Winning Ben

by JoMarie DeGioia

She beamed a smile at him and he realized she was a cute little thing. “Sure thing, Ben.”

  Her shyness seemed to come back as she ran out of things to hand him. He thanked her again and left, passing Ollie’s desk as he did so.

  “Another one falls under your spell, Big Ben?” he asked.

  Ben just shook his head. “Shut up, Ollie.”

  The guy laughed out loud. “You sound just like Tammy.”

  That made Ben smile. He slowed his pace as he neared Tammy’s office but the door was closed tight. He continued down to his brand-spankin’-new office and placed the literature down on his desk. There was a drafting table set near the wide window, and he ran his hand over the smooth, slanted top. This was what he was meant to do. Draw. Create.

  He stared out the window, looking out at the trees and green spaces. Cypress was a pretty great place. He had a job he could really love. He had family who seemed to like having him around. He should be so happy right now he should be whistling. Yet something was niggling at him.

  It was like at any moment it could all go south again. Be left all alone, like after his mother died. She’d been sick but, sweet flower child that she’d been, she’d leaned on the belief that a stress-free life and healthy eating would cure her of breast cancer where medicine would only make her sicker. He’d insisted and she’d proved him right, in a way. Her first round of chemotherapy had dragged her down and taken away her spark. He’d relented and bit back his disagreement when she’d decided to forego more treatments. She’d died six months later.

  His creativity had grown as dry as dust, and he’d tried hard to rekindle his own spark. At times he felt like he could lose it all. Maybe he was just borrowing trouble.

  He thought about Tammy and smiled ruefully to himself.

  Or maybe he just needed to get laid.

  ***

  Tammy put a coffee pod in the machine, needing the pickup after a hectic morning. She’d had back-to-back tours, which was good since it kept her focused on the job and not on the guy. Oh, he looked good today. Seriously, he looked good every day this past week but there was something about pressed and neat Ben that made her want to mess him up.

  “Mmm, that smells good,” Jessie said as she came into the breakroom. “Pop one in for me?”

  “Sure.” She put a clean cup on the stand and pressed the button. She fixed her own coffee as Jessie’s brewed, turning to face her as she stirred her cup. “So. What’s new?”

  Jessie flushed pink, just like Tammy knew she would. Jessie was a good salesperson and a doll of a girl, but Tammy got a kick out of her shyness. Jessie blushed even easier than Claire did.

  “Oh, it’s too much some times,” Jessie said, picking up her own cup. “Don’t you think it’s too much?”

  Tammy sat at the closest table, leaning her elbows on the surface as she sipped her coffee. “Exactly what is too much, Jessie?”

  Jessie rolled her eyes and sat down across from her. “The guys around here. Each one is hotter than the next! It’s just too much.”

  “Actually, I don’t think it’s enough,” Ollie quipped as he joined them.

  Tammy grinned at him. “Sorry to say, but every last one of them plays on our team.”

  Jessie snorted a laugh and Tammy nodded to her.

  “Sad but true.” Ollie folded his arms on the table. “Wait until you guys get a load of the new guy.”

  “Ben?” Jessie’s voice sounded a little dreamy. “I saw him this morning.”

  Ollie gave a slow shake of his head. “Nuh uh. Not Ben.”

  Jessie let out a little whimper. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

  “What new guy, Ollie?” Tammy asked.

  “There’s a new builder coming on as a partner,” Ollie said. “I heard the name of the company and I looked him up.”

  “You looked him up,” Tammy repeated. “Do tell.”

  “The builder is a hottie. That’s all I’m saying.”

  Tammy leaned forward. “When does the new builder start? Do we have any info for our tours?”

  Ollie shook his head. “That’s not the line of questioning I would have expected from you in the past, girlfriend.”

  Tammy waved a hand. “Never mind. You know I’m all about the job.”

  “That’s true, Ollie,” Jessie piped in. “The guys fall all over Tammy but she stays focused.”

  Tammy raised her brows. “They fall all over me? Pray, tell me where I am when all this falling happens?”

