Page 22 of Impossible Bachelor (Bachelor Tower 2)
“Really?” She looks me over as if she’s discovered a tick on her child and tries to determine how to dislodge it. “Are you sure that’s wise?”
“We’re leaving.” Kylie stiffens her back and tips her chin up defiantly.
“You’re doing so well, Kylie. I thought you’d learned your lesson. Don’t throw all this away on—” Her eyes narrow as she looks at me.
“I’m not throwing anything away.” Kylie winces like someone has just driven their thumb into a fresh bruise on her body.
“Kylie, you’re making some serious enemies in the building you moved into. You shattered the glass ceiling. Great. Now be smart and move out or convince them you’re on their side.”
“I can handle them, Mom.”
“You shouldn’t have to, Kylie. You’re smarter than this. They should be eating out of your hand.”
Kylie looks briefly in my direction then back at her mother.
“We’ll talk about this later, Mom,” Kylie announces as she tugs me by the arm in the other direction.
“Oh, and you need to talk to Penny. She won’t return my calls again.”
“She’s probably just busy.”
“Too busy for me? I hoped she’d outgrow that phase. How about you? Dinner on Sunday?”
“I have plans with Ben.” Interesting that Kylie can’t simply say no to her mother.
“I’m sure you can change them.” She looks me over without a hint of approval. Her phone rings. She answers it and turns away to speak for a moment.
“Perhaps we could all get together soon.” I look at Kylie to gauge her reaction. Her expression is carefully blank. “Might be fun.”
Her mother shakes her head. “It will be uncomfortable and stilted at best. My two daughters could not be more different. Penny—”
“I know Penny well.” I really don’t want to hear whatever she has to say.
Kylie’s mother’s eyes narrow. “Then you understand my frustration.” To Kylie she says, “Call me tomorrow.” Then she turns on her very high heels and marches away.
Kylie gives me a bearlike grip on my arm. “So that’s your mother.” I use my free hand to scratch my head.
“That’s her.” She clears her throat and tries to shake it off. “She’s not as bad as she comes across.”
“I’m sure.”
“My father hurt her badly, whether he meant to or not. There’s a lot of fear and hurt under all that bravado.”
I nod, wondering if Kylie has made the connection back to how she presents herself. She’s certainly not her mother, but she protects herself in a similar fashion. “Who did you fight with at the Tower? I thought things had settled down.”
“They have, but I had some words this morning with a couple guys who saw me coming out of your place.”
“Who?” My hand balls into a fist at the idea that she had to walk past those creeps.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“What would you do? Start throwing punches?”
“You don’t deserve to be heckled in your own building. I’ll talk to those guys. Just tell me who it was.”
“Talking doesn’t work.”
“How would your mother want you to handle it?”
“Play the game.”
“The game?”
“Yes. Play nice. Work my way in. Earn trust. Find a weakness and then exploit it. Take out the opponent before he can take me out.”
“Those are direct quotes from her?”
“She’s full of them. I’ve been hearing them since I was twelve.”
That explains a lot. “Is that your philosophy? How you deal with people? Play nice then take them out?” I have to ask. “Is that the game you’re playing with me?”
“No.” She stops and turns to me so I can see just how serious she is. “You’re different. This isn’t a game for me.”
“Me either.”
“Okay.”
“Are you still hungry or should we just do a couple of shots to take the edge off?”
“Can we do both?” She rests her head on my shoulder and links her arm with mine again as we walk toward the restaurant.
I enjoy being with her, but what she said echoes in my head. I wouldn’t say my life has been easy. My parents died when I was young. Being raised by my sisters wasn’t always a walk in the park. Everything I have I worked for. Nothing was handed to me, but I don’t see competitors in the industry as opponents.
The more time I spend with Kylie, the more she shares with me. Today is the first time I see a side of her I hope I’m wrong about.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Kylie
I down a shot and push the small glass right back to the bartender to refill. Ben’s suggestion is perfect. The heady buzz is relaxing me already.
“Do you always come to a bar after you see your mom?”
“No.” I shake my head and run my finger over the rim of the shot glass and think about the last few years of my relationship with my mother. “Usually I grab a bottle and drink alone.”
“So this is progress.”
“She made me everything I am today. Every success I share with her. It’s a lot of pressure and a big debt to repay.”
“She was . . . intense.”
“Fierce. Strong. Unmatched.”
“You admire her.”
“Respect. Not admire. It’s complicated.” I down the next shot and don’t order another. I want to enjoy my dinner with Ben. My mother has cast a shadow over plenty of things in my life, I don’t intend to make him one of them.
“Talk to me, Kylie.”
“Running a company is a lonely position.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
“First, you’re a man so you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, right, the dick clause. I forgot that having one makes it impossible to relate to what anyone with a vagina has gone through.”
“Joke about it, but there is a certain amount of unfortunate truth to it. You will never know what it’s like to be treated a certain way, to have to work twice as hard simply to be considered half as good, and to have righteous indignation dismissed as a monthly mood swing. Women were once considered property—still are in parts of the world. Even here there are those who have evolved only enough to disguise what they really think—but it comes out at ugly and unexpected times.”
“Whoa. Whoa. I get it. I have four sisters.”
While we’re being real . . . “You don’t get it. You couldn’t possibly get it because you’ve never lived it.” Ben is quiet for a moment and I’m tempted to apologize, but I don’t. I didn’t say anything I don’t believe. “If that makes me unlikeable—”
God, I hate that I’m reduced to practically asking him if he approves of me. My self-esteem dissolves around my mother. It’s her superpower.
Ben takes my hand in his. “I like you, Kylie. I hear what you’re saying.” He smiles. “I can’t grow a vagina, so you’ll have to either accept that I’m willing to listen and learn or . . .
“You can stop saying vagina now.” I look at our linked hands and smile because I know my comment made Ben smile. “Do you like what you do?”
“Love it. How about you?”
“I don’t know. I used to. Or maybe I never did. I’m good at it, though. Most days are okay as long as I don’t care what people think of me.”
“Tabby seems to really enjoy working with you.”
“That’s more of a reflection on her than on me. She’s great. The best assistant I’ve ever had.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. You need to see yourself the way other people do. Not the loud jealous people. The good ones.”
“Like you?”
“I’m a great place to start.” He pats his chest. “Solid, boy-next-door type.”
“Then what the hell are you doing with me?” I know I’m fishing, but I’m low and Ben is up high somewhere, reaching out his hand.
He leans
in and whispers with his lips pressed against my ear. “Do I have to show you again?”
I look into his eyes, wondering if anything this good can be real. And if it’s real, is there any chance in hell it can last?
I could love this man.
I reach for my shot glass only to discover it’s empty when I bring it to my lips. He chuckles and takes it from me. “That’s a sure sign you need to slow down.”
I do.
I absolutely do need to slow the fuck down.
How did I let it get this far?
And what do I do now that I can’t imagine my life without him in it?
