Sarah noticed the ever-frowning Franklin was grinning.From the pounding adrenalin and their hurried movements through the house, they were all sweating.
“That was totally cool,” Sarah said to Ben.“Wait till you see the video.That part where the lady transformed into a jihadi was scary!And the dummy swinging from the ceiling!I jumped!”
“Yeah.I jumped, too,” Ben said, casting a weather eye at Rio.
“Did you like that?”Rio beamed.“I thought it up myself.Rigged a timed mechanism to let that baby fly.”
“It came at my head like a giant bat,” Ben told him.“But we got him.And we came out with our hostage and no injuries.If only all our real-life missions were so successful.”
Sarah could not stop smiling.Ben was amazing—a dangerous warrior and yet a tender, would-be lover—an incredible man.
Maybe it was time to change his would-be lover status.
To lover.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Over the years, Sarahhad dated various men.Some had been male models, handsome and vain.Others were well-known singers and indeed, a few charming actors.One had been a movie producer who’d made her laugh.In all that time she’d coasted through life never landing on the exact kind of man she might want for the long haul.
Observing Ben dissect his team’s performance, and watching him individually compliment those who deserved it, and professionally correct those who needed that, she couldn’t help being impressed.Each recruit listened intently, accepted his comments, and processed his critique.It was as clear to Sarah as the water of a deep, still pond that Ben Paxton was the sort of man others looked to for leadership.
While his features were cut more ruggedly than the magazine male models she’d known, he was attractive in a substantive, more dynamic way.Competent, intelligent, and yes, Sarah admitted to herself, insanely sexy.
How quickly he was becoming in her mind the kind of man she might wantfor the long haul.
Watching him deal with problems both large and small, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.He was the alpha.The top.The man in command.Like a female animal in the wild, she was drawn to his apex predator appeal.
Most importantly, when she was close to him, all her worries about her stalker evaporated.He’d told her he’d keep her safe.She believed him.With Ben, she could relax.Enjoying the sensation of well-being, she sighed.There was something very primitive about trusting a man with her life.
Beneath her shirt her nipples hardened, and a heated warmth infused her feminine places.She’d known right away she was attracted to him, but she’d also done her best to tamp that down.Now, spending so much time with him wasn’t helping.
In fact, it was having the opposite effect.Why was she fighting this?Suddenly she didn’t have a good answer.She wanted him.Sarah closed her eyes.Except for that one, quick interlude in the barn, she’d already turned him down.How could this be happening?
For the remainder of the day, Ben ran teams through the shoot house.During those hours, Sarah felt as though her body was set on simmer.In the most elemental way a woman wanted a man she admired, Sarah wanted Ben.As the hours passed, her desire built.
Ben was truly a good man: fair, honest, reliable.Until recently, she hadn’t realized the importance of these traits—-a kind of starting point for her.
