Now and Forever (10 page)

Ben cut in. “I didn’t mean that in a bad way. With Mom being so fucked up, you’re my only family, Bree. And I’m so damn proud of you. I know you’re looking out for me.”

“I am. And I’m so happy that . . .” Bree’s voice broke and she cleared her throat. “Soon Layla will be your family, too. You deserve so much happiness.”

“Thanks,” Ben said, clearing his throat, too. “I’m heading to the gym. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Putting emotions into words was always hard for Ben. He needed to burn off some energy lifting weights. And then he’d spend the evening with the woman who made him realize that sometimes putting emotions into words was so fucking worth it.

***

Loading dirty dishes into her parents’ dishwasher reminded Layla that she and Emma usually did this job together. But tonight Emma wasn’t here, because of the falling out she’d had with their father. Layla felt like a traitor for being here and making conversation with her parents like everything was fine.

“Who are your bridesmaids going to be?”

Layla looked up blankly at her mom. “Oh. Um, Emma’s the maid of honor. And Melanie, Lane, Shannon and Erica.”

“I figured you’d have more. You’ve been a bridesmaid so many times, they should all return the favor.”

“I don’t want a huge wedding. I’d be happy to just elope.”

Her mom’s mouth dropped open. “Elope? But there are so many relatives and friends—”

“We’re not eloping,” Layla said sharply. “But I’m not obsessing over the details, either.”

“I’m here for the details, dear,” her mom said brightly. A jolt of aggravation made Layla slam the dishwasher door closed. How could her mom act like everything was fine when her husband had hurt and alienated their youngest daughter?

“I’m gonna go get Ben,” Layla said. “I’m working on a big case and I need to get home.”

She headed for her father’s office, where her husband-to-be was getting a detailed play-by-play of the golf tournament her dad had recently won. Ben feigned interest like a champion, which she appreciated.

The sweet scent of cigar smoke and the deep rumble of laughter made her slow down before she reached the cracked door. Her father smoked cigars on occasion; that wasn’t what was bothering her. It was the chumminess between him and Ben.

“Eliza’s always been a great cook,” her dad said. “That was one of the many things that attracted me to her.”

“I ate way too much of that lasagna,” Ben said. “But it was fantastic.”

“Does Layla cook for you?”

Ben laughed lightly. “No, we’ve got a rotation of restaurants we get carryout from. We both work late sometimes and when we don’t, we just like to relax.”

“Hopefully she’ll work on that. Once you have children, eating home-cooked meals as a family is important.”

Layla rolled her eyes and leaned against the hallway wall.

“Well, she’ll have a lot more time on her hands then, so I’m sure she’ll give cooking a try,” Ben said diplomatically.

Layla’s brows lowered as she considered. How would having children give her
more
time? Wouldn’t it make her into a multi-tasking mess?

“She deserves to be taken care of,” her dad said. “She’s worked hard.”

“She’s an amazing attorney,” Ben said. Layla warmed at his words. She knew he respected her work, but it felt good to hear him praise her work openly without knowing she was listening. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes back to it after the kids are grown.”

Layla’s jaw hit the floor and the blood drained from her head. What the holy fuck had he just said? She wanted to burst into the room and ask him to repeat himself.

Her dad chuckled. “She’ll be a good mother, if you can get that headstrong nature dialed back a little. It takes enormous patience to be a mother. There were days I was in awe of how Eliza managed to be so calm and consistent with the girls.”

The sound of her mother’s approaching footsteps in the hallway forced Layla’s hand. There was nowhere to hide. She walked into her dad’s office, forcing down the fury that was burning in her chest. The sight of Ben sprawled back on the sofa, smoking a cigar and clutching a short, thick glass of amber-colored alcohol just further incited her.

“Hi, baby,” he said, raising an arm as an invitation for her to join him on the sofa.

“We need to go,” she said coolly. “I have a lot of work to catch up on for tomorrow.”

“Who wants dessert?” Layla’s mom said, poking her head into the office. “It’s berry cobbler.”

“Sounds delicious,” her dad said, patting his stomach.

