by Lexi Ryan
Quinn shifted and looked at her shoes. “Ben’s different, I think.”
She held up her hand. “Let’s find out a little more, shall we?” Halie hit the speaker button on her phone and dialed Tricia.
“Halie!” Tricia crooned by way of greeting. “Sydney is staying with a friend this weekend. Please tell me you’re calling because you want to go out.”
Halie smiled. A little girl time would do her good. “Sure, but that’s not why I’m calling.”
“What’s up?”
“Your sister—why haven’t she and Ben ever hooked up?”
Tricia was silent a long moment, then, “They have. A long time ago.”
“A puzzle piece revealed,” Halie said, looking at Quinn. “And why not since?”
“It was six years ago, when they first met. She’s moved past it. And, anyway, now she has the hots for Mark.”
Halie frowned, remembering Reese’s crush and the sexist jock radio personality. Hadn’t he agreed to take Reese out? Right, Reese had said he was her step six. If that was true, she couldn’t be all that interested in him. “You said she moved past it. What about Ben?”
“He just wanted to be friends. Though it seems to me he feels differently these days.” Trish sighed audibly. “I know it sounds crazy.”
“No, it sounds like something you’re not telling me.”
“Listen, they don’t talk about it. I don’t want to—”
“My lips are sealed.”
Trish was quiet for several long moments. “Ben and Reese hooked up when they first met. Just one hot night. He showed up at her apartment and they went at each other.”
“They had sex?”
“No, but they messed around. Reese liked him. A lot.”
“And then?”
“Ben found out his ex died while he was there fooling around with Reese. He wasn’t even a week out of a three-year relationship, and he hooks up with this new girl—Reese—and his phone is ringing like crazy. Calls and texts all coming from the ex’s number. He figured she was trying to get a hold of him and make more excuses for cheating. He ignored the calls and found out later it was Lisa’s mom trying to get a hold of him. Lisa was in the hospital, dying from injuries she’d sustained in a car accident.”
“Damn,” Halie muttered.
“He was grieving, you know? So Reese gave him space and time. She waited. They became great friends and she let him grieve. She waited for him to heal and take their relationship back to the place where it had started. We all thought it was only a matter of time.”
“But he never did. Did she tell him how she felt?”
“It was over a year after Lisa died, and I told her she needed to make the first move. She took my advice.”
Halie looked at Quinn, whose eyes had gone wide.
“What happened?” Quinn asked.
Tricia was quiet again, as if reliving the memory herself. “I think he was just scared, you know? He and Reese were so close by then.”
“What happened?” Halie asked this time.
“He broke her heart.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Reese clung to Ben as he added light friction to her clit. “I want you to spend the rest of your day wondering if I could have gotten you off. I want your mind on my fingers and my mouth.”
Jesus. She was so close. On the counter. With Ben.
“You’re gorgeous when you’re turned on,” Ben whispered, his hot breath against her ear.
Ben stood between her legs, his hand doing deliciously naughty things to her, pumping his fingers in and out of her.
Someone pounded on the front door.
Reese registered the sound and straightened.
“Boss? The door’s locked.”
“Be there in a sec!” Ben called. He cupped her sex softly and groaned against the side of her neck.
“We never got to talk.” She sounded breathless to her own ears. Ben was right, she wouldn’t think about anything else all day.
“You wanted to talk about us?”
She nodded. “I don’t know what we’re doing. We agreed a long time ago—”
“Boss!”
“On my way,” Ben called. He turned back to Reese, eyes hot as they ran over her. “Come over tonight.”
“To talk?”
“To get naked, Reese. That’s my plan. I’m getting you naked tonight, but there can be talking too—” His lips drew up in a grin. “—since you seem to like that.”
Her breath caught and she forced herself to relax. “I don’t know what we’re doing, but Ben—” She curled her fingers into his shirt and nuzzled her face into his neck, breathing in his scent. “—I don’t want to stop.”
Withdrawing his hand from between her legs, he groaned. “Me neither.”
He helped her off the counter, and her body slid against his as he settled her to the ground. He was hard. And impressive.
He squeezed her hand. “Unless you’re not opposed to an audience, I’m going to have to.”
Her cheeks burned. “That’s not what I mean.”
Steps sounded in the hall and Reese froze.
“There a reason you locked the door in the middle of the day?” a man called out in a grumble. One of Ben’s carpenters came around the corner. He spotted Reese and stopped in his tracks. “Oh.” Looking between Reese and Ben, a knowing grin split his face. “Sorry, Boss.”
Ben strategically positioned himself behind the counter, and Reese had to swallow her laughter as she realized he was hiding his erection.
“Frank, this is Reese Regan, my—”
Reese waited to hear his label for her. His what? His friend? That title hardly seemed sufficient, considering all the awkwardness in the air.
He never finished his sentence. Reese figured Frank had the general idea anyway. “Reese, this is Frank, one of my crew leaders.”
Reese’s cheeks warmed as Frank nodded. “Really nice to meet you, Reese.” He gestured toward the door. “I think I’ll just wait outside.” He winked at Reese before the echo of his steel-toed boots carried him out the front of the house.
