Hot and Bothered

by Jennifer Bernard

  “I had a few different reasons,” she said. “The Reinhards are one. But the truth is, it’s been weighing on me. I really wanted to tell someone in case it wound up being important. I didn’t like feeling like a coward.”

  “You are not a coward, Julie. You did your best with a tough situation, the way you always have.”

  The respect in his voice sent a quiet thrill through her.

  “And…Ben? Is he one of the reasons?” Will asked the question gently, with a hint of a smile. He was a few years older than Ben, and had been off at law school when she left. She’d always seen him as somewhat of an intimidating figure, not lighthearted and playful like Ben.

  “Maybe,” she admitted. “But it looks like that’s a bust. I think he’d rather I just go back to LA.”

  Will laughed and shook his head. “Don’t give up on him yet. Since you got back, he’s been acting like a prize jackass. And since we all know that Ben has the heart of a lion, or maybe a panda bear, it must be thanks to you.”

  She shouldered her bag, preparing to leave. “I’m not sure ‘thanks’ is the right word.”

  “It is. Ben needs a wake-up call. Believe me, we’re all glad you’re back. Now the question is whether you’ll stay.”

  That drew a weak smile from her. Good question. Too bad she didn’t have a good answer. “I’ll be around at least long enough to answer any other questions you have. Are you going to analyze that note?”

  “Yes, first thing. I have a law school buddy in the FBI, he does me favors now and then. I’ll let you know if he finds anything. Do you think you’d recognize the man’s voice?”

  “I doubt it, but I’ll keep my ears open.” She rose to her feet, then hesitated. “Maybe I should go to the police station and just sit there and listen to everyone’s voices.”

  Will stood as well and looped an arm over her shoulders. “Absolutely not. I’ll take it from here. You continue with life as usual. Just let me know if anything else comes to mind. I’ll want to interview you again soon, but right now, I have a feeling there’s a more important conversation awaiting you.”

  He gestured at the sidewalk out front, where Ben was waiting, slouched against his truck, hands deep in his pockets.

  She drew in a deep breath. “Wish me luck.”

  “You got it.”

  Outside, Ben glanced up as she came out the door, belting her sweater more tightly around her. She couldn’t read his expression, which made her nervous.

  “Come for a ride?” he asked in an even tone.

  That made her even more anxious. The old Ben never hid his emotions. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which was one of her favorite things about him.

  But this conversation was a long time coming. It had to happen. “Sure.” As he opened the passenger door for her, she hesitated. “But maybe you shouldn’t be driving while we talk.”

  “Babe, I was flying fighter jets eight months ago. I can handle a Dodge pickup.”

  Right, she’d almost forgotten he’d had a whole different life for the past twelve years. A fighter pilot. Her Ben. Her sweet, tender, openhearted Ben.

  She got into the truck and strapped herself in. Ben pulled away from the curb with a squeal of tires. They sped away from Will’s house.

  She stole a sideways glance at his clenched jaw and white knuckles and decided to hold her tongue. The Dodge rattled down the streets until they hit the highway heading for the foothills.

  “Where are we going?” she finally asked.

  “To the Reinhards’.”

  “What for? They aren’t even home. Ben, stop. Pull over.”

  “Those fuckers!” Ben exploded. “I never got any message about your birthday.” This was a new side to her gentle ex-boyfriend. The muscles of his forearms tensed into corded bands of steel as he swung the steering wheel to the side. They’d reached the unincorporated area, where farmland replaced the cozy neighborhoods of Jupiter Point. He jerked the truck to a stop next to a field of alfalfa, now fallow. A plume of dust rose up around them, enveloping them in a cloud of sepia. “The Reinhards told me something completely different.”

  Julie sucked in a breath and slumped against the passenger window. Her worst suspicions, confirmed. “So that’s what happened. What did they tell you?”

