“No worries.” Ben reached into the front pouch of his bag. “I brought you a pair.”
Slowly reaching out to take the socks from him, she couldn’t help the wary look on her face. “You have women’s socks lying around the house?”
Ben laughed. “No. I figured you might not be wearing them, but I didn’t want to ruin the surprise, so I picked up some yesterday. I have two more pairs in my trunk if you want them.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Ryan said through a smile. She had to admit, even though the man in front of her was unwittingly bringing one of her nightmares to life, he was damn cute.
Their gazes stayed locked on one another, and Ryan couldn’t deny the pull she felt toward Ben. Everything about him was inviting—his choice of activities aside—and Ryan felt herself drifting closer to him with no desire to stop.
The squeal of children as they ran past broke the moment.
Ryan came back to herself with a start, the knowledge that she’d been ready to suck Ben’s face off in front of a metrosexual lumberjack and a group of kids causing a different type of heat to run through her. That and the thoughts that they kept getting interrupted at the least opportune times.
The worker returned and handed her the skates before looking at Ben. “Anything else, Mr. Williamson?”
“No, I think that’ll be it. Thanks.” Ben took the skates from Ryan and led them to the bleachers. They sat and Ben immediately stripped off his sneakers and pulled his skates out of his bag.
Ryan watched him. “Come here often?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“The guy at the counter knew you.”
“I practice here a lot since my team’s in Denver. They let me reserve one of the back rinks to work out in.”
Ryan perked up at that. “Oh, is that where we’re skating?” It was bad enough to look like an ass in front of Ben, but for there to be even more spectators for what would undoubtedly be an epic failure worthy of Tosh.0 seemed like cruel and unusual punishment.
“No.”
Cruel and unusual it is.
Ben got up so he could squat down in front of her and lace up her skates. The gesture was so sweet she almost had trouble watching. The man in front of her was all kinds of nice, and it made Ryan feel things she had no business feeling.
Coughing, she tried to redirect her train of thought. “So why skating? It probably would’ve been easier to go watch hockey games somewhere so I could learn what’s happening. Not that I don’t want to be here.” I don’t. “I just don’t want you to go to any trouble.”
“It’s not any trouble.” Ben finished lacing her skates but stayed where he was and let his eyes drift over the large rink beside them. “I guess I brought you here because watching a game isn’t really enough to show you how much this game means to me. When I first put on skates . . . I can’t even explain it. It was like I knew they were meant to be there. There was always something so freeing about being on the ice for me. And even though my parents don’t completely understand it, they do know that I could never be with someone who I couldn’t share that part of myself with.” He brought his eyes back to hers. “Hockey isn’t something I do. It’s something I am.” He stood and put his hands in his pockets. “I can’t explain it to you. For you to really understand, I need to show you.”
Ryan looked up at him for a second before standing up.
And then promptly falling right back down again.
* * *
It took a second for Ben’s brain to catch up with his eyes, so there were a solid few seconds where Ryan stayed sprawled on the ground before he bent down to help her back onto the bench. “Holy shit, are you okay?” he asked once she’d gotten situated.
“No. My dignity is super bruised right now.”
Ben huffed out a laugh before squatting down in front of her again. “Seriously, does anything hurt? Physically speaking.”
“I’m fine.” Ryan’s voice was soft and unsteady.
“You want to try again then?” Ben asked carefully. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but Ryan definitely looked like something was wrong.
“Um . . . no.” The statement came out as more of a question as she pursed her lips before biting the lower one.
Ben didn’t know what to say. Ryan hadn’t seemed like someone who let a minor fall deter her from an experience. But really, what did he know? He barely knew her. “Okay.” He knew he sounded disappointed, and that the tone was misleading. Because while he wanted to share skating with Ryan, he wasn’t going to be a baby about it. If she wasn’t into it, she wasn’t into it. But the thought that he really did barely know the girl in front of him, despite feeling like he did, rankled. He moved to stand, but Ryan placed a gentle hand on his forearm.
“It’s not that I don’t want to. Well, I mean, I don’t want to, but I would if it weren’t for . . . I guess I feel like this is a warning.”
“A warning?”
“Yes. A giant cosmic warning that I do not belong on frozen surfaces.”
Ben couldn’t resist smirking. “I thought you didn’t believe in that kind of thing.”
Rolling her eyes, Ryan sighed. “I believe in things as they suit me, okay?” Despite the slight exasperation in her voice, the smile she was clearly trying to fight off belied any real irritation. “Look,” she said, pointing to her arm. “See this?”
Moving to sit beside her and leaning in for a closer look, Ben caught a quick sniff of her sweet scent. So caught up in inhaling it, he nearly drifted into her before he realized what he was doing and ceased all movement. “What? That little scar?” There was a thin white line running across her arm right below her elbow.
“Little?” she replied, sounding almost offended. “I’ll have you know it took seventeen stitches to close that.”
He scoffed. “Must have been the smallest stitches known to man.”
She gaped at him. “People told me I could’ve bled to death.”
