enough to have the proof in my hands.”
“Even though you knew you hadn’t done anything?”
His frown is rueful. “It’s the price of my privacy. Think of the damages had it hit the news, regardless of the outcome. I’d pay triple that to keep my private life out of the tabloids.”
“What happened?”
“She tried to blackmail me for more, but I refused and then presented her with the findings of my PI in front of my HR team, who also found nothing. She and Vincent were scheming. He knew I’d pay out my ass to keep her quiet, but he thought I was ignorant.” He arches a brow as he peers down to me. “She was fired and I didn’t press charges…My mother’s begging. Six months later, I met a woman and after a few dates, I knew something was off. I hired my PI again and she too was scheming with Vincent. I don’t know what information he wants, nor what he’ll do with any of it, but what I do know is he wants to ruin me.”
“Did you hire a PI for me?”
He shakes his head looking at the sand in front of us. “No. We met by chance and I chose you. You didn’t choose me.”
“Then why didn’t you give me a chance to explain?” I ask.
“Shock?” he lifts a shoulder. “Hurt. Anger. Betrayal. Pure stupidity. It felt like history was repeating itself.”
“I would never intentionally hurt you. But since the beginning, you haven’t given me a chance.”
“In the heat of the moment, all my rational thoughts disappeared. In business, I can handle the pressure, but with you…there’s something about you that makes it so I can’t.”
Stopping again, my arms fall to the side. Defeated. “Trust is imperative in a relationship. I’ve tried everything, showed you all I have to offer, and it has never been good enough for you.”
He moves a strand of my hair blowing in the breeze. “You’re more than good enough for me. You mean everything. You’ve even taken precedence over my work. I stopped traveling as much because I breathe better when you’re near. I never knew my past haunted me until you. I haven’t cared about someone in years and I sure the hell haven’t experienced love like this.” Clutching my hands, he kisses the backside of them. “I swear to you I’ll let down my guard and never doubt you again. Let me prove it to you. Let me show you that the ground you stand on is just as important as the ground I build on.” He kisses both corners of my lips. “I want your heart as you have mine.”
I blink down to hide my tears, but he pulls my face back up, his gaze piercing me. “I promise you. I want you in my life. I can’t picture my world without you. I love you.”
THIRTY-TWO
Six months later…
“No. I don’t want to live on top of a hotel. You move in with me,” Brooklyn argues with me standing in my t-shirt, running a towel over her wet hair.
I’ve been trying to convince her to move in with me. She might as well. She’s at my place more than I’m at hers. We haven’t spent a night apart except for when I’m out of town. It just makes more sense.
“It’s too small,” I state simply. “Where would I put my office? My bed?”
Playfully, and need I say sexily, she narrows her eyes. “Your bed would fit in here and I have a spare room.”
I bark a laugh. “Have you seen your closet? It’s too small. The spare bedroom would turn into my closet and I’d have no room for an office.”
“You’re being difficult.”
Chuckling, I tuck my hands behind my head, stretching out my legs on her bed. “Then we need a compromise.”
“I’m not living on top of one of your fancy buildings,” she quips.
“Pool. Gym. No yard work,” I try persuading with a smile.
“Nope. No. And I love to mow,” she replies defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest like she’s won this argument.
I’d walk on fire if it made her happy and she knows it. But this time, she’s not getting her way. I refuse it.
“Let’s go house shopping,” I suggest.
“I can’t afford it right now,” she says sounding embarrassed.
Arching a brow, I give her a pointed stare and she mirrors it.
“No. Although my boyfriend is loaded, he doesn’t need to fork out the majority of the expenses. Give me a year and I’ll be in a better spot. I’ll have a raise soon and, hopefully, nab the led tech position and the raise that comes with it.”
“What if I want to buy a house? Would you help me decide which one to get?”
She rocks back on her heel, jamming her hand onto her hip. “What’s your master plan, Bennett?”
Laughing, I swing my legs off the bed and make my way in front of her. I run my hands down her arms. “The plan is to have you beside me every night, every morning, and every second in between.”
She stretches to her tiptoes and kisses me. “I’m basically beside you every night, which leads into the morning. And when we’re not working, we’re together.”
I smile, sliding my hands around to her ass. “Which makes getting a home together an excellent idea. Less traveling to see each other, more time to spend doing other things.” I squeeze her ass and she giggles. She wraps her legs around me when I lift her, and her arms fold around my neck. “Can I propose a plan?”
“Are you about to make it where I can’t refute?” she asks, playing with the hair at the base of my head.
I graze her bottom lip with my tongue. “Yes.”
She wiggles, releasing her legs and forcing me to set her down. “No way. I hate how you have… how you trick me with your magical dick.” She’s waving her hands toward my cock, biting the inside of her lip. “It’s not fair.”
I decide to help with her struggles and release my dick from my gym shorts. As I fist it, her eyes travel to my hand, and her mouth parts. “A magical dick, huh?”
“You…you know what I mean,” she babbles breathlessly. “You like to mess with my head with that thing.”
Her nipples harden beneath my shirt, piercing the fabric. I reach out and pinch one with a gentle tug. She pushes her chest out, sighing at my touch, and I fucking love how she loves it. Every step I take, I force her a step backward until her legs hit the edge of the bed and she loses balance, dropping to the mattress. I grip her calves and pull her ass to the end of the bed where I run my fingers through her wet folds…fucking grateful she’s not wearing panties.
“What has you so turned on, sweetheart? The thought of my cock or the sight of me stroking it?”
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip, her gaze fixated on my hand before slowly sliding it up my chest until she meets eyes. “Both.”