Page 57 of Dearest Protector

She’d had no patience for a daughter who was less than perfect, and I’d always tried my best to perform to keep that twisted love because it was all I’d had.

After she’d died, I’d had…nothing. Only my ambition and my desire to keep performing because I’d still wanted to please her, even after she was gone.

Katie had been the only one who had cared, even when I was less than perfect.

I wrapped my arms around Ben’s neck and sobbed out all of my fear and desolation because I knew that when I was finally done, he wouldn’t judge me for it.

He’d just hold me until I could stand on my own.

That’show much he cared about me.

As the torrent of tears subsided I murmured against his neck, “For what it’s worth to you, having you care about me even when I’m not perfect means everything to me.”

Ben might never understand what it meant to me that he didn’t seem to see any of the imperfections that had previously crushed my soul.

He kissed the small scar that was barely visible below my hairline as he grumbled, “You’ll always be perfect to me, Ariel. I don’t give a shit what kind of flaws you think you have.”

I let out a shaky breath as I rested my head on his shoulder, emotionally exhausted.

This man’s acceptance, kindness, and patience completely floored me, and it was helping me heal.

And the truth was, in spite of every flaw Ben Blackwood thought he had, the man was beyond perfect to me, too.

Chapter 14

Ben

“Christ! How much longer is this going to take?” I said irritably as I looked at my watch for about the fiftieth time in the last ten minutes.

“Relax, Ben,” Ian said patiently from his seat next to me in the small waiting room. “It’s not open heart surgery. Ariel will be fine. They’ve only been in the OR for fifteen minutes.”

Yeah, easy forhimto say. It wasn’t his woman going under the damn knife.

Katie was perfectly happy, healthy, and sitting right beside him.

My mother, who had insisted on being present during Ariel’s procedure, was sitting next to Katie.

My mom had said if Ariel was important to me, then she was important to her, too. Mom had shown up with Ian and Katie way before Ariel had been taken into the OR.

It wasn’t like Mom didn’t know about Ariel, and she’d met her at the birthday ball. I also talked about Ariel every time we saw each other or spoke on the phone.

Maybe it should have been awkward that my mother had seen Ariel for the second time when she was lying on a gurney and ready to be wheeled into surgery.

But Mom being Mom, she’d treated Ariel like the long-lost daughter she never knew, and Ariel had seemed to thrive on that maternal concern.

That probably shouldn’t have surprised me considering how her real mother had acted.

I’d nearly lost it when Ariel had tried to thank me one more time right before she’d been wheeled away.

If she knew the truth, she’d realize that I didn’t deserve her thanks for anything I did for her.

I let out a long breath, trying to force my body to relax. Hell, I was supposed to bethe fixer, and I couldn’t even control my own impatience right now. “You wouldn’t be saying that if Katie had been on that gurney,” I answered Ian hoarsely.

“You’re right,” Ian replied, sounding somewhat remorseful. “I’m just trying to get you to calm down. Shewillbe fine.”

“She looked like she was going to her own execution,” I told him, my last glimpse of Ariel still haunting me.

She hadn’t looked like she’d been ready to hop off the gurney and flee, but the small smile she’d shot me as they wheeled her away was hardly reassuring. Smiling or not, she’d been terrified. I knew her well enough to sense exactly how she’d felt.

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