“Did they cheer you up?” he asked when he finished filling both glasses with water and pushed one toward her.
He sat at the small round table and nodded in the direction of the only other chair in the room for her to do the same.
She sighed and took a seat, moreso because her legs were feeling a little wobbly being on solid ground after the long ride. “That’s not the point.”
Ben took a drink then set his half empty glass down. “It’s precisely the point. If something cheers you up, or makes you happy, you should just go with it. Don’t question it because they’ll be plenty of time for questions later.”
“Who told you that?”
He shrugged. “Figured it out all by myself.”
Ben didn’t grin this time, although she fully expected him to. The finale to his charming words was always a dashing smile. This time he looked at her pensively.
“There’s enough going on to keep us both stressed. I wanted a moment without all the worry and concentration, to relax and enjoy life.”
“And you had to pick me up for that?” she asked.
For the first time in a very long time Ben looked agitated. The carefree guy she thought she knew, looked as if there were more going on inside his mind besides plans for the next good time.
“Why are you so distrustful?” he asked. “Who broke your heart?”
She clamped her lips down tight. That wasn’t a question she expected, nor was it one she thought she could easily answer. How could she tell him it wasn’t what he thought? That it wasn’t some guy that she’d fancied herself in love with then found out he was the scum of the earth. That her track record with men was severely less decorated than his with women.
“It’s not about my heart being broken. I can handle heartbreak.” That wasn’t a lie. Hadn’t she handled her father’s death like a champion? Sure she had, that’s what all her teachers had told her when she’d come right back to school the day after the funeral.
“I bet you believe you can handle anything,” he told her, almost as if he were reading her mind.
“I don’t think I’m invincible if that’s what you’re trying to say. I’m just confident. I know what I want and how I plan to get it.” And she didn’t need Ben Donovan trying to tell her differently.
“That’s fair,” he said with a nod.
Then he reached for her hands. She wanted to pull away but they’d been resting on the table and she didn’t really feel like being difficult. For the first time in Victoria’s life she was thoroughly confused. The right way to act or thing to say wasn’t naturally on the tip of her tongue. And for her, that was very problematic.
“I’m just not sure this is the right time for us,” she admitted and figured the truth was probably the best way to go. “There’s so much other crap going on.”
She’d given him her hands and loved the way they fit perfectly into his. His fingers rubbed over her skin and she looked down to see them intertwined. They looked like they belonged.
“We make the time right. We make the rules,” he said seriously. “I’m not giving Vega anything, not my job, my life, my happiness, nothing. And neither are you.”
His words were said with such conviction, the deep timbre of his voice gliding over her body like warm oil. He expected her to say something to that or maybe act some sort of way. Victoria was almost positive he didn’t expect what she said.
“I want you to make love to me, Ben. Right here in your little cabin,” she said after a moment’s thought.
She hadn’t really expected them herself. The words didn’t sound like anything she’d ever said in her life, anything she’d ever thought of saying before. But as they slipped from her lips Victoria knew they were the exact thing she wanted to say. They were her true feelings and hadn’t she decided to go with the truth?
“Ask and you shall receive,” he whispered keeping one of her hands as he stood from his chair.
It only took a step and a half before he was standing right in front of her, pulling her to her feet.
“This time won’t be slow. It can’t be,” he told her as he stared down at her, his eyes darkening with desire.
She licked her lips, swallowed deeply and let her body press willingly into his. “I didn’t ask for slow. I asked for right now.”
Victoria didn’t think her feet had touched the ground, or at least she hadn’t felt any ground beneath her as Ben led her into a bedroom that seemed much larger than the size of the cabin had appeared. Clearly it stretched long and beyond what could be first seen upon driving up.
Measurements, room sizes, furniture, rehab projects, all of that was forgotten the second Ben’s lips touched hers. When his mouth was on her, his tongue stroking along her own, everything else slipped away like puffy white clouds on a bright summer’s day. His hands ran up and down her body, slipping beneath her t-shirt to coast along bare skin. Her fingers tightened over his shoulders and eased down his back. She pressed against him needing to be closer.
This longing was strange. Like she needed him more each time she saw him. The draw to him had grown over the years,just as her resolve to steer clear of the attractive playboy. Only now, she couldn’t let her mind rule, not in this case. There was definitely something between her and Ben, something that was proving a lot stronger than anything she’d ever faced in her life. They kissed as if they’d been doing it for years, a moan slipping past her lips as his tongue now traced a heated path along her jaw line. She arched her back letting him lift one leg up to wrap around his waist.
