by Wren Mingua
"And what's that?"
"Are you going to make me the luckiest man in the world, or are you leaving me blue-balled again?"
"Umm... hmmmm..." Zoe tapped her chin as she considered his question. "I'm thinking... blue-balled. We don't want to move too fast, do we?"
"We don't?" His voice squeaked.
"No. I have to leave you something to look forward to!"
"I already have something to look forward to." Ben shoved down her bra strap and kissed her bare shoulder. He might have been pushing his luck, but he couldn't resist. "Waking up next to you. Every day."
Chapter Twenty Seven
Excerpt from Zoe's blog--
Well, I'm officially dating the hottest "bloke" in the world. So you should understand if I don't feel like blogging too often. I have more important things to do. ;)
When she woke up next to Ben the next morning, Zoe was sorely lacking adornment. All she was wearing was a t-shirt--one of Ben's--and a pair of cotton knickers. They weren't even cute knickers; they had a gaudy floral design that was better-suited for a grandmother.
"These are seriously hideous." Zoe lifted the shirt, flashing a glimpse of her panties. "I don't think I'll be turning you on in my granny panties."
"Oh, I'm turned on right now... I can promise you that," Ben countered. "I think they're quite cute."
Her brow was furrowed with disbelief. "Really?"
"Absolutely. They're ridiculously sexy."
"Really? Then you have some strange tastes, boy." Zoe grabbed her phone and jumped back in bed. She pounced on top of Ben and straddled his waist, which had him painfully aroused in an instant. "Let's see... I have a text from Gemma."
"Ew... seriously?"
"Yeah. I asked her if she could bring Chris for a visit, since it's still the weekend," Zoe said. "I thought we could all go out to lunch together... well, minus Gemma..."
"You're straddling my body," Ben pointed out, "so you'll have to forgive me if I didn't hear a word you said."
"Ben!" She swatted his arm. "Concentrate, okay? I'll read her text. Yes, I can bring him by this afternoon. I needed to visit a friend in London anyway. You can take him out, and I'll be back to pick him up at the end of the day."
"So you ladies have been making plans... unbeknownst to me?"
"No, not really. I mean... I just texted her a few minutes ago and asked her if it'd be okay. You don't mind, do you?"
"No. I'm a good uncle. Why would I mind?" Ben cupped his hands on her butt, which must have been fair game because she didn't chastise him. "So, what time are they supposed to arrive? Do we have time for breakfast?"
Zoe didn't respond right away. She was too busy reading another text. From Kyle.
To Zoe: I'm going to stay in London until you change your mind. When can I see you again?
"Zoe?" He tried tickling her stomach to get her attention, which worked a little too well. She dropped her phone and rolled off the mattress. She landed on the ground with a thud. "Are you alright?"
"I'll live."
"Good. Now what do you think about breakfast?" Ben rose from the bed and scooped her off the ground, into his arms. He started carrying her around the flat, like a groom carrying his bride. "Do I have time to make breakfast for you?"
"Well... Gemma said they wouldn't be coming 'til the afternoon, so I think we have time." Zoe nuzzled her cheek against Ben's shoulder, which made her heart tingle with content. "But... did you say you were going to make breakfast? That makes me nervous."
"You shouldn't be, considering the fact that our breakfast options are currently cereal and..." Ben placed Zoe on the kitchen counter and checked one of the cupboards. "Cereal. As well as cereal, if that tickles your fancy."
"Cereal it is then!" Zoe chuckled. "What the heck is Weetabix? Is that like Mini Wheats?"
"I have no idea." Ben grabbed two bowls and filled them up. Before he could make it to the fridge to get the milk, Zoe grabbed his arm and reeled him toward her. As her fingers coiled through his hair, she smashed her mouth against his. His lips ventured down, trailing kissing across her neck and collarbone.
"Ben..." she whispered.
"Hmm?"
"If I'm going to stay here, we really need to do some grocery shopping."
"I just made out with you, and you're talking about shopping?!" Ben rolled his amber eyes. "You are so silly."