  “That you’d decided to move to LA and you wanted some time to get your singing career going, so I shouldn’t bother you. They told me I’d been holding you back because you were afraid to hurt me. They told me they’d send me your address and phone number when they had it.”

  The scope of their betrayal hit her like a sucker punch to the gut. “They lied. Every word of that is a lie. You weren’t holding me back.”

  “I didn’t think so. But then I started to wonder. They made me doubt myself. They made me think I wasn’t doing it right, loving you the way I did.”

  “Oh my God.” She wanted to wrap her arms around him but the air between them still vibrated with prickly energy. “That’s not true, Ben. You did everything right.”

  “And you still left.” His voice sounded raw.

  “I had to! I had to help Savannah. But I didn’t intend to leave you.”

  He pushed his way out of the truck and stood in the road, hands clasped behind his head, looking skyward.

  She dropped her head into her hands. An ache pounded at her temples. She felt as if a hundred years had passed since she’d arrived at Will’s office. In one way, she felt freer. The story she’d been keeping quiet for so many years was out. But she also had a bitter taste in her mouth, worse than any hangover. After all she’d done for the Reinhards, how could they betray her like that?

  Of course, they probably thought they’d done everything for her. Because they were rich and she was penniless, and they were powerful while she was naive…so naive.

  The passenger door opened. Ben braced one hand on top of the truck and leaned in.. She’d never seen his face so serious, so intense. This was Ben the man looking her in the eye, not Ben the boy.

  “Julie, I need you to know that if I’d had any clue you were at our house that night, that some stranger had hurt you and threatened you, I would have…” He stopped, his jaw flexing, his Adam’s apple working. “I can’t believe I didn’t know he was out there. With you. My God, Julie. What if—” He kicked at the tire. “He almost got you, too.”

  “Ben, no. No. It wasn’t like that. He was just trying to chase me off.” She unhooked her seatbelt and slid out of the passenger seat to stand next to him in the road. The wind swirled around them, causing a lazy drift of dust and debris. She smelled the cooling metal of the truck, the rubber of its tires. And closer, the wool of Ben’s sweater, the scent of his skin.

  Everything shifted into sharp relief, as if nothing had been quite real until she wrapped her arms around him one more time.

  She hugged him to her and whispered in his ear. “Nothing happened. He scared me, that’s all. Scared me so much, I made some stupid decisions after that.”

  Against her shoulder, he shook his head. “No. You did the right thing. I’d take a broken heart any day if it’s a choice between that and some asshole threatening you.”

  She wanted to cry from sheer, sweet relief. Ben didn’t hate her. He was touching her, holding her, whispering back in her ear, his heart beating so fast and loud it vibrated through her sweater.

  This was her Ben, the Ben she knew and used to love so much.

  And for the first time, she was one hundred percent glad she’d come back to Jupiter Point. How else could she find herself standing in the road wrapped in Ben Knight’s arms? And have it be exactly where she wanted to be?

  12

  The only thing anchoring Ben to Earth right now was the comfort of Julie’s arms around him. He was so angry his head was spinning. The Reinhards had lied. Deliberately. And he knew why, too. Because they’d wanted Julie to stay with their daughter, not come back to Ben.

  He was furious with the attacker, too, the man who had scared Julie away. And a little
bit—maybe just a little—he was angry with Julie. Why had she believed for one second that he would stand her up on her birthday? Why hadn’t she found another way to reach him?

  He held on to her more tightly. The girl Julie had been slim, almost a tomboy, someone who’d loved climbing trees and swimming in the ocean. The woman Julie was stronger, curvier, with the body of someone who did physical work for a living. But certain things hadn’t changed. Her hair still smelled like apples and felt like silk against his cheek.

  “We need to go see the Reinhards.” The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. “I know what they were up to. They wanted to make sure their precious little girl was taken care of. They didn’t care about us.”

  She licked her lips, a nervous gesture he remembered well. It used to turn him on, until he realized it meant she was anxious about something. “They know how to get what they want. They always have. I’ll talk to them.”

