by Kim Law
“How could I forget?” he asked. “I mean . . . gross. You put chips on it.” He lowered to sit beside her, and together they shifted so their legs dangled over the side.
“I see your point.” She elbowed him in the ribs. “But really, it’s good. You should try it that way.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
She glanced over at him then, and really, she tried hard not to stare. But, man, he looked good. And she hadn’t seen him in two days.
Almost three.
His hair was standing a bit on end, as if he’d run his fingers through it, and he didn’t appear to have shaved since he’d left. He was quite . . . rough looking. Which somehow managed to tingle her toes. And made her wonder why she was suddenly so hard up for him.
“Want to talk about it?” he asked.
About her being hard up for him? She bit her lip. Wouldn’t that be an interesting conversation?
But that’s not what he meant. She glanced at the empty bowl.
“No need. How was your trip?” She changed the subject. “Haley still good?”
“Haley’s great. In fact, I think this trip was just what we needed.”
“I’m so thrilled to hear that, Ben. I told you she’d bounce back.”
“You did.” He grabbed her hand and held it in his lap. “But I did go ahead and make an appointment with your friend.” He gave her a strange look before adding, “For both of us. We go in next week.”
“Oh, Ben.” She said the words softly. He struggled occasionally with knowing the right thing to do, but in the end he got it right. She slid her fingers between his and squeezed. “Janette is great. I’m confident that talking to her will only improve things.”
“That’s what I’m thinking, too.” When she tried to untangle their fingers, he tightened his grip, and at her look, he twisted his mouth into a perplexed smile. “I missed you.”
Her heart thumped. He’d missed her?
What in the heck was she supposed to do with that?
She would do nothing with that. “I don’t believe that at all.”
Instead of replying, he shrugged. Then he stared out at the lake.
There were a few boats still on the water this afternoon, and the two of them sat quietly together as several passed within view. One pulled a skier, and Dani suddenly found herself so hot she wished she were out on the lake with them.
Or maybe she should just jump off the dock and douse her head.
“So how’s your week been?” Ben asked.
Lonely.
“Busy,” she said instead. What was wrong with her today? “I took on a new client over the weekend, a fishing and hunting company opening up in Swan Valley.”
“You’re a busy woman.” He peeked at her from the corner of his eye. “So you weren’t sitting around pining for me?”
“Hardly.”
He smiled at her comment, and tightened his fingers on hers. “Tell me about your client, then.”
Delight filled her that he’d asked. “They’re a start-up—brothers from this area—and they finally decided to put their money where their mouth is and follow their dreams. Yesterday we did a couple of planning meetings in the morning, then we drove out to the location in the afternoon. It was gorgeous, by the way. Amazing views of the mountains. Today I spent hours on the phone, and I think we’ve already nailed down a brand identity for marketing purposes. We should have the beginning ideas for a logo by the weekend.”
Ben gave a low whistle. “Impressive.”
She smiled at the compliment.
“You’re going to be able to finish with them before you move?” he questioned.
“I’ll get far enough. We’ll map out a detailed strategy before I go, and hopefully the logo will be finalized. I may have to finish up a few things after I’m gone, but not anything I can’t handle in the evenings. They wanted to move fast, but they also hired me with the understanding that my time was limited, especially starting next month.”
Ben turned his green gaze on hers. “You’ll be able to keep clients after you move?”
That was the part that stunk. “Not really. But I haven’t been able to bring myself to part from things quite yet.”
“Ah.” He nodded as if he got it. “Changes. They can be both good and bad.”
“That they can.”
They both went quiet again, each in their own thoughts, and he tucked her arm under his. She noticed that their thighs were touching, but she had no idea which one of them had scooted closer. Or maybe it had been both.
As they sat doing nothing more than simply “being,” it occurred to her that theirs was the only healthy relationship she’d ever had. Including the poorly-acted-out seduction routine she’d turned loose on him ten years ago. Even that had been better than any other man she’d been with. How sad.
She wondered what that said about her. Was she the problem?
Or was Ben simply the solution?
She also wondered if she would be able to find this kind of comfort down the road. A relationship where she was an equal as opposed to a servant. Where the two of them talked.
And he listened.
She hoped so. Because she didn’t want to be alone forever.
“So you took Haley shopping again?” She pulled herself from her thoughts, grasping at a conversation topic.
“I did.” Ben appeared more relaxed than she’d seen him since he’d been back. “We had no meltdowns, and she talked nonstop. I’m calling it a victory.”
“What did you buy?”
He held his feet in the air. “Besides boots?”
She grinned. “I like the boots. They suit you.”
“Wait’ll you see the cowboy hat she picked out for you. Just remember, you promised to love it.”
“And I will. Sounds like you had a good time.”
“You don’t know the half of it. We also bought Barbies.” He gave her an eye roll that was way cuter than he probably realized. “She came back so loaded down, I’ll have to build her a closet just to store them all in.”
