His Needs: Billionaire Alpha (9 page)

Chapter 16

Bethany

Maybe she was overthinking it. A few weeks back he'd been more of an ass than ever, and she'd been fine with it. For some reason, she half-expected him to change simply because of the engagement, but she hadn't changed much, right?

She packed up and walked out of the conference room after everyone else had skipped off to dinner thirty minutes before. Damon had texted sometime just after lunch for her to meet him out at the street around seven. After a long day of trying to catch up to where everyone seemed to expect her to be, a hot bubble bath and TV sounded good, but that wasn't happening.

As long as there wasn't another fight to deal with, she'd be good. Too much more and she was liable to crack and chuck the ring at him. There was only so much someone could be expected to put up with, even someone head-over-heels.

She took the elevator down and stifled a yawn as she walked out of the building. A sleek black Mercedes much like Damon's sat parked in front of the building as other cars moved by in the street. Bethany clutched her bag in front of her and tried to appear casual as she looked around. If Damon were in the car, he needed to roll the damn window down.

As if on cue, it rolled down.

Her breath swept from her chest as he smiled, neither of them saying a word.

Don't cry. Don't cry.

The five o'clock shadow that dusted his chin and cheeks left him looking more rugged than she could handle. How physical attraction could wash over the aches and pains and make them momentarily better was a mystery that she was too tired to think through, but it worked its magic on her.

"Hi, pretty girl. I have the night off and was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to dinner? Maybe grab a drink at a piano bar after and let me twirl you around the floor a little? Dessert could be optional, but might be fun. A long shower?"

"I thought you didn't dance unless forced to." A smile touched her lips as she trapped the pain of their roller coaster relationship deep inside of her.

"Only at a wedding or when-"

"Seducing a woman. I remember." She glanced down the street and shook her head. "I'm good, but thanks for the offer. I'm not looking for one night, but many. The guy who's supposed to come get me is... well, he's soon to be everything to me. I think." Tears blurred her vision.

So much for trapping it behind a cheeky facade.

He got out of the car and moved to stand in front of her, his expression loving and filled with concern.

"Baby. I'm right here. You know we have a lot to work through."

"And a ring doesn't change that. I get it." She reached up and wiped at her tears angrily. "I wish dinner and dancing were the cure-all for the hurt inside of me, but it isn't."

"Can it be a start?" He touched the side of her face and licked at his lips. "Please."

It wasn't a request.

"Yeah. Sure." She touched his hand before turning her face to kiss his palm a few times. "Stop shutting me out, and stop being a dick. I've kept up with your rules and your demands and your needs. Give back a little before this thing falls apart."

He nodded stiffly, obviously not liking the idea of her taking control of the conversation or directly addressing the issue.

His problem. If it falls apart it won't be because I didn't give it my all.

She walked around him and got into the passenger's side of the car to find a pretty bouquet of red roses laying between the seats.

"What do you feel like for dinner? Seafood, steak, something else?" He picked up the roses and handed them to her. "For you."

"When did you have time to get these?"

"I made time." He reached over and touched her arm with the back of his fingers. "Let’s have fun tonight and try to leave all this angsty bullshit behind us for a while."

"I'll try."

"What can I do to change that trying to doing?" He tugged at a strand of her hair before leaning into her seat and kissing her softly a few times. "Where's my girl under all this drama? Is she in there? I want her. I need her. Tell her to come out and have dinner with me."

She nodded, not willing to push it any further. "Okay."

"Good." He dropped back in his seat, clueless. "Now, where to?"

"Let's go to the steakhouse Erica was talking about in Jamaica."

"You wanna fly to Jamaica?" He winked at her and reached for her hand, pulling it up to his lips and kissing softly. "I know the one. It's one of the best in the world."

"Good." She pulled her hand from his and turned to look out her passenger's side window. "I heard it rains here all the time, but it hasn't at all today, unless I missed it."

"You were trapped in a conference room all day." He brushed his fingers by her leg and pushed her skirt up a little before gripping her thigh softly. "You want me to stop by the hotel so you can put on something more comfortable?"

