Page 32 of Beauty and the Nerd

“Don’t make any plans for the last week of May,” Ben said pulling their attention to him.

“I’ve been going into the office and meeting with Lyle about once a week since last month, and he asked if I would like to attend the conference he’s going to at the end of the month…

in Hawaii,” he added making Emma’s jaw drop.

“He has an extra bungalow reserved since he just let his assistant go…”

“You mean fired her for coming onto him?” Emma stated, sending his brow up a hint.

“Emerson mentioned she was going to have to help him find a new assistant because the last one had the audacity to try and climb onto his lap wearing a short skirt and nothing under it. Then added that Lyle only knew the last part of it because he dumped her ass on the floor the second she did it and it was unfortunately displayed.”

“Yeah, he was fuming, handed a video over to his attorney to have on hand to stop her from trying to file a false harassment suit as she threatened when he had security escort her from the building. I didn’t even know he had cameras in his office but apparently he does, and they run twenty-four/seven,” Ben said.

“Unless Emerson shows up and turns them off,” Emma mused, laughing when his brow went up a hint further.

“Well, Lyle is bringing Emerson with him and suggested that the two of you might have some fun shopping or swimming or whatever, the four days while we’re at the conference and then they plan to stay for three more days for a little break.

So, what do you say? Want to spend a week in Hawaii with me?

We’d be traveling with them on the private jet, so no weight limit for your luggage even,” he teased, and he sank into the kiss Emma gave him, showing her full agreement to all of it.

“That sounds incredible, Ben,” she sighed when they parted, resting her head on his shoulder.

“You could check with Megan, see if she wants to come out sometime in June if your mom is busy. The two of you could have fun around the city while I’m working then, and maybe if she stays a couple weeks, I could then take a four-day weekend and run back home, check in with my dad, the twins, and my aunt and uncle,” he added, piquing her parents’ interest.

“What about your mom?” Nicole asked looking between them.

“Until she apologizes to Emma for her shit, I’m not talking to her.

She has no excuse to treat my girl like crap, especially not with it being almost two years since I fell in love with her, a year and a half that we’ve been together, where Emma’s given me no reason to not trust her and our relationship,” he said, hedging a bit on the timeline so her dad didn’t revoke his approval for him to move in.

“Whatever issues she has, she needs to fix within herself. I’ve felt that way for a while but seeing how Emma’s used her therapy to work through what happened to her, so it doesn’t overshadow everything else in her life, let alone our life together, I know that’s what my mom needs.

Until then, she can learn whatever she needs to from my dad or aunt. ”

“You’re serious? You’d really be okay if Megan came up for a couple weeks?

” Emma asked him as her parents simply gave them a smile and he nodded, making Emma’s smile deepen even further.

“I love you, soooo much, Ben. I have to go call her. She’ll flip to hear we’re going to Hawaii, but she’ll be so excited to come back up for a bit. ”

“Go on, and you can text Emerson that you’ll need those new swimsuits for Hawaii too,” he teased her, making her brow lift a bit more. “I asked them to not say anything so I could surprise you with it, but she said she had a whole set ready for you all to use while there.”

“God I love you,” Emma sighed, dropping a kiss onto her lips before she hurried into her bedroom to grab her phone, leaving him with her parents.

“You really are the only guy I’ve ever approved of for her,” Jack said and that calmed him a bit further, letting him broach the subject he was extremely anxious to get onto with just them.

“Is there something else, another surprise we should be prepared for?” Nicole added and he pulled the ring box out of his bag.

“It’s not anything huge or insanely expensive, but when I saw it, I just knew it was the right one,” he said, lifting the lid to show off the single oval diamond on the simple gold band.

“I know this is probably fast in your minds, but I’ll be fine if we don’t get married until after we’re finished with school.

I just want everyone to be able to see and know that this is more than just some high school relationship that lasted into college.

She’s everything and more than I’ve ever wanted.

I know there’s no one out there that I could possibly love more than her, want more than her. ”

“I told you it was coming,” Nicole teased her husband, holding onto his hand as Jack drug in a deep breath.

“I know you did, and I’ve seen it too,” he said, shaking his head a bit.