He couldn’t have stopped the laugh that tumbled from him even if he’d wanted to. “Who told you that?”
“Some of the other mothers. They said they’d never seen so much blood in their lives.” Ryan had crossed her arms as she spoke matter-of-factly.
Ben thought it was cute as hell. “A medical professional never corroborated this extensive blood loss theory, though?”
“It is not a theory.”
“It’s not a fact either.”
She glared at him. “Has anyone every told you you’re really annoying?”
That was an answer Ben didn’t have to think about. “Yes.” Not wanting to actually make her mad, he relented. “I’m sorry. I just haven’t gotten to see you all riled up yet. I was enjoying it a little too much.”
Her posture relaxed at his words, and the expression on her face softened. “Fear makes me a little . . . edgy.”
Nodding, Ben said, “Tell me about the scar.”
“I was at a birthday party at a skating rink when I was six. I was a little . . . spirited.”
“So . . . crazy as hell,” Ben said.
“Pretty much. Anyway, I stepped out on the ice and acted like I was Michelle freaking Kwon even though I’d never been on skates before. Within ten minutes, I was being carried off the ice and rushed to the hospital.”
Ben could see how the experience could be traumatic, but he also felt like there was something to be said for facing your fears. And what better chance would she get than with him? He realized he wanted to be that person: the one who helped her overcome a bad experience. She’d been so easygoing and accommodating with their arrangement. Maybe she could walk away from all of this with more than the money he’d paid. “I don’t doubt that was scary—God knows I have tons of horror stories from being on the ice—but maybe you just need to face the fear.”
“Face the fear? Ben, I ran over my own arm. Not fell and cut it or banged into someone else, I ran over it. I can’t even figure out how that’s humanly possible. And now, twenty years later, I try again a
nd immediately fall as soon as I strap these damn things on. No, it’s definitely a sign from the skating gods that they do not want me intruding on their sport.”
“Or a sign that you have really bad coordination,” he muttered.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. What if I promised to hold onto you? I’d never let you fall.”
“Some things are in the gods’ hands.”
He stood and extended his hand toward her. “And some things are in ours.”
She sat still and stared at his hand for a long moment before bringing her eyes up to meet his. “This is probably a really bad idea.”
Ben didn’t reply. This was her internal battle to fight. Whatever her decision was, he’d accept it. But man, did he ever hope that she showed a little trust in him.
Finally, she put her hand in his. “Okay. Let’s do it.” She didn’t look the least bit excited, but she was willing to try.
He couldn’t ask for anything more than that. Pulling her slowly to her feet, he reached out to grab her other hand when she started to sway. After a few minutes of standing still, he bowed down a little so he could look into her eyes. “Ready to walk?”
She nodded her head shakily, so Ben began walking backward as he held onto her hands. “You’re going to fall,” she said.
“No, I’m not.”
She didn’t argue, but whether it was because she believed him or because she was preoccupied by putting one foot in front of the other, he wasn’t sure. Eventually they made it to the rink entrance.
“Want me to get you one of the ice walkers?” he asked.
“You mean those things the little kids are all pushing around?” When Ben nodded, she said, “You got me, right?”
“Yeah. I got you.”
“Then no. I’d rather keep going like this.”
Instead of letting her see how happy her words made him, Ben took a step backward onto the ice and gently pulled her after him. Her legs shook as she got on the ice before scissoring back and forth as she began to flail. “Hey,” he said firmly.
Her gaze flew to his.
“Bend your knees slightly, lean forward a little, and try to relax your body while keeping your eyes on me.” He drew her arms straight out so that she was T-shaped. “Having your arms like this will let you use them to help you balance. I’m going to move my hands to your hips, okay?”
She nodded jerkily so he let go of her hands one at a time and gripped her hips instead. “I’m going to move us. You don’t need to do anything but glide,” he instructed. Ben skated backward slowly, pulling her with him. Once it was clear that she’d comfortably gotten her legs under her, he told her to try to start moving her legs in time with his. She fumbled a few times at first, but soon she was moving with more confidence.
They made a few trips around the rink before Ben asked, “You ready for me to let go?”
“‘Ready’ isn’t really the right word. But yeah. Let’s do it.”
Ben let go slowly. He backed away a little to give her space, but he remained in front of her. After a few tentative first glides, she got the knack of it on her own.
She shot a beaming smile up at him. “I’m skating.”
“I know.” He smiled back. And as he watched her continue to move around the rink, despite the coldness surrounding him, he felt nothing but warmth.
Chapter Ten
“Can I offer you a drink before we get started?” Ben opened his laptop and set it on the top of his glass table. “Wine, beer, iced tea?” he asked, turning away from the refrigerator to where Ryan had taken a seat.
“I’ll take iced tea. Thanks.”
Ben got a glass down from the cabinet and went back to the fridge to put ice in it, but he stopped right before he pushed the button. “Do you usually take ice in your drinks?” he asked.