When he was gone, she pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry. He’s going to think—”
Ben took her hands in his and drew them to her sides. “What? That we were in here making out like a couple of horny teenagers?”
She bit her lip. “That’s kind of how I feel.”
“Good,” he growled. “I’d hate to be the only one.”
“This is crazy.”
“Is it?” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip.
She wanted him to suck it into his mouth, wanted his fingers in her body again.
“When you said you didn’t want to stop, what did you mean?”
Her heart pounded, and it was there, that horrible fear that he might reject her again, that horrible memory of him telling her he didn’t want more.
Unapologetically pursue the life you want.
“Ben, I like this. I like the flirting and—” He stared at her, and she swallowed back her self-consciousness. “I like when you touch me.”
He traced the line of her jaw and down the side of her neck. “I like touching you,” he said, his voice thick.
“I don’t want to stop.” She licked her lips. Somehow, it was easy to ask for sex, but anything more terrified her. She dropped her gaze to the floor. “I don’t want to pretend we’re nothing more than friends.”
“Good.” Then his mouth was on hers and his hands were in her hair as he kissed her hard. It wasn’t a gentle kiss of seduction, it was a demanding kiss of branding, claiming, possessing.
When he pulled away, she her breath came short and shallow and her legs were putty.
Sighing, she leaned back and let the wall support her.
He stayed close and put a hand on either side of her head, his mouth was so close it almost brushed hers as he spoke. “Let me see you tonight?”
She closed her eyes at the pleasure that rushed through her at
his words. “I promised Masey we’d go shopping, but I can come over after.”
His eyes were on her mouth. Was he thinking about where he wanted it? What she would do with it she got him alone and naked? Because she was and the sooner—
“Not tonight then.”
What? “You’re going to make me wait?”
The side of his mouth tilted up in a grin. “Oh, yeah. I’m going to make you wait, and I’m going to make you think about it. Familiar with delayed gratification?” He leaned close so he spoke against her ear. “I want you to need me so badly you beg.”
She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip to keep herself from doing just that. “Tomorrow?”
He groaned against her neck. “I promised my mom I’d come over for dinner.” He trailed kisses along the side of her neck, and his hand slipped under her skirt, cupping her bare, swollen sex. When he slid his fingers inside her, the movement was sudden and thick and deep.
She gasped. “After?” The word came out more a whimper than a question.
At the front of the house, two men we talking in low tones, and one of them laughed. She heard the slamming of doors, the muffled sound of someone giving orders.
“Not enough time,” Ben said. “When I get you naked, I’m going to need hours.”
Inside her, he crooked his fingers and found a spot that—“Oh my, God.” She clung to him, rocked her hips. He pressed closer until she was pinned between him and the wall, his hand between them, his fingers working inside her.
She drew a leg up around him, bunching her skirt at her hips and sending his fingers deeper.
Outside, more doors slammed as the crew returned, more low chuckling.
“Do you have any idea what you look like right now?” The words came out a low rumble against her ear. “Your eyes dark and wild, your leg wrapped around me? You have any idea how sexy you are when you’re turned on?”
“Where are you heading with those?” a voice called from out front.
“We have to stop,” Reese said weakly, but she couldn’t bring herself to push him away. “We should—”
“Nah, just the porch for now.” Another deep voice. Closer now.
“You like it,” Ben growled against her ear. “You like knowing someone could walk in here any minute.” He shifted his hand and found her clit with his thumb.
“Ben.” She wanted and she didn’t want. But his fingers, and his voice, and she couldn’t—
“You like the idea of someone seeing you like this—hot, and needy, and ready to be fucked.”
“God,” she breathed.
“Another time, baby, after I’ve had you to myself, long and slow, I’ll bring you back here.” His hand moved faster, his fingers moved harder, touching something deeper and tender and— “I’ll put you on the counter while we have the place to ourselves. I’ll spread your legs and lick you.”
Another slam of a car door. “Boss is in there?”
“Then when they start coming back from lunch, I’ll take you against this wall.”
She didn’t want that, did she? But his fingers, and the fantasy, and his voice, and this was so good.
Outside, more boots on gravel.
“You’ll wonder if we’ll be caught, if someone will find out this secret side of you. This is you, Reese. Hot and sexy and a little bit wild. It’s always been you.”
“Ben—” She felt it coming, clung to him as the pleasure climbed and her muscles contracted around his fingers.
“Don’t fight it.” He breathed the words, his voice sounding as tense as she felt. “Let yourself go. Let yourself be that sexy, amazing woman you are, the woman who doesn’t care if someone sees, the woman who’s going to let me fuck her against this wall.”
The front door squeaked. “Boss? You ready for us?”
She bit his shoulder and let go. Her whole body quaked and shuddered as the orgasm tore through her.
“Boss?”
“Man, back the fuck off,” someone called from the front.
Ben groaned against her neck. “I don’t know whether to kill them or thank them,” he grumbled. His hand was still between her legs and as he withdrew it, she whimpered a little. He might have too.