She glanced over at him and rested her hand on his, not wanting him to go any higher. The need to protect herself from whatever they were headed toward rolled through her violently.

"Yeah, that would be great actually." She forced a smile and reached to turn on the radio.

"You sure you're all right?"

"Yep. Just a lot on my plate right now." She crossed her legs in a way that forced him to pull his hand back. "I think the one thing I can't shake is why you wouldn't have told me about Christa's sister coming to work at the firm. I guess it's really not my business." She shrugged and kept her voice soft and conversational, as if they were discussing the color of the drapes in a house. "It just shocked me to see her there with no clue of who she was or that she was coming."

"I get that." A tenseness entered his voice that didn't belong there. It should have been her that was tense over the situation. Omission of truth was the same as lying, or at least that's the lesson he'd taught over her punching Sadie in the face and not saying anything about it. How was this situation any different?

She pulled out her phone and texted Matt as Damon sighed softly and put both hands on the wheel, squeezing tightly until the leather creaked in protest.

Bethany: Where are you?

Matt: At the hotel. What's up? You need me?

Bethany: Yes. I'm going to tell Damon I have a stomach ache. I can't do this tonight. Can we go somewhere undercover?

Matt: My chest hurts over this, but yeah, I like undercover.

Bethany: Mine too, but I can't keep up this fake shit anymore. I'm hurt and I'm sure it's my fault, but I need to get away from it for the night.

Matt: Text me when you're free.

The phone rang on the car’s console, and Damon tapped it twice. Ben's voice filled up the car as they pulled up into the driveway of the hotel.

"Hey boss man. We're all going to a great piano bar down the street from the office. You and Bethany should join us."

"Naw, man. We-"

"Just a second, Ben." She pressed mute on the dashboard. "You should go. My stomach is starting to get sick again. Seriously. Come back to me tonight and we can catch up."

"No." His expression tightened further as anger burned across his face. "I'm coming up with you."

"No. Really. I don't want to be sick in front of you. I love you." She leaned over and kissed him, but he didn't return the gesture.

"Beth, I'm not letting you be sick alone. We're in this thing-"

"Go. I need some time to myself. I'll text you if I need something. Let me be gross in peace." She forced a laugh and grabbed her purse and got out of the car.

He sat in the car, staring out the front window as she turned to wave at him. Nothing. It wasn't until she was standing in front of the elevator with tears running down her cheeks that she realized that she left the flowers he got her sitting in the front seat.

"Fucking great."

*

"I think you guys are putting
way
the fuck too much pressure on yourselves. My God, you just got together three weeks ago." Matt dipped his chip into the bowl of hot salsa between them.

Bethany sucked down another drink of her frozen margarita before answering.

"I know. I keep telling myself that, but some of the little things he's done that have hurt me seem to feel so damn big. So big..."

Matt reached over and squeezed her hand. "So let's talk about something else. You and Damon will figure this shit out. You're too right for each other not to, okay?"

"Okay." She glanced down and forced the hot lump of regret in her chest to go back down. They would figure things out... maybe. Hopefully. "Did you ask Erica out?"

"No. She's a piranha." He laughed as Bethany gave him a look.

"She's a great girl and someone that you would-"

"I know. I've heard it a million times. No is my answer. I don't want a woman like her. Honestly." He shrugged. "She's beautiful and leaves my insides shaking with white-hot need, but she's not the kind of woman I want to emotionally tie myself to."

"Why is that?"

"She's like Damon. Strong, confident, a bitch and a half, and I love it. I would become her lap dog in public and put a collar on her in the bedroom. She would bring out the worst parts of me." He reached over and pulled Bethany's drink toward him. He took a drink and licked at the salt on the side before grimacing. "This tastes like shit."

"You lick the salt first, nugget-head." She laughed and showed him how to do it.

"I'll just stick to beer for now. Thanks." He lifted his beer in the air. "Things are going to work out. I promise."

"I hope so." She hit her glass against his and let Matt move the conversation to more relaxed, fun topics, which he did well.

*

Finding Damon asleep on the coach of the room when she got back that night was a little concerning. He had to know that she went out, but how long had he been in the room waiting on her? 

