To Love a Player (13 page)

About an hour later, Ben buzzed a group of people in. I watched him greet three guys and three girls at the door. I also noticed how he lingered for a while flirting with a cute blond with big brown eyes before his eyes connected with mine. He abruptly stopped chatting with her and came over to me. I gave him a guarded smile—he liked her. When he kissed me on the forehead, it had a bit of awkwardness to it.

"This is my girlfriend, Mollie and her best friend, Marnie," Ben said as he introduced us. "That is Joe, Kyle, Max, Sarah, Callie, and Anna."

"Hi," I said, giving a friendly wave to the group. I saw Callie's eyes look at me cautiously, so I smiled at her. She gave me a shy smile back before glancing quickly at Ben, who sighed nervously next to me. Oh yeah, he definitely liked her.

I was in the middle of playing Call of Duty with Scott when I heard my phone ring. My heart leaped in my chest when I thought that it might be Mollie. I grabbed the phone and said, "Hey, you."

It was Sophie, who murmured, "Hey, sexy."

I paused the game and got off of the couch, heading to my room. I needed to do this fast or else I wouldn't be able to get a word in. I sighed and said, "Hey, Soph."

"So what do you have to talk to me about so badly that you had to call me fifty times?" she yawned and I said, "We need to end things, Soph. This relationship isn't good for either of us and you deserve someone who loves you."

"What?!?" Sophie yelled into the phone and I instantly felt bad that it had to be done this way. "Why are you breaking up with me?"

"First of all, Sophie, we aren't really dating. Second, I want to be with someone else and we've always agreed that if one of us finds someone we want to be in a relationship with that we would go our separate ways," I said, remembering a conversation we had a long time ago when Sophie first went off on a modeling job.

"It's Mollie, isn't it?" Sophie asked, her voice sounding like she stepped in something gross when she said Mollie's name. I smiled instinctively and said, "It is."

"I knew something like this would happen. You've been playing house with her and now you think you want to be with her," Sophie chided and I grunted in frustration. She laughed wickedly in the phone as said, "Really, Callen, way to screw the help."

"I'm not screwing the help, Sophie," I stated angrily."If I were, it wouldn't be any of your business anyway. You and I are through."

"We'll see about that when I get back," Sophie threatened and I hung up the phone, tossing it across the room and took a deep breath before going back out to Scott. He gave me a curious look and asked, "Everything okay?

"Yeah, it is now." I said and hoped that Mollie was having better luck.

We were hanging out on the rooftop patio of a bar and having a pretty good time. I walked over to the railing and felt Ben follow along behind me. He placed a hand on the railing on either side of me and pressed himself into my back. He rested his chin on my shoulder and whispered, "Why is this so weird?"

I looked over at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You and me, it feels different," Ben said, kissing me softly on the cheek. "Doesn't it?"

"Yeah," I whispered and took a deep breath; I had to do it now. "I wanted to talk to you, but I don't want you to be mad."

"You're with Callen now, aren't you?" he asked softly and I shrugged, turning to face him. His eyes were soft, yet understanding. I brought my hand up to his cheek as I said, "I really didn't mean for it to happen and I'm not sure where it's going, but it's not fair to either of us if I don't see where it goes. I know of his reputation and how big of a player he is, but he's been nothing short of a gentleman to me."

"Just be careful, Moll," Ben said and I nodded, kissing him gently. He pulled me into a long hug and said, "If he hurts you, I'm going to kill him. You don't deserve to be one of those revolving women he has and if he screws this up, he better watch out because I'm coming after him."

I smiled over his shoulder and saw Callie watching us. When we parted, I asked, "So what's going on with you and Callie?"

Ben's face flushed pink and he let out a nervous laugh as he said, "Uh well, nothing really?"

"You sound unsure," I teased and he nodded, "I like her, but out of respect for us, I'm trying to keep it on a friend level. There's something there though, I think."

"I think so, too," I smiled, caressing his cheek. He turned his face and kissed the inside of my palm. His eyes searched mine as he asked, "You're not mad?"

I shook my head as I replied, "No."

He pulled me into another long hug and we laughed. I knew that things between us were going to be okay.

16

Callen

I walked into Lacey's house late Saturday morning and found my sister typing away at her laptop at the kitchen table. I needed to tell her about Mollie and me. I just felt that she needed to know and hoped that she didn't fire her because of it, even though I knew that she wouldn't. Lacey had really become attached to Mollie, but still I was nervous as hell to talk to her about it.

"Hey Lace," I said, trying to keep my voice even, giving her a kiss on her cheek. The words were about to come out of my mouth when I noticed a smile begin to slowly form on her lips. I closed my mouth and shook my head, chuckling softly and said, "You know, don't you?"

"Of course, I know," Lacey shrugged, casually tossing me a smile. I shot her an expectant look, waiting for her to explain. She nodded towards the pool where Elly was playing with two of her friends. I should have known, I thought, smiling wryly.

