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I would forever be grateful to my brother-in-law for hiring me. He’d done more than give me a job—he’d given me a sense of purpose. For all that my sister was sympathetic, she didn’t get it the way Phil did. As a fellow workaholic, he understood I needed work, not sympathy. My job was my identity, and without one, I was lost.
“I wish you’d stayed at your firm.”
I sighed. A few days earlier, his comment would have pissed me off, but now it just made me tired.Why is my life destined to be filled with obstinate men? And why the hell does he have to make it personal?“We’re supposed to be having a truce. Can’t you forget about business for one evening?”
“It’s not just business to me. It’s my life.”
“No, this”—I gestured to our surroundings, with an emphasis on the house where his family was—“is your life.”
I’d never had this—not when I was a kid and certainly not in New York. It had only taken one evening with the Ramsey-Croft family for me to realize I was missing out. I’d uncovered a void in my soul that I hadn’t even known existed, and it was as big as a crater.
“The Banks Brew Company is a family business. It’s different from being employed by a big corporation.”
He was correct. In fact, the majority of CBX businesses were small and family owned. But just because Markham was a big corporation with shareholders, that didn’t make my job any less important to me.
“I’m still the same Claire from before.” I was so tired of fighting with him, of getting my emotions trampled during what should have been a simple business trip.
“I wish I could see you that way, but I can’t separate Claire, the person, from Claire, the Markham rep.” He sounded as frustrated as I was, but I didn’t have sympathy for that.
“I’m more than just my job,” I said quietly. For so long, my job had defined me, and hell, maybe it still did. Spending one evening with Bennett’s family had made me realize that I wanted the statement I’d just made to be true, and it scared the hell out of me that it might not be.
“To me, you’re no more than your job.”
His words sucked the air out of my lungs, and the void inside me felt cavernous. I forced the hurt deep within my bones to morph into anger because I knew how to deal with that. I’d thought I was done letting men—especially this man—hurt me.
“My mistake. I took you for more than just a narrow-minded asshole.” I hated the strangled tone in my voice. Coming to dinner had been a mistake, and I didn’t know why I kept offering myself up as his punching bag.
I turned on my heel and marched toward the house before he could see the tears gathering in my eyes. He’d struck a nerve that was raw and exposed, hurting me more than he should be able to. Since my breakup with Reg, my guard had been firmly in place, but being with Bennett took me back to the person I was nine years ago, before I’d become jaded. I missed that girl.
“Wait, Claire.” He grabbed my arm to stop me. I could have pulled free, but I didn’t have the energy to make the effort. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
I didn’t trust myself to say more than that, though I could have told him that my reaction wasn’t about him—it was about my deep-rooted fear that I was nothing without my career. I couldn’t go back to wallowing in my sister’s guesthouse. I needed this professional win. But he wouldn’t understand.
He scrubbed his hand over his face. “You being here has me all messed up. I was so damn happy to see you, and then you dropped the bombshell that you’re here for Markham.”
I zeroed in on the most important part of what he’d said, the part that caused hope to blossom in my chest, the part I should have ignored. “Why were you happy to see me?”
Eyes on mine, he stepped closer. “I think you know why. We might have just been kids that summer, but there was something between us. And there still is.”
I couldn’t breathe, because if I did, all I would inhale would be his scent, and then I’d be finished. I wasn’t just my job, but I was here to do one. I’d given Phil my word, and I wouldn’t go back on that.
But what harm will it do to forget about my job for just this moment?
“I feel it too,” I whispered. God, I wished I didn’t. Everything would be so much simpler if I could cut the pull this man had over me.
“Claire…” He ran his finger down my cheek, and my whole body quivered from the tenderness of that simple action.
Walk away, walk away, walk away.
Instead, I did something I’d been wanting to do for nearly a decade. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to mine. He didn’t hesitate, and soon his tongue parted my lips. He tasted like the caramel cake we’d had for dessert, and that only made me want to devour him more.
Kissing him was worth the wait. I melted into him, my body forming to his. His strong arms encircled me, holding me in place.Where I belong.
The back door slid open, and someone whistled for the dogs. Bennett released me, and we separated, panting and staring at one another.What in the hell did I just do?I’d let my attraction take the reins and crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed. Bennett was my rival, the one who was trying to get my project shut down.
“We shouldn’t have done that,” he said.
