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Had I been crying this entire time without even realizing it? Apparently so, and I was sure my makeup had run down my face, along with the tears.
In fact, had I ever really cried about Charlie’s betrayal? The life and future that had ended because of it? There hadn’t been enough time because I’d raged and made sure everyone involved in the deception understood that they were cut from my life for the rest of all time. I balanced all of that with work, never so much as rescheduling an appointment with any of my clients. Then, my mom had her heart attack, and I’d rushed back to California in a panic. There hadn’t been any spare time to truly grieve everything I’d lost.
“I thought I told you to leave the dishes,” Graham said, his face carefully neutral, watching me before he opened the whiskey and poured a good measure into both glasses. I took mine and threw it back, all in one shot. It wasn’t that kind of whiskey, and I coughed before turning away.
“I just need to do some damn dishes right now, okay?” My voice was harsher than I wanted it to be, but Graham didn’t comment on it. He simply rolled up his sleeves, gently hip-checked me to the side a little bit, and pitched in.
“Bet you thought I’d never washed a dish in my life, didn’t you?” he asked lightly, scrubbing the elaborate array of tools he’d used to craft our dinner. “I can take care of myself, same as you, but it just makes everything easier when there are people around you who can help.”
“I don’t need any help.”
He huffed a soft laugh. “Shouldn’t you of all people understand when it’s time to ask for help? Isn’t that your entire professional life?”
“I can heal myself.” Crap, I hadn’t meant to admit there was something broken inside me, something that required healing. “I’m fine.”
“Tell it to the dishes you’re abusing. That plate is clean enough. I’m afraid you’re going to break it.”
I heaved a sigh and set it aside. Now that the stack of clean dishes was higher than the dirty ones, I started drying them off. Graham could manage the rest.
“What did you hope for when you told me to come over today?” I asked, my voice sounding dull and tired to my own ears. “To quit this job and life and find something I actually wanted to do?”
“I wanted to tell you about Collins’ mother, actually. Josie.”
I nearly lost my grip on the wine glass I’d been drying. “What—what about her?” This had been a sensitive subject, not too long ago. I’d only mentioned Collins’ mother as a passing joke, but Graham lost it. What changed since then?
“I thought we were in love,” he said, washing the forks and knives with more care than he needed to. “We did things backward—well, not in the order we were supposed to do them. We didn’t start dating right away. Things were much more…casual.” I looked away, knowing exactly whatthatmeant. It was obvious Collins was the product of Graham having sex with Josie, but it didn’t necessarily mean I wanted to hear all about the conception.
“And when we got pregnant, I proposed to her.” I hadn’t known that. So Graham had been engaged, just like me. “I thought it was the right thing to do, and I thought we were good together. But we couldn’t get married until she signed a prenup—my father’s requirement. Things went to shit immediately, and it made me realize everything else that had been going on behind my back.”
“Like what?”
“She mistreated my staff members, demanded ridiculous things from them, acted like they were her personal servants who needed to bow to her every whim, and siphoned as much money as she could. I gave her everything she requested, not thinking anything of it.”
He laughed a bitter bark that I knew to be utterly self-deprecating. “Siphoned off my happiness, if I’m being honest. I used to be a lot better than I am now. But, then again, I never realized I would have the opportunity to be truly happy again. Not until you showed up here.”
I swallowed hard before deciding to steer the conversation back to Josie. “How much of your money did she steal before you realized it?”
Graham finished the last dish, turned off the tap, and drank his whiskey in a single gulp. “Enough to make me realize money was all she wanted the entire time. She didn’t care about the baby. Collins was just a newborn when everything came to light, and once Josie knew she was caught, she just took off.” He poured us more whiskey, pushing my glass to me. “Never even nursed her own daughter.”
“I am so sorry,” I said. Now I could see why Graham thought nannies were a superior solution to mothers. Especially if all he had to go by was his own mother and Josie, I could certainly understand his reasoning.
“It’s made it impossible to find someone to trust,” he said, his green eyes serious. “Until now, until you. You’re the one making it possible for me to love again. You can never forget that.”
I shook a little at that admission. “Oh Graham, I’m glad I’m someone you can trust... but there’s a lot of pressure that comes with it. And I would never want to disappoint you.”
“Every time I’ve tried to give you something, you’ve given me hell about it,” he said with a wry smile. “You don’t like gifts.”
My cheeks heated. “I don’t like gifts when I haven’t done anything to deserve them or when I think there’s an ulterior motive. I need to earn my gifts to enjoy them.”
“Then let me clear the air right now. Yes, the gifts were to make you happier here and to encourage you to think about staying. But it doesn’t mean you didn’t deserve them.” He stroked my cheek. “And it showed me that you were the polar opposite of Josie—that you weren’t in this for money or anything else she wanted from me. Even though I would’ve given you anything to prove myself.”
I leaned in and nuzzled the palm of his hand before I could understand what I was doing. I wanted to comfort him and be comforted all at the same time. “You didn’t have to do anything to prove yourself. Haven’t you figured it out yet? You’re enough.”
“You mean, my wealth is enough—my prestige, the family name.”
“No.” I stepped closer, smelling his amber and timber essence—something that had soothed me from the very start, the first time we ever met. “You. Just Graham. You are enough. You always have been, and you always will be. And if Josie couldn’t see that—and if money was all she valued—then good riddance. You deserve better.”
His sudden kiss burned me—hungry for affirmation and desperate for touch. It was a kiss I felt deep in my body, all the way down to my toes. And it was also the most vulnerable I’d ever seen Graham. How could a kiss convey that much about a man? I met his tongue with mine, wove my fingers through his as they roved my body, and bumped up against the wet countertop, nearly sending our clean dishes flying.
