But my ultimate sin was not going into law. He and the Becks before him had spent their entire lives working to build a prominent and thriving practice. In his mind, I was going to let their dream die off because I chose to “fiddle” with numbers like a middle-class accounting clerk instead of stepping up and choosing a proper career.
But I just couldn’t. I’d watched my dad and my uncles and my grandpa spend every day of their lives working for power. They didn’t love their work, but they adored what their work gave them. Respectability and influence, wealth and connections.
All I wanted was to be a regular guy who actually enjoyed his job. I loved the challenge of numbers, so why not do that for a living? That crazy way of thinking made me, the guy with a master’s in mathematics, the black sheep of the family.
Honestly, that was why I’d never taken a penny from them after college. I’d worked my ass off to support myself, to buy nice things like the condo and my car, just to prove to the world that my father’s opinion about my career was dead wrong.
I made my own success without the help of the esteemed Thomas Beck.
“Well, it’s fun to watch.” Jillian grabbed her handbag from the floor and said, “I wish you’d come more often.”
My phone rang and I was a little disappointed; it felt good hanging out with my sister, and I didn’t want to be interrupted. She was a lawyer and liked the Beck life, but she’d somehow managed to keep her feet on the ground enough to understand what I was trying to do, too.
I pulled the phone out of my pocket, but when I saw it was Olivia, my mood brightened and I lifted the phone to my ear. “Marshall.”
“Beck.” She cleared her throat. “Um, there’s a bed here.”
I leaned back in my chair and imagined what her reaction must’ve been when it showed up at her door. It’d been a crazy idea, giving her a bed, but she didn’t have one and I did owe her for that letter. “Where?”
“You know where. In my apartment.”
“And you’re not talking about your raft?”
“You know I’m not.” I heard her trail off and mutter, “Although, come to think of it, I have no idea where that thing went.”
“Focus, Liv.”
“Why is there a bed here that looks exactly like yours?”
“Well, I’m sure it isn’t exactly like mine. Mine was a special order.”
“Do you know anything about the bed in my room? Focus, Beck.”
“Yeah.” Was this supposed to be fun? Because this was fun. I glanced at Jill and she was watching me with a tiny smirk. “Turns out I’m not a huge fan of people napping in my room, so I thought this was the best solution.”
“You bought me a million-dollar bed exactly like yours so I won’t nap in your apartment?”
“You’re not listening, Marshall; it’s not exactly like mine. I’d never drop that kind of coin on someone who could accidentally spill a vat of nacho cheese on it at any given moment.”
I heard her snort out a little laugh. “Okay, so, what does this mean? Do I have to let you nap on it?”
“I’m not into slumming.”
“Then why did you do something that nice?”
“It wasn’t me being nice. You helped me land a huge client when you didn’t have to.” I rolled my eyes at Jill like the caller was ridiculous. “This was just me paying you back.”
“I see.” She sounded happy and confused. “Uh, this isn’t like a sex thing, either, right? Like you bought me a bed, so now I have to sleep with you on it?”
Well, shit—like I needed more visuals of Liv in bed. I’d gone from finding her the most annoying girl on the planet to being inexplicably obsessed with her. She still irritated the hell out of me, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the way she rolled her eyes and the way her face got that intensity to it when she was typing one hundred words per minute on her laptop.
I lowered my voice and turned away from the table. “It is not a sex thing, though gratitudial favors will not be turned down should you feel inclined.”
“Gratitudial?”
“That’s right.”
I heard her laugh again. “Well, I am incredibly gratitudial, Colin. This was the nicest surprise and I think I’m going to take a second nap on my very own bed the minute I get off the phone.”
“Did you already take—”
“Oh, yeah. Your bed was amazing, by the way.”
I started laughing; of course she had.