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He paused for a moment and kissed the top of my head before continuing. “They died. I didn’t.” His voice was low and sad.
“I’m so sorry, Steven.” I brought his wrist up and kissed him tenderly on his scar. Then I hugged his arm to me until the tension eased from his body.
He let out a huge sigh as if releasing a burden. “It was a long time ago. My aunt and uncle raised me, and they were the best substitute parents I could’ve ever asked for. Oh, by the way, Mrs. Barnes is my Aunt Mable.”
That explained so much. “I knew it! I knew she wasn’t just your assistant.”
With a small laugh, he said, “You can’t tell anyone. The only people at work who know are you, John, and Andrew, who handles her personnel file himself so that the information doesn’t leak.”
He’d kept this secret for twenty years. Maybe our relationship could stay a secret too.
“Home for the Holidays” played on the radio, reminding me of Christmas with Mom when I was younger. I thought I would be spending Christmas alone again. Instead, here I was in the warm embrace of Steven’s protective arms.
“Wait, it’s Christmas Day. You should be with your aunt and uncle. Not with me.”
He hugged me tighter. “I was supposed to be, but I told them Santa was very good to me this year, and I had to stay home to enjoy my gift.”
I gently elbowed him in the ribs. “Still, they’re family.”
“When I told them you were here, they told me they didn’t want to see my face until after New Year’s.”
If he told them about me, that was proof that he did actually care about me and was genuine when he said he wanted to be with me. If I was a plaything, he probably wouldn’t have told them. “They know about me?”
“Of course. They were thrilled. And Aunt Mable was really smug about it, saying how she had known all along that I’d end up taking you home and that I was a stubborn mule for fighting it.”
I wasn’t much of a catch. Poor. Thief for a father. No power or connections. “Why was she so happy? You can have your pick of practically any single woman in the city. You must have had tons of girlfriends.”
“Not exactly. I don’t have a winning personality like John.”
John was really good at charming people. That’s why I didn’t trust him. But a grump? There was no facade with this type of man. Scheming and lying weren’t a natural part of their personalities. If Steven had been more charismatic, as John was, I would never have allowed myself to open up to him in the least. “Still, you’re successful, hardworking, honest, sexy as hell, and rich. Plus, you’re a secret softy under that grinchy exterior. Any woman would die for that combo.”
“All women saw when they looked at me was money. I didn’t want to be with someone who valued money more than love. So, I gave up on dating a long time ago.”
“Weren’t you married once? I think I had read that in an article about you.”
His body stiffened again. I shouldn’t have brought that up, but I wanted to know what had caused the marriage to break up. I was probably still looking for red flags.
“I…was engaged.”
That was the only answer I got, and immediately those red flags started waving in my mind. If he wanted me to trust him, he had to open up. After a while, I said, “I told you about my dad. And you already know everything about me from your investigations.”
He took a deep breath and squeezed me tight. “You’re right. Fair is fair. I met her at work…at my first job, right out of college. I was an analyst’s assistant. We were young, and we fell in love, or at least I did. I proposed. She said yes, but insisted we delay the wedding a year or two until I had a good enough promotion so I could afford to give her a nice wedding and house. I worked my ass off to support us and work my way up. I didn’t move up fast back then. It took a while for someone to recognize my skills and talent. But I was happy. I loved my job and thought I had a happy life at home. A couple of years later, I came home early to surprise her and…”
He shifted behind me and cleared his throat. “She was in our bed with some other prick. That prick was one of the top managers at the company.”
I guess he had trust issues too. No wonder he avoided women after that. We really did have a lot in common. Same issues, different reasons. Hugging his arm tightly, I said, “I see. I’m so sorry.”
“That’s not the worst of it. She didn’t even apologize or act embarrassed or guilty, instead telling me she was happy I had found out this way, because she had been planning to leave me anyway. She said I was taking too long to make my fortune, and she had found a rich guy to take care of her.”
What a bitch! I hated women like that. She sounded a lot like my asshole father.
“The funny thing is, she wasn’t greedy when we met. She was a free spirit, who found happiness in things that didn’t cost any money such as picking flowers and spending Sundays cuddling on the couch. She changed while we were together, and I never realized it. Probably because I had been working such long hours. I used to talk to her about climbing the ranks and making a lot of money. I was always telling her about all the things I would buy for her once we were rich. Did my greed rub off on her? Maybe it was all my fault?”
Why was he making excuses for her? I never once gave my dad the benefit of doubt and thought there might have been a good reason for what he did. Deep down, Steven was a better person than me, even if on the outside, I seemed nicer. “That’s ridiculous. You didn’t drive her to have an affair. If her priorities had changed or if she didn’t love you anymore, she should have ended it before having an affair. Cheating is never acceptable.”
“True.” His voice did not sound very convincing. “Then a year later, at my annual review, the big bosses told me I had outperformed most of the analysts. They gave me a huge bonus and a promotion. Barb must have found out because she showed up at my new office the next day in a raincoat. She closed the door and took off her coat to reveal her almost naked body. She said she had made a mistake and wanted me back.”
Bitch wanted his money, not him. No wonder he didn’t date after that. He had been cheated on, thrown away, and once he was rich, she’d tried to waltz back into his life. How could he trust that anyone was interested in him and not his wealth after that? And why was he willing to take a chance on me? How did he know I cared about him and wanted nothing to do with his money?
