Page 57 of Resisting the Temptation (Broken Shelves #3)

Emma

G rowing up, family dinners always ended with a game of Uno or Imagine If. Many of my siblings are competitive, and it meant feelings got hurt sometimes, but overall, I think everyone had a good time.

Now, after dinner and dessert is done, everyone just wants to talk.

I hate it.

I don’t need to hear about my oldest brother’s latest “business venture,” I don’t want to hear about Hailey’s latest fad diet and “miracle” drink.

I don’t want to answer any more questions about my job. I don’t want to subject Ben to the interrogation either, but I don’t have much of a choice because I’d get berated if we left early.

My whole life, my family split up into cliques of my mom’s kids or my dad’s kids, and I was awkwardly left bouncing around from one to the other, trying to fit it in.

When I was younger, I had my nephews to play with since some of them are my age, but as an adult, I don’t have a place in either group.

Nothing has changed.

Ben is sitting on one end of a large U-shaped sofa with me next to him. My parents are on the opposite end, and my sisters Shannon and Amanda—along with my sister-in-law Kate—fill in the middle, having a conversation I’m not really following.

The kids have all gone downstairs to play, and the rest of my siblings are in their own conversations across the living room.

“So how did you two meet?” Kate asks me, apparently done with the conversation with Shannon and Amanda.

I like Kate. I think she’s one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve ever met. She’s funny, smart, and a great mom.

I also think she’s way too good for my brother, who treats her and their kids like they’re beneath him.

But I’ve never said anything because it’s not my place.

I wasn’t prepared for this question, because the real way we met would make my mother pass away from scandal, and the rest of the room would clutch their pearls and call for repentance.

Not that my family is dramatic or anything.

Ben—who hasn’t stopped touching me in some small way the entire time we’ve been here—squeezes my knee reassuringly.

“Ben and I met at the construction company we both work for. His dad is the owner, and Ben is also a project manager.”

Kate awes while everyone else’s eyebrows shoot to their hairlines, and my mom shakes her head and lets out a disappointed sigh. I don’t know why she’s acting like she didn’t already know.

Amanda gasps. “Why would you do that to your career?”

“What is that supposed to mean? I’m not doing anything wrong by dating Ben.” I can already tell this conversation is going to be bad.

“Well, fraternizing with people in the company is already bad enough, but the owner’s son ? What if you two break up? They’re not going to keep you around.”

Ben clears his throat. “I can assure you, Emma’s position at the company isn’t compromised by our relationship.

My father hired her with only a phone interview, so I think it’s safe to say he’d rather keep her than me.

” Ben tries to laugh it off, and I appreciate him trying to defuse the situation, but he doesn’t know my siblings.

Amanda’s head whips to me with narrowed eyes, but it’s Hailey who pipes up first from across the room, bringing everyone’s attention to our conversation.

“You always did like to spread your legs and then play the victim. Is that how you got the job? You slept with his dad, and now you’re trying to keep your job by sleeping with his son?” Hailey smirks at her harsh blow, knowing she’s hit a spot that’s tender and easily bruised.

I feel Ben tense beside me, and a tingle starts in my nose before making its way to the back of my eyes. I’ve always been a crier. It doesn’t matter how strong I try to be. Any big emotions and, inevitably, tears will overflow.

My mom half-heartedly scolds Hailey. My entire life, I’ve been waiting for my mom to stand up for me and shield me from the venom that drips out of Hailey’s mouth, but she never has .

Instead, it’s always me trying to protect myself, but still getting burned anyway. No matter how many harsh words she spits at me, it’s always me who ends up in trouble for trying to stand up for myself.

This time is no different. I don’t understand how a parent can choose to protect the bully over the one being bullied.

Hailey shrugs. “What? It makes sense, right? Why else would he be dating her? She’s just damaged goods.” Hailey’s eyes rake over me with clear disgust.

Maybe—and yeah, I’m being bitchy—she can’t understand a genuine connection with someone because her husband is a cheating piece of shit who looks like a thumb.

Amanda, who I think has always hated me too, nods along with Hailey. “Just remember he has a career too, Emma. You can’t cry rape just because he hurts your feelings or breaks up with you.”

My lower lip wobbles, and I bite down on it to make it stop, but I can’t stave off the flow of tears now that the dam has broken.

I can’t look at Ben, terrified of what he must be thinking. He must think I’m so weak. Just sitting here letting myself be berated by the people who share my DNA, not saying anything.

There’s no way he’s going to want to continue our… whatever the hell we are after this. I don’t blame him.