“If you were anyone else, I’d be telling them to take a hike, and if you hadn’t shown me that you put Emma’s needs first this past year, I might have said it was too fast. Seeing you with Emma and knowing that you’ve not pressured her into moving faster than she was ready for, let alone that you were concerned enough about her emotional and mental wellbeing and not simply wanting her to talk to someone, so she’d simply sleep with you, it gives me comfort.

I know she’s safe with you. That you’ll treat her the way she deserves, so if you are asking for our approval, the answer is yes, you have it. ”

“She’ll love the ring, even if she says it’s too much, she’ll love it,” Nicole added, and he smiled a bit at that.

“First semester one of our projects was to do some mock trades on stocks. I actually found a couple that I really was impressed with, so I invested in them, selling part of them when they did well late last month. It’s actually a lab-created diamond because I know she doesn’t really like spending money on real stones.

She mentioned it last year when we picked up her dress for the dance and Dana tried to give her a bag with the stones they hadn’t used on the fixed overlay.

She told Dana to keep them in case she needed them for something else, that she’d probably just donate them if not.

I thought they were real and asked her about it, which just made her laugh.

She said most people couldn’t tell a difference anyway so why spend that much on jewelry when it can be used for other more important things. ”

“She’ll definitely love it then,” Nicole stated, before closing the lid with a little nod towards Emma’s room and he slipped the box back into his bag.

“Maybe we can meet your dad if you come to town, we were going to introduce ourselves at graduation but got a bit sidetracked by a conversation between your sister and aunt I believe it was,” Jack said, making his brow lift at that news.

“It’s part of the reason that I was more… suspicious of things this past summer.”

“I don’t follow,” Ben said opening his arms when Emma moved to his side, and he pulled her onto his lap loving the smile on her face.

“We could tell from the things that Emma said that she and your mom weren’t getting along the best and thought if we introduced ourselves, that maybe we could try to figure out how to help things along,” Nicole told them.

“Only we heard your sister telling your aunt, ‘that’s Crystal, the crazy one Ben slept with’. ”

“Oh…” he got out, not sure where this was going.

“We realized it wasn’t the best time to make our introductions but that’s why Jack was watching you so closely, and why he really asked me to come up with him in October to talk with Emma with you all,” Nicole stated.

“Wait, so you thought Ben asked you to talk to me with him so he could hopefully get me to ‘deal with things’ so I’d sleep with him?” Emma asked her dad incredulously.

“Maybe not quite that selfishly but close to it at first. At least until we got here and I saw how he was treating you, handling you, and then your reactions to what was said. It’s when I knew whatever happened between the two of you would be when you wanted and what you wanted, so I wasn’t as concerned about potentially finding him here when I got to town.

I realized that Ben having some experience made it easier for him to handle the waiting and learning last month that you were still waiting for that right time, made it easier to agree to him moving in here with you,” Jack stated.

“While I’m glad about that part, let’s all agree to never talk about her again, hmm?” Emma suggested, meeting his gaze. “Even if I’m not worried about her anymore, I still can’t stand her.”

“I never even think about her, or any other girl, baby. Just you and what you need,” he promised her, and she nodded, resting her head against his as her parents gave them a smile.

“Good, and I personally am never going to ask about any of that,” Jack stated. “We’d like to meet your father though so if you do come down for the weekend and we’re free, just let us know.”

“Or if you need to stay with us rather than at their house, just let us know when you’re coming to town,” Nicole added, and he could feel Emma’s grin against his cheek.

“I really appreciate the offer, Mrs. Watkins.”

“I think you can call me Nicole by now, Ben. Anyone that makes our girl this happy is family to us,” she replied, and he wasn’t about to argue that, not when they’d shown them nothing but support.

“Thank you, she means the world to me, and I definitely want to live in a happy one,” he said, making Emma laugh as he turned her face his way. “So is Megan already making plans for her visit?”

“Yeah, she says we have to go back to the thrift shop again so she can actually spend some serious time there this trip,” Emma stated, and he loved how simple of a thing it was they were looking forward to doing.

That was his Emmy though. It wasn’t money or extravagant things that she wanted, it was simply spending time with people that really mattered to her.

How his mother couldn’t—or maybe it was just that she wouldn’t—see that, he didn’t know, but he wouldn’t let her upset his girl again. Not a damn chance.