* * *
Chris' first request was that they visit the Tower of London, the historic fortress on the River Thames. They toured the medieval walls and moat and keep, and Chris was especially intrigued by the Bloody Tower, which apparently had a history of murder.
"What's the deal with kids these days?" Zoe observed. Ben was holding her hand as they toured the tower. It must have been haunted, because she kept feeling mysterious prickles on the back of her neck. "It's like they're desensitized or something."
"And what is it with nannies these days?" Ben fired back at her. "They're American, and not to mention, ridiculously sexy."
"I'm not a nanny anymore," she pointed out.
"That's not what Chris thinks," Ben said. And it was true. Ever since he arrived, Chris had referred to her as "my nanny" at least twice.
Chris, who was skipping around a few paces ahead of them, turned around and asked, "So how many people were prisoners here?"
"Uh..." Zoe looked over at Ben and gave him a nudge. "You're English. You should know."
"I have no idea," Ben confessed. "But I know they kept a lot of important people here. Jane Grey. Queen Elizabeth. People like that."
They stumbled across the site of the scaffold, where the executions took place.
"This is where heads rolled," Ben said. "Anne Boleyn's bloody head might have been right next to my feet."
"History, as described by Benjamin Eastham," Zoe teased him. "It's always invigorating, that's for sure."
"Is it true that you stay alive for a few seconds after they cut off your head?" Chris asked, bobbing up and down in grisly excitement. "Imagine what it would be like to look up and see your headless body!"
"How the hell would anyone be able to confirm that? It's not like you can ask someone who got their head chopped off," Ben said.
"But it's what I heard!"
"Well..." Ben started, "when we happen upon the ghost of Katherine Howard, you can ask her if she remembers her dripping corpse."
Zoe rolled her eyes. Dripping corpses and rolling heads hardly seemed like an appropriate topic to discuss with an eight-year-old, but she decided to let Ben use his own judgment.
Chris pointed across the way, where a uniformed guard was wandering the grounds. "Hey... why are they called Beefeaters?" he asked, referring to the colorful moniker given to the Tower's Yeoman Warders.
"Umm..." Zoe looked over at Ben again. He seemed to have an answer for everything, though his answers were a bit lackluster.
"I guess... they liked beef?" Ben offered with a chuckle.
Chris' nose puckered. "Really?"
"Ugh... Ben!" Zoe gave her new boyfriend another playful slap on the arm. "Stop teaching him bogus history!"
"It's not bogus. I'm sure they did like beef. Who doesn't like beef?"
After touring the Tower from top to bottom, they followed Ben to a hole-in-the-wall cafe at London's East End. Ben bought an ice cream for Chris, and a slice of cake to split with Zoe. Ben fed her a bite, then followed it up with a kiss, which had Chris yelling, "Gross!"
They ended the day at Ben's flat, because Chris was dying to play video games with them. They played a realistic-looking racing game on the Xbox360, with a title Zoe couldn't remember to save her life. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't really catch on to the mechanics. Her car kept scraping against every wall, at every turn. During an embarrassing moment of shame, Zoe's car flipped over and burst into flames. When Ben suggested they play on "easy mode," Zoe decided to bow out entirely. She would just let the boys play to their hearts' content.
While the gamers played, Zoe decided to
check her email. When she saw she had an email from her mother, she could almost predict what she would say.
Zoe,
I just got off the phone with Kyle. He says you refused to come home! Don't you know how much we miss you? Kyle tells me he's sorry and I believe him. He seems so sincere, and honey, he sounded like he was on the verge of tears!
To make matters worse, he tells me you've hooked up with a 23-year-old??? Honey, what are you thinking? It's too early for a midlife crisis. I don't know what's going on in your head, but you have to know this won't end well. He's just going to--
Zoe had seen enough. Without reading another word, she snapped the laptop shut and turned her attention back to the game, only to discover they had paused the race. Ben wanted to make tea, which meant Zoe and Chris were alone on the couch.
"You like my uncle, don't you?" Chris observed.
"I..." He was technically her boyfriend now, so there was no sense in trying to hide it. "I do. And you like him too?"
