Shouldn't Be (12 page)

“Mara?  I’m surprised he let it get that far.”  Debora shook her head.  She looked so much like her brother it was remarkable.  She had the same hazel eyes that seemed to change color from one moment to the next, and the same curly dark hair, except hers was longer, and cut to frame her beautiful high cheekbones.  “He was feeling pressured by our parents to get married, and Mara’s mother practically insisted.  She’s a friend of Ruth.”  Kaitlyn looked at her questioningly.  “Our mother.”

“Ahh,” she said, but she was still confused.

“He never loved her.”  Debora smiled as she watched Ruben.  “He’s going to be the best father.”  As Kaitlyn watched, she believed it too.  “We should be going,” she said and stood up, motioning toward Ruben.  “Help me get the children to the car, would you?”

Kaitlyn stared down at the ring, and again felt overwhelmed.  She wasn’t ready to have kids.  She wasn’t even sure she was ready for a commitment.  She sat with her thoughts for several minutes, until she realized that Ben seemed to be taking forever.  She stood up and turned toward the door to catch him watching her with an odd expression.  He smiled, and held his hand out to her.  She quickly walked toward him.

Chapter Twelve

He led her to the sitting room, where several vases full of flowers greeted her.  He’d opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses, which waited on the coffee table.  He’d lit candles, and soft music played in the background.

He handed her a glass of wine, and she sipped it daintily.  She took a seat on the couch, deciding it was her turn to be demanding.  “Talk,” she ordered. 

“I’m really, really sorry about the way you found out about Mara,” he insisted again.

“I know,” she said, in a very indifferent way.  He’d suggested she grow a backbone, hadn’t he?

“I should have told you.”

“Umhmm,” she replied noncommittally.

She watched as he paced back and forth in front of her.  He rubbed his hands together, and gnawed at his bottom lip.  When he turned toward her she arched her eyebrows, and he inhaled deeply and began to pace again. 

“When I was twenty-two and still in college, I asked a girl to marry me.”  His eyes became dark brown as he spoke.  “She was absolutely gorgeous; blonde hair, beautiful tits, face of an angel, and a body to die for.”

“That’s lovely, Ben,” Kaitlyn chided.

“I worshipped the ground she walked on.  If she said jump, I didn’t ask how high, I just jumped.”  He sounded a little ashamed of himself.  “I was whipped.  It wasn’t pretty.”

“What happened?”  Kaitlyn knew it couldn’t have ended well.  They weren’t still together.

“She was at college on student loans and scholarships, plus she was working a minimum wage job.  Her parents were divorced, and she was barely scraping by.”  He stopped everything, and stared down at his shoes.  He wrapped his arms across his chest, and nodded.  Even then when he spoke, his voice cracked.  “My father just didn’t approve of her.  She wasn’t good enough for his son.”

Kaitlyn felt angry.  She was mad that Ruben had been hurt.  She wanted to stand up and soothe him, but she also wanted him to finish his story.

“Levi Aronson went to her, and offered her money to break up with me.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” he said sadly.  “And she took it.  She took the money, and stopped seeing me.  She stopped returning my calls.  And at the end of the semester she changed schools.”

“How much?” Kaitlyn wondered.  She didn’t mean to say it out loud, it just came out.

“Seventy-five thousand dollars.”  He turned toward her, and she could see the tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Oh, my God!”

“After that my self-esteem was in the toilet.  I mean, I hated myself as much as I hated her.  I just couldn’t stop telling myself that I was still that fat, ugly kid that the girls used to make fun of.”  Kaitlyn felt her own tears welling up then.  “I finished school, but I stopped dating.  What was the use?  Ruth set me up with Mara, and I just went along with it.”

“That’s horrible,” she exclaimed.  “What your father did was inexcusable.”

“It saved me a lot of heartache,” he said after several minutes.  “Plus, if I’d been with her, I would have never met you.”

She drank all of her wine in one gulp.  “Maybe I didn’t want to hear that.” 

“Maybe I didn’t want to say it.”  He sat down on the chair opposite the couch.  She gazed at him then, really studying him.  He was gorgeous, charming and sweet, and oh, so sexy.  He knew exactly what to do with his fingers and his tongue, and every inch of the beautiful body that God graced him with.  She didn’t even want to get started on his musical abilities.  Yet, he was insecure, and just a little bit shy.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Ruben,” she started.  As soon as she said it his face changed.  He had been vulnerable to her over the last few minutes.  She could see his expression hardening.  “Don’t take it the wrong way.  Just let me finish.”