The roses were in a vase on the desk, and a card sat beside them, unopened. Had he gotten it for her for their dinner date?

Guilt pumped through her as she opened the card and turned to face him. The soft sound of him breathing let her know that he was asleep. She glanced up from the card and let her eyes move along him as the moonlight spread across his sleek figure. He was in slacks and nothing else, his beautiful body like something out of a wet dream.

Beth,

Give me time, and I'll give you patience. Give me grace, and I'll give you trust. Give me your heart, and I'll treasure it forever. This isn't the end, but the beginning, right? Sure feels like the opposite is happening. Where are you tonight, baby? Is there someone else you'd rather be with than me? Who is he? How can I be more like him? Am I not enough?

There's so much to work through, but for me... you're it. I'm willing to keep pushing forward if you are. I hope you are, Beth, because despite it being three weeks, I love you.

D

She pressed her fingers to her lips as a sob lodged in her chest. There he was... the man she'd fallen in love with. He was tucked somewhere deep inside the asshole across the room.

After setting the card down and changing into a tank top and panties, she walked across the room and sat down on the bed beside him on the couch, brushing his hair back as tears rolled over her cheeks. It would be so easy to wake him up and make love to him for the rest of the night, to forget the hurt and work toward something better, but she couldn't force herself to do it. She'd never cheat on him, and though that was his main hang up, she shouldn't have had to convince him that she wasn't out with another man.

Well, no one other than Matt, and he didn't count.

She leaned over and kissed his head a few times as he grumbled and rolled onto his side, putting his back to her. She kissed his shoulder and got up, pulled the top cover off the bed and put it on him before getting in the over-sized bed beside him and trying to force herself to get some sleep. They had another long day on Sunday, and she needed to be on her toes. Otherwise, something told her that she'd have Delilah in her face, which wouldn't go over too well.

Wonder if she needs a nose job too.

Chapter 17

Damon

The light mist that covered the golf course that next morning ushered in an odd peace that Damon needed more than he wanted to admit, even to himself. Bethany had come in from her date, or whatever she'd been doing, opened the card and left him on the couch. It was a clear sign that things were headed toward being over. It was too much to consider, so like he'd done his whole life, he boxed it up and tucked it away. Fuck it. All of it.

"So you think you guys going down to Florida next weekend will help some?" James Talling glanced up as he wiped off the tip of his putter.

"Absolutely." Damon nodded and glanced over to Patrick. "Pat's going down there, and some of our other hard-hitting staff. We'll wrap everything up and set up new procedures and processes. It will be a brand new operation by the time we leave."

"And all in a weekend." Patrick chuckled and walked out to the fairway beside Damon as James moved up to take his turn. "We missed you last night. Ben thought you were going to join us."

"Yeah. Too much to do. I had to work for a few hours and then I passed out. One too many bourbons, I guess." He crossed his arms over his chest and tried not to think about how good Bethany looked laying in the bed that morning, still sound asleep. The covers had pulled off of her as she lay on her side, and her tiny white panties left so much skin on display. It took every ounce of denying himself not to bend down, tug them to the side and eat her for breakfast. Any other morning and he would have.

"You all right?" Patrick's expression hardened a little as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, just a lot on my mind, but nothing I’m willing to discuss.” Damon nodded as James walked toward them.

"Of course, boss. Just know I'm here if you do."

"Thanks." Damon took the putter from James and smiled. "You're not going to win this one, my friend."

"The story of my life." He laughed as they passed. "The only success I have is Zarpeth, and it's started to crack at the seams too."

Damon turned at the older man's confession. Zarpeth crumbling was a serious situation, not just for the revenue, but because M&B was tied to the company's reputation as they were all of their audit clients.

"What do you mean?" Damon pressed the putter in the ground and gripped the top with both hands as he leaned forward and stretched.

"Hm?" James turned back to face Damon. "Oh, I'm just being a cynic. Everything is good outside of this inventory mess. I was referring to all the other shit in my life."

"Like?" Damon stood back up and swung a few times, feeling much better about James' explanation. There wasn't room for too many more shit storms in his life right then.

