Never Too Much Read online

  “Yeah.” Ben smiled, thinking how obvious that was to everyone. His mother freely showered him with affection, and she loved to hug and compliment and praise. “Though I never met Pierce, and didn’t meet Agatha until I was fourteen, not once did I ever feel neglected or want for anything important.” He looked up at Sierra. “Noah wasn’t so lucky. He didn’t have anyone. Sometimes it rips me apart to think about what he went through as a kid.”

  Sierra leaned off her seat and curled into Ben. Surprised at such a show of comfort from her, especially when she usually chose to push him away, Ben said, “Hey,” and tried to tip her back.

  She wouldn’t let him—and Ben suddenly wondered if she was offering comfort, or taking it. “What happened to Noah?”

  Ben enjoyed holding her, so why fight it? He spread his hands over her narrow back and rubbed his chin against the top of her head. Her hair was very soft and smelled like flowers. “It’s amazing that Noah’s such a good man, considering he grew up in a string of foster homes, sometimes even on the streets.” Remembering made Ben agitated all over again. It literally sickened him to think of what his brother had gone through, how basic his survival had been. All because their father had been a selfish, irresponsible son of a bitch.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Ben heard her sincerity and returned her hug. “He was alone his whole life until Pierce died and Agatha decided she needed an heir.”

  Horrified, Sierra leaned back to stare at him. “She knew about him all along, but didn’t do anything about him?”

  Ben shrugged. “She’d always suspected Pierce of less than honorable behavior, so she hired a detective to check around.” Ben rubbed her back, nestled her closer to his heart. “She only wanted one heir, Sierra. She didn’t even mean to find me, but she didn’t call off the private detective fast enough and before she knew it, she was saddled with one grandson too many.”

  Sierra again pushed back to see his face. “She refused you?” She looked as though she found that prospect impossible to believe.

  “Pretty much, yeah. I’ll admit I had a huge chip on my shoulder. I didn’t even want to meet her, but my mother had encouraged me to give her a chance because she said you can’t have too much family.”

  “Sometimes it’s better to have no family at all.”

  Ben wondered at how she said that, at what her own family situation might be. She sounded far too grave, too . . . hurt. Was she an only child? Estranged from her parents?

  She fascinated him, and he wanted to know everything about her, what made her smile and what made her sad. Why a woman so sensual seemed determined to deny herself? But every time he tried to know her better, she closed down on him. Ben decided he’d have to earn her trust before she’d share herself, and he supposed the best way to do that was to share parts of himself first.

  “I think Mom worried that if anything ever happened to her, I’d be alone, just as Noah had always been. So I met Agatha—and my only brother.” Ben smiled, remembering his adolescent fascination with Noah. “We hit it right off. I had a bad case of hero worship and Noah fell right into the role of big brother. And when I say big, I mean big. He was seventeen then, but every bit a man. Quiet, strong, and . . . I dunno. It’s hard to explain but Noah’s always been a little like a wild animal. Not reckless, just dangerous. And powerful, with or without our grandmother’s money and influence. He intimidates everyone. Well, except Grace, but no one intimidates Gracie, and besides, she loves him.”

  Sierra idly traced a circular pattern on Ben’s chest, distracting him from his explanations. She seemed very pensive. “You’ve been close with Noah ever since?”

  “Real close. We may differ on Agatha, but I respect him more than any other man I know.”

  “I can certainly understand why.” She continued to caress him, but it was negligent, as if she were unaware of it, while Ben was very, very aware. “I take it Noah gets along well with your grandmother?”

  Ben laughed. “More like he humors her out of a sense of obligation to family—something he takes very seriously. But he has an undeniable fondness for her, too. She gave him a home, stability, and that means a lot to Noah. And since his marriage, she’s softened a lot, with Grace’s help.”

  Sierra’s fingers slipped inside the collar of his shirt, touching his throat. “Maybe you can help her to soften even more.”