“Sometimes. It’s fine if they do it in restaurants or whatever, but I don’t usually put it in at home.” Because I don’t have a home. And Camille doesn’t own trays for ice.
“So would you like some now?”
“Oh. Sure,” she answered.
He returned to the table and handed her the glass before sitting down beside her with his beer. “Every time I think I know a lot about you, I realize that I haven’t even scratched the surface.” He scrubbed a hand over his forehead and eyes. “How the hell are we supposed to seem like we’re boyfriend and girlfriend if I don’t know simple things like whether you like ice in your drinks?”
“Relax. It’ll be fine. I don’t really know if I like ice in my drinks either.”
That caused Ben to chuckle, and his shoulders relaxed with a sigh as he sat back against the chair.
“Besides. Aren’t we about to work out a lot of the little details anyway? We’ll figure it out.”
“Okay. I’m sure you’re right,” he said, though something told her he wasn’t convinced.
The truth was, neither was she. Not only did she not know Ben well, she had no fucking clue how to be a good escort. And no amount of googling would change that. It was one of the reasons she’d never been the academic type: No book could teach her like the real world could. “Okay, what’s first on the agenda?” she asked.
Ben opened a document on his computer. “We need to give you a job.”
The irony of his statement made Ryan almost laugh out loud. “So we’re not telling your family I go out with men for money? What happened to honesty being the best policy?” She’d meant it as a joke, but as soon as she said the words, she realized the truthfulness in them. And it made her feel a little guilty.
Ben’s eyes widened at her.
“Kidding.” She thought for a moment. “Okay, this could be fun. Can I pick anything?”
“Probably not anything. It has to be something that my parents would respect and something you know enough about to discuss. At least in general terms.”
“Did you have anything in mind?” she asked. She had no idea what his parents would consider a respectable career. But something told her whatever it was was far from any job she’d ever held.
“Not really. What do you like?”
Her lifestyle didn’t leave the time or money for many hobbies, so she thought back to when she was a kid. “I like to sing.”
“Really? Can I hear something?”
“I guess.” She took a sip of iced tea and cleared her throat before singing the first few verses of “I Will Always Love You.”
Ben hadn’t said anything yet, so when she stopped, she couldn’t help but ask, “So? What do you think?”
“I think we should pick a different career.”
That earned him a smack on his arm, but since it felt like it was made of stone, he didn’t flinch. It made her want to feel other places on him: his chest and abs, his perfectly round ass. Everything on the man was probably hard. That thought brought up another image, and it was one that she was sure had her blushing. She quickly tried to clear her mind of all things Ben and go back to the task at hand. “I’m not that bad.”
“No. You’re not.” She felt some of her pride return until he added, “You’re just not that good either.” He laughed after he said it, and the sight of his smile had her smiling too.
“Okay, fine. Let me think.” She pressed her lips together pensively. “I loved to read when I was a kid. I still do.” Though she thought about how her current status meant that she never had money for books and couldn’t get a library card because she wasn’t able to prove she was a resident. Maybe now that she had the escort gig, she could hit up a Barnes and Noble. “What about a librarian?”
Ben initially looked shocked. But whether it was because it was a horrible idea or because she didn’t look the part, she wasn’t sure. Once he seemed to get over his surprise, his eyes narrowed in thought. She waited patiently, hoping it was a good sign that he hadn’t dismissed the profession immediately. “I think I like it,” he finally said.
“Really?”
“Yeah. Why do you seem surprised?”
“Nothing impresses them,” he said simply. “But we can say you work at a college or something to take it up a notch.”
“Okay, I’m excited. I’ve always wanted to go to college.”
Ben laughed. “Perfect, because I’ve always wanted to date a hot librarian.”
* * *
The two of them spent the next half hour firming up the specifics of Ryan’s backstory and their relationship. Ultimately, they’d decided it was best to keep things as truthful as possible so neither of them would get mixed up. So aside from being a university librarian, which couldn’t have been further from the truth, all the details were relatively accurate.
The two met while out at a club with friends and they hit it off immediately. The fact that it had been a strip club—and that he’d literally hit her—was obviously something better left unsaid. They hadn’t been together that long—just long enough to feel an undeniable connection between them. Ben knew if his parents found out he’d been dating someone for an extended period of time—which in their eyes was probably only a few months—without telling them, they’d accuse him of keeping things from them. If they only knew.
As far as Ryan’s family history and childhood were concerned, Ben had told her it was her call. He’d completely understand if she wanted to keep such personal information to herself. But Ryan said she’d figure out that part once she was up there and got a feel for what his parents wanted to know.
“Everything,” Ben said. “They’re going to want to know everything.”
Ryan laughed, but her expression sobered almost immediately once she realized he was serious. “Okay, so I’ll tell them I grew up in Delaware, which is true. My mother still lives down there, and my dad’s not in the picture, so I’ll just say he passed away when I was young.”
Ben nodded as he typed the details into the document. “What are you going to say your mom does for a living?”
“She’s in sales,” she answered quickly.
“What does she sell?”
The Proposition Page 7
