Stripping the Billionaire Read online

  With a deep breath, Ben told his body to behave itself, and he went back across the hall to apologize.

  Two

  Mandy was starting to wish she hadn’t packed so much.

  Ben had volunteered to take her bag when they’d reached the airport, but she had refused—since she didn’t want him to think she was more high-maintenance (more of a cupcake) than he already did.

  She was regretting the impulse now, though.

  She’d dressed fairly comfortably for the flight to Savannah—in a stylish pair of trousers and a top that didn’t wrinkle—but her pretty shoes weren’t great for walking and her case was large.

  She was going to be gone for a couple of weeks, so she needed more luggage than the small carry-on Ben had with him. But now she was trying to keep up with his long stride and also maneuver her case, her purse, and her leather satchel.

  When the wheels of her case turned the wrong way, she had to pause and right it, muttering under her breath about Ben and his obnoxious ways.

  If he’d been a gentleman at all, he would have slowed down for her.

  A gentleman Ben wasn’t.

  He glanced back and saw he was leaving her behind. Then he walked back to take her case from her hands without a word.

  He did give her a slight eye-roll, though, which clearly said he’d told her so.

  A gentleman wouldn’t have done that either.

  “We’re going to be gone for two weeks,” she said, able to walk faster now and keep in step with him. “I need enough to wear. How on earth did you fit everything you need into that little bag?”

  “I’m going to be just working on the house. Except for…I don’t need much to wear.”

  “Well, I hope you brought more than one shirt, since it’s going to start to stink.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who insisted on crashing this party. If I stink, those are the joys.”

  She couldn’t help but giggle at his grouchy tone. She knew he’d only agreed to let her tag along because he felt bad about being so rude at dinner a couple of weeks ago, but she didn’t care.

  She was excited about this new job, and she was going to take a bunch of pictures of the final product—as long as it was okay with Ben’s mother—so she could add them to her portfolio to show prospective clients.

  “Except what?” she asked, remembering that he’d started saying something but dropped off.

  “Except what, what?”

  “You said you were only going to work around the house except for something, but you never finished the sentence.”

  “Oh.” His face looked slightly reluctant. “Nothing. I’m just supposed to take my mom to this thing while I’m there.”

  “Really? Where are you supposed to take her?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He was resolutely avoiding meeting her gaze, although she was trying.

  More curious than ever, she asked, “If it doesn’t matter, then why won’t you tell me? Where are you supposed to take her?”

  “This…this cotillion.” He said the final word like it was dirty.

  She gasped and came to a complete stop, nearly getting run down by the businessman walking behind her. “What?”

  Ben’s face twisted uncomfortably, and he put a hand on her back to get her moving again. “It’s not a big deal,” he muttered.

  “Yes, it is a big deal. You’re taking your mom to a cotillion? Like a ball?”

  “Don’t make a big thing about it. She wanted to go and asked if I’d go with her.”

  She was trying to stifle giggles at the delicious irony of it—and at how embarrassed Ben looked at the admission. “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever—”

  “Don’t,” he warned.

  “What are you going to wear?”

  “I think I’ve got something I can wear still in my mom’s house. I’ll figure it out.”

  She was overwhelmed with an amusement that felt fond, soft—like this piece of information only confirmed what she’d always known about Ben.

  He simply wasn’t the bad-tempered Neanderthal he tried to be.

  He looked characteristically disheveled today in an old t-shirt, beat-up trousers, and his untrimmed beard. And his glower didn’t help. People walking toward them all sidestepped quickly when they saw him.

  They had to stand in line to check her bag, but fortunately it was moving pretty fast. The man behind the desk waved her toward him when they reached the front of the line, and she went over with a smile on her face, in a better mood than ever at the thought of Ben at a cotillion.

  She’d learned being nice to the stressed people who worked at the airport made things move a lot smoother. Plus, it was just common courtesy.

  When Ben came with her, the airline worker frowned. “One at a time, sir.”

  Ben paused in surprise, but Mandy realized immediately what the confusion was.

  Hiding a smile, she said, “He’s with me.”

  The man looked astonished but immediately apologized, and soon her bag was checked and they were on their way to security.

  She could feel Ben brooding beside her so she poked his arm. “What’s the matter with you?”

  “Why the fuck shouldn’t I be with you?”

  She didn’t try to suppress her laugh at his bad mood. It was actually kind of sweet that he’d gotten offended about it. “Because I have a manicure, and you won’t bother to even trim your hair. Of course, we don’t look like we belong together.”

  “We don’t have to stick together if I embarrass you, you know.”

  “Of course you don’t embarrass me. It’s not like we’re some mismatched couple. You’re not my husband. You can be as hairy as you want and still be my friend.”

  He was frowning even more as they got in line at security and more people started giving them odd looks.

  He’d never seemed disturbed by the difference in appearance and lifestyle between them before, but they’d never really gone out in public together before. Just hung out at his place or hers. So maybe that explained why he seemed so bristly today.

  ***

  Ben tried to tell himself it didn’t matter that everyone in the world seemed to think he was a bad match for Mandy, but it was still bothering him. A lot.