“How can I not take it the wrong way?”  He stood up and began pacing again.  He sounded angry.

“I don’t want to break up with you, but,” she tried to continue, but he stopped her again.

“Is it Alex?  Because he’s not your boyfriend.”  He spat out the words. 

“What?  How do you know Alex?”

“I had one of our PIs investigate him.  Do you know where he is right now?”  He turned toward her, obviously furious now.

“I don’t know, Ben.  And to be honest, I really don’t care.”

“He’s on a cruise with the twenty year old receptionist at the car lot where he works.”  She was confused, and Ben seemed to be enjoying himself.  “He’s a used car salesman, Kaitlyn.  He’s not going to medical school.”

“How?”  Her heart dropped to her stomach.

“He’s been lying to you the entire time.”  He sounded so damn smug, so happy to be hurting her.

“Where does he work?” she demanded, almost as if she didn’t believe him.

“A place on Third Avenue called Max’s Used Cars,” he said.

She wanted to say she didn’t care about Alex.  And she didn’t really, but it hurt like hell to think how much he’d lied to her and manipulated her.  To what end, she had to wonder.  It wasn’t like she’d given him money or bought him expensive gifts.  And there was no way they were going to get married.  She rarely saw him. 

Or was that his plan.  To somehow get her to trust him, then marry him, then live off her money.  But why?  She would eventually find out that he had lied to her.  Did he think she’d figure it out too late?  While all those thoughts went through her head, Ben watched her and waited.  And when she looked back at him, he seemed satisfied with what he’d done.

“Why would you tell me this now?” 

“I want you to know that you can’t fall back on him.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she mumbled.  Her voice grew stronger as she continued.  “I was just going to tell you that I wasn’t ready to get married.  We haven’t known each other that long.  I wasn’t going to break up with you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”  It was his turn to look confused.  “I didn’t do anything but tell you the truth.  Why are you angry at me?”

“It was the way you told me,” she countered.  “It was the tone of your voice.  You were getting off on it.”

“I just wanted you to see that he was wrong for you.”

“And that you are right for me?” 

He shrugged.  “Yea.”

“No.”  She shook her head, and held her hands out in front of her.  “Just, no.”  She noticed the ring on her left hand, sparkling in the candlelight.  She removed it quickly, and placed it on the table, beside her empty wine glass.  “And I was really falling for you,” she said, as she hurried toward his front door.

“Wait,” he said, and he caught her before she made it to the staircase.  He grabbed her and held her against him as he moved toward her, and shoved her against the wall.  Her body reacted to him, betraying her.  “Don’t go, please,” he groaned into the back of her neck.  She shivered when she felt his hips rub against her backside.  “I’m sorry.  Stay with me.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her neck and her ear.  His hands moved down to her thighs, and he flexed into her harder.  She felt breathless.  She tipped her head back to let him kiss her.  His tongue plunged into her, and she couldn’t stop her insides from responding.  She knew how that tongue felt on every inch of her body.

“Come upstairs with me, and let me make love to you,” he whispered.  “I’m sorry, I swear.”

She was too weak.  She nodded, and he took her hand and led her to his bedroom.  More candles and flowers waited for her there.  She sniffed one of the lilies, as he quickly removed his shirt.  He walked up behind her, and swayed to the music. 

“Why do you want to run away?” 

“What?”  He stopped then, and turned her around to face him.

“Why are you running?”

“I want to prove to my father that I can make it without him,” he said as he stared at her.  “You are so beautiful, Kaitlyn.”

“And?”  She looked up into his eyes.  They were bright green.  He was excited, aroused.

“I want to prove to him that you will come with me.  I want him to see that I was right, that you want me, not his money.”

“I want you, Ruben.  But I’m not going to run away from my family, because of some argument you’ve had with your father.” 

He exhaled loudly, and moved his hands to her shoulders.  He tipped his head down and touched his forehead to hers.  “So you won’t leave with me?”

“No.”  She shook her head, and took a step away from him.  “No.  I’m not going to run away with you.  Stay here, and prove to your father that we can be together.”

“I can’t work here.  And if I can’t make money, I can’t support you.”

“I don’t need you to.”  She took another step.  “I just need you.  Maybe one day you’ll figure that out.”  She gave him a weak smile and turned, then made her way down the stairs and out the door.

