Tailored for Trouble (Happy Pants #1) - Mimi Jean Pamfiloff Page 0,91
“They don’t come out much when it rains.”
“That’s good to know.” She sat next to him in a high-backed wicker chair, sensing he didn’t feel as relaxed as he looked.
“What are you thinking about?”
He glanced at her and made a little shrug with those wide, bare shoulders. “No one thing in particular, I suppose.”
“Well, um, I just want to tell you that…I haven’t been with anyone in a really long time and even though I’ve never engaged in risky behavior, I still make sure that—”
“You don’t have anything to worry about from me either,” Bennett said in an unemotional voice. He seemed so far away, in another place. “And I haven’t been with anyone in a very long time.”
“You haven’t?”
“No.” He sipped his wine.
“But I thought you—I mean I know you aren’t with a different woman every night, but I at least thought you were…you know—active.”
“No. Not for a year or so.”
Wow. So the “Kate incident” happened about a year ago. Taylor took that in. “Do you mind if I ask why not?”
“Let’s just say the last woman I was with was one of many who succeeded in fooling me.”
Oh. She bobbed her head. “The gold diggers.” It was kind of what she’d expected, given the things his mother and Candy had said.
“Yes.” His blue eyes focused off in the distance, but when Taylor looked, she saw only the black of night. What was he looking at?
“I’m glad,” she said. “I’m glad they were all stupid, shallow, materialistic bitches.”
He turned his body and tilted his head a bit.
“You wouldn’t be here with me right now if they hadn’t been,” she explained.
He smiled softly. “Right you are, Ms. Reed.”
She made a quiet little huff. “I’m Ms. Reed again, am I?”
“Taylor.” His voice was so deep and husky, it made her toes curl. She loved it when he said her name.
He stared at her for a moment before his jaw clenched and his dark brows furrowed together. “I don’t think I can do this tonight.”
“You mean, tell me whatever it was you wanted to say?”
He gave her a small nod.
“You know,” she said, thinking aloud, “I came here because I thought I wanted something from you—sex, intimacy, I don’t know. But I realized in the bathroom, before we…did that,” she could feel herself blushing, “that’s not actually what I wanted.”
“No?”
She shook her head. “No. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the sex was great.”
He shot her a look.
“Okay, phenomenal,” she corrected. “But I decided I just want to be here and give you whatever you need—someone who won’t judge or ask for anything more than to get to know you. That’s all I need. So if you want to talk, talk. If you want to sit here and stare into the abyss, stare. If you just want someone to break condoms with, I’m okay with that, too. I don’t want you to feel like you owe me anything or have to give me anything you’re not ready for.”
“You are a very odd woman.”
She reached and took the glass of wine from his hand. “I know. And meeting you has raised the bar to a whole new level.”
He laughed. “Has it now?”
She sipped his wine and handed it back. He sipped too and then locked eyes with her, the dim lighting from the living room tingeing his blue gaze with an orange glow.
“I think meeting you,” she said, “the fact that you saw right through me from the first moment, let me finally start to see myself. I was pretending to be this person who thought she was better than people, judged them, made assumptions, tried to be more…” she shook her head, “I mean, really, Bennett. The fact that I started a company to try to coach successful CEOs to be better is ludicrous.”
She nodded and laughed a little bit. “No. Ludicrous is definitely the right word. Thinking I could change the world by teaching a handful of billionaires not to be dicks is a joke. If I really wanted to make a difference, I’d be focusing on the people who really do the work. I mean,” she looked at him, “let’s face it. You guys don’t do squat. It’s all those middle managers who do the heavy lifting.”
He laughed. “Well, I do more than just squat, but your point is taken.”
“I have you to thank for setting me straight.” She looked into his eyes, and he handed her back the glass of wine. She