“Me too,” he admitted, his throat tight with emotion.

“And I would be devastated.”

Holding her close, he leaned his head to hers, kissing her temple. “That won’t happen. Remember that fighting you for you thing I have no problem doing? This falls into that category. I’m sorry, but I won’t let you.”

She tried to smile, but the tears came faster and she slowly shook her head. “I just don’t know what to do. He scares the living shit out of me.”

“He can’t touch you, and he won’t get Angie. It won’t happen,” he repeated, holding her and kissing her temple. “I promise.”

“Benji, you can’t promise that.”

“Well, I’m promising it,” he said roughly, kissing her once more.

“He wants me to break up with you,” she whispered against his neck and he froze. “He texted that at lunch.”

He held his breath. “What did you say?”

“I told him to fuck off,” she said softly. “And he said I better hope Angie never says that you touch her. He’s such a fucking asshole!” she yelled against his chest, her fist balling up as her body broke with a sob.

His eyes fell shut as she clung to him, his fingers biting into her ribs as his heart ached. “Lucy, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. Tell me what I can do.”

“Hold me. Just hold me.”

“Done,” he whispered, kissing her once more, and he did. He held her as she cried, and he really didn’t know what to do. He had been sure she was going to throw the mom card in his face, but she didn’t. She clung to him, needed him, and it pleased him to no end. But the issue of Rick was still so strong. He really didn’t understand the dude. He had moved on, had a wife and daughter, so why was he so worried about Lucy? Why wasn’t she allowed to be happy? To move on, too?

It was sad.

On one hand, he wanted to hunt the dude down and kill him, but he knew that wouldn’t help anything. No, he’d have to be her rock, and he could do that. For her and Angie. Pulling back, he moved her hair out of her face and kissed her nose. Holding his gaze, she whispered, “Thank you.”

His brows pulled together as he shrugged. “For what? Being here for you? That’s a given, baby. Don’t thank me for that.”

“It’s not only that,” she whispered, her lip trembling. “I’ve never broken down about Rick to anyone but my mom. My brothers don’t even know, more because I just don’t think they’d understand. But you, it’s easy, and that is such a comforting feeling. I don’t think you realize how important that is to me.”

Moving his thumbs across her cheeks, he kissed her lips softly. “Well then, you’re welcome, Lucy.”

“You scare the living bejesus out of me, Benjamin Paxton.”

He scoffed. “Funny, you don’t scare me at all,” he said with a wink and she grinned, her dimples flashing as she leaned up to press her lips to his. Melting against her lips, he let his fingers bite into her hips as he squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, pulling away, she looked up at him with so much relief and need in her eyes that he found himself breathless. “You know, this shit with Rick… Let it go right now. Angie is with your mom and River, having a blast. There is nothing we can do now anyway, so how about we go back to my house and take a nap?”

She looked hopeful for one second, and then she shook her head. “I really need to pack. They need my stuff out by Tuesday.”

He cupped her face. “And it will be. But today we nap. Tomorrow, we work.”

But, of course, she protested. “No, you don’t have to do that. You have stuff to do, I’m sure. I’ve got this. Jayden and River are gonna help. Go do what you need to do.”

Benji nodded his head, already ready for her to try to deny his help. “Yeah, you’re right. I do have something to do.”

She nodded. “See, it’s fine. I’ve got—”

Pressing his nose to hers, he said, “I have to help my girlfriend move her stuff out of her old apartment and office.”

Her eyes darkened as her lips started to curve, only one dimple appearing. “Girlfriend?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I talked about her at lunch. She has this ass to die for,” he said, his hands sliding to her ass. “These eyes that leave me speechless, lips that should be on lipstick ads, and a smile that honestly makes it hard to even comprehend how God could give that smile to only one person.” Her lips fully smiled and both dimples appeared as her eyes lit up. Smiling, he whispered, “But thank God He did, because being on the receiving end of that smile… Heaven. Pure fucking heaven.”

She held his gaze and his heart stopped in his chest as she said, “Wow, this girlfriend must be pretty lucky.”

Leaning his head to hers, he kissed her nose, his eyes falling shut. It wasn’t going to be easy loving this girl. No, between her shitty-ass ex and her way of dealing with things, it was going to be tough. She had a stream of bad luck that wasn’t for the faint of heart. She sure as hell could start a fight in an empty room. But the thing was, he didn’t care, because he was a pro at tough situations.

And she was worth the fight.

Pressing his nose to hers, he smiled as he whispered, “Actually, I think I’m the lucky one.”

When her phone vibrated in her hand, Lucy made a face when she saw it was her dad.