"Dana is filing for divorce next week." He shrugged. "I guess all these years of me working eighty-plus hours a week finally got to her."

"That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that, man." Damon moved toward his ball and hit it once. It sunk in the whole and James growled loudly.

"You get all the lucky balls, don't you?" He laughed as Damon lifted his eyebrow at him and walked toward the cart as Patrick moved to take his turn.

"I'm not sure lucky would be the word. My life is a bit of a mess right now too." He ran his fingers through his hair and stretched again.

"Can't be worse than mine." James slipped his hands in his pockets and let out a shaky breath.

"You love her?" Damon couldn't help but ask.

"Yeah, man. With all of my heart, but love isn't enough."

"No? I've always heard that if you had love, you had everything. Doesn't love heal all wounds and stop time or some crazy shit like that?" Damon forced a smirk though his heart ached deep in his chest.

"I wish." James glanced down toward his feet. "She's trying to take custody of our twin boys, and though I'd rather be skinned alive and dipped in acid than hurt her, I have to fight for them. She's going to take it as an attack, and I fucking hate that, but what else am I supposed to do?"

"How old are they?"

"Ten. They need me." He chuckled and glanced back up. "Fuck. I need them. I need her, but she won't hear me."

"Women are complex. Have you asked what the source of her hurts are?"

"Yeah, but I can't let go of the company."

"Sure you can. You've built it from the ground up. Hand it over to a well-qualified team of managers and go get your wife back."

"It's not that easy, but maybe you’re right. I'll think about how to do that. Even if this is it for me and Dana, I still owe the next woman in my life a better chance at a relationship than I gave my wife."

"Would you change it all if you could? Go back and fix the small cracks in the marriage?"

"Hell yeah. She's everything I wanted in a wife, a lover, a best friend." He pressed his teeth into his lip and shook his head before walking down the fairway toward the next hole.

"James all right?" Patrick walked over and got into the golf cart.

"Yeah, he will be." Damon dropped down into the driver's seat and tried to figure out if he still had a chance of fixing him and Bethany. She hadn't cheated on him. She wouldn't do that.

Neither would his mom have cheated on his dad. Not in a million years, but she did.

*

He walked into the office a few hours later to find the staff working fast to put out a third quarter fire for another client. He left them to it and walked to his office to find Bethany staring out the window.

"Hey, can you organize a dinner tonight? Looks like those guys in there aren't going to get a break anytime soon. We'll either bring something in, or go somewhere."

"Yeah, I guess." She glanced over her shoulder. The sadness on her pretty face tore into him, but he'd made his apologies yesterday only to have her lie to him about her stomach and leave with someone. No way had she gone out by herself for two hours. He'd parked the car and gotten to the room in time to smell the remnant of her perfume that filled the place.

"Thanks." He walked to his desk and sat down, not bothering to ask why she was standing by the window while everyone else was busting ass. That wouldn't gain him any favors, though after the night before, he wasn't sure he wanted any.

"Thank you for the card. It was sweet."

Sweet?

"Sure." He popped open his laptop and turned it on before glancing up to catch her watching him. "What's up, Beth?"

"Why does everything have to be a fight between us? What am I to you? Your girlfriend? Your associate?" She pressed her hands to her hips. "You're fucking secretary?"

"Because I asked you to organize a dinner?" He leaned back in his chair and forced his anger to stay at the edge of the confrontation. She was mad, and yet it was his turn to light into her. She was one hundred percent in the wrong.

"Yeah, Damon. That's why." She shook her head and walked to the door.

"Right. Close the door behind you, and thanks for your efforts. Hope your stomach is all better." He glanced down and opened a few files as the door closed. "Fuck. What the hell?"

They were past the point of saving things, or so it seemed. This was the reason he refused to get into a relationship in the first place. Everything was taken the wrong way, skewed, fucked up. It was exhausting, and at this point... not really worth the effort. If all he was going to do was continue to hurt her with every move he made, then he was done.

He was honest in the card the night before. He did love her. But as James had clearly reminded him, love just wasn't enough.

