Not Your Match (15 page)

“Then why did you come?”

“To get you back.”

He sucked in a breath, his heart twisting. He ached to pull her into his arms and accept whatever half-truths and outright lies she fed him, just to spend a few more months happy. She rested her hand gently on his arm, soft and warm against his skin. He closed his eyes as the scent of jasmine hit him. A thousand memories flooded through his mind, the good and the bad.

“I miss you,” Whitney said. “I thought I would destroy you if we stayed together. So I left the ring and bolted.”

Ben closed his eyes and struggled to clear his mind. He couldn’t let his heart take over on this one. “How can I be sure you won’t do that again? You’ve done that three
times. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”

“It won’t happen again.”

“Can you promise me you won’t leave again? Can you promise me you won’t threaten to kill yourself every time something doesn’t go your way? Can you promise to not blame me for everything that goes wrong?”

“Yes. I’m seeing an herbalist—”

Ben yanked his arm out of her grasp and sank into the chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “What makes this one different than the three we saw last time?”

“My state of mind. I saw an iridologist who helped me discover what negative emotions are blocking the herbs’ ability to work.”

“You need a doctor. Someone who went to medical school and has a license and a degree and a reputable practice. We tried
everything.
Explored every avenue. And medication is the only thing that helps you, Whitney.”

“This isn’t what I want to talk about—”

“This is the whole reason we aren’t together!” Ben exploded. “You don’t see our relationship as it really is. I loved you, Whitney. I would’ve done anything
for you. But you weren’t willing to let me in. And now it’s too late. I won’t be your whipping boy anymore.”

Whitney’s eyes filled with tears, making the green luminescent. He ached to reach out and pull her to him. But he couldn’t. He refused to go there again. That relationship hadn’t been healthy for either of them.

“I’m not giving up. We’re meant to be together, Benjamin. And I’m going to prove it to you.” She wiped under her eyes, then reached into her purse and removed a business card. “I’m staying at a hotel near the airport. Room 322. But it doesn’t matter if you don’t come. Because this isn’t over, and I
will
see you again. I’m not leaving California until I’m with you.”

Ben didn’t try to stop her as she strode across the room and shut the door. He heard the rev of an engine, and then headlights flashed across the window as she drove away.

A moment later, metal scraped against plastic as the sliding glass door opened. Rachel walked into the room. Had she been spying? “Where did Whitney go?”

Ben held up the business card. “I’m guessing to her hotel.”

“You didn’t invite her to stay for the party?”

“No, Rachel. I didn’t invite my ex-fiancée to the party.”

“But it’s New Year’s Eve.”

Regret twinged in his gut as he thought of Whitney spending the night alone in a cold, unfeeling hotel room. Would she lie in bed and stare into nothing? Cry gallons of tears? Go down to the bar and drink enough to kill her because she thought she was invincible?

He tried to push the worry from his mind. She wasn’t his responsibility anymore. She could’ve spent New Year’s Eve with her parents in Las Vegas, or back home in Arizona.

“How long is she staying?” Rachel asked.

Ben sighed and followed Rachel back outside. He looked around at the laughing, happy faces of the party guests. Andi said something to the woman she was chatting with and walked toward him. Ben waited until she was in hearing range so he wouldn’t have to explain it twice.

“She says she’s staying until we’re back together,” Ben said.

Andi’s eyes widened. The crackling fire reflected off her irises, and he longed to reach out and pull her to him in a hug.

“That’s so great, Ben,” Rachel said. “You should’ve invited her to stay here. Hotels are so impersonal and expensive.”

“Whitney and I aren’t getting back together. That ship has sailed.”

Rachel rolled her eyes as though he was being ridiculous. “I’m going to go check on Adam. That cobbler should be done soon.”

Andi rested a hand on Ben’s arm. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly.

Ben swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

But he wasn’t okay. Whitney was back. And he knew from the fire in her eyes that she’d meant every word she’d said.

Andi watched Ben as he chatted with one of Adam’s business colleagues. He held a beer in one hand, and the flickering firelight danced shadows across his face. His lips were curved up in a smile, but she could see his stress in the way he clenched the beer bottle, the stiff way he held his shoulders.

Rachel came over and handed Andi a plate with a piece of cobbler on it. “I saw you hadn’t got any,” she said. “I think this is Adam’s best yet.”

“Thanks,” Andi said, her voice flat. She stabbed at the cobbler with the fork.

Rachel’s brow furrowed. “Is everything okay? You seem tense.”

“What was that about?” Andi motioned her head toward the house.

“Oh, Whitney?” Rachel’s eyes sparkled. “Isn’t it great? I’m so happy for them.”

“Happy for them?” Andi let out a frustrated laugh. “Whitney ambushed Ben. And I’m guessing you helped her do it.”

Rachel folded her arms, her eyes narrowing. “I didn’t know until Whitney was already here. She’d lost my address so she called and asked me for it. She wanted to surprise Ben, and I thought it was a good idea.”

“That woman broke Ben’s heart.” She wanted to call Whitney something much worse than
woman
, but bit back the words. Andi shoved the cobbler in her mouth, desperate for something to keep the word vomit from exploding out.

The cobbler melted on her tongue, warm and gooey. Oh wow. That was good. It almost made her a believer in sweets.

