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He'd chased that beautiful smile from her lips. And now he found himself wanting it back.
“My commitment was—is—to Lilah. But I fucked up,” Ben admitted to Rhys, whose brow raised at the confession. Ben didn’t often admit to culpability, mostly because he was usually right. “I let her think it was to everyone but her. And I intend to fix that.”
Rhys laughed, the sound filled with genuine warmth and amusement.
“The one thing you’ve always told me about Lilah is that she’s stubborn as all hell. So I’ll wish you luck with that, brother. I’m pretty sure you’re going to need it.”
Ben sighed and hoped his despair wasn’t too evident in the forlorn sound.
“I don’t know what I’ll do if she won’t forgive me, Rhys. If she refuses to take me back. I’ve had a taste of life without Lilah and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my days without her by my side.”
“Why is that, Ben? What’s changed? You? Her?”
Ben considered his friend’s quiet question, not sure how to reply. The easy answer would be that Lilah had changed, but that would be a cowardly fucking lie. Lilah hadn’t changed. She’d always been a little spoiled, sure, but she was also sweet, cheerful, and unselfish with her warmth and affection.
No, Lilah was the same person she’d always been. It was Ben’s perception of her that had changed. He was finally able to see Lilah for who she was. And it shamed him deeply to know how badly he’d misjudged her.
He was desperate for another chance with her, but he feared that his warm and generous Lilah was all out of charity when it came to Ben.
Saturdays were Lilah’s favorite day of the week. She slept in, lounged around in her PJs all morning, and liked to treat herself to a decadent brunch. The Saturday following Ben’s unexpected invasion of her work space was different. Yes, she was still in her PJs by the time midday rolled round, but it was as a result of moping rather than decadent lounging.
She’d spent the morning throwing up and feeling quite sorry for herself.
She was almost certainly pregnant. And she wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that. Yes, the plan had been to start having children almost immediately, but with her marriage being a non-starter, naturally Lilah hadn’t anticipated becoming a mother anytime soon.
But after a positive home test, pregnancy was becoming a certainty more than a distant probability. She had an appointment with her gynie next week, which would likely confirm her suspicion.
She groaned, and buried her face in her knees. She’d always wanted to be a mother, but she never thought she’d be doing the parenting alone. Well, she knew Ben would co-parent, but she’d hoped to evict him from her life entirely. Hard to do when they were sharing a child.
She was staring miserably out at the magnificent ocean view, happy that the day was as gloomy and gray as her mood, when she heard the bleep of the alarm deactivating. She sat up, head tilted, as she listened again. Her part-time housekeeper had the code to the alarm system, but the woman wasn’t due in today. Lilah was supposed to be alone and she was happy to wallow in her solitary misery.
She heard an unfamiliar scrabbling sound on the tiled flooring and then froze when she heard Ben’s voice chuckle and say, “Easy now… don’t run.”
She sat up, swung her legs over the edge of the sofa, and pushed to her feet.
A tiny—familiar—dog darted into the living room, saw Lilah and ran yapping at her, clearly seeing her as an intruder in her own home. Lilah stared down at the furiously barking little terror, not entirely certain what was going on here.
Ben entered the room, a couple of bags slung over his shoulders. His eyes widened when he saw Lilah and he immediately commanded, “Shit, Fifi, no! Stop that.”
To her credit, Fifi immediately obeyed, sitting down on her haunches and glaring up at Lilah with curled lips.
“What are you doing here?” Both Lilah and Ben asked simultaneously, then stared at each other sheepishly. Ben gestured for Lilah to reply.
“I moved in a few weeks ago. I prefer it here. You?”
“I need a change of scenery, and there’s not much green space for Fifi to run around in at the apartment. She loves your rooftop garden, but I thought she’d enjoy the open spaces here more.”
“But… I’m staying here,” Lilah pointed out.
“This place belongs to both of us,” Ben reminded her.
“Can’t we work out some kind of schedule?”
“It seems to me that you’ve moved in, right? So how would a schedule work if you’re living here full time?”
“If you gave me advance warning of when you want to be here, I could stay in Constantia during those times?”
“Or we could share,” Ben was using that infuriating reasonable voice of his. The one he tended to use when he was managing her.
