Maddie ran her finger over Bennet’s chest as they laid in bed. The evening had turned into night and their passionate love making had turned into sleepy cuddles. “Can I ask you something?” She bit her lower lip in hesitation.

“Hmmmm?” Bennet lifted a sleepy eyelid and pulled her closer, “Anything you want.”

“Why haven’t I seen you with anyone? Even when I Googled you…or well, technically Jazmine Googled you, I never saw you with a girlfriend. I think I saw a date or two but nobody significant.”

“You Googled me?” A huge grin spread across his face as he grabbed her side sending her into a fit of giggles and snorts.

“Hey don’t avoid the question!” She said trying to regain her composure and catch her breath.

He let out a deep sigh. “Well, when I was younger I was a lot more reckless. I made a large portion of money in my early twenties from day trading. I was bored in school and it was something I messed around with and found out I was good at so I kept at it and pretty soon I was making serious money and diversifying my assets. I knew I loved business and marketing and took a huge chance opening my own firm. Thankfully it paid off but even today that’s not where the bulk of my income comes from. Anyway, so there I was, a twenty-three year old with a shit ton of money and an endless amount of women lining up to go out with me.”

Maddie pinched his side at that last comment, “Oh yeah? Just couldn’t resist the sexy Bennet Windsor huh?”

“I’m sorry that sounded incredibly vain but it’s true. When you’re young, rich and stupid there’s a certain type of woman that sniffs it out a mile away. I met this girl one night, she was a friend of a friend and we hit it off pretty quickly. We had so much in common, or so I thought.”

“Over the next few years we were always together. One of my friends had tried to tell me he had heard things about her, how she’d basically played some other guys in the past and taken them for their money. Naturally I defended her and ended up ruining my friendship with that guy over her. There were certainly red flags I ignored. She asked me for a baby the first year we were together and wanted to buy a house and cars in both of our names. I just told myself it was her wanting a family and being baby crazy. By the time we were both twenty-six we were talking marriage and that’s when she got pregnant.”

Maddie couldn’t help but feel a weird tinge of jealousy. She certainly wasn’t ready for a family but she felt a little salty that he had experienced something so intimate and personal with another woman.

“She ended up losing the baby at about nine weeks. We hadn’t even told my family yet. Once she lost the baby she became completely disconnected from me and began going out more. I chalked it up to her grieving and coping with such a tragedy. Turns out though she had actually set her sights on another up and coming rich guy she could sink her claws into. She left me pretty quickly after the miscarriage. Told me that she needed space to deal with what happened but I heard rumors from friends that ran in the same circle as her that she was already dating someone else and told friends that I broke up with her.”

He ran his hands through his hair as he recounted the details of his past. Maddie felt guilt for her comments to him in the past, she was realizing how much she had projected her own insecurities on him. She never realized that he had been wounded and his heart shattered in the past.

“The strange thing is she just cut me out so completely and quickly I didn’t even see it coming. I truly loved her, I wanted that baby so bad and I was so happy. If I’m honest, after that I just shut everyone out. I couldn’t imagine risking my heart again to someone who could throw it away so easily, like it meant nothing.”

They both laid there in silence for a few moments that felt like hours. “Bennet.” Maddie fought back tears as she cleared her throat. “I am so sor—“

Before she could finish he interrupted, “Maddie don’t apologize.”

“No, let me get this out. I need to, for my sake at least. I am so sorry for the way that I treated you. The way that I hurt you and betrayed your trust. I never thought someone like you would want or love someone like me. I projected my insecurities on you and I see that now, I’m sorry it took me behaving the way that I did to see it.”

Bennet pulled her into a tight hug and kissed the top of her head. “Maddie you have no idea what kind of woman you are. You opened my eyes and heart to love again! I know that sounds like a Hallmark movie but I’m serious. The connection I feel with you and the respect I have for you is something that I know I could never feel or experience with someone else. You are the peanut butter to my jelly babe.”

Maddie laughed through the tears that had pooled in her eyes. “You know for being so rich and powerful you’re still kind of a big dork and I love it.”

He rolled on top of her swiftly, pinning her arms above her head and straddling her legs leaving her completely at his mercy. “You tell anyone my secret and I’ll hold Rascal hostage.” He sealed his threat with a kiss and smile as Maddie squealed in protest