"Well, yeah. He's alright," Chris said with a shrug. "He's nicer than my dad."
Zoe had to agree with him there. "You don't like your dad?"
"No. Not really. He ignores me. He's a twat."
Zoe knew she should probably reprimand the boy for using that word to describe his father, but since he was using it on Lewis, she couldn't find it in her heart to protest. "What about your mom?"
"She's nice... sometimes. But she doesn't really like you," Chris said. "Sorry."
"Oh, you don't need to apologize. I know it's true." Zoe turned around and tried to find Ben. When she met his gaze, he flashed her a dimple-ridden smile, and his golden brown eyes wrenched her stomach. She didn't care what her mom thought--she knew she had the best boyfriend in the world. "How is it going at your new school?"
"Better, I guess," Chris said with a shrug. She didn't need him to elaborate--at least he wasn't getting bullied anymore. "I really miss you, Zoe. I wish you were still my nanny."
Zoe wrapped her arms around him, capturing him in an unwilling hug. Even though he was sneering, Chris coiled an arm around Zoe and ceded to the affection.
"Well, you can still think of me as your nanny... if you want to," she said. "Or better yet, why not think of me as a friend? Wouldn't you like that?"
"Umm..." Chris tilted his head as he considered her suggestion. He stared at her for several seconds, blankly, as if trying to decide if she was friend material. "I guess that'd be alright."
Chapter Twenty Eight
Excerpt from Zoe's blog--
On the telly, there was a program about "flogging" antiques. And here's silly old me, thinking they were going to beat the crap out of old tables.
When she came out of the bathroom wearing her red Valentino, Benjamin groaned. "Uuuuooo... you're really wearing your fiance's dress to the theatre?!"
"It's not my fiance's dress."
"Alright then. Your ex-fiance's dress," Ben corrected himself.
"No, I mean... it's my dress. It just so happens that Kyle bought it for me," Zoe said. "It's the only thing I own that's nice enough to wear to the theatre."
"But there's no dress code! You can wear a jumper and a nice pair of trousers!" Ben gestured toward his own outfit: khaki pants and a long-sleeved white pullover. "You look a lot better than I do."
"Ben..." Zoe stepped up to him and slid her arms around his waist. "It isn't possible to look better than you do. You could show up in pajama pants and a ripped shirt and you'd still be the most attractive guy in the room."
"I really need to get a job so I can buy you fancy things..."
"I don't need fancy things," Zoe tried to tell him. "If it bothers you that much, I can change clothes."
"No. It's alright. You look great. You really do." Ben snatched the tickets off the table--two seats in the mezzanine circle at Les Miserables. "Well, Gorgeous, are you ready to go?"
"Yep."
They held hands on the way out of the flat, then they rode the Tube into Leicester Square. The Les Miserables theatre wasn't too far, but they had to jostle their way through an immense crowd to get there. Ben gripped her hand tightly, fearful they might get separated.
They arrived at the theatre twenty minutes too early, so they queued up outside and awaited entry. Zoe laid her cheek against Ben's arm, and he kissed the crown of her head.
"Seriously, though, I do need a get a job," Ben whispered to her. "I want to be a reliable boyfriend."
"Doesn't your dad give you money?"
"Well... yeah. But I don't want to be a sponge forever," Ben said. "I'm on the verge of getting a job at the Tethered Lion."
"Uh... and what's the Tethered Lion?"
"The pub where James and Jordan and I like to hang out. Of course, it'll only be temporary... until I can find a proper job. At the moment, it seems there's a lot of competition in London, even for an Oxford grad. But I want to make you proud of me."
"I am proud of you," Zoe assured him. "Girls walk by and think, wow... look at that girl with the super-hot boyfriend. And it makes me realize how lucky I am."
"Please," Ben scoffed. "No one's looking at me. And if they are looking in this direction, they're looking at you... my stunning girlfriend."
Zoe rolled her eyes at him. "Anyway, don't stress out too much. I don't have a job either. I guess I need to start looking for something too. But really... who wants to talk about unemployment right now? We're supposed to be having fun."
"Sorry."
