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“You could have taken one of the rooms with an en-suite bathroom,” I said, brushing by him, ignoring the throbbing ache in my core. He smelled like dirty deeds done in dark corners. Every atom in my body stood at attention. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to say to hell with my responsibilities and discover if his flesh would burn me.
“I know. I wanted to be close to you—just in case the stalker gets any ideas.”
His statement shouldn’t make warmth spread through my chest. But Jesus H. Christ, it had been so long since anyone had even remotely wanted to take care of me that it went straight to my head. I caught his scent, a deeply sensual sandalwood and man, and found myself aching to lean. Here was a man strong enough to bear my burdens from time to time when they grew too heavy for me to carry.
“I appreciate it. I need to—” I gestured toward my room. “I’m all icky from cleaning, so I’ll leave you to your own devices.”
I left him standing in the hall. It was either that or I would take a bite out of his delectable ass. I locked my bedroom door in case he meant to follow. And didn’t stop my progression until I reached the bathroom.
Looking at my flushed skin in the bathroom mirror, I wondered why I was fighting my attraction this hard. Yeah, he’d undeniably been an ass when we first met. But he’d softened over the past two days, and he wasn’t a soft man in thought or deed.
As I stripped out of my soiled clothes, I admitted a bold truth I’d been dancing around since his advent into my life.
I wanted Ben.
I wanted to touch him and be touched by him. It had nothing to do with Evan. He might be the reason we met, but my relationship with Evan ended years ago. And I wasn’t going to feel guilty for lusting after one of his friends. It was counterproductive and would only wind up confusing the issue further.
In fact, knowing Evan, he’d be happy if we found solace with each other because of his edict. It would be just like him.
Admittedly, I was mourning Evan too. I’d not seen him in more than four years. But there were people you meet along your journey who define you and create epochs in your life. My time with Evan, the growth and even the heartbreak, were one of mine.
Could Ben be the next epoch?
Or could we simply be two ships passing in the sea who share the horizon for a time?
It was a problem I wrestled with as I showered and began to mentally prepare myself for the night ahead. Because the truth was, if I’d never met Evan and Ben waltzed into my club one night, I would have already invited him into my bed. The desire he inspired within me was a force of nature.
And the real crux of the matter—would I regret never knowing Ben in the biblical sense?
Yes. Even with the chip on his shoulder and the raging grief in his gaze, I craved him.
By the time I shut the water off, I had decided on a course of action. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by. Because if Evan’s death taught me nothing else, it was that time was short and that you never knew the last time you’d see someone.
I had every intention of seducing him tonight. Ben wouldn’t know what hit him.
16
By the time I dressed and headed downstairs, Ben was cleaning up in the kitchen. Tater followed him around with a hopeful gleam in his brown eyes. I knew that look well.
“Did you feed him human food?”
“Just a bit of turkey.” Ben shrugged like it was no big deal.
“Yeah, well, if he winds up shitting all over the place with his stomach, you’re cleaning it up.” I rolled my eyes at the goofy smirk on Tater’s face. He was a good pup, but rather savage when it came to scoring human food, which didn’t always settle well in his belly.
“Fine. He won’t do that, but if so, I’ll handle it.”
“Good. I should be back by one as long as no one else calls in sick.”
“Do you honestly believe I’m letting you go to the club by yourself? You’ve got a stalker. One who, I might add, hacked your security system and installed bugs to monitor your every move. This is not a time for you going off half-cocked because you think you can handle yourself.”
“I can handle myself. Been doing it most of my life.”
“Yeah, well, not on my watch, sweetheart. I’m ready to leave whenever you are. I’m not leaving you alone when you’ve got a stalker. So you can forget about arguing. It will only make you late.”
Ben was too stubborn for his own good. But I hadn’t planned on fighting him. I figured he would wind up going with me. I wanted to give him the chance to feel as if he had the upper hand in this situation. “Fine. You can go. I expect you’ll be on your best behavior and not cause any issues.”
He followed me into the garage. “Keys.” He held out his hand, standing at the driver’s side door.