  “Not without me,” he said firmly.

  “I don’t think—”

  “They lied to me. To my face. Come on, Julie. They can’t be trusted. You know what I’d like to do? Get them up in the Cessna and do Dutch rolls until they promise to tell the fucking truth.”

  She gave him a skeptical frown. “Does your plane do that kind of thing?”

  “Nope. That’s how pissed off I am. Twelve years, Julie. Twelve years they’ve had a chance to correct the record. Not a word.”

  “You were gone,” she pointed out. “And they’ve had other things to deal with. Savannah had such a tough time after she had Felix. She had severe depression. She checked herself into the hospital a couple times. And then Felix got his diagnosis. It was one thing after another.”

  “Are you making excuses for them? Why aren’t you angrier?”

  “I am angry. Actually, I think I’m more numb than angry.” She took his hand in hers and interlaced their fingers. “The thing is, you’re here and I’m here, and I’m just so glad we’re speaking again. I don’t want to think about anything else.”

  Speaking. He wanted to do a lot more than speaking. He pulled her against his chest and tangled his fingers in her silky hair. Emotion surged through his heart. She was right—everything else paled compared to the joy of being with her again.

  Except…wrong was wrong. The Reinhards had to answer for what they’d done. “Are you saying you want to just let this go?”

  She drew back, still within the circle of his arms. “No. They owe us a huge apology. But they’ve always been like this. They go after what they want. But I can see why they did it, because they were worried about Savannah and Felix.”

  “That justifies ruining our lives?”

  “No, of course not, but Ben…” She rested one hand on his heart. “You weren’t there. Felix needed me, more than you know. Savannah was in over her head, and I was too. It took both of us to take care of Felix.”

  “How did that even work? Did you live with them?”

  “At first I did, but then I got my own place in the same apartment complex. But I was still close enough so I could help out, especially after Savannah got cast in her first movie. All of a sudden, she had to go on location and so forth. She tried taking Felix but he couldn't handle the travel. If I hadn’t been there, I honestly don’t know what would have happened to Felix. He doesn’t like change, and he doesn’t like strangers.”

  Ben absently rubbed his thumbs across the rise of her shoulder blades. He got it, he really did. A child had needed her, and Julie would always answer the call. That was who she was. But damn those Reinhards! Just thinking about their lie made his blood pressure rise.

  The drone of an engine overhead caught their attention. He squinted up at the sleek craft gliding across the sky.

  “Tobias in the Piper Matrix. I think he’s taking Starly and Hunter back to LA.”

  “It’s so pretty and silver.”

  He shaded his eyes from the sun as he watched it. He rarely got to see Knight and Day in action like this, a plane randomly spotted in the wild. Pride filled him as he traced its smooth path across the sky. He’d done that. He’d purchased that plane, formed that business, created the chance to give people the unforgettable experience of flying in a small craft.

  Would any of that have happened if he hadn’t joined the Air Force? Would he have served his country, taken pride in that, if Julie hadn’t left?

  The truth was, if he’d known about Savannah and Felix, he would have told her to go, to do what she had to do.

  But that was the problem. He hadn’t known. Thanks to the Reinhards.

  “Okay, back to the villains. It’s not just about their lies. What about you? What about all the things you used to talk about? Singing? Songwriting? College, for chrissake? What about your future? Are you always going to be catering to the Reinhards? All the generations?”

  She shook his hand away from her and stepped back. “Are you talking about Felix? Don’t call him that.”

  “Don’t call him a Reinhard?”

  “He’s Felix. He’s his own person, and I’m his godmother. I’m not catering to him, or to Savannah. We’re friends. She gave me tons of support when I tried the songwriting thing. She paid for lessons, she set up a showcase for me. She’s my best friend.”

  “Sorry,” he muttered, though it went against the grain. “I guess it’s the rest of the family I can’t stand. I never liked how they treated you. You’re a strong person, Julie, you always have been. Why don’t you stand up to them?”