* * *

He stood at the window and watched her leave.  He was always saying or doing the wrong thing with her.  Why did he let himself get carried away like that?  She had already shown him she could ignore him when she felt like it.  She’d spent days not answering her phone. 

Now he had to make a choice; stay here and pursue her, or leave like he’d threatened his father he’d do.  He had no idea what in the hell to do.  He called her, but of course she didn’t answer.

So he decided to phone his sister.  She answered after only two rings.  “What’s wrong?  Did you have an argument?”

“How did you know?”  He shouldn’t even ask.  His sister knew everything.

“It was obviously a special night for you.  If you were making love with your beautiful fiancée, you wouldn’t be calling me, would you?”

“True.  I said the wrong thing, and she walked out.”

“And you need some advice from your know-it-all sister,” Debora chuckled.

“Do I stay, or do I go?”  He couldn’t put it any plainer.

“Why do you have to leave?  What’s Levi said?”

“He’s going to disown me if I go through with marrying Kaitlyn.  So I quit my job.”

“And there’s a non-compete clause in your contract,” his sister finished.  “Stay here and concentrate on your music; you don’t have to leave.  I don’t think she’d want you to go.”

“There’s no way I’d make enough money with my music.”

“Enough money for what?” his sister scolded.  “Your condo is paid for, and so is your car.  You have stocks and bonds.  You have plenty of money for six months, and that’s all you’ll need before you can start your own firm.”

“But I want to support her and take care of her,” he whined. 

“You don’t have to take care of her, love.  She can obviously take care of herself.” 

Kaitlyn had told him the same thing.  Maybe he should have listened.  “Thanks, sis.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Are you admitting you don’t know everything?” he asked.  She chuckled.  “Love you,” he said as he hung up the phone.

As he said it, he realized he still hadn’t said the words to Kaitlyn.  He’d given her an engagement ring, and hadn’t told her he loved her.  What an idiot he was.

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning at nine-thirty, she pulled her BMW into the used car lot.  She knew she should be at work, but she didn’t care.  She didn’t think Ruben would be there, and who else would notice if she was late?

An older man approached her as soon as she parked.  “Hey there, pretty lady.  Looking for a new car?” he asked when she exited hers.  She gave the man a quizzical expression; her car was worth three times what any of the cars here were worth.

“No, I’m looking for Alex,” she said.  She wasn’t sure if he’d be there, or if he was still on the cruise.  How did he even afford a cruise?

“He’s inside,” he said, and pointed toward a small building that looked like it consisted only of cinderblock and aluminum siding. 

“Thanks,” she said, and strode toward it confidently.  As soon as she opened the door, she saw Alex standing near a desk, talking to a cute blonde sitting behind it.  Kaitlyn wished she could say she was ugly, but she wasn’t. 

“Can I help you?” the girl asked.  Alex turned just then, and his face dropped.  He looked scared, and she smiled brightly when she saw it.  She stood there for a moment, taking in his expression. 

“I just wanted to let you know that I know.  Not that you’d care, because I see you have a real nice back-up plan.”  Her eyes rested on the blonde girl.  Kaity could see the spark of realization of her implication in the blonde girl’s eyes.  “Needless to say, I won’t be buying your dinner on Sunday any longer.  I think you can make other plans.”

She smiled as she exited the building with a huge smile on her face.  The older man stood by her car, admiring it.  She smiled at him as she climbed in, then waved as she drove off.

* * *

Kaitlyn refused to pace when she arrived at her office late, and she refused to cry.  The smugness she felt after she confronted Alex didn’t last long.  To be honest, it didn’t hurt her as much as it should have.  Their entire relationship had been nothing but a sham.  He’d lied to her, for whatever reason.  She was much more hurt about how Ruben told her, but even that didn’t sting as much as it had at first.  Perhaps it was just the shock of it.

Then she remembered, as she stared out at the Richmond skyline, that she had done the same with Ruben.  He could, and should, hate her.  Ruben had lied to her as well.  And it hurt.  Her thumb and forefinger idly rubbed her ring finger on her left hand.  She hadn’t worn it for twenty-four hours, not even an entire day, and yet she missed the ring he’d given her. 

She had no idea how long she would have this office. Without Ruben in the office next door, the job was fairly meaningless.  She wondered where he was, if he’d travelled to New York or Paris.  He hadn’t texted her to let her know he was leaving.  He hadn’t texted her much at all, except
I miss you
twice.

