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“Thank you,” she whispered. She sat up and took a couple of puffs which helped her feel immediately better. She avoided his eyes by putting her inhaler back on the nightstand and clicking off the lamp again, taking refuge in the dark.
“Okay?” Ben asked as she settled under the covers with her back to him.
“I’m fine. Sorry.”
She felt him shift and lay down as well. His hand came to rest on her waist and squeezed reassuringly. “No need to be sorry. We do find ourselves in a bit of a ridiculous situation here, don’t we?”
“Do you think so?”
“Hmm. I mean look at us…Mr. and Mrs. Fake as Fuck. On honeymoon in paradise. How the hell did this even happen, right?”
Despite herself, that elicited a giggle from her. She sensed his satisfaction at the sound and he gave her waist an approving pat, before he withdrew his touch.
She mourned the loss but told herself it was for the best.
There was a long moment of silence before Lilah sighed and turned. It was dark and she couldn’t see him, but she knew they were facing each other.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“You don’t have to thank me. I know that this has all been stressful for you. Not quite how either of us imagined this marriage starting.”
He shifted, his big body settling more comfortably into the mattress. He didn’t turn or move away from her, and he felt closer than before. She tensed and then flinched when she felt a finger brush against her cheek.
“Get some sleep, Lilah” he whispered. “You’re exhausted. And, quite frankly, so am I. Switch off that lively brain and overactive imagination for a few hours. You can go back to resenting me tomorrow.”
“I don’t resent you,” she said, and then immediately wished the ridiculous lie back.
He laughed, the deep rumbling—genuinely amused—sound coming up from his chest.
“Liar.”
“Okay, maybe I do, but…hmph!” The last as he pressed his finger against her lips, effectively shushing her.
“Not tonight. I’m running on empty and I’m pretty sure you must be too.”
Ben so rarely admitted to any vulnerability that his words gave her pause. He had to be pretty close to the end of his tether to even show her this small amount of weakness.
“Goodnight, Ben.”
“Goodnight, Lilah.”
They didn’t speak again after that, and while Lilah sensed that Ben had drifted off almost immediately, it took a while for her to follow.
Lilah opened her eyes to paradise.
Ben hadn’t drawn the blinds last night and the first thing Lilah became aware of was the bright natural light flooding into the room. When she opened her eyes, and looked out, all she could see was blue. So many shades of blue.
The azure of the sky blended seamlessly with the crystal clear cerulean of the ocean and the aqua infinity pool which was a shade or two lighter than the sea. She’d never seen anything so beautiful and for a moment she forgot all her concerns and simply enjoyed the pristine beauty of the tropical utopia within which she found herself.
“Wow,” she breathed. She sat up in bed, folding her arms around her knees, and stared out.
“Wow is right,” Ben’s low rasp agreed as he imitated her actions and pushed himself up.
Mercifully, he’d dragged on a pair of loose shorts to sleep in last night and she silently thanked him for that consideration. Of course, it didn’t prevent her from surreptitiously eyeing his beautiful body again. And it definitely didn’t stop her from noticing the fact that he seemed to have an erection… oh wait, no. Not seemed to, he most definitely had an erection.
She couldn’t fight the blush that followed that realization and when his eyes drifted from the view to her face they sharpened immediately.
“What’s got you all worked up this morning, cupcake?” he purred, even though he likely knew damned well why she was blushing.
“Do you mind ordering breakfast? I think I’ll go for a dip,” she said, ignoring his question.
Truthfully, she didn’t know what to make of this teasing and tempting man. The Ben she knew had always been brusque to the point of rudeness. He’d never had a playful side. He had come to them a moody teen who’d matured into a taciturn man. In anyone else she would call this behavior flirtation, but Ben—customarily abrupt in his dealings with everybody—did not flirt.
“What do you fancy?” he asked as he climbed out of bed with a lazy stretch and a yawn. Her throat and mouth went dry at the play of muscles in his shoulders and arms… he did nothing to hide his hard-on from her and she went even redder.
Yep, that swim was desperately needed.
“Pancakes,” she said, heading for the closet to retrieve a swimsuit from the suitcase. Because of the way she’d shoved everything into the case the night before, it took some digging around to find the bikini she was searching for. She should probably unpack to prevent her clothes from wrinkling even further, but that was the last thing she felt like doing right now. “With bacon. And lots of coffee.”