“I can’t believe I just did that,” she whispered.
His lip twitched up in a lopsided grin. “Which part?”
Her cheeks burned. “All of it.”
“You’re a natural.” He tucked her hair behind her ear and settled her to the ground. “Come with me tomorrow. Mom would like to see you.”
“You want me to be in the same room with your mom next time I see you?”
“Delayed gratification. You’ll thank me.”
She licked her lips. “Can I trust you to be on good behavior?”
He dropped his eyes to her body, to the hem of her skirt, which had fallen to her knees. “I guess that depends on what you wear under your skirt.”
***
Masey looked like someone had run over her dog, and she was flicking through the racks of Nordstrom like the clothes were personally responsible for her loss.
At first, Reese had been worried. Since Reese had met her their freshman year of college, she’d known Masey to be positive and upbeat. If she was upset, there was a good reason.
But after an hour of shopping with Miss Grumpy Pants, Reese had no more information about the source of the woman’s misery and was beginning to grow irritated.
Masey huffed. “There’s nothing I want here. Let’s go somewhere else.” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and headed out of the store.
Crossing her arms, Reese followed her friend.
This was what she was doing instead of going to Ben’s and letting him strip her bare? This was how she was spending her evening when Ben could be using his hands and his mouth and— “Spill it.”
Masey snapped her head up, her eyes less woman scorned and more lost puppy. “What?”
Reese softened. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “It’s nothing.” She pointed to a little boutique. “Want to go in there?”
Normally, Reese steered clear of places that catered to the Halie McCormacks of the world. If the price tags didn’t make her feel inferior enough, her fashion cluelessness finished the job. But thanks to Halie, her bank account was a little healthier and her fashion sense a little stronger. “Sure. Let’s see what we can find.”
At the front of the store, a mannequin wore a red satin gown that made Reese pause. Her fingers itched to touch it. What would Ben think of this dress? Could she even pull it off? The fabric looked like it would cling to her curves and give away every imperfection. Even with her newly adventurous sense of style, she wasn’t ready for that.
“I’m sorry I’ve been such a bitch,” Masey muttered.
Reese nodded, thought of Halie saying, “Don’t say it’s okay when it’s not. You’re telling people, with every word out of your mouth, how they can treat you.” “Thank you for the apology,” she said simply.
“It’s just man trouble. I found out my crush has a crush and it’s not me.” Masey held up a hand. “And before you ask, no I don’t want to talk about it. He’s not worth the time.”
“Oh-kay.”
Masey blew out a breath. “You probably wish you never said you’d come shopping with me.”
“Well, maybe, but only because I’d rather be naked with Ben.”
As her eyes widened, some of the misery left Masey’s face. “What?” She grabbed Reese’s arm and dragged her to a dressing room, closing the door behind them. “Give me details!”
“Can I help you with anything?” a small, squeaky voice called on the other side of the door.
Reese reached to unlock the door only to have her hand smacked away.
Masey crossed her arms. “I’ll wait here all day if I have to.”
“You don’t have to wait all day. I’d be happy to get you another size, another item?” The bewildered voice on the other side of the door called.
“My friend’s a size fourteen,” Masey called. “Find her something she can have peeled off her…by her new lover.” She emphasized the word and jabbed her finger in Reese’s direction.
“Well,” said the voice outside their dressing room. “Just one second.”
Masey tapped her foot, waiting.
Reese bit back a smile. “Some things have happened,” she hedged.
“Such as?”
“Phone sex.”
Masey’s eyes went wide. “Seriously? How was it?”
There were no words, at least not ones she was willing to share. Except maybe, “Dirty.”
“How dirty?”
“X-rated.”
“Was this one of your steps?”
She slanted her gaze at Masey. “I might have implied it was.”
“You lied to get Ben to have phone sex with you?” she shrieked.
Reese nudged her. “Keep your voice down!” Then, softer, “I’d had some wine, and I was using his tub. He called my cell, I answered. It happened.”
A stream of deep red satin floated over the dressing room door. “Try this and let’s see what you think.”
Masey whistled. “That’s hot.”
Reese stood up and fingered the red satin that was draped over the door. “Then, today, I went to his job site for lunch, and—” She drew in a shaky breath. And he made me come my brains out. “I think we’re going to try to make this work.”
A squeak sounded on the other side of the door. “It will be perfect on you.”
The material kissed her fingertips and Reese imagined the dress would feel as silky on as the lingerie she’d picked out with Ben.
“Did you tell him you lied?”
Reese met Masey’s eyes. “I didn’t lie. Not really.”
Masey put her hands on her hips. “You need to start this right, Reese. Tell him the truth.”
“I need a minute.” Reese pushed Masey out of the dressing room and shut the door. Once she was alone, she removed her clothes and stood naked, staring at the dress. Was Ben at home now? Was he thinking of her?
She pulled the dress over her head, letting it slide like cool water over her skin. She didn’t bother looking in the mirror, but the air danced against her back, so she peeled off her bra before stepping out of the dressing room.