  It wasn’t like he didn’t know she wasn’t right for him. Of course, he knew that. He’d already decided that, no matter how increasingly attracted he was to her, he was never going to pursue her.

  Six years ago, the course of his life had been decided when months of tension between him and his uncle had exploded into an intense showdown. The fight had unfortunately made the news cycles, since they’d been shouting at each other in the middle of the lobby of one of the Damon hotels. Or, Ben had been shouting, and his uncle had been replying with his characteristic frigid hauteur.

  It was the last straw, after more than a year of his tyrant of an uncle slowly strangling him with increasingly oppressive attempts to control his life.

  Ben had grown up without a father, a man who had gotten his mother pregnant and then left town. When he was a boy, he’d wanted desperately for his uncle to be a father-figure, and he still cringed sometimes, thinking about how much he’d wanted to please the heartless bastard.

  He knew better now.

  Cyrus Damon would always try to shape the world around him into exactly what he thought it should be, no matter how many people he hurt in the process, and the only way to deal with him was to cut all ties completely.

  Ben was determined to keep his two vows, which meant he could never be the kind of man who was a good match for Mandy.

  But, still, it was just offensive that people seemed to think he wasn’t capable of being with a woman like her.

  It didn’t help that now she was chatting happily with a guy on the other side of her in the plane. He was looked fairly young and was wearing a business suit, and Ben could see very well that he liked what he saw in Mandy.

  Ben didn’t like that at all.

  He told himself
to get a grip. He and Mandy weren’t a couple. They could never be a couple. So she was welcome to flirt with as many well-dressed men as she wanted.

  It still made him want to hit something.

  They’d arranged the trip with only a few days to spare, so the plane was almost booked when they’d made their reservations. They were stuck in the middle aisle, made up of three seats.

  Ben had volunteered to take the middle, but Mandy had laughed at the idea, saying he was twice her size so he needed the aisle seat where he could stretch his legs a little more.

  She seemed perfectly happy in the middle, even though it was coach, even though she was probably used to first-class.

  Ben had no idea how she kept such a sunny spirit about something as miserable as flying coach.

  “Oh, I’m not staying in Atlanta,” he heard her say to the other guy. “We’re connecting to Savannah.”

  She reached over to pat Ben’s arm, and Ben sneered at the surprise and disappointment on the other guy’s face when he realized she was with Ben.

  Hoping to discourage him further, Ben reached over and put his arm around Mandy’s shoulders and touched her upper arm.

  She looked over at him in surprise, her brown eyes widening at the gesture. “What?” she asked softly.

  Ben was inhaling the scent of her and wished intensely that she didn’t smell quite so good, that she didn’t look so soft, so beautiful, so touchable. “You had a thread,” he lied, since he needed some excuse for putting his arm around her, unless he was going to admit that he was having trouble keeping his hands off her.

  “Oh.” She relaxed and gave him a teasing little smile. “I thought you were doing the teenage yawn-to-put-your-arm-around-her move.”

  He couldn’t help but laugh, but then realized he still had his arm around her and that he didn’t want to move it.

  He quickly retrieved it, telling himself he was going to have to cut-and-run very soon if he couldn’t pull himself together around her.

  He was pleased, however, that Mandy’s attention was now on him rather than the other man.

  She leaned down toward her satchel and bumped her head on the seat in front of her as she tried to pull out a book.

  “Ow,” she said, rubbing her head. “Not much room back here, is there?”

  “Is this the first time you’ve flown coach?” he asked.

  She shifted in her seat. “Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Did I say anything was wrong with that? I just asked a question.”

  “Well, your tone sounded like reverse snobbism. Like you thought I was spoiled or something.”

  “Never flying in coach before might be a little spoiled.” Because he was still trying to get his distanced perspective back, he sounded more cutting than he would have otherwise.

  She stiffened—at the tone, the words, or both. “That isn’t fair. It’s not my fault my parents had money and left me the trust fund. I guess it never occurred to you that it’s just as narrow-minded to look down on or stereotype people with money as it is people without money.”

  “I’m not looking down on you,” he said gruffly, frustrated because everything he said seemed to be wrong today. “But you can hardly claim to know what it’s like to be like the rest of us if you’ve never even flown coach.”

  He knew the words weren’t fair. Not to Mandy and not for him to say. He’d been raised with money too. He was one of the heirs to his billionaire uncle.

  But he’d shed the money, the lifestyle, and all the trappings of wealth. He was never going to claim them back, so he could never offer them to Mandy.

  She wasn’t a snob. Not really. But she was used to a certain lifestyle, and she was looking for that in the man she would spend her life with.

  It could never be Ben.

  He’d hurt her feelings with his words. She’d been glaring at him before, but now she looked forward, at the seat in front of her. Her shoulders were stiff as she murmured, “I’ve never claimed to know what it’s like for the rest of you.”

  Her voice broke on the last word.

  He bit back a groan as guilt and tenderness overwhelmed him. He’d hit her where she was most insecure—the idea that she was different, isolated, alone.

  He might have even done it on purpose.

