He stared at her. “That’s bullshit.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Don’t make this harder than it is.”
“If it’s so hard, why are you doing it?”
“I just explained it all to you!”
He shook his head, trying to make sense of it. Yes, he understood her commitment. He didn’t just understand it, he admired it. He supported her in it. He wanted her to succeed as much as she did. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a life. He thought he’d shown her the importance of balance.
Maybe not.
He frowned. “How much was the grant for?”
“Ten million dollars.”
“Bah. I’ll write you a fucking check for that.”
She scowled, shaking her head. “This is serious, Beck.”
“I’m serious. I’m dead fucking serious.” He leaned forward. “It’ll take me a few days, but I’ll get you that money.”
She gaped at him. “What are you talking about?”
“Okay, listen. I never told you this, but I have money.”
She continued to stare at him.
“I told you about my family.”
“Yes…”
“My grandpa left me some money when he died. I invested it and it’s done pretty well. I can easily give you ten million dollars.”
She gave him an openmouthed stare. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“I’m not kidding. Come on, Hayden. Take the money. Take some pressure off yourself. Let yourself live life a little. There’s no reason we can’t keep seeing each other.”
He felt like he was begging, but dammit, he had no shame when it came to her. He hadn’t known her long, but there was no fucking way he was letting her shut him out of her life. They were good together. Maybe it was just intense sexual chemistry, but what was wrong with that?
She jumped to her feet, her hands in fists, her body stiff. “I can’t take ten million dollars from you!” she shrieked. “Are you insane?”
He frowned and stood too. “No, I’m not insane. I’m trying to help here.”
Her look of incredulity was almost funny. Maybe he should have dropped this knowledge on her a little sooner. But whatever. He tried one of his most charming smiles. “Come on, baby. It’s all good.”
“It’s not good!” She unfisted her hands and splayed her fingers out in front of her. “I can’t believe this! First, I still don’t know if you’re making up some far-fetched story, but if you’re not, I can’t believe you never told me this, and Jesus Christ, Beck, you can’t just give away ten million dollars! And I can’t take it! Just so we can continue having crazy jungle sex in more positions than I knew existed.”
Any other time he would have laughed at that, but her wrath was so genuine he didn’t even crack a smile.
“That makes me feel like an extremely high-priced prostitute,” she snapped. “Ten million dollars, wow!”
Now anger rose in him in a hot surge. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. That’s ridiculous.”
“Just go, Beck. Please.”
“No.” Annoyance sharpened his voice. “Calm down, Hayden, Jesus—”
“Please.” Her breath quickened and her face flushed and she stalked over to the door and flung it open. “Just leave. This isn’t going to work for us. I can’t just waste my life having fun.”
What the fuck? What the fucking fuck? Waste her life?
He swallowed hard, hearing the things his parents had said about how he was wasting his life. Yeah. He wasn’t worth the trouble.
He stared at Hayden, heat pouring through his body. His own hands clenched and unclenched. For a moment it felt like the first time he’d jumped out of an airplane—poised on the edge, terrified and shaking, convinced he was about to die. But he had to do it. He had to jump.
He swallowed. And walked out.
Chapter 21
Hayden thought her chest was going to explode, her heart was racing so fast and hard. Her whole body trembled as she slammed and locked the door, then stumbled into her living room and fell facedown onto the couch. She pressed her hot cheek onto the cool leather and squeezed her eyes shut. Oh God. Oh God.
What had just happened?
Oh hell, she’d known it was going to be difficult to tell Beck they had to end things, but she never in a million—or ten million, ha!—years expected what had happened.
He had ten million dollars to just hand over? That could not be real.
But Beck wasn’t a liar. She hadn’t known him long, but there was no way a man with his integrity and honor and strength would lie.
But if it was true, it made her feel…Hell, she didn’t even know how she felt. She drummed her feet onto the couch and groaned.