"I don't know you very well, but from what I've heard from Cam, I find that very hard to believe."
Wait, what were we talking about? That's right, my supposed delight in crushing men's hearts beneath the heel of my Converse.
"I don't want to believe it either," I muttered. "But I've heard it more than once, from more than one guy."
I glanced down at my vodka and pressed my lips together. Why was I saying all this? Okay, so, yes, verbal diarrhea was my forte, but I usually kept the extremely personal stuff to myself.
I didn't know Ben that well. Cam talked about him a lot when we were in college, but in passing and usually in association with Brody, so he didn't feel like a complete stranger. Plus, there was the way he was looking at me—as though he wanted to hear anything and everything I had to say.
Ben shifted even closer, bringing my attention back to him. "People say things they don't mean when they're hurting. Don't take it to heart."
Heart? What did my heart have to do with the fact that my vagina was reminding me that it had been a while since I'd had sex? Holy crap, now I was thinking about that offer he'd made to have a little fun together. Dammit, how was I supposed to follow along in this conversation when my hormones were running amuck?
Where were we?
Oh, yeah. I'd crushed Brian and he'd accused me of being a cold witch who left a trail of broken men in her wake. You'd think that realization would cool me off, but it didn't.
A light sheen of sweat broke out on my lower back and I drained the rest of my icy drink. Ben's eyes locked on my mouth when I licked a stray drop from my lips.
"Looks like you're out of vodka now," he commented. "Want me to get you another?"
"I don't know. Do you really have vodka at your place?" I asked, shifting toward him the tiniest bit. I wasn't the most accomplished flirt, but I did my best.
"I do. Are you considering my offer from earlier?" he asked.
"It seems I am." Shit, was I really doing this? Thinking of going home with a complete stranger? God, he smelled good.
I guess technically he wasn't since I'd heard Cam talk about the Murphy brothers for years since college. Ben was the wild one. The bad boy. But he "had a good heart" as she was so fond of saying. And Colette, Cam's mom, adored him. Always told me that he was like the son she never had, which drove J.J., her actual son, crazy. I loved it when that happened because J.J. was too much of a straight arrow anyway. Since high school, he'd never stepped one toe out of line.
I'd enjoyed Ben's company at Colette and Malcolm's today and he'd made me smile the first time I met him, which happened to be the first day I was in town. He was funny and intelligent. All of my ex-boyfriends had been smart, but they hadn't entertained me the way Ben already had in just a few short interactions.
Ben leaned toward me, distracting me from my mental tangent, and I couldn't control the urge to mirror the gesture. His chest pressed against mine as he bent his head. "If that's the case, I'd be happy to share my bottle with you."
My brain reminded me this was a very bad idea, but my vagina, and nipples, decided that her opinion didn't count.
"I don't have my car," I stated. Earlier, I'd called an honest-to-God Uber in this tiny town. The guy driving the car was ancient and we didn't exceed thirty miles per hour, but he was funny and sweet, telling me all about his wife on the ride here. I was also fairly certain he was the only Uber driver in the area.
His lips brushed my ear when he asked, "Don't trust me to drive you home?"
Oh, I was definitely going to do this. The light touch of his mouth on the shell of my ear was enough to make my nipples tingle.
I shrugged. "Maybe you're the one who shouldn't trust me."
"I'll take my chances," he murmured. He nuzzled my ear. "Why don't we get out of here and if you decide this isn't a good idea, I'll call Cam to come get you?"
I leaned back so I could see his face. "How about I call the old guy that drives an Uber and tell him to bring his forty-five?"
"Marty?" he asked, knowing exactly who I was talking about.
I nodded. "He likes me and promised to shoot any man that looked at me wrong while I was here. And he may have mentioned that if he was forty years younger, he'd still be too old for me but that wouldn't stop him from chasing me anyway."
Ben chuckled. "Crazy coot."
I gasped in mock outrage. "Hey, don't talk about my future boyfriend like that."
He outright laughed and more than one head turned our way. "So what's your decision?"
"One drink and we'll see how that goes. I'm still on the fence about your offer." It was a complete lie, but he didn't need to know that. Besides, I needed to give myself leeway in case I changed my mind between here and his place.