When the knock came at her door, she expected it to be the nice lady from HR telling her to vacate the office.  But when she turned her chair around, she found an older, shorter version of Ben gazing at her from the open doorway.  He wore a light grey suit, and a dark grey tie. 

“Come in,” she said.  But she didn’t stand up.  She waved at one of the chairs in front of her desk.  “Have a seat, please.”  It could only be Levi Aronson, both of his children looked just like him.

“Debora said you were beautiful, but for the first time she was wrong,” he said with a heavy sigh as he sat down.  For a moment she felt hurt, until he continued.  “Beautiful isn’t a strong enough word to describe you.  You’re like a delicate flower.”  He had a silver tongue and a lovely voice, like his son.

“Thank you.”  She tried not to be flattered, but it was hard. 

“It’s easy to see why my son fell for you.”  He crossed his legs and wrapped his hands together in his lap.  He seemed nervous.  She was glad.

She shrugged her response.  The story Ben had told her was still very fresh in her memory.  She wasn’t inclined to be nice to him.

“Debora also told me about your accolades, first in your class.”  She nodded.  “She thinks I was too hard on Ruben.”  His hazel eyes turned green, like Ben’s the evening before.  It was uncanny how alike their eyes were.  “But I don’t care how smart you are, or how good your family is, you’re not Jewish.  So we have a problem.”

“I don’t see the problem.”  She said it firmly.  She had no idea where the tone came from.  But she wasn’t going to let Levi Aronson come between her and Ben.

“Of course you don’t, Miss Morgan,” he said too smoothly, “but…”

“I did a little research of my own.  Granted, it was all on the internet.”  She liked this side of herself.  She felt fierce.  She felt like she could take on a courtroom by herself.  “There are many interfaith marriages now, Mr. Aronson.  We’re living in the twenty-first century.  Times change.  Children from mixed marriages are accepted into the Jewish faith now.  It’s not an exclusive club any longer.”

“Miss Morgan.”  He sounded flustered.  He looked upset. 

She smiled.  “If your son and I get married, we can raise our children in the Jewish faith, if we wish.  But that’s a big if, Mr. Aronson.  And to be honest, it’s between me and Ruben.  It has nothing to do with you.  You can threaten to fire me, but I’ve done nothing to warrant that.  My work history is impeccable.  And you can’t fire me for having a relationship with Ben, because there’s no clause against it in the employment contract.”

He sat silently and stared at her. 

“So I have you in a bit of a jam, don’t I?  If you fire me, I will sue you and your very successful company.  I won’t be taking a payoff, and I won’t quit.  I won’t be waiting six months to find another job.”  She sat up straight, and as she said it, her fingers twisted the missing ring.

He couldn’t say anything.  And she felt fantastic.

“I’m not a poor girl from a broken family who is desperate for money.  I am where I am through hard work and determination, and the help of good parents and their strong faith and work ethic.  I have a feeling you got where you are for the same reasons.”  She softened her tone a little.  “Your son is a beautiful, smart, incredibly gifted man, who is too self-conscious because of what you did when he was just barely out of his teen years.  And I am lucky to be able to spend time with him.  But I’m not going to run away from my home, my family, because of you.  I hope he stays, but if he goes, I will miss him like crazy.  And if he asks, I’ll go visit him whenever I can.”

She inhaled deeply, trying to stop the emotions that were creeping into her voice. 

He cleared his throat.  “Thank you, Miss Morgan.  I believe that’s quite enough.”  He stood then, and turned to walk away.  “I hope he stays too.  I won’t be happy, but I also won’t forbid your marriage,” he finally said from the doorway.

“That won’t happen for quite some time,” she responded with a smile.

“Don’t wait too long.  I want grandchildren to carry on the Aronson name.”  He said it gruffly, then he tipped his head and walked away.

* * *

When she returned to her office after lunch, Debora lounged on her couch waiting for her.  “Hello,” Kaitlyn said brightly, but she couldn’t hide her shock at seeing her there.

“I heard what happened.”  Debora had a huge grin on her face, and she jumped up to hug Kaitlyn.  “You may be the first woman to put Levi in his place, besides Ruth.”

“I like your shoes,” Kaitlyn commented with a grin.  They were at least three and a half inch heels from a famous designer.

“I was jealous,” she admitted.  “I’m even more jealous now.  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall.”

“I didn’t really do anything,” Kaitlyn countered.  But she laughed, a loud, cathartic chuckle that Debora soon echoed. 

