“It’s not okay.” She gulped and then eased out of his embrace. “I got fired tonight.”
“What?”
“The owner of the bar fired me.”
Ben grew silent, a wave of uneasiness climbing up his chest. He couldn’t imagine why a dedicated worker like Maggie would ever be canned. His throat tightened at the memory of how he’d gone behind her back to cancel her shift, and he wondered if maybe that had something to do with it. Oh Christ, had he gotten her fired?
“Maggie…” He bit the inside of his cheek. “I have something I need to tell you.”
She pinned him down with a hard look. “I already know. You got Trisha to take my shift. Don’t worry, your little trick wasn’t the only reason I was let go.” She snorted. “I’ve been late a couple times. Oh, and I dropped a tray.”
He faltered. “You dropped a tray.”
“Yep. Broke a couple of glasses, spilled some beer on the floor.”
“You were fired for that?”
“To quote the owner, I ‘caused a scene’.”
“That son of a bitch.”
She gave a small sniffle, and more tears welled up in her eyes and coated her thick lashes. “That son of a bitch was signing my paychecks. And now…” The tears overflowed and slid down her cheeks.
“Now what?”
The look she gave him made his heart ache. “Now I can’t pay off the rest of my tuition. I still owe the college for this semester.”
“I’ll pay it.” The words flew out before he could stop them.
“You’re not paying my bills.” She swiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. “I’ll figure out a way. Maybe the bank will give me a loan.”
“Let me handle it.”
He was begging now, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t just stand by and do nothing when she looked at him with so much pain in her eyes. He couldn’t stand by and watch her cry.
“No, Ben.”
“Goddammit, Maggie, just let me take care of you.”
She didn’t answer.
“You can’t do it, can you? You can’t let anyone else carry some of your burden.” He exhaled slowly. “Why the hell won’t you let me help you? Why won’t you let me in?”
Rather than answering the question, she just wiped her eyes again and frowned. Myriad emotions flickered in her eyes, anger and confusion the most dominant, but rather than say whatever what was on her mind, her face became expressionless and she stumbled to her feet. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” she burst out. “I need a hot shower.” Without another word, she left the room.
Maggie closed her eyes and let the warm water slide over her face, easing the ache in her swollen eyes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried. To her, tears had always been a sign of weakness, vulnerability. She hadn’t felt vulnerable since she was child, and it bothered her that she was crying over losing her job. People lost their jobs all the time, it was a trivial fact of life. It wasn’t the end of the world.
Only it wasn’t trivial to her. Her job at the Olive paid her bills. Her savings were nonexistent, and with exams coming up it wasn’t likely she could find another job in time to pay the rest of her tuition. She was already accruing late fees like crazy, since she hadn’t paid the amount in full at the beginning of the year like most students. Without her job, how could she pay the college?
She shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. Wrapping a terrycloth robe over herself, she belted it tightly and reached for the door handle, but paused before turning it, wondering if Ben was still out in the living room. Wondering if he’d start needling her again about letting him help her.
God, she didn’t want him to help her. And besides, a part of her was still so bitter about his involvement in her firing. Why the hell had he gone behind her back and messed around with her work schedule? How had he convinced her to leave town for two days? Why couldn’t he just go away?
You don’t want him to go away.
She ignored that taunting little voice in her head, telling herself that of course she wanted him to leave. Tonight proved that he was a complication, a distraction she couldn’t afford. He might have given her the best sex of her life, but was it worth all the headaches? The reporters who surrounded them in the airport? The loss of her job?
No, it wasn’t worth it at all. She’d worked too hard to have all her goals threatened by a damn movie star.
She strode out of the bathroom, determined to tell Ben it was over. That it was time for him to face the press. Time to stop using her as an excuse to hide out. Time to uncomplicate her life. But when she entered the bedroom and found him sitting on the bed, the speech she’d prepared died on her lips.
He looked so damn upset that her chest squeezed a little. His broad shoulders were slumped over, his handsome features creased with worry, and when he looked up at her approach, the remorse flickering in his cobalt blue eyes was unmistakable.
He stood up and said, “I’m sorry.”