“Ben?”
“Yeah.” He chuckles. “Are you expecting another man to call you this early?”
I sit up and put my feet on the cold, hardwood floor. “No, sorry. I’m just tired. What time is it?”
“Almost six. Did I wake you?”
“No,” I say quickly.
“Liar.”
His playful voice is almost as good as his dominant one.Almost. “Are you always up this early even though you work at a bar?”
“Yeah. Open your curtains.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to see you.”
Rushing out of my bed, I climb down the ladder and sprint to the ledge, then pull the curtain panels to the side. I can see his silhouette behind his window, but the early morning sun makes it hard to discern his face. I don’t know if he can see me or not, but I still smile when I say, “Hi, Benny.”
“Mornin’, Blue.” He leans into the glass, much like he did last night when I was against the door.
Which reminds me…
“Did you deal with her?”
“I did,” he sighs. “But I don’t want to talk about her.”
“Whatdoyou want to talk about?”
“You don’t want to know what’s on my mind right now,” he retorts gruffly, “but I want to know what’s on yours.”
“Something happened last night.”
He chuckles. “A lot of things happened last night.”
“You know what I mean,” I whisper.
“Oh yeah. I know exactly what you mean.”
That voice makes me squirm. “It was big, wasn’t it?”
“It was.” He clears his throat. “I’ve been waiting for this, ya know.”
My heart skips a beat. “You were?”
“Yeah…and I’m realizing how wrong I was before,” he says thickly.
“Wrong about what?”
He sucks in a breath. “You.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” I whisper.
“Yeah.”
There’s something so intimate about the way we’re talking. “I’ve always been right about you.”