“Is he even a U.S. citizen? Are you even here legally?” Ian, Hailey’s husband, asks from the other side of the living room .

I angrily swipe away my tears and glare at him. “He’s half Italian and half Puerto Rican, dumbass. Don’t start spewing racist bullshit. ”

Amanda’s sixteen-year-old son, Dallin, who’s just been scrolling on his phone replies before Ian can. “Puerto Rico is a part of the U.S. If he was born there, he’s a U.S. citizen. They teach that in geography class.”

Ian grumbles something and storms out of the room.

I’m too anxious to even appreciate the blow to his ego.

“Emma, you better watch your mouth in my house. I will not tolerate that type of language,” my dad snaps, pointing a finger at me.

Ben stands and holds out his hand to me before I can answer. “It’s time to go, Dulzura. ”

I stand and grab his hand; I’d do anything he tells me right now. “I’m so—”

“Shh. It’s not you who needs to apologize.” He looks around the room at the people who are supposed to be my biggest supporters, but none of them will meet his gaze.

“You should be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed of how you’ve treated her. She has every right to cut every one of you out of her life and not look back. If I were in her position, I’d have done it a long time ago. She’s given you more grace than you deserve, and she’s done it all on her own.”

He looks at me, his eyes bright with an emotion I can’t place. “But she’s not alone now. She has me. And I’ll be damned if any of you hurts her again.”

Ben looks at my parents. “Not that any of you deserve to know, but I would quit my job before I ever risked Emma’s career.

She’s extremely talented. She’s kind. She’s smart.

She’s the most incredible woman, despite the toxicity she was raised in.

I’m lucky she took a chance on me. I won’t lie and say it was nice to meet you.

But I will say, thank you for letting me into your home and for dinner. ”

Then he drags me to the door and slips on his shoes before helping me slip on mine. Without another word, we get in the car, and he pulls away from my childhood home. Away from the toxicity of my family.

Tonight caused a shift in our relationship. The walls I was trying—and failing—to keep erected have cracks splintering through the bricks, and my heart is begging me to let Ben in.

The air in the car is charged even though we haven’t said anything.

I don’t even know what to say.

No one’s ever stood up for me like that. I’m sure Jordan probably would have, but I never let them. The possibility of my parents lashing out at Jordan and it tarnishing their view of me was too much of a deterrent.

God, I can’t believe Hailey and Amanda said those things. And Ian? Another wave of embarrassment slithers up my spine, and my nose burns with the threat of oncoming tears.

“I’m sorry,” Ben rasps from the driver’s side, shaking his head. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

“For what? It’s me who should be apologizing for them.”

The hotel is only a few minutes from my parents’ house, so he pulls into a parking spot and shuts the car off.

He rounds the car, opens my car door, and helps me out, but before I can step away, he cages me against the car. The cool metal of the vehicle is a stark contrast to the heat of Ben’s body as he cups my face with one hand, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped back there. I just… couldn’t listen to them anymore. I felt the hurt radiating from you, and I couldn’t stand it.”

I lick my lips, and Ben tracks the quick path my tongue takes. “You didn’t overstep. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I’ve never had anyone stand up for me before. I’m not upset at you for standing up for me. It was…” Everything.

If my heart wasn’t attached before, it sure is now.

It’s signed the papers, and Ben owns it now, even if he doesn’t want it.

“It wasn’t even a second thought for me, Emma. You shine even through all the hurt you’ve experienced, but… I want to see how much brighter you can shine when you’re loved the way you deserve.”

What is he saying?

“I don’t think I know how to let myself be loved like that,” I whisper.

His eyes dart down to my lips and back up. “Let me help you learn. Let me be the one to help you shine brighter.”

Ben leans in agonizingly slow, never breaking eye contact. His lips are mere millimeters from mine, and I feel the words as they leave his breath. “Color?”

“Green,” I breathe .

With more tenderness than I’ve ever experienced, Ben’s lips meet mine, and I have my first kiss in over four years.

Ben’s lips capture my bottom one, and our mouths mold together like they’re the last two pieces of a puzzle.

My heart soars and sighs with relief at how good, how right it feels.

It’s slow and achingly sweet and full of unspoken words.

The dichotomy of emotions rolling through me makes tears pool in my eyes.

One tracks down my face, and I taste it as it falls between our lips. He must taste it too, because he pulls back to look at me. I chase his lips with my own. I don’t want to stop now that I’ve started.

“Was that okay?” Ben whispers. His breath fans across my lips, and I shiver. He must think I’m cold because he grabs my hand and leads me towards the door of the hotel. “Let’s get you inside.”