“We’re leaving,” Layla said, willing herself not to make eye contact with any of them. She was like a powder keg right now, and it would take nothing to set her off. Even the cobbler –
homemade, of course
– was pissing her off.

“Can you come back for dinner next weekend?” her mom asked. “This was so much fun.”

“Maybe,” Layla said, distracting herself with finding her coat. “We’re having dinner with Em and Cole then, so it depends.”

“How is Emma?” her mom asked.

“Why don’t you call her and ask?”

There were a few seconds of tense silence before Ben wrapped an arm around Layla’s waist and said goodbye to her parents.

“Let’s get home so you can get to your work,” he said.

“Right. Better do it while I still have the chance,” she muttered

Ben’s gaze flicked to meet hers before he looked away. She hoped to hell he’d just said he expected her to stay home with their future children for her father’s benefit. Even if that was the case, she’d be furious. But if he’d said something so thoughtless and chauvinistic and meant it? Well, that was a deal-breaker.

***

Cole’s jeans and flannel shirt reminded Layla that he’d been in a suit every other time he’d had a meeting with her. They’d had occasional meetings together when she was at her corporate firm, but not so much since she went into practice for herself.

“Brought you some coffee,” he said, passing her a cup when she greeted him in the lobby of her office.

“Thanks.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel craning his head to get a good look at Cole. She’d been curious about whether he went for men or women, having seen before she hired him that if it was women, it wasn’t women like her.

“Daniel, this is Cole, my sister’s boyfriend,” Layla said, leading Cole to Daniel’s desk.

“Hi,” Daniel said, his cheeks pinking as he extended his hand.

“Good to meet you, Daniel,” Cole said, shaking his hand and smiling. Daniel’s eyes wandered over Cole’s golden hair, to his gray blue eyes and perfect smile, and down to his broad chest and muscled biceps. He wasn’t as broad as Ben, but few men were. Cole still had the body of a football player. Layla remembered what it felt like to fall under the spell of Cole Marlowe. He was magazine model handsome.

“I’m ready for you,” Layla said, leading him into her office. She smiled when she went to close the door and caught Daniel staring at Cole’s back, his chin cradled in his hands as he leaned on his elbows.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to tell you directly how much I appreciate this, Layla. And also the bail money. I know there’s been tension since Emma and I got together . . .”

Layla shrugged. “I’d do anything for my sister. And you’re family, Cole.”

He sighed deeply. “Not really. Emma turned me down when I still had a great job.”

“If you think she cares about that, you don’t know her. And you still have your job.”

“Yeah, but I’m suspended,” he said bitterly.

“We’ll get back pay for you when this is over.”

“Have you been through the records? Can I take copies with me? I need something to work on.”

“I’ve been through some of it. I see some sloppy police work already. I think they fudged the probable cause to get their warrant.”

Cole arched his brows and nodded. “That’s good, but I don’t want to get off on a technicality. I didn’t do this, which means someone else did. We need to figure out who.”

Layla considered and sipped her coffee. “Right.”

“You seem distracted. Everything okay?”

“I’ll do a good job for you, don’t worry. Phil Rader from my old firm is looking things over for me. He’s a kick ass attorney.”

“Yeah, he is, but you’re not so bad yourself. I’m not asking because I’m worried about my case, I’m just asking.”

Layla sighed. “I’m just profoundly disappointed in my dad right now. And my mom. And Ben.”

“Because?”

“Because of things between my parents and Emma and because I overheard Ben telling my dad he expects me to leave my job to stay home and raise our future children.”

Cole choked back a laugh. “You?”

“Right?”

“Are you sure he meant it? Ben probably just wants to be accepted by your dad. He never really had one around growing up, did he?”

“No. He doesn’t even know who his dad is.”

“Well, see? Give him a chance to explain instead of just resenting him ‘til you boil over.”

Layla passed him a thick folder. “Yeah, you’re right. I will. Here’s what I have right now. There’s a CD in there.”

“You knew I’d want this.” Cole smiled and met her eyes.

“Of course I did. I would, if I was arrested for something I didn’t do.”

“You believe me, then?”

“I didn’t have an opinion at first. But now that we’ve talked face to face, yes, I believe you. I look forward to some ball busting at Murphy and Kline. Some of those guys are real pricks.”

