A Very Merry Billionaire Christmas (Special Edition Holiday Novella) Read Free Page B

secretly fearing you don't really deserve anything you have, she believes, although Adrian thinks it's just a character defect that is more prevalent in moneyed families.
    Meg frequently reminds him that being self-deprecating doesn't actually make you a better person. And he frequently flips her off, although he knows that she's right.
    "Please, come in," the butler says. Maddy decides she is going to call him Jeeves in her head, because it brings some levity to the situation. "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."
    "I bet you are," Ben mutters, and Adrian instantly likes him.
    Adrian can't help but notice that Ben keeps glaring at Daniel's back like he's wronged him somehow, but he figures it might be too early to start cross-examining him.  
    Then he sees the ballroom, teeming with sleek overdressed automatons holding unthinkably expensive glasses of champagne they're not actually drinking, because it probably tastes like ass, and he thinks: ah, fuck it .
    He grabs two glasses from a passing server's tray, and holds one out to Ben.
    "Oh," says Ben, distractedly. "Thanks."
    "You looked like you could use it." Adrian eyes his own glass, suspiciously. "There's nothing worse than spending the evening at a party with friends you'd rather not see."
    Ben's eyes are searching the room for his wife, who's been instantly accosted by several tittering "fans." She is certainly the most recognizable face among them, but Ben suspects they don't care so much for her as they do for the notion that she might have Charlie Hunnam's phone number.
    "She'll be fine," Adrian says. "Didn't I see her on one of the Law and Orders last week?"
    Ben nods, still distracted. "Yeah, she keeps busy. I guess she'll be the popular one tonight."
    "Must be tough."
    "Huh?" Ben actually looks at his face, finally. "Oh, right. Yeah. I guess? I'm just happy she gets a chance to do what she loves. But it does pull her away, a lot."
    "I tend to resent strangers on the street looking at my wife," Adrian admits, scratching absentmindedly at his impeccably-groomed beard. "I don't think I could handle her being on TV."
    "Well, you know." Ben shrugs. "I mean, I like to think I'm pretty evolved. But I did hire a team of lawyers to crush NudeCelebsNow.com after they posted a bunch of screen-grabs of her in a thin white tee-shirt on Justified and talked about her nipples ." Ben's jaw clenches.
    "That was you?" Adrian stares at him, equally parts awed and terrified. "Uh, I mean - never heard of it. Nude Celebs what now?"
    Ben shrugs again. "I know. Your values really change once you're married to an actress. I've already offered plenty of apologies to my thirteen-year-old self, but I don't know if he's forgiven me yet."
    The conversation's derailed, but Adrian is still terribly curious about the obvious tension between Ben and Daniel. Does it have something to do with the newspaper articles? He wracks his brain, trying to remember if any of them name-dropped Ben as a source.
    "He's mad at me because I slept with his sister," Ben says, after a moment of silence. "I can tell you're curious. That's it. That's the whole story."
    "Wait..." Adrian frowns at him, then at Daniel, then at Jenna.
    "Years ago," Ben clarifies. "I'd just gotten out of a long-term relationship and I was...well, I was in the state of mind where you think sleeping with your best friend's sister is a good idea. And - I mean, in my defense, she was all over me . Not that I can't say no, but I didn't want to. She's goddamn beautiful. She's..." He hesitates, glancing at Daniel and then back at Adrian. "...I mean, never mind. It doesn't matter. The point is.."
    Adrian's snickering. "You were going to tell me she looks like him , weren't you?"
    "No!" Ben insists. "Because that would be an insane baseline comparison coming from one straight man to another." He hesitates. "I...assume?"
    "Correctly," says Adrian. "But I'm not blind. I get your point. Still, you don't sleep with your friend's sister."
    "Well, I