Accidentally Married to the Billionaire 2(38)

“You’re so fucking stuffy,” she said. “Who gives a shit which one is the pepper? I missed you, and I—dammit—I love you, Brandon, and all the volunteer work and taffy in the world can’t make that go away! I just want to be with you!”

“If you want me, why didn’t you come to LA?”

“Because it hurts too much to be with you, knowing that you don’t feel the same way about me. Because it was my last ditch effort to protect myself and my heart. But it’s too late for that. I miss you so much, and I was so lonely that I considered having dinner with Lena!” she confessed.

“Don’t have dinner with her. It’s a trap. A trap with probably very bad food. But you don’t have to protect your heart around me. We promised we’d support each other, encourage each other. I’m on your side, Marj. I never wanted to hurt you or make you doubt me. I know I did that, and the stupidest part is that I was getting rid of Holly because she made me uncomfortable, like she was a threat to our marriage. I wanted to remove her from our lives.”

“We can agree on that. I want her removed.”

“She is. She’s somewhere else in the company, another floor. I made sure of it. I wasn’t ever going to consider getting involved with her. In fact, I’m fairly sure Lena planted her as an applicant. As a way to come between you and me. Because it was pretty obvious from the photos and from the dinner we had at her place that we were in this together. So she felt threatened and wanted to undermine us.”

“Brandon, you’re missing the point. The point isn’t ‘did Lena sabotage us’? The point is more of a ‘Marj is in love with me, how do I feel about her?’ ‘Kay? Just looking to clear that up.”

“I was hoping to avoid that topic. I like you a lot, and you’re attractive and fun and entirely too much trouble, and my life would be so much simpler if I didn’t fall in love with you. I know I’m starting to, though. The fact that I just wanted Holly to get out of my face is proof enough of that. But I can’t honestly stand here and say I’m in love with you yet. So, if you want to leave, I don’t blame you. Because whether it’s the truth or not, it’s a fairly shitty thing for someone to say to you. And I feel shitty about it. Really, I do.”

“I want you. If I can’t have you for obvious reasons of your feelings being as real and whatever as mine, then I’ll hold out for my settlement check in a few months.”

“I can write the check tonight. Just be sure you cash it first thing in the morning before Lena has her lawyers freeze all my accounts. I’m not holding you to this agreement with the complications and…and the pain I’ve caused you. It’s cruel to ask you to stay with me now that you have feelings for me, and you know that I’m not in love with you, and I may not be ready for a serious relationship.”

“Gee, you could’ve told me you weren’t up for a relationship before we got married,” Marj teased.

“See, it’s the flippant thing you do…it does two things. One, it makes me think you’re totally fine and resilient and not at all vulnerable. Two, it makes me want to kiss you because no one in my entire life has seen the funny side of everything, no matter how solemn it might seem, since…” he paused.

“Since what?”

“Since my mom, Marj. She always laughed at everything. She and I got in trouble with my dad when I was little because we were laughing at his speech when he got an award. She was the most irreverent, funny, brave person in my life and when she was gone, everything just went flat, dark. Nothing was hilarious anymore. And the most terrifying thing since I met you is that I see that in you, that I can be in a meeting or on Skype, and someone says something, and I think Marj would think that’s ridiculous—I want to start laughing, and tell you about it, and then laugh with you…” he trailed off.

Marj had tears in her eyes. He might not be in love with her yet, but she’d brought laughter and joy back to his life after so long. She had done something good, then.

“I don’t want a check from you, Brandon Cates; I want your whole heart. And I’ll have it, too. Just give me time.”

He pushed a strand of hair from her eyes. “I can tell you this, Marj. I don’t know what you’re doing to me, but every time I look at you, you take my breath away. And I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“Do you care about me?”

“Deeply.”

She chuckled. “So I take your breath away, you can’t stop thinking about me, and you care deeply. Well, it’s a start.”