Ben groaned, but I had no idea if it was caused by what I was feeling or if it was because of what he said next. “Please, don’t call me that. Only my parents call me Benjamin.”
“How ’bout Benjy?” I joked, ignoring my response to him, and let go of his hand.
He narrowed his eyes, but I saw a hint of humor dancing in them. “That’s wrong. It’s just Ben.”
“Well, just Ben, it’s nice to meet you.”
“You too, Samantha.”
“No one ever calls me Samantha, and when they do, I’m usually in big trouble.”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “I have a feeling that’s often.”
Is he flirting?
I needed to fan myself or find a cold drink, stat.
“So…business or pleasure?” he questioned, still eyeing me intently.
Once the word pleasure fell from his lips, my mind went haywire. Provocative flashes of our bodies entwined came to mind, and a volcano of heat erupted in my core.
Stop it, Sam!
Flustered, I swept my hair from off my neck and tied it into a bun on top of my head with the hair tie around my wrist. “I’m sorry, what?”
“London. Are you going to London for business or pleasure?”
Oh.
I cleared my voice, hoping to keep it from sounding husky. “Pleasure. This trip was my Christmas present from my brother.”
His gaze along my exposed neck felt like a physical caress. “You have a very kind brother.”
I’m out of my league here.
“The best,” I agreed, beaming at him, and attempted to act natural. “I jumped up and down like a little girl for five straight minutes.”
He laughed, shaking his head like he didn’t know what to think of me. “I bet.”
“What about you?” I queried. “Business or pleasure?”
He paused, his humor withering away, and slowly replied, “The same, actually. This trip is a gift to myself – a bit belated I might add – for finishing med school and my residency.”
He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever seen. A member of a biker MC or a musician I could totally see.
Still…
If he was my doctor, I’d be sick every week just to schedule an appointment with him.
Sam, stop! Talk to the man and quit fantasizing about getting him naked.
“Doctor?” I questioned, biting my lip. “Impressive. What kind of doctor are you?”
“Emergency medicine.”
“Interesting,” I murmured. I scrutinized him again, estimating his age. It took a lot of time to get through medical school. “How long have you been a doctor?”
He gave me a knowing look. “You’re fishing for my age, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” I answered coyly.
His resonant chuckle rolled over my skin, heating me further. “I’m thirty-two. I won’t make the mistake by returning that question.”
My chuckle joined his. “I’m twenty-eight.”
He turned, angling his body toward mine as if he was getting ready for a long discussion and wanted to observe me.
With his new position, I checked his ring finger. Sure enough, it was bare of any ring or impression that one had been there previously.
Oh, goodie.
“What is it that you do, Samantha?”
“Nothin’ as grand as medicine, I can assure you,” I teased, feeling a bit outclassed. I took some online college courses for accounting and management, but I never finished my degree. I mostly did it to help my family’s bed and breakfast cog along more efficiently.
“Turnabout’s fair,” he pointed out.
I puffed out a breath. “Fine. I own and manage a bed and breakfast.”
He did a slow-blink. “Really…? I wasn’t expecting that.”
“What were you expectin’?”
“I’m not sure, exactly. Just not that.”
My hackles rose.
The Bliss Bed and Breakfast had been in our family for generations. My great, great (or was it great, great, great – I couldn’t remember correctly, but there were a lot of greats) grandparents moved to Bliss, North Carolina when it was nothing but a trading post high up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The B&B was built sometime after that, and my family had lived there ever since. It was passed down to the firstborn son when he married and so on and so forth.
That changed when my grandparents, Hershel and Violet Raiden, transformed it into a B&B. When they retired, they handed it down to Mom and Dad, and when Mom and Dad retired, it was given to Grey and me.