  Jessie smirked, which was an adorable expression on the pixie. “Just look at Ben Chapman.”

  At the mention of Ben’s name, Tammy’s face grew hot. She suspected she was as pink as Jessie had just been.

  “Yes, please,” Ollie said. “Let’s look at Ben Chapman.”

  Jessie placed her hand over her heart. “Those pretty blue-gray eyes of his strayed to Tammy again and again.”

  Tammy studied the inside of her coffee cup. “That’s not true.”

  “But it is!” Jessie said. “If a guy ever looked at me like that?” She shivered. “I’d be a puddle on the floor.”

  Ollie nodded sagely. “Yep.” He turned to face Tammy. “Speaking of puddles on the floor, what happened when Ben saw you all dressed for Zumba?”

  Jessie’s mouth was an O as she swung back around to gape at Tammy. “He saw you dressed for Zumba? Well, that’s it then.”

  Tammy rolled her eyes. “Do I even want to know what that means?”

  “He’s seen you in those clothes, Tammy.” Jessie leaned closer. “Those legs. That butt.” She gestured at her own chest. “The ladies. Come on.”

  He’d also seen her with almost no clothes, but Tammy wasn’t about to admit that aloud. “And?”

  Jessie crossed her arms, lifting her chin. “There you go. He’s smitten. He has to be.”

  Ollie grinned. “Hell, she almost tempts me to revert when I see her like that.”

  Tammy laughed out loud. “Ollie, you’re so full of it!”

  “I am,” Ollie said. “Still. I bet Big Ben took a good, hard look.”

  Tammy shot a glance at the doorway, relieved no one was around to hear that little tidbit. She had to put a stop to this conversation, though. “Okay, I think playtime is over.”

  “You’re right.” Jessie drained her cup and popped out of her seat. “I have a tour at four o’clock.”

  She hurried out of the breakroom and Ollie hooked a thumb in the direction she took. “That pixie can fly.”

  Tammy smiled. “She’s quick. And in more ways than one.”

  Ollie arched a perfectly-groomed brow. “Oh?”

  Tammy clicked her tongue. “Not that way. She’s only been here since May, but she’s really finding her niche. She’s got the nature thing down.”

  “Better her than me,” Ollie said. “I’d rather talk about the Fitness Center.”

  “That’s because it’s gay church,” Tammy teased.

  “True!”

  Tammy got up and brought her empty cup to the sink.

  “So, girlfriend,” Ollie went on. “Tell me what really happened when Big Ben got a look at you in all that spandex.”

  Tammy closed her eyes and thought about that moment when Ben had pressed hard against her from behind. Oh, he was so hot she’d practically caught fire. Fixing a serene look on her face, she turned back to him. “We’re friends, Ollie.”

  Ollie stood. “I can’t listen to the party line again, sister. I’m not buying it. Besides, I have a tour waiting for me, too. You should have seen one of the guys. Sporting a belly bag and a backpack, for God’s sake.”

  “Both?” Tammy laughed. “You’re not going to say anything.”

  Ollie held up his hands. “Hey, there’s nothing like a man with extra storage capacity. Makes you wonder what he’s packing.”

  He winked at her and left. She should just give up. It was obvious to Jessie that Ben wanted her. It was clear to Ollie that Tammy wanted Ben right back. It was only a matter of time before she threw all o
f her conviction right out the window and climbed all over him right in the middle of the lobby!

  Oh, how she wanted to be with him. Just that taste of him last Monday night had fueled her dreams, both asleep and awake. It was so wrong, though. For so many reasons. Gossip and rumors, aside, she didn’t want to give his family any ideas. It was so right, too, her mind whispered.

  She covered her face with her hands. “What am I going to do?”

  “Can I make a suggestion?” Ben asked, his voice low.

  Her head shot up and she found him staring at her. A smile teased his lips and she wanted to kiss it off his face.

  “Please,” she breathed.

  She wasn’t even sure what she was asking him, but apparently he didn’t need any clarification at the moment.

  “Ah, Tamara.” His smile widened and his dimple came into view. “Just say when.”

