Her Leading Man. Maggie Dallen

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      The thing that was most annoying about his friend was that he had it all. Not only did he inherit a sum that most would never dare dream to see in their lifetime, but he was also ridiculously handsome, intelligent beyond belief, and had managed to quadruple his inheritance by the age of thirty.

      He was also whip smart when it came to real estate, a fact which Ben had knowingly taken advantage of during this deal with Darren. He knew numbers, and the numbers told him that real estate was the next route his company should take. But it was unchartered territory for the small, private firm, and Gregory had been a wealth of information.

      Ben wasn’t above using his friend and his connections to get ahead. Unlike Gregory, he had most definitely not come from money. His father may have been a bastard, but he’d made sure Ben knew the value of hard work and the benefits of having money. To get to the point he was at, one of the youngest partners in his firm, he’d had to be driven. Easy to do when your one and only goal in life was to succeed in business. His father had drilled it into him long ago—the only way to get ahead was to stay focused. His relationship with Olivia had been a distraction. All the drama had made him lose his focus. He was still considered ruthless and sharp by his colleagues, but he knew he could do better. This deal with Darren was his chance to get ahead of the pack.

      It was a good thing that Olivia had cheated on him. Now he could go back to focusing on the things that mattered. He should have stuck with one-night stands and casual flings like he’d always done in the past. He’d vowed ages ago that he’d never allow a woman or a relationship to interfere with his goals. He’d seen the bitterness that had developed between his parents. The resentment had eaten away at their marriage because his father blamed his mother—and her children—for holding him back from success.

      He’d been raised to believe that he could have one or the other in life, that was the lesson he’d learned all those years ago. Love or money. Family or freedom. Relationships or power. He’d chosen the latter every time and had never regretted it. The former were fleeting, untrustworthy. But money and the freedom and power that came with it… That was tangible, controllable. The only factors involved in success were effort and determination, whereas love was a fickle beast, victim of the whims of others.

      But even knowing all that, what had he done? He’d gone and broken his own rule. He’d gotten involved, like an idiot. He’d become sloppy, forgotten his own rules and the reason they existed because he’d been swept up in Olivia’s intoxicating passion. Any relationship would have been stupid, but one like that? One that stole his energy and took away his focus, that had been a gigantic mistake. One he wouldn’t be making again anytime soon.

      Ben pulled himself back from that train of thought. Every time his mind turned to his ex and her betrayal, he was on the verge of losing himself in a shame spiral. Betrayal, jealousy, pain… These were all the reasons he avoided relationships in the first place. He should never have been in a position to be hurt to begin with. He’d let her get too close and he’d suffered as a result. Served him right.

      Gregory cleared his throat, pulling him back from the maudlin thoughts that had been haunting him for the last few weeks. “And news on Darren?” Gregory asked again.

      Right, business. Darren. The new deal. “Waiting on Darren and his team to get back to me with the revised contract.”

      Gregory nodded absently, apparently lost in thought. Ben had a pretty good idea where his friend’s mind had gone. Such a shame. For a man who had everything, Gregory was bloody miserable, thanks to that howling banshee of a girlfriend. He’d watched from the sidelines all these months as Vanessa twisted him around her little finger and then tied him in knots over and over again. It wasn’t his place to intervene. All he could do was watch and wait and hope to hell that his friend came to his senses and ended the toxic relationship once and for all.

      He could all but see his friend pull himself out of whatever dark place he’d gone to as he focused on Ben once more. “So, how’d your date go the other night?”

      Ben shrugged and made a noise that was something akin to “eh.” It seemed preferable to admitting the truth. He had no idea. The whole night had been a bit of a blur.

      It had been a stupid idea in the first place. Hooking up after a breakup was one thing—that was expected and therapeutic—but a date? He blamed Natalie for sending him the link to a dating site. He’d never done online dating before, and he had to admit, the online part was kind of fun. You create this profile that is basically just an ego-boosted best version of you and then you chat with all these women. Countless women. And some of them were pretty great—one in particular was interesting, eloquent, funny, and fucking hot, if the pictures were anything to go by.

      So he’d asked her out. Not that he was looking to get into another relationship or anything. He’d learned that lesson. But online dating seemed like the most efficient way to find his next hookup so he could start to move on. He should have just stuck with the old tried and true method—go out to a bar and hit on the ladies. Buy a few cocktails, throw out a few compliments, and leave the rest up to Mother Nature. It had never failed him before. But no, he’d allowed Natalie to convince him that online dating was the wave of the future. Online was one thing but going on a date was a totally different matter. Maybe that was why he’d started on the whisky before his date had even arrived.

      Gregory took his non-answer to mean that the date had only been so-so.

      It was possible it had been amazing, but Ben would never know. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to reach out to her to find out. Even if he’d wanted a second date—which he didn’t—how the hell would he explain the fact that he had almost no memory of their first date. Bloody embarrassing. He’d learned his lesson. From here on out he would stick with what he knew. Sex. Pure, simple, meaningless sex. That was what a rebound was supposed to be.

      Besides, that black hole of a night was over, a thing of the past. He hadn’t gotten any e-mails from his date hinting around about meeting up again, so more likely than not she’d moved on as well. No use giving it a second thought.

      Chapter 2

      Caitlyn tried to focus on mopping the floor of the theater’s lobby, but yet again her traitorous brain was replaying the date from hell. It had been nearly a week. She should be over it already. But every time the memory came up, she thought of new, cutting remarks she should have said. Comebacks that were so witty and scathing he would have walked away in tears.

      But no. Instead, she’d run away like a coward. God, sometimes she was so tired of being passive.

      “Whoa, watch it there.” Marc laughed as her mop nearly tripped him. A tall and lanky ballroom dancer, Marc deftly dodged her mop with a little dance step.

      “Sorry,” she mumbled. Marc was Tamara’s roommate and an official member of the crew. It was just sheer luck that Tamara had found herself a nice gay roommate who also happened to adore old movies. Why couldn’t she be so lucky with her subletters? She had yet to really click with one of the many renters who’d temporarily shared her apartment after her ex moved out.

      “How is it that our resident morning person is the grumpiest of us all?” Tamara asked. The petite blonde gave her a teasing nudge as she passed and swatted Marc’s hands away when he attempted to pull her into a dance when a new song came on the radio.

      “Sorry,” Caitlyn said again.

      “Tell me you’re not still moping over one bad date,” Alice said. Even at seven-thirty on a Saturday morning and with a dirty rag in her hand, Meg’s younger sister looked СКАЧАТЬ