  “Damn it, Mandy,” he said, leaning down to talk in her ear so the people around them couldn’t hear. “I’m sorry. I’m an idiot. I’m an ass.”

  She turned her head until their mouths were less than an inch apart. His breath quickened and his body went on full-alert at their closeness.

  “You’re also…”

  “What am I?”

  “I’m thinking of an appropriate word.”

  “Isn’t ‘ass’ good enough?”

  “I think I can do better,” she said, in her characteristic tone.

  “Then let’s hear it.

  “A buttwad,” she said with a wry, teasing expression.

  He let out a breath of relief that he’d fixed things. “Perfect. I’m a buttwad.”

  “Okay. At least we can agree on that.”

  She was smiling again as the plane took off and they were given their beverage service.

  She tried to read, but Ben just sat there. And when she dozed off and leaned against him, he took the book off her lap so it wouldn’t slip off and he put his arm around her again.

  After all, it was the only way to be comfortable, crammed together in these seats.

  ***

  Ben’s mother was the only member of his family that he was still connected to.

  She’d never been married, so the Damons were the only extended family that Ben had known growing up.

  As a boy, he’d seen his uncle and his cousins at least yearly, and in college his Uncle Cyrus had been grooming him to play a key role in the family business. Then Ben’s whole experience with family had blown up in his face.

  He still loved his mother, though, and he talked to her regularly and visited as often as he could. He also loved the old row house in Savannah, where he’d spent much of his childhood.

  When he and Mandy arrived, however, and he saw it was looking a little worn around the edges, he felt immediately guilty for not taking better care of it.

  “This is gorgeous,” Mandy said with an awed smile as she stood on the sidewalk and gazed at the old place. “I love it.”

  “It’s not bad,” he said, rather pleased at her appreciation, as if it was a compliment to him. “It needs more work than I realized.”

  “Well, that’s what we’re here for. Right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let’s go in. I can’t wait to meet your mother.”

  Ben was not so excited about introducing Mandy to his mother. She would immediately get ideas, and might also share certain things that he didn’t want to be shared.

  So he was ridiculously nervous as his mother opened the door at their knock.

  She looked as she always did—not exactly beautiful, not exactly thin, but like she really loved him—and she pulled him into a big hug.

  “This is Mandy. She’s—” Ben began, interrupted when his mom pulled Mandy into an equally enthusiastic embrace.

  “It’s wonderful to meet you,” his mother said. “I’m Lucy Damon. Please do come in.”

  Mandy was smiling as they entered the old house.

  While Ben was struggling to get their luggage into the house in one trip, he heard his mom rambling on. “You are so beautiful, dear. And what a lovely top. I had no idea Ben had finally found himself a girl. He’s always been secretive that way.”

  “Oh, no,” Mandy said. “Ben and I aren’t dating—”

  “Now, no need to explain things to me. I know how young people have their own arrangements. Call it anything you like. I’m just glad you’re here.”

  Ben felt a little guilty that his mother was getting excited about a relationship he wasn’t really in, and he was also worried by the self-conscious look on Mandy’s face.

  N
o doubt she wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being paired off with him romantically, even if it was just in his mother’s mind.

  She wanted a man who had it all together.

  He left the luggage next to the door to walk over to them. “Mandy is my neighbor, Mom. And my friend. She’s here to help with the decorating. Don’t start to make wedding plans or anything.”

  His mother looked not the slightest bit discouraged. “Of course not. Of course not. I completely understand.”

  He wasn’t sure she understood at all.

  “Oh good,” Mandy said, smiling again, as if she wasn’t worried about any lingering confusion. “At the risk of being rude, do you mind if I run to the restroom?”

  His mother showed her the bathroom with abundant assurances and then she came over to hug Ben again.

  He hugged her back, although he didn’t consider himself a huggy man.

  There wasn’t a chance in the world he was going to risk hurting his mother’s feelings, though.

  “Seriously, though,” he said in a low voice as he pulled away. “Mandy and I aren’t dating, so please don’t embarrass her.”

  “Of course not. I have better manners than that.”

  “Okay,” he said dubiously. His mother had lovely manners, but she also had a way of blithely blundering into all kinds of topics that shouldn’t be broached. “And she also doesn’t know I’m a Damon.”

  This stopped his mother short. “She doesn’t?”

  “No. You know I’m using another name now, and Mandy doesn’t know my background. I’d rather she not know.”

  “But, Benjamin, how can you be in a relationship and not tell her the truth?”

  “I told you we aren’t in that sort of relationship. I just want to be me and not deal with all the Damon baggage. This is a favor I’m asking of you. If you can avoid talk of all the Damon-stuff, I’d appreciate it.”

  “But my last name is Damon.”

  “That’s okay. It’s a fairly common last name. I don’t think she’ll make the connection unless you start talking about Uncle Cyrus and the rest of them. Please, mom. For me.”

  “Okay.” She was shaking her head and tsking her tongue. “But that’s a lovely, sweet young lady, and you shouldn’t be lying to her. She’s going to be very hurt and angry when she finds out.”