  Chapter 12

  Ben could hardly wait the hour until the end of the business day. He’d nearly leapt on Tammy when she’d breathlessly begged him for…something. He had to tread carefully, though. She was so afraid of any kind of commitment, not that he was offering her anything more than a good time while he was in Cypress.

  He looked over the presentation he was putting together for the new project and frowned. He could be in Cypress for some time. Was it really fair to use their attraction for the unforeseeable future?

  “Yes, damn it.” He pushed away from his desk. “She wants me and I sure as hell want her.”

  It had to be tonight. Tomorrow was Ty’s bachelor party and then the wedding would take up most of the weekend. He’d take Tammy to dinner and then back to his room. That was the civilized thing to do. It was completely beside the point that he wanted to grab her and take her any way he could, as many times as he could manage without killing himself.

  Mentally giving himself a shake, he returned his attention to the presentation. It wasn’t a formal one, but he was meeting with the director of the Institute next week and wanted to have something to show him. After reading through the brochures Jessie had given him, he was a little more familiar with the Institute’s slant. There was still the bottom line to consider, and working in the Sales Center would help him keep a check on the pulse of the typical visitor. Prospective residents were his target. Not Chapman’s investors, despite Bill’s insistence to the contrary. He’d brushed off his father’s intrusive questions in his phone call just yesterday.

  He’d already begun preliminary drawings of several homes. One was a bungalow style a bit larger than the one Claire and Jake lived in. It was his favorite, since a lot of older homes in Santa Cruz were in the Craftsman style as well. He would design several large homes, too. This particular project would have lots and homes of varying sizes to accommodate a variety of homebuyers who had their eyes on the environment.

  He stood and crossed to the draft table again. The bungalow design really called to him. Going back as far as he could remember, he’d lived in one with his mother until he’d finished his undergrad. Bill had bought the house and put money toward any renovations, which Ben had done himself. He put a lot of his sweat and heart into that house, but after his mother died he couldn’t bear the thought of moving back in there. Instead, he’d kept to the apartment closer to Monterey Bay that he’d taken when he’d started his Master’s years earlier. That was, until Bill contacted him with more than a job offer. He dumped the apartment and now he had no ties left in California.

  Tracing the lines he’d put to paper, the organic way he preferred to start a project, he could almost imagine the family that would reside there. The home had four bedrooms, three upstairs, so no doubt a couple of kids would fill the space with laughter and tears. He thought about his nephew Nick, and wondered if his brother and Harmony would have another child soon. More family to call his.

  A chef’s kitchen and master suite at the back would please the husband and wife. An image suddenly filled his head. Tammy and him cuddling on the big couch, of course they would have a big couch, while a fantastic Italian dish sizzled in the kitchen.

  He pulled his hand away as if the paper burned him. What the hell was he doing, thinking all domestic? It wasn’t what Tammy wanted and it sure as hell wasn’t what he wanted, either.

  “Just fuck and forget, man,” he told himself.

  It was what he’d always done in the past. And he’d never had any complaints, since the women he’d been involved with were of the same mind. Of course, his creativity left him at about the time he’d stopped taking women up on their offers of mutual gratification. Was there a connection there? Maybe.

  He sat back down in front of his laptop and began to close the drafting program. The clock read five twenty-five, so he went ahead and shut the whole thing down. His body was humming now, primed for the slightest provocation.

  A knock came at the door and he stood, rubbing his hands over his thighs. “Come in.”

  The door opened and Tammy stood there. He nearly lost his breath. Yeah, she was dressed professionally and her clothes fit snugly in all the right places as usual. But the expression on her face was what did him in. Her lips were curved in a slight smile and her gaze was hot on him.

  “When,” she said.

  He must have heard her wrong. He had to know. He crossed to her, stopping a hairsbreadth away, and caught her scent. “You’re sure.”

  It wasn’t a question and she didn’t really have to answer. It was clear in her hazel eyes.

  “I prefer if everyone didn’t know about this,” she said.

