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He was still checked in at the inn. She had confirmed that every night when she made it home. But Dusty hadn't been crazy—she'd stuck to her side of the family wing when not working.
Ben had changed everything with his killer kiss. She wasn't ready to deal with Ben yet. Just not yet.
She needed time. “Don't you have a book to write?”
“I am getting closer to the switch point.”
“And what is a switch point?”
“I just write and write according to my outline, and then a switch is flipped, and the story is just...clear. Just have to get there first.”
“Nikki doesn't outline.”
“Some writers don't. I was with this book. Then I wasn't. Sasha ended up needing Harry's help. I knew that part. I just didn't know he was going to feel the sudden urge to seduce his sister’s bestestest friend while he was rescuing her.” He sent her that wicked, wicked Ben look that shot her right in the stomach as she remembered his arms around her. His lips pressed to hers before he pulled back. “Harry really wants his hands on her.”
She wasn’t lost to the parallels between his latest story and what was happening between them now. “Are you acting out your book or something? Some kind of method...writing?”
“Nope. Not my style. If that was the case, I'd have had to be villains before. And, well, I'd probably be in jail, if I did the thingstheydid.”
“So what are you really after?” She was trying not to shiver out in the cold. The van was backed up to the rear of Martin's precious Tyler Hall. Her cousins and sisters were all inside now.
It was just Dusty and Ben and the falling snow.
“I just looked up and realized that I knew exactly how good old Harry would have felt in that moment. Because...I had my own sister's bestestest friend tormentingme. It made a few things clear. Very clear.” He slung one strong arm over her shoulders. Pulled her closer. “Come close. Keep me warm. Kiss me. That should do it. One kiss. Then I will behave.”
Dusty stopped herself from doing just that at the last minute. The guy had serious power. No denying that. “Ben? What are youreallyafter?”
He shrugged. She felt it beneath his arm. “I am after finding out why I suddenly can't get you—and that kiss—out of my head. Although to be honest, I've been thinking about you that way since before that kiss, you know.”
“I think you’re insane.”
“I've heard that before. But, hell, Destiny Marie, I just can't get you out of my head.” He stopped walking, turned. Until he was right in front of her. “You know I will never do anything to hurt you, right?”
Well, logically, she did. Ben was one of the few men on the planet she could say she felt absolutelysafewith. But the way he had her stomach churning right now—it was pure fear.
Not in a physical sense. But in a her-world-was-about-to-change-forever sense. And that, more than anything, was what scared her so much.
28
The last thinghe wanted to do was upset her or confuse her. Ben couldn't help himself. He leaned down, kissed her on her mouth once. Like he had before. Even though he really wanted to scoop her up and carry her off to another barn on his cousins' ranch. Just be with her. Get her out of that Talley Catering hoodie and just see what treasures there were beneath it.
But his mother had raised him to be a gentleman—especially with the one woman not related to him he cared about most on the entire planet. So he stepped back. “I'm not going to push, babe. But when you decide you are ready—I’m going to be here. Waiting. Lovesick and waiting. In the meantime, I'm going to have Harry rescue Sasha from her current predicament—she's been taken hostage by a vengeful policeman who has suddenly developed a conscience. It's a bit warped, but it is a conscience. And then...I think Sasha is going to rescue him in the final chapter. Why should the guy always be the one who does the rescuing in romance suspense?”
“It's called romantic suspense, you goob. At least, according to Nikki. And that is an outdated trope, by the way. The hero and heroine, or heroine and heroine or hero and hero—whatever pairing there is in the book—can rescue each other. As long as it's believable. Nikki spent thirty minutes last month informing me all about that.”
“Yeah. She thinks she knows everything. This book is notromanticsuspense.It's a thriller. Just like all the rest of my Harry books. A thriller. With romantic elements this time, though. Maybe. I don't know if it will go more than a kiss yet. Harry is running scared. He doesn't want to change the status quo with his sister's best friend. He values the relationship they have, you know.”
“Does he?”
“Very much so.” And he wasn't talking about Harry. They both knew that. “It's just as new to Harry as it is Sasha. And very unsettling, all around.”
“What does Sasha think about all of this?” Dusty asked in a quiet voice. “Have you figured that out yet? Because...maybe she can give me pointers.”
“I haven't. I don't usually do secondary characters' POV scenes until I get to the end, you know. I want to make sure Harry's reactions work well first. I follow an outline, but don't always write in order.”
“You are the exact opposite of Nikki. She never writes in order, which is insane to me, and never follows an outline. She always looks like she's having so much fun.” She shot Ben a look as they stepped up on the porch. “You don't. You look like you are doing battle.”
“It's different for every author.” He cupped her cheek, now cold from the air around them. He manfully resisted the urge to tell her he'd warm her right back up. “HowwouldSasha feel? For when...the time comes to write her POV?”