  Ben closed his eyes and concentrated on their conversation. She was practically in his lap, freely stroking him, and his body wanted more. Much more. “We started out antagonistic, and haven’t gotten beyond that yet. Not entirely. I can’t even say it’s all her fault.” Ben caught her teasing fingers and held them in his own. “At fourteen, I had a monumental chip on my shoulder. I deliberately provoked her every chance I had.”

  “No way!” Her facetious teasing made Ben smile. “I just can’t imagine you provoking anyone, Ben. You’re always so proper and polite.”

  Ben squeezed her for her impertinence, and she laughed.

  “So you both antagonized each other and you’re letting it affect your relationship still?”

  “It’s a little more complicated than that. You see, Agatha tried to insist I have a blood test done, to see if I really was her grandson. She refused to take my mother’s word for it.”

  Sierra curled her fingers in his. “I can understand why that would anger you. But she accepts you now. She made that clear.”

  “True. But she’s still stiff-necked about my mother. Much as Mom says it doesn’t matter, it matters to me.”

  “And it should.”

  Ben drew a deep breath, relieved that she understood. “I won’t take anything from her. She’s trying to mend fences, I know. As I said, Noah getting married softened her a lot, and she’s feeling her age, dealing with some health issues. There are times when we get along just fine.” He ran his free hand through his hair. “Hell, I don’t know. I feel like a real bastard for not cutting her more slack, but she just pushes my buttons on some issues, you know?”

  “Maybe you should try sitting down and telling her how you feel? I can’t say I know you real well. And what I do know—well, it’s hardly applicable to family relationships, is it?”

  Ben grinned. “Speaking of the ways you know me . . .”

  She interrupted him, set on her course. “But you’re a nice guy, Ben, and you have the ability to charm any female, young or old.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Being that I’m sitting here with you, instead of working as I should be, I’d say so.”

  “Have I charmed you, sweetheart?”

  Sierra pushed him away when he tried to kiss her, but Ben could see she wanted to laugh. More progress.

  “You’re capable of being generous. And she’s not exactly young. If you know she’s proud and set in her ways, maybe you could be the one to initiate things.” She stopped, then shook her head. “Once someone’s gone, so is your chance to make amends. I’d hate to see you have regrets.”

  It seemed every damn thing she said had some grave, deep meaning to it. She was the most complex, restrained woman he’d ever met, and, rather than annoying him, it tugged at his heart.

  Ben put his hand on her knee again, inside a frayed tear so he could touch her silky skin. “Have dinner with me tonight and we can discuss it.”

  “We just finished lunch.”

  “And you enjoyed yourself, didn’t you?”

  She saw right though his ploy. “You’re incorrigible.”

  “And charming?”

  She rolled her eyes, aggrieved. “Yes, I enjoyed myself. But that’s not the point. You run your own business, Ben. You know the job requires my attention twenty-four /seven, at least until I get established.”

  Stubborn to the core. Ben shook his head, but he wouldn’t let her reticence bother him. She’d relent once she got to know him better. He’d see to it. “I do understand, which is why you should let me help.”

  “Help me how?”

  “In any way I can. U
npacking, cleaning. Maybe I can even give you a few business tips. What do you think of that?”

  She didn’t budge. “I think you’re used to having your own way and don’t know how to take no for an answer.”

  “Guilty.” Ben cupped her cheek. “And I think you’ve gotten so independent, you don’t know how to accept freely offered help.”

  She stared at him, her expression tense.

  Ben softened. “Come on, honey. Use me.”

  She rolled her eyes and gave up with a growled laugh. “All right. For work.”

  “Exactly.” Ben followed her as she strolled out of the room. He watched her hips, her lengthy stride, and whispered to himself, so low that she couldn’t hear, “For now.”

  Chapter Eight

  Filled with churning frustration, Agatha paced around her library. Damn, this was like déjà vu. Noah had once driven her to pacing, too, and she hated to pace. She hated to fret. Before getting involved with her grandsons—handsome devils, both of them—she’d always known her own mind, always known what she wanted to do, what was right, what was proper.

