Page 58 of Dirty Little Secret, Baby
"Why? Is this another bet, to see if I'll unlock the door? What are the stakes?" I ask, wiping my eyes dry and crossing my arms over my chest.
"Beth. It was a mistake. I wanted to tell you about the shop the whole time. I really did. But..." he pauses. "Can't I please come in? Do we really have to talk through a locked door?" he calls out, looking at me.
It's that look, the one that has always made me weak. I know it, and I think he knows it too.
"Just talking. No touching," I say, and turn the key in the lock to open the door.
"Thank you," he says, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. "I promise. Just talking," he says, holding up his hands disarmingly.
"Beth. It's just... it all got out of control."
"So, it's true that you want this shop for your business?" I ask, feeling myself break a little more, because that part seems to be true too. Apparently, everything Dilara told me is true.
"Yes... No... I mean, that was the plan at first. But then I saw you. I had the idea even before I knew the shop belonged to you and..."
"And you thought, 'I've slept with her before, that'll help again'?" I ask harshly. "Did you leave your guests to tell me this?"
"I don't care about the guests," he says with a dismissive wave. I almost want to believe him, but this time I'm holding my ground.
"I didn't think about you like that. This is all much more complicated than you think. I didn't want..." he begins, then stops. "Beth, the fact that you have a child... that really hit me," he starts, abruptly changing the subject. "Why didn't you say anything?"
What am I supposed to say to that? I could ask him the same question. Can't he see how hurt I am? Why did he even come here? To accuse me of my secret being worse than his?
"Beth? Sweetie? Ben is awake, he wants his mommy. I think he's hungry and since you're already here, I don't have to thaw any of the milk you froze..." I suddenly hear Veronica call down the stairs behind me.
"Veronica, I'll be right there, I..." I call over my shoulder.
"Who is it anyway? A delivery boy, or... oh..." Veronica says, stopping short when she sees Alex in front of me. "I'll be going," she says.
"I have to go to my child," I say to Alex, hearing Ben crying upstairs. Should I tell him he's the father? No, he already looks shocked enough, as if Veronica's sentence just confirmed what he'd already heard from that Jake guy.
"Go on," Alex says, turning to leave.
"Beth?" he asks then, as he holds the doorknob and I turn back around.
"Never mind," he says then, opens the door, and disappears into the darkness.
So that's it, I guess.
The thing between us is finally over now.
I'm sure of it.
But I don't have time to think about it. Ben needs me. He's all that matters now.
Chapter 26
Alex
It's over! It's over!
"And it's all because of that Jake and his stupid..." I burst out as I enter my mansion, furiously kicking a wastebasket in the corner. It flies across the room, slams against the wall, and then spins a few times before coming to a stop.
As much as I'd like to say it's Jake and Dilara's fault, I know it's not that simple.
I should have just explained to her from the beginning why I noticed her shop. Apologized for last year, gone out to dinner once, and then made an offer. But I couldn't keep my dick in my pants, or my hands off her.
But even that's only half the truth. Because the biggest bombshell of all is the fact that Beth has a child.