*

The rest of the day was a blur of activity, and he didn't look up from his laptop until Ben knocked on the door later that evening. The twinkling stars outside of his window let him know it was well past the time he'd planned to get up and find something to eat. His stomach growled angrily as if in protest.

"You coming?"

"Where?" Damon stood up and stretched before pulling off his suit jacket.

"Dinner. Bethany organized a family-style dinner at the Italian place just down the road. Come on, we can walk."

"Where is the rest of the team?" He walked out into the hall to see Delilah on the phone.

"They're already there. We let them go to get the appetizers and stuff. You good walking?" Ben grabbed Delilah’s elbow and she nodded and moved in behind them.

"Yeah, I could use some fresh air."

"Long day?"

"Yeah. I didn't move once I don't think. Everything hurts." He reached up and rubbed his hand down the back of his neck before rolling his shoulders a few times. "Beth do okay today?"

"Oh yeah. The girl is honestly brilliant. She's fast as fuck too. I love having her on the team. She didn't talk much, which was odd, but I figured she was just tired from a wild night with-"

Damon popped him in the chest. "Don't. Not appropriate."

"Gotcha." Ben gave him a sheepish look and held the elevator open for them.

Delilah’s eyes moved across him as a smile touched the side of her mouth. "My stupid sister seems to think that I'm going to set you up again."

"Again?" Ben's eyebrow lifted. "Were you the one that set him up with Christa originally?"

Damon chuckled and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Were they really going to unlock the stories of his past? He was too tired to deal with much of anything.

"Yes. Dumbest mistake of my life. I should have swiped him up for myself." She laughed and moved to Damon's side, pressing her shoulder against his. "We would make a good couple."

"Would have. Past tense." He forced a smile and walked out into the lobby of the building. Ben and Delilah laughed and poked fun at him as they walked to the restaurant. He played into it a little, but stopped outside the restaurant and turned to face them. "All right, drop it. I don't want anyone here to feel inferior to either of you because we have a past together."

"You have a past with Damon too?" Delilah laughed. "Have you seen him in a speedo?"

Damon rolled his eyes and walked into the restaurant. The hostess ushered him to the back room where the rest of his staff were. Philip was seated next to Beth and leaning over, showing her something on the menu, but they were entirely too close for Damon's comfort.

She laughed and turned her face towards Philip's to say something, putting them awkwardly close, intimately so. The widening of her eyes said that she realized it, and she moved back.

Damon cleared his throat and smiled. "Thanks for all the hard work. Bethany, can I see you for a minute?"

"Of course." She stood up as her face lost color.

Unbelievable. Something was going on between the two of them. Damon had taken a chance on hiring this little shit back, much to his detriment, obviously.

He moved through the restaurant and walked out into the cool night air as she stopped beside him.

"Is this a good place for dinner? I should think-"

He turned and grabbed her arm as he leaned down to get in her face. Her tone was cocky, shitty, full of condemnation.

"What are you doing right now? Do you want this to end? If you do, fucking say so, and I'll save us the pleasure of ripping each other apart from across the room."

She jerked her arm from him and slapped him. Hard. "Fuck you for that. You know that I love you. You're the villain here. Not me."

He rubbed his cheek and glanced around. "Right. I'm the one that lied. The one that went somewhere with someone last night and left you sleeping on the couch. Yeah, I forgot. That was me."

"If I don't have my legs open or a calculator in my hand, I'm nothing to you but a puppet on a string." She took a step back toward the restaurant. "And I didn't lie. You did."

"Your stomach still hurting?" Anger burned through him as he clenched his fists and tried hard to pull himself back from pressing her to the side of the restaurant and reminding her who was in charge. It would do no good. She didn't want him anymore. That much was obvious.

"Is anyone else from Christa's family going to start working here? I mean, the more the fucking merrier."

"Grow up, Beth." He turned and walked back toward the office.

"Don't leave me standing here."

He ignored her and lifted his eyes to the sky as his heart ripped in two and tears burned his gaze. She could have her freedom and her future. He would take the role Charlie had advised him to. Mentor. Friend. Big Brother.

He could be anything she needed him to be and nothing else.