“No relationship is entirely one person’s fault,” Rachel said. “I love my brother, but he’s not perfect. I’m sure he made mistakes too. But a relationship isn’t about keep score, it’s about working things out.”

“I don’t think Ben wants to work it out.”

“Ben doesn’t know what he wants.”

Andi growled and took another bite of cobbler. “He’s a grown man. You have to let him make his own decisions.”

“You hadn’t talked to Ben until a few weeks ago for, what, five years? You know nothing about Ben and Whitney, or their relationship.”

Andi frowned, not liking the truth behind Rachel’s words. “Ben’s told me enough that I can guess it wasn’t healthy. For either of them.”

“Oh, don’t try to analyze the situation.” Rachel ran a hand through her hair, clearly agitated.

Andi and Rachel rarely fought—Rachel said it was unfair to have to go against a lawyer trained in arguing—but Andi was ready to go to battle for Ben. “You need to back off, Rach. This time you went too far.”

“Why do you care?” Rachel’s voice rose, and a few of the party guests conversing nearby glanced over at them. Rachel gave them a winning smile, then glared at Andi and lowered her voice. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“Ben is my friend, and I don’t appreciate what you’re doing to him.”

“I’m your friend too—your
best
friend. I thought you’d be on my side.”

Andi shifted, the heat of the fire suddenly too much. She would burn into ash if she had to stay here any longer. “I
am
on your side. But I think you’re wrong about this one.”

Rachel rocked back on her heels, her eyes lighting with understanding. “Oh my gosh,” she said.

“What?” Andi self-consciously smoothed down her hair.

“You like Ben.”

“Of course not.” The words were out of her mouth before she could think, too quick to be believable. Andi folded her arms. “I mean, obviously I like him as a friend. I don’t want to see him get hurt.”

“No, you
like
like him.” Rachel pointed an accusing finger at Andi. “You’re blushing. You have a crush on my brother.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Sure, being near him made her entire body ignite in flames. But that was only because it had been a while since she’d been attracted to a man other than Mark. Any woman would feel the same in Ben’s presence, with his boyish smile and flirtatious teasing. No woman could ignore how his five o’clock shadow made him look rugged and how his backside looked in jeans. She’d have to be dead not to notice. And it had been a long time since she’d talked so freely with a man. He made her laugh, and when he looked at her she felt special.

Oh my gosh. She was falling for Ben. How had she let this happen?

“Is something going on between you two?” Rachel asked.

“Of course not.” Andi had known she was attracted to Ben, of course. She wasn’t a complete idiot. But it had taken Rachel to point out Andi’s feelings were much stronger than a simple crush.

Rachel folded her arms, her lips pursed. “Whitney’s stubborn. She won’t leave until she’s convinced Ben to work things out. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I don’t want to see Ben get hurt.”

“I wouldn’t have told Whitney to come tonight if I thought that was going to happen. Trust me, okay?”

Andi nodded stiffly. Rachel gave her a one-armed hug and disappeared into the crowd to socialize.

Andi stabbed at her cobbler and took another bite. She still thought Rachel shouldn’t have tried to force Ben into a reconciliation with Whitney.

Ben glanced over at Andi, then turned his attention back to the guy he spoke with. Ben kept his hand low, waving Andi over in a clear
get me out of this conversation
signal.

Andi polished off the cobbler, then dumped her plate in the trash and walked over to Ben.

Ben grabbed her hand, yanking her toward him. “Andi, I was about to try and find you. Don’t you need my help with that thing now?”

Andi hid a grin. “Yeah, I do.” She gave an apologetic smile to the man. “Do you mind if I borrow Ben for a while?”

“Of course not,” the man said. “It was great talking to you, Ben. We’ll have to get together sometime soon so I can tell you more about how FitNext’s nutrition supplements have changed my life.”

Ben gave a tight smile and dragged Andi away. Andi covered her mouth with her free hand to hide a giggle. Ben pulled her to a dark corner of the yard and dropped her hand, and Andi missed it instantly. She stuck her hands in her jacket pockets, her mind whirling. She couldn’t fall for Ben. Couldn’t.

“Thank you,” Ben said. “He’s been trying to get me to buy into his pyramid scheme for twenty minutes. Were you and Rachel fighting?”

“Just a disagreement.”

“About what?”

Andi looked away. “It’s not important.”

“Hey.” Ben rested a hand on her shoulder, and Andi looked up. His brown eyes were nearly black in the dim light. They searched her face, and Andi caught her breath and held it. Something deep inside her trembled at his intimate gaze.

No, no, no. She couldn’t let this happen.

“I don’t want to get between you and Rach or anything,” Ben said. “But I want to help if I can.”

Andi rubbed her hands up and down her arms, trying to concentrate on that instead of Ben’s arm hand on her shoulder. “I asked her why she didn’t warn you about Whitney. She told me to mind my own business.”

Ben’s hand dropped, and his face hardened. “I knew she had something to do with that. It was too coincidental that Whitney would show up while I was here. I didn’t even tell her where I moved to, although I suppose her parents could’ve let that slip.”

“Are you okay?” Andi asked. She knew how it felt to be blindsided by a run-in with an ex.

Ben clenched his jaw, focusing on a spot just behind Andi. She glanced back but didn’t see anything more interesting than Rachel’s stone fence. “It caught me off guard,” he said finally.

“Can I ask what she wanted?”