“And I assume she’s inside right now showing them to Jenna?”
“Couldn’t wait to get back.”
They fell into silence again, and Dani watched a fish jump in the lake. The tiny splash sent ripples spreading through the water.
“She also met my mom,” Ben said. “We stopped off in LA.”
“On this trip?” Dani’s heart pounded with the admission. This felt big. “They hadn’t met before?”
“I wasn’t ready before. My mom is a lot like Lia.”
“Oh,” she said, then wrinkled her nose with her next thought. “Maybe that’s why you dated Lia?”
“Oh, geez, really?” He shuddered as if disgusted with the idea, then seemed to think about it. In the end, he merely shrugged. “Anyway, I surprised Mom with the visit, so she only had time to line up one reporter. Whom I got rid of immediately. In the end, I think meeting her brought Haley and me closer together.”
“Bonding over bad mothers?”
He laughed easily. “Something like that. After a somewhat stiff conversation, Mom offered to put Haley in a movie. Haley’s response was epic.”
“And what was that?”
“She declared that she’d rather take pictures, like me.”
Dani smiled along with Ben, and purposely bumped into his arm. She understood what that would have meant, and she loved that Haley had given it to him.
Leaning back, he braced his free hand on the dock, but kept his other wrapped securely around hers. Their clasped hands rested on his thigh, and her next topics of conversation vanished as she tried her best to ignore the hard muscle under their fingers. She picked at a loose thread on her jeans. One foot kicked back and forth over the water.
After another moment of pretending she wasn
’t aware of every breath he took, he squeezed her fingers, and when she looked back at him, he nudged his chin toward the empty bowl. “What’s with the ice cream this time?”
She focused on the bowl.
Though they still had the family discussion to get through, she knew the outcome already. Gabe was leaving. And she was exhausted from the weight of worrying.
The backs of her eyes burned unexpectedly, making her quickly look away.
“Hey.” Ben sat up. He put his arm around her. “What happened?”
She let her head drop to his shoulder. “My family is falling apart. And I can’t figure out a single thing to do to stop it.”
His arm clenched at her side. “What’s going on?”
“I think Gabe is going to move away.”
“Yeah?”
She looked up at him; his tone had been strangely casual. He also had a blank look on his face. “You knew,” she accused.
Guilt flashed through his eyes. “He mentioned there were problems between him and Michelle. Not that we couldn’t all figure that out,” he muttered. “But he asked me not to tell you.”
“Man code?” she asked sarcastically. She hated being left out of things.
“No. Just . . .” He lifted a hand toward her face as if to touch her, but in the end dropped it back to his lap. “I didn’t know if I should. Gabe pointed out that they know you a lot better than I do. It made sense. Said he was protecting you.”
She snorted. “That’s his claim. Didn’t want to worry me. Wanted me to stay out of it.”
“I take it you’re not?”
She smirked. “Cord should be in anytime. He caught a late flight. We’ll call Nate when he gets here.”
“Ah.” He winked at her. “Big sister taking charge.”
“It’s what I do.”
And for the first time, she didn’t want to do it. She wanted someone else to handle things.
Ben’s arm relaxed around her, and she once again tucked her head onto his shoulder. She’d missed this over the past ten years. “I’ve enjoyed us talking again,” she said.
“Yeah.” He stroked her arm. “Me too.” After a pause, he added, his voice taking on a slight hitch, “Though I could think of a few things other than talking that would be nice, as well.”
She peeked up at him. “Are you coming on to me again, Denton?”
“Would it get me anywhere if I were?”
Yes. “No.”
She didn’t need to let this go anywhere, she knew that. He was just messing with her. Filling time. It didn’t make sense to even play with this kind of fire. Yet she stayed right there in his arms. And she almost purred when his fingertips lowered to trail along the outside of her thigh.
“Ben . . .”
“It’s all good,” he soothed teasingly, and she could see him holding in a smile. “This is only me comforting you, babe. You’ve had a bad day.”
She snorted once again. “And you’re full of it.”
“Yeah.” He smiled that smile she loved so well. “But it’s the only way to get you in my arms.”
She studied him then, pulling back a little, but not so far that he had to turn her loose. They’d had weighty conversations since he’d been back. Not unlike the one they were having today. However, today’s seemed different. He was different. Had his trip with Haley changed him that much?
And just how much was he teasing her?
“Why do you want me in your arms?” she challenged. “You can get any woman you want.”
“Does that mean I can get you?” He tried to pull her closer, but she held back.
“Come on, Ben. Be serious. You’re just bored, and I’m handy. You never even showed interest in me back then until I made the move. I’d wager that you wouldn’t show interest now if I hadn’t back then.”
He separated his arm from her body. “I didn’t show interest because I was respecting you.”
“You didn’t show interest because you had plenty of better options to choose from.”
“No.” The word came out instantly.
She bit her lip.
He touched a finger to her jaw and lifted her face, and she couldn’t make herself look away.