  Now they had her second-guessing herself all the time.

  It was invigorating when it didn’t annoy her so much.

  Her grandsons . . . Well, they were something else, with the Harper pride and initiative but some other less-sterling qualities as well. Like stubbornness and independence and a tendency to disagree just for the fun of it.

  Many of her friends were wary of her older grandson, Noah, because of his unfortunate background. There was an edge of darkness about him, a barely leashed power gained from an early life of poverty and abuse. Remembering that, knowing how he’d suffered because of her neglect, made Agatha hurt down deep in her old bones.

  She paced a little more vigorously, trying to outrun her own personal demons. Noah was with her now and that was all that mattered. Except that she needed Ben to be with her one hundred percent as well.

  She thought of Ben and found herself with an unwilling smile. Immediately her mood lightened. Ben was the polar opposite of Noah. Though they were both hard workers, dedicated to their livelihoods, Ben was carefree where Noah was intense, playful while Noah was forever planning. Though they were half brothers, they were now as close as if they’d been raised side by side.

  Outrageous, impudent, full of teasing charm, Ben was such a handful. The ladies loved him, of course, and he was rascal enough that he loved them right back. He was a complete and utter hedonist when it came to his leisure time, but unlike his father, he was always discreet. Except for today. Except with that young woman she’d met.

  She’d seen Ben kissing her with a total disregard for their location.

  Still, Agatha knew that no matter how carried away Ben might get, no matter how passionate he might feel toward a woman, he would always behave responsibly. Never would Benjamin disregard a woman’s feelings, and never would he abandon one of his children—as her son had done. Twice.

  The shame of it nearly suffocated Agatha. No, if Ben got a woman pregnant, he’d insist on marrying her, or at the very least fulfill his financial obligations. Beyond his mocking facade of endless good humor, he had an honor that came straight from his heart.

  He’d gotten that from his mother, Agatha knew, because he sure as hell hadn’t inherited it from Pierce. Her son had been a disappointment, but still she’d loved him. So much.

  Agatha sighed. There was no changing the past, but she did her best to make the future right. If only Ben wouldn’t keep refusing her financial goodwill. She had enough wealth to make his life easier, safer, more comfortable.

  But he seemed to take berserk pleasure in refusing her.

  He also underestimated her far too often. Did he think she was blind? Did he think she was so damn old she couldn’t see what was right before her face anymore?

  She said, “Ha!” all to herself.

  Nothing got by her. Nothing.

  Oh, Ben didn’t know it, but she’d been aware of them playing footsies under the table, of the intimate looks that had passed between them.

  Noah had reacted the same way to Grace—and that had enabled Agatha to mend fences. She freely admitted to herself that she’d used Grace as a cushion to soften the backlash of their disagreements.

  Perhaps, given Ben’s over-the-top behavior, it’d be the same with . . . What was her name? Something different. Yes, Sierra. An interesting name for the tattered little red-haired female. Agatha smiled. What the girl lacked in proper attire, she made up for with spunk. Nothing seemed to really shock her. She’d sat through their argument without once involving herself.

  Ben needed a woman with backbone, because God knew he wasn’t always that easy to get along with. And though he’d been raised without the luxuries she could give him, he had more than his fair share of arrogance and determination. She liked that about him. Even his irreverence amused her and made her proud.

  Damn it, he would be in her will. He would accept her benevolence because no matter what he said, no matter how he felt, it was rightfully his. She didn’t want her money, her holdings, going to strangers, and there was no reason for Noah to take it all.

  She smiled. Noah didn’t really need it, either. He’d done so well for himself. But her grandsons would take what she had to give, even if she had to use underhanded methods to force it on them.

  Agatha made a sudden decision. She’d give it a little time, make certain of Ben’s feelings, and if he stayed infatuated with the young ragamuffin, she’d pay a call on her. Sierra could be her ally, just as Grace had been. It’d all work out.

