‘Okay, thanks!’ I said before I started typing.
Me
It’s going brilliantly! The guests love what you and Theo created. They’re all downstairs reading now.
Oooohhhh! Sounds exciting! The guests will check out at one tomorrow. What’s the surprise?
He replied straight away.
If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise!
You’ll just have to come over after one tomorrow to find out!
62
SARAH
Knowing that I was on my way to see Ben was already exciting. But the fact that he also had a surprise waiting for me made me happier than a kid on Christmas morning.
Talking of surprises, hopefully it wouldn’t be long until Ben’s would be ready. I’d give the guy who was taking care of it a call tomorrow to check his progress.
Once I’d seen off the retreat guests and helped Jane tidy up, I skipped to Ben’s flat.
I’d missed him so much, which was crazy. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him for months. It’d barely been forty-eight hours. And we’d texted before bed and during the day, so that made it even weirder.
At first, I’d reminded myself not to get used to this. If anything, we should be winding down the contact in preparation to go our separate ways. Then I remembered Jane’s advice to tell him how I felt. So I’d do that today.
The fact that he’d got me a surprise was a good thing, right? Guys didn’t get surprises for fuckbuddies. That must mean that he thought we were more. Maybe the surprise was that he was staying after all?
The suspense was killing me. Not long to find out now, though.
Ben buzzed me in. When I got to the top of the stairs and saw him, my stomach did backflips, somersaultsandexcited karate kicks.
I knew there was more to him than his looks, buthonestly. When the powers that be created Ben, they really pulled out all the stops.
‘Hello,’ he said in his deep, plummy voice and my knickers disintegrated on the spot.
‘Hey.’ I stood in front of him, grinning like an idiot. Would it look too desperate if I jumped him right now?
Probably.
And given the conversation we’d had at the beach, it was better that I didn’t. It was important that he knew that I was interested in him for more than just his physical appearance.
Ben leant forward and planted a soft kiss on my lips.
‘Come in. Your surprise is ready.’
‘I’m so excited!’ I said.
I didn’t think a guy had ever given me a surprise before. Well, not a nice one anyway.
‘How was the rest of the retreat?’ Ben asked.
I’d updated him on our texts last night but hadn’t spoken about it since.
‘Amazing! The guests raved about it, and the feedback on the forms pretty much gave us full marks across the board. They all said they want to come back.’
‘Excellent! Theo and Jess will be delighted! Now close your eyes. No peeking.’ Ben took my hand and I did as he’d asked. After leading me across the flat, he stopped. ‘You can open your eyes now.’