"What did she tell you?" I asked, sitting down across from her and picked up a slice of apple that she had on a plate in front of her. I was beginning to imagine the conversation my niece had with her and my thoughts deepened in curiosity when Lacey leaned back in her chair, giggling while she dramatically said, "Just that you and Mollie are in love."

"Well, I don't know about that," I smiled warmly, running my finger over the skin of the apple, "but we do have a strong liking for each other."

Lacey reached out her hand, touching my arm as she looked at me. She gave it a gentle squeeze. I gave her a soft smile, "I don't know if I love her, but I do know that I have never felt this way about any other girl that I've dated."

"You date?" Lacey teased and I shot her a fake glare. I ran my hands through my hair as I scoffed in disbelief, "I bought her flowers yesterday and you know that's not something I do for girls."

"Hey, I'm a girl!" Lacey laughed, pretending to be offended and I shot her a look saying, "You know what I mean, a girl that I like, not a girl I'm related to."

Lacey laughed,  nodding her head. She smiled knowingly and said, "I know and I'm happy for you. Just don't screw it up."

"That's what scares me the most," I said quietly, half to myself. Lacey reached over, squeezing my arm gently as she said, "As long as you're honest with each other and continue to stay on the same page, it'll work itself out. She knows of your reputation and she's not running for the hills, so if she's willing to look past that, then I would say that you're good to go."

"You're not going to fire her now or anything?" I asked carefully and Lacey shook her head, giving me a curious look as she asked, "Why would I fire her? Mollie has been a godsend for Jace and the girls. Did you know that he's been talking so much better now and he uses the potty more? She takes time to work with him on things that the other nannies I had refused to.

"And the girls," Lacey's voice cracked slightly as she looked out the window. I could see her eyes wet when she looked back at me and said, "Elly is back to normal and not the awful teenager she was a month ago. She asked me to go for a spa day, just the two of us. And then after she thought about it for a while, wanted to include her little sister. Mara is still Mara, but she's not as whiny and demanding as she used to be. I think it's because she gets enough individual attention during the day that when I come home, she's not following me around and crying for it."

I smiled, reaching over and squeezing her hand. Mollie had been good for all of us, it seemed. Lacey inhaled a deep breath as she said, "I think that I can agree with you on this relationship choice and I believe that's the first time that I've said that. Remember that cheerleader, Christy? Ugh that's one that I thought I'd have to kill you for dating."

"Ugh," I groaned over the memory. Christy was your typical blond airhead. Her dad and mine were working on a business deal and sadly part of that deal included a date with Christy. I couldn't talk with her to save my life, all she did was smile and if you asked her a question, she gave the dumbest answers. She did have an amazing body though, but it wasdefinitely better if she just smiled and kept her mouth shut.

"Or Sophie," Lacey said flatly and her eyes were serious as she asked, "You did break up with her, right?"

"Yes," I nodded and cringed, "and it didn't go well. I have a feeling that she's going to be a tough one to shake off, which is funny because I've never had that problem before."

"Well, just watch out for her, I could see her coming between you and Mollie and not even bat an eye," Lacey said and I nodded. I knew to do that without anyone having to warn me. Sophie could be relentless when it came to something she wanted that someone else had.

We weren't even that serious, haven't been in forever, but we had this unspoken thing about being together when she was in town. The last time she was in town, we were together, but then I found her with one of her male model friends in my bed. I kicked them out and hadn't spoken to her since she came back a week and a half ago. I was kicking myself now for being so stupid and going back to her, especially since my feelings for Mollie were barely under the surface—even though I wasn't acknowledging them then.

"I can keep her busy, if I need to," Lacey smiled, a mischievous look flashed in her eyes. The best thing about being a designer is that you have a big network with other designers, even though some designers are rude and cutthroat. There's a group that likes to pass models between them. I had a suspicion that my sister sent Sophie to Australia—I wasn't sure why, until now.

"Thanks, but it won't be necessary. If it becomes a problem, then I will take care of it," I said, stealing another apple off her plate. She slapped my hand playfully as she groaned, "Ugh Callen! Get your own!"

I laughed as I stood up and walked over to the fruit basket to get two apples. I handed her one and sat back down as Lacey looked at me. I could see the question in her eyes and I replied without her answering, "She broke up with him last night. I guess it went really well, better than she thought that it would."

"That's good," Lacey said and I nodded in agreement. I took a bite of my apple, thinking about Mollie and hoping that she would be home soon. It reminded me about the boathouse and my big plan to surprise her with a special first date.

"Um, so I need you and Eli to leave the boathouse alone," I said and Lacey's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she asked, "What do you mean? I haven't been in the boathouse in forever."

"Oh," I said and my gut told me that I shouldn't mention what I found in it last night to Lacey. I just smiled at her and said, "Good then, I know that I won't be running into you when I use it tomorrow for my date with Mollie."

