Page 29 of Rebellious Hearts

“Sure,” Elena said, and I put her on speaker phone.

I unpacked my things into the walk-in closet. I didn’t mind living out of a suitcase for the duration of the time we were here, but the walk-in closet was something I dreamed about having one day, and I was going to make full use of this luxurious trip.

If this was what traveling with the Blackwoods was like, I would capitalize while I could. Even though my income was decent, I would never be able to afford something like this.

“So, tell me about this pain in the ass,” Elena said while I arranged my shoes.

“He’s just so grumpy,” I said. “Nothing seems to make him happy. He takes all the great stuff for granted and he doesn’t even care about the people that work their asses off to make it happen for him.”

“I think it might be different when he hasn’t known anything else his entire life. I mean, you don’t know any different from what you’re taught, right?”

“I guess so,” I said. “But I still think he’s a bit snooty. He doesn’t really care about any of the people around him. How can he spearhead a project that helps people when he doesn’t care about people?”

Elena couldn’t argue with me about that.

“Maybe it will be different when you work with him and get to know him a little better.”

“You’re totally taking his side.”

“I’m not. I’m just trying to look at both sides. You know there are always different sides to a story.”

Elena always looked at the glass half-full, and she always tried to see the different sides of things. She played devil’s advocate because she liked to see the humanity in everything.

And it was a very humble thing to do.

I just didn’t like that when Ben was rude to me she wanted to tell me he had some kind of good reason for it. Because after the way our first night together had gone, the rudeness hadn’t beenexpected. It was like snuggling in a warm bed, only for someone to dump a bucket of ice-cold water on my head.

Someone knocked on my door.

“I have to go,” I said to Elena. “I’ll let you know how things go.”

“I’m anxiously waiting by my phone,” she said, and I could hear the laughter in her voice.

We ended the call, and I walked to the door.

Ben stood in front of me. He was six foot four, maybe more, and as broad as he was tall, with muscles for days.

Don’t focus on his body.

“Hi,” he said evenly, his face an expressionless mask.

“Hey.” I wasn’t sure what he wanted.

“Is your room fine?”

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s really great, actually.” I was gushing.

Stop gushing. Act like this is normal.

“How about yours?”

“Oh,” he said and frowned. “Yeah, I guess it’s fine.”

I nodded, and an awkward silence stretched between us. His eyes slid down my body, slowly, and I almost felt his gaze like a physical touch. A sudden rush of heat washed over me.

Ben’s eyes locked on mine again—they weren’t the warm, melted chocolate they usually were—they’d become darker, filled with desire.

“We have a meeting with the investor tomorrow at lunch.”