“Tell me what he said,” Debora encouraged.

“He couldn’t say anything.  He was speechless.”  Kaitlyn grinned from ear to ear.

“Good for you, Kaitlyn.” 

Kaitlyn suddenly became serious, and sat down on the soft leather couch.  She tried not to think about what she and Ben had done there.  “Have you heard from Ben?  Has he left the city?”

“No, dear.  I don’t think he’s going more than ten miles from where you are ever again.”  As Debora said it, she joined her on the couch.  She placed her hand on Kaitlyn’s, and instead of echoing Kaitlyn’s serious expression, she smiled.  “I think my little brother is finally in love, and I couldn’t be happier.”

“We had a bit of a misunderstanding yesterday.”  She sighed.  “I thought he would be ready to run off somewhere.”

“I promise you he’s not going anywhere.  He’s doing a set tonight at the martini bar.  He needs to make money to pay for that ring you’re not wearing somehow.”  Kaitlyn liked Debora.  She had a quick wit and easy charm, much like her brother and father.  She hugged Kaitlyn once more before she stood up.  “I might join you.  To be honest, I’ve never been to one of his performances.  I feel horrible admitting it now.  Ruth has the kids, since she’s staying with us for now.  She, the nanny, and their father should be able to handle them for one evening.”  She kicked her heel up, and said.  “I might even get a manicure!”

“Seven o’clock?”  Kaitlyn said with a grin.

“I’ll meet you there,” Debora promised before she left.

* * *

After having a visit from his father and sister, Kaitlyn half expected Ben to wander into her office, but he didn’t.  She didn’t have time to go to the salon after work and be at the bar by seven, so she decided to put her hair in a ponytail and curl it with hot rollers, then do her make-up and choose her outfit. 

She found a soft blue dress that she hadn’t worn in forever in the back of her closet.  She’d worn it to some function in college, and was told more than once that it matched her eyes.  The top was a lacy, cutout dress with flowers strategically placed to cover her nipples, and not much else; the skirt was a demure knee length silky material the same color. 

She lined her eyes in a dramatic navy blue, put a bit of light blue on her eyelids, and coated her eyelashes in black mascara.  With that she wore light pink blush and lip gloss; the one that tasted like watermelon.  She looked at herself in the mirror, and hoped Ben would think she looked gorgeous.

* * *

Ben was surprised to see his sister sitting in the audience, and he waved at her.  He was even more surprised to see the stunning redhead sitting at the table with her.  His heart pounded.  He started to breathe heavily.  He was afraid he was going to start hyperventilating.  He literally felt dizzy just gazing at her.  He closed his eyes, but that didn’t help.

He removed his guitar, hopped off the stage, and walked toward her.  She hopped down from her stool and walked toward him.  He felt like he’d been hit by a wrecking ball when he saw what she wore.  She looked incredible.  His knees felt weak, as he took the last few steps.

“Hi,” she said gently, and blushed.

“God, I love you Kaitlyn Morgan.”  He said it, and he felt like he could breathe again.  The smile she gave him lit up her entire face.  Before she could say anything he pulled her into him, and kissed her passionately.  When he was finished, his head was spinning, and she looked breathless.  But he felt better than he ever had in his life.

“I love you too, Ben Key,” she teased.  He laughed, and blushed.  “You’re adorable, gorgeous, sexy, and everything she ever wanted in a man, even if I didn’t realize it when I first met you.”

“I feel the same way,” his eyes sparkled when he said it. “Although I knew from the first time I laid eyes on you that you were exactly what I wanted.”  He had the ring in his pocket.  He couldn’t leave it at home; he had to have it with him.  He pulled it out, bent down on his knee, and said, “Marry me.”

She burst out laughing.  Usually it made him feel self-conscious, but this time he didn’t.  He felt happy.  “Of course I’ll marry you.”

He placed the ring on her finger again, before he stood up and kissed her one more time.  His body reacted as it always did when she was near him.  But it was alright.  He’d take her home tonight, hopefully, and wake up with her tomorrow morning, and hopefully every morning for the rest of their lives.

When he returned to the stage, and pulled his guitar back on his shoulder, he cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone.  “This is dedicated to my fiancée, Lyn.”  She laughed again.  Debora glanced over at her, but Kaitlyn just shook her head.  He didn’t know how he got through it, but he played the entire set of happy, sappy love songs.  And Kaitlyn cheered loudly when he finished.