I loved the B&B. I lived and breathed it. That house was a part of my make-up, my heart and soul. I grew up running through those halls, playing hide and seek with Grey, helping my mother in the kitchen or with anything else that needed to be accomplished. At the age of five, I knew that all I wanted in life was a family of my own and to manage our B&B. I’d never wavered, either. Well, other than the family part – I didn’t know if that was in the cards for me.
Feeling protective, like a mother with her offspring kind of way, I seethed, “The house has been in my family for generations. My grandparents turned it into a bed and breakfast when my dad was a kid. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life. I love it. That house, to me, is like the air I breathe.”
Ben touched my arm, his expression gentling. “I didn’t mean to offend you. When I imagine someone running a bed and breakfast, I picture someone like my grandfather doing it…not someone as beautiful as you.”
My cheeks flamed at the compliment. “Oh…”
“Yes. Oh.” He laughed, and his eyes had a sexy way of twinkling as he did.
Before we could say anything else, the flight attendant that had initially greeted me came down the aisle with her cart, taking drink orders. We were in the third row, so she arrived at ours quickly. She noticed Ben first, and her smile became mega-watt, her interest as clear as a spring day.
“Can I get you something to drink, Mr. Rhodes?” she purred, not paying attention to me. “Complimentary champagne perhaps?” It sounded like she’d just propositioned him for sex instead of requesting his drink order.
Why do I feel jealous suddenly?
I snuck a peek at Ben and saw that he was barely acknowledging her – his sole focus was on me. “A Crown and Coke would be wonderful. Thank you.”
When the flight attendant noticed me, her smile dimmed and her eyes shot daggers.
And who’s the jealous one now?
She all but snarled, “Champagne?”
I scrunched up my nose – I hated champagne – and tried to stop from laughing. Seeing her reaction was highly entertaining. “Uh, no. I’ll take a beer, though.”
Her brows rose haughtily. "A beer?"
“Yes, a beer. What’s wrong with beer?” I snapped, insulted by her condescending tone.
“What brand?” she questioned, rolling her eyes at Ben.
Who in the hell is this woman?
Yes, I liked beer. So sue me. That didn’t give her any reason to judge or belittle me.
“I’ll take one too, actually,” Ben interjected, his voice deeper, darker. “A beer sounds pretty damn good all of a sudden.”
I smiled sweetly and batted my eyelashes. “Dos Equis.”
“Same,” Ben concurred.
The woman fumed, but she kept a strained smile plastered on her lips. “Of course,” she choked out. Between that and the forced smile, she looked constipated.
She handed us our beer cans and plastic cups before skedaddling to the next row. I snickered to myself quietly, enjoying the retribution as I poured my beer.
“People like that drive me crazy,” Ben commented once she was out of earshot.
“Here, here,” I agreed.
He was quiet as he poured his beer, his brows furrowed. Finally, he glanced at me again. “You’re a bit of a spitfire, aren’t you?”
“Maybe,” I admitted, giving him a half smile.
His eyes dropped to my mouth. “I don’t thi
nk that’s a maybe.”
My pulse spiked, but I shrugged so that he couldn’t tell how much he affected me. “She was bein’ a bitch.”
He chuckled and relaxed back into his seat, taking a sip from his plastic cup. “You saved me, though. She made me feel like a piece of meat.”
I laughed – I wouldn’t mind making him my piece of meat – and quirked a brow at him. “I bet that wasn’t any hardship for you. I’m sure you’re well versed in women throwin’ themselves at you. It’s probably a daily occurrence.”
His eyes went odd, sparking with something I couldn’t decipher. “Not really. At least, if they do, I don’t notice it.”
My face screwed up in disbelief. “Are you kiddin’ me? Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
He choked on his beer, laughing slightly, and his face relaxed, the look from before vanishing. “You don’t hold back, do you?”
I lifted one shoulder. “Why should I? I’m a firm believer in bein’ a straight shooter.”
“I can see that,” he murmured, his eyes roaming my face. “I can definitely see that.”
What does that even mean?