"Let's talk about something more interesting," Zoe suggested. "Like... tell me something about yourself. Tell me something I don't already know."
"I think you know a lot about me."
Zoe shook her head. "No. Not really. You've been alive for twenty-three years, but I've only known you for several weeks. You couldn't have possibly told me everything there is to know about you."
"Well..." Ben let go of Zoe's hand and started scratching his head. "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know everything about you. Like... how many girlfriends have you had?"
"Wow. You get straight to the point, don't you?" Ben asked with a chuckle. "How many girlfriends do you think I've had?"
"If I had to guess? Hmm..." Zoe stared into his eyes for several seconds, hoping to pick up on a cue that would give it away. "A good-looking guy like you has probably had loads of girlfriends."
"Not really. I've had three."
"Three. Oh... that's not so bad."
"What about you, Zoe?" Ben asked. "How many serious ex-boyfriends do you have? I already had the pleasure of meeting one of them... unfortunately."
Zoe answered his question with a nudge. "I don't have to answer that! We're talking all about you, not about me!"
"That hardly seems fair!" Ben crossed his arms over his chest in mock offense. "I think you should have to answer the same questions I do. If you want to hear any more Benjamin Eastham fun facts, you'll have to reciprocate a bit."
"Alright..." Zoe capsized. "Apart from Kyle, I've had three other ex-boyfriends. So that's a total of four."
"And did you like these blokes?"
"If you think I'm going to answer that, you've got another thing coming." Zoe stood on her tiptoes and tried to peer over the heads of the people in front of her. They still hadn't opened the doors to the theatre, and the line hadn't budged. "Okay... tell me something else. Tell me something surprising."
"Surprising, hm? Well... when I was sixteen or seventeen, I was an extra in an episode of Doctor Who," Ben said.
"Wow, really?" Zoe had never seen an episode of Doctor Who in her life, but she had heard enough about it to be impressed. "Did you have a speaking part?"
"No. I was just mulling around in the background."
"And where can I see this episode?" Zoe asked. "At this point, it's like required viewing."
"I'm sure my mum has it."
"Do you think your mom would like me?" Before Ben had a chance to reply, Zoe made her own conclusion. "Probably not. I mean, I'm 10 years o
lder than you, and I'm an American. She'd probably crap her pants."
"Well... I'm not sure about the crapping part. She's over sixty, but to the best of my knowledge, she hasn't lost control of her bowels," Ben laughed. "Anyway, I'm sure she'd like you. What's not to like? To her, we'd just be two young people in love."
"Awww..." Zoe hugged his arm to her chest. "Are you trying to say you love me?"
"Maybe," he said with a grin. "Anyway, if I'm not mistaken, I believe it's time for a Zoe fun fact?"
"Hmm... I dunno. I'm not that interesting."
"This is your game, love," Ben reminded her. "You have to think of something."
"Well, I like to paint. I took a lot of art classes when I was in school."
"Are you good at it?"
"I like to think I am," Zoe said. "My mom has a little gallery of my paintings in her house."
"I'd like to see this gallery." The line inched forward, so Ben slid an arm around Zoe's back and guided her toward the theatre. Unfortunately, an inch was about as far as they moved. "Do you think your mum would like me?"
Zoe paused for a few seconds, hoping he wouldn't be offended by her silence. Her mom was solidly pro-Kyle. Zoe wasn't sure her mom would be able to keep her mind open enough to accept anyone new. "Uh... yeah. I think she would."
"So, what sort of things do you paint?"
"Portraits, mostly."
"Ever painted anyone in the nude?"
"Uh... no, actually," Zoe admitted. "That's probably something every artist should tackle at some point, don't you think? Maybe I could... paint... you?" She didn't look him in the eye as she made her request, for fear that he might catch her blushing.
"Zoe, Zoe, Zoe..." Ben clicked his tongue in playful castigation. "Are you trying to get me naked?"
"Maaaaybe..." she shyly confessed. "Would that be such a bad thing?"
"Love, if you want to get me naked, you need only to ask." Ben must have been speaking too loudly, because the man in front of them turned around and flashed a sneer.
