Now and Forever by Brenda Rothert Page A

be accepted by your dad. He never really had one around growing up, did he?”
    “No. He doesn’t even know who his dad is.”
    “Well, see? Give him a chance to explain instead of just resenting him ‘til you boil over.”
    Layla passed him a thick folder. “Yeah, you’re right. I will. Here’s what I have right now. There’s a CD in there.”
    “You knew I’d want this.” Cole smiled and met her eyes.
    “Of course I did. I would, if I was arrested for something I didn’t do.”
    “You believe me, then?”
    “I didn’t have an opinion at first. But now that we’ve talked face to face, yes, I believe you. I look forward to some ball busting at Murphy and Kline. Some of those guys are real pricks.”
    Cole rose with the file of evidence. “Thanks, Layla.”
    “Tell my sister I said hi, jailbird.”
    “That’s not funny yet,” Cole said, heading for the door.
    “It is, actually. And try not to distract my secretary on your way out.”

Chapter Six
    Ben paced across the hardwood floor of Layla’s living room, pausing in front of a large window. Her dog Prince followed faithfully, limping behind him and then settling at his feet yet again. Ben leaned down to scratch his ears.
    “Good boy, Prince,” he said. The hound dog stared at him lovingly.
    It was the first affectionate glance his way in a couple of days. Things had been off with Layla since dinner at her parents’ house. Her comment about enjoying her job while she could was nagging at him. Tonight he planned to take her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant and get to the bottom of it.
    He was still bent down petting Prince, lost in thought, when Layla walked in a few minutes later.
    “Hey,” he said.
    “Hi. Didn’t know you’d be here.” Prince’s eyes flew open when he heard Layla’s voice, and he got up to greet her. “Hello, sweetheart,” she cooed, kissing the top of his head.
    “More love for the dog than your future husband?” Ben cracked.
    “He doesn’t expect me to give up my career for him,” Layla said, sliding her coat off and avoiding Ben’s gaze.
    “I knew it. You overheard my conversation with your dad. What’s with the passive-aggressive bullshit you’ve been giving me? Why didn’t you just tell me straight up you have a problem with me?”
    She didn’t seem to be avoiding him anymore. Her heels clicked on the floor as she charged over to where he was standing. “My gut reaction was to tell you to go to hell,” she said sharply. “I wanted to take some time to think about it before I said something rash. But the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. What the hell were you talking about? You’d like me to stay home and raise our children? Because that’s one thing. But what I heard from you was an expectation that I will. And I really fucking resent that, Ben.”
    “We aren’t even married yet. And when we get married, we’ll wait a little while to have kids, right? This isn’t even an issue yet.”
    “Oh, it’s an issue all right!” Layla turned her face up to meet his. “Do you or do you not expect me to give up my career to focus solely on raising our children?”
    Ben ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “What children? This is a long way off, Layla.”
    “Yes or no?”
    “It’s what I want, yeah,” he said.
    Her face twisted with hurt and she walked the few steps to the couch and sat down. Ben followed her, unnerved by her devastated expression.
    “I can’t believe this,” she said under her breath.
    “Don’t misunderstand,” Ben said, dipping his head to get a look at her downturned face. “I’ve worked hard and saved money so that if I ever got lucky enough to find someone as amazing as you, I’d be able to take care of them. Same with our kids. I don’t want you stressed out about defending deadbeats when we’ve got children to raise. I want you to be able to focus on that and enjoy it. Take them to the park and all that.”
    “Does it matter what I