He continued, asking, “What are you planning to do while you’re in London? I presume you’re staying in London, that is. It’s another reason I didn’t expect your answer about your job. Since you’re by yourself, I figured this was a business trip.”
Made sense.
“Not entirely sure. I did some research, tryin’ to figure out what sights I wanted to see and all that, but I decided to go with the flow. I don’t have a set agenda.”
His brows rose in surprise. “Really? And you didn’t bring anyone with you? That seems a bit adventurous…brave.”
I shrugged again. “It is what it is. I wanted a break, to get away for a while. Where I come from, there’s tons of pryin’ eyes and busybodies, and everyone knows everythin’ about everyone. I guess I wanted to reinvent myself away from all that. I want to just be, even if it’s for a little while.”
Ben became somber once more and peered into his beer. “I understand that more than you know.”
There was a story there, but I wasn’t about to probe.
Yet.
“What about you? What are your plans?”
There was a wonky look on his face when he turned towards me. “I have friends in London,” he explained, blanking his expression. Was that a lie? Was he suspicious of me for some reason? “I’m going to spend a week with them. After that, I’ll spend a week in each Ireland and Scotland.”
“Sounds like fun,” I murmured. That seemed like a dream.
“Should be. It’s a last hurrah – I guess you could say – before I have to start real life.”
Again, there was a story behind those words. He was already a doctor; how was he supposed to start life now?
Hmmm.
“It’s my chance to be a stranger for once,” he continued, staring off, lost in thought. “Without responsibility…or judgment.”
It was as if he plucked the thought right out of my head. Those were my exact feelings.
I held up my cup instead of commenting. I understood and respected wanting anonymity. “Well, cheers to becoming strangers.”
“Strangers,” he repeated and touched his cup to mine.
Even though I respected his privacy, I questioned silently, who are you, Benjamin Rhodes?
Chapter 2
Samantha
I’d purposely awoken extra early yesterday morning so that I could sleep on the plane. Since my plane was supposed to land around nine-thirty in the morning London time, I thought I’d be able to hit the ground running.
That didn’t happen.
Having Ben next to me was distracting. Plus, I had a tendency to snore when I was tired – and I was exhausted – so I wasn’t going to take the chance of sawing logs in front of him.
How embarrassing would that be?
Ben and I continued to talk off and on during the long flight, chatting about nothing of any consequence. The chemistry between us continued to build, though I wasn’t any closer to knowing anything about Ben than I was before. He answered when prompted. He added things here and there, laughed at my jokes and made small ones himself. Still, he purposely kept himself guarded and gave me zero information about himself. On top of that, as soon as we landed, the conversation came to a crashing, uncomfortable halt.
Therefore, on top of being tired, I was frustrated.
I wanted to peel back the layers and look into that mind of his. I wanted to know his story. A good mystery intrigued me.
And Ben was a mystery.
I knew that if I pushed him, he’d close up tighter than a drum. So, I just let him do his thing. I reckoned we’d hook-up later and I’d get the chance to figure him out, get to really know him.
Boy, was I wrong.
Awkwardly, we stood side by side at the luggage carousel, the sounds of the busy airport chaotic. I was trying to work up the nerve to ask for his number, which was a first for me.
How did you go about it?
Should I act casual?
Should I flash him a flirty smile?
Did I have a flirty smile?
Grrr.
I’d been out of the dating scene for far too long, I decided.
Indicating that our baggage was on its way, a buzzer went off, causing me to jump. As the carousel started to move, I peeked up at Ben. His face was blank again – something he did quite frequently – and he stared straight ahead, ignoring me. It sparked my irritation more.
When I sighed my frustration, his eyes jerked my way. I blushed when they flickered with confusion and, if I wasn’t mistaken, annoyance.
“Tired,” I lied, plastering a fake smile on my lips. “That flight did me in. I can’t wait to crash at my hotel.”
He nodded, mumbling, “Yeah. Me too.”
That’s it?
