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A hum of need grows in the pit of my stomach and I arch my body to him as he tightens his grip in my hair. My fingers dig into his chest and a growl climbs up his throat, moving into my mouth and mingling with my own vocalizations.
When he breaks the kiss, I’m a mess. A panting, dizzy mess of hormones.
He cups the side of my face, glides his thumb over my bee-stung lips, and rubs his together.
I take a deep breath and wonder what I’m supposed to do now. This is so different than kissing Devin. I wasn’t ever afraid she’d kiss me like that and leave me broken hearted. I wasn’t ever fearful that I didn’t measure up. I wasn’t ever so aroused that I …
… forgot my damn name or what my life purpose was?
“Yes,” he says. “I’d love some rocky road.”
“Uhh-kay.” Dizzy, I move my hands to the edge of the counter as Ben backs away, gives me room.
“While you’re getting that, can you point me in the direction of the bathroom?”
I point to the hallway. “Second door on the left.”
When he walks away I look at Ritz and mouth anOhmygod.Ritz blinks a few times and I scoop him off the floor, giving him a kiss on the side of the face.
“Thank you, baby boy,” I whisper. “Thank you so much. Seriously. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t approve.”
He pushes me away with his paw, whiskers shrinking as his lips tighten, and I set him on the floor. I go to the freezer and get out the rocky road, spooning a few scoops in a bowl. I then pull the newspaper clipping out of my pocketbook and set it on the counter. Now’s as good a time as any to give Ben at least one of the things he wants: proof that I want his trust as much as he wants to trust me.
When Ben comes back he sees me eating from the paper carton and laughs. He picks up his bowl. “I get to eat like a civilized human being, I see.”
“We can trade if you want.”
“And spoil your fun? No way.”
We eat our ice cream in silence, both of us polishing it off. Ben sets his bowl in the sink and I nod at the obituary. “There’s your guy right there.”
He picks up the paper and scans it quickly, a confused look on his face.
“This is the one who spat my name out?” he says.
“That’s the one. Said you and King were working together on some software business and you could tell me where to find him. In retrospect it was pretty dumb for me to believe him. But in my defense I was desperate.”
I also had a knife pressed to his neck and every reason to believe he was telling the truth.
Ben rubs his forehead, sets the paper down. “I’d like to know where he gotmyname.”
“Don’t know. It’s a little concerning, thinking he may have known you were looking for King. But now it’s too late to ask.”
“He is survived by a loving wife and sister. Maybe one of them knows.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say he kept that part of his life private.”
He leans against the counter, crossing his legs and moving his eyes over me. “So how’d he die?”
I shrug. “Probably made an enemy or two along the way. No telling.”
“An enemy you know?”
“Perhaps. One can never be sure.”
Ben nods slowly, quietly studies me. “And how did you know him?”
Letting out a sigh, I grab a bottle of wine and two glasses. “This might take a while. You want some?”