  It had to. She wasn’t getting any younger, damn it.

  Sierra looked around her small home with undeniable pride. For the past seven days she’d started at dawn and worked well into the night, but today she could finally take a break.

  Her home wasn’t impressive by anyone’s standards. It bordered on sparse with only a few pieces of furniture, along with the necessary desk and computer equipment she used for the business. But it was enough for her. The living area was so small, it wouldn’t have held much anyway, and besides, she’d never been one to enjoy clutter.

  Now, thanks to all her efforts—and Ben’s constant assistance—everything was clean and neatly organized and functional. Best of all, it all belonged to her.

  She’d never had her own house. She’d gone from being her father’s daughter, living under his dominant will, to marriage, under her husband’s twisted control. Since then she’d lived so frugally, even the smallest apartment was a stretch. Finally, she would be her own boss, with no one to order her around, and no one dictating to her. No one.

  Ben stepped up behind her. “What are you thinking?”

  Startled, Sierra twisted to see him. Well, there was Ben. No way could she discount him and his overwhelming presence. But she knew what Ben wanted—and it had nothing to do with bullying her.

  It seemed every time she turned around, he was there, smiling at her, teasing, trying to feed her, kiss her, give her a helping hand. He made her nuts, and he made her hot. He most definitely distracted her. But he didn’t get in her way. In fact, she had to be honest and admit that he’d been an enormous help.

  Since moving in, her spare time had been slim to nonexistent, yet Ben managed to show up every time she stopped to rest, and more often than not, he had food with him.

  Maybe the way to her heart was through her stomach, because she had started feeling very softhearted around him.

  That was a surprise, but an even bigger surprise was that Ben hadn’t tried to talk her into bed again. He touched her and kissed her and left her with no doubts that he wanted her, to the point that she wasn’t certain she could take it anymore. But he didn’t push beyond that. He seemed to understand that she needed time to get used to him and the effect he had on her.

  The only problem was that she’d begun to realize she’d never get used to Ben. He left her so unsettled she could barely think, unless she was thinking of him.

>   Today, he’d come over while she was struggling with her software program, inputting the latest bids on jobs, and the money she’d already been paid. Indoor office work was her least favorite, so she wasn’t in the most pleasant of moods. With a total lack of regard for her privacy, Ben had looked over her shoulder, promptly proclaimed her software garbage, and then shown her the accounting software he preferred.

  Because she liked it and found it to be much simpler than the one she’d been using, he loaded it into her computer. He even went to the trouble to transfer all the data for her. It had taken him half the time she would have needed to do the same thing. His computer skills far surpassed hers.

  It seemed that every day she learned something new about him, and everything she learned added to his allure.

  One side of Ben’s mouth kicked up. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Bemused by her own introspection, Sierra shook her head. “No reason.”

  “I asked you what you were thinking.”

  “You did?”

  He slowly nodded, his gaze on her mouth, and Sierra knew he was going to kiss her. After the path her thoughts had just taken, that might prove unwise. So she blurted a reply. “My freedom.”

  “What?”

  “I was thinking of my . . . freedom.”

  He rubbed his thumb on her jaw. He was forever touching her—and she liked it.

  “Just what the hell does that mean?”

  Wanting to kick herself for saying too much, Sierra lifted her shoulders. “Nothing. I’m just happy to be in my own place.”

  Too shrewd for his own good, Ben turned thoughtful. “Did you and your husband live with your father?”

  “No.” She shook her head a bit too adamantly, but the idea of living with her father during her marriage—oh, no. She shuddered. “Griffin’s father gave him a down payment for a small house.”

  While he’d worked on the computer, she’d cleaned her floors and baseboards and under her sink. Ben pushed aside a pile of her cleaning rags and leaned back on a countertop, then pulled her between his legs. He loosely draped his arms over her shoulders in a casual and now familiar embrace.