  “Well…” She traced a circle in the road with her boot, sending up a little plume of dust. “I did stand up to them, once.”

  Ben lifted his eyebrows at her. This was news to him. “Before my time?”

  “When we first moved into their guesthouse. I was ten, and they told me I couldn’t play in the woods. I threw such an epic tantrum that my mother actually gave her notice. They didn’t want her to leave so they gave in. But Mom was so mad at me, I never did it again.”

  He grinned widely, loving the thought of Julie showing her fiery side to the Reinhards. “That’s what I like to hear. Epic tantrums. You should do more of that kind of thing.”

  She swatted his chest lightly. “Easy for you to say, with all your brothers behind you. I was an only child of a single parent. And they were the all-powerful Reinhards. Who was going to have my back?”

  “Me, which is probably why they didn’t like me.”

  Smiling, she pulled away from him and hoisted herself back onto the passenger seat of his truck. “Well, maybe, but you have to admit that you’ve been glaring at me since I got back.”

  “Glaring? No, I haven’t.” He strode to the driver’s side of the truck and slid back behind the wheel.

  “Yes, you have. Glaring and flaunting.”

  “Flaunting?”

  “Yes. How many women have I seen you with since I got back? All the girls who’ve been flirting with you? The blond at the 7-Eleven. The jogging girl at your apartment. The girl at the hardware store. The girl at the pizza place—”

  “What girl at the pizza place?” Ben started the truck. He was still steamed at the Reinhards, but this line of conversation was a lot more entertaining.

  “Dark hair. Purple sweater.”

  “The girl who asked for the crushed red pepper from our table? She wasn’t flirting with me.”

  “Whatever.” She folded her arms across her chest.

  A sense of triumph filled him. Julie had been keeping close track of his friendships with other women. There could be only one explanation for that. “You’re sounding a little jealous. I didn’t even know you were at the hardware store. Why didn’t you say hi?”

  “So you could glare at me? I think not.”

  “Oh, so I would have simultaneously glared and flaunted?” This was the most fun he’d had in about…hmmm…two months. Since the day Julie had first shown up.

  “Yes. Glared, flaunted, and annoyed.” She laughed, finally catching on to the ridiculousness of the conversation.
“Seriously, how do you get any work done with so many women flirting with you?”

  “That’s a trick question and I refuse to answer it. But it does bring up a very important question.”

  “Exactly when you turned into such a ladies’ man?”

  “No. The question is, where does all this leave us? You and me?”

  She looked over at him cautiously. “In what sense?”

  “I mean, here we are. We’re both back in Jupiter Point, at least for now. We’ve both been through all kinds of shit. We’ve both been thinking bad things about each other for twelve years. So now what? What happens next in the saga of Ben and Julie?”

  13

  “Well…” Julie looked at him from under her lashes, this playful, handsome man she’d once known so well. His hands were on the wheel, the engine running, the open road ahead. “I suppose you could put the truck in gear. That would be a good next chapter.”

  “Done,” he said promptly. He jammed his foot on the accelerator and they were back in motion. Julie rolled down the window a few inches and felt the cool wind in her hair. Power lines flipped past them in a happy blur. Plenty more issues hung between them, but for now, this felt good.

  “Remember when you taught me how to drive?” she asked him.

  “Believe me, that’s not the kind of thing a guy forgets. I got to be alone with you in an empty parking lot showing off my fishtail spins. Remember when I showed you the proper way to fasten your seat belt?”

  “Yes. Honestly, I was surprised there was more than one way to fasten a seatbelt.”

  “There isn’t.” He grinned at her. And oh God, that carefree smile that used to light up her world—it was back. She felt its punch right in her heart—where everything about Ben affected her. “It was a completely lame way of getting close to you.”

  “Oh my God.” She thought back to those spine-tinglingly delicious moments, when Ben’s hair would brush against her chin and her throat would go dry with desire. “You sneaky boy.”