Sierra’s eyes flashed – just as he’d known they would. She pushed off the swing and turned to face him, fists clenched at her sides.
Benji couldn’t even appreciate her warrior stance and whiplash temper; he was too distracted by her mile of leg, which climbed into lush hips and a little waist exposed between her Daisy Duke shorts and tight cropped top.Jesus.Why me?his mind screamed.Why her?
‘I’m not a kid,’ she said, seething. ‘I’m not even a virgin.’
Benji bit off his groan. He couldn’t. He couldn’t imagine another man touching her; it would break him. ‘So what? You think some college sophomore seeing you naked makes you a woman?’
‘It certainly doesn’t make mea kid,’ she shot back. She took one menacing step towards him, and he took a harried one back. Her eyes widened at the movement, and then turned questioning. ‘You’re … Oh my God, are youafraidof me?’
‘Afraid?’ he laughed. And even though he internally shook with it, he cocked one hip. ‘I’m afraid of rattlesnakes, drought, and your mom’s homemade kombucha. In that order. I’m not afraid of you, Sierra.’
Sierra took one step closer again, but this time Benji stayed pointedly fixed to the spot. He glared at her as she came closer. But she only grinned wickedly, as if she could hear his heart jackhammering against his ribs and see the sweat suddenly coating his palms.
Sierra stopped an inch from him, leaving a tauntingly small space between their bodies. She looked up at him from under those long, dark lashes, and whispered, ‘Prove it, Benji.’
He didn’t dare move. Hell, he didn’t dare breathe, too afraid that if he did, he might accidentally touch her and tear through the last of his restraint.
He still didn’t move as she pressed her breasts up against his chest, undeterred. ‘If you’re not afraid of me, prove it,’ she said again. And this time she rose onto her toes and placed her lips against his.
It was barely a kiss, just an innocent press of lips to lips. But the contact, her soft mouth on his, undid him. And, still, Benji didn’t react. He held his breath, refusing to inhale her, cocked one eyebrow and plastered an amused smile on his face, so that when Sierra stepped back and met his gaze, her confidence wavered.
He saw it, the moment that boldness stuttered, the exact second she believed the lie he’d told her.
‘Oh.’ She released an embarrassed laugh and moved out of his space. ‘Well, it was worth a shot.’ Her attempt at nonchalance was lost when she wrapped her arms self-consciously around her body. ‘I guess I’ll stick to my college sophomores.’
He hated hurting her almost as much as he hated resisting her. And even as she said, ‘Be seeing you, Benji,’ and started back towards the house, he knew that he couldn’t let her leave thinking he didn’t care.
‘Hey, Si!’ he called after her.
She didn’t turn, only angled her face over her shoulder and waited.
‘If you’re not ready and waiting for me at four-thirty tomorrow morning, I’m not driving you.’
She didn’t say anything, but he saw the curve of her smile and caught her small nod before she walked away from him.
‘Fuck,’ Benji cursed the moment he was alone. ‘Fuck!’ he repeated, furious with himself. He ran both hands frantically through his hair. ‘What are you doing? You idiot. Fucking idiot. You only had to hold out for eighteen more hours!’
But even as he berated himself, he knew it was too late, and that he’d be lying if he said they hadn’t been working their way here for a long time.
He took out his phone, pulled up Mav’s number, and dialled before he chickened out. He knew he was a coward for doing it over the phone, but he forgave himself for it easily, knowing that Mav would prefer it too.
‘Benj?’ Mav answered instantly. ‘Where are you? I thought we were meeting at the barn?’
‘We are. I’ll be there in a few minutes.’
‘Okay …’
‘Hey, Mav?’ Benji tried to compose some explanation that sounded reasonable. He even thought about leading with an apology, something along the lines of ‘I know I’m the last person you’d want for her, but …’ Instead, all he could come up with was, ‘I’m gonna drive your sister to the airport tomorrow.’
A long pause prevailed before Mav asked, ‘Is … Is that a euphemism for something?’
‘I guess.’
‘Are you asking for my permission to …? With my little sister?’ Maverick sounded as offput by the conversation as Benji was.
‘It’s not going there yet,’ he replied. And because he rarely lied, and never to Mav, he added, ‘But it will.’
‘And if I said no?’