  This? God, that could mean anything and he couldn’t wait to find out what. He stopped himself from grabbing her and doing her on his desk, but just barely.

  “Let’s grab something to eat,” he said.

  She leaned against the jamb, putting scant distance between them. “Why?”

  “Ah, Tamara.” He brought his face to hers. “You’re going to need your strength.”

  They walked over to the tavern together, not touching but very close to, and he ordered a pizza to go. As they were waiting, his sister came in.

  “Hey, Ben. Tammy.” She looked from one to the other, her brow slightly furrowed. “What’s up?”

  “Getting a pizza,” Tammy said.

  Cassie lifted her chin at Ben. “You, too?”

  He just nodded. Making sure no part of his body was touching Tammy’s, he leaned an elbow on the take-out counter. “What’s up with you?”

  Cassie beamed a smile and suddenly hugged him, surprising the hell out of him. After a beat, he returned the hug.

  She stepped back, that smile still on her face. “I called Bill.”

  “You did?” Tammy asked.

  Ben crossed his arms. “How did that go?”

  “Not too bad, actually.” Cassie caught the attention of the young guy working the counter. “Picking up an order for Ty Walsh.” The kid nodded and she turned back to them. “He’s coming down tomorrow night. I got him a room at the Cypress Inn.”

  His brows raised. “Seriously?”

  “Yeah,” Cassie said. “Why?”

  Tammy was hiding a smile, and he could just guess what she was thinking. Let her laugh if she wanted to. It didn’t matter. There was no way in hell he would let his father put a damper on his plans for Tammy this weekend.

  “Is he going to the bachelor party?” he asked his sister.

  Cassie shook her head. “There’s no way Jake and Rick want him hanging around during all that debauchery.”

  Ben nodded. “Neither do I.” And at Cassie’s pointed glare, he held up a hand. “Not that there will be any debauchery.”

  The guy brought out Cassie’s order. She paid and then faced them again. “Thanks again, Ben. I don’t think I would have ever called him if I hadn’t talked to you.”

  Ben was without words, but smiled as he accepted the punch to his arm like the one he always saw her give Jake.

  “Bye, Cassie.”

  She waved to Tammy too, and then it was just the t
wo of them again.

  “That was close,” Tammy said.

  “I’m not the one who wants to keep a lid on this,” he pointed out.

  She shrugged a shoulder. “What are you going to do with your father staying at the inn. All cramping your style?”

  “Not gonna let it happen.”

  She moved a little bit closer. “He won’t be here tonight.”

  Before he could find an answer to that, the guy brought out their pizza. He took the much-needed distraction and paid so they could get the hell out of there.

  “Let’s go,” he said, holding the pizza box with one hand and pressing the small of her back with the other.

  “In a hurry, Big Ben?”

  He let her see the desire in his eyes for a second. “You have no idea.”

  ***

  Tammy’s skin sizzled where he innocently touched her. There was nothing innocent about his words or the want clear on his face, though. How he’d hidden it from his sister, she had no idea. Cassie clearly had a lot on her mind with the wedding and her father’s imminent arrival. If she’d looked closely at the two of them, she certainly would have seen the electricity sparking between them.

  He held the door of his Jeep open for her and she got in, taking the pizza box from him. It smelled heavenly, all garlic and spice and tomatoes. A little like home. That caused a pang in her belly. Since when did she get home sick?

  “So how do you like your room at the inn?” she asked, wanting desperately to fill the space with any words but the ones she wanted to say to him. Kiss me. Take me. Love me. She wouldn’t say any of those, though. Well, maybe the first two. She’d sworn to herself she wouldn’t sleep with him, so the second two were out. As for the third? No way would she utter those words she’d never said before in her life.

  “You’ve never stayed there?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “I moved into my townhouse right after I started here. Seems I bought what I was selling.”

  “I think you’ll like it.” He smiled. “Nice, big bed.”

  She shifted in her seat. “I’m not sleeping over.”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not asking.”

  That was all he said on the subject. Not asking? What did that mean? Was he telling? God, she’d never been so off-balance with a guy. So out of control.