Ben approaches like a thunderstorm-in-black cutting through the bright day. Slacks, a plain fitted tee—but there'snothing plain about him. He looks devastating. Black fabric usually hides. On him, it outlines. Clings to muscle and bone, giving away every contour of his chest.
Oh my god.
His eyes catch mine, like they always do. Like even in complete darkness he'd still find me.
He makes it to the terrace, drags a chair from the next table and slides in beside me like that's exactly where he belongs.
"Hello, ladies," he says, all smiles and casual catastrophe.
It takes me a while before I manage a tight "Hey." It takes me another beat to add: "Mara said you were busy?"
His eyes skim my mouth for half a beat.
Damn, am I biting my lip again? No. Thank God.
"Still am," he says, leaning back in the chair. "Thought I'd steal a moment. If you don't mind."
Do I? I thought I'd have a minute without him occupying my entire existence. I guess that won't happen, at least not in this lifetime. Plus, it's even harder to decide when his scent is already colonizing my bloodstream.
"No. Don't mind at all," I say, let a faint smile slip and hide behind my empty wine glass.
"Good, I hoped you'd say that," he says, his mouth curving. "So what did I miss?"
"Nothing." I shrug, sliding Richard into a mental file drawer and locking it shut. "Just learning from Mara how to run the world."
He huffs a laugh and turns to Mara who's been staring at him the whole time, eyes sharp.
"So nice of you to return to the world," she snaps at him, tone biting.
"I can't have a little me-time?" He fakes offense.
"You can," she says, all Italian big gestures. "Just keep your phone on and let us know?"
I guess not much has changed—he's available when he wants to be.
Ben looks at her, calm and untouchable. "You're overreacting. I turned it back on. For you."
Mara raises her immaculate brow. "For me? Uh-huh. Admit it, there's a different reason you flipped that switch." Her eyes flick to me, then back to him, full of implication.
I glance his way just as he starts fixing his shirt, a little too casually.
Did he turn on his phone for me? Was he texting Mara to see where we are?
Or is my brain building a whole city of unnecessary connections because my pulse just went rogue?
"What did he do to you this time?" I jab because the table's been silent for a while.
"I had to listen to Mamma pissed off solo instead of talking to Paul because his phone was off—" Mara starts.
"I just spoke to her, she's fine," Ben cuts in, but she talks over him.
"Dad booked a trip with Uncle Dino to Vegas and forgot to mention it. Now she's done with him. For good." She rolls her eyes theatrically.
"Aww. I remember their steamy love. I could write twobooks about them," I say genuinely pouting in awe.
Their bickering stories always felt oddly comforting because my house growing up? It was cold walls and closed doors.
Unless Mom erupted. Then the whole house wanted to run.
