placed a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “It wasn’t your fault.” If he’d kept his hands to himself, if he’d done his job and gotten out, if he’d remained detached and uninvolved, none of this would ever have happened.
Of course, he’d have missed out on the best thing to come along in his lifetime, but he wasn’t the person who counted. That was Grace.
“Sit down, Benjamin.”
He blinked, certain he hadn’t heard Emma correctly. No one called him Benjamin, not even his mother, and Emma couldn’t possibly have regained her spunk and fortitude so quickly. One glance into those regal brown eyes and he realized he’d underestimated her again.
So, Ben did the only thing he could under the circumstances. He sat.
“I won’t have you blaming yourself for my meddling. Make no mistake. I’d heard wonderful things about you professionally and I needed your assistance to keep an eye on my granddaughter, but I took one look at you and I just knew you’d be good for Grace. Women’s intuition, you understand.” Emma tapped at her head and nodded.
Ben didn’t understand. “You’re telling me you hired me for a legitimate business reason, but you wanted me to get involved with your granddaughter?”
Emma nodded.
So, he’d been set up as much as Grace. Somehow, Ben doubted the knowledge would make her feel any better. And considering he’d had a choice every step of the way, he was still disgusted with his actions and the hurt they’d caused.
He clenched his hands into fists at his side and faced Grace’s grandmother. “I don’t like being played for a fool.”
“I saw the look on your face the minute you laid eyes on her picture. And can you deny the chemistry between you two now? Can you deny you’ve fallen in love with her?”
Ben’s stomach clenched hard. Thinking it to himself and hearing the words aloud were very different things. Yet faced with Grace’s beloved grandmother, he couldn’t lie. Not even in the wake of the older woman’s meddling ways. Not even when he was dealing with the very real possibility that he’d lost Grace for good.
“I’m not sure how I feel matters anymore. She’s not likely to forgive the lies, and frankly, I wouldn’t blame her.” He gazed around the expensively decorated apartment, seeing how even this environment was a facet of Grace, one he loved as much as the fun-loving, down-to-earth woman who lived here.
Without warning, Emma smacked him hard on the shoulder. He glanced up, shocked at the strength in her frail bones and surprised she felt comfortable enough to whack him like that. “What was that for?”
“You’re too much like Logan for your own good. Don’t take things sitting down. You need to fight for what you want. If you’re out of ideas, I can help…”
“No, thank you.” The older woman had done enough. “I can handle things on my own.”
He doubted he could change the outcome, but he could most definitely have his one-on-one with Grace before she threw him out of her life. At the very least, she deserved to understand what motivated his actions, even if the explanation couldn’t make up for the pain of his deception.
Ben stood. “Can I get you anything before I go?”
Emma glanced up at him, concern and caring in her eyes. “You can tell me my granddaughter’s okay.”
He grasped her hand and held on tight. “She’s fine. Or at least she was fine until tonight.” Time to lay all his cards on the table, Ben thought. “There won’t be any further report, written or otherwise.”
Emma nodded in understanding. “I’m past wanting details anyway. I see now how wrong that really was.”
“Good because I can’t give you any more information about Grace and still live with myself. But I can refund what money you’ve laid out for this assignment, and if I run short, I swear to you I’ll pay you back in installments.”
The older woman clucked her tongue in a gesture reminiscent of his mother. “Nonsense. You did your job and I pay for services rendered.”
And that, Ben thought, was the ultimate problem. If he accepted any of Emma’s money, Grace would never believe his interest in her was real, separate and apart from the Montgomery name and Montgomery money. Even if he didn’t, she might not believe him.
Because Ben had made her biggest fear come true and had probably decimated the self-worth she’d worked so hard to achieve. He’d recently been so sure that she would return to her privileged lifestyle once the novelty of independence wore off. But now he knew she would never abandon a life that had been so right for her. A life he’d now undercut with his deceit.
He didn’t like himself much right now. “It’s useless to argue about payment.”
Emma nodded. “I agree. Your time would be better spent finding Grace, and since that’s where you’d rather be, then I suggest you get to it.”
“Tell me one thing first.”
“What’s that?”
“Why are you so accepting of someone you know doesn’t have your family background or status? Someone who’ll make Grace’s judge father cringe at best?” He voiced the question that had been nagging at him.