He put the bottle down hard, his muscles trembling with impotent rage. He didn’t want this. He wanted Maggie…but she obviously didn’t want him. She’d left without a sign of doubt or regret, and hadn’t even told him why.

But that was okay, because he knew why she left. He was broke.

“You want to marry me,” he said, glaring out the window.

She hesitated again. “Yes.”

“Why?” He turned on her, and she jumped, as if she was afraid he might bite. And yet she wanted to fucking marry him. “Why the hell would you want to marry me? I’m apparently poor, as well as a jerk. We never really got along when we were dating, and the chemistry between us is pretty much nonexistent.”

She crossed the room and stared up at him, her intent clear. “That’s not true.” She clasped his suit jacket, holding on for dear life, and kissed him. He stiffened when her tongue touched his. She let out a soft moan and pressed more firmly against him, deepening the kiss, and he let her because he was desperate to feel something. Anything.

He felt nothing. Except sick.

Cursing inwardly, he ended the kiss, swiped a hand across his mouth, and downed more scotch. It was what he’d expected—she did nothing for him, and never would. The only person who’d been able to fill him with an undying need to touch and feel had left him. He was doomed to be the unfeeling beast they all thought he was.

“See?” she said, her chest rising and falling. She watched him like some sort of starved animal. “Electrifying.”

Gripping the bottle tightly, he tossed back more. “I can’t marry you.”

“Yes, you can.” She walked up behind him and rested her hands on his back. “And you will.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I’d eat you alive like the monster I am. You don’t want to be married to a guy like me. I’ll make you miserable, and you’ll want to kill me, or yourself, or both of us. It won’t work. Trust me.”

“But I want to marry you.” She ran her fingers over his shoulders. “I always have. I don’t love you, and I don’t want you to love me. I just want to unite our families. Build a legacy to hand down to our kids, and their kids, and so on.”

He laughed, unable to believe he was hearing this and not telling her to go fuck herself, and even more unable to believe that Maggie had just left him. “I think you’re crazy.”

She watched him with so much greed, desire…and something else he couldn’t quite name…it made him sick. “At least think about it? Don’t dismiss it out of hand.”

He’d just told her he’d make her life a living hell, and she was okay with that? Well, if that’s what she wanted, and she was okay with hating him, then what the hell ever. It didn’t matter anymore because the only woman he’d ever loved walked out of his life the second he lost his cash.

“Want a drink?” he asked, wiggling the bottle.

“With you?” She nodded and pressed against him. “Yes.”

He poured a glass, handing it off. Saluting her, he said, “To a world without love and pain.”

And then he took another shot.

Chapter Sixteen

After telling the cab driver to wait outside the office building, Maggie made her way back up to Benjamin’s office. He’d been on edge before she’d even told him her news, and it had freaked her out. He’d been harsh. Angry. Different. Scary, even.

So she hadn’t really felt like opening up to him and telling him about her parent’s financial issues. But now that she’d had time to think rationally, maybe she should have been a little bit more open. If nothing else, she should have demanded he tell her what he’d meant when he mentioned his mother.

His mother had been in there with him. She’d obviously upset him, and then Maggie leaving without explaining why had probably put him over the edge. It didn’t give him a reason to be such a jerk, but he didn’t handle that kind of stress well. And had trouble with his emotions.

She needed to find out what had really gone on back in his office.

Give him a chance to explain.

Over the time they’d spent together, he had come to mean a lot to her, and she needed to tell him that her leaving had nothing to do with him. Her family was actually losing their farm. The one constant in her life was going away, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She couldn’t help them. But she had to go home and try anyway.

There was already an investor interested in purchasing the land for development, and her parents had been urged to accept. So they were. Already. Everything was happening so fast, and she needed to pack up her old room, say good-bye to her childhood home and look for a new one, and—

It hurt. It hurt so much.

But despite all that, he deserved an explanation on why she’d cut out on him like that. The elevator doors opened, and she stepped into the office, pressing her thumb against the back of the ring he had given her. She would have to take it off and return it. No matter what he’d said on that first date, she couldn’t keep it.

It wouldn’t be right.

Everyone else was gone, but he’d still be there working, like usual. She walked up to his door, reached out for the knob—and froze, because he wasn’t alone.

Elizabeth, his ex, was with him.

An empty bottle of scotch lay on the table, tipped over on its side, and Benjamin sat in the same chair he had when they’d had their first “date.” He’d taken his suit jacket off and loosened his collar, while Elizabeth paced in front of him, talking animatedly.

He watched her through hooded lids.

The other woman stopped in front of him and knelt between his legs, resting her greedy little hands on his thighs. He didn’t move away. Elizabeth said a few more words, he nodded, and she rose on her knees, pressing her mouth to his.

“No.” Pain pierced through Maggie, and she swallowed back a cry, pressing a hand over her mouth. He’d obviously moved on. “No.”

“Charming, isn’t it?” someone said behind her. She recognized that voice. And hated it. “They found one another again.”

Maggie stiffened. “Let me guess. You gave him a little push after I left?”

“That’s what mothers do, isn’t it?” Mrs. Gale asked, smirking. “Guide our children into making the right choices. We’ll stop at nothing to ensure they reach their full potential, and I assure you, I’m more determined than most mothers.”

She turned her back on whatever was going on inside Benjamin’s office, refusing to look again. She’d seen enough. “I’m glad you got what you wanted, Helen. I just hope he does, too.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be just fine. He’s missed her ever since she left him. He loved her,” she added, pouring salt on the wounds she’d ripped into Maggie. “Always has, ever since they were children. You can’t compete with something like that.”

“I thought he left her,” she said.

“Is that what he told you?” The older woman laughed. “And you believed him? Have you seen her?”

Maggie didn’t say anything. She couldn’t, because her heart was being shredded with each passing moment.

And it hurt even more than losing her childhood home had.

“Poor, naive child.” She shook her head. “He probably wanted to save face, because he couldn’t get over losing her. This whole charade with you was a ploy to get her attention, and it worked.”

Maggie blinked rapidly. “I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have to believe me. You saw it with your own eyes.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Run along now, child. Your job here is finished, and your parents will be needing you in this trying time.”

Maggie stole one last look at him. The kiss had ended. He paced back and forth, talking. She couldn’t see Elizabeth’s face, but it looked like she lifted her hands and covered it. Maggie wanted to yank them off until she had nothing but bloody stumps left on the ends of her arms. But his mother was right.