“Hey. You’re home, but Ms. Miller wants you to come inside her house. I think she wants to be nearby, so she can help you with anything while you rest some more.”
Charlotte grimaced. “I’m surrounded by a bunch of mother hens.”
He grinned. “I don’t know. It’s kind of nice to know you have so many people who care about you.”
She sighed. “It is. Don't get me wrong. I love them all. They’ve been very good to me since I moved here, but it does feel like my life is not my own sometimes.”
Ben understood the sentiment all too well, but he kept that tidbit to himself. “I was going to carry you inside, but since you’re awake, I’ll give you the option of walking or being carried inside like a princess.”
Her look of horror made him laugh. “I’m capable of walking, thank you.”
He stepped back and held out a hand to help her step down from the Tahoe. She slipped her tiny palm in his but pulled back at the last minute.
“Before we go inside, I wanted to say something. I do appreciate your help today, but the kiss...”
Her voice trailed off, and he could imagine where the conversation was going. He wasn’t going to make it easy for her, so he waited. She cleared her throat and started again.
“I get you did it to get me to stop arguing, but—”
“That’s not why I kissed you. Well, not the only reason.”
Her shocked expression gave him some satisfaction. He pegged Charlotte as someone who needed to be in control of her circumstances. Being with her all morning gave him a glimpse into what she was like when she let down her guard. She was more approachable and receptive.
“I don’t understand. You said—”
“That I kissed you, so you’d stop talking. What I didn’t say was that I’ve been wanting to kiss you since we had dinner with Wally and Mona. I figured it would be one hell of a kiss, and for me, it was.”
The smoky irises of her eyes shifted from a steely gray to a deeper blue. Her breath hitched, and the pulse in her throat quickened. Hunger pooled in his belly, and he was sure the responding smile curling his lips held a hint of the predatory feeling he was experiencing.
“Ben, I don’t...I mean, it’s not a good idea...It’s...”
The way she stumbled over her words reminded Ben he was being unfair, laying his intentions out there the way he was after the day she’d had. He didn't regret telling her, even if it did throw her for a loop.
He liked Charlotte. A lot. He wasn’t in Ivy Springs to start something with a woman, but after hearing her painful cry thatmorning and seeing her hold onto her inner strength despite her hurt, he couldn’t stay away from her. He barely knew her, suspected she held many secrets she may never trust him with. But tasting her lips, seeing her smile, and feeling her eyes on him were enough. For now.
“I won’t kiss you again.”
Her head whipped up, her lips parting in a silentoh.
“You won’t?”
He couldn’t tell if she was relieved or disappointed, and he guessed she wasn’t sure either. He leaned in until their breaths mingled in the air.
“I won’t. Unless you ask me to. And Charlotte?”
“Yeah?”
The one word was breathless, and Ben had a sudden image of her in his arms, in his bed, lost in the throes of passion, struggling to catch her breath amid the delicious sensations she would feel when his hands and his lips explored every inch of her. His cock stirred behind his zipper, but he ignored it for now. His focus was all on her.
“Make no mistake, sweetheart. I want you to ask me to. Sooner rather than later.”
Ben enjoyed watching the play of emotions across her face. He pulled back to give her some breathing room and reached out his hand.
“We’d better get inside before Ms. Miller comes looking for us.”
Charlotte visibly swallowed. “She’s been watching us. She can stand at her kitchen window and see everything on this side of the house.”
Ben chuckled, not at all surprised at that bit of news. “I get the impression she doesn’t like me, or at the very least doesn’t trust me.”