I hoped he’d ask where I was staying, but no. He focused back on the carousel again.
My large suitcase was one of the firsts to sail down the conveyer belt. While I waited for it to come closer, I hefted my backpack further up my arm and shoulder so that I could lug the heavy bag up and over the side. I wasn’t one for girly, frivolous things, but spending two weeks in London meant I needed a lot of clothes, shoes, and whatnot, hence the load I was about to heave.
As I made a grab for it, Ben beat me to it and lifted it as if it weighed nothing, placing it on the ground by my feet. He moved again almost immediately and picked up his duffel bag.
Well, at least he’s chivalrous.
“Thanks,” I murmured appreciatively.
“Is that it?” he asked, nodding toward the carousel.
“Yep. Packed light,” I joked, hoping to break up whatever caused this tension between us.
He held out a hand, motioning toward the exit, saying, “After you.”
I flashed him a smile and led the way, rolling my bag behind me. I weighed my options all the way to the curb.
Luckily, it was sunny and somewhat warm, a beautiful spring day. I sighed and closed my eyes, appreciating the sun on my face as I tipped my chin up towards the sky. I lived in the mountains, so I was used to cold weather, and sixty degrees felt like summer to me.
When I opened my eyes, Ben had already waved down a cab. He opened the door and gestured toward it. “Your chariot awaits,” he quipped, giving me a small grin. The driver came around the side and took my bag without commenting and threw it in the trunk.
I repeatedly blinked, startled by the hastiness of my impending departure. “Uh…?”
With an apology in his expression, Ben held out a hand. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Samantha. Thanks for making the flight bearable. I hope you enjoy your trip.”
I’ve been dismissed
I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, even though I thought we had a very real connection. I took his hand and gave him the most sincere smile I could muster. “You too, Ben. Enjoy your last hurrah.”
His grin transformed to a frown, and then his face shutdown again.
Was that a brief glimpse of anguish I just saw?
That couldn’t be right…could it?
Ben leaned forward and kissed my temple, taking me off guard. A shiver rippled down my spine as he lingered. When he pulled away, he whispered, “I will, Samantha. I will.”
As I slipped into the cab, he stepped back and closed the door for me. I gave the driver the name of my hotel and watched Ben wave. There was regret in his eyes as the cab started to pull away from the curb, and I felt in my bones that our parting was a lost opportunity.
For what, I wasn’t sure.
Still, I felt jipped.
∞
I punched the pillow for the umpteenth time, trying to get comfortable. The bed was absolutely luxurious, as well as the rest of the suite Grey booked for me – very modern and sophisticated – but I couldn’t get my brain to quit rehashing every moment of my time with Ben.
What was it about the man that was so memorable?
Yeah, his looks were panty-dropping. Even though he had those bad-boy vibes going for him at first, in the end, I sensed an innate goodness about him. Maybe it was the doctor thing, but I believed it was something more.
Ben was different…special.
Once in a lifetime.
Ben’s rebuff could have been because we were both on vacation and nothing could have come from getting to know one another. Maybe he was deeply devoted to a girlfriend back home. That thought churned my stomach, though it was a very likely possibility. Plus, it wasn’t as if he led me on –there were a lot of lingering, scorching looks, though – so I couldn’t take it to heart.
I just hoped…
As I continued to contemplate it, I realized that this was a breakthrough for me. For two years I’d ignored all things pertaining to the opposite sex, and finally, I met someone I was attracted to and was considering dating, maybe even having sex again. I was going to take my encounter with Ben as a sign that it was time to move on with my life. What happened with Patrick couldn’t dictate my life any longer. That alone put a smile on my face.
My cell vibrated on the nightstand next to me, interrupting my thoughts. I rolled over and grabbed it, checking the screen. A pang of homesickness went through me when I saw Grey’s fiancé Clara’s name, but I pushed it aside.
Fated Bliss (The Bliss Series Book 2) Page 2
