Page 17 of Love Everlasting

He followed, lips twitching in a near smile at the way she marched with head high and shoulders square, reminding him just how much he’d missed her humor and stubborn resolve. When she reached his dock, she sat in one of the Adirondack chairs with hands folded on her lap, gaze fixed on the moon-striped river, which rippled and rolled as much as his stomach.

Setting her briefcase down, he claimed the chair next to hers, shifting it to face her directly. “Words can’t express how sorry I am, Tess, for losing my temper,” he said softly. “I was completely out of line, and I apologize.” He paused, ducking his head to force her gaze to meet his. “Will you forgive me?”

She warded him off with a tight clutch of arms to her waist, the glaze of tears in her eyes twisting his gut. “Of course I forgive you, Ben, but I won’t deny it worries me. I knew you had a temper because Lacey always alluded to it, but I honestly didn’t believe it until I saw what you did to Cam.”

He fought the need to grind his jaw, slowly easing back and resting his arms on the chair to keep his temper in check. “I haven’t lost my cool since that night Lacey jumped off my boat over a year ago, Tess, and before that it’s been years. But you have to understand that coming home after eight months of missing the woman I adore, only to see her in the arms of a man I can’t abide, tripped an anger in me I didn’t even know was there.”

“Cam and I are friends, Ben, nothing more,” she whispered, her tone mellowing even if the intensity in her eyes did not. Her chin tipped up in challenge. “And frankly, after barely hearing from you weekly for almost two months and not at all the last two weeks, how on earth was I supposed to know you were even home since you never bothered to tell me?”

“I wanted to surprise you,” he ground out, forcing a tranquility to his tone even though his gut was in knots. “I came straight to your house, but nobody was home, so I took Beau out on the boat to kill some time.” His jaw notched up, even with hers. “The last few months of the trip were grueling, Tess, with 18-hour days and very little sleep, so I didn’t always have the luxury of writing.” His voice softened along with his heart. “The only luxury I did have, however, was thinking of you—which I did day and night.”

Gaze tender, he leaned in to hunch on the edge of his chair, hands in a loose clasp over his knees while he zeroed in on the dark circles under her eyes. “How are you, Tess?” he whispered, suddenly worried that her overly perky letters hadn’t revealed the depth of her mourning. After Adam had passed away in January, Ben had written her almost every day and called as much as he could, given the demands of his schedule and time zone. And although she’d seemed to struggle at first, the spunky and perky personality he’d fallen in love with had re-emerged quickly, both in her letters and phone conversations, much to his relief.

Until now. Now the woman before him not only appeared tired and worn, but so tightly coiled, she looked spring-loaded, ready to pop from the chair. He grazed her arm with a gentle touch. “You’re still grieving, aren’t you?” he said quietly, distraught that she hadn’t let him know. “Why didn’t you tell me, Tess? You know how much I wanted to be there for you.”

She pounded the sides of her chair with her fists, jaw quivering as she seared him with a soggy glare. “Oh, don’t you dare go all tender on me now, Ben Carmichael,” she hissed, looking so much like a little girl throwing a tantrum, he couldn’t refrain from a faint smile. “And you can just wipe that silly smirk off your face, too, because we have serious issues to discuss, mister.”

“I know.” He reached to glide the pad of his thumb along the curve of her face, grateful for the shiver his touch produced because heaven knows she was setting off Richter-scale tremors in him. “The most important of which is—I love you, Tess.”

She slapped his hand away and jabbed a tight-fisted finger right under his nose. “Don’t you dare try to sidetrack me, Dr. Doom, because I am serious here.”

“I know that, too, babe.” He gripped her wrist so fast, she caught her breath, smile soft as he slowly reeled her in. “Seriously beautiful, seriously perky, seriously perfect …”

“I’ll-show-you-perky …” she bit out with a flurry of smacks that only made him chuckle as he scooped her onto his lap, grinning when she bucked like a catfish out of water.

“And I’m seriously crazy about you, too, Teresa O’Bryen,” he said, burying his head in her neck to feather her skin with kisses before trailing up to suckle the lobe of her ear. “Marry me, Tess—please—and I’ll even consider inviting your annoying friend to the wedding.” He suddenly thought of Phillips touching her like this, and his jaw went to iron as he staked his claim with a possessive kiss that lured a soft moan from her throat.

Then again, maybe not.

Chapter Ten

Sweet Southern tea, what am I doing? Tess slammed two stiff palms to Ben’s chest, hoping he hadn’t heard the moan that almost slipped from her lips. “You’re crazy all right, Carmichael,” she said with a last-ditch flail of arms, desperate to keep him in line until she could drive her terms home. “And God help you if you think you can waltz in here—”

He cut her off with another kiss so urgent and deep, his groan tangled with hers as she melted against his chest. She dug her fingers into the hair at the back of his neck, trying to decide if she wanted to grab him or gouge him when his mouth slid along the curve of her jaw to nip at her ear. “God help me is right, Tess, because I want you more than I have ever wanted anything in my life.”

“Ben, wait, please—”

He silenced her weak protest with another ravenous kiss, like a man starving for the only sustenance his soul could abide. “I can’t, Tess—not any longer,” he rasped, voice hoarse with a need he obviously could no longer deny. “I want to marry you now.”

Oh, Ben … She went completely still in his arms, her fingers at the nape of his neck suddenly limp and flat. Me, too, but … She slumped back, facial muscles wilted with a sadness she’d only displayed one other time—the night he’d revealed a past that had almost cost him her love.

Her heart ached as he fumbled in his pocket for the diamond ring he’d so longed for her to wear, holding it out with shaky fingers. “Marry me, Tess—tomorrow, the next day, I don’t care—but soon because I need you like I’ve never needed anyone before.” Her resolve weakened when he cradled her face in his hands. “In my life,” he whispered, nuzzling her neck with a tenderness that immediately lured her eyelids closed. “In my house …” He mated his mouth with hers, exploring until he coaxed a soft mew from her throat. “And most definitely in my bed …” he said with an answering groan, voice husky as he devoured her body and soul.

Her breathing was as ragged as his when she finally pushed him away, soggy eyes revealing the depth of her love.

And her hesitation.

“Ben, I love you, I do,” she said quietly, the deep slash between his brows putting a stranglehold on her heart, “and I want to be your wife so badly, I can taste it—”

“Oh, me too,” he said, diving right back in to nibble her neck all over again.

“But …” She squirmed from his grasp with two rigid palms, arms locked to keep him at bay. “I have concerns.”

The air in his chest seemed to slowly seep out. “My temper?”

She shimmied off his lap to slip back in her own chair, the absence of his warmth chilling her as much as the vulnerable look on his face. “Yes, your temper, although it’s not my chief concern at the moment because losing it only twice in a number of years is not a deal breaker.”

His throat convulsed several times before he spoke. “Deal breaker?” he whispered, voice a near croak as he slipped the ring back into his pocket.