"Why would you take her there?" Lacey asked, eyeing me with amused curiosity. My smile felt giddy when I said, "The lake has become kind of like our special place, so I thought that it would only be fitting if it was where I took her for our first date."

Lacey grinned one of those mushy smiles at me and I groaned, "I sound like such a girl!"

She laughed and shook her head, saying, "No, you just sound like a boy who's in love."

It had been a fun day, much better than I thought it would be post break-up. Ben and I had easily settled into being friends and I knew that he was going to be one of my best friends for life. I really could not have asked for a better guy to break up with and was fortunate that it had gone smoothly. I think that we both knew that we weren't really meant to be together, and time apart from each other helped us see it.

We had a long talk last night about the miscommunication issues in our relationship and realized that Melanie had been a factor. She had deleted texts that I had sent, or if she was near when his phone rang, would put the call to voicemail and not tell him about it. I was definitely glad that he was not going back to her. Also, I got to watch a little bit of interaction between Ben and Callie today and I noticed that there was something big there. I just hoped that Melanie wouldn't ruin it.

Ben was helping load our stuff into Marnie's car and we were now standing on the sidewalk saying our goodbyes. I decided that I was going to cut the trip shorter than I planned, I was anxious to get home and hang out with Callen.

Ben wrapped me up in a huge bear hug and held me for a long time. He kissed the side of my head as he leaned back and said, "I promise to come visit for your birthday next month."

"I have to clear it with Lacey, first, but I don't think that she'll mind if we have a few extra people in the guest house. Plus if the weather is nice enough then maybe we can camp out on the beach by the lake," I said, smiling as I thought about the lake. I looked up into his soft brown eyes and said, "You can bring Callie along."

Ben smiled as he nodded his head and said, "Yeah, I'll see if she'd want to do that."

"I'm going to miss you," I said, pulling myself in to his chest as he wrapped his arms around me once more. He kissed the top of my head and sighed deeply, murmuring, "I'm going to miss you, too."

He pulled back and tilted up my chin to look into my eyes. He smiled genuinely as he said, "You know that you can always call me, text me, and even come visit me if you want. Callen can even come, too."

I laughed as I nodded. He hugged me once more before I pulled away to hug Mike and then I got into the car. We waved until we couldn't see them anymore and Marnie commented, "So that was nice, huh?"

"Yeah," I smiled, "much better than I thought that it would be."

"I'm glad that it was more of a mutual thing than one sided," Marnie said and I nodded. I would not have stayed if it were only me doing the breaking up. It definitely would have made it awkward. Marnie smiled over at me, "I love Ben and all, but I love you and Callen together much more than you and Ben."

I gave her an inquisitive look as I asked, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know and maybe this is the hopeless romantic in me," Marnie stated as we pulled out onto the interstate, "but you and Callen have this magnetic pull towards each other. You and Ben were more like 'friends with benefits' trying to be in a relationship and struggling to make it work."

"It was more of a rebound thing, I think," I said, shrugging. It hurt to think that, but it was true. Ben needed someone to get over Melanie for good and I came along at just the right time. He was taking the feelings he had for her and mixing them in with the feelings for me. We should have just been friends for a while first rather than jump into something, but oh well, you live and you learn.

Marnie nodded in agreement, then after a long pause, she asked, "So what's next for you and Callen?"

"I don't know," I sighed, shrugging and looked out the window. "I like him, I mean, I really like him. I have had these strong feelings for him for a while now, but I'm scared to let them all out there."

"Just do it in small doses until you are sure he's on the same page," Marnie shrugged casually. I smiled over at her. She always gave me great advice in this department. I loved that she was a hopeless romantic and hoped that one day she would find someone who made her feel like Callen made me feel.

"I think that I'm just going to enjoy it for a while and see where it goes," I said, clasping my hands together. "If it's meant to be, it will work itself out."

Marnie gave me a sweet smile and said, "Sounds good and if he hurts you then I'm coming after him!"

"Well, you better get in line because Ben's already claimed the number one spot in line," I said, rolling my eyes. I heard my phone beep and smiled sweetly when I saw a message from Callen: "hey beautiful! when r u going 2 b home? cant w8 2 c u!"

I showed Marnie, who teased, "That boy has it bad!"

I paced the living room at least fifty times waiting for Mollie to walk in the door. I couldn't imagine what it was going to be like when I was in New York for the next month. I was hoping that I'd at least be able to come home on the weekends, but I wasn't holding my breath. Eli said that there were meetings and dinners I had to attend on Fridays and Saturdays during a takeover like this. Of course, being the future CEO, I had to attend other meetings and dinners.

I smiled at the thought of flying her to New York and doing the little touristy things with her. I made a mental note to talk to Lacey about any plans that she may have so I can arrange for Mollie to come to New York. Maybe she could accompany me to those dinners while she was there.