Cole rose with the file of evidence. “Thanks, Layla.”

“Tell my sister I said hi, jailbird.”

“That’s not funny yet,” Cole said, heading for the door.

“It is, actually. And try not to distract my secretary on your way out.”

Chapter Six

Ben paced across the hardwood floor of Layla’s living room, pausing in front of a large window. Her dog Prince followed faithfully, limping behind him and then settling at his feet yet again. Ben leaned down to scratch his ears.

“Good boy, Prince,” he said. The hound dog stared at him lovingly.

It was the first affectionate glance his way in a couple of days. Things had been off with Layla since dinner at her parents’ house. Her comment about enjoying her job while she could was nagging at him. Tonight he planned to take her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant and get to the bottom of it.

He was still bent down petting Prince, lost in thought, when Layla walked in a few minutes later.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi. Didn’t know you’d be here.” Prince’s eyes flew open when he heard Layla’s voice, and he got up to greet her. “Hello, sweetheart,” she cooed, kissing the top of his head.

“More love for the dog than your future husband?” Ben cracked.

“He doesn’t expect me to give up my career for him,” Layla said, sliding her coat off and avoiding Ben’s gaze.

“I knew it. You overheard my conversation with your dad. What’s with the passive-aggressive bullshit you’ve been giving me? Why didn’t you just tell me straight up you have a problem with me?”

She didn’t seem to be avoiding him anymore. Her heels clicked on the floor as she charged over to where he was standing. “My gut reaction was to tell you to go to hell,” she said sharply. “I wanted to take some time to think about it before I said something rash. But the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. What the hell were you talking about? You’d
like
me to stay home and raise our children? Because that’s one thing. But what I heard from you was an expectation that I will. And I really fucking resent that, Ben.”

“We aren’t even married yet. And when we get married, we’ll wait a little while to have kids, right? This isn’t even an issue yet.”

“Oh, it’s an issue all right!” Layla turned her face up to meet his. “Do you or do you not expect me to give up my career to focus solely on raising our children?”

Ben ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “What children? This is a long way off, Layla.”

“Yes or no?”

“It’s what I want, yeah,” he said.

Her face twisted with hurt and she walked the few steps to the couch and sat down. Ben followed her, unnerved by her devastated expression.

“I can’t believe this,” she said under her breath.

“Don’t misunderstand,” Ben said, dipping his head to get a look at her downturned face. “I’ve worked hard and saved money so that if I ever got lucky enough to find someone as amazing as you, I’d be able to take care of them. Same with our kids. I don’t want you stressed out about defending deadbeats when we’ve got children to raise. I want you to be able to focus on that and enjoy it. Take them to the park and all that.”

“Does it matter what I want?”

“Of course it matters, baby. But you can’t have it all. Look at us now. We don’t meet up for dinner until close to seven most nights. Neither one of us would see much of our kids with our schedules. I don’t want a nanny raising our kids, do you?”

“No. You’re right. Our schedules are overwhelming. But I make more money than you do, so why don’t you quit your job when the time comes?”

Ben gaped at her for a few seconds. “The fuck? You don’t make more money than I do!”

“My annual salary is higher than a police sergeant’s.”

“I own real estate, too, sweetheart. Rest assured I make more than you do.”

“But that’s passive income,” she said. “You’ll continue making it whether you’re a detective or a stay-at-home dad.”

“This is insanity,” Ben said, pointing a finger for emphasis. “I don’t know the first thing about raising kids.”

“You think I do? Just because I have ovaries, I automatically know how to change diapers?”

“Women are naturally better at all that stuff. I’m naturally better at providing.”

Layla sprang off the couch and turned to face him. “Bullshit! I am so pissed at you, Ben! Damn you! You make yourself out to be all noble and strong and loving but in the end you’re just a run of the mill chauvinist!”

“The hell I am! Just because I want my kids to have it better than I did? Because I think you’ll be a great mother? Was I a chauvinist when I gave you that rock? You were all about being the woman then, weren’t you?”

Fury blazed in Layla’s light brown eyes. “Get out,” she said in a low tone. “Before I really get mad.”