“Is that what you really think?” he asked. “Have you ever looked at who you are, Dani? And I don’t mean on the outside, though Lord knows you’re pretty damned awesome on the outside. Babe, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. You would end your world—you did end your world—for your family. And you did an amazing job of raising them—even though your dad should have done that himself.”
“My dad needed me,” she defended.
“I’m sure he did. And that he appreciates all you’ve done. But the truth is, it was his responsibility, yet you set aside your life to come home. To pretty much handle everything. And I know you’d do it again if given the same circumstances. You’re honest and caring, sweetheart. You’re smart. And you never treat anyone any way other than how you’d like to be treated. That’s rare in people. You’re a jewel. And it’s not because you’re handy.”
His words spun around her, closing in on her the same way his arm had, and she found herself on the verge of tears once again. So few people ever looked at her the way he did.
“So no, it wasn’t that I had no interest. It’s that I was treated like a son by your father,” he explained. The pad of his thumb grazed over her earlobe. “That Gabe was the closest thing I had to a brother. I couldn’t take advantage of his sister.” He gave a half smile. “But also because your brother would have kicked my ass. Or tried to. As would have Cord. Or hell, probably even the twins or Jaden. You had an army watching over you, sweetheart. An army protecting you. Your brothers would lay down their lives for you.”
She nodded. She knew that. They’d had to rely on each other too much over the years not to be close. “We’ve been through a lot together,” she spoke softly. “It wasn’t easy losing our mom.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t. But I’d be willing to bet that wasn’t all there was to it, either. You may be their big sister, but they’re the men around here. And you’re their sister. They’ll have your back no matter what.”
Was that why Gabe hadn’t wanted to tell her about his plans?
She supposed it was, though it still annoyed her that he’d tried to leave her out.
“You’re right,” she said. “I know.” They may have fought and disagreed over the years, but her brothers were her soldiers. Which was why she’d never minded staying. The six of them were a unit.
She just wished they weren’t all flying solo these days.
But then, she was too.
“Did anyone tell you about Jaden yet?” Ben asked, his voice now hesitant.
“What about him?”
His eyes burned into hers for a long moment before he looked away. He groaned.
“What?” she asked.
“I don’t want to tell you.”
Which meant that she didn’t want to hear it. Or maybe it was about Megan. Were they getting married?
She gasped. Was Megan pregnant?
Poor Jaden. That would certainly change his life.
But, a baby. How sweet.
Her phone chimed, and she glanced at it where it remained on the dock to see a text from Gabe. “Cord’s here!” She practically squealed the words. She grabbed her phone and the empty bowl and rose. “I have to go.” She hadn’t seen Cord in a year.
She hurried up the path, leaving Ben to follow, and she put everything else out of her mind. Cord was home. She’d often felt that he’d taken their mother’s death the hardest. He’d come upon the wreck minutes after it happened. He’d been the one to call for the ambulance.
He’d also been the one who’d changed the most afterward.
It had hardened him. Too much sometimes.
Therefore, Dani was even more protective of him than she was of the younger ones. Not that he needed the protection. Or allowed it. But she watched over him anyway.
She’d sent him care packages throughout college and medical school, and he was now set up in a private practice in Billings. It made her proud. But he hadn’t softened over the years, and that bothered her. She hoped he’d someday find a woman who could help ease his pain. He deserved that.
“Dani.”
She jerked to a stop just outside the back door and whirled to face Ben. “What?”
He trailed his gaze over her shoulder, and hers followed. Her family was waiting for her in there. They didn’t see her yet, but she saw them. Gabe, Cord, Nick, and Jaden. Four strong, healthy, really good men. She’d helped in that. And she was proud of it.
And now she had to do her best to convince Jaden that it was his time to take over.
With a baby on the way, this could be a good thing for him. Bring a new generation into the family business.
Ben turned back to her. “I’ll be around when you’re done. If you need to talk.”
She wasn’t sure what she might need to talk about, but she appreciated the offer. “Thanks.”
He took one final look at her family before leaning in and laying a long, hot kiss on her lips, catching Dani by surprise. Pulling away, he opened the door and strode into the house.
chapter thirteen
Dani stared at Ben’s retreating back as he moved through the room and greeted her brothers. What in the heck had that been? Kiss her and then walk away?
Before she could even decide if she wanted to be kissed?
She growled under her breath. Men. They wore her out sometimes.
But also . . . men . . . When they came like Ben Denton, she could use a few more in her life.
She touched her fingertips to her lips. Because yeah, she’d liked it. And she hadn’t needed additional time to figure that out.
“Dani,” Cord said from across the room, and Dani forgot all about Ben.
She ran into the house and wrapped her arms around her brother. He immediately swept her up, lifting her to her toes. Unlike her oldest brother, Cord had been known to hug her on occasion. Not often, which made them all the sweeter, but at least she occasionally got them.
