A Million Miles Apart (Wish 4)

27 - Trust

Avoiding his sister wasn't easy, but Ben tried. She nagged him about Sloane. The day after their date, he avoided his phone. Besides Kenzie, he was afraid he'd call Sloane. Kissing her was better than he had expected and given the opportunity he would jump at the chance for a repeat performance. He relaxed on Monday when she was in another state.

Unfortunately, Monday wasn't relaxing when his publicist called. "We need to damage control."

"What are you talking about? What damage?"

"You're all over social media!"

He couldn't be bothered with social media. Some guys tweeted everything, but he paid for his publicist to handle his accounts. "Why?"

"Injured slugger cozying up to daughter of building tycoon Edward Calhoun. Girlfriend's in tears."

"Angela is not my girlfriend! We broke up."

"A few weeks ago, you told a media outlet you were planning to pop the question."

He sighed. "That's why we broke up, she couldn't stay out of the spotlight." And he couldn't trust her after the trick she pulled with his mother.

"What's your relationship with the Calhoun woman?"

It should be a straightforward question, but it was anything but. The simple answer was the one he heard coming out of his mouth. "Just friends."

"Let us know if your status changes."

He never got worked up about what people said about him. He knew it would blow over, but he was concerned his mother would find out about Sloane and see dollar signs. He felt a need to protect Sloane, which made little sense. She was a professional adult, but she was kind and wouldn't know his mother was bad news unless he told her. If he wanted to be with Sloane, which after kissing her, he did, he would have to be honest. As much as he wanted to blame Angela for bringing his mother to him, he couldn't. He never shared with her the details of how the woman had hurt him and how manipulative she could be.

Angela was like a bad itch that wouldn't go away. Ben promised Tex he would attend a dinner and meet fans at an event raising money for cancer research. It was another trade off, because Tex had helped at his clinic for kids. Being midweek, he couldn't ask Sloane to accompany him, so he would smile for picture after picture, but wouldn't be able to sign autographs. The last person he expected to see was Angela. She attached herself to him.

"Why are you here?"

"Tex invited me. I ran into him back home." Angela grew up in Texas and Ben never understood how she found her way to Boston. He always suspected she had followed him. "I've missed you. Have you gotten over your tantrum?"

She clung to his arm and looked up at him. He looked down at her, but his eyes found her ample cleavage. He hated to admit it was her best asset. He remembered the silver dress, although it had an open back, the front went all the way to her neck. Sloane was sexier than Angela because she was more than just tits. Realizing he was ogling her, he averted his eyes and scanned the room.

"I haven't changed my mind."

"Could have fooled me. That one you were with was a little flat, wasn't she? She looked a lot like the fan who was stalking you."

"She was not stalking me. She's a beautiful, smart woman and..."

"Oh my God, you slept with her!" Thankfully she was whispering. She didn't even give him a chance to respond. "I was gonna go back to you, but not now. Tex wants me to move back to Texas."

He shook his head. "He has a wife and kids?"

"He's separated